Interesting Articles: Sep 19th-25th 2005

Law:
* U.S. Asks Court to Dismiss Abuse Suit That Names Pope (New York Times). Just posted here so I remember later to see how this turns out. The separation of church and state counter-argument to the immunity claim is a neat twist.

Culture:
* Almost Before We Spoke, We Swore (New York Times). A neat read: a history of cursing over the ages.
* Supersize Strollers Ignite Sidewalk Drama (New York Times). SUV culture expands into baby strollers.

Education:
* As Test Scores Jump, Raleigh Credits Integration by Income (New York Times). Given the strength of this effect, it should be done more widely.

Food:
* California Wants to Serve a Warning With Fries (New York Times). A fairly balanced description of the debate. I can't decide what to think... People should know deep-fried foods are bad for you. Do we really need labels on a particular subset that's even worse than usual? Anyway, I cooked potato pancakes recently. I wonder if the cooking temperatures I achieve there are enough to cause formation of acrylamide. But perhaps the most interesting item in the article is the sidebar. Don't miss it! Who would've thought, for instance, graham crackers are almost as bad as potato chips?
* From Google to Noodles: A Chef Strikes Out on His Own (New York Times). Charlie, Google's excellent former head chef, is starting a new restaurant and he's got some neat ideas. I'd go, especially if he makes his Indian-style chicken curry that I haven't had in ages.
* Topics of The Times: Fountains of Garlic (New York Times). i.e., use pre-peeled garlic; it's good! Mmmmmm... lots of garlic...