What I learned in the New York Times during the month of March....
3/1: President Obama still smokes sometimes. 3/2: Many Toyota Camrys built before 2007, which were not subject to recalls, have been linked to a comparable number of speed-control problems as recalled Camrys. 3/3: Hulu is unprofitable. 3/4: In California, a commission of 14 citizens will determine how the State Legislature districts get redrawn. 3/5: According to a new study, the undersea release of methane is underway. 3/6: British and Dutch governments are seeking $5.3 billion in reparations from Iceland for the failure of an Icelandic bank—which is about $65,000 per Icelandic household. 3/7: Members of the Church of Scientology's Sea Organization must sign contracts for a billion years. 3/8: New York City is testing systems that display when the next subway train is expected to arrive. 3/9: While in L.A. for the Academy Awards, the team behind Oscar-winning documentary The Cove—about Japanese dolphin hunting—conducted a sting operation at a restaurant that illegally served whale. 3/10: The U.S. Postal Service made a profit until 2006. 3/11: Dogs can be trained to detect bedbugs and their eggs with 96 percent accuracy. 3/12: Glenn Beck is a Mormon convert. Plus: In Greece, hairdressers may retire with a full pension at age 50 or 55. Plus: Neither Arizona, UConn, not North Carolina will make it to this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament. 3/13: New York City cabbies routinely stole and average of $4–5 per trip by jiggering the meter. Plus: According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the percentage of sexual-harassment claims made by men has doubled over the last two decades. 3/14: In the 1930s, the Supreme Court struck down many of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal programs. 3/15: A Defense Department official set up a network of private contractors in Afghanistan and Pakistan to help track and kill suspected militants. Plus: Somewhere in the country, a significant water line bursts on average every two minutes. 3/16: Michael Jackson's estate sold Sony the right to release 10 albums over the next seven years. 3/17: Protestors in Thailand pooled their blood and dumped it outside the prime minister's compound. 3/18: To cut costs, New York City plans on shortening parade routes. 3/19: For their first performances, the Runaways were billed as "genuine jailbait" and "braless." 3/20: Malcolm X was killed by another member of the Nation of Islam. Plus: Cambodia has temporarily banned its citizens from marrying South Korean men, after two dozen women were sold into marriage by matchmakers. 3/21: Sixteen percent of Americans live in multigenerational families. 3/22: States are getting more aggressive about taxing out-of-state residents who visit for business. Plus: The New York Post is estimated to lose $70 million a year. 3/23: The widely reported fine of $27,500 per passenger to be levied against airlines that keep planes on the tarmac for longer than three hours is the maximum, and the maximum is rarely assessed for consumer-type violations. 3/24: Halibut fishing is restricted to large fish, but now that halibut is being farmed, restaurants can serve it whole. 3/25: People who don't like how they look in one of party photographer Patrick McMullan's photos can pay him to remove it from his website. 3/26: Since 2000, Duke's men's basketball team has made it to the NCAA tournament's round of 16 more than any other team. 3/27: The conservative activists caught tampering with Senator Mary L. Landrieu's phone system were only charged with a misdemeanor. 3/28: Many states are considering new taxes on services such as garbage pickup, haircuts, even clowns. Plus: The Secret Service doesn't let food into the White House. Plus: The Museum of Modern Art "acquired" the @ sign. 3/29: The architecture firm Sanaa won the Pritzker Prize. 3/30: Mark Rothko was commissioned to paint murals for the Four Seasons restaurant, but he declined to deliver them because he was appalled by the clientele. 3/31: New York City decided not to continue a three-year pilot program that paid poor people for such activities as attending school, going to the dentist, and holding down a full-time job.
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