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Bruce Feirstein

Hug It Out, Al!

Memo to: Al Gore

From: Ari Gold

Subject: Your Oscar Speech

Dear Al:

Before I go any further here, allow me to apologize in advance for calling you “Al,” as opposed to “Mr. Vice President.”

Sure, it might seem overly familiar.

But Al—dude—VeepMan—now that you’ve got the Oscar nomination and you’re officially in show business, Read More

People, Please! Limit Terms Such As—Well, ‘Term Limits’

Every year, the media tends to beat certain words, phrases and concepts to death. Remember the Axis of Evil? Hanging chads? Soccer moms? Shock and awe?

Forget overexposure. These things quickly clock past cliché and head right into the Green Zone (ding—there’s one!) of cultural irrelevancy.

This year, in an attempt to get ahead Read More

Are You Rich— Or Super-Rich? Baby, Take My Quiz!

As close readers of The New York Times will attest, the paper of record has recently thrown itself headlong into what is unquestionably the most pressing social issue of our time: the ever-growing economic disparity between the rich and the super-rich.

In a series of hard-hitting articles, the paper has examined everything from the tyranny Read More

Are You Rich- Or Super-Rich? Baby, Take My Quiz!

As close readers of The New York Times will attest, the paper of record has recently thrown itself headlong into what is unquestionably the most pressing social issue of our time: the ever-growing economic disparity between the rich and the super-rich.

In a series of hard-hitting articles, the paper has examined everything from the Read More

Bargaining in Beijing: Zing Went My Strings—Boy, China Is Big!

BEIJING—I’m standing on the third floor of a multi-story shopping center not far from Tiananmen Square known as the Silk Market. It’s sort of like a horizontal version of Canal Street, although this hardly does it justice: There are literally hundreds of stalls spread out over six stories, selling everything from real Chinese silks to Read More

Bargaining in Beijing: Zing Went My Strings-Boy, China Is Big!

BEIJING—I’m standing on the third floor of a multi-story shopping center not far from Tiananmen Square known as the Silk Market. It’s sort of like a horizontal version of Canal Street, although this hardly does it justice: There are literally hundreds of stalls spread out over six stories, selling everything from real Chinese silks to Read More

I.M., I Said! The Medium Is The Instant Message

As anyone under the age of 52 can attest, the era of e-mail is over. It’s been supplanted by instant-messaging: a quicker, shorter and far more effective means of conducting interpersonal communications in our fast-paced 24/7 society. Of course, with this has come an entirely new lexicon of abbreviations and acronyms, along with a new Read More

Mosque Remember This: Bin Laden Burning Man At Culver City Shrine

The largest mosque in Southern California is located in Culver City, just south of Beverly Hills, not far from the Sony Pictures movie lot.

The blue-and-white-tiled building—with an imposing four-story minaret that resembles a USAF Delta missile—was built on Washington Boulevard in 1998 to accommodate 2,000 worshipers. It sits in the middle of a Read More

Mosque Remember This: Bin Laden Burning Man At Culver City Shrine

The largest mosque in Southern California is located in Culver City, just south of Beverly Hills, not far from the Sony Pictures movie lot.

The blue-and-white-tiled building—with an imposing four-story minaret that resembles a USAF Delta missile—was built on Washington Boulevard in 1998 to accommodate 2,000 worshipers. It sits in the middle of a working-class Read More

An Angeleno’s Angst: Red-Hot Temps, Pink Slips

As I sit down to write this diary, it’s been 103 degrees in Los Angeles for six days running.

The sky is yellow; the wind is hot; a fine white ash from distant brushfires has begun falling—like summer snowflakes—on cars left outside to broil in the sun.

The power grid has been pushed Read More