Newley Purnell

McDonald’s has left Bolivia for good.

Maureen Dowd weighs in on Kissinger leading the September 11th investigation: “If you want to get to the bottom of something, you don’t appoint Henry Kissinger. If you want to keep others from getting to the bottom of something, you appoint Henry Kissinger.” (New York Times; free registration required.)

Stephen Moore says we should stop whining and start giving thanks: Americans living today have it better than ever before.

Slate provides some good, concise analysis of what President Lucio Gutierrez’s rise to power means for Ecuador.

The Boston Globe is running an interesting profile of Ha Jin, author of the novel “Waiting,” which won the National Book Award in 1999. When I was in college, I took several poetry classes with Jin; he’s extremely smart and is a genuinely nice man.

I’m not a Mac enthusiast, but I like the “Switch” TV campaign because the ads are simple and direct and compelling–they feature real people who look into the camera and tell their stories. (Also, I like the quirky music.) I just discovered that the commercials are directed by one of my favorite documentarians, Errol Morris. And his son–friend of Ellen Feiss, the “Apple It Girl”–is in one of the spots.

BBC News: “A secret population of orang-utans has been discovered in the forests of the island of Borneo.”

PRANGSTGRUP: LIBRARY MUSICAL.

The Guide Horse Foundation: “A non-profit charity dedicated to providing free guides for visually impaired individuals.”

Backyard wrestling. You gotta love it.