Timothy Noah

Spoken language's elaborate rhythms and inflections convey more meaning per word than the printed word.

Customer service, they say, is dead. Actually, it isn't. It's just hiding behind a call center in Manila.

If you want to slow medical inflation in the private sector, it makes sense to expand the government's investment in private health care.

At the insistence of the Bush administration, Congress in 2006 passed legislation that required the Postal Service to prefund, over a 10-year period, 75 years of future retiree health benefits.

Democrats were quick to point out that President Bush's budget creates a 1 trillion dollar deficit. The White House quickly responded with 'Hey, look over there, it's Saddam Hussein.'

Life would pall if it were all sugar; salt is bitter if taken by itself; but when tasted as part of the dish, it savours the meat. Difficulties are the salt of life.