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congress
The TV ads flash the noble faces of American retirees and urge Washington to help protect their savings. The back story is kept rather vague. It's that many older people invested in Puerto Rican bonds. The U.S. territory's economy is in deep crisis, and it
American
They demand granite countertops. We don't. They abhor 20-year-old kitchen cabinets. We don't notice they're 20 years old. They want his-and-her vanities in the master bath. We want to know, what exactly is a "vanity"? Aha, it's a sink. "
female
How many among us recognize the name of Yolande Betbeze Fox, the Alabama beauty who died recently at the age of 87? Fox blazed quite a trail through American culture when, as Miss America of 1951, she refused to reign in a bathing suit. The swimsuit-maker sponsoring the pageant was
san francisco
Many longtime residents of San Francisco, Miami and other hot U.S. cities complain of "Manhattanization" when developers put up 20- or 30-story apartment complexes. In Portland, Oregon, they're debating the wisdom of 40 stories. They should try 100 stories on for size — or not, if
Europe
In America, alleged land of freedom, a 19-year-old soldier just back from Afghanistan can't sidle up to a bar and legally order a beer. In supposedly regulation-crazed Europe, meanwhile, an 18-year-old can order a martini. In the beer-drinking cultures of Belgium and Germany, a 16-year-old can ask for
congress
Puerto Rico is sinking in $73 billion of debt. Mired in a long-running depression, the U.S. territory has already cut essential services to bare bones. Puerto Rico can't fully pay its bondholders without setting off total economic collapse. One of two things can happen, short of doing