Sahara Forest Project uses sunlight and seawater to produce food, fuel, and drinking water. A pilot plant will be constructed near the Red Sea in Jordan (1/21/11) – MSNBC.com

Hollywood is obsessed with explosive – and expensive – stunts. And those who have to perform them are paying the price (Saturday, 15 January 2011) – The Independent (UK)

Courtesy’s Sad Substitute (1/14/11) – Wall Street Journal  A decade ago Amtrak started designating “Quiet Cars” in which there was to be no cellphone yammering, no insect-like buzzing or muted thumping bleeding from headphones, no keening conversations. Now commuter lines are finally following suit.

Related: Colonial Manners, Based on the Exercise of a Schoolboy* – The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation George Washington, sometime before the age of 16, transcribed Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour In Company and Conversation. (Original errors in numbering have been corrected; original spelling is unchanged.)

 Beijing boasts in Times Square, but are they really Chinese?(1/21/11) – MSNBC.com – The video is supposed to introduce the U.S. – and the world – to Chinese people who have excelled and brought Chinese citizens a sense of pride.But it wasn’t long before someone posted a discovery on Twitter: At least three celebrities shown in the video are U.S. citizens; even more have permanent residency status in the U.S.