Quality journalism

Anyone remember buying cereal as a kid?

For a long time, I chose my breakfast based on two criteria: how much chocolate/candy was in the supposedly nutritious food, and what the toy was. A cereal worth anything at all had at least some sort of prize buried in the box. As I recall, it was usually right near the bottom, so that you either had to eat the cereal quickly and hope your sibling didn't steal the toy, or reach in, root around, and contaminate the box in your quest for treasure. I tended to be impatient, but there were so many chemicals in kids' cereals that I don't think the contamination ever did anyone much harm.

I buy my Sunday paper like I used to buy cereal - by the quality of the freebie inside. British Sunday papers, for whatever reason, give readers something random as an incentive. Today's offerings included a National Geographic DVD of India's empires, a Charlotte's Web color poster, a pack of cookies (to be picked up at a certain store), and my particular favorite, Culture Club: Greatest Hits, Volume 1. Volume 2 is available next week.

I'm no big fan of Culture Club, but heck, it was better than the poster, and the paper had a giant picture of Britney Spears's shorn head above the fold. That, my friends, is world news.