Quoted: Absinthe is legal again, and the romance of belle époque naughtiness must give way to what’s in the glass. The tasting panel sampled 20 bottles of the spirit.

redot

Quoted: The wide, smiling face of Sheikh Mohammed – the absolute ruler of Dubai – beams down on his creation. His image is displayed on every other building, sandwiched between the more familiar corporate rictuses of Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders. This man has sold Dubai to the world as the city of One Thousand and One Arabian Lights, a Shangri-La in the Middle East insulated from the dust-storms blasting across the region. He dominates the Manhattan-manqué skyline, beaming out from row after row of glass pyramids and hotels smelted into the shape of piles of golden coins. And there he stands on the tallest building in the world – a skinny spike, jabbing farther into the sky than any other human construction in history.

Quoted: Let's Play! Weekly activities for your baby's first year

Travels With Baby in Iceland

Earth Day 2009

Quoted: Information about the oceans will be the most significant of several upgrades to Google Earth.

We saw one of these the other day.

Quoted: Information about the endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus and what you can do to save it.

The Pit of Life and Death

And now, water problems in the east.

Quoted: Last-minute measures to combat a drought in the Southeast belie a history of inaction when it comes to managing and conserving water.