HERE ARE SNIPPETS FROM THIS EDITION'S OPENING FEATURES:

STEVE VIVIAN ON MICHAEL MOORE: " ... Rather than a friend of the working stiff, so goes the charge, Moore merely patronizes the rube ... a species of blue collar whom, if they followed the dinosaurs into the tar pits, would not be missed by the haughty liberals. Indeed, the entire fatuous PC crowd typically dismisses Actual Working Class People as primitive exotics, drinking domestic beer at the bowling alley, then coming home to the Fox News network.

But let's acknowledge the other side of the matter: if the blue collar crowd really did disappear, the business classes would be delighted. Like the liberal smart set, the learned business classes have little respect for labor either. For both the Left and the Right, Actual Working Class People are stage props, trotted out on Veteran's Day and the Fourth of July to demonstrate red state solidarity for Joe Six Pack and his wife Connie who loves Wal-Mart.

Sure, Michael Moore lampoons the working-class crowd, patting it on the head and winking at the camera. But much of the Right is equally disingenuous: even as it points out what a smart-aleck Leftists like Moore are, the Right rolls its eyes at labor. It's just kind of sad, clucks the Right, that these Neanderthal union members cling to a fading past. What's wrong with them? Why can't they get with the new global world order? Don't they read The Economist or The Weekly Standard? ... "


BRAD BALFOUR WITH ALFONSO CUARON: "G21: DID SOME OF THE CREW SAY, WHO'S THIS MEXICAN GUY?

AC: The best thing about directing British actors is that, with my bad English, they were always thinking that I was saying something genius and then they wouldn't do what I was asking them to do but what they thought I was saying. And that was great. If they had done what I was asking them to do it would have been a fiasco but they would say 'oh yeah that's a great idea' - and I didn't think of that - I'd say 'yeah it's great.' When I started prepping [for this film], Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN opened in London and it was a huge hit. Suddenly they went from 'Who's that Mexican?' to 'Whoa, we're working with an artist.' ... "


NGOZI RAZAK-SOYEBI ON WOMEN'S HANDBAGS: "Worries?

Pause. ... Think. Have you ever wondered what women carry in handbags - some the size of waste disposal units - that men carry in wallets?

Worries?

Show me a woman who'll dare step out without her handbag - bar the occasional visit to the drugstore round the corner - and I'll show you a woman without worries.

I reaffirm this belief when I take a closer look at the contents of my handbag:

• A key holder with no less than twelve keys, some of which have long outlived their usefulness - Reason: What if I discard one of them and discover soon after that it unlocks the chest to a hidden treasure?
  
• A spare key to my car tucked away in the inner compartment - Reason: It will come in handy if I accidentally lock myself out of my car.
  
• A compact - Reason: A girl's got to look good all the time. And what if I run into an old friend from school and she thinks I've run into hard times?
  
• Mobile phone - Reason: A girl needs to keep in touch all the time, right? Plus, what if I have a breakdown in the middle of nowhere and need to reach my mechanic?
  
• Address book - Reason: What if I lose my mobile phone?
  
• Mini sewing kit - Reason: Ever stepped out of a car to the harrowing sound of a ripped slit?
  
• Wallet - Yes, a wallet inside a handbag. Reason: Don't want to be caught empty-handed when I spy that special bargain.
  
• A roll of chewing gum - Like a friend once put it in my university days, pulling out a roll of chewing gum from your handbag at a party translates into a dance guaranteed. Remember that line, 'Care for a gum?' with the roll thrust under a hunk's nose. Oh, well, that was then. Now, I've got an entirely different reason for the gum. It keeps hunger at bay and stops the weight from piling on.
  
• Dental floss - Reason: It will never do to be caught with a piece of meat stuck in between my front teeth.
  
• An extra pair of breast-pads - Reason: Well, I just had a baby. Go figure!

We guard jealously the contents of our handbags. Little wonder with breast-pads jostling for space with mobiles and chewing gums! Recently, though, I spied the contents of a friend's bag and she had, amongst other things, a compact umbrella the size of a torch, just in case the weather turns wet, and - don't laugh - a spare set of fresh underwear for ? Your guess is as good as mine. ... "

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