Interesting Articles 09-02

Ya know, it is one thing to emigrate to a new country and have your name "anglicized", its quite another to have your own government force you to change your family name for its own convenience after owning it for hundreds of years. Chinese villagers forced to change untypable name

What a $330,000,000 waste - Groups win grants to develop new student assessment systems

How Barack Obama Became Mr. Unpopular Ummm, could it be by cramming down the throats of the American people some of the most unpopular government policies and debt since John Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Act?

In more confiding moments, aides admit that the peak of Obama's popularity may have been inflated, a fleeting result of elation at the prospect of change and national pride in electing the first African-American President. As one White House aide puts it, "It was sort of fake."

Ya think?

Money and power are an ugly combination in Congress - Richest lawmakers grew wealthier as economy faltered

And yet people buy them. Market demands? 6 Outrageously Overpriced Products