Dismembering the morning New York Times and spilling Honey Nut Cheerios all over some random section is one of life’s little pleasures, but it’s always best to take a quick run through the whole paper.

How else would I have found out that the Bush Administration called off the hunt for weapons of mass destruction? It was buried on page 10, a couple of hundread words. On a normal day, the hoopla about the ancient grape varieties of Campania in southern Italy would have completely distracted me.

Pfui. The Washington Post and even CN-bloody-N gave this little number the space it deserved right up front. Even the online Times relegates it to the “other” column on their International page.

Some days, the Gray Lady is looking mighty shabby. At least I can still take solace in Paul Krugman’s bracing work debunking this year’s shell game–the “privatization” of Social Security. Biff! Bap! Pow!