To Tip or Not to Tip

·         I write to you from Boston where I’m relaxing and having fun (read: eating and watching TV). Here are some articles on the subject of tipping, something we were discussing over lunch yesterday:
Will you be stuck with a fixed service charge the next time you go out to dinner? One restaurant in Manhattan is going the European way.
We all like to think we pay a tip based on how good the service was. Well, waiters do certain things that prove to increase their tip regardless of service!
How much should you tip? This guide might help.

·         If the American military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan lasts another five years, the total cost of the war could stretch to more than $1.3 trillion. Op-Ed Contributor:  The Trillion-Dollar War .

·         "FOR YEARS, Muslims have been criticized for their seeming complacency about Islamic terrorism. Time and again, Islamist radicals have committed some savagery, and time and again non-Muslims have wondered why there was no outcry of condemnation from the Islamic world. Let a fictional TV show depict Muslims unflatteringly, and Muslim spokesmen thunder in outrage.” Full piece.

·         "In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted."  (Bertrand Russell)