Below are simple links to other interesting stuff I've come across on the web in the last day or two; they may or may not concern literature or photography, or indeed the arts at all. You can click here to learn more about how I compile this list and what software I use, if you're interested.

Ticket sales for "Joe Turner" double after Obama visit
The Obama Bump? Ticket sales this weekend for the Broadway show "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" were double the amount of the weekend before, after the Obamas made a surprise appearance there this week during a "date to a Broadway show I promised my wife during the campaign," according to the always charming, Gulfstream-commandeering President. (Dude, you are RUINING it for the rest of us schlubby males.)

Will Poland make 2012 euro deadline?
A nerdy but interesting article from the always great GlobalPost.com, looking at the complications Poland still has before switching over officially to the euro currency, like they're supposed to in 2012. I find this part of the EU fascinating, frankly, all the profound sweeping things a country has to accomplish before being allowed to take on EU things -- like how before a nation can start using the euro (a big boost to the economy when it's a struggling post-Communist country, like Poland exactly is), they have to meet benchmarks regarding their current currency's stability, also need to have it hover within 15 percent of the value of the euro itself for two years in a row, and all kinds of other "don't drag the rest of us down" minimum requirements. Poland's in very real danger of not meeting these goals by 2012, it turns out; and no one's quite sure what that means for the public's faith in the current economy there, during this global recession right now.

Will Egypt speech this week see announcement of "Obama Doctrine?"
Everyone's getting excited about Obama's speech in Egypt this week, because most believe he'll use the opportunity to profoundly redefine the US's official relationship with the Muslim world. And why is a single symbolic speech so important, some may ask? Because that speech can eventually lead to thousands of legally binding changes among all the underlings in the federal bureaucracy -- from new laws to new treaties to new business partnerships, airport policies and a lot more. The fancy word for it is "doctrine," which means exactly what I'm talking about: it's a philosophical statement by a President (like the Monroe Doctrine from 1812: "We're sick of Europe fighting their proxy wars on North American soil") which leads to actual, quantifiable actions (the Seminole War, the Spanish American War, US territories in the Caribbean, etc etc). This could turn into the "Obama Doctrine," defining a bold new direction for the US in the Middle East, which is why it's so anticipated.