The Saturday papers: Back in my days as a daily newspaper reporter, the old-timers around the newsroom always said that nobody reads the paper on Saturday. Well, I always do. The paper's skinnier, and so you can polish the whole thing off over lunch.

Today's offerings are particularly good. From The Oregonian comes a nice piece on yesterday's City Club debate between City Council candidates Serena Cruz and Randy Leonard. I voted for Cruz in the primary, but after reading this article, it's becoming clear to me that Leonard is the real agent of change, whereas Cruz is more of the same. Readers of this 'blog know that I agree with Leonard that the City Council has become dysfunctional, and so it looks like he will get my vote in a few weeks. Cranky middle-aged white guys, unite!

On to the national and world scenes in the Saturday New York Times (painless registration required to read online): Two law professors take some well-aimed shots at the medieval public access rules at the United States Supreme Court. A local critic raises some pointed questions about some of the more pie-in-the-sky plans for downtown Manhattan. And Bill Keller, who's been there, explains why the Russian people are rolling their eyes at George W., and at us, his constituents. "Why do they hate us so much?" Read this.

Yep, Saturday's a great day to read the papers.