Free Republic

For the bubbleheaded young Narcissus of myth, the mirror spun a fatal fantasy, and the beautiful boy chose to die by the side of a reflecting pond rather than leave his “beloved” behind. For the aging narcissist of Shakespeare’s 62nd sonnet, the mirror delivered a much-needed whack to his vanity, the sight of a face “beated and chopp’d with tann’d antiquity” underscoring the limits of self-love. Whether made of highly polished metal or of glass with a coating of metal on the back,... --snip-- To scientists, the simultaneous simplicity and complexity of mirrors make them powerful tools for exploring questions...

WASHINGTON--Like fractious brothers whose frequent fighting clouds their fraternal bond, the United States and France have been tormented allies for more than three centuries. From the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 to the Normandy invasion of 1944 and on to the jungles of Indochina in the 1950s and 1960s, American and French sailors and soldiers have fought on the same side. Nearly as often, their leaders have quarreled, pointed fingers and lectured each other about proper behavior on the global stage. "There is no doubt that France and the United States are mirror images of each other," said Jean-Robert Leguey-Feilleux,...