One of the world's great wetlands was reduced to a dusty plain.

NPR: Iraq's Marshlands Face A Second Death By Drought

Hitchings nods at Orwell respectfully but still has questions about the campaign for plain English to which the great man contributed so heavily.

NEWYORKER: The English Wars

The great teacher thought this would make it plain that the real problem with international arms treaties was not a lack of verification but a total lack of penalties once violations have been detected.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Saddam's Lessons In Arms Control

In a way, this is curious, because the bank has gone to great lengths to try to make its thinking plain.

ECONOMIST: The terrible twos begin | The

In every case it turns out that the transformative leader is just plain smarter than his peers but is also a person of great personal courage and conviction.

FORBES: Politics Is Hollywood For Ugly People

Yet because anti-trans-fat researchers have done a great job of public relations, their preferences are allowed to trump common sense and plain old goodwill toward fellow human beings.

FORBES: The Government That Stole Christmas