We also were able to go to a fashion--a hair show--excuse me--in London, and here in America, we went to salons in Washington, DC, and also in New York City, and we asked friends to recommend women to us which we thought would give us a great story and also had a unique hairstyle.

NPR: 'Queens': Black Women, Fabulous Hair

Meanwhile, General Petraeus has suggested he may recommend a reduction in US troop numbers in Iraq.

BBC: NEWS | Middle East | Iraqis fail US Congress targets

In a world with more choices and less clarity about what we should buy or how we should feel about products and services, what leads us to recommend, stay loyal to, purchase from, or give the benefit of doubt to certain companies?

FORBES: America's Most Reputable Companies

The US has similar institutions: I recommend this great Times profile of the York Preparatory School, which is a roughly similar story.

FORBES: Does Higher Education Need To Go Back To The Fifties?