What makes the Journal interesting

That's the Wall Street Journal I'm talking about. Sure, it's the best business paper in the U.S. But, it's the 'middle column' on the front page that moves it beyond business. Take today, for instance.

The column discusses the cleaning habits of Italian women. They are much more rigorous and less interested in convenience than American women. Italians spend 21 hours a week on household chores (excluding cooking); American women spend 4. Italians iron almost everything: sheets, socks, underwear. They also buy more cleaning products than women elsewhere; 72% of them own more than eight cleaning products. And the cleaning thing is not restricted to old women. Most Italian young women want to clean "the way my mother did things".