[liamkf]

Hmm, it seems like they're pretty much interchangeable at this point: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Insure

[andrewljohnson]

It's true you can be lenient about this, but the Associated Press style is to distinguish: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/assure.html. I would have thought the Times would follow suit.

They really are two different words.