Headlines from May 14, 2009
- White House's drug czar calls for an end to the War on Drugs, favors treatment over incarceration.
- There was no penalty for being lethal, the way there would be for a flu virus committing immediate host-icide under more normal circumstances. Taking it from the virus's perspective.
- A map displays the state of the European Union, with views from the 27 member nations.
- Jarvis Cocker's kids help him navigate the latest singles; Alan McGee's son is as into the Stone Roses as his dad was 20 years ago.
- On Italo Calvino's abiding influence on post-war fiction, David Mitchell, Salman Rushdie, Dave Eggers, Twilight.
- When you put something in the trash, do you still own it?
- In Thailand, newspapers find they sell more copies when they feature a blood-soaked corpse on the front page.
- Guatemala's president embroiled in a murder scandal--more visceral with the discovery of video his lawyer made before he was killed.
- The stage version of Ben-Hur will be delivered in Latin and Aramaic--only a song by ex-Police drummer will be in English.
- Translated from Aramaic and Latin, Paul Ford's Passion of the Christ blooper reel.
- Photos from early Star Trek conventions, which began in 1972 and were primarily attended by the females of the species.
- Photos of banks that have become other businesses; see also: hospitals turned into homes, prisons turned into hotels.
- Enter a New York address and get a very pretty map that shows how long it'll take to walk everywhere.
- Create your own motivational poster.
- White House again considers major overhaul of financial compensation practices--and not just for banks.
- Norway's "oil-for-leisure program" has ensured solvency and growth and possibly complacency.
- When Democrats lose, they're pathetic. When Republicans lose, they're bitter and mean.
- Op: What the Republicans need right now is their own Bill Clinton.
- Study asks Republicans and Democrats, "How much are the Jews to blame for the financial crisis?"
- Keillor: Crankiness is the birthright of Republicans, and I want in.
- The book of the perfect scream--this is basically the theory manuscript of Klingon music. Klingon-language opera finds home.
- Explorer Scouts now conducting anti-terrorism exercises, presumably when they're not being molested.
- Primer on the actual efficiency of "crazy" 100 SPF sunscreens.
- Video: SNL's Casey Wilson reads hateful message-board comments.
- Notes on reducing video games to their most minimal states.
- Collection of Russian revolutionary periodicals.
- Rob Cockerham introduces the Kindling, a wooden Kindle.
- The Espresso, an "ATM for books," starts printing titles on demand in London.