Headlines from October 20, 2009

In the Middle East, force often trumps diplomacy, though winning a battle can still lose a war.
Op: Tens of millions are suffering and Wall Street is printing money--where's the outrage?
Chart shows D.C. and Baltimore with 1:1 ratios of job postings to unemployed persons.
Fifty phrases to eradicate from the workplace (and the more predictable Esquire version).
Arguing the First Amendment case for protecting (or not) the encouragement of murder.
Finland makes internet access a legal right.
Account of an uprising at the nation's largest private prison.
Inmates learn compassion by consoling dying inmates.
Dutch journalism students comb newspapers for errors and serve pies to offending journalists.
Almost everyone reads; now authorship is growing tenfold.
Many Arabs are poor due to terrible educations; governments respond by promoting private academies.
Bogus H1N1 cures include water filters, biohazard coveralls, and "Flu Away" inhalers.
I have noticed among those I meet a tincture of incredulity. Confessions of a gay congressional spouse.
Creepy vintage ads.
Blind-tasting Bordeaux with Robert Parker can remind you that all palates are fallible.
Democrats busy writing national health proposals with many variations--including a public option.
New Japanese verb: "obamu" (to Obama).
After nearly five centuries, the Catholic Church welcomes Anglicans back into the fold.
#drac: Kevin Fanning notes the most annoying accents in Dracula, in order of annoyingness.
"Maybe I could help you with the jokes." How I turned Woody Allen into a comic strip.
Video: The scene in Annie Hall where the comic strip became a cartoon.
Black Death's not dead--and it's poised for a comeback.
The secret to finding extraterrestrial life: Follow the trash.
How those iPhone apps that listen to songs and figure out what they are work.
First names in the lyrics of popular songs, 1891-present.
So I'm finally writing the novel. It's about a midget piano player in Long Island who marries a supermodel.
An examination of the American obsession with catching foul balls at baseball games.
Sometimes, the baseball team wants its ball back.
How to make your own Shake Shack burger (the "Fake Shack").