Headlines from August 22, 2011

Europe wrestles with debt crises; sub-Saharan Africa sees robust growth—a study of two zones.
Dreams in Buenos Aires for poor kids: playing soccer, or joining the violent gangs that run the game.
New biography says Chanel worked for Nazi intelligence—not as a spy, but a facilitator.
People from around the world explain why they love certain numbers.
Martin Amis rediscovers Philip Larkin’s poetry, and includes personal assessment of Larkin the houseguest.
The Harpooned Heart 2: Thunder Down Under by Marge Simpson. List of fictional books from non-print media.
Confessions of a five-star Amazon reviewer, paid for fluff by memoir publishers.
Fans offer cycling racers innovative snacks. #video
Fall sees an uptick in sitcoms about women, starring women, created by women.
BoingBoing gets photographs of NASA’s next Mars rover, Curiosity.
Ellis Island ferry restored for use as home and studio.
Apparently everyone knew about this but us: Rock family trees; e.g., Black Sabbath.
Wedding photos with the undead.
Comics forum sustains entertaining long debate on nonexistent books, characters, and creators.
From February to August, photos from each month of the battle for Libya.
Guardian report finds Prince Charles’s social and environmental charities have crossed into politics.
Texas’s numbers are as good as they look—whether Perry deserves credit is another argument. #opinions
More numbers from Texas: Rick Perry’s college transcript.
Is Hungary returning to a Soviet past, or just putting its people to work?
We owned this city. Now it’s like everywhere else. One giant coffee shop. Opinions vary on America’s drop in serious crime.
Researchers may have found the cause of ALS: when brain cells’ recycling process breaks down.
Mirror experiments show much of sensation is derived from the brain, not nerves.
Movie line rhymes. via #video
How Samuel Morse’s failed art career led him to invent the telegraph.
Hans Litten was a Jewish lawyer who confronted Hitler and cracked the Nazis’ apolitical veneer. #profiles
Search anthropologist claims 90% of Americans don’t know how to search a page using Ctrl+F.
Why the Tappan Zee bridge crosses the Hudson at its widest point.