Headlines from January 4, 2012

Musician Youssou N’Dour announces Senegal presidential bid.
According to Reuters, Syria has killed 132 people since the Arab League’s monitors arrived last week.
Investment banks are run by psychopaths who single-mindedly pursue self-enrichment.
Top economists of 2011 ranked by Google search interest—Krugman, Singh, Draghi.
Proof that Monopoly is out of date.
Related: 2011 reviewed in Tweets. #video
The Cartography and Geographic Information Society’s 38th annual Best of Show award went to “a dude working in an Oregon farmhouse.”
Dramatic story of Coya Knutson’s 1950s run from an abusive husband and for Congress.
In case you feared you couldn’t get enough Dave Eggers, now you can shower with Dave Eggers.
But as is often the case with digitization, the boon carries a bane. Once books go digital, they’re never done.
Rifftrax audio adds heckling to movies you watch on DVD.
Those who learn 11 languages or more—hyperpolyglots—“simply enjoy tasks that are drudgery to normal people.”
Comic: Sometimes puns kill.
Secular humanism and the value of Scooby Doo.
It is tempting to look at Bach as a unifying force. Interview with virtuoso bassist Edgar Meyer.
Profile of basketball prodigy Satnam Singh Bhamara, who could become India’s Yao Ming.
After slim win in Iowa, Romney looks ahead to New Hampshire with great expectations.
Analysis of Putinism—Putin has “neither the capacity nor the ambition to rebuild a Soviet-style hierarchy.” via
Flashpoints for 2012, and why certain regions can expect conflict.
If you’re not willing to cheat, steal, murder and bribe then you don’t come to power. Guidelines for would-be dictators.
Fencer, fight choreographer, Darth Vader double Bob Anderson dies at 89.
Taliban to set up political office, possibly in Qatar—a “gesture of good faith” to resume negotiations.
Twenty-five things Irish people are looking forward to this year.
Regarding the Irish real-estate debacle: “Developers,” by Alice Lyons.
In the late 1800s, anxious and tired male intellectuals—Whitman, Teddy Roosevelt—took the “West cure,” e.g., roping, rough-riding.
“You heard that Iowa is a bunch of knee-jerk reactionaries? Fuck you.” Video correction to media bias.
Winners announced from contest for Metafilter’s best posts.
Photograph of spume overwhelming cars in Britain’s Fylde Coast.
See also: Figurative sand sculptures.
Free cabin porn. via
Uh Oh. Construction workers please note: Somebody just built a 20-foot tower near Paris using flying robots. No people involved.