Headlines from November 27, 2012
- Despite national losses, Republicans won supermajorities in statehouses across the South and Great Plains. #politics
- Don’t believe Call of Duty: There won’t be a cold war between China and the U.S. over rare earth minerals.
- China’s Communist Party newspaper congratulates Kim Jong-un on being named “Sexiest Man Alive” by the Onion.
- India stamps new Chinese passports—which show disputed territory as China’s—with “corrected” map.
- Oh Devi Ma, please let us learn English! “Hinglish” could be India’s future language.
- Book claims former OED editor tried to rewrite dictionary to be more Anglocentric.
- Collected tragic endings from the Choose Your Own Adventure series.
- Clemens and Bonds would be automatic Hall of Fame inductees next year were it not for looming steroid questions. #baseball
- San Antonio school district under fire for tracking students with microchips—attendance equals more budget dollars.
- The United States is a nation of explorers. SpaceX founder wants to send 80,000 colonists to Mars.
- Scott Kelly preps for a year at the ISS—the most consecutive days an American has spent in space.
- How a woman’s struggle with oversleeping changed our basic knowledge of the phenomenon.
- Dr. Feldman identified a new manifestation of the syndrome, one that isn’t listed in the DSM-IV…Munchausen syndrome by internet. via
- Confidential police documents about Romney accidentally used as confetti in Thanksgiving parade.
- It wasn’t the Russian winter that stopped Napoleon—it was the constant attacks by swarms of Cossacks and peasants. #history
- U.S. fiscal cliff and eurozone debt crisis viewed as biggest risks to the global economy.
- Legs may be stronger, but arms and hands are smarter. Afghanistan veteran learns how to use a prosthetic arm.
- Israel Defense Forces’ PR rep poses in blackface, calling it “Obama style.”
- Colbert on the biggest problem with Homeland: Everyone gets terrific cell-phone service everywhere.
- Portraits of extraordinary mums, a uniquely Texan homecoming tradition. via
- See also: Exactly what are Texan mums.
- Welcome to the refrigeration age, with design innovations in shipping containers and meat-ageing lockers.
- Remembrance of early Roman geography as we prepare today for heat waves, severe drought, and major floods.
- Airports’ smoking lounges affect air in nearby non-smoking areas.
- Overview of narcotics production now that we admit the war on drugs has failed. #longreads
- In pictures: UK’s Poultry Club 2012 national show.
- Outright world sailing speed record broken off Namibia. #video
- Hong Kong’s A-list tutors considered royalty, with faces plastered on buses and billboards.
- I don’t pick baby names. I sculpt them. Satire, but just barely: Bob Powers on artisanal baby-naming.
- Study finds people make more rational decisions about money when operating in a foreign language.
- Improv Everywhere spends Black Friday camped outside a Dollar Store. #video
- How do I justify laughing at this joke? Analyzing a joke about a pedophile.
- Website to help you keep track of exactly how many people are in space right now. via
- Truman Capote’s last book embarrassed his friends, practically killed him, and remains missing.