Headlines from December 5, 2012

Even the White House wanted tighter restrictions on drones, in case the program fell into the wrong hands: Romney’s.
Russia’s current political climate: “Everyone knows (and has evidence) that everyone else has been skimming money.”
New York real estate developers continue to ignore risks, unveil plans for housing within the flood plain.
The sperm count of French men dropped by 32.3% between 1989 and 2005.
India takes aim at the nagging problem of public urinators.
Bloomberg challenges designers to reinvent the payphone.
New personal devices can monitor and diagnose medical conditions—it’s the first step toward a tricorder. #technology
Scientists develop a breath test that can diagnose bowel cancer with overall 76% accuracy. #health
Related: Paging Dr. Google. #tmn
Fantastic: GIFs of chemistry and physics experiments. #science
Jay-Z very sweetly explains who he is to a woman on the subway. #video
Once a health food for the elite, now peanut butter is the everyman sandwich filling. #food
Find out how you can become a judge in the 2013 Tournament of Books. #therooster
German publishers use paper from endangered rainforests to print children’s books. #books
Sarasota County police investigate if an unsolved murder from 1959 may have been committed by the same pair from In Cold Blood.
Her starrise has come to a stop at a moderate level. Nabokov pitches astronaut melodrama to Hitchcock.
Death toll from southern Philippines typhoon passes 270.
Insourcing boom: General Electric and others begin returning manufacturing to the United States.
Republican leaders punish Tea Party loyalists and other back-benchers.
In case you needed another reason to hate Congressional Republicans: Meet the Sovereigntists.
Obama considering Vogue’s Anna Wintour for diplomat to UK or France.
Britain’s recession, 40,000 dead in Syria, and other stories you won’t hear about because Kate Middleton is pregnant.
It’s hard, but don’t stress out! Snooki offers parenting advice to the royal couple.
Increasing numbers of Middle Eastern men going under the knife to attain the perfect mustache.
Related: Pictures of Turkey’s Ibrahim Tatlises, mustache king.
Study finds preemptive ibuprofen use, to combat muscle soreness, offers no benefits, only damages.
Thirteen minutes of Russian traffic accidents. #video
San Francisco can become a world capital; first it needs to get over itself. #opinions
Behavior complaints up 25% on French trains; offenders may be sent on “citizenship courses.”
At four-year American universities, 43% of all grades are As—increase of 28% since 1960.
If you enjoyed yesterday’s reviews of 2012’s best board games, here are archives going back to 2005. #tmn
In recommending the magazine that refuses Southern clichés, Dwight Garner can’t refuse Southern clichés.
Gina Gershon, you shocked me raw! John Waters’ best films of 2012. via
Gift for writers in your family: Literary Journal of the Month Club.
Short true story of the Japanese porn actor who died in a kamikaze attack on a right-wing leader in 1976.