Headlines from December 18, 2012
- Boehner goes alone on “fiscal cliff” deal, introducing back-up plan.
- [The Republican] party is a threat to democratic discourse and to fiscal sanity. Their ideological mania knows no prudential restraint at all.
- Even in gun circles, Freedom Group’s industry domination is a mystery.
- Argument for using the phrase “gun safety” in place of “gun control.”
- Assault-weapon shoppers at a gun fair in New Orleans say the only good gun control is more guns.
- Researchers rage against the “more guns” argument, pointing out that “more guns” unequivocally equals “more death.”
- Study finds most children who live through gun trauma are likely to get better, though “better” is relative.
- Related: In case you haven’t seen the cover of today’s Daily News.
- Ke$ha’s new single “Die Young” yanked from the radio after Newtown massacre.
- Short film on the “overview effect” — the profound feeling that grips astronauts when they see our planet hang in space. #video
- So, it’s about whistling… Round-up of the very worst rap songs of the year.
- See also: Pitchfork’s best of 2012.
- History and liner notes for familiar Christmas songs you thought you knew. #tmn
- From Gwyneth Paltrow to John Mayer, white people who believe their “hood pass” allows them to use the n-word.
- Secretary from 1960s-era Playboy explains what Mad Men was really like. #tmn
- Mike Bloomberg’s six steps for Obama and Congress to improve gun control.
- Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management to begin selling its investment in gunmaker Freedom Group after Newtown shooting.
- NRA goes silent on social media and appears to have yanked its Facebook page.
- Alan Taylor’s “In Focus” photography blog selects pictures of mourning in Newtown and around the world.
- Related: Jason Kottke appears to have dedicated his blog to (excellent) gun-control coverage.
- Incomplete round-up of gun violence that has occurred in America since Newtown.
- Deep investigation finds Wal-Mart has been an aggressive, creative corrupter in Mexico, bribing nearly everyone to get its way.
- People still like to go to the movies! A.O. Scott’s best films of the year.
- The worst word of 2012, i.e., the word in greatest need of temporary retirement, is “bubble.”
- New issue of Lapham’s Quarterly features historical essays about intoxication.
- “Mindfulness” tips we can take from the example of Sherlock Holmes. via
- Creating a brand new, philosophically precise language is all well and good until the anti-Semites arrive. #longreads
- Excerpt of writing from and Q&A with Russian triple-threat author Mikhail Shishkin. #tmn
- Man armed with maps from 1901 and many obscure smartphone apps tries to peel back a city’s layers.
- Underwater photography during the annual sardine run off the coast of South Africa.
- In case you didn’t know, there once was a dog bred specifically for kitchen service: the turnspit dog.
- Tribute to Boston Globe’s blind date service and its follow-up accounts of dates gone well, poorly, or all-out awful.
- Popular card-game company reveals how it spent its holiday profits: on fresh boar sperm (sort of).