Headlines from February 14, 2013
- American Airlines and US Airways confirm $11-billion merger, and will operate together under the American brand.
- CBS footage of a gun battle from the final stage of the manhunt for Christopher Dorner. #video
- At first just a dull ache, then a hot, brittle feeling in the skull. Quest to end the miserable migraines. #tmn
- Addiction to “ataya”—a hot, strong tea—becoming a threat to society in Sierra Leone.
- The legal high market is becoming an informal opt-in drug-testing experiment with paying subjects.
- New Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue criticized for using non-westerners as “ethnic props” to sell boobs and bikinis.
- Honeycomb of solar walls credited with 19th-century peach-growing success.
- Burglar in Canada’s safest town returns family’s stolen goods, includes note of apology and $50 for the broken door.
- New mark of punctuation proposed for the digital era: The ElRey Mark.
- Mona Lisa hanging in the Louvre could be a copy of a Swiss original.
- Related: Mona Lisa painted in the various styles of famous artists. #tmn
- Hilary Mantel on Buckingham Palace, Kate Middleton, Diana, and why she looks upon the current Queen as meat.
- The life and times of the Bristol kid who would become Banksy.
- It takes a long time for an audience to relax on Monday nights, and other things Thom Yorke has learned.
- His life as a pope so vile, so foul, so execrable, that I shudder to think of it. Brief profiles of other popes who quit on the job.
- Seal tries to engulf photographer, then attempts to nurture him with dead penguins for four and a half days. #video
- Liberals support Obama’s foreign policy for the same reason they backed George W. Bush—because they’re interventionist. #opinions
- “10 Food Documentaries to Stream on Netflix Tonight” includes the terrific Kings of Pastry.
- See also: The complete Beatles songbook covered on ukelele. #video
- Y’all are the monkeys. Don’t project your monkey on us. Westminster Dog Show champion Banana Joe defends affenpinschers.
- Related: Barbaro the injured horse sends replies to his fan mail. #tmn
- Powerless Carnival cruise returns to port labeled a “floating petri dish.”
- Mosh pits teach researchers about collective behavior, with people moving “a lot like gas particles.”
- Graphic: States with higher rates of gun ownership tend to have higher rates of suicide than states with less gun ownership.
- Since Newtown, 1,793 or more Americans have died from guns.
- During routine trip to the grocery store, Frenchman’s car accelerates to 125 mph and remains there for an hour.
- Natasha Vargas-Cooper on the complexities of sentencing a 10-year-old who grew up to kill his Nazi father.
- For every shark bite, 25 people are bitten by New Yorkers. Radio 4 on how Jaws inspired marine biologists and created the summer blockbuster. #audio
- Neil DeGrasse Tyson: “The space program enabled tomorrow to exist today.” #video
- Record number of malnourished and dehydrated sea lion pups needing care in LA for no clear reason.