Headlines from February 21, 2013

Human Rights Watch report finds Mexican security forces participated in 250 disappearances under President Calderon.
Google releases video to demonstrate life under its new product Glass—smartphone functionality embedded in a pair of eyeglasses. #video
Tableau portraits of London’s bus stops. #photography #tmn
Perhaps the only thing better than Girl Scout cookies: Girl Scout cookie cooking.
Overview of current food television finds amateurism isn’t very interesting, unlike Emeril Lagasse.
Sean Flynn of GQ profiles the Pope’s personal butler who amassed and leaked confidential documents out of love for his boss.
No visitors, she said. Under no conditions. I don’t care who it is. What happens when Annie Dillard turns you into a writer. #tmn
Gay Talese’s outline/map for “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold,” written on a shirt board.
See also: “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold.” #longreads
RIP Kevin Ayers, founding member of pioneering psychedelic band The Soft Machine.
Scientists urge people in the rich world to become “demitarians” —eating half as much meat as usual, but stopping short of quitting.
Proposal for sartorial innovation: the Reading Jacket, meaning a sport coat, but with a game pocket to store books.
History of the phrase, “It’s X’s world, we just live in it.”
“Banksy Mural Chiseled Off London Wall, Reappears at U.S. Auction.”
Gallery of street art by Swoon, who compares herself to a bug with twigs on its back. #tmn
Short film explores the “overview effect”—response to seeing Earth from space—through interviews with astronauts. #video
Reporters in Syria see no end in sight, only “bloody stalemates” in Damascus and Aleppo.
Pictures of DIY guns, vehicles, and explosives used by Syrian rebels. #photography
Four grand ayatollahs issue fatwas against Iran’s first 3G provider, cautioning against risks posed to family life by video calls.
When more than 800 police officers and a helicopter are deployed to evict a family in Berlin, people see a shortage of affordable housing.
In case you missed it: The GQ excerpt from Paris, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down, by TMN’s Rosecrans Baldwin.
Whale. Player. Baller. Deep Ocean. Big list of jargon used by sommeliers to identify customers, wines, and more. via
Measuring a single-malt scotch’s prestige by its age is a marketing ploy, not a true judge of value—and many other notes from the distillery trade. #longreads
Very funny fake menu created for Guy Fieri’s lambasted New York restaurant, including salad with a hose of ranch.
I recognized, then, the mortality of foods. Pitchaya Sudbanthad on the most difficult Thai dessert you’ll never make: Ja Mongkut.
Nine months of research produce remarkable report about life in Pakistan during America’s drone/terror campaign.
Detective in Pistorius case himself faces seven charges of attempted murder.
What 4,000-year-old DNA teaches us about evolution and paleofantasy: Fish out of water are forever.
TMN’s Clay Risen on the path of contemporary Civil War research, including a movement to put the war in an international context.
Tumblr of the day: Head Like an Orange, producing meditative nature GIFs.
All the thieves need to do to launder the diamonds is to remove the inscriptions on the polished stones. How to launder $50 million in diamonds.