Headlines from March 18, 2013
- U.S. must decide whether to break from policy and permit South Korea to go nuclear and deflect northern aggression.
- Brandon Maxfield was shot when he was seven; now 26 and a quadriplegic, he’s been a major force behind the end of cheap, unsafe guns.
- Cypriots panic as the struggling government seizes up to 10% of their personal savings without warning.
- South African cardinal argues that pedophilia should be seen as an illness, rather than “a criminal condition.”
- If past popes are any indication, Francis’s choice of footwear shows his attitude toward tradition, and how he might lead.
- Fifty years ago, the Gideon decision guaranteed defendants the right to a lawyer; today’s justice system makes every effort to shirk the duty.
- Putin-backed Russian Orthodox church advises followers to give up social media for Lent.
- NYC’s shelters attract homeless outside the city—despite Bloomberg’s hyperbole, they don’t arrive in private jets.
- New York officials to sterilize rats using traps resembling wine and cheese.
- Once thought uninhabitable, the bottom of the Mariana Trench is now known to be filled with active microbe communities.
- David Hasselhoff heads to Germany to save the last standing remnants of the Berlin Wall from property developers.
- Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! reviews a new yogurt for men, aka “brogurt.”
- Steubenville teenagers found guilty of rape, highlighting the increasing use of social media as evidence in court.
- Investigation continues for people who may have failed to come forward—students, parents, coaches.
- Obama will resist Israeli pressure to attack Iran, Israel won’t commit to a peace process, and Syria will become the common goal.
- Everything tastes bad after brushing your teeth thanks to sodium laureth sulfate.
- Rhode Island town, with one-third of its population on food stamps, runs on monthly boom-and-bust cycle.
- Three-quarters of all road deaths are among young men; road accidents are the leading cause of death for 15- to 29-year-olds.
- I have served a sentence worse than death. Prisoner explains daily life after 26 years in solitary confinement.
- Composer Ennio Morricone won’t work with Tarantino again because he “places music in his films without coherence.”
- Collection of things foster parents wished other people knew.
- Brief history of “narcoanalysis,” from Freud’s early work to the Aurora killer’s desire to plead insanity.
- Greek soccer player who was banned for giving a Nazi salute insists he didn’t know what it meant.
- Louisville named top overall seed in NCAA’s March Madness, with champion Kentucky not invited back this year.
- Today in the Tournament of Books, D.T. Max judges darlings of literary fiction. #tob13
- Realizing your favorite book is someone else’s least favorite reminds you both that the world is filled with different opinions and that yours is not the most important. #tob13
- Technology rated solely by “knob feel.”
- Guide to which add-on products and services offered by airlines are worth purchasing.
- New Japanese iPhone case features bubble wrap that can be popped endlessly.