Headlines from November 27, 2013

Rwanda to be the first country to perform non-surgical mass circumcision to curb AIDS.
New information emerges that the CIA at Gitmo turned al Qaeda suspects into double agents.
Greenwald: NSA is monitoring suspected radicalizers’ online porn activity to ruin their reputation among denizens.
It’s also not nearly as anonymous as people think. How the DEA took down Silk Road’s gynecologist drug dealer.
Volunteers use Facebook to try and reconnect Staten Island families with photos found in Hurricane Sandy debris. #photos
UK-based company turns Instagram photos into marshmallows.
An interactive visualization of the 200 top-scoring Reddit posts of all time.
GoldieBlox removes Beastie Boys cover from commercial, apologizes for disrespecting MCA’s wishes.
Andy Baio, no stranger to copyright disputes, busts legal myths surrounding Goldieblox’s parody.
I am an unwelcome second child. The Chinese government would have preferred I had never been born.
The first world champion to have been brought up entirely in the age of computer chess. Kasparov on Carlsen.
In Nepal, archaeologists find the world’s oldest Buddhist shrine—it dates back to 6 BC.
When Breaking Bad premiered, Walter White, one of Alabama’s biggest meth cooks, was building his empire. #video
Working within constraints can make you more ingenious and more creative. But that’s just my opinion. via
I stole pituitary glands. About a hundred of them over the months. An ex-mortician confesses.
See also: Nicole Pasulka visits a funeral home to learn, hands-on, how to prepare someone for an eternal rest. #tmn
China explains why it didn’t respond when American and Japanese jets flew through its new air defense zone over the East China Sea.
Putin usually makes guests wait 30 minutes to see him, but the Pope waited nearly an hour.
New Snowden document says the NSA has been monitoring Islamist radicals’ online sexual activity to undermine them.
Round-up of tools, tweets, and websites for tracking Thanksgiving travel delays in real time.
Related, your Thanksgiving homework: nominating your favorite work of fiction from 2013 for the 10th annual Tournament of Books. #therooster
Freud was always a painter of the Great Indoors. Julian Barnes on Lucien Freud.
Director Christopher Nolan credits the bleakness in his Batman films to an admiration for Francis Bacon. #video
Writer Philip Graham eats a stranger’s plantain as part of his remembrance for the great Oscar Hijuelos.
Famous novelists respond to a 16-year-old’s query as to whether or not they deliberately use symbolism in their works.
South African luxury resort offers “Shanty Town” for visitors who want to stay in a fake township; rooms cost $80 a night, half a month’s salary for the average South African.
Atlantic Monthly reporter records people around America pronouncing regional phrases. #video
Australian cricketer punished for “sledging,” or talking trash to an opponent. #video
To protect your pies, you have a bat. Related: TMN’s Kevin Guilfoile explains cricket to Americans.
The dirty little secret behind CrossFit is a potentially fatal condition called rhabdomyolysis.
Skateboarding prodigies on YouTube switch their interest to tennis, stoking YouTube fans’ resentment.
In a mile-long run, contemporary children would finish a full minute and a half later than their parents did at their age in the 1980s.
For your Thanksgiving contemplation: Staged photographs of people mauled by their favorite foods. #tmn