Headlines: June 2004 - The Morning News

Headlines for Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Sudan getting away with forced starvation and ethnic cleansing campaigns, 350,000 predicted to die in nine months. And, Arab militiamen use rape as a weapon.

Canadian prime minister says he can govern with a minority standing.

Daniel Mendelsohn on Dale Peck’s brawling, and hitting, Hatchet Jobs.

Who is the Individual Ready Reserve, and how long do they have to be all they can be?

Iranian U.N. guards sent home for videotaping NYC landmarks, third time in two years Iranian security men expelled for similar offense. Related: Nepalese man imprisoned in Brooklyn, long after FBI knew he was innocent.

U.K. buildings at risk of being demolished.

Catch-up: Excellent overview of Turkey’s path to acceptance in the EU.

Away from the city? Listen to New York sounds.

Op: Bishops as church authorities have nothing distinctive to contribute to the abortion discussion.

Coudal’s classic books to read this summer, including (one, two) your editors’ picks.

Tourists, be not proud: Guide to the best gelato in Florence.

Karl Rove is no idiot: How the dark wizard is shoring up domestic support for the re-election campaign.

I don’t think anybody should be quite so full of themselves. Even if they’re Yeats. Excerpt from Paris Review interview with Paul Muldoon.

Examples of house gymnastics. E.g., the enclosed space brace.

Headlines for Tuesday, June 29, 2004

New York’s currently: looking California, feeling New York

U.S. says the power of government truly is in Iraq’s hands, though contractors in Iraq will retain legal exemption.

Fourteen months of occupation for L. Paul Bremer; Hussein to enter Iraqi custody on Wednesday.

When Kerry refuses to cross a picket line to attend mayoral meeting, a Republican governor happily takes his place.

Yesterday afternoon: Gunman shoots, misses intended victim on 5 train at the Wall St. station, making it four subway shootings in the past month.

The most fascinating thing you will see: Photographs of addresses in Atlanta, then and now. [via herecomestrouble]

Turkish hostages released by Al Qaeda-linked Iraq group.

Supreme Court reminds Bush he doesn’t rule the U.S.; Chirac reminds Bush he doesn’t rule Europe.

Rocket kills man and boy outside Israeli kindergarten.

William F. Buckley to step down from the National Review.

Belle and Sebastian have a video game for bookworms.

Falling ill in July with inexperienced medical grads. Or: pretending to be ill with on-call nurses.

The punch-up over Manhattan’s proposed West Side stadium recalls the long-lost Westway project.

William Shatner to cover Pulp’s “Common People.”

The modern worldview is that you can look at someone’s resumé and make a judgment about how noble and worthwhile they are. Alain de Botton on feeling worthwhile.

Video: Geeks truly united with Office Space and Star Wars.

Making robots out of Mini Coopers. And: The Picture of Everything.

Firemen start fire in firehouse kitchen.

Headlines for Monday, June 28, 2004

New York’s currently: the last place you’d expect to find peace, but there it is

While you were sleeping: U.S. transfers sovereignty to Iraq, surprise ceremony to avoid attacks.

Average college tuition at public universities has fallen nearly a third since 1998.

Beheadings threatened against kidnapped Marine and Pakistani, another serviceman and three Turkish contractors also abducted.

America’s security umbrella has allowed Europeans to underfund their militaries and go slack when responding to crises.

Meet Timothy Goeglein, Rove’s right hand and Bush’s link to far-right Christian groups and their most conservative supporters.

New York’s sex workers prepare extra girls for summer’s Republican convention.

What you forgot to grapple with: Last week was “United States Olympic Team for Women’s Freestyle Wrestling Week.”

250,000 protest violent crimes, corruption in Mexico City.

Hot to read: New rules on maritime terrorism may cause massive trade disruptions.

Guide to the memos on torture.

How Bush lost royally to North Korea’s Kim Jong-il for a nice deck of nukes.

Everyone’s favorite word wonk Barbara Wallraff talks grammar with Robert Birnbaum.

Betty Dukes leads giant discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart, class action of 1.6 million women, potentially for billions.

NY promoter reserves Giants Stadium for Bruce Springsteen (drafted, but as yet unsigned) to upstage George W. Bush this summer.

Kill your speed, not us! Children draw “Slow Down” signs.

Safety’s relativity when any suitcase can be a bomb.

Judge says artists may now make fun of Barbie dolls.

I’m in a coconut shy, and people are throwing these balls at me. Paul Burrell remarkably survives talking about the Royal Family’s quirks.

Headlines for Friday, June 25, 2004

New York’s currently: wondering how long the media would chat if Britney and Madonna were both murdered within six months

Iran breaks agreement with France, U.K., and Germany, plans to resume building equipment for nuclear weapons program.

105 killed, 321 injured in yesterday’s coordinated attacks around Iraq, all within six hours.

Gunman frightens pedestrians on the Brooklyn Bridge before killing himself.

My mother says that since I am going to burn in the next life, it is her duty to set fire to me in this one. Interviews with Iranian prostitutes.

Supreme Court votes 7-2 to give Vice President Cheney another chance to shield 2001 energy task force dealings.

Tanker crash kills at least 90 in Iran.

Form & Truncheon: American architects puzzle with new awareness of defense, how to build pleasing structures that can’t be bombed.

China stockpiling massive fireworks arsenal.

Baby Superman born in Berlin, with extraordinary strength due to genetic mutation. Someday, he may grow up to be a Superdude.

Video: Good clips of high school basketball stars.

Guide for Brits trying to understand Ray Charles’s “Black American English,” including exotic phrases like “Rachmaninov” and “put oneself into the mood.”

Death penalty effectively suspended in New York.

Print and thrill: Hersh this week on Israel/Turkey/Iran/Syria relations, threatened by Israel seeking a bigger foothold in Kurdistan.

Evolution of New York’s Asian Film Festival, screening latest “J-horror” sensations (e.g., man masturbating while biting through own arm, or, extreme fishhook penetration).

Last year’s polio resurgence in Nigeria has now reached 10 other African countries, a triumph for clerics spreading flim-flam about the vaccination.

That crazy chef Jamie Oliver’s photo blog.

(Newspaper) junkies can read 322 front pages from 43 countries. Or, have the NYC papers explained to you. Or, try a European summary.

Guide to freeganing, eating only food you steal or find in dumpsters.

Headlines for Wednesday, June 23, 2004

New York’s currently: a pygmalion of pigeons

White House claims no part in 2002 Justice Department memo defending torture. And: Though Rumsfeld initially approved harsher interrogation techniques, he stepped them down six weeks later.

Iran to release captured British sailors.

U.S. plans to offer North Korea incentives in nuclear discussions.

Female Wal-Mart employees to begin litigation against the mega-chain—in the largest class-action lawsuit in history.

South Korean hostage in Iraq killed.

Please observe: Clay Risen on Herbert Muschamp and Choire Sicha on overgaiety.

“it’s had a profound effect on a lot of people, and that’s what you do it for, innit?” The Stone Roses on the best album ever recorded…their own.

Lots of Steves in one: The two addresses from which the most campaign donations to Bush and Kerry originated.

Names for bunches of birds, and sometimes, the reasons why.

Citing dismal ticket sales, Lollapalooza tour is cancelled.

Images from The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist by Michael Chabon and Dark Horse Comics.

Cooking: Why parchment works; why herbs taste good.

What you didn’t know: What happened this day in alternative history.

Why is Target selling 5,000-BTU air conditioners for $75 in Herald Square? Cool out, do not ask why. And: Hot pizza on your iPod.

New study shows cigarette smoking cuts 10 years off life.

Learn French, Spanish, German, Italian, and much more, with audio. But not: The world’s most untranslatable word.

Headlines for Tuesday, June 22, 2004

New York’s currently: open-mindedly miserable

Russian troops pursue Chechen rebels who killed 48, including three regional officials, overnight.

Iran to prosecute eight U.K. sailors who crossed its border.

The happier your mood, the more liable you are to make bigoted judgments. Happy people are nasty, deluded nuts.

Fascinating insiders’ perspectives on building democracy in Baghdad.

Long Island family busted for smuggling illegal aliens, working them as slaves.

Hitchens: Fahrenheit 9/11 is a frivolous piece of sinister propaganda. Denby: Well, it’s funny.

Supreme Court decides right to remain silent doesn’t work when cops ask for your name.

Photos of New York City commuting.

To do: Hear chamber music on a barge in Brooklyn.

Finding punctuation mistakes in Eats, Shoots, & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.

Amateur clarinetist gets embedded with the Philharmonic.

Connecticut’s Governor Rowland resigns under pressure, facing impeachment inquiry after ethics violations.

The villains of Reagan’s world were like the ones in Frank Capra’s movies—capable of change once they saw the light. Remembering what Reagan accomplished.

Blog of Eric Umansky, from Slate’s “Today’s Papers.”

Before selling books to a used-book store, remember to remove all personal items.

Headlines for Monday, June 21, 2004

New York’s currently: an indoor backyard barbecue

Government and military officials have repeatedly exaggerated both the danger the detainees posed and the intelligence they have provided. Investigating the value of Guantanamo prisoners.

As the transfer of authority approaches: A look at how occupation has changed both Iraq and the U.S.

Saudi officials search for the body of Paul Johnson, widen net to locate more militants.

Bush judicial nominee has been practicing law without a license for the last four years.

Interim Iraqi P.M. announces reorganization of security forces, vows to combat insurgencies.

John Kerry: a thoughtful decision-maker who hung out with John Lennon and had a cool band in 1961 (mp3 available).

Questing for the jam of the summer with Sasha Frere-Jones.

The Visigoths still have not paid the entry fee. News from the Greek Gods at the Olympic village.

Making nicer New York street vendors, helpful folks, and transit representatives.

Everything that’s bad about milk; but the calcium, you must admit, is awfully good.

Though there are complaints of poor reception, cell phones are prevalent inside U.S. prisons.

A fascinating collection of ancient (and arcane) maps.

First private manned spacecraft is ready for liftoff.

This is also the scene at which you will probably laugh. Metallica and their therapist, in a new documentary.

Students and faculty alike must do as much librarying as they do Googling.

Headlines for Friday, June 18, 2004

New York’s currently: day two of morning runs (you don’t want to know)

Iraqi official says martial law possible if insurgents’ attacks continue, doesn’t mention how it would be any different from current occupation.

Sept. 11 panel: Cheney ordered planes shot down (in fact, took charge) but pilots never got the message. Also, FAA taken to task.

We invaded Iraq because al Qaeda blew up New York City and the Pentagon. Right? Wrong?

Graphic layout of highlights from yesterday’s Sept. 11 report.

It’s like lace butter. Hanky Panky makes secret cruise missile of the thong industry, the 4811.

Thomas Friedman, long form: “Why I still have hope.”

This weekend: Atlantic Avenue Art Walk. See also, schedule for BAM’s Next Wave festival.

Drawings, watercolors by Richard Bell.

Hate Saddam, and hell, hate Bush, but keep in mind to hate them in different ways.

Video: Watch Travis dance, he certainly wants you to.

What it’s like to live on top of the Trans-Manhattan Expressway.

Early letter from Virginia Woolf to cousin Cordelia. Related: Hamlet text game.

Worth repeating: Books for soldiers.

The moustaches were very effective, according to what Iraqis told me. Interview with Robert Kaplan, about riding with Marines to Fallujah.

Cats staring into infinity.

Headlines for Thursday, June 17, 2004

New York’s currently: picnics at watering holes

Chilling reports from Sept. 11 commission, detailing the original plan to hijack 10 planes, testing airport security, shifting targets, and bin Laden’s role, as well as faults in communication between the military and the White House.

Commission further asserts there was no Iraq-Al Qaeda link, though the White House still rejects this particular finding.

Bombing at Iraq army recruitment center kills at least 35.

Circumventing Red Cross investigations, last November Donald Rumsfeld ordered an Iraqi detainee hidden, unaccounted for, within the prison system.

Cleric fighter Moktada al-Sadr disbands his militia, enters Iraq politics.

“We inspected a lot of chicken farms.” The many failures of U.S. espionage in Iraq.

Gary Benchley goes a-Gawkering at celebrities and their fashions.

FIRST, I MUST SOLICIT YOUR CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION. THIS IS VIRTURE OF IT’S NATURE AS BEING UTTERLY CONFIDENTIAL AND TOP SECRET. Fighting email scammers.

Scientists report they can now teleport individual atoms.

New York Songlines leads you on a virtual tour of the city’s history, intersections included.

Five Saudi sisters are currently undergoing “gender correction.”

Tractor-trailer overturns, releases nine million “agitated” honeybees.

“Those who preferred firm bread, however, had noticed no differences between the control bread and the test bread.” FDA History: The Case of the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. [via things]

Engadget’s new video-game blog: Joystiq.

Pre-Velvet Underground fashion photos of Nico.

Not enough Sedaris for you? Good! Listen to this new audio interview. [via largeheartedboy]

Headlines for Wednesday, June 16, 2004

New York’s currently: a Pistons town

Two explosions shut down Iraq’s primary oil export terminal; senior Iraqi oil official shot dead.

U.S. may cede legal custody of Saddam, but that doesn’t mean he’s going anywhere.

New York hopes to make homeless shelters less inviting.

Mr. Karzai heads a state lacking all definition. Viewing Afghanistan in light of Iraq, more troops are needed before the government can challenge militias.

Think Abu Ghraib is a fading disaster? Hitchens on how it’s going to get much worse.

The answer is to get from this dusty wall to that one, and get home. Decent poems in response to our wars. See also, Baghdad freestyle, and “The Star Spangled Banner” atop Gunner Palace.

Sportscasters break down who was the greatest president of the 20th century.

Ron Rosenbaum goes nuts on new Roth novel, The Plot Against America, plus fascist Charles Lindbergh, and a bit on Kobe’s nice but now-useless three-pointer.

Iran says new IAEA resolution violates its rights; U.S. says Iran’s a lying bully.

Cooking: Sous-vide style (in bags); Soon with abalone?; Your brunch deep-dish.

Exactly why realistic androids plunge us into “the uncanny valley,” or, deep revulsion for robots.

In museum news, Rasputin’s pickled dong reaches 11 inches.

How to appreciate Sting, Lou Reed, and Val Kilmer as advanced artists. And, why spy fiction correctly screws up espionage logistics.

Bush would raise no objection if the new Iraqi government welcomed Sadr into office.

Scientific explanation for ice-cream headaches.

When people say, “You should visit my web page,” I’m always perplexed by it. Why? What do you do there? 10 Questions for David Sedaris.

Headlines for Tuesday, June 15, 2004

New York’s currently: changing clothes three times a day

U.S. officials say multiple bombings in Baghdad that killed 21 over the weekend are an effort to derail the transfer of authority, now two weeks away.

Supreme Court rules that “under God” stays in the Pledge of Allegiance—for now—but only because the plaintiff lacks the legal standing to sue.

Slaying of Iraqi actor during a household investigation in Baghdad raises suspicion of troop wrongdoing.

“We can spend whatever we want because the government won’t crack down in the first year of a war.” Allegations arise that Halliburton knowingly overcharged the government for work in Iraq and Kuwait.

Freed Abu Ghraib prisoners tell of improvements in treatment following scandal.

French power workers go on strike, sending parts of Bordeaux and Grenoble into blackout.

That’s a lot of noise fines: New York economic growth boosts ahead of the rest of the country.

Sept. 11 commission finds evidence suggesting Al Qaeda intended to carry out WTC attacks earlier, in May or June.

As the original A.A. “Big Book” goes to auction at Sotheby’s, debate sparks about the item’s rightful place.

Breast implants become more popular among teenage girls, as hair implants become more believable among middle-aged men. And: Chins!

Analyzing Pitchfork music reviews to write songs that music reviewers will favor. (MP3s included.)

Reagans not sitting easy with George W. Bush’s tack on religion and politics.

INXS plan to find their new lead singer on a reality show.

An exhaustive retelling and reviewing of all the barbecue we ate.

Nice: Aerial photographs taken from kites.

…Never suffer any side effects from food poisoning. Apple cider vinegar and its possible superpowers.

Headlines for Monday, June 14, 2004

New York’s currently: all BBQ’d out

At least 11 killed in Baghdad car bombing adds to toll from bloody weekend in Iraq.

Abu Ghraib interrogators began reporting allegations of prisoner abuse last November.

Justice Department memo says torture “may be justified.” Also, document by Bush’s lawyers allowing laws against torture to be overlooked; and, Bush has disturbingly gray answers about torture.

Differences between the IAEA’s ElBaradei and the Bush administration, and what each thinks about Iran’s nuclear powers.

TMN’s Choire Sicha on Paris Hilton and her Best Friend Forever’s appeal to crazy-quilted America.

Story of Iraqi teen informant, turned on his father, faces dangerous future.

How to draw a cruise ship that hasn’t been built.

Why we wish Lars von Trier was going to direct Wagner’s Ring cycle.

Terror tactics: Details of insurgents’ targeted killings to undermine new Iraqi government.

Guide to cinema’s least erotic moments.

Interview with TMN’s Danny Gregory.

You go from having nothing to lose to having everything to lose. Joan Acocella on writer’s block, particularly due to fame.

Seatguru.com: Find the best seat for your next flight.

Manhattanites surprised by folded-up body—but not the luggage it came in—found on 13th street.

Ten Thousand Receipts in all The Useful and Domestic Arts. The Household Cyclopedia, from 1881. Related: 66 (Unflattering) Things About Ronald Reagan.

Reviewing Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in light of its successful withdrawal from Lebanon.

Headlines for Friday, June 11, 2004

New York’s currently: like Bronte, but with different accents

Unsure if he saw the memo suggesting torture, Bush says he only authorized interrogations that were consistent with U.S. laws and treaties.

Following G8 discussions, Bush acknowledges diminished expectation for NATO involvement in Iraq, while other leaders note a move away from strongarm U.S. foreign policy.

Scheduled to begin a concert tour this month, music legend Ray Charles dies of liver disease complications.

Who are all these people in shorts who went to Reagan’s public viewing?

Dogs! New research shows they may be more intelligent than previously thought, even if their Abu Ghraib handlers aren’t. More dogs in the news.

Want to stay at Gracie Mansion? Be our guest.

The haggard, the bored, the tired—those who missed the last train out of Grand Central.

Swapping sterilization for votes in Brazilian politics.

Baltimore wishes it had more Starbucks.

Big execs used to have all the perks and none of the money—now they have both, and it’s not good for business.

I’m kind of stumped about what to say, but I really want to say something. Richard Hell on recently deceased guitarist Bob Quine

Surely better than the movie, the Garfield comic-strip generator.

Take off with modernism at the Terminal 5 event at JFK Airport.

Anthony Lane profiles the life and work of Ingmar Bergman.

Funny, painful: Horse kicks man. [via hivelogic]

Headlines for Thursday, June 10, 2004

New York’s currently: eight million complaints about the air-conditioning

Iraqi government commits to interim constitution providing Kurdish veto power, but Shiite leaders vow to excise the clause next year.

New poll: Uncertainty over the general direction of the country shifts U.S. voter support to Kerry.

European elections begin today; in response to Blair’s Iraq stance, Labour predicts a third-place finish in local councils.

Violating both Geneva Conventions and patient confidentiality, interrogators at Guantanamo Bay were given access to prisoner medical records.

New Ken Burns documentary about the first American road trip.

Through notebook doodlings, diary entries, and recollections, a fascinating history of being a teenager in the sixties.

Now if they only had an InstaBookAdvance… Go from Word doc to bound paperback with the instant book-printing machine.

Kerry wanted to delay accepting his nomination so he could continue raising campaign money. So what?

The construction and reconstruction of the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Photo of striking daycare workers walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Ten foods you should never eat.

Finding a perfect steak at New York strip clubs. And: The same, down Austin way.

Urban planning worst-case scenarios. [via things]

Susan Orlean recalls a getaway to a “mountain chalet” that was really “a dingy A-frame, mud-brown, damp, afflicted with an air of unrelieved gloom” in the suburbs.

Frequently asked questions at the Museum of Funeral Customs

New York disaster-moviegoers have nothing to fear, say scientists, we’re only halfway through our warming cycle.

Maud Newton interviews Brigid Hughes of the Paris Review on new writers (good) and slush piles (also good).

Headlines for Wednesday, June 9, 2004

New York’s currently: questioning its movie choices

Security Council votes unanimously in favor of ending Iraq occupation on June 30, with transfer of sovereignty to Iraqi interim government.

Arguments between Kurdish and Shiite leaders over minority rights in the new Iraq resolution, as well as sellout from the U.S., push the Kurds toward secession.

U.S. interrogation with nudity began as early as John Walker Lindh in Afghanistan.

New Yorkers set on getting out of town for the Republican National Convention, plus jacking up their rents for G.O.P. out-of-towners. Related: In Iraq, Donkeys in the Desert.

Clear Channel agrees to cough up $2 million for Howard Stern’s shocking and jocking.

Dye pack explodes on subway-riding bank robber, temporarily blinds other passengers, makes for easy getaway.

Akin to spending $640 for a toilet seat, the Pentagon dropped $100 million on unused, reimbursable airline tickets.

Venus, transited. And what it means.

Sedaris, rock star reader, packs them into the stadiums, er, symphony halls.

A long way from delivery: the ancestral homes of pizza and hamburgers.

A photojournalist tracks his own graphic journey through kidney failure and transplant.

“Parkay!” “Butter.” 1970s TV commercials, revisited.

“‘Freaking’ is our word of choice.” Cleaning up Sex and the City for basic cable.

Mexican jail offers aromatherapy.

Brilliant, fun, can’t stop, ever: Bow Man

Headlines for Tuesday, June 8, 2004

New York’s currently: 500 down, and only just beginning

Nine Iraqi militias agree to disband—though not Moqtada Sadr’s forces, the ones most active against the U.S.

Forced nudity of prisoners at Abu Ghraib so pervasive that many soldiers later did not see it at all out of the ordinary.

Looking toward his own upcoming election, Afghan President Karzai gets cozy with warlords.

With continued ethnic cleansing in Sudan, and U.S. forces spread thin, Is it time for Europe to pitch in?

Bloomberg calls for quiet, even from the Mister Softee truck.

The history books haven’t yet closed on Reagan. “Optimistic?” A better taxer than Bush? Dimwitted? Bad to New York?

Thank goodness: Jennifer Lopez receives marriage approval from her exes.

Tonight, all art, no traffic: The Museum Mile Festival.

The 50 coolest song parts.

Go outside: Walking tours of New York, San Francisco, Seattle, San Antonio, and London.

A gallery of old railway maps from Taiwan.

Protesters at G-8 summit receive warm welcome in and around Savannah, while other area residents consider “coping strategies.”

Klimt model’s niece wins right to sue Austria over seized Nazi art.

Playful subversion of popular music with A Flock of Segers.

The world, according to Hecataeus, circa 550 B.C., and more ancient maps.

Music video: William Shatner in the Sky With Diamonds.

Headlines for Monday, June 7, 2004

New York’s currently: flying paper to Italy

Weeklong tributes to Reagan begin today, with his body in repose at his presidential library in Simi Valley, then to Washington to lie in state at the Capitol on Wednesday, culminating with Friday’s state funeral.

Bush orders federal government closed Friday as part of national day of mourning for Reagan.

In deference to Reagan, Kerry closes campaigning for the week; and political advisers both Democrat and Republican worry GWB will over-liken himself to the former president.

“In the trench in the farmyard we find three or four Germans. We ask them ‘Tommy come?’ They say yes, with conviction.” D-Day, through the eyes of a French woman. And: The original AP story on the invasion, and a “local color” piece from the Louisville Courier-Journal.

A history of bellowing dramatics surrounding Presidential D-Day speeches.

Beauty salons have been shut down and barbers told to eschew Western cuts and not shave off beards. Following truce in Fallujah, the city has turned to hardline Islam for governance.

On resuscitating a D.O.A. Stepford Wives in the editing room, and other movies flops that were flipped in their final cuts.

Australian sentenced to nine years in prison for conspiring with Al Qaeda says he was prepared to go informant in 2000, but found no agencies interested in his wares.

U.S. troop numbers in South Korea to see drastic cuts.

“Suicide” poem penned by Abraham Lincoln discovered in an 1838 Springfield newspaper.

Perhaps because so much of New York life is played out in public—on the subway, on the streets—city residents often seem to find consolation in the city’s varied corners.

Proposed picture-taking ban on subways gets a protest of many flashbulbs.

A literary agent with the stars of politics in his rolodex.

Prior to Iraq invasion, administration lawyers argued for Presidential-ordered torture.

Extraordinary finds, great research on lost bands from the New Wave.

Headlines for Friday, June 4, 2004

New York’s currently: oh so fulfilled to be secular, oh so happy

Intelligence soldier from Abu Ghraib goes public with memories, feeling guilt for not reporting tortures.

CIA chief Tenet resigns.

World: Venezuela’s Chávez may face recall; Q&A for Congo clash; Sharon fires two hardline National Union ministers.

Heartbreaking country ballad paralyzes trucking industry.

TMN’s Choire Sicha and Paul Ford to read with Michael Barrish this Sunday at the Bowery Poetry Club.

On the 15th anniversary of Tiananmen Square, story of the man who faced the tanks.

In case you didn’t know: Homosexuals caused Abu Ghraib disaster; Hate crimes bill will persecute Christians; Women are to blame for boys’ falling test scores.

Online bank of American rhetoric: videos, audio, and text. E.g., Johnny Cash delivering the Gettysburg Address.

AK47, an online photography magazine, including retired people in Miami (by Naomi Harris) and great fashion photography (by Olaf Martens).

Video: Why use condoms? Because children are awful.

Indianian David Tidmarsh wins National Spelling Bee with “autochthonous.” (Profile of D.C.’s Ashley, and blog of Angela from Texas, both featured in Spellbound.)

The best free software.

According to Helen Fielding, Osama bin Laden—the beloved of her new book’s heroine—has penetrating dark eyes and a nice laugh.

Guide to the most efficient things in the world. [ via things ]

Make it one jet airliner for 10 prisoners. Special Branch investigates musician for text-messaging Clash lyrics to wrong person.

Author of book on David Reimer—born a boy, nurtured to be a girl, converts back to boy again—details Reimer’s recent suicide.

Headlines for Thursday, June 3, 2004

New York’s currently: nearing the point when celebrities are burned in the streets

All U.S. soldiers deployed in the future may face extended terms, despite expired contracts.

Thousands of Congolese attack U.N. offices after rebels (alleged to be controlled by Rwanda) seized town of Bukavu.

Five Iraqis killed by car bomb in Baghdad.

Footage from Curb Your Enthusiasm frees man accused of murder; Larry David does one decent thing with his life.

Former Abu Ghraib Chief Karpinski wages one-woman PR battle to defend herself.

With Chalabi, we paid to fool ourselves. In other times, it might be funny. But a lot of people are dead as a result of this. Must-read Jane Mayer piece on Ahmad Chalabi.

Virtual walking tours of Manhattan.

One advantage of not taking orders from God, you can change direction when things go bad. Though the theory doesn’t seem to hold true for TV’s slippery slope.

MP3: Every Beatles song, in alphabetical order.

Anti-Kerry ads: French people are stupid, and, Clowns are unpatriotic, says professional voiceover.

Tips for better freezer use.

Interview with John Kerry documentarian, trying to complete his movie about the candidate by Labor Day.

Swedes may now call on ambulances (#696969) to deliver condoms, packets selling for 50 crowns.

More people are calling themselves “liberal,” fewer people calling themselves “conservatives.”

Avast Ye Thar, English Majors! Other names for band “The Decemberists.”

Sexual assault on the rise in the Army, and the numbers probably understate the problem.

Video: Dirigeable’s artificial sea creatures.