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Headlines for Monday, January 31, 2005

New York’s currently: frozen but balmy

Undeterred by threats and terrorism (and triple the average number of attacks), Iraqi voters show up in unexpected numbers.

Iraq militant group claims responsibility for downing of a British transport plane, which killed 15.

Israel says it’s ready to hand security control of several West Bank cities over to Palestinians.

Available now: Kevin Fanning’s Twelve Times Lost, a string of fantastical narratives.

Top spy position becomes increasingly difficult to fill, since nobody knows what the job is supposed to do.

The doctor who introduced Ecstasy to the world. Related: Everybody say hello to caffeinated beer.

Transfusion-free surgery offers a new route for the religious, the health nuts, and the thrifty.

Mr. Herbert Kaiser, Jewish, 201 Main Street, Palo Alto, CA This is what happens when a direct-mail company gives away too much information.

Around-the-world trading of recipe books.

They observed him from their darkened bedroom for 10 or 15 minutes—also using binoculars and a telescope. Canadian couple bust man for masturbating at his window.

Video: Weatherman falls into disorder.

Stem cells turned into motor neurons, may help treat spinal injuries and muscular diseases.

Bronx McDonald’s cook tampers with food prepared for cops; New York high schools to require “work readiness” credential before graduation.

The Wexley School for Girls.

Why the MTA won’t let anybody know the truth about control rooms, the Jets, or how much money it’s making.

Headlines for Friday, January 28, 2005

New York’s currently: a fjord of storm gutters

Election in Iraq: Country goes into three-day lockdown as the violence continues and a candidate is assassinated.

The FBI is going ahead with expanding its intelligence gathering on foreign entities within the U.S. despite the CIA’s muffled cries of turf poaching.

Dick Cheney attends dignitary-coated Auschwitz memorial “dressed in the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower.” (See photo.) [via TP]

Man arrested in L.A. for attempting copycat train-crash suicide.

Michigan company really does give employees a choice between quitting smoking or quitting their jobs, but despite reports, it’s not really firing the obese.

“I came to New York to go shopping and get drunk.” With the dollar on the dole, British tourists flock to New York.

“Prince Valiant” and more in the Spring 2005 issue of Brevity.

Like Yellow Submarine, but with a different costume: Stan Lee unveils plans to turn Ringo Starr into an animated superhero.

I plan on doing this every month until I pay them off. A gallery of hand-drawn credit-card statements.

If you don’t want to exercise, you can still stay in shape by fidgeting.

Following powerful sonar activity off N.C. shore, at least 37 whales beached and died.

You could own an acoustic guitar decorated by Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum.

Have a secret you want everyone to know? PostSecret is your anonymous worldwide confession.

After Sunday’s fire some NYC subways resort to manual signaling; here’s how it works.

Because maybe you’ve been there, or because maybe you never will: Zzyzx Road.

Headlines for Thursday, January 27, 2005

New York’s currently: just a song inside your head

Suicidal man in L.A. drives SUV onto commuter rail tracks, decides to jump at the last moment and causes a chain-reaction wreck that kills 11, injures 180.

Douglas Feith, Defense Department strategist for post-war Iraq, announces his resignation.

Architect Philip Johnson dies at 98; a tour of his marvelous Glass House in New Canaan, CT, and one with Andy Warhol.

An interactive guide to everything you wanted to know about the Iraq elections (but were afraid to ask).

Murder Inc. record label head is indicted on charges of money laundering, and for scaring people.

Britain gets with the picture and draws up terror laws that will hold suspects indefinitely without trial.

Pay raises at the new Department of Homeland Security will be tied to performance, not amount of time on the job, a pay scale that could be rolled out to all federal agencies.

One in five Canadians supports polygamy.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy page asks visitors to send in entries about everything in the universe, which raises the question: Is Wikipedia the real Hitchiker’s Guide? And should we panic?

Way out in the wild Sulu Sea, tribes of aquatic gypsies live their entire lives at sea, touching land only to die.

Holocaust survivors and world leaders gather at Auschwitz today to mark the 60th anniversary of its liberation.

Video: Girl jumps through a basketball hoop with help of breast-beating men.

BBC technology writer diagnosed with brain tumor keeps online diary of experiences; today he signs off. (Read the archives.)

At hearing, Mister Softee says its jingle can be annoying, but says that’s good too.

Staff of Hot 97 radio show that sang a tsunami parody song have been “suspended indefinitely.”

Headlines for Wednesday, January 26, 2005

New York’s currently: hacking its lungs up all night long

White House predicts budget deficit will reach $427 billion this year; Officials insist they can still cut it in half by 2009.

31 marines feared dead in a helicopter crash in western Iraq—if confirmed, single worst loss of life for U.S. forces since 2003 invasion.

We vow to wash the streets of Baghdad with the voters’ blood. Leaflets warn Iraqis not to vote on Sunday.

Both parties agree Rice will be confirmed as secretary of state, but Democrats shred her standard of honesty.

MTA now vows all A and C trains will resume full service by September at the latest.

Op: Bush’s idealism is wonderful in rhetoric, and astonishingly disconnected from reality.

Unusual articles on Wikipedia offer a full week’s worth of reading.

NY women sift through restaurants for the most appealing facial lighting, in a city where the best restaurants are stuck in a mall.

Steve Martin remembers Johnny; the great Kenneth Tynan on the great Carson.

What you can do with Antarctica: Claim it! Watch it melt!

China’s economy re-accelerated in 2004’s last quarter, despite efforts to curb investment. Is it overheating, and why do we worry?

Haruki Murakami fans rejoice to publisher’s web site. [via bs]

Are avoidable nursing-home deaths an epidemic in Minnesota?

Not even Sony could have single-handedly destroyed the notion of social space. Walkmans, iPods, and especially cell phones have condemned a generation to loneliness.

How to turn a new Mac Mini into a home entertainment center.

Yet another columnist, this time Maggie Gallagher, fails to disclose receiving federal funds to promote Bush policies.

Photos: Before and After shots of people on meth.

Headlines for Tuesday, January 25, 2005

New York’s currently: where the best will fall, and the rest will follow

Fire in Lower Manhattan knocks C train offline—for up to five years.

Report from Human Rights Watch reveals that Iraqi security forces frequently torture prisoners.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas seems close to getting militant groups to agree to a ceasefire with Israel, but that’s a first step in a very long road to peace.

Shiites in southern Iraq continue to live a political Islam, while Sunni leaders plan boycott of Sunday’s election (though they still want a role in writing the new constitution).

“When you’re getting that much money a month for so long, it allows you to live in the la-la land that I was in.” Buddyhead interviews Kevin Shields.

Gallery of classic celebrity caricatures at the Smithsonian.

Pretending it’s 1977 and you’re in Berlin: Bowie, et al, MP3s at A New Career in a New Town.

Gallery: There’s just something about photos of people jumping that exudes joyfulness.

While the male is excited at the thought of donning a warhelmet and engaging in a few “melee rounds”… How to have Dungeons & Dragons-themed sex. [SFW]

Mount Everest is either shrinking because of global warming or growing because of tectonic movement.

Finding the perfect song and learning history through Iron Maiden lyrics.

Photo: It’s very, very, very cold near Boston.

Johnny Carson, ad man.

Video: Watch a muppet dance to U2’s “Vertigo.”

How to look for a new job while you’re still at your old job.

Headlines for Monday, January 24, 2005

New York’s currently: annually enraged by Bahamas ad campaign on the subway

Zarqawi declares war on “evil principle of democracy”, opposing heightened security for Sunday’s elections.

Genius Johnny Carson returns to gaseous state, remembered as private, even shy, ever a great joke writer.

Haunted Upper West Side castle transformed into luxury condos.

I listen not just with what remains of my hearing, but with my eyes and my instincts. Author recounts fascinating descent into deafness.

McCain to hold hearings on Post discovery of Pentagon’s secret espionage arm, the Strategic Support Branch, designed for Rumsfeld to conduct surreptitious missions abroad (one is reminded of Hersh’s SAP, and recent chatter about Iran).

Op-ed-er William Safire says goodbye.

Video: Bob Marley working with Jimmy Norman.

Mother of four teenagers admits to being sick of being dumped on by housemates.

Three NYC firefighters died yesterday, deadliest day since Sept. 11.

You will definitely appreciate the creativity and originality of Cat Ball Shaver. The best computer games of 2004.

To placate southeast regions and make decent with Putin, Yuschchenko heads for Russia.

Late to this, but: Bhutan becomes first country to ban smoking.

Drawing by Christo of The Gates looking south on East Road Drive.

Man slashes mouth, stuffs staples into chicken sandwich, in order to sue McDonalds.

MP3s: Frequently used samples.

Headlines for Friday, January 21, 2005

New York’s currently: a pump of cherry syrup away from being the biggest snowcone you’ve ever had

At least 14 killed in Shiite mosque car bombing in Baghdad.

Cheney opines that perhaps Israel will attack Iran before the U.S. does. Hey, anything can happen.

How did the Bush inaugural speech rank with other second-termers? Not bad, though metaphorically unsound.

How waging a war on terror with certain allies compromises lofty goals like “spreading freedom.”

There are 2,000 uses for WD-40, and now deterrent to toilet-seat cocaine use can be added to the list.

Whether or not Dreammachines work, they’re awfully nice to look at.

Richard Dreyfuss gets a role in a musical and is sent straight to hell.

Using Google to research how language changes now.

Homeless man returns to his high school, poses as a student.

Members may leave piles of books, marked with their names, to which they will be returning in a day or two. Tom Stoppard writes about his favorite library.

Teen goths steal bones from graveyard, community upset over “gothic beliefs.”

Chip and Dale fan fiction. [via waxy]

Pastor sees blue jeans as sign of be-demoning; Christians see SpongeBob as conductor to be-gaying.

Let this kitten clean your screen. Go on.

“[Paul’s] the kind of guy who, when he comes to visit, he’ll mail pot to himself, from himself. ‘That way they know where to find me if they find it!’” And more audio from Amy Sedaris.

Headlines for Thursday, January 20, 2005

New York’s currently: wondering if anyone under 40 has even heard of Fran Lebowitz

Five car and truck bombs kill 26 in Baghdad.

Rice says 120,000 Iraqi security forces are now ready to fight; Biden says the number is closer to 14,000.

Dubai satisfies “unabashed need for attention” by scooping up world records.

FEMA offers tsunami clean-up game for children, minus corpses.

What they say: I’ll bear it in mind. What they mean: I will do nothing about it. European Court of Justice’s guide to the whims of British English.

Understanding the rhetorical elements that made JFK’s inaugural address great, and why no one’s been able to top him since.

Repository of Nabokov interviews.

A year after Plimpton’s successor took the helm, the Paris Review hunts again for an editor.

Missing ’70s New York, George Gurley goes to Mars Bar and learns how to spit on yuppies.

Photo: People convince people in their neighborhood to hold up signs with Sesame Street lyrics.

Do-gooder hooked on disaster scenes (and Thailand’s sensual pleasures) flies to Asia with $65,000 in his carry-on.

Finally! Find the cliché you’ve been looking for! Finally! Stan Lee gets his cut of the Spiderman profits!

Exhibit of Brooklyn lives at work.

Self-described “most beautiful periodic table display in the world” not bad at all.

Infinity, as explained by David Hasselhoff’s groin.

Headlines for Wednesday, January 19, 2005

New York’s currently: mistaking congressional hearings for one of those judge shows

In Senate confirmation hearings Rice says there’s no timetable for leaving Iraq, and hints that the U.S. will work to repair alliances.

Intelligence gathering says Iraq will ask U.S. to leave following its elections later this month.

Kerry questions Rice on Iraq position.

Iraq: Four car bombings kill 26; eight Chinese workers kidnapped; Catholic archbishop freed; borders closed for election.

Two New Yorkers freeze to death as temperatures plunge to bitter depths.

Fighting the plague of grackles in Texas parking lots.

Right after jury selection began last week, one man got up and left, announcing, “I’m on morphine and I’m higher than a kite.”

The best essay ever, on Oedipus.

Living in the real-life Brady home. (Blueprints and photos included.)

Troubling reports that India-Pakistan cease-fire has been broken.

A rift between P.G. Wodehouse and A.A. Milne leaves us with Jeeves vs. Pooh.

Interesting advice on how to break into the porn industry. (Not at all safe for work, unless you work in porn, in which case you don’t need this.)

The story behind censored album covers.

What better to go with your Darth Tater than a plush Jawa?

Hopelessly lost luggage waits in Alabama—and it’s for sale.

Headlines for Tuesday, January 18, 2005

New York’s currently: extremely cold

Believing the insurgency cannot be fully defeated, U.S. commanders plan to reduce operations and focus on training Iraqi security forces.

Former top leader in China Zhao Ziyang dies, state refuses to notice the man who opposed the assault in Tiananmen Square.

Thais grapple with ghosts of tsunami victims.

Mosul Archbishop freed after kidnapping; Iraq’s intelligence chief estimates insurgents’ numbers to be around 200,000.

I couldn’t hate my hair more. It’s just not me. A Villanelle Composed Upon Jennifer Aniston’s Answers To Her May 2001 Vanity Fair Interview

Graner’s day in court is only one of many torture-related trials to come.

How to break into safes.

Iyad’s a thug, but a thug where he needs to be one. The Americans who set this up call him Saddam Lite. Jon Lee Anderson profiles Iyad Allawi.

Poet George Szirtes wins T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry.

New York parents learn how to buy body armor for school’s hall monitor shipping off with the Army.

Photo: Cornershots of New York, including location maps.

How top Ukranian spies prevented a crackdown on the Orange Revolution.

An illustrated example of where life can take you…

The uncollected stories of J.D. Salinger.

U.S. needs to spend $30 billion more a year on overseas development assistance to meet its “Millennium Summit” pledge.

The probably-not-true story of why Brad and Jen broke up.

Headlines for Friday, January 14, 2005

New York’s currently: enjoying its 18th day in a row of awful weather

CIA think tank says Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of terrorists, thanks to U.S.

President’s inauguration theme “Celebrating Freedom, Honoring Service” to help explain $40-million price tag during wartime.

Zambia elects black president.

The New South is just the Old South with a smile. Ghosts uncovered as a town tries to leave segregation behind.

Email shorthand that civil war soldiers would have used in letters home had the technology been available to them.

Op: Electing Abbas is well and good, but how will he overcome the Mogadishu syndrome?

Insurance giant Marsh offers $600 million; Eliot Spitzer wants $750, plus an apology.

Men arrested for telling lawyer jokes in a courthouse.

Publishing executives discuss the term “midlist” as either something to bury or celebrate (see parts two and three).

Textbook stickers labeling evolution as “a theory not a fact” judged unconstitutional.

Op: Explaining why exploring Saturn’s giant moon Titan is a big deal.

Brief history of British D-Day pigeon maneuvers.

There has never been a moment in my life when I felt we were in so much danger. Profile of poet C.K. Williams, author of the astounding Tar.

Photographs from the Arkansas State Prison 1915-1937.

Everything you need to know about Marfa, Tx.

Headlines for Thursday, January 13, 2005

New York’s currently: five, maybe six full fathoms

Supreme Court rules that federal sentencing standards are no longer mandatory.

Nations in need of tsunami aid worry that accepting it may harm their standing toward current creditors.

Indonesia wants foreign relief workers and military forces out by March 26.

What it’s like to be an election worker in Iraq.

White House confirms that search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is officially over, with nothing found.

U.S. government says we’re supposed to eat more fruits and vegetables, exercise 30 to 90 minutes a day, and cut out the extra sugar; the Sugar Association disagrees.

How clothing sizes shift from retailer to retailer.

The Burke Family Grape Nuts commercial. [via things]

Learn a little about Esperanto from a tiny green person named Zam, then learn a lot more here and you will like the Esperanto flag.

Inmate work crews and the work they do.

Learn to play Beatles songs on the ukulele [via cityrag] or just learn the mistakes they made in the first place. [via waxy]

Bob Marley’s remains to be exhumed in Jamaica and buried in Ethiopia.

Send a camera through the mail. Ask postal workers to take photos. Here’s what you get back.

Thank you for holding, we’ve been recording you the whole time.

Dinosaur bones found inside mammal bones.

TMN’s Sarah Hepola with a short list of rapper names for when you have a cold.

What would happen if an iceberg the size of Long Island collided with a glacier? Watch and see.

Video: Everybody wants to see the fuss, and here it is: the Arcade Fire playing live.

Headlines for Wednesday, January 12, 2005

New York’s currently: home to people besides Pete Hamill

15 confirmed dead from storms in California with a dozen still missing in La Conchita.

Indonesia invites foreign advice to help solve 28-year rebellion in disaster-hit Aceh region—but will the military permit foreign intervention?

AirTrain to JFK is a big hit with fliers, not so with airport workers.

I hope you kill every man, woman and child in Iraq, down to the lizards. Borat from Ali G entertains a rodeo, almost gets killed.

Abu Ghraib detainees describe torture.

The hunt for banned weapons in Iraq has quietly stopped; September report contradicting nearly all prewar assertions to stand as final census.

Essence begins 12-month campaign to protest misogyny in hip-hop (see artists’ and executives’ comments, frankly missing the point).

Alert to audiophiles: Reel-to-reel tape is dying! Secure as much Quantegy tape as possible!

In Most Likely To Succeed, Anne Curzan, editor of the Journal of English Linguistics, nominated crunk. Linguists gather, select word of the year.

Wonderful New York photos by Peter Hujar, at Matthew Marks.

Women in their mid-30s freeze their eggs as an insurance policy, though the thawing-out process is still in development.

Turn any iPod into an iPod Shuffle, though bear in mind there are different rules for Brits and Americans.

(Some) Italians feel (some) New Yorkers’ pain as national smoking ban is enforced; man fined for “normal” cigarette after coffee.

The next year of film festivals in New York.

Sneak preview—on Mahler and Strauss—of Alex Ross’s forthcoming book on 20th-century music.

Engineer who will build Christo’s “Gates” is a bundle of nerves; wife complains sex comes second to conceptual art.

Headlines for Tuesday, January 11, 2005

New York’s currently: watching the kettle go up in flames

Twelve missing, three dead in California mudslides.

Bush administration says no reimbursement to D.C. for inauguration costs—a break with precedent that means the District will have to divert money from homeland security projects to afford it.

Following blast that killed eight of its soldiers, Ukraine announces plan to withdraw troops from Iraq.

Ethics and Journalism: White House pays a journalist to promote its policies; Iraqi PM gives reporters $100 each to cover press conferences.

And: The real story isn’t about Dan Rather or exec firings, it’s about a new level of responsibility for television journalists. (Scroll for recommendations from the CBS panel report [PDF].)

“The Salvador Option”: the Pentagon could insert special-ops troops in Iraq for assassination and kidnapping.

Audit shows Texas spent anti-terrorism money improperly, including on a trailer for hauling lawn mowers to lawn mower drag races.

A town lovingly mourns a goose. [via MetaFilter]

The outpouring of aid for disasters in Honduras and Iran was first massive, and then missing. How can we avoid the same mistakes in Asia?

Beautiful New York pinhole photographs.

High-school principal says “freak dancing” is unacceptable, cancels dances for the rest of the year.

How to play along with email scammers.

Comics and criticism from Josh, who reads the comics so you don’t have to.

“100 things we didn’t know this time last year.”

Why do we like the sounds of certain words? Because they’re “earworms.”

Headlines for Monday, January 10, 2005

New York’s currently: calling manmade plots “nature”

PLO chief Abbas wins 62 percent of yesterday’s vote to lead Palestinians; Hamas says it can work with him.

Following the mayor’s death last week, Baghdad’s deputy police chief is assassinated in the middle of rush hour.

Yo, Ol’ Dirty? The wrong Russell Jones takes ODB’s phone calls.

Secrets behind the shocker: dentists now make more than physicians.

Entire electoral commission resigns in Iraq’s Anbar province after threats from insurgents.

Fascinating look into the web sites junior officers (unprepared for Iraq) use for learning to make war.

Guide published by the Mexican government to help immigrants sneak safely into the U.S.

Brief interview (made hasty by shotgun) with Ray Killen, 76-year-old accused of killing civil rights workers.

Sudanese government and rebels sign accord to end Africa’s longest-running conflict, without addressing Darfur.

Nearly complete set from Sub Pop Singles Club for sale on eBay.

Researchers at the New York Historical Society receive the strangest questions.

Book now for tables during restaurant week!

Sasha Frere-Jones on rock acts growing old gracefully and not.

Video: Human beatbox Kenny Muhammad with the NY Philharmonic (see also the beatbox forums).

Interview with French journalist released from four months’ abduction in the hands of Islamic militants.

The differences between the Army Reserve and the National Guard.

Headlines for Friday, January 7, 2005

New York’s currently: getting awkward now with the “happy new year”s

Seven Marines killed by roadside bomb in Baghdad, two killed in Anbar.

Attorney General nominee Gonzales grilled by senators on his role in crafting the administration’s torture policies, but he’ll be confirmed anyway.

How yesterday’s hearing turned into a game of inches, and how Alberto Gonzales might have said that the president can authorize torture.

U.S. general says some areas of Iraq are not secure enough for voting, and Brent Scowcroft thinks an election might only make things worse.

CIA issues report finding its top-ranking officials should be held accountable for failures before Sept. 11.

Illustrations of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Broadacre City (scroll). [via things]

Andrea Yates conviction overturned when the Law & Order episode referenced in prosecution testimony and closing argument is discovered to have never existed.

“Awww” is what the world says when a tortoise becomes pals with a baby hippo.

Support online writing when you nominate your favorite stories in the storySouth Million Writers Award for Fiction.

The best of music writing, the worst of music writing, and whatever happened to social criticism?

How many people named Jenny will you find if you call every 867-5309? The answers are here.

Understanding VORN finds weblog photos that begin with “V” “O” “R” and “N”.

Read Questionable Content, a comic about indie rockers and their frustrations. Addictive.

Man waits to accept lottery prize until his divorce was finalized.

A panoramic photo of ice skating in the Eiffel Tower.

Headlines for Thursday, January 6, 2005

New York’s currently: impressed that God made man, but stunned that man made Manhattan

New FBI reports show concern in 2002 over “coercive tactics”; Australian claims U.S. transferred him to Egypt to be tortured.

Details from inside an Indonesian hospital: survivors with small wounds now face amputations.

Gore Vidal on Lincoln’s bisexuality, and his powerful thighs.

The story of a convicted criminal who posed as a government operative, feeding the press and the public a bunch of hogswallow.

Happy birthday Sherlock Holmes, as celebrated by the Baker Street Irregulars.

Colin Powell: The United States cannot win the war on terrorism unless we confront the social and political roots of poverty.

Proving The Office true, Brits go nuts over reality-show losers and washed-up soap stars.

A summary of what happened in Einstein’s miracle year, a hundred years ago.

Clothing store worker killed yesterday during firing spree on 27th street.

Ooh: Nicely designed excerpt of TMN’s Kevin Guilfoile’s new novel Cast of Shadows.

Photos from inside Richard Avedon’s apartment.

Once you call something evil, it’s easy to justify anything you might do to harm that evil. Interview with Ramsey Clark, Saddam’s attorney.

Why raise free-range pigs? Because it puts the punch back into pork.

The Education Department has an increasingly tough arsenal of tricks to make former students pay off their loans.

Investigation of celebrities’ charities teaches lesson: support Lance Armstrong, not Jessica Simpson.

Headlines for Wednesday, January 5, 2005

New York’s currently: a composite of Nureyev and Baryshnikov, but only their left feet

Bomb at police academy south of Baghdad kills at least 10; head of Baghdad intelligence services says growing insurgency now outnumbers coalition troops.

Indonesian rebels declare cease-fire during tsunami relief, claim military has launched attacks against them while trying to deliver aid to victims.

Is the U.S.’s meritocracy still intact? Running two Skull and Bones members for president shows otherwise.

Radical Muslim cleric skips court appearance, citing too-long toenails.

Tourists in Thailand resume their vacations.

Video: Things are not what they appear to be.

Fireworks accident in Buenos Aires nightclub kills 175, injures more than 700.

The most overlooked, underrepresented, and censored news items of 2004.

Foreign-born small-business owners in New York can’t spell, or sell knishes.

Legal headaches sorted out, now is the time to make a buck off mashups.

Video: Watch Avery Ant rant about, among other things, Curious George being experimented on by Maybelline.

Some awful (and awfully good) European interiors from 1974.

Have no idea what your favorite album is? You can figure it out. Or, if you prefer fake bands, here they are.

New study shows commercial weight-loss programs largely ineffectual in dropping a few.

Video: Car-bombers in Iraq release tape of installation, detonation of a bomb.

Georgia sheriff fires 27 employees, posts snipers on roof as they leave.

A look at the many “hedcut” or “dot-drawing” portraits from the Wall Street Journal.

Headlines for Tuesday, January 4, 2005

New York’s currently: resolutin’ to get in your face!

Baghdad governor assassinated; 10 killed by police-post bombing.

House Republicans abandon plan to loosen ethical rules; DeLay may lose his post if indicted.

Key Indonesian airport closed after plane hits water buffalo.

Female mug shots from the 1940s.

Rapists attack homeless tsunami survivors, thieves loot while dressed up as rescue workers.

It is one thing to appreciate Hotel Rwanda; it’s another to know we’ll be watching Hotel Congo in 2014.

Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton; we repeat, Aaron Burr.

Hilarious Cynthia Ozick account of her first book tour (including her run-in with Birnbaum).

So far we’ve been looking at the gift of a gun to an adult. Difficulties involved in giving handguns for presents.

RealAudio archive of Melvyn Bragg’s “In Our Time” radio show.

The history of Carol Hersee and her disappearance from the airwaves, as TV watchers no longer adjust the color on their screens.

Adam Sandler’s acting chops are as nuanced as his new jowls (this is a good thing).

French fish recipes you can make with tilapia.

How to turn your iPod into a high-quality recording device.

MP3s: The choice cuts from WFMU’s “On the Download”; many covers of “House of the Rising Sun.”

Headlines for Monday, January 3, 2005

New York’s currently: (just like) starting over

Amid chaos and complaints of red tape, relief efforts begin to reach tsunami victims.

Before the tsunami, Banda Aceh, the site of a decades-long civil war, was strictly off-limits to foreigners. Now, power is restored, markets have reopened, and a new beginning is visible.

How difficult is the relief effort? Read how a single water-purification kit makes its way from a factory in Jakarta to the victims in Sumatra.

Following federal agencies’ warnings about lasers and aircraft, laser activity shows up at airports across the country, including a man accidentally aiming one into the cockpit of a passing helicopter.

Politicians take time out from disaster to moan over which countries are giving enough and the value of the U.S.’s perceived generosity, possibly prompting the U.S. to pony up.

Some inmates released by tsunami disaster reject freedom and return to their prison to help rebuild it.

Keeping terror suspects in custody for life, regardless of evidence? Bad idea.

A collection of “misused” quotation “marks.”

Photos: Not quite Kentucky Fried Chicken.

As Anglos reach minority status in Texas, debate brews over the proper pronunciation of state place names.

You don’t know them, but: Who do they look like?

How people solve jigsaw puzzles, alone and with others, reveals “opportunists,” “hoarders,” and more.

Video: Fugazi singer Ian MacKaye knows his vowels.

Today’s date—1/03/05, the first three odd numbers—is a digital fluke that happens, well, only once a century.

Three beautiful essays on remembering Susan Sontag.

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