Saturday, September 6, 2008
Currently: watching the angry rightToday’s Feature: “A Point-by-Point Evaluation of My Build-a-Bear Workshop Experience” by Fortunato Salazar
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Headlines for Tuesday, February 28, 2006
New York’s currently: smearing itself with Deep Heat
According to Baghdad’s main morgue, last week’s violence took the lives of more than 1,300 Iraqis.
Darfur violence spreads across border into Chad—20,000 Chadians now “refugees in their own country.”
Families bond over shared sperm donor dad.
Saddam ends hunger strike after losing 10 pounds.
Australian jihadist finds it hard to like beer and be a Muslim, too.
Wal-Mart asks government for help paying employees’ health care.
Writer loses job over meth recipe.
Orthodox Church in America embroiled in financial scandal stateside, fake plaques in Moscow.
Make sure you show how Africans have music and rhythm deep in their souls, and eat things no other humans eat. How to write about Africa.
Matching Shakespeare’s life to his plays requires a bit of wonder.
It’s tough to file a complaint against the police in South Florida.
Architecture blog: Life Without Buildings.
New York celebrities are less well-liked than others.
Gael Greene remembers the food she loved (dumplings, shrimp) and the men she screwed (Elvis, Clint).
Calling Grey Gardens fans, the Marble Faun has been found.
Video: Auteur Cat Power meets Auteur Korine.
And the American Ceramic Society’s Mug Drop Contest has a winner! (Photo here.)
Pete Doherty steals a car—no word on whether the KLF handed him the keys.
Headlines for Monday, February 27, 2006
New York’s currently: making friends with the radiator
After week of violence, Iraq’s Sunni bloc returns to negotiations.
Inmates in Afghanistan seize control of jail, issue demands.
South Dakota closing in on abortion ban, “morning-after pill” entering court battles along red-state/blue-state lines.
Russia, Iran reach deal to produce non-weapons-grade uranium on Russian soil.
Distraction of Rio’s Carnival helps thieves get away with a Picasso, a Matisse, a Monet, and a Dali.
H&R Block forgets to carry the one on its tax return.
Obits: Frederick Busch, Don Knotts, Darren McGavin.
Bigger is better doesn’t apply to U.K. publishers (e.g., a list of presses).
Op: Award ceremonies are perfect substitutes for not thinking about art.
Worried your professor is a biased liberal? Well, does he smell like Phish?
National Archives footage now on Google Video.
When Morrissey and I started The Smiths, we thought pop music was the most important thing in the world. Johnny Marr on The Queen is Dead.
How to game the SAT essay section.
Japanese military book remade with maid dolls.
There are some spooky vibrations in Maine.
I will not require Caliban to hump Stephano’s leg while telling him about Miranda, no matter how big a laugh it will get. The things I will not do when I direct a Shakespeare production, on stage or film.
Headlines for Friday, February 24, 2006
New York’s currently: like a metaphor
Furor in Iraq over mosque attacks leaves at least 138 dead, brings the country dangerously close to civil war.
Gunmen at fake checkpoint north of Baghdad kill 47, dump their bodies in a ditch.
Dubai firm agrees to delay takeover of U.S. ports.
When your national symbol is a rooster, the threat of bird flu calls for some serious marketing.
It’s not just you: Americans are working harder and getting less done.
Nick Cave on his new Australian western and writing scripts for Russell Crowe.
Eight Nebraska meatpacking workers claim biggest jackpot in lotto history.
Two arrested in British heist.
The French revolt against the Michelin star system.
Recklessness and snootiness share the slopes when skiing Texans invade New Mexico.
How Best Buy is accidentally killing independent music. Related Op: WTF?
Why it’s better to give your teeth to the tooth fairy than, say, swallow them.
When I lost my place, I’d repeat the same line; that’s why it goes, “lager, lager, lager, lager”. Musicians reveal the origins of their biggest hits.
Mp3s: Neutral Milk Hotel demos, live sets, ephemera.
Canadian university president bans wi-fi until he’s sure it won’t fry students’ brains.
Damon Wayans seeks trademark of the word “nigga.”
My favourite toy is a He-man figure. My favourite food is tripe. Classified ads for dogs looking to date.
Headlines for Thursday, February 23, 2006
New York’s currently: ringing in the year of AW
More than 100 killed since Shiite shrine was wrecked, including three Sunni clerics, plus 90 Sunni mosques attacked.
Despite Condi’s pleas, Saudis walk like Egyptians, will continue to fund Hamas.
South Dakota attacks Roe, pushing to ban nearly all abortions.
Katarina Witt: The new skating point system robs a bit of gold from a beautiful sport.
Will busloads of women work in mobile brothels for the World Cup?
Either your cat stays inside or more sea otters die, it’s your choice.
Emails between students and professors document bratty students.
Late-night informercial for “Twelve-Tone Greatest Hits” compilation.
The tricky emotion between idolizing and despising—whom do you idolspize?
British authorities need your help recovering a $43.5 million heist.
If you stay here much longer you’ll all get slitty eyed. The astonishing quotes of Prince Philip.
Overheard in New York recent highlights: one, two, three, four, five.
Groundbreaking packaged food reviewed.
Other cereals contend to replace Cheerios as babies’ preferred finger food.
Jonathan Ames reading tonight in New York.
Niche-publishing: Super-expensive books for super-devoted sports fans.
Treehouses you build for yourself, not for your children.
Video: 2006 slam dunk contest highlights.
Headlines for Wednesday, February 22, 2006
New York’s currently: gagging on the in-box
The port security hue and cry? Humbug. Hysteria. Hotdogging.
Ugandan opposition candidate runs his operation from jail.
It’s a strange place for the post, but we must accomplish our duty. Delivering the mail in Iraq.
Director puts up kidney as collateral for movie musical about North Korea.
Updates from the world’s tyrannical outposts.
Slideshow of TV’s aryan sisterhood (i.e., blond newscasters).
Newspapers have learned to ooze love for the Oscars (and their ad pages).
Inventor of the flash mob tells all.
Op: Don’t expect big-government conservatism to last much longer.
Across the West Coast, giant orange balls are disappearing.
Doctor claims Washington’s smoking ban forces elderly smokers to take unnecessary risks.
Nineteen Manhattan restaurants with private rooms, and nine tips for running more productive meetings.
Night lights on Google maps. See also, real-time cloud patterns.
Cartoon furor pits Muslim against Muslim.
Facing faculty revolt, Harvard’s Summers to resign.
The ho-ho-hoaxy conspiracy theory behind Pete Doherty and the KLF.
Tracking They Might Be Giants as they write their venue songs.
Videosift digs through YouTube and GoogleVideo so you don’t have to.
Many versions of “Sabre Dance” will brighten your day.
Headlines for Tuesday, February 21, 2006
New York’s currently: life lessening
For seven years U.S. intel groups have been reclassifying public info.
U.S. military suspects Iraqi highway patrol forces are stocked with death squads.
Twenty-six dead in Iraq yesterday, 60 injured.
Sedaris: Art is more fun when you buy it with your family.
Holocaust denier Irving goes to jail and Lipstadt is dismayed (see Lipstadt with Birnbaum here).
How Pentagon insiders tried to ban abuse—and who stopped them.
Scientists say early man was more hider than hunter.
Op: If you want to improve the world, try lending instead of giving.
Christian history of the world claims five billion people can live in Texas.
Timeline of Axl Rose’s new album Chinese Democracy.
What happens if 60 cell phones ring at the same time in the Strand? (See video here.)
Real-estate tool Zillow.com values homes in your neighborhood.
Arizona senator says there’s no way to defend teaching Moody’s Ice Storm.
Who will be the ultimate blogger (2)?
Man wakes up on the F train, carrying a swimsuit. It’s raining out. He fears he’s committed a crime.
When claiming a catastrophic hailstorm destroyed your crops, don’t use ice cubes.
How to put Grace Jones into an impossible arabesque.
Height/weight chart of bodies.
Man coughs up nail 35 years later.
Headlines for Friday, February 17, 2006
New York’s currently: reverting to its natural state
Mudslide in Philippines leaves 1,500 missing.
How to trust your government, bury your dead.
Hunt for show whippet at JFK dwindles after helicopter search turns up nothing.
Study links caloric intake, apple peels to heart age.
How to explain to your kids why you wrote the books you wrote.
The distance between winning an Olympic event and receiving a medal can be pretty far. And: Can you really bite into a gold medal?
Then Top Ten Sci-Fi Films That Never Existed.
Matthew Baldwin witnesses a plot gone wrong while in line at the drugstore.
Between the Squibs dives into the New Yorker DVD, finds pearls.
Video: Everybody loves Django.
Consolation/commiseration if you’re having trouble learning Chinese.
The Ricky Gervais podcast sets a Guinness record.
Virginia cops nabbing prostitutes using the “full-contact method.”
Find out what the bands stopping in your town sound like.
Headlines for Thursday, February 16, 2006
New York’s currently: back to soggy springtime
Chertoff and Cheney both take responsibility, though neither’s sure what he did wrong.
Australia airs more Abu Ghraib photographs, Arab anger fueled (pics available here).
Hamas calls for “giant summit” with all living Israelis.
Permission slip for parents of eighth graders includes every known cause of death.
Hundreds of smashed ballot boxes discovered in Haiti dump; Préval declared winner.
Wondering where art thou, missing Netflix video? The postman stole it.
Map of goods made by today’s slaves.
Rice wants $75 million to promote regime change within Iran—isn’t promoting Middle East democracy bad for U.S. interests?
Prostitutes call for ban on game Grand Theft Auto.
Are the cartoon protests over? No.
Photos of small people on adventures.
Birnbaum chats with Seven Lies author James Lasdun.
When they began to work independently, the limitations overwhelmed them. Why the Beatles endure.
In case you were concerned, New York’s baby lawyers are getting fat raises.
Seven new-music events in New York.
Food and wine events in the city; yesterday’s food news wrapped up.
Tips for picking a better steak at the grocery store.
Beyonce mortified to know “bootylicious” has made it into the dictionary.
Video: Oprah grills Cruise, the mash-up.
Headlines for Wednesday, February 15, 2006
New York’s currently: the last of the famous snowstorm
Riots in Pakistan over cartoons leave three dead.
Iran confirms it has resumed uranium enrichment activities.
Today New York melts, as temperatures return to “normal.”
After Cheney shooting victim suffers mild heart attack due to shotgun pellet, mood at White House shifts from levity to sincerity.
Op: The details of Cheney’s hunting accident are, to hunters, pretty fishy.
Rock stars in Tehran toe the line, though dare not cross it.
Restaurants take the lead in the resurrection of New Orleans.
“New York is a sort of dirty, sexy, fast-paced place. It’s a natural on a condom.”
Indoor smoking ban across England to go in effect summer 2007.
How much would you pay to meet President Bush? If you’re dealing with Jack Abramoff, the answer is: a lot.
Technology reveals Melville’s alternate ending for Moby Dick.
Inside the “amateurish” but lucrative propaganda machine that’s feeding information to Iraq.
Japanese make out with cell phones.
Centipede King and Scorpion Queen celebrate Valentine’s Day nuptials.
Headlines for Tuesday, February 14, 2006
New York’s currently: got too much VD in the first place
Mubarak breaks promise, postpones Egyptian elections for two years.
White House press corps attacks McClellan over delayed shooting information (Cheney was put in charge of PR).
Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari suspected of torching Alabama churches.
Lacking lawyers, New Orleans may release 4,000 defendants.
Two Pakistanis dead during cartoon protest.
Conan O’Brien helps elect Finnish President; Finns insist O’Brien is their king.
Pet psychic predicts Westminster winners based on size of dogs’ halos.
Newspapers still depend on science journals, but they no longer necessarily trust them.
How to make Garfield funny? Remove some thought balloons.
What comes after once, twice, thrice? Oxford Dictionary FAQ.
Need a Valentine? Try a crime-fighting orphan.
Samuel Jackson: King of the grosses.
One last chance to win yourself a free copy of Danny Gregory’s new book!
Scientists debate whose fish is smaller.
I’m crazy for you! Get it? Obsessive-compulsive valentines.
Headlines for Monday, February 13, 2006
New York’s currently: finally reaching the end of the Dr. Bronner’s label
Snow in New York—26.9 inches—breaks 1947 record.
Iraqi Shiites nominate Jafari for prime minister, Jafari seems nonplussed.
Covey flushes, Cheney shoots hunting companion.
Bird flu makes first appearance in European Union, detected in Italy, Greece, and Bulgaria.
Muslim graves in Denmark vandalized, action is quickly condemned by government.
U.N. reports that detainees at Guantanamo are as good as tortured, urges closing facility.
Families who seek justice for Dec. 2002 torture deaths in Afghanistan have still found little.
The next time you fly into New York, be sure and wave to the passengers on the plane next to you.
How to defend yourself with a cane, with pictures.
Excellent interview with Martin Carr, ex-Boo Radleys singer.
Publishers de-Frey jacket blurbs.
A collection of free museum and walking tour guides for your iPod. Related: You tried to save your iPod, but couldn’t save your ass.
Parasite present in the brains of half of all humans influences rat behavior.
I see paint-cracked walls stained with shite / Long long lock-up days / Cold lonely nights / And I think to myself… what a wonderful world. Pete Doherty’s prison journal.
You don’t want to know what the average salary at “Goldmine Sachs” is.
All British journalist wants is NY to heart him back.
Fun with anagrams: Tube stations, all mixed up.
Headlines for Friday, February 10, 2006
New York’s currently: anti-Kanye from the start, always-Mariah forever
White House knew early on the levees were broken—killing the “surprised” claim—and now you can too.
Bush offers foiled post-9/11 attack; intelligence officers offer snickers.
Goss: Quit talking about our intel or you will break it!
Pillar: Bush killed the link between intel and the White House a long time ago.
French chocolate producers requested not to “crunch on” a crypt of dead soldiers’ remains.
Mark-Paul Gosselaar accused of writing his own IMDb entry.
Scan shows no progress in Sharon. Consider: Which is easier, swimming in syrup or swimming in water?
Study finds popular songs are popular, and unpopular songs are unpopular, regardless of quality.
Post-Andante, classical music culture still lives online.
Detailed report on ways the NSA can tap that data.
More wiretapping: Gretzky’s wife busted in gambling ring.
With thousands attending protest in Malaysia, cartoons continue to incite Muslim fury.
How did the rage build? And exactly where do the protesters get all those Danish flags?
Police sergeant may lose his badge for jokes about raping brides, molesting his own son, etc.
The “About Me” page on Jack Bauer’s Friendster profile.
Hey, MacGyver: one of your last chances to win a free copy of Danny Gregory’s new book!
Timeline of art history; timeline of Katrina; timeline of an Argentinian family, in pictures.
It’s not hard to figure out why Treisman wants his copy (sell! sell! sell!), but how about explaining Murakami’s popularity in Russia?
Headlines for Thursday, February 9, 2006
New York’s currently: wondering when it will be the sick passenger
U.S. enlists feeding tubes to quell hunger strikes at Guantanamo.
Suicide bomber attacks Shiite holiday procession in Pakistan, killing 22.
Inside tolerant Denmark, many are perplexed at being the focus of Muslim anger.
Cancer deaths in U.S. drop for the first time in over 70 years.
Solve today’s MacGyver challenge and you could win a copy of Danny Gregory’s new book.
Fiction… but it has the absolute ring of truth. American Association of Petroleum Geologists presents journalism award to Michael Crichton.
Video: Fighting Life: Rejoicing the Human Spirit.
Vast sections of the city are still without utilities. Without electricity, businesses can’t open their doors; without open businesses, electric bills can’t be paid. Limbo Land, New Orleans.
Computer determines found Pollocks aren’t the real thing.
Reports suggests wiretapping may have been used to get wiretapping warrants.
It’s so hard to get the good wiretapping these days.
How to explain away your Google search history.
Finland wants more grandparents to have recess.
Video: The Secret Machines, “Alone, Jealous, and Stoned.”
Japanese designer creates one ca-ra-zy chair.
It sucks when your spelling bee judge screws up.
The Park Slope of the future is a techno-wasteland, at least according to Freejack.
Headlines for Wednesday, February 8, 2006
New York’s currently: seduced, annually, by the Caribbean ads on the subway
Conservative Japanese leaders very happy to hear Princess Kiko is pregnant.
Roadblocks in the mongoose-cobra peace process.
U.K. jails “epitome of Islamist extremism” Abu Hamza for seven years; U.S. to seek extradition.
You may be a bad emailer because you can’t empathize.
Fourteen ways to be a better emailer.
Four die in Afghan cartoon riot.
Iran’s largest newspaper holds international competition for Holocaust cartoons.
And: Iranian Commerce Ministry calls for renaming Danish pastries after a flower named for Muhammad.
Which religions endorse illustrations?
Op: What Westerners don’t get is that Muslims take this personally.
Bush’s head speechwriter is a lot more compassionate than conservative.
Chance that a Briton has bought a book “solely to look intelligent”: 1 in 3.
U.K. to cover U.S.’s ass aid by funding safe abortions in developing countries.
Someone is burning Alabama churches, and it’s the ATF’s number-one priority to find out who.
Only you, MacGyver, can save the world and win a copy of Danny Gregory’s new book.
Hungarian director makes his last appearance at his own funeral.
There is always something unmotivated about conversion experiences. J.M. Coetzee on Gabriel García Márquez.
Headlines for Tuesday, February 7, 2006
New York’s currently: diagnosing anyone who will listen
White House releases D.O.A. budget.
Danish Embassy in Tehran set on fire as worldwide protests over Danish cartoons rage.
Attorney General and surveillance, blah blah blah; Sylvester Stallone and surveillance, hello!
Thousands in Atlanta pay respects to Coretta Scott King.
Gervais and Merchant to write an episode for U.S. Office.
Bronx Zoo plans to shut down elephant exhibit if (and when) any of the animals die.
Find your way out of this pickle, MacGyver, and you could win a copy of Danny Gregory’s new book!
Video: Are you a part of the new American coffee revolution?
JT Leroy partners split, point fingers, work on movie; investigating John Banville’s The Sea to determine if it’s actually a memoir.
Pioneer of the tortilla chip, Rebecca Web Carranza, dies at 98.
Cold Center in Wales has steady stream of test subjects thanks to sickly students, though no word yet on whether their parents made it into the office yesterday.
And there’s more: British scientists infect themselves with hookworm in the name of allergy research.
Modern love is all about who likes the Taquitos.
Signal from space suit set adrift is lost, then found again.
Fascinating: Double-Tongued Word Wrester records undocumented or under-documented words from the fringes of English.
Video: Episodes of The IT Crowd, comedy about the guys in the server room, from the creators of Father Ted.
Headlines for Monday, February 6, 2006
New York’s currently: got the face on—even when it doesn’t mean to
Two die in Afghan cartoon protest; Protesters torch the Danish embassy in Beirut.
Annie Proulx: Film can be more powerful than the written word.
ABC cancels Acting With The Stars.
Feudal schism between orchestras invited by Carnegie Hall to come play and those who rent the stage.
Need a cause? Become a 21st-century abolitionist.
Go on and Gyve a little—enter by noon to win a free copy of Danny Gregory’s new book!
Author Betty Friedan died Saturday at 85.
What it’s like, as an author, to be reviewed badly by Donald Trump.
Op: Let’s stop publishing books that needn’t be books.
How to big box Manhattan: be sneaky, just like Home Depot.
Questions for freeway exit-ramp beggars.
Video: Super bowl commercials.
Phallus selected as symbol to warn of nuclear dumping site.
Blow-by-blow account of violence when Liza Minelli visited The Muppet Show.
Betting on this year’s TOB not good enough for you? Build your own Oscar pool!
China vs. Japan, round 18109: Memoirs of a Geisha cancelled in China.
100 years of music mapped using the London Underground.
Colorado music teacher who showed Faust in class accused of satanism, homosexuality.
Youth saves woman’s life who saved his seven years earlier.
Youths now arrested for the booze inside them.
How I stalked my girlfriend, a lesson in cheap cell-phone surveillance.
Headlines for Friday, February 3, 2006
New York’s currently: crushing on its mayor
Q&A: Why you’re not supposed to depict Muhammad in a cartoon.
Two car bombs explode in Baghdad market, killing 16 and wounding 90.
Boehner beats Blunt every time.
This has to be the end of this story: Libraries reshelve A Million Little Pieces under fiction.
Bloomberg donates $100 million to stem-cell research.
How to turn your bathroom into an office. Step one: Get a toilet trap for your BlackBerry.
Death metal and “Cookie Monster” singing, all news to Frank Oz.
Russian military home to slave labor and horrific bullying.
Met agrees to give up Greek vase in response to looting accusations.
Video: Landlord Gloria Trembicky gets the Fox 5 treatment.
Coyotes rule our city streets, but we never notice.
Veins are the new fingerprints.
Troubling tales from emergency room docs.
Spate of infections after door-to-door tattoo salesman visits apartment complex.
Headlines for Thursday, February 2, 2006
New York’s currently: toasting world peace, always
Remember Sharon? He’s still in a coma, and now he has a feeding tube in his stomach.
Kenya’s government has spent more than $12 million on new cars since 2002.
Profile of Johnny Dang, Houston’s grille master.
City restaurants install webcams to spy on diners.
Q&A explains why the IAEA is meeting to discuss Iran.
Op: The Russian proposal is a red herring—and if Iran goes for it, we may lose our last pressure point.
In the city of skinnies, New York school children get their whole milk stolen.
Bill Gates is actually too rich for the IRS.
Nearly as rich, Oracle’s Larry Ellison worries his accountant with risky spending.
Ten companies’ support email addresses queried in race to answer simple question.
French editor fired after running cartoons depicting Muhammad, all the rage among European newspapers, especially the Danish ones.
Christ shows solution to every New Yorker caption contest.
TMN’s Choire Sicha gets a personal assistant, learns how to smoke with his penis.
Win a free book with a little ingenuity by noon, MacGyver.
Had the filmmakers not respected the material: Lord of the Rings commercials.
Video: Broke Mac Mountain.
Teenager reports stolen marijuana to police.
Headlines for Wednesday, February 1, 2006
New York’s currently: a sucker for a variety pack
Conservative Alito sworn in to Supreme Court; a true shift, however, may only happen if somebody else decides to retire.
Bush’s promise to cut the nation’s dependence on oil sounds nice, though familiar.
House arrest: “Sheehan did not resist and left with a smile…” “She was also vocal…and…ignored instructions to close her jacket and quiet down.”
Coretta Scott King, 1927-2006.
IAEA draws up report connecting Iranian military to nuclear development, Iran is going to the security council, and Tehran is still a cheap place for ex-pats.
Calling MacGyver! Enter to win a free copy of Danny Gregory’s new book—here’s how!
The deaf man who went up a mountain and came down hearing.
How Magnetically Levitated (or Maglev) trains work.
Postal worker who shot five, killed self, had been put on psychological leave.
Audio: A collection of archived John Peel shows.
Rick Bayless finally embraces bagged chips and canned beans.
Danish newspaper learns Mohammed-as-suicide-bomber cartoon doesn’t go over well in Muslim countries.
Video: John Waters thanks you for not smoking.
When you place an order at a drive-thru window, it may be going out to a call center.
The BBC style guide makes nice distinctions about football-speak.
TODAY’S FEATURE
A Point-by-Point Evaluation of My Build-a-Bear Workshop Experience
If you could have any bear in the world—what would it look like? A mall visit poses tempting challenges, as FORTUNATO SALAZAR constructs an ursine fantasy.DIGEST
City of Refuge
In his new novel, Tom Piazza vividly describes the few days before and after Hurricane Katrina wrought mayhem on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.GET KVETCHIN’
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
Non-Expert Rosecrans Baldwin finishes the lyrics that Mr. Simon left behind.NEWSLETTER
Prize Lovers Apply Here
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