Headlines: May 2007 - The Morning News

The files have also yielded a picture of Pete Seeger at age 2… and an engagement photo of Diane Arbus. A dig through the New York Times subterranean morgue.

Beloved actor, Hollywood Square Charles Nelson Reilly dies.

Presidential hopeful Giuliani revamps image, learns to smile, guffaw.

Number of candidates likely to put a strain on Secret Service resources.

Disenchanted with the anti-war movement, Cindy Sheehan ends her protest.

“Cheers!” she says. Glasses clink and she takes a sip. Then she lights up a Tareyton 100. Barbara Holland’s new ode to booze likely written while hung over.

My favorite font: Writers like whatever fakes a typewriter best.

Sergeant Pepper turns 40: The Times London revives its original 1967 review, and here’s a look at who’s who from the cover.

Headlines for Friday, May 25, 2007

Afternoon Edition

Israel assures Palestinians that missiles aimed at PM’s house weren’t intended for him.

Senators question fairness of parole program that grants some Iraqis asylum in days, instead of months or years.

Latest push against the use of lethal injections comes after prison staff spends over two hours finding an Ohio inmate’s vein.

France’s new “super-minister” of immigration, integration, national identity, and co-development plans wants to give immigrants $8,000 to go home.

Economically speaking, how much of a jerk do you have to be to oppose immigration? Here’s the math.

Looking for evidence the economy is overheating, Swedish bank points to dog yoga, Rolex stores too busy to take calls.

Also: Norway seeks ethical investment of oil billions, American ambassador sad it means no Wal-Mart.

NIH stops breeding chimps for financial, not animal rights, reasons.

“Right now, I have no time for films and photographs that require me to constantly trim my hair, beard, moustache and primp myself up every day.�? Castro’s back.

Burma’s pro-democracy Suu Kyi, under house arrest for 11 of the past 18 years, has her sentence extended.

British court rules that Cold War evictions of Chagos islanders to make way for an American base was an “abuse of power.” (A 2003 FAQ on the case.)

Stanford’s fake freshman discovered three weeks before summer vacation.

“At this point, we don’t know if it will be a deterrent or an attractant.” Sacramento’s latest plan is to shoo resident whales away with fire hoses.

Salem witches petition city councilors for psychic licensing board.

I expect to see £2,000 on the table and a lot more on the way. Judge writes a happy ending in the case of a jilted bride left homeless and pregnant by a conman.

Headlines for Friday, May 25, 2007

Morning Edition

Congress passes war bill free of troop withdrawal deadlines, Bush emits happiness.

Op: Bush says al Qaeda is after our children, and maybe even one reporter’s chow.

Sadr returns to Iraq, denounces “evil trio” of U.S., Britain, and Israel.

Prosecutors in L.I. slavery case allege wife/overseer’s mother offered the victims a bribe, then a threat.

Scientists say fetuses exposed to common chemicals can develop health problems later in life, including diabetes, thyroid disorders, and prostate cancer.

“Pregnant women need more evidence and less advice.” Citing research that pregnant women are over-boozing, U.K. Health Dept. issues strict advice.

Cornwall man breaks sleepless record, credits tea, raw food—though surprisingly, not massive amounts of LSD.

The Onion: “Amazing Medical Discovery to Add Years of Fish-Oil Consumption to Man’s Life.”

Creation Museum opens this weekend in Petersburg, Ky.—no dioramas of Jesus riding a Triceratops.

Movies that feature a child driving a car.

Video: The trailer for Control, the Joy Division movie that will launch a thousand Ian Curtis Facebook avatars.

Cemeteries wine, dine prospective residents, hoping to woo them away from the lure of cremation.

“He did a little tap dance on it, completely destroying it,” said Lama Chuck Stanford.

Headlines for Thursday, May 24, 2007

Afternoon Edition

Israel launches new missile attacks against Gaza, arrests over 30 Hamas officials.

Thailand to make Buddhism its official religion over the objections of its 10 percent religious minorities.

New York City medical examiner links first death to 9/11 dust.

U.S. and Canada disagree about need for fingerprints at NY border crossing.

Congress using “phonemarking” to churn out pork under closer scrutiny. Related: The 2007 Pig Book.

Dick Cheney has a new grandchild, minus a proud son-in-law.

What the world needs are more codgers railing about female politicians’ “saucy schemes” to gain power.

“Translating al-Qaeda cables is more important than making sure that the military is free of gays.” Congress investigates the firing of 58 Arabic linguists.

Take our word for it with TMN’s 2007 Editors’ Awards for Online Excellence.

People surprisingly blasé about spam taking over the (e-)world.

The Maldives beats out Sweden to be the first country to open a Second Life embassy; ABC wishes it had never heard of the place.

Sounds of predators, feeding whales, and car alarms fail to get stranded humpbacks to budge after nearly two weeks parked outside Sacramento.

Shunning the Sudanese goat, BBC readers resurrect “Python vs. Alligator.”

Summer travel tip: Germany not nudist.

Headlines for Thursday, May 24, 2007

Morning Edition

Body of one of the three captured U.S. soldiers found floating down the Euphrates River.

Today’s long read: Al Qaeda in Pakistan is being funded by cash shipped from Iraq.

First thoughts on the IAEA’s Iran report.

Fifty-one percent of Americans believe it’s acceptable to bomb civilians.

Baseball widely attracts writers from across America; in the U.K., it’s carp.

Why are we short if we’re the richest country in the world?

No good case exists for the inequality of real and intellectual property, because no good case can exist for treating with special disfavor the work of the spirit and the mind.

Round-up of the world’s most powerful mobs.

France fascinated with its new first couple, particularly Sarko’s wife, prone to flight; France’s top socialist steps down, as promised.

EU caps cell-phone roaming charges, sending prices to “a quarter or a fifth of what citizens pay now.”

Wonderful photo gallery: “Welcome to Pyongyang.”

How to process a space shuttle, in pictures. See also, gallery of existence goofs.

“In Our Time,” thankfully available on podcast, this week digs into the siege of Orleans.

Brits: Help the 20th Century Society save the red telephone boxes.

Fascinating discussions: foraging studies, demand for new formal reasoning.

Matthew Baldwin needs a comic artist to help draw Superheroes in IKEA; see also his IKEA walkthrough.

New favorite comic: Slow Wave.

Headlines for Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Afternoon Edition

Bombing in Turkish capital kills six and injures 70; visiting Pakistanis are suspected target.

Latest witness in Justice hearings, no saint herself, claims Deputy Attorney General misled Congress.

David Iglesias, former U.S. attorney, asks Gonzales to, “cowboy up and do what’s best for the American people.”

China gung-ho about getting those developing nations’ satellites in orbit, no strings attached.

Play the political futures market, or at least see how everyone else is betting.

If it helps you place your wager: candidates’ heights compared.

Soldiers’ family members critical of slot machines on U.S. military bases, which collect over $100 million a year.

Author of The Life of Pi vows to expand Canadian PM’s “stillness” on a bi-weekly basis.

Canada holding an SNL favorite in prison until he stops thinking we’ve been replaced by doubles.

Pakistan’s tourism minister forced out for “obscene hugging”; controversial Afghan leader, for calling parliament “worse than a stable or zoo.”

“Got any raisins? How about a date?” The Pickupedia.

Kosovo erecting 10-foot-tall statue of their “savior,” Bill Clinton—complete with crinkly-eyed grin.

In today’s feature, Michael Fowler gives us a political issue that can stand on its own four hooves.

Estrogen in waterways capable of turning minnows too female to mate—but female sharks are doing quite fine without men.

Video: The Civil War in Four Minutes.

Headlines for Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Morning Edition

Dems back down on troop-withdrawal deadlines, can’t seem to pass ethics overhaul in the House.

Thousands use lull in fighting to flee Lebanon.

How Hamas could win cash merely by hinting that it accepts Israel’s right to exist.

Chivvying the world’s nastiest countries by putting them in charge of good causes is a promising principle.

Op: Politicians should pay much closer attention to Russia’s dealings with states on the EU’s borderlands.

Stories and pictures of email scammers baited to be ridiculous. Unrelated: mosh-pit children appear to be having sex.

“Career” rarely the reason young women aren’t having babies.

Today’s long read: Hitchens visits “Londonistan.”

Architects fight over who was first to imagine “a giant, geometrically idealized, self-sustaining, sun-powered megalopolis.”

Viagra only helps with jetlag when you’re flying west to east.

Why are we having this absurd conversation? Because we’re in an important post 9/11 literary event. Digested read of the new DeLillo.

Man wonders if 13 years of surfing the internet has stolen in and ruined his brain.

Lace security curtains, and other cute ways to protect the home.

Gaffes perpetuated by British sports commentators.

Some people think anything with a dog or a car or a colorful alien [on the label] is garbage, which is not true. Questions for Wine Library TV’s Gary “Dirty Jerse” Vaynerchuk.

Price tag pinned on New Jersey’s natural beauty.

Bidding video of David Rockefeller’s Rothko selling for $72,000,000 (see story).

Other high-stakes video: Lions take a game, crocs interrupt the set, buffalos win matchpoint.

Headlines for Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Afternoon Edition

Tentative cease-fire in Tripoli; U.N. evacuates non-combatants from refugee camps.

Bad if true: U.S. military official claims Iran is prepping al Qaeda for an all-out war this summer.

Chinese toothpaste made with potentially deadly glycol—instead of harmless glycerin—blamed for 51 deaths in Central America.

Arizona’s law denying bail for suspected illegal immigrants appealed on grounds of unconstitutionality.

By 1921 American eugenicists had so firmly implanted fears of racial pollution through sex that 15 states had passed laws permitting involuntary eugenic sterilization. The etymology of “white trash.”

St. Petersburg Times editor finds teaching at a historically black college disappointing, to say the least.

Study finds repeating yourself is just as good as being right.

Game theory for travelers and prisoners; game theory for blog critics.

When food critics and food ethics collide.

Research shows that you can look like a Bob—or at least not look like a Tim.

Up to 10,000 people are expected to descend on Penn State’s Beaver Stadium to pick their way through 62 tons of student detritus.

A tribute to gyros, Chicago’s “most intense fast food eating experience.”

How fava beans nearly killed a vegetarian.

How to make an ear.

Headlines for Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Morning Edition

The main points of the new immigration bill, what’s good about it, what’s bad, and who says.

How new legislation over immigration divided one Texas town.

British prosecutors to charge an ex-KGB officer with Litvinenko’s poisoning murder.

Gasoline prices in the U.S. hit an all-time, inflation-adjusted high.

In the past four years, industrial carbon dioxide emissions have been growing at over triple the rate during the ’90s.

In the lower Mississippi, fish have been dying from a cause as yet undetermined. E.B. White on Rachel Carson, 1964.

Nineteen states have passed laws allowing parents of stillborn babies to receive birth certificates—instead of only death certificates.

Some new doctors say they’ll practice abortion not just out of compassion, but in defiance.

“It’s great for people who otherwise might have sat around all night waiting to see a moonbow.” Astronomers predict appearance of elusive “moonbows,” save poets time.

Online music lyrics sit in a pit of many snakes and one 30-page style guide.

New Yorkers who complain about the noise won’t go to their houses in Connecticut, where the pool filters are too loud.

“It feels really natural. I’ll tell you what, from an exposure point of view it’s been incredible.” David Iglesias’s star is born.

Headlines for Monday, May 21, 2007

Afternoon Edition

Fatah Islam’s fight with the Lebanese Army continues; more refugees, soldiers, civilians, and journalists injured or killed.

GE sells plastics division to Saudi company for $11.6 billion. Related: China buys Wall Street investment firm for $3 billion.

Canada could buy much more than that if only it could tap the Athabasca tar sands.

Op: Real (scary) feminist fury over Michelle Obama’s career choice.

A profile of Elizabeth Kucinich in all her tongue-pierced glory.

First person to be convicted in Wisconsin for 2004 voter fraud is sent back to prison.

American Center for Voting Rights, “the only prominent nongovernmental organization claiming that voter fraud is a major problem,” up and disappears.

When he started hugging me and smooching me on television 10 years later, I was a bit confused. Larry Flynt on his unlikely friendship with Jerry Falwell.

Nothing makes a slow news day like recounting the minutes of the 13th Historical Clinicopathological Conference.

Major news media on minor news media on the Cutty Sark.

If nothing else is going right in Iraq, at least the U.S. is building a damn impressive embassy.

Britain shy about just how fine they’re doing with homosexuals in the military.

India’s birthrate driving growth in all major world religions. Well, not Scientology.

Chinese backpage crime stories, staged, and photographed.

Banksy revealed. Maybe.

Headlines for Monday, May 21, 2007

Morning Edition

Dozens killed as Lebanese Army fights Islamic militants near a Palestinian refugee camp in Tripoli.

More than 600,000 of Afghanistan’s one million opium addicts are under 15.

(Islamic) Iran studies (atheist) China: How to set free an economy without losing political clout?

Chatting with Syria, talking with Iran—White House takes a second glance at the Iraq Study Group’s report.

Just going to point out here: Hard hats in the shape of cowboy hats.

Sniper in Idaho shoots at courthouse, kills one, wounds two.

Today’s long read: Differing revisions of the Six-Day War reviewed.

Al Gore: a gifted, and remorseless, explainer.

Guide to climate change for those who are perplexed.

Four-hour-long cinematic opera broadcasts are whipping the pantaloons off Disturbia’s ilk.

Despite death threats and violin-smashing Army raids, the Baghdad symphony plays on (and Baghdad actors keep acting).

Video: Architect tours you around new Wembley stadium.

A “sad” map of the United Kingdom; Happy 18-year-old girl becomes youngest American to scale Everest (see blog).

We are consumed by the spectacle while simultaneously marveling at the fact that we’re actually able to witness it.

How editorial cartoonists responded to Jerry Falwell’s death.

Catalogue of McCain’s references to drunken sailors.

Podcasts about science and the brain, and economics.

How to (eventually) store an entire life’s materials on a (Microsoft) cell phone.

Headlines for Friday, May 18, 2007

Afternoon Edition

At the Tour de France doping hearing, the defense threatens to reveal the star witness’s childhood molestation.

It was a grayer Blair and a silver-maned Bush who walked from the Oval Office yesterday. Even the Rose Garden appeared uncharacteristically worn. The Post’s world leader fanfic.

The World Bank needs a new president, Tony Blair is looking for work… wait a minute.

Op: Have the Republican presidential candidates been watching too much 24?

Scarier than out-of-control thunderstorms: thunderstorms that shut down the meltdown warning systems at nuclear power plants.

Extreme sports ignite un-extreme towns.

Erik Bryan, today’s Non-Expert, satisfies a reader’s jock itch.

The loss of an Australian soap: Brits dab tears, Americans scratch heads.

Video: Calvin & Hobbes, animated, in Italian.

Tree marriages: the next front in combating global warming?

Topless woman fires shotgun at cropduster. (Safe for work, unless you’re a cropduster.)

Holding her toddler under one arm, World’s Greatest Mom beats back shark attack.

Eight-year-old uncovers text in Iraq Word docs with “tracking changes” activated.

Headlines for Friday, May 18, 2007

Morning Edition

Senate passes major immigration reform that could offer millions of illegal immigrants legal status, Bush applauds.

House members, however, doubt the bill’s survival through the summer, citing potential privacy issues, economic strain.

[He] “couldn’t run a two-car funeral.” Wolfowitz resigns from the World Bank.

Wolf Bank fashion: Employees wore ribbons in shared ire toward their boss; remembering Wolfowitz’s socks.

Israel is only too happy to grant U.S.-trained Fatah troops passage into Gaza.

Gun nuts in Virginia hold a “Bloomberg Gun Giveaway”; parents of Va. Tech victims protest.

Disappearance of two Mexican TV reporters, now missing for a week, may be linked to drug cartels’ media terrorization.

Op: Mexico’s drug problem is our drug problem, and we have to be serious about giving aid.

Taste panels tell us how much sweeter Splenda is than sugar. (It’s 600 times sweeter.)

Scientists recommend capture, breeding of remaining spotted owls.

Photos from the life of Silent Spring author Rachel Carson, on the 100th anniversary of her birth.

Op: U.S. feminism does nothing to help the global suffering of women.

At Cannes, the much-anticipated Joy Division movie premieres to wide acclaim.

Are you going out of your way to annoy the right? An interview with Michael Moore on his movie about the healthcare system, Sicko.

Per person, Americans spend more on healthcare than anyone else, yet their life expectancy ranks 45th in the world.

Video: Fun, danger with ladder racing.

Headlines for Thursday, May 17, 2007

Afternoon Edition

Wolfowitz begins to negotiate his World Bank leave-taking, though he is adamant about departing with a clean record.

Source close to Justice inquiry says Gonzales had 14 more attorneys walking the plank.

With over two million war widows in Afghanistan, Kabul is the “widows’ capital of the world.”

Estonia, first country to put its government online, faces a Russian cyberattack.

The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Russian Church At Home make nice and end their 80-year schism.

Nussbaum: America’s War on Terror distracts from the rise of Hindu extremism and the fall of Indian democracy.

Clinton campaign uses online voting to pick a theme song, drive voters to their site.

Top presidential candidates are collectively worth more than $250 million—or approximately the GDP of Tonga.

Poor John E. Baldacci (D-ME). Governors’ salaries ranked.

In today’s feature, Lauren Frey fights tragedy with Seth Meyers’s smile.

Last major undeveloped patch of Manhattan—26 acres on the far West Side—is on the auction block.

TMN salutes brave Brooklynites who investigate postal service gloves filled with mystery liquids.

Study, probably written alone, finds loners aren’t so weird.

The owner of Napoleon’s penis died last Thursday in Englewood, N.J.

Headlines for Thursday, May 17, 2007

Morning Edition

Government-financed study finds sarin nerve gas exposure may have caused lasting brain deficits in many Gulf War soldiers.

Anti-war Senators fail to cut funds.

Military says it’s holding people “directly linked” to the presumably captured soldiers; as usual, scores of deaths reported in Iraq.

Military likely responsible for torching New Jersey.

Op: Listen not to Tenet or Bauer, or those who say torture works.

Passive-aggressive notes from roommates, neighbors, coworkers, and strangers.

Causes of disasters predicted for Afghanistan: Streams of refugees, fields of poppies.

Bold and unrelenting. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Pain index provides tasting notes on different stings.

Notes on recent freak weather.

One in 29 people is truly accident-prone.

Today’s long read: Examining the evolutionary competition between developing weapons and testes.

The truffle oil you dump on your eggs—i.e., 2,4-dithiapentane—has nothing to do with truffles.

Scientists believe behaving like a Martian will help insomniacs rest.

Happy birthday, Studs Terkel, who seemingly hasn’t rested in years.

Now that artists talk about work as often as make it, what role remains for scholars?

Also, will the Quidditch-books industry be killed off by the final Harry Potter, or can it follow a Sherlockian model?

These days: Too much mumbling onstage, too many bionic amputees, too few long shots, too many reverends not selling pencils.

William Langewiesche’s steps for building a nuclear bomb in the former Soviet Union.

Rosie O’Donnell, bringing 9/11 conspiracies to a small screen near you.

Blind man claims bias when denied gun permit.

Headlines for Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Afternoon Edition

Latest wave of Baghdad violence kills 41 Iraqis; 37 separate missions launched to rescue kidnapped American soldiers.

Martin Luther King’s oldest daughter—an actor and an activist—is dead at age 51.

Now Wolfowitz is getting really peeved.

Research physicists set out to create shank-proof toothbrushes for prisoners. Related: Tweezerman runs for president.

“The rhythms of baseball and the rhythms of the needle arts fit together perfectly.” Stitch and Pitch debuts on the East Coast.

Dodgers lure fans to the nosebleeds with all-you-can-eat hotdogs, nachos, and peanuts; nutritionists horrified.

Second-tier schools become the new first-tier, and the Ivies are now impenetrable. (Ahem.)

There’s a political point here, but how crazy would it be to have prostitution insurance?

The Jerry Falwell-Hustler ad that sparked The People vs. Larry Flynt.

Op: The court martialling of Matthew Diaz “reflects the values of a totalitarian state and not a democracy that values justice.” (Backstory here.)

Five thousand fully annotated letters of Darwin now available online.

“The movie’s lesson is: Fight for your country, even if it’s a losing battle, and have enough swords and hotel rooms on hand for tourists.”

One baby is too old to abandon at the hospital; one baby is too young to get a gun permit.

Miami Beach is running out of sand, seeks outsourcing.

Headlines for Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Morning Edition

In 2004 Alberto Gonzales visited the then-ill, disoriented Ashcroft’s hospital bedside to coerce him into renewing the illegal wiretapping program.

Op: That Mr. Gonzales is now in charge of the department he tried to steamroll may be most disturbing of all.

Gonzales can’t stop chugging, amps up penalties for copyright infringement, including jail time for “attempting to infringe copyright.”

Hamas gunmen kill guards at Abbas’s home, Gaza edges closer to civil war—and Hamas militants may be trying to drag Israel into the conflict.

Researchers find that men who take more than one daily multivitamin have a far higher chance of developing prostate cancer.

In debate, GOP candidates reveal likes and dislikes vis-a-vis torture methods.

The Onion: “Hallmark Scientists Identify Three New Human Emotions.”

ABC believes you would rather watch a comedy starring the Geico cavemen than one with Jim Belushi.

Long, excellent read: Exploring the history behind the film The Lives of Others.

“By the end of the week, I’m going to be eating cornmeal and strawberry preserves.: This week four Congressmen are surviving on $21 worth of food—the average amount a food stamp recipient receives.

Graph: The science behind “crackpot” diets.

Charles Eisenstein debates vegan chef and cookbook author Isa Chandra Moskowitz: “Can the ethical person eat meat?”

The Dalai Lama announces his plan to retire, democratize his position.

Deaf ears: In Odessa, Texas, school administrators debate Bible classes; at UC Davis, campus groups dispute views of Israel, Palestinian territories.

Headlines for Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Afternoon Edition

Suicide bomber kills himself and 25 others in Pakistani restaurant with anti-Taliban ties. (See the Washington Post’s slideshow.)

At least 13 killed by Hamas-Fatah fighting in Gaza.

Rev. Jerry Falwell dead at 73 from heart attack.

U.S.-Iranian dual-national director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East program arrested in Iran for “crimes against national security.”

Chrysler’s new owner will soon face the question of what to do with the $18 billion—that’s $1,500 a car—owed to employees in health insurance and pensions.

China struggles to stop female suicide by pesticide.

Spanish anesthesiologist sentenced to 1,933 years for sharing morphine, as well as Hepatitis C, with patients.

In today’s feature, Andrew Womack gives us the best music from Reagan’s second year in office.

Police from eight states ask MySpace to cross-check members with national sex offender database.

Linkin Park’s frontman and wife deal with a nuclear secret-holding cyber-stalker.

Study finds that cyclists wearing helmets attract more cars.

Paramedic on hand in case of shoulder dislocation at U.S.A. Rock Paper Scissors Tournament.

“To tell the truth, it was a piece of Jewish chutzpah.” TV games celebrate their 40th birthday.

This Saturday, 7 p.m., let’s all pitch in for Andrea Stone.

Headlines for Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Morning Edition

IAEA says Iran has begun enriching uranium on a much bigger scale than before.

For a last hurrah, Blair would like to convince Bush to join an international pact to fight global warming.

Bush calls for cuts in vehicle emissions; critics want reductions, not stalling.

Say what you will about his President-ing, George W. Bush can “rather successfully” conduct an orchestra.

Gonzales’s no. 2 resigns, the fourth senior Justice official to quit since the attorney scandal hit.

Nebraska sophomore pays $3000 after illegally downloading 381 songs (’80s ballads and Spice Girls).

The online show “Hometown Baghdad” is popular everywhere except Iraq (watch it here, it’s terrific).

Scientists dissect the “five-second rule.”

No longer content to save lives, doctors must now break into print, preferably with memoirs.

It’s like they talked to someone about what the 19th century looked like over the telephone. Roger Black tears into today’s magazines’ typefaces.

Patricia Cornwell asks judge to stop other writer (who fled the country, fleeing her) from posting defamatory messages on the web.

How mobile phones work “economic magic” in micro-markets.

Pope condemns capitalism and Marxism as “systems that marginalize God.”

French and British complain the most about work; Irish whine the least.

Ireland claims Obama (now, O’Bama) as one of its own.

Notes on the odd hobby of plane spotting in Toronto; notes on the future that never was.

Spielberg and Jackson to share producing duties for three Tintin movies.

Story of a pet lion in London who traveled by Bentley and ate in fine restaurants.

Headlines for Monday, May 14, 2007

Afternoon Edition

Russia’s rhetorical hostility towards America is reaching levels unseen since the Cold War ended. Sec. of State’s Moscow visit comes at a good time.

DaimlerChrysler back to plain old Daimler and Chrysler.

Mr. Clinton peeps out from backstage.

Texans argue over Bush’s contribution to the Lone Star legacy.

Clogged West Coast ports “could be a powerful do-nothing way to limit trade with China.”

Op: If the U.S. won’t grant Haitians the same asylum status as Cubans, it should at least help make the country livable.

Department of Defense bans Iraq troops from YouTube, MySpace, other time- and bandwidth-wasters.

New postage rates go into effect today, to the disappointment of thick-envelope senders.

“Knut has become a medium of communication.” Cute polar bear cub brings in the euros, even when he ceases to be cute.

Also from Germany: Unsatisfactory sex leads to more work, which leads to less sex.

Teeny-tiny dogs in teeny-tiny outfits race over Seabicuit’s old stomping grounds.

Considering ecotherapy—gardening, walks in the country, gazing at trees—as a valid addition to mental health treatment.

His editor once prevented him from including the fact that the Saxons smashed Viking babies’ heads. Britain’s most influential historian aims to shock the elementary school set.

“Bon-kyu-bon” is Japanese for badonk-adonk-donk.

Headlines for Monday, May 14, 2007

Morning Edition

In Pakistan, Musharraf’s suspension of a top justice sets off protests this weekend, during which 39 were killed.

Infighting between U.S. departments in Iraq—U.S. diplomats brand defense deputy a Stalinist.

Lawsuit alleges Giuliani rushed Ground Zero cleanup in spite of workers’ best health interests.

Researchers, experts agree most breast cancer cases are caused by everyday chemicals, such as those in solvents, exhaust, and drinking water.

Nanotechnology cancer treatments to focus solely on tumors, could eliminate patient suffering that comes with traditional therapies.

The ancient Egyptians beat Hippocrates to modern medicine by 1,000 years.

NASA prepares for future Jupiter/Europa mission by exploring an underwater cavern in Mexico.

“Even before the invention of scissors, we have evidence of tripartite hand games.”

In a learning experience gone awry, a Tennessee elementary school stages a gun attack.

Analysts say street names like “Bastard Ward” negatively impact market value; a list of band name etymologies.

Laurie Lindeen’s Petal Pusher is finally out (and blurbed by Cameron Crowe). Related: “It’s Not Phair” at TMN.

Applications for TMN’s Summer 2007 internship are due today!

NYC Police Commissioner Kelly compares crime-fighting notes with 1948’s The Naked City.

“What else can you do in a small town?”… “After a few beers, you can’t really tell the difference.”

A change in the recipe means Mars and Twix will no longer be vegetarian-friendly.

Headlines for Friday, May 11, 2007

Afternoon Edition

Over one million gather for canonization of Brazil’s first homegrown saint.

A complete account of Friar Galvao’s paper pills and bilocationism.

Foreign Policy repeats its Terrorism Index six months on, and experts still agree we’re daft, deaf, and in great danger.

Thank you, medical science, for finding us ways to be fat, even when we’re thin.

With the internet, stealing copies of a newspaper because its picture makes you look fat can only backfire.

Most pacemaker patients are not iPod users. But if they are, their heart should watch out.

British film company behind only the best mid-century monster flicks plans its zombie return.

Children predict summer’s movies’ fates, plots, jokes.

America has no idea what it’s missing with Eurovision (it’s missing this).

Fight breaks out at Boston Pops concerts during Gigi medley.

Hepola in today’s video Digest on men with interesting hair.

Weekend worries: The earth’s magnetic field is flipping, leaving us unshielded from dangerous solar rays.

Weekend pleasures: Terrific old Radio Lab program on how music works in the brain, moves us in the heart.

From the above, mp3s of musical illusions and paradoxes, and the extremely strange EMI songs inspired by composers.

With the aid of diagrams, Eric Feezell takes the Non-Expert chair and explains threesomes.

Headlines for Friday, May 11, 2007

Morning Edition

Many Americans migrating to wildfire-prone Western areas.

Fire forces evacuation of residents and tourists from South Catalina Island.

Today’s long read: China’s “Comfortable Housing Program,” or forced resettlement of 250,000 Tibetans (see slideshow).

Reformist parties in Serbia agree to build coalition government.

Congress primes carrots, sticks, gas cans for next week’s immigration overhaul.

Ukraine mired in party politics; citizens wait to hear when they can vote.

American soldiers who fled for Canada wait to hear if they can stay.

Will Opie and Anthony stay on XM after laughing along with guest who wants to rape Laura Bush?

Cigarettes in movies to be considered alongside violence, nudity in MPAA’s ratings.

Ratings on Blair’s tenure mixed for the moment.

Op: British taxpayers deserve to take a bow for Broadway’s success.

We always hoped that we could one day enjoy Prince’s spray.

No one knows nothing about artist Banksy, and he (and his publicists) prefer to keep it that way.

Profile of Brooklyn’s chief librarian: 34, African-American, finds Brooklyn awesome.

Perle: The CIA and Tenet awesomely missed the rise of jihadist fundamentalism.

Kirk Cameron on Dateline fails to prove his God’s existence, find much excuse for his own.

The seven worst Mother’s Day gifts; free software to help you patch Mom’s computer.

Headlines for Thursday, May 10, 2007

Afternoon Edition

OxyContin manufacturer fined $600 million—$35 million of which will come from executives’ pockets.

Virginia’s governor warns Bloomberg to stop sending special agents into his gun stores.

Hamas puts a stop to the Mickey Mouse that’s urging Palestinian kids to fight Israel.

Art-funk drumming is a poor excuse for MTA insurance fraud.

A new high-speed train threatens the structural integrity of Barcelona’s ill-fated Cathedral of the Sagrada Familia.

Tokyo, which never had enough street signs, drops them in favor of RFID tags on street corners.

^_^ vs. :) Trans-Pacific emoticons explained.

America’s work productivity sapped by dueling Paris Hilton petitions.

Citizens ensure a death row inmate’s last request—vegetarian pizzas for the homeless—is fulfilled.

The Anderson appeal may be the first chink in the formerly invincible armor of cell phone forensics at trial.

It’s U.S. Treasury vs. Moore, when the lovable filmmaker takes ailing Ground Zero workers to Cuba for medical treatment.

“I don’t care if I don’t pump a gallon on the last day.” Shell franchise owner uses $4 gas to go out in style.

Internet—and daylight and bad shows—killed the TV star.

But in the U.K., football fans still think about the game 80 times a day.

Headlines for Thursday, May 10, 2007

Morning Edition

Blair announces resignation, Brown expected to take over No. 10; what happens in the interim.

Republicans break it to Bush that their support for his war is waning.

Giuliani says he’ll back abortion rights, Pope says pro-abortion politicians should be excommunicated.

The same week the U.S. apologizes for Marines opening fire on Afghan civilians, U.S. airstrikes kill 21 Afghans, including six children.

Study shows HPV increases the risk of throat cancer; serious doubts cast on the effectiveness of the ballyhooed HPV vaccine.

Artist Charlie White had a horrible year; we hope they only get better from here on out. (Our interview with him.)

What are we eating, anyway: Farm-raised fish in the U.S. fed industrial toxin from China.

After 24 hours of exposure to the air, thousands of bacteria per square centimeter had survived on the tile and wood. Scientific paper calculates the five-second rule.

Rowling’s retirement of Harry Potter brings not just the end of a series, but the end of a whole “literary ecosystem.”

The studio Joy Division and the stage Joy Division were… two completely different bands. A new album almost goes unnoticed.

The city has an amazing range of gardens that go far beyond garden variety, from formal French to informal Puerto Rican; read our international parks coverage.

Something to Twitter about: Steven Wright.

Headlines for Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Afternoon Edition

Cheney makes a surprise stop in Baghdad, where he is expected to encourage Iraqi lawmakers to skip their usual summer recess.

Fires threaten the bone-dry Griffith Park area of Los Angeles. (Updates here.)

Europe to see a rash of new leaders as Tony Blair intends to step down , Serbia elects an ultranationalist Milosevic-ite.

How many book reviews is enough?

In today’s feature, Elizabeth Kiem hunts down a favorite bawdy Irish hermit-author.

I see nothing as a forever devouring, forever going on monster. Machine translation or Faulkner?

Utah County Republicans use Satan to remind us why the Know-Nothing Party fell out of favor in the 19th century.

Caesarean sections nowhere more popular than in Asia, where a lucky birth is a matter of minutes.

“Ice that’s not frozen.” Water features prominently in Wired’s lamest “value-added” products.

U.S. Supreme Court redefines what makes an invention “non-obvious.”

A water pipe providing sexual simulation and a retractable table top for a toilet are pretty non-obvious.

Frommer’s Europe on $5 a Day ends its run after inflation brings the number up to $95.

Moscow beats out Orlando in its love for theme restaurants.

Philip Graham translates todays Mp3 Digest into Portuguese.

The obvious answer of what to do with extra packets of Kool-Aid and a big bucket of dill pickles.

Headlines for Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Morning Edition

Details on the suspects accused of plotting to attack New Jersey’s Fort Dix.

Apparently they were bad shots with machine guns.

Pentagon says 35,000 troops will deploy to Iraq in August, and the Post provides a good summary of the current situation.

Obama slightly overstates how many died this week in Kansas (10,000 vs. 12).

McCain says no true conservative supports abortion rights; Giuliani says he values “personal liberty.”

Word of the day: internecine—details on fractures within Zimbabwe’s opposition party.

Hay made, pitchforked, found straw-like when reporters try to see tea leaves in France’s election.

Taliban graciously extends hostage deadline until Sarkozy can redecorate his office.

Sarko says France’s first battle will be with climate change.

Avian flu virus analyzed with Google Earth; National Geographic’s interactive “Atlas of the Human Journey.”

Marian Burros’s atlas of stupid tricks employed by restaurants; Keith McNally says Frank Bruni’s stupid, sexist.

Parents clack after paparazzi catch Maggie Gyllenhaal nursing in public.

What does Jarvis Cocker talking about fake book covers remind us of? Mingering Mike.

Video: Conan visits Lucasfilm, breaks original Star Wars props.

Warner Bros. will no longer show movie previews in Canada.

G8 countries to discuss tougher sanctions against Iran; Iran says, once more, it doesn’t care.

New caring, Chicago-centric literary magazine, Literago.

Wherever you live, a guide to help you host a board game group at home.

Headlines for Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Afternoon Edition

In Iraq, government tensions ease after averted walkout, civilian tensions rise after bomber kills 16 in a residential neighborhood.

Six Islamic militants living in the U.S. charged with plotting a deadly attack on Fort Dix in New Jersey.

Graph: Presidential approval ratings put in perspective.

A British view of the Queen’s White House visit.

Op: In today’s political debate, the windbags have been replaced by sound-byte baboons.

Best not to complain about the American government when Taiwan’s frequently comes to blows.

Video: Russia’s duma, of course, does brawling best.

A history of nudie mags, starting at “bifurcated girls” and ending with a Penthouse snorkler.

Belarusian movie posters capture stars at their best.

When the government prohibits microfiltering, French camembert producers give up raw milk and tasty cheese altogether.

Nokia finds women miss calls because of overstuffed handbags, Ugandans love cell phone covers. (Read the report here.)

D.C.’s Newseum is nearly, expensively here.

Today in history: Formula One’s Villeneuve drove to his death, Gary Hart got caught in some monkey business.

The Aesthetic Apparatus Deviant Sex Act Fabricator.

Headlines for Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Morning Edition

Europe says if Wolfowitz goes, it won’t contest the tradition of the U.S. picking the World Bank president.

Petraeus says by September we’ll know if troop increases have worked; Congress wants a progress report in the fall.

New leadership in Northern Ireland shares power between “sworn and bitter enemies.” (Graphic: “The Troubles”)

A star 150 times the size of the Sun explodes in the largest supernova known to be observed.

Music fans irked when professionals enter their favorite bands’ video-making contests.

Man quits paying mortgage, goes on spending spree, then learns his life-threatening tumor was misdiagnosed.

Judge who sentenced Paris Hilton to jail is “amazed at the amount of publicity.”

Now that’s a Zombie Round: Time Out NY’s book brackets pit Flannery O’Connor in the “Contemporary/Post-1970” category.

Who picks those lists of “best places to live?” Bert Sperling, who lives in Portland and Depoe Bay, Ore.

She takes aim at the target and fires away, her bracelets jingling at each pull of the trigger. Floridian ladies take to the shooting range.

Think tank advises that we can reduce global warming by having fewer babies.

Baby Stalin was no less sweet or adorable as babies who did not grow up to be dictators.

Linda Avery and TMN’s David Leite win 2007 James Beard Award for Leite’s Culinaria.

Islanders off Papua New Guinea fuel their cars with coconut oil.

Travelers should expect flying to become even more uncomfortable and more costly with each “innovation” unveiled by the industry.

Headlines for Monday, May 7, 2007

Afternoon Edition

One month later, killings continue following the stoning of a Northern Iraqi girl.

Juan Cole on the lack of al Qaeda in Iraq.

The M.T.A. loses its head.

News media invited to tour Alaska’s “son of Star Wars” missile defense facility, in case North Korea forgot it was there.

Alaskan legislators arrested for flagrant corruption.

“Popcorn workers lung,” caused by a chemical in artificial butter-flavoring, ruining the lives of Redenbacher workers.

Hester Prynne wore a scarlet letter for committing adultery; steal from Wal-Mart, face wearing sandwich boards.

Japanese judicial system grapples with culture of coerced confessions.

U.S. courts face own problems as increase in immigration cases goes unmet by more lawyers, judges, or courtrooms.

A little late for President’s Day: The foiled 1911 plot to steal Lincoln’s body.

Birnbaum on the publishing kerfuffle over book sections, and the week in what’s new.

How to publish a white paper in a peer-reviewed journal.

U.K. officials worry the public isn’t worried enough about crystal meth.

Romania’s new policies reject cancer, cancer treatment, oncology as a medical specialty.

“So we irrigated his ear—and two spiders came out.�? [Urban legends should not be true—-eds.]

The case of Canada spying via coins is solved. Also: Reasons to stick to bills.

In today’s Gallery, Marshall Sokoloff shoots the abandoned flats of Salton City (note: prints are for sale).

Big names in sports and entertainment should work on their NASCAR illustrations.

Headlines for Monday, May 7, 2007

Morning Edition

Sarkozy wins France’s elections, promises major change; Royal promises to “renovate the left.”

Promised anti-Sarkozy riots materialize in minor forms around France.

Paris Hilton sentenced to 45 days in jail, a punishment she finds “cruel and unusual.”

Ops: Life is better in Paris; the French know this, and won’t change.

Not far from Paris’s core, architectural remaking not in the style of Haussmann.

My trainer’s so concerned about my core. I didn’t even know I had a core. Dinner with Pultizer-winning food critic Jonathan Gold.

Everyone loves tech critic Mossberg, and it sounds like he loves the Journal’s paychecks.

Reviewing the week in dinners with Iranian diplomats.

Fashion police enforce Iran’s rules about appearance, including not doing men’s eyebrows.

Do Australian cricketeers only date blond women to imagine, perhaps, they’re sharing the same girl?

Another puzzle: Bill Clinton supplies the clues for a New York Times crossword.

FYI: Bush still hasn’t visited Vermont, Rhode Island.

Tornado ravages Kansas.

How to see summer movies in New York, the service journalist’s guide.

Shazam screenwriter breaks down the perils of coincidence in the new Spiderman movie.

The 10 worst Spiderman commercial tie-ins.

Turkeys, sunscreen, and Heidi Klum: Policies and business plans that worked too well.

Headlines for Friday, May 4, 2007

Afternoon Edition

U.S.-Iranian relations in bad shape when an “impromptu three-minute discussion” between undersecretaries is headline news.

Jill Carroll doubtful if the recently killed al Qaeda official was her captor.

The true story of how Hollywood, the CIA, and a terrible sci-fi script saved Americans during the Iranian hostage crisis.

The founder of the Jimmy Choo empire sues the recipient of the Mellon family fortune for an amount you wouldn’t believe, in clothes you couldn’t afford.

Montgomery Blair Sibley, the D.C. Madam’s lawyer, has a background story to rival his client’s.

Japan commemorates the 60th anniversary of its pacifistic constitution with calls to write a less peaceful one.

Video: China takes Disney knock-offs to a new level.

Al Sharpton walks across Manhattan for decency in hip-hop lyrics.

Online projects this weekend could include: petitioning to change “e-mail” to “email,” tracking Michael Jackson’s white glove.

Optimus Prime Voice Changer Helmet, Optimus Prime Big Rig Blaster, and Starscream Barrel Roll Blaster. Brace yourself for the summer of Transformer merchandising.

MREs are an OK substitute when you’re too lazy to cook, but steer clear of the grilled chicken.

Australia is the first country to use beer as an electricity source.

Perth, however, is parched.

Headlines for Friday, May 4, 2007

Morning Edition

Last night’s Republican debate characterized by a large number of participants, far-reaching topics, and numerous references to Reagan.

Continued supply of “explosively formed projectiles” from Iran is keeping troop casualties high in Iraq.

Democratic-led investigation into prewar intelligence gains steam, though Sec. Rice ensures not too much steam.

Sen. Clinton proposes de-authorizing the Iraq War on the fifth anniversary of its authorization.

Sen. Obama put under Secret Service protection, though not because of any “known specific or credible threat.”

Today’s long read: “The Return of the Idiot,” or how Latin American leaders tend to repeat themselves.

City officials back an FBI probe into the LAPD’s use of rubber-bullets and batons to break up Tuesday’s immigration rally.

Two killed when Cuban military deserters attempt to hijack a plane bound for the States.

Prominent anti-terror judge brings new charges against Carlos the Jackal.

With 137 homicides this year and counting, Philadelphia sues Harrisburg for better gun control laws.

California now officially massive.

Somebody at Sony was out to lunch when “goat slaughtering as promotional event” was approved.

“It’s great to be alive, isn’t it?” “No.” The sound of two machines talking.

It’s not fair our neighbors to the north got graphic novel grammar books, while we were stuck with “The Elements of Style.”

Headlines for Thursday, May 3, 2007

Afternoon Edition

Muharib Abdul Latif al-Jubouri, high-ranking al Qaeda leader and suspected plotter behind Jill Carroll’s kidnapping and Michael Fox’s death, is killed in Iraq.

Conference on Iraq coincides with first high-level U.S.-Syria talk in two years.

Obama’s trouble courting the black vote, the Jewish vote, and the MySpace friend vote.

Ten leading GOP presidential candidates square off tonight in a debate, fittingly held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

France’s own presidential debate was yesterday—if only our candidates could pull it off with such style.

As a show of good faith, Chinese officials detain general manager of faulted gluten exporter.

Rose, black and white, is believed to have died after choking on a plastic bag she swallowed. The tragic follow-up to the BBC’s popular “goat-wife” story.

Better than a obituary is a full run-down of Yeltsin’s relationship with heart disease.

Eco-tourists apparently not seeing the irony in flying around the world to see the effects of global warming.

CBS on Imus’ plans to sue CBS. See also: Incredulous Brits on American lawsuits.

City-dwellers walk 10 percent faster than they did a decade ago, but New Yorkers still need to hurry up.

Google goes cute, and now we can never go back.

“Restless pensioner” has so far uncovered 20,000 World War II-era skeletons outside of Berlin.

“Mostly it’s lousy out there. It’s a hostile environment, and it’s trying to kill you. You sit in a flying Thermos bottle.” Three-time astronaut Walter Shirra dead at age 84.

Headlines for Thursday, May 3, 2007

Morning Edition

Exactly four years after his “Mission Accomplished” speech, Bush vetoes a war spending bill that would have set an Iraq withdrawal timetable.

The President signed his veto with a pen given to him by the father of a Marine who died in Iraq.

International study shows heart attack death have plunged in the past six years, scientists credit drug, Americans suggest cherry pie.

New York’s subway homeless population increases by a third, and officials don’t know why.

Some people change their accents to fit in, others do it because they have brain damage.

If global warming has any upside, it would seem to be for gardeners, who… spend $34 billion a year, according to the National Gardening Association.

World War II Japanese American internment camp newspapers published online. (See them here.)

California kung fu teachers spar over the true meaning of martial arts—yes, that would also be the plot of The Karate Kid.

The Onion: “Chris Berman’s Nicknames Becoming More Obscure After Taking Night Course in Russian Literature.”

Nadal beats Federer in exhibition match on half-grass, half-clay court.

More American cities are pushing for car-free zones.

The One Laptop Per Child program is facing increasing costs, fewer buyers, and competition from major companies.

SeatGuru shows you which seats to pick, by airline and aircraft, for your next flight.

Scientists devise a three-dimensional equation to explain the dissipation of beer foam.

The Da Vinci Code chapel discovered to contain coded musical notation in its stonework.

Headlines for Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Afternoon Edition

Israel’s PM close to resigning after party defections and release of a damning report on conduct during last year’s war with Hezbollah.

We are making no effort to get the list and I am not sure what we would do if it fell in our lap. Newspapers wary of tying names to the D.C. Madam story.

Nation’s federal government czar-count goes up by one as FDA creates position for head of food safety.

Deposed Thai PM comforts himself by purchasing third-rate British soccer teams; founder of Oracle amuses himself by trying for the America’s Cup.

Controversial study claims up to 4.5 percent of NBA calls affected by the referee’s race.

The Egyptian government is still going after bloggers, while Chinese web reporters for hire are making a killing.

OMG 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0! Oops. DVDs no longer encrypted.

In today’s MP3 Digest, Llewellyn Hinkes makes a capital scene.

How Western literature came to value tragedy over comedy, and became horribly dull.

An interview with Maki Kaji, the man behind sudoku, kokoru, slitherlink, and other games you’ve never heard of.

Mankind one step closer to conquering death as cells don’t die without oxygen—they die from it.

Things that cannot be good: A syndicated “Ask a Mexican” column; depositing your money in someone’s living room.

Join the campaign for a five-day weekend. Just don’t let your boss see.