10 December 2010: Weekend

  • U.S. companies hold onto cash--reserves are at their largest share since 1959.
  • Students protesting tuition fees in London attack car carrying Prince Charles.
  • In the tradition of kid diplomats, 13-year-old peacemaker has already protested at Tiananmen.
  • "It sounds silly, but this is a serious problem." Pumped-up laser pointers affect commercial aviation.
  • Dutch teen arrested for helping topple Visa, Mastercard sites--though it was more a virtual sit-in than hacking.
  • Klosterman interviews Franzen on brand management, image, and David Foster Wallace.
  • They know it funds an enemy war machine, but Israeli builders can't resist Iranian marble.
  • What people searched for in 2010: Chatroulette, Bieber--and they stopped searching for swine flu.
  • These five notes a human genetic inheritance, like the fingers on our hands. How music works, and how Kubrick made it work in his favor.
  • Famous art, from Spanish masterpieces to modern graffiti, is sometimes just about the dress.
  • During WWII, the Allies' Operation Mincemeat dressed up a corpse as a Nazi red herring.
  • How perfumes are made; how to never move your face in the name of beauty.
  • Medieval manuscripts identify Jesus's great-grandmother as Ismeria, a descendant of King David.
  • Long read: Psychologist explains how the cleanliness of our environment impacts how we feel and act.
  • China's "alternative peace prize" ceremony turns chaotic when no one informs the recipient about his award.
  • It felt unacceptable--fundamentally, jarringly so. Elizabeth Dwoskin finds the worst bathroom in New York.