Headlines from September 8, 2009

Federal dollars help states hire back laid-off teachers; how well the schools have fared depends on the size of the state's deficit.
Gains in technology might outweigh a crushing debt burden for future generations.
Condé Nast blocks GQ article critical of Putin from Russian readers; Gawker readers provide a Russian translation.
Times readers tell the paper what they're reading on the subway.
At Infinite Summer, Nick Maniatis of the Howling Fantods steadies the ship for the final 200 pages.
Photos: Inside a fish hospital.
What to expect from the cacophony of musicians who are taking full albums on tour this fall.
"They have to make it electronic because I don't know how to do any of that." An interview with Maira Kalman.
Op: When publishers refuse to republish clips from the Danish cartoon controversy, it's Islamophobia gone wild.
New York locates new, worse dwellings for tenants evicted for the Second Ave. subway.
Tonight is Make Your Own Goddam Dinner Night, a recently instituted family ritual I shared with you in last week's column.
A LEGO house, built to last and fit a small family.
End-of-summer podcast: The insect philharmonic.
If it can usurp racism, agriculture could revitalize the poorest county in the United States.
Instapaper for the commute: How to honor hell on earth.
Kenya is drying to dust, but aid groups are hesistant to wade in, wary of the government's failures.
If you love music, and you have a curious mind, there has never been a better time to be alive. Nick Hornby on mp3 blogs.
Shoe-mad report by Alexandra Jacobs from inside Zappos.com.
In case you missed it: part two of our music-bloggers roundtable.
Primer on improving your handwriting by writing in italics.
George Hamilton wanted to be a doctor, but his parents gave him no recourse but to be a movie star.
Melville vs. Hawthorne, Rimbaud vs. Verlaine, and other stories of authors who feuded.
"Impolite" interview with Shel Silverstein about trying to make it in New York.
Brief profile of Jim O'Rourke's new life in Japan; new Radiolab episode, "Parasites."