Headlines from December 2, 2009

One hundred and fifty years ago today, the most successful terrorist in American history was hanged.
Video: 650 million years of Earth in 80 seconds.
Photos: A Cairo slum consumed by trash, a minor league ballpark in ruins.
Hacked email accounts of climate change scientists reveal questionable data, smug groupthink.
One scientist in the email controversy steps down, pending investigation of the incident.
Obama tells nation he's going out for cigarettes.
Related: Three simple ways to abandon your family.
Everybody's shelling Obama with advice on Afghanistan; here are the five major options he rejected.
"Yes, it's legal to sell those things, but it's how you go about doing it." The rise and fall of Design Within Reach.
Greg Allen builds an Enzo Mari table out of an Ikea shelving system.
How Toshiba sent a chair to space with some balsa wood and high-powered balloons.
A handy guide to the political leanings of major corporations.
Though swine flu cases likely have peaked, Cosmo shows us what to do should they climax.
Profile of Alaska Southeast professor thought to be world's first and foremost Sarah Palin scholar.
Video: Interviews with Sarah Palin supporters.
Fearing populist mob, Goldman bankers begin packing pistols.
If Americans are addicted to living beyond their means, the Chinese are too adept at living beneath theirs.
America wastes 40% of its food supply, up from 28% in 1974.
Wikipedia execs deny recent news that the site is losing droves of contributors.
The legal high industry is hiring neuroscientists and "heavyweight lab pharmacologists."
Finding a decent glass of wine in India is enough to drive a person to drink.
Dubai fires Indian temp workers by text message.
Baby, pray at my portal. Passages of exceptionally bad sex from recent books.
Portfolio of interface design from recent films.
Wonderful account of woman with Asperger's at the DMV; wonderful interview with Roberto Bolaño.
Highbrow video: Bach's Passacaglia in C Minor; timelapse of the Alps at night.
Rome hires experts to analyze starling inundation; Italians carry umbrellas to avoid rain of bird excrement.