Headlines from December 22, 2009

Indiana's Muscatatuck Urban Training Center mimics an Afghan village to train civilians for a surge.
Korean army develops pedal-powered airplane.
Massive Philippine volcano ready to blow, 45,000 evacuated.
These students tended to be overachiever types motivated primarily by salary rather than some lifelong ambition. The reason we're in this mess: business school.
Brooks: This is the difference between a protocol society and a physical stuff society.
A computer trained to recognize Van Goghs through color patterns could be used to help art historians assess paintings.
Putin praises Sakharov as the father of the h-bomb; Medvedev remembers him as a peace advocate.
"Callers were dialing in on the line that would ring if the Russians were attacking." How NORAD began tracking Santa.
IBM research scientists show how auto-fill search queries reveal what people are pondering this holiday season.
This year, holiday shoppers are treated like Susan Lucci, and Susan Lucci is treated like Kelly Ripa.
Someone attempted to cut down a Nebraska town's beloved Christmas tree; if the tree doesn't recover, they're ready to throw the book.
Because he insisted on a lavish binding and presentation, A Christmas Carol was a financial flop for Dickens.
Video: Colin Meloy sings Christmas carols.
The E.U. declares Copenhagen a "disaster," "a great failure."
Eighty Europeans killed by cold snap.
Chart: Global misery index.
Airlines to face tough penalties if planes sit on the tarmac and passengers go unfed.
Plants possess sophisticated defense mechanisms to fight attackers; they don't aspire to being stir-fried.
Breast milk black market runs strong in Australia.
Political guerillas lawfully elected to government positions in Latin America.
Excerpts from the career of Craig Baldwin: scavenger, collagist, freeform freak, Whitney Biennial-selected filmmaker.
Op: Japanese popular culture is like abstract art: the meaning's yours to make.
2010's New York insurgents, as collected by the Observer.
The top 10 stories of the last 4.5 billion years; 10 ways to traverse deep space.
The gamemaker's dilemma--when to stop improving and ship the bastard--as explained by the death of Duke Nukem.
Massive rendering of 57 business clichés.
Sedaris for the holidays: "SantaLand Diaries", "Front Row Center With Thaddeus Bristol."