Headlines from March 23, 2011

Elizabeth Taylor dead at 79; "she knew she was a star and relished, even cherished her position."
Taylor's career timeline.
Tokyo tap water not safe for infants.
Bret Easton Ellis on Charlie Sheen as herald of the new "Post-Empire."
Reviews of Wuthering Heights from its release: "shocking pictures of the worst forms of humanity."
Graphic: How a wok works.
"My Life Without A Cell Phone: An Amazing Tale Of Survival."
How to avoid "idea plateaus"--those doldrums that follow big ideas.
Thirty percent of online porn watchers are female.
Detroit's population plunged 25% over the last decade.
Researcher predicts imminent demise of religion in western world; more analysis here.
Riveting story of doom in New Jersey's Camden, nation's second-most dangerous city in 2009.
Jay-Z likely profiting off cheap champagne--most people can't taste the difference between Cristal and Armand anyway.
NFL players pay training expenses and discover massages and vitamins are not cheap.
Also available to elite athletes: cryosauna, underwater treadmills.
Four modes of travel without baggage: total nada; just pockets; day bagger; minimalist borrower.
Video: Tilt-shift Disneyland Paris.
Yesterday's Israeli attacks on Gaza City killed mixture of militants and civilians, including two children.
Very clever visualization from the Guardian of recent Arab unrest.
Europe grapples with leading Libyan intervention, displaying between "too much zeal" and "too little zeal."
You would think that the president had been beset by a bevy of emotional, estrogen-addled interventionists.
Former champion on table tennis as diplomacy tool, aiding U.S.-China relations.
Japan grinds to a halt, hit by "mystifying" fuel shortage.
Japanese mafia groups aid relief efforts by shipping vital supplies.
Where crematoriums can't incinerate fast enough, some Japanese towns bury dead in mass graves.
Winner of first national spelling bee--cult figure among spellers--dead from myelodysplastic syndrome, 86 years after "gladiolus."
Long read: Journey to see cave art in Tennessee's "dark zone" sites, glyphs by High Mississippian people.
Denmark combines artificial ski slope, gigantic laser pointer, and power plant for amusing effect.
Op: Envy is not going away and it does not stem from the contrast between ordinary lives and the lives of the very wealthy.
Old Susan Orlean piece on Maui surfer-girl culture: daydream of pure surfing adolescence.
Today in the ToB: John Williams decides whether Nox nixes Next or Next nips Nox.
Photographs of tube televisions the moment they are switched off.
Academic videos: The truth about zombies; Google goes Gaga.