Headlines from June 9, 2011

Struggling against an economic downturn, Japanese laborers head to Fukushima in search of work.
Klosterman on the quintessential sports underdog story: a team that started with five, ended with three, and won.
Yosemite National Park prepares for summer visitors by blasting away the last remnants of winter.
"Medicine freezes solid, tubing snaps in the icy winds, batteries die--nothing is predictable." Meet Luanne Freer, Mt. Everest's ER doc.
In 1861, weeks after Fort Sumter, a Union commander gave a gun to a black man, who then led troops into battle.
Made of vinegar and molasses, switchel is a "proto-Gatorade" once enjoyed by hard-working American colonists.
Teddy Roosevelt, for instance, was a big fan of photographing his penis, and would pose for hours at a time.
"Oh. OK. So it's not accurate to call it a G spot." Fact checking for Cosmo.
China's cultural divide is alive and well on the internet--and neither side sees the web the same way.
A defense of boredom: a surprisingly new emotion that only comes with comfort.
Super-exclusive Bilderberg club has conspiracy theorists fearing world takeover by the rich and famous.
Syria reported to UN's Security Council for covert nuke program.
Italians look back on Berlusconi as a disastrous, even malign, failure; forget "Bunga Bunga," he screwed the whole country.
CNN producer/reporter on why we should care about Yemen: location, location, location.
Photos: Portraits of Russian oligarchs' children.
Creatures & Ives, spicing up Currier & Ives prints for 91 days straight.
Twenty-five-year-old "gladiator" seeks to fight lion near Great Pyramids of Giza, then drape it in an Israeli flag.
Video that is extremely charming: "Plan of the City," in which musicians blast off for Mars.
Teaching the Civil War today must contend with the good and bad of Ken Burns being "Homer to our Iliad."
Op: LeBron isn't the Michael Jordan of Miami; only Wade wants to win as badly.
Profile of new Times editor Abramson compares her to Norse goddess, notes her taste in skirts and dogs.
New York's Finest. Kurt Anderson's "Words We Don't Say."
Terrence Malick fan watches The Tree of Life in Oklahoma with Malick's 99-year-old mother.
Video: Ghost of Betty Friedan miraculously appears on L.A. street (maybe).
Japan does gas storage tanks right.
Cardboard bike helmet performs better than plastic competition.