Headlines from November 8, 2011

Berlusconi wins budget vote, but seems to lose majority in Italy’s lower house of parliament.
Six biggest American publishers refuse titles for launch of Amazon’s lending library.
Interview from 1994 has Fidel Castro talking cigars.
I think I need to shoot another hole in my face so this thing will fit. “Shooter’s sandwich” has two steaks, one loaf of bread.
Joe Frazier was “both ruined and elevated by Ali, marinating in his bitterness all those years later.”
Several prominent employees at the state university are morally guilty. And one of them is Joe Paterno.
How a programmer created software that writes sports articles.
Map of one day’s business for Boston’s public bus system.
Assuming they need light too, aliens hunted by looking for bright spots on other planets.
Technical hitch sees all of town’s fireworks released within one minute. #video
Sixty-two percent of undergraduates and 40% of graduate students admit to having cheated on written work.
Lorin Stein cops to the books he’s never read or completed.
Venerable culture website 3 Quarks Daily asks for help.
To guess the future of solar energy, it may be wise to bet on a Moore’s Law rate of improvement. via
Fake Facebook profile collects 175 pieces of publicly inaccessible data daily.
Ultramarathon running simply called “ultra”—pain is its defining characteristic.
Sarkozy overheard calling Netanyahu a liar to Obama; Obama says Netanyahu on a daily basis is no fun.
War is not a picnic. We want a picnic. We don’t want a war. Barak dismisses talk of strike against Iran.
Berlusconi remains defiant; lacking support, he may win today’s vote if the center-left abstains.
GOP activists expect candor from Cain; Cain schedules press conference for this afternoon.
Graphic explains insults traded between European leaders.
List of accompaniments to french fries detailed by region.
History of maple syrup labels, or why a nominally inferior grade offers “decidedly superior flavor.”
New sketches from always superior Christoph Niemann, this time done while he ran the NYC marathon.
Top-tier travelers inducted into TSA’s PreCheck program, allowing them to keep their shoes on.
Gull takes on eagle in mid-air piggyback attack. #photography
Inside U.S. Postal’s “Remote Encoding Center,” where clerks sort “America’s worst-addressed envelopes.”
Slate compiles list of best long-form articles about kidnapping.
Saveur picks 55 great food blogs from around the world.
That’s not a mountain, that’s crumble. Monday poem: “Handy Guide” by Dean Young.