Headlines from August 30, 2012

The president takes more vacations than that guy on the Bizarre Foods show. Bad jokes from the RNC.
Neil Bush, brother of George W., unexpectedly becomes a Chinese internet sensation.
The exact origin of @ is a mystery, but its first documented use was to denote jars of wine.
For centuries, whiskey distilleries have been home to a black fungus; now that it’s invading nearby homes, lawsuits abound.
Reading before bed on an e-reader may disrupt melatonin levels, resulting in a bad night’s sleep.
When the internet misinterpreted a neuroscientist’s research paper on recording dreams, Hollywood and Apple came calling. #video
A retrospective of Stockhausen, the only composer to successfully fuse science fiction and classical music.
From 1962, how to create sci-fi hairstyles. #video
Outstanding multi-part series on Charlie Trotter, who is closing his famous Chicago restaurant this week. #longreads
Researchers find flavonoids in chocolate protect against cardiovascular disease, stroke.
A new study shows that—at least in monkeys—reduced-calorie diet doesn’t increase longevity.
The U.S. has a long history of child preachers—and they’re not going away anytime soon.
When his son shows a preference for wearing skirts, a dad decides to do the same.
Police bully young drug offenders into becoming informants with few legal protections, massive danger.
NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board is institutionally imbalanced, lets down people treated as customers. #longreads
Syrian émigrés in America fundraise for rebels, help provide intel to U.S.
Syria is at the point of no return, sitting on a political fault line that threatens the whole Middle East.
Fact-checking the speeches of Paul Ryan and other RNC speakers reveals fabrications.
Secession is withdrawal into enclaves, an internal immigration, whereby the rich disconnect themselves from the civic life.
After Guatemalan president threatens to legalize drugs, U.S. sends in the Marines to pursue the cartels.
Following the collapse of eight bridges since 2011, Chinese blame corrupt elites.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s silence on vilification of Muslim Rohingya shows she’s becoming a politician. #opinion
Gold’s price rise has led miners to take more risks, destroy the environment, break laws—at cost to locals.
Cambodian forestry activist Chut Wutty killed while fighting deforestation—700 in the last decade suffered the same fate.