Headlines from December 6, 2012

To China, the United States appears much as Great Britain did to Americans two centuries ago.
Sadly for me, this is a bunch of malarkey. Obama’s data director assures Americans he’s not Big Brother.
AOL’s history told through New York Times crossword clues.
Today in odd news: Apparently, Kim Jong-Il had a Palestinian foster daughter.
Brubeck and his quartet burning through some of their hottest numbers. #video
Dave Brubeck mainstreamed jazz while earning the respect of fellow musicians, including the uncompromising Miles Davis.
For new novels alone, it felt like it was a storm of almost impossible dimensions. TMN’s Alexander Chee’s year in reading. #books
Saying “no” to a log cabin in the woods, I decided, was tantamount to saying “no” to life itself. #tmn
The world’s greatest hoodie was created using Apple know-how and is made—profitably—in the USA.
The 1975 Christmas episode of the Bob Newhart Show hits the standard holiday notes, but reveals what made the series so special. via #video
The new workplace reality shows focus on rewarding the hard-working, rather than firing the unworthy. #tv
Related: When the first season of The Apprentice moved into a Brooklyn apartment, the neighbors were privy to the unreality. #tmn
Bedbugs find a new place to dwell: library books.
Best photographs from 2012 as chosen by Alan Taylor’s “In Focus” (part 1 of 3).
Washington state begins issuing same-sex marriage licenses today.
Lessons from Europe on how to create a healthy deficit reduction program.
Battles in Cairo when Morsi supporters attack protesters camped outside the presidential palace.
Brazilian gang in prison conducts 10-hour conference call to discuss drug business.
Designers dream up the “Human Rights Skyscraper” for Beijing.
Round-up of more casualties from the past decade’s financial crisis: dead jets.
Unsolicited, unofficial redesigned NFL logos.
“Everything you despise about the U.S. foreign policy community in a single story.”
Man who first imagined ice ages is buried under a Swiss rock that was schlepped to Massachusetts.
When creating a digital family tree, accuracy will yield to personal narratives about the unknown.
Expert clinical diagnosticians are rare; for typical physicians, computer programs can overcome “anchoring bias” and save lives.
San Diego restaurant plays its worst Yelp reviews aloud in the bathroom.
RIP Dave Brubeck, dead of heart failure a day before his 92nd birthday.
Investigation into real woman behind Nine and a Half Weeks—“a potent antidote to what passes for erotica today.”
Now’s your chance to become a judge in the 2013 Tournament of Books. #tmn
Thursday poem: “Lines for Winter” by Mark Strand.
Bourbon alternatives when “you have zero chance of scoring that bottle of Pappy Van Winkle for your dad this Christmas.”