Headlines from December 21, 2012

Schwarzenegger bicycles Venice Beach just to inhale stray smoke, and other notes on weed in California.
Overview of “sea change” taking place globally toward gay marriage.
In case this applies to your late-December plans somehow: Is he cute or is he British? #tmn
The most downloaded album this year was “L’apogee.” French consumer trends of 2012.
Engineer behind music-recommendation software explains how it does and doesn’t work.
Music critic Alex Ross’s annual holiday traditional: listening to “the ‘Messiah’ on Crack.” #audio
Photographer documents South Africa’s “train churches.”
Selected quotes from victims and saviors in this Christmas season’s 2,803 cases of baby Jesuses stolen and/or vandalized.
Photos from around the world of people watching television.
TMN asks thinkers, writers, and more to address “The Year That Was and Wasn’t.” #longreads
Miranda Popkey on everything you need to know about football’s outdated “icing the kicker” strategy. #tmn
Seinfeld wears hard soles onstage nowadays, and other details from his joke-writing process.
Mike Nichols and Elaine May give first joint interview since breaking up 51 years ago.
UPS delivered 28,000,000 packages yesterday, its biggest day on the calendar.
Wanting and liking are governed by separate circuits in the brain; thus you can get extreme wanting without a corresponding increase in pleasure.
Consequences of indulgence turned into tabloid/monster-movie deaths. #tmn #photography
Doctor diagnoses injuries experienced by burglars in Home Alone.
For those who might be keeping score, we just passed the 333rd consecutive month of global temperatures above the 20th-century average.
One in eight Americans believed the world would end today.
Portraits of people preparing for the Mayan doomsday, and/or the end of civilization. #photography
Chart shows dates when the world was predicted to end by various prognosticators.
The Times goes big and interactive on the Stevens Pass avalanche at Tunnel Creek.
See also: Outside’s accounting of the elite skiiers’ disaster.
Semi-automatics sold out at many Wal-Marts; Wal-Mart will keep selling them, but Dick’s Sporting Goods has stopped.
The problem of gun violence is not complex; the solution is very simple; we just need courage. #opinions
Discovery Channel cans Ted Nugent and his gun show.
Bret Easton Ellis lengthily explains his Twitter problems while apologizing to Kathryn Bigelow.
Toobin on how the second amendment never gave individuals a right to own or carry weapons until the NRA came along.
See also: Adam Gopnik on the science behind gun control.
How one shotgun-loving West Texas girl learned to hate handguns and assault weapons for their ease of criminal use.
Brief assessment of contemporary liberals’ central vice: thinking everyone can be taken care of.
Using meritocratic arguments to reassign marginal products. See also: Primary vice assessed for contemporary conservatives.
Video of eagle snatching child found to be an elaborate hoax.
Hollywood height chart shows many actors you may not have realized were short.
The xx covers Wham!‘s festive classic, “Last Christmas.” #video
TMN-endorsed holiday shopping: Sympathy for the Deviled Eggs, an e-book of our greatest holiday hits.
Related: Leslie Harpold’s oldie-but-goodie guide on how to write a thank-you note.