Headlines from May 17, 2013

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the deficit crisis is solved for the next decade, and sequestration is dumb.
If you can’t get a cast like that together, you can forget changing anything in a great big way.
Four hours, 50 minutes, and 31 days. Boston Marathon runners—two wheelchair-bound—return to cross the finish line.
Swapping direct language for more innocuous terms helps diminish the reality of horrific events as we process them.
Declassified documents from 1983 reveal how a U.S. missile simulation nearly ended in nuclear war with the Soviet Union.
From 1968, the Howard Johnson’s children’s menu featured a 2001: A Space Odyssey theme.
Fourth-grader secretly films school cafeteria to prove what’s on the menu isn’t exactly what’s served. #video
According to a new study, small electrical shocks to the brain may improve arithmetic skills.
With the help of cell phones, West Africa’s pirate fishing problem is coming to an end.
Engineer launches initiative to turn climbers’ feces into biogas to power Sherpa villages.
In short, going number one makes it that much worse when someone else goes number two.
How a virus invades your body. #video
Russia ships sophisticated anti-ship missiles to Syria, fulfilling order placed in 2007.
Putin installs helipad at the Kremlin to appease Muscovites’ fury over politicians skirting traffic laws.
Business booming in “Gun Valley,” aka “the swath of Western Massachusetts and Connecticut where industrial gun making in America began.”
Texas gunmaker debuts new “smart rifle,” which uses built-in laser range finder and ballistics computer to never miss.
In the middle of the Mojave Desert, the Defense department has built 15 simulated towns for training soldiers, populated by 350 civilian role-players. #photography
See also: Dutch training grounds for emergency personnel that look like movie sets. #photography #tmn
After shortages of milk, butter, cornmeal, coffee, sugar, and flour, Venezuela now faces a dearth of toilet paper.
Syrian rebel who ate a pro-Assad soldier’s lung on camera explains himself.
Somewhere behind this blank expression is a latent anger. Thorough reviews of the Mr. Men series of children’s books.
See also: Round-up of the best one-star reviews of classic literature on Amazon.com. #tmn
Publisher threatens critic with $1 billion lawsuit after being accused of preying on needy academics.
In Janet Malcolm’s case, “imperfect objectivity is a selling point.”
Nashville’s Connie Britton says the best way to destroy a sex tape is with a wood chipper—“a no-fail sort of a thing.”
Calendar made from pressed tea leaves features pages to tear off and brew.
Of all the bulls in Costa Rica, the most celebrated and revered is the bull people call “Malacrianza.” Translation? “Badass.”
See also: Selected for 2013’s Best American Travel Writing, “The Bull Passes Through.” #tmn
Travel writer reports on America’s least-visited national park: Alaska’s Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve.
The user of Glass has the option to be permanently not-there. John Lanchester explains the mechanics and appeal of Fitbit and Google Glass for non-techies.
Determined 11-year-old uses his 3D printer to make jewelry for his sister. #video
Wooden pinhole cameras sold to photographers who’d like to retire their smartphones occasionally.
List of five-hundred-plus great works of cinema to watch for free online.