Headlines from July 15, 2013

Trials like this one can never…act as moral surrogates to resolve the national debates they trigger.
If you stand your ground with your fists and you’re black, you’re dead. David Simon takes to his blog after the George Zimmerman verdict.
Must-read: Louis Menand on voting rights and the Southern way of life.
Vallejo, Calif., is the most diverse city in the U.S.—400 miles away, Huntington Park is the least diverse.
In Tamil Nadu, India, fake courts collect money by pretending to be human rights organizations.
In Zimbabwe, where corruption thrives, mothers-to-be are charged $5 every time they scream while giving birth.
A year after issuing wearable video cameras, the Rialto, Calif., Police Dept. used force nearly 60 percent less often.
Former handyman of Picasso estate allegedly stole more than 400 artworks over two years.
Fantasy sports player turns his hobby into a career—he’s already earning more than he did as an investment analyst.
In spite of all our gadgets and progress, a six-hundred-year-old book remains unreadable and unread.
In response to a letter from Take Back the Night’s lawyers, Timberlake’s agent apologizes, says they’d never heard of the group.
Study: Anxiety resolved by thinking about it real hard. #video
Photographer Marc Erwin Babej explores the nexus of plastic surgery, beauty, and evolutionary psychology. #photos
You’re just a prism that takes bits of light and sound and channels them into The Cloud. #technology
In honor of the 500th episode of This American Life, 10 of the best of the past 499. #audio
It is a complicated thing to be young, black, and male in America. Cord Jefferson on the Zimmerman trial.
The most damning element here is not that George Zimmerman was found not guilty: it’s the bitter knowledge that Trayvon Martin was found guilty.
As abortion laws tighten in Texas, the popularity of “abortion pills” from Mexico may increase.
From September, an interview with Greg Abbott, Rick Perry’s heir apparent, who has filed 25 lawsuits against the Obama administration.
From the Texas Democratic Party: “Things you should know about Greg Abbott.”
More than any other pro sporting event, the Tour de France faces catastrophe should extreme climate change occur.
This guy hit 555 homers in the major leagues, and he’s coming here trying to learn from kids about how they swing. #longreads
Mosquitos love Type O blood rich with beer—and if you’re pregnant, all the better.
New in “The Girl in the Video” interview series: Wendy Frazier from ZZ Top’s “Legs.”
He wasn’t Tony. He didn’t talk like Tony at all. Cavett on Gandolfini.
More accessible than a 3D printer is a device that does the opposite: carves away a medium into the desired result.
New windows let in breeze, but block noise—tiny holes in the surface diffract sound waves.
Arcaheologists discover 12 pits in Scotland that, at 10,000 years old, may be the world’s oldest calendar.
Hubble Picture of the Week: the planetary nebula IC 289, “formerly a star like our Sun,” sinking into itself.
This week’s gallery: Oil paintings of Los Angeles’s shops, streets, and people, with a particular focus on a single bright pink store. #tmn