* Obama's team formalizes its second-term fundraising and agenda-activating mission. * Despite their long history of doing bad things together, North Korea wouldn't have tested an Iranian nuke. * Thin snows foreshadow another summer of drought and wildfire. * To take ownership of a statuette, Oscar winners first
* Medicine in the U.S. is big business—that should be our first clue when asking why our medical bills are so high. * Scientists discover how brain cells in the midst of a stroke protect themselves from damage. * How music helps children to deal with bereavement. * Defense Dept. finds drone
* Replacement ears are difficult to make—3D printing could perfect how they look. * Scientists get closer to understanding how babies become bilingual before learning grammar. * Why better prenatal testing does not mean more abortion. * How to interpret rejection letters. * See also: A writer rejects a rejection letter. * [The South is]
* Snows depart the Midwest for the Northeast, but also bring moisture to some drought-stricken areas. * Medical bills are simply too high, enriching labs, Big Pharma, device makers, and hospital administrators, and screwing over everybody else. * For foreign drug manufacturers, Japan's aging population and manufacturing provide the world&
* Human Rights Watch report finds Mexican security forces participated in 250 disappearances under President Calderon. * Google releases video to demonstrate life under its new product Glass—smartphone functionality embedded in a pair of eyeglasses. * Tableau portraits of London's bus stops. * Perhaps the only thing better than Girl Scout
* Reporters in Syria see no end in sight, only "bloody stalemates" in Damascus and Aleppo. * Pictures of DIY guns, vehicles, and explosives used by Syrian rebels. * Four grand ayatollahs issue fatwas against Iran's first 3G provider, cautioning against risks posed to family life by video calls.
* To turn Texas blue, Democrats will need a vision of Hispanic voters that goes beyond immigration reform. * America retains the right of nuclear first use—against nations who don't adhere to various nonproliferation strictures—and it should not. * Being able to handle life in Israel is one thing;
* Ahead of spending-cuts crisis, White House plans shame campaign to make the GOP's position indefensible. * Two weeks ago, as a result of Spielberg's Lincoln, Mississippi officially ratified the 13th amendment to ban slavery. * Greece to reach true primary surplus this year, taking in more revenue
* The most important fact about the United States in this century is that middle-class incomes are stagnating. * How to buy recreational drugs online. * A new survey shows underage drinkers prefer beer, and especially Budweiser. * Program makes rhyming couplets from tweets unintentionally written in iambic pentameter. * Poem by William McGonagall,
* Rather than mapping the brain, the Obama administration should solve the brain-behavior connection—the crux of neuroscience. * The opposite of President's Day: How the world's dictators and monarchs celebrate themselves. * Like the first laws limiting hours worked, [the minimum wage was] paternalistic in nature, and
