December 5, 2011: Morning
- With Cain out of the race, Republican critics of Newt Gingrich turn silent.
- Catalog of Gingrich's 156 Amazon reviews.
- Early results show Putin's United Russia party clinging to majority.
- Catalog of snooping tools available to governments obtained from attendees of recent surveillance conference.
- Obama offers "condolences" to Pakistan's Zardari over deaths of two dozen soldiers.
- FHM India cover stirs pot with nude Pakistani actress wearing an ISI tattoo. (One cover story: seven drinks, 14 nuts.)
- Anthony Lane on Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
- Time to end the reign of Emerson's "Self-Reliance" before it damages us further.
- Oldie but goodie: Excerpt from Ted Conover's book about being a prison guard.
- White criminals seeking presidential pardons over the past decade have been nearly four times as likely to succeed as minorities.
- Half-Norwegian, half-Taiwanese applicant to Harvard increases her chances by clicking the "white" box.
- Why nice guys really do finish last, or at least make significantly less money.
- Brief history of America's ways of mourning and ideas about death.
- Eight Ferraris, Lamborghini in $4 Million Pile-Up; two Mercedes passing by injured by flying parts.
- Vintage maps of New York annotated.