* Since President Obama took office, the U.S. has executed more than 300 covert drone attacks in Pakistan; now the drones are coming home. * Worth remembering: If Canada exploits its tar sands' oil, and we do nothing, it will be game over for the climate. * In New York, 65%
* Der Spiegel: Germany's continued failure to return Nazi-looted property is "a moral disaster." * After flubbing a Holocaust question on TV, Russian twins visit Auschwitz. * Author Teddy Wayne records a cover version of a song written by a character in his new novel. * National Review columnists
Sometimes covers of songs can feel more genuine than the original recorded versions. At a time when “Glee” is under fire for stealing covers and Justin Bieber is covering himself, one author tries his hand at covering a fictional musician from his new novel.
* Fourteen-year-old student wounded in a shooting yesterday outside a middle school in Atlanta. * Fifteen-year-old honors student, shot and killed after school on Tuesday, previously starred in a video urging fellow students to avoid gangs. * Study: "Stand your ground" gun laws increase manslaughters and murders
On the eve of the Super Bowl I am exhausted by football. This season has been the first in a long time during which I’ve watched games consistently, week after week. When I was much younger, Monday Night Football was a ritualized treat: my father, my grandfather and I
* Breakdown of recent arguments around a favorite conservative concept: the hidden prosperity of the poor. * Photos from Hillary Clinton's 956,733 miles traveled as secretary of state. * Chinese court finds two Tibetans guilty of urging self-immolation, sentences one to death, the other to prison for 10 years.
Ever since Lance Armstrong told Oprah about his persistent doping, lying, and just plain being mean, celebrities are lining up for their own public confessions. Starting with “Breaking Bad’s” Walter White.
* While Giffords and the NRA's LaPierre addressed the Senate, another mass shooting took place in Arizona. * NRA admits it doesn't support the idea of extending background checks to gun shows. * As of 1998, for every time a woman used a handgun to kill in self-defense,
I will tell you a story from before the internet.
* Updated Google Maps of North Korea reveal gulags, nuclear complex. * Related: "North Korea Won't Be Liberated in a Day" by Mike Deri Smith. * More of 2012 best nonfiction in Conor Friedersdorf's annual journalism roundup. * Why Palestine should take Israel to the International Criminal Court
