* Hong Kongers bristle against mainland tourists. * Through meticulous infiltration...members have carried out shocking acts of cultural preservation and repair. * Franzen: Serious readers will always prefer print. * Forensics lab finds it takes Texas vultures 37 days to find a body but only five hours to "skeletonize" it. * Introduction
* Politics and the recession have taken their best shots, but SETI won't die due to enthusiasts and the private sector. * The lab that won't quit: still making medical history in facilities meant to be torn down in 1966. * Discovered: 1972 documentary of Future Shock, narrated by
Just because no one uses payphones doesn’t mean the phone booth needs to go the way of the dodo. One man’s plea for preserving society’s greatest unused invention.
* Major Syrian offensive against rebels sees fighting hit 10-month peak. * Iraq says unauthorized U.S. drone patrols are an affront to its sovereignty. * Italy says Costa Concordia recovery, cleanup could take 10 months. * Photos from the Titanic aftermath and resulting media storm, once the survivors reached land. * After 80
* There have been 434 Iraqis killed in attacks since U.S. military withdrew last month. * Arab League suspends Syria mission due to upswing in violence. * Taliban softening extreme positions, unclear if they'd be responsible if returned to power. * On American declinism Obama "is personally enamored with."
I don’t mean to sound bitter, but I am. Not just because the Packers aren’t going back to the Super Bowl. Not just because I called both Conference Championships wrong last week. No, my bitterness is more complex, and of longer standing. For as we look past the
{image-1} Every Friday we take a look back at the week’s headlines, centering on a theme we’ve singled out as particularly important. While “interesting” is diluted and obscured to the point of redundancy, “epic” continues to diminish in stature. Meanwhile, “unexpected” lurks in quiet inescapability. Amid all
* Egypt blocks American pro-democracy workers from leaving. * Alan Gross, a 62-year-old U.S. citizen, has been imprisoned in Cuba since December 2009. * it is now a matter of fundamental faith among conservatives that the GOP went astray during the Bush years by betraying its conservative principles. * Former
* Wind and solar firms fear reduction in subsidies at the moment they're almost competitive. * No matter what Gingrich says, space sex is probably not a good idea. * Discovery in old textbook suggests da Vinci may not have been the originator of the Vitruvian man. * De Botton wants huge
* South Sudan shuts down wells, accuses Sudan of extortion, stealing its oil. * A rural school district in Texas turns off its Friday night lights until budgets and grades improve. * Lessons from the paperback revolution. * An extensive look back at Obama's first three years in office. * The weirdest thing
