Brazil demands that Twitter ban users who warn of police speed traps and roadblocks.

Coffee shops invade India, and young people enjoy them mostly for hanging out.

Interview with Berlusconi as he prowls around his gigantic Rome apartment in thick makeup and stacked-heel sneakers.

Reactions on Facebook to stories by The Onion that people believe are real. via

Chart shows which information popular apps (Angry Birds, etc.) give away to third parties.

Bringing iPads to the classroom helps Apple, not the kids. #opinions

Screenshots from iPad lovers living “at the intersection of art, stories, and technology.”

Poetry from Craigslist Missed Connections.

Less said the better: Werner Herzog on chickens. #video

Quick guide to National Security Agency jargon.

This was pointed out to us, so we’ll point it out to you: a school named University of Maryland University College.

Story of the plot to kill a man for life insurance, and the target who just wouldn’t die.

Analyzing “Plitdown Man” could clear names of Arthur Conan Doyle and others implicated in archaeology’s greatest hoax.

Classical musician argues for playing in bars: patrons enjoy “an enhanced degree of listening.”

As a literary experience, it was pretty thin gruel. But like Oliver Twist, I wanted more. Sam Anderson goes to Dickens World.

Situationist invades Hoxton… Street poems arouse Londoners… Public discourse colored by disfigured Futura… Robert Montgomery’s street poems have something to say to you.

China reacts to jumping inflation by announcing it will raise the minimum wage 13% each year until 2015.

And when poorly trained spokesmen and officials do speak…disasters often ensue. China’s continuing PR nightmare.

When young Chinese want to learn American slang, they turn to OMG! Meiyu, a popular web video series.

BBC tracks, confronts internet troll. #video

Efraim Halevy: Syria is becoming Iran’s Achilles’ heel, and Israel is missing an opportunity.

Recent violence reveals white supremacists have revived their dream of a Northwest homeland.

Over the Thaipusam holiday, Tamils show their Hindu devotion through piercings, prayer. #photos

“This Chart Is a Lonely Hunter”: the history of infographics and why they’re here to stay.

Pre-1930 modernist lit mags now available in PDF.

Thoroughly and precisely, a T-cell kills a cancer cell. #video

Italy imposes emergency measures to conserve gas supplies during Europe’s big freeze.

100,000 Muscovites turned out in sub-zero weather to protest Putin.

List of jobs held in a Medieval city.

Wagner’s Rienzi had a big effect on Hitler, but there’s no reason to call it “Hitler’s favorite,” and no reason to cancel performances on his birthday.

Reporters face jail time for secretly recording an interview with a Nazi war criminal.

Unfortunately I don’t get to decide which facts are stupid; I have to check all of them. Entertaining exchange between a reporter and his fact-checker.

Li-Fi is an LED-based alternative to household Wi-Fi that requires phones and light bulbs to communicate.

Consumerization has been disastrous for R.I.M., because the company has seemed clueless about what consumers want.

Trailer of the day: Bombay Beach. #video

The only true, authentic Cindy Sherman is the one who makes the pictures: a conversation.

American and British covers compared from 2012’s Tournament of Books’ contenders.

Portable signs of America. #photography

Of 10 men in a Dallas coffeeshop, seven wear pageboy hats, seven wear beards.

Drop something like a cherry out of your cocktail. Advice on flirting from Ira Glass, a 10-year-old girl, and more.

Excerpts from steamy romance novels for parents of young children.

Willpower is the root of all happiness; a new book explains how to exercise yours to get more.

Diners travel to a Hudson Valley monastery to experience mindful eating, where each bite can last 20 minutes.

Once an American food staple, squirrel could make a comeback—though they can carry bubonic plague.

Police discover sommelier decorated his apartment with $430K in stolen art.

It’s just horrible. Hoping to boost productivity, Spain moves traditional mid-week holidays to Mondays and Fridays.

Sarkozy’s socialist rival’s campaign survives by putting “an American spin on cultural revival” (i.e., The New Deal).

Rising temperatures at Fukushima cast doubt on government claim that the reactors are stabilized.

Researchers find increased stress hormones in whale feces, which they believe are caused by ship traffic.

This week New York City settled a 30-year, $15 million class-action lawsuit over illegal loitering arrests.

The most terrifying Valentine’s Day gift ever. #video

More than two decades later, a return visit to Tiananmen Square finds it scrubbed clean—just as it was immediately following the Incident. Except now there is thick smog, and ghosts. In contemporary Beijing, the past is like Kentucky Fried Chicken: unavoidable.

The barbarian leader was, for the most part, a man of his word Nice things about Attila the Hun.

Notes on whether Italy can change its ways, or remain “more or less equally honored and dishonored.”

Despite the lock-out, the NBA is doing very well, with viewership going “a bit nuts.”

I wish that I had let myself be happier. Hospital nurse lists top regrets expressed prior to death.

Story of former spouses, now step-siblings (her mother married his father), as they attempt to co-care for their aging parents.

Twenty-five lessons learned from opening a bookstore. via

Colleges from Dixie State to Harvard offering bathroom-naming opportunities to donors.

Oldie but goodie: Dallas food blogger finds world’s most expensive chocolate in Plano.

Pictures from the freeze in Europe.

Last year, PWC estimated that the total weather derivatives market was $12 billion. How Wall Street profits off weather.

Tale of the 34-year-old virgin who photographs his stool, optimizes his sperm, and has fathered 15 children while angering the FDA.

Consider the perceptual challenges inherent in the robotic manipulation of unseen socks.

New OkGo video features 1,000+ instruments struck by a moving car.

Somehow we are late to this: The Collected Blurbs of Gary Shteyngart.

“Are you eating your toenail?” Cataloging the precise moment when you know a relationship is over.

[In 1886] a pitcher for the Boston Beaneaters gave it in a joint team photograph with the rival New York Giants. When did the middle finger become offensive?

In the U.S., an invented country freed from its past, a tough match lays ahead for soccer vs. football. #opinions

Researchers force monkeys and humans to watch Clint Eastwood to discover their brain differences.

Fake TV and movie violence is up, but real-world crime is down, and there appears to be a connection.

Doctors perform first jaw transplant created from a 3D printer.

Signature foods and slogans are so 20th century: Chattanooga is designing its own signature font.

Thousands of private banks issued their own notes. A short history of American money.

Pew findings show the difference of opinions between liberals and conservatives is greater than the gender gap.

Simpsons toys banned in Iran.

Ross may represent the final abandonment of hip-hop’s mandate to “keep it real.” SFJ profiles former corrections officer Rick Ross.

Reporter boards indie-rock cruise to Cozumel with Weezer, Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr., more.

The United States is an enormous country, much too big for the nightly news. We asked one of our editors to randomly call people in towns around America and find out what’s really going on.

Breakdown of bride pricing in southern Nigeria.

Arnold Bread offers 40 varieties, “and that is just counting the sliced breads, not the thins or buns.”

Iran not amused by Samsung ad showing Israel accidentally blowing up an Iranian nuclear facility.

What’s morally repugnant in one country is accepted business practices in another. More on why America can’t build Apple products.

Chart: Penalties for gays in Muslim countries.

Tips on parenting the French way.

More international students study on American campuses, paying top dollar so Americans can study there, too.

Forty-eight percent said they “would disapprove if my child wanted to marry a member of this group.” Believers rank atheists in sharing a common vision of America.

Americans who live in “SuperZips”—neighborhoods of wealth and education—have lost touch with America. #opinions

Philip Glass on his life as an East Villager.

Music samples from yMusic, “at the heart of the current indie-classical overlap.”

Shit people say while watching “shit people say” videos. #video

Q&A with Joan Didion on acting, reality, and non-fiction vs. fiction.

Man behind Faces of Death now reviews movies as one half of “Two Jews on Film.”

Nobel officials face inquiry into whether they’ve adhered to Alfred Nobel’s ideals—case in point, Obama.

Their genes kept them from experiencing either very high or very low levels. The genome of Wall St. traders.

People who speak languages that blur “today” and “tomorrow” more likely to prepare for the future.

History of jet packs at the Super Bowl.

History has forgotten Sealab, the deep-sea equivalent of the U.S. space program.

Coming soon: virtual reality contact lenses.

Dickens biographer says kids today don’t have the attention span to handle the novelist’s tomes.

The internet now plays a part in most, if not all, cases of violent radicalization.

Now type the worst thing you’ve ever done, that you’ve never told a soul. Password check.

The origins of the Epic Grandma Advice meme.

Minimalist internet meme posters.

The Morning News seeks an intern for the Spring 2012 semester. You should be an opinionated writer and editor and have a strong interest in social media and learning how a web magazine is produced.

This is an unpaid internship. Geographic location is not important, but please have a sturdy internet connection.

To apply, email a cover letter, including any résumé-like points, clips/experience as well as links to your Twitter, Tumblr, and/or blog to talk@themorningnews.org by Feb. 17, 2012.

Largest anti-Putin protests yet in Moscow today despite temperatures of -4.

“The government has a system in place to destroy our nation.” Talking to parents of Russian neo-Nazis

Somalia’s famine is over, but it’s still enduring its worst crisis in decades.

Keystone oil will be likely transported by truck—more emissions and liklihood of accidents.

As Iran’s Khamenei talks tough, Israeli Samsung tablet ad shows enrichment plant exploding.

Wait a second. That’s cannibalism! Errol Morris’s documentary on the Wing Bowl.

We should pay attention to the U.S. Peace Index, revealing the billons that states lose due to violent crime. via

Frere Jones’s brilliant take on Lana Del Rey and the dumb discussion about pop music.

World most popular online newspaper, the Daily Mail can hardly call itself a newspaper.

It’s not a cop drama where it’s just black and white. South Bronx officer takes a camera to work.

Today Komen announced it will continue funding Planned Parenthood.

Girl Scout cookies politicized after members boycott the organization for accepting a transgendered scout.

Stop saying our wars are over, Mr. President. They’re not. #opinions

Mitt Romney falls into the uncanny valley of presidential candidates—just creepily perfect enough to be unsettling.

Record label seeks choral singer who can hit a note so low it’s thought never to have been sung before.

Stadiums composed of meat.

Whiteboard remakes of famous paintings.

UK authorities’ seizures of counterfeit alcohol rise fivefold in two years.

Self-proclaimed “Jewish Indiana Jones” admits he never found, restored Torah scrolls in Europe and Israel.

Researchers say purported jellyfish invasion unlikely.

Mauritius’ commitment to open trade and the rule of law…do correlate well with growth. The little economy that could.

Below are 20 common grammar mistakes I see…in HR manuals, blogs, magazines, newspapers, trade journals, and even best selling novels.

Like a lot of people this Sunday, I’ll be choosing sides in a contest whose outcome is going to be disappointing. The team I’m rooting for (the 2007 Green Bay Packers) can’t win. This is a replay of one of my least favorite Super Bowls in recent memory, one which offended me so thoroughly the first time around, I actually refused to watch it. So to have any fun, I have to pick a side. I have to get emotionally invested. When I watch a football game, I have to mean it.

Chart: Facebook is currently bigger than the U.S., smaller than India.

Many economists believe the worst is yet to come; only fringe predictors say corporations will begin spending again soon.

First UK envoy appointed to Somalia in 20 years calls it the world’s most failed state.

Five things you can’t do on Twitter in the U.S.

Deadspin editor tries on Brian Cashman’s pajamas to prove that the Yankees general manager has a mistress.

Same alleged mistress arrested for allegedly stalking Cashman.

Man arrested on suspicion of stealing ice from Chilean glacier.

Why big companies throw so much money at consultants when they know most consultants are recent college grads: signaling and status.

Black market discovered in Pennsylvania for porcupine meat to be eaten in Vietnam. via

America can’t manufacture iPhones because it can’t replicate China’s ability to scale and draconian working conditions.

Gagosian Gallery’s ambitious exhibition stands as convincing, if admittedly surprising evidence that Damien Hirst is indeed an extraordinary colorist.

Related: Fuck Your Noguchi Table.

Black people as defined by Republican presidential candidates, congressmen, and radio personalities.

One day late, we’d like to celebrate Groundhog Day with a tribute to Ned Ryerson. #video

We’re a little late to this, but still: Julian Assange to host show on Kremlin TV.

Stem-cell researchers transform skin cells into brain cells.

Pros and cons of Moon Base Gingrich—residents will be “highly educated, eco-friendly, and very likely dependent on vast government support.”

Colorado residents divided whether to allow Christo’s “Over the River” project to proceed.

LA School District investigates how it failed for five years to suspect a teacher accused of lewd acts toward students.

Brazil considering law to allow employees checking email from home to apply for overtime.

European executives to watch in 2012.

America’s “no-fly” list doubled in 2011, rising to 21,000.

NFL anticipates problems in 2016 labeling everyone a loser when it comes time for Super Bowl L.

Radiolab on whether or not Fritz Haber, godfather of chemical warfare, was a bad person. #audio

RIP, Wislawa Szymborska.

Love, peace, and soul to Don Cornelius, 1937-2012.

A match that felt like old-school naval warfare. Grantland’s take on the epic Australian Open final.

Life inside America’s worst college basketball program, which finally snapped its losing streak after not winning a single game in 2011.

Rural hospital recruits doctors by offering eight weeks of missionary leave.

If God exists, he/she has a sparkling sense of humor. Review of a pole-dancing fitness class.

Images of the “Great Successor,” Kim Jong Un, looking at things.

Billions and millions expected for employees and friends of Facebook.

Q&A on why the nation’s largest breast cancer charity cut off funding to Planned Parenthood.

Notes on life inside Africa’s most expensive city, Angola’s Luanda.

Russian scientists on the verge of entering lake that hasn’t been touched by light for more than 20 million years.

Hemon on the “meticulous segregation” of children in Bosnian schools.

See also: Zadie Smith on the “Writers Bloc” program.

On the back of Nathan Englander’s blurb-gasm, an examination of where all the hyperbolic puff began.

Studies: If you want to increase your creativity, lie in bed a little longer.

Round-up of all items that Jonathan Franzen believes are bad for society.

Kevin Durant says Blake Griffin dunk was no dunk at all, but a layup.

Immersive video games used to treat wide variety of psychological disorders, from fear of spiders to germ-related terror. #longreads

Molly Fischer on the blogosphere’s lady sites, and why none of them meet women’s needs.

Appreciating the greatest figure in K-pop’s history, who wears neither heels nor skirt.

The façade of African unity has been blown asunder. Elections for the head of the African Union end in stalemate.

Nature of memory shows that taking notes is a good idea, and we never truly forget an old phone number.

Itemized expense sheet of an anonymous A-list actor.

Children’s classic Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark reborn with less terrifying illustrations.

In case you missed it: Christoph Niemann doodles while on hold.

Doctorow on perseverance, studying drama, and reading Dostoevsky at age eight.

Obit editor: Writing death commemorations can be an uplifting job.

TMN’s Sarah Hepola visits Chuck E. Cheese as an adult—where adults now make headlines for going crazy.

Natural disasters: Why a strong federal government is necessary. #opinions

Map shows where junk ends up in the oceans.

History of trip-hop, born in Bristol.

Moral psychologist explains how research turned him from religion-loathing liberal to faith-respecting centrist.

Infographics to help explain how carbs, not fat, make you fat.

Photo of the day: “I See The Millennium Falcon.”

Today is the final installment in our series with Explodingdog. Over two months, Sam published a comic story here each week on TMN based on your suggestions. Today’s is a special double-feature.

I got 99 problems but a non-connected independent-expenditure only committee ain’t one.

How far can you go from Trafalgar Square without crossing a road or going over the same place twice: almost 17 miles.

How states act after they get nuclear weapons: “not much more aggressive.”

Why Bertrand Russell wasn’t given fruit as a child: to stay healthy.

Fascinating items about the luring of penguins in order to eat them.

Compelling study of the struggle to convince Japan that suicide is a symptom of disease.

“Pet Rescuers Venture Into Japan’s Exclusion Zone.” #photography

Post-burgling, the best way to get your stuff back may be to engage dealers while lying to the police.

The Dark Tower; Malice; Night Shade. Alternative titles offered by Paramount to replace Hitchcock’s preferred “Vertigo.”

Five-year-old’s thoughts about well-known logos. #video

Go back 140 years to hear silly noises and a count to six, among the earliest audio recordings.

Oldie but goodie: 20 radio pieces in 60 minutes. #audio

Along the same lines, Ira interviews cousin Philip about working in a record shop and kicking (or not) the habit of voice.

Art shows to see this February in Miami, New York, Denver, Kansas City.

Now’s the time to reread Vogue’s fluff profile of Assad’s wife and family.

Eurozone unemployment ends 2011 at 10.4%, up 751,000 from 2010.

Hungary growing weary of ties to the EU and its empire-building.

Scathing review of the new Hockney show doesn’t vibe with “more people smiling in any gallery I’ve ever been in.”

In light of the Costa Concordia crash, remembering when a Berlin candy company bombed people with chocolates.

Pictures of Antarctica (not really) taken from inside a plastic bag.

Whether people were ever swallowed by whales and what happened to them if they were.

Drought and growing demand for red meat in East Asia drive up American beef prices.

“Booth Babes” at annual MacWorld Expo not doing much for the role of women in computer science. #opinions

Robert McMillan traces the history of computer passwords, discovers they were useless from the start.

How to pronounce words hilariously. #video

New York Public Library animates stereoscopic images.

The favorite books (“of all time”) of DFW, Jennifer Egan, and other authors.

Quiz: Recognize the film by its cover.

You wanted it. You were willing to give up BBC dramas for it. Now it’s time to readjust to the working life. Welcome back.

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 of Burmese Pythons linked to decline in Everglades mammal population.

Every so often, however, a mammalian lineage discovers the wonders of chemistry. The oddity of animals with noxious abilities.

Critics need to attack ACTA on the correct grounds; knee-jerk reactions spread misinformation. #opinions

Ultrasound good not only for viewing babies, but also for preventing them.

Ketamine investigated as depression cure that starts acting within hours.

Man creates fake cycling team that’s irrelevant, less serious than pros, gets real sponsors.

After recession, invention—Japan now makes almost everything better than anyone else.

The design changes have not impacted the functionality. A history of the red plastic cup.

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 Orson Welles.

Caroline Brothers interviews the kids who walk alone out of Afghanistan in search of a new life.

More colleges to employ TurnItIn, thus far the most effective weapon in the war against plagiarism.

Farhad Manjoo: Don’t be so quick to dismiss Reddit.

From its early ‘60s inception to a e-book functionality, the highlighter has endured—users prefer yellow and pink.

Last week, after two decades of refusal, France returned 20 mummified Maori heads to New Zealand.

When the Nazis left Treblinka in 1943 they thought they had destroyed it.

“There is no way you can rebuild the bunkers.” Hitler’s Wolf’s Lair for rent in Poland.

Matthew Broderick to reprise Ferris Bueller in Super Bowl ad. #video

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.

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 years of rule until 2006, Sweden’s Social Democrats lose leader, deepen crisis, need ambition.

Discovery in “Little Albert” case changes meaning of iconic experiment’s conclusions on fear.

Researchers rub people’s skin, conclude that scratching an ankle itch is the most pleasurable.

Nabokov and his butterfly net, Faulkner and his pipe, and other authors with their iconic accessories.

Awards for most irresponsible companies: Vale for Amazon dam, Barclays for food price speculation.

Geneticists trace all modern-day race horses to one mid-17th century British mare.

Lost life by stab in falling on ink eraser, evading six young women trying to give him birthday kisses in office Metropolitan Life Building.

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.”

Is there anything worth mining on the moon?

Hundreds of miles from Tibet, one Chinese school is teaching Tibetan ways.

Russian police consider if Lego men holding tiny placards constitute an unsanctioned protest.

Small city in Ecuador becomes a top-ranked place to retire thanks to cheap healthcare, safety, views.

Libraries everywhere would be devoid of Homer, Beowulf, and even The Bible without unauthorized duplication.

Precise date of Ice Cube’s Good Day identified through logical reasoning.

Krusty the Clown was originally going to be revealed as Homer Simpson.

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 Pro Bowl to the Super Bowl, I see a less-than-thrilling finale to what started out as an odd, exciting season in the NFL.