Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism.
1. The hunt for the perfect serial killer
By Maureen Callahan | The New York Post | Dec. 30
“His biggest unsolved mystery: How many people did he murder?”
2. 17 Things Your Flight Attendant Won’t Tell You
By George Hobica | The Huffington Post | Dec. 28
“What you read here may shock you, or make you laugh, I’m not sure which.”
3. Top 10 Ways the Middle East Changed, 2012
By Juan Cole | Informed Comment | Dec. 29
Egypt. Afghanistan. Yemen. More change and more of the same.
4. Patti Smith: Family Life, Recent Loss, and New Album ‘Gone Again’
By David Fricke | Rolling Stone | July 1996
” ‘When I perform, I can’t say I feel like a male or a female. What I feel is not in the human vocabulary’ ”
5. Syria Civil War: Gravediggers Have No Time To Wait For The Dead
Reuters | Dec. 30
“Marble gravestones are now squeezed barely a few centimeters apart as workers try to fit as many bodies as possible into the cemetary, near a block of single storey homes. When space runs out, they may be forced to find a new location, says Abu Sulaiman, the gravedigger.”
6. General’s battle with PTSD leads him to the brink
By Kristen Gelineau | Associated Press | Dec. 29
“Maj. Gen. Cantwell would become two people: a competent warrior on the outside. A cowering wreck on the inside.”
7. Sex secrets of NYC’s men
By Susannah Cahalan | The New York Post | Dec. 30
“It’s a cliche … that dating for women in New York City is rough. That men cheat and are immature. That finding the right guy is nearly impossible. But according to sex therapist Dr. Brandy Engler, it’s much, much worse.”
8. Handled With Care
By Andrew D. Scrimheour | The New York Times Book Review | Dec. 28
“Each was the domain of a scholar. Each was the accumulation of a lifetime of intellectual achievement. Each reflected a well-defined precinct of specialization. But what they also had in common was that each of their owners had died.”
9. 2012: The Year in Graphics
The New York Times | Dec. 30
“Graphics and interactives from a year that included an election, the Olympics and a devastating hurricane. A selection of the graphics presented here include information about how they were created.”
10. Senate Outraged at Having to Work Weekend to Save Nation
By Andy Borowitz | The Borowitz Report :: The New Yorker | Dec. 30
“Senator McConnell said that when President Obama called the Senate back to work on a budget deal this weekend, ‘At first I thought he was kidding. Not only have I never worked on a weekend, I’ve never met anyone who’s done such a damn fool thing.’ “
Tell your friends!
stillness of heart 
Great links!
In the article Senate Outraged at Having to Work Weekend to Save Nation, Senator Mitch McConnell sounds like a brat about working overtime. He needs to get a grip. Millions of people do it all the time.
http://amaryllisturman.wordpress.com/
This is a great site!