Hot off the Press: The Annual Flower Shop and Gift Card Stimulus edition

Russian scientists are poised to drill into the subglacial Antarctic Lake Vostok, which has been covered by ice for over 20 million years: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/scientists-close-to-entering-vostok-antarcticas-biggest-subglacial-lake/2012/01/27/gIQAbGX0fQ_story.html?hpid=z5.

In an update from the above article: the Russians reached Lake Vostok: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russia-reaches-freshwater-lake-buried-under-miles-of-antarctic-ice-for-millions-of-years/2012/02/08/gIQAL44hyQ_story.html?hpid=z3.

Environmentalists are torn over massive solar power plants that mow swaths of desert and displace many native species: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-solar-desert-20120205,0,7889582.story.

A cartoon handed out in a ninth grade history class at Des Moines' Roosevelt High School "has drawn fire nationally from critics who say it promotes communism": http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012302080055. It seems like the cartoon got capitalism mostly right, but it is not too transparent about communism.

"Student loan debt is pushing an increasing number of young people and their parents toward bankruptcy, according to a survey released Tuesday": http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-student-loan-bankruptcy-20120208,0,1704059.story. Duh!

After 23 years, the Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea's capital of Pyongyang will finally open: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-n-korea-an-iconic-hotel-is-set-to-open--23-years-behind-schedule/2012/02/07/gIQAih7z0Q_story.html?hpid=z2.

"The Des Moines Public Charter School is reporting the theft of 53 laptop computers worth more than $27,000": http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2012/02/09/des-moines-school-is-missing-53-laptop-computers-worth-more-than-27000/. Instead of being stolen, the laptops were not returned from students they were given to in February 2011. This graph is especially dumbfounding:

The police report says, “The school did not compile a list of which laptops were issued to which students. There is not adequate tracking mechanism to determine who did not return their laptops.”

The NRC has approved the construction of new nuclear reactors for the first time since 1978: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/nrc-approves-construction-of-new-nuclear-power-reactors-in-georgia/2012/02/09/gIQA36wv1Q_story.html?hpid=z3.

Iowa legislators are considering a bill that would allow police to attach a GPS tracking device to vehicles owned by suspects if a judge issued a warrant: http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Bill-Allowing-GPS-Tracking-Leaves-Some-Uneasy--139147209.html. Didn't the Supreme Court rule against something similar recently?

Friday night drunks from BBC's Panorama: http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_9551000/9551239.stm.