News of the Day 1.21.10

• Egads. The chemical that makes non-stick cookware not stick and stain-resistant carpet not stain may be linked to thyroid disease.
• Come on now, cricket in the U.S.? We haven't even mastered soccer yet. I think if any sport needs importing, it's rugby.
• BBC retrospective on Obama magazine covers to mark the one year anniversary of his inaugural. Douchiest cover award - The Economist.
• Italy considers kicking the kiddies out when they turn 18. That definitely wouldn't fly in Asia - nor a great many countries where everyone is now jobless and homeless.
• A British reporter tries to wiggle her way out of eating shark's fin. Good luck.
• Mexico's Cave of Crystals. Really cool.
• Today's story of Chinese corruption comes from the footballing world.
• Meanwhile, three cheers for Hillary Clinton for flipping the bird at Chinese internet censorship.
  
• Peace, says the orangutan.
• On the heels of Obama the Musical comes Spice Girls the Musical? More evidence that creativity in musical theatre is dead. (But I do love Viva Forever.)
• Check out these fantastic pictures. Russians stage 19th century imperial hunt, with costumes on loan from a theatre company.
• Fantastic! For those of us who can't make it to the UK, the National Trust has put 20 sites on Google's Street View, including Lyme Park, which doubled as Pemberley in the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice, and Fountains Abbey, where the History Boys got schooled...er, schooling.
  
• Tim Burton is hit or miss with me, but I think I'll check out Alice in Wonderland when it tumbles down the bunny hole sometime this year. There's an early March release date in Europe which means nothing to me here. The Times has a supposedly exclusive sneak peek.
• The New York Times dun gone and charged for access. Well, we knew this was coming. I'll miss the free fee, but hopefully I'll have a job by 2011 and can afford whatever they're charging.
  

A fond farewell to Teddy Pendergrass who died last week.