Snapshot Snapshot

A public arts project in Baltimore called Wall Hunters has united an international group of street artists in calling attention to slumlords’ derelict properties. QR codes beneath murals bring viewers to slumlordwatch.wordpress.com, a site that identifies the owner of the property and provides contact information.

Mar 27, 2014 / Lunar New Year

LA City Council Tells Big Oil To Frack Off LA City Council Tells Big Oil To Frack Off

As residents complain of nosebleeds and headaches, the country’s biggest oil-producing city moves to ban hydraulic fracturing.

Mar 27, 2014 / Simon Davis-Cohen

Comix Nation Comix Nation

Mar 27, 2014 / R.O. Blechman

Germany Sends an Envoy to Russia Germany Sends an Envoy to Russia

Not the one you'd think.

Mar 27, 2014 / Bob Dreyfuss

3 Ways Public Transportation Makes Life Better for Pretty Much Everyone 3 Ways Public Transportation Makes Life Better for Pretty Much Everyone

Every $1 billion invested in the U.S. transportation infrastructure supports and creates some 47,500 jobs.

Mar 27, 2014 / Katrina vanden Heuvel

The Northwestern University Football Union and the NCAA’s Death Spiral The Northwestern University Football Union and the NCAA’s Death Spiral

The National Labor Relations Board ruling that the Northwestern football team can unionize signals a massive sea-change in so-called amateur athletics.

Mar 27, 2014 / Dave Zirin

Is Mississippi About to Execute an Innocent Woman? (Update) Is Mississippi About to Execute an Innocent Woman? (Update)

UPDATE: Michelle Byrom was not executed on March 27. The Mississippi Supreme Court is reviewing a post-conviction motion to review evidence in her case.

Mar 26, 2014 / Steven Hsieh

Puzzle No. 3319 Puzzle No. 3319

Click HERE to download a printable PDF of this puzzle. And don’t miss Kosman and Picciotto’s crossword blog, Word Salad. ACROSS  1 Acts recklessly with jazz fans (4)  3 Disoriented flier, half-lost, circling O’Hare at first and LaGuardia (8)  9 Scold help after rude burp (7) 10 In bed, doctor can’t make a connection (7) 12 Letters from solution in every square (4) 13 Chesterton, grabbing us, swore terribly—which is what you might need to complete a puzzle (9) 15 “Father is Son”—painful final days of Christ (7) 16 Ancient god has become popular as a grape (6) 19 Fate, a thousand times confounded (6) 21 It consists of a bar, etc.! (7) 24 Make too much of voters’ tea parties (9) 26 Monthly payment advanced, after left-to-right conversion (4) 28 Giant bird dismembered Cain (7) 29 Chapter 50, including novelist Tyler’s fluid passage (7) 30 Praise from computer company captivating a nation (8) 31 High-class award given to 11 Across entries (4) DOWN  1 Beat 21 (4)  2 Bill heartlessly chomps 1 across (7)  4 Poor, practically unaffiliated man (8)  5 Scam for Roger Federer? (6)  6 Pieces of timber, including Northern pines (5)  7 Speakers in Oregon disrupted roast (7)  8 Row of urns for ointment (8) 11 Behold! A doll in a bag (4,4) 14 Verbalized a reason for the bike to be at the repair shop? (5,3) 17 Wild boar existing amid the trees (8) 18 Shocking scenes involving fascists: at the core, they can be physical (8) 20 Damage carpets and ranges (7) 22 Encountered queen in India, not surprisingly (3,4) 23 Dead guitarist upset tabloid spies (6) 25 Joke with my family, rising in the morning (5) 27 Kill, for example, to conceal trace of larceny (4) SOLUTION TO PUZZLE NO. 3318 1 2 defs. 9 CAR + GOP + ANTS 10 SLAT + HER 11 DIAGR (anag.) + A.M. 12 I’M ME + D(I)ATE 13 I DEAL 14 anag. 16 D(ROOP)IER (poor rev., ride anag.) 18 WARP + LANE 19 HOB(N)O + B 22 L + EARN 23 E(YEP + I.E. + C)ES (see rev.) 25 anag. 26 VA + GRANT 27 FRAU + DU + LENT 28 rev. DOWN 1  JUST ICE 2 C + HARM 4 A + IRB (anag.) + A + G  5 GA(D + GET)RY 6 PLACI(DO + DO +MI) NG + O 7 anag. 8 SI(MILA)R (mail anag.) 9 “row, dial in dread” 15 PERCA (anag.) + PITA 17 INTE(RNA)L (ran anag.) 18 WAL (rev.) + D OR F 20 BUSS + TOP 21 HE(AVE)N 24  CHA(I)R

Mar 26, 2014 / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto

A Democrat-Sponsored Tax Cut Calls the GOP’s Anti-Poverty Bluff A Democrat-Sponsored Tax Cut Calls the GOP’s Anti-Poverty Bluff

A proposal to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit will test Republicans' professed support for the program. 

Mar 26, 2014 / Zoë Carpenter

Can Western Corporations Be Held Accountable for Deaths in Factories Halfway Around the World? Can Western Corporations Be Held Accountable for Deaths in Factories Halfway Around the World?

Protecting workers from injury is one thing; empowering them to resist oppression is quite another.

Mar 26, 2014 / Michelle Chen