You stay classy, America: UNESCO votes to admit Palestine; U.S. cuts off funding

I’m not a fan of meatloaf, but Meatloaf Cupcakes?! Now you’re talking.

Neat: Ford Unveils ‘New’ 1965 Mustang

I love America: Defending Against Tear Gas

This made me chuckle:

Understand that while on vacation, I visit independently owned grocery stores the way other people explore national parks.

(prompted by Marisa McClellan’s acquisition of Bi-Rite Market’s new “cookbook”: Eat Good Food)

Also see: Bi-Rite Market: Pioneer in the New Farm-to-Grocery Store Movement

Yet more Bi-Rite in the news: Sam Mogannam, founder of San Francisco’s Bi-Rite, sees food as community

Bi-Rite in the blogs: At the very epicenter of this seismic shift was Bi-Rite Market. When Bi-Rite opened as a high-end, European-style market, it didn’t just change that store. It changed the entire neighborhood.

In the Chronicle: Hyper-local markets provide big economic boost

Yikes: PROTECT IP / SOPA Act Breaks the Internet (ironic that I just read this article in the NY Times: China Cracks Down on Bloggers and ‘Excessive’ Entertainment)

Jeff Atwood, of Coding Horror, On Parenthood (related: Grant Achatz, of Alinea, On Childhood)

Yum: California’s Olive Oils Challenge Europe’s

Wow, big news: Federated Media to provide ads for U.S. WordPress.com bloggers

Holy quantum levitation Batman!

Taddy Blecher stopped by Kiva’s offices last week and gave an inspiring, impassioned talk about increasing access to education in South Africa. I thought to myself, this should be a TED talk, randomly decided to Google for it, and discovered that he’d given a similar talk at TEDxJohannesburg: From free to freedom

Update: Also see Nicholas Kristof’s Occupy the Classroom

So happy to be walking to work again regularly: Short bouts of exercise pay huge dividends (so looking forward to burning off my RTW 15)

My sister likes to send me container ship disaster articles: Stricken ship cracks as captain faces NZ court (thanks Katie)

Ha, check out: The Ohio University Marching Band’s rendition of LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem (via Katie)

This looks like a fun celebration of American Food: Serious Eats: A Comprehensive Guide to Making and Eating Delicious Food Wherever You Are

Calling all Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Maldivians, and Sri Lankans: Let’s Help Amit Gupta of Photojojo Defeat Leukemia!

Affinage in America: Cheese: A Coming-of-Age Story

The cave management at Murray’s has won praise from Adeline Druart, the cheese maker at the Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery, which now sells Murray’s some of its rindless young crottins for a quick rumspringa in Greenwich Village.

Note: I’d have no clue what rumspringa meant had I not seen Sex Drive somewhere along the way during our adventure.