Why Bashar al-Assad unplugged the internet in Syria

SYRIA'S UPRISING Why Bashar al-Assad unplugged the internet in Syria Early Thursday morning, the war-torn Mideast nation disappeared from the internet. What happened? U.S. OPINION The heartwarming photo of a New York cop helping a homeless man An Arizona tourist captures a kind-hearted gesture that might just restore your faith in law enforcement, if not humanity BUDGET BATTLES What a fiscal cliff compromise might look like Publicly, Republicans and Democrats sound like they're miles apart in deficit-reduction talks. Privately, though, both sides know they have to bend THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION Joe Biden goes to Costco: The best jokes The vice president goes on a shopping spree at the discount store, fully embracing his Onion-inspired "man of the people" caricature THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION Why President Obama's annoying campaign emails worked The campaign's irritatingly casual subject lines got under the skin of even his most ardent supporters — but they still raised a whole lot of cash MUSIC Spotify's 10 most popular tracks of 2012 Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" edges out Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" for top honors FROM OUR PARTNERS AT SLATE Powerball jackpot: You didn't win, but you can steal the money from whoever did Rigging numbers. Altering tickets. Grifting the winners. A look at the less-than-legal ways to get a piece of that $580 million jackpot SEE ALL CARTOONS SLATE What it means to Arab women to be veiled NEWSER Hospitals plagued by unbeatable 'superbugs' NEW YORK MAGAZINE Why TV apocalypses are really wish-fulfillment fables THE FRISKY 8 ways to handle the holiday blues SALON In rare strike, NYC fast-food workers walk out         Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.  unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences | privacy policy  Copyright © 2012 The Week, All rights reserved.