Black Friday evening roundup

Gratitude is good for you.

Quebec cracks down on foreign-language signs. I have to say, Poulet Frit Kentucky sounds incredibly silly.

Sigh. I don't buy Tara Parker-Pope's or Gina Kolata's argument--nor this woman's embrace of it. It is fundamentally flawed. Of course obese people forced to subsist on 500 calories a day don't lose weight or gain it back; that doesn't mean that they can't lose weight. It means that starving themselves backfires. It's an issue of "because," not "even though."

Cryptographers tackle a mystery pigeon.

The Onion on Black Friday.

Slate on Skymall. I had no idea there was so much cat stuff.