Browser, 11/6

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<h6><img src=”http://lookingcloser.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/the-eyes.thumbnail.jpg” alt=”the-eyes.jpg” /> <strong><span style=”color:#800000;”>The Browser: News &amp; links to raise your eyebrows &amp; furrow your brow. New headlines may be added as the day goes on. Stay tuned.</span></strong></h6>

A reminder from The Writer’s Almanac:

It was on this day in 1860 that Abraham Lincoln was elected to his first term as president of the United States. Lincoln’s only experience in national politics had been a single term as a congressional representative and two unsuccessful runs for senator. He had only one year of formal schooling and no administrative experience. Newspapers called him a “third-rate Western lawyer.”

Once he got the nomination, Lincoln lay low until the election. He only attended one campaign rally, in Springfield, and he didn’t even make a speech.

The Southern states took his election as a sign that slavery would be abolished, and before he even had a chance to take the oath of office, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas all seceded from the Union. Abraham Lincoln would spend all but the last few weeks of his life fighting to hold the country together.

MORE:

• Remember what happened to Joss Whedon’s Firefly? Guess what. FOX is burying his new show by putting it on Friday night. I think this is a job for… DOCTOR HORRIBLE!!!
• The Wizard of Oz, coming soon from the director of… Excalibur?
• Remembering Michael Crichton, who died this week at 66. (Here’s a whole hour of Crichton talking with Charlie Rose last year.) (via GreenCine Daily)
• Opus‘s good post-election thoughts.
• Andy Whitman points out a letter from Rich Nathan, senior pastor of the Vineyard Church of Columbus, to president-elect Obama.
• Check out the front-page designs of America’s newspapers on November 5. An interesting case-study in creativity and style. Click on “All” so you can scan them all on one page.