Our 9 Favorite Feature Stories This Week: A Rat Tribe, A Sleeping Sickness, And A Serial Killer

This week for BuzzFeed News, Tim Stelloh chronicles the search for the lost victims of one of America’s most infamous serial killers. Read that and these other great stories from BuzzFeed News and around the web.

1. The Gacy Files: One Detective’s Quest to Identify A Serial Killer’s Lost Victims — BuzzFeed News

Photograph by Andrew A. Nelles for BuzzFeed News

Thirty-five years after Chicago’s infamous “killer clown” was convicted for murdering 33 men, eight of John Wayne Gacy’s victims remained unidentified. Jason Moran, Cook County’s one-man cold case unit, has made it his mission to find those names, exposing what has been called our criminal justice system’s “silent mass disaster.” Read it at BuzzFeed News.

2. Wake No MoreMatter

Photograph by Claire Martin for Matter

What do you do when sleep feels more like a death sentence than a relief? Virginia Hughes reveals the exhausting lives of hypersomniacs: people who can sleep for days on end yet never feel fully awake. Read it at Matter.

3. Your Son is DeceasedThe New Yorker

Illustration by Oliver Munday for The New Yorker

Christopher Torres was 27 and on a path to coping with schizophrenia when an Albuquerque police officer shot him dead in his family’s back yard in 2011. Rachel Aviv examines why no officer has ever been indicted in a city with one of the highest rates of fatal police shootings in the country. Read it at The New Yorker.

4. Why is Calvin Buari Still in Prison for a Murder Someone Else Confessed to? — BuzzFeed News

Courtesy of Calvin Buari

In 1995, Calvin Buari’s former drug crew put him in prison for murder. Now, Albert Samaha explores how prosecutors and detectives made sure he stayed there.
Read it at BuzzFeed News.

5. The Fire on the 57 Bus in OaklandThe New York Times Magazine

Photograph by Katy Grannan for The New York Times

A chance encounter between two teenagers on a public bus in California results in one of them lit on fire and the other sent to jail for a hate crime. Dashka Slater reports from Oakland, where the story of Sasha Fleischman and Richard Thomas illuminates the complex relationship between its residents. Read it at The New York Times Magazine.

6. The Rat Tribe of BeijingAl Jazeera America

Flickr: jonathankosread / Via Creative Commons

Ian Johnson goes underground in Beijing, where one million migrants, known as the “rat tribe,” live illegally in former air raid shelters. “It’s a space where no one disturbs you. I’m used to not seeing the sun already.” Read it at Al Jazeera America.

7. Getting Out of AfghanistanFast Company

Photograph E.B. Boyd for Fast Company

E.B. Boyd chronicles the enormous and complicated task of moving U.S. troops out of Afghanistan. “What’s made getting out of Afghanistan harder, more dangerous, and more expensive is that while the military is genius at optimizing everything involved in winning battles, it’s not as good at setting itself up for a smooth and efficient exit.” Read it at Fast Company.

8. Dying to be FreeThe Huffington Post

Illustration by Jan Diehm for The Huffington Post

As heroin addiction ravages lives across the nation, how is it that we aren’t using an already-proven drug to treat it? A sprawling, stunning, and painfully frustrating piece by Jason Cherkis. Read it at The Huffington Post.

9. Life in the Fast Lane: My Love Affair with Luxury Cars and a Professional Baseball PlayerVice

Illustration by Feroze Alam for Vice

Gemma Sieff recounts her years borrowing Bentleys and Maseratis to drive around the country for love — and how it all came crashing down. “How difficult it was to combine showing off with cheering up.” Read it at Vice.

Want to read more stories like this? Sign up for our Sunday features newsletter, and we’ll send you a curated list of great things to read every week!

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Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/anitabadejo/our-9-favorite-feature-stories-this-week-a-rat-tribe-a-sleep

#AskFLOTUS redux? Oh dear: Journo asks for questions for FLOTUS

http://twitter.com/#!/JeremyFOX13/status/319203761111314432

Oh dear. Remember what happened last time a tweet request was made for questions for Michelle Obama? We do! Here is a reminder:

So far, only a lone “OMG bangs” question has come in.

@jeremyfox13: were bangs the right move?

— Joylene Palmer (@AngryJoy) April 2, 2013

Will there be more? Stay tuned!

Editor’s note: The title was amended to include the hashtag.

 

 

Read more: http://twitchy.com/2013/04/02/askflotus-redux-careful-what-you-wish-for-journo-asks-for-questions-for-michelle-obama/

Planets spotted in alignment over the White House

CNN’s Jim Acosta took an interesting pic this morning of the Venus, Jupiter and Mars lined up over the White House. Check it out:

Venus, Jupiter and Mars lined up over White House early Thursday morning

A photo posted by Jim Acosta (@jimacosta) on Oct 22, 2015 at 3:47am PDT

But what does it mean? A new press secretary, perhaps:

Or maybe it has something to do with Joe Biden’s future:

Hopefully it’s just that and nothing more ominous. :-)

Read more: http://twitchy.com/2015/10/22/america-in-retrograde-planets-spotted-in-alignment-over-the-white-house-photo/

#Obamashomeboys‬: Obama’s ‘homeboy from Illinois’ remark is comedy gold

http://twitter.com/#!/michellemalkin/status/222799057595281410

If anything was ripe for mockery, President Obama’s absurd remark today certainly was. As Twitchy reported earlier, President “Barry from the Block” Obama said this about a supporter dressed as President Lincoln: “Abraham Lincoln is in the house. My homeboy from Illinois.” No, for reals. This is not The Onion.

The mocking was swift!

Vampire slayer? MT @ShawnaNBCNews: POTUS just said "And Abraham Lincoln is in the house." unclear if Lincoln is zombie or dressed-up person

— janniaragon (@janniaragon) July 10, 2012

Yessss. He's black again. RT @Obama2012: President Obama in Cedar Rapids: “Abraham Lincoln is in the house. My homeboy from Illinois."

— Ben Passer (@BenPasser) July 10, 2012

And then #Obamashomeboys began as Twitter users decided to remind President Obama who some of his actual “homeboys” are. The list isn’t pretty. But, hey, at least none of them are icky Swiss, right, Lefties?

NAACP racists who require photo ID to get into their convention #obamashomeboys

— Bossy Brat (@JGalt9) July 10, 2012

#obamashomeboys Anthony Weiner

— Barbara McMahon (@southsalem) July 10, 2012

#ObamasHomeboys 57 Statesmen

— ← scoπ's †wεε† 1776 (@imstudwel) July 10, 2012

Dead voters. #ObamasHomeboys

— Mrs Trouble (@april_pyle) July 10, 2012

Anyone willing to play the race card #Obamashomeboys

— Charlie (@charliemax) July 10, 2012

#obamashomeboys Sarah Jessica Soros & Anna Wintour

— Barbara McMahon (@southsalem) July 10, 2012

Communist Party USA, which has endorsed him #obamashomeboys

— Bossy Brat (@JGalt9) July 10, 2012

New Black Panthers #obamashomeboys

— Sam Valley (@SamValley) July 10, 2012

Non-repentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayres #ObamasHomeboys

— ★♥ Harriet Baldwin (@HarrietBaldwin) July 10, 2012

It has been said that you can judge a man by the company he keeps. Reading through the list of #ObamasHomeboys should concern us.

— Gabriel Hudelson (@GabrielHudelson) July 10, 2012

#obamashomeboys Anti freedom union thugs

— Skyler Woods (@ReturnTo1776) July 10, 2012

#obamashomeboys Anyone who'll fit under the bus.

— robert (@ProgressiveAle) July 10, 2012

#obamashomeboys The Choom Gang

— Josh Painter (I-TX) (@Josh_Painter) July 10, 2012

And, an early win!

His reflection #obamashomeboys

— Sam Valley (@SamValley) July 10, 2012

More, please!

Read more: http://twitchy.com/2012/07/10/obamashomeboys%e2%80%ac-obamas-lincoln-homeboy-from-illinois-remark-causes-hilarity-to-ensue/