THE WEEK Jan 18: Gun control

Let's talk about guns, baby!

In recent weeks, gun control policies in the United States have been the center of heated debates. The issue is this. Conservatives believe that Americans should be able to own whatever guns they want, as that was a guaranteed right to all citizens when the country was founded. Their opponents believe that easy access to guns has led to a number of very violent crimes that otherwise could have been avoided if the law prevented guns from getting into the wrong hands. In the wake of recent deadly events, the debate has really started to get heated. As best-selling author and journalist PJ O'Rourke once wrote, news broadcasts used to be about finding people with information and then broadcasting it. Now, he wrote, the idea is to find someone with ignorance and spread it around. And while the latter is what we love to do on this show, programs on CNN should not follow suit. What America really needs is a sensible, calm discussion about gun control.(Tip of the cap to Tai Stephan for parts of this story.)

Miss Iowa loves the reefer?

During the Miss America pageant held this week, one contestant was asked about the legalization of marijuana. She begins her response like many would expect, supporting the people who use marijuana for medicine. But then her response takes a bizarre turn.

Bad days for Bieber

Speaking of recreational use of marijuana, Justin Bieber was photographed allegedly using the substance recreationally in Mexico last week. And this was just one of the things that has the Biebs in a bad place. After the photos began circulating on the Web, a group of people began a pretty ridiculous prank - creating a trending topic, #CutForBieber, making up stories of crazed fans who began injuring themselves after hearing that he had smoked the grass. This came just after his break-up with Selena Gomez. And now, Biebs' former bodyguard is suing him for unpaid wages and assault.

This wacky world!

Manti Te'o, a college football star that recently became a national hero for rising to football greatness despite tragedy, claims he was the victim of an Internet hoax that had him falling in love with a made-up woman. Or was he part of an elaborate plan for publicity?

A doctor in Germany allegedly left 16 items in the body of a man he just operated on. The patient is suing the doc.

An American man was found to have outsourced his entire job to a person in China, so he could spend his work days surfing the web and watching cat videos. That's pure genius.

A dog in Australia was near death after ingesting anti-freeze that it licked off of car parts. The owner took it to a vet who saved its life by feeding the dog vodka, because apparently alcohol neutralizes the poisonous chemical's reaction.

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）