Morning Links: Warrior Monks, Sustainable Fuel, ‘The Big Belch’ and More

• Pico Iyer reflects on the the cultural rituals and celebrations a new year inspires, and his own “makeshift rites.”
• Three days of small earthquakes—more than 250, total—rattle Yellowstone National Park.
• The aforementioned tremors lead Garrison Keillor to observe that it  “suggests to me that the Big Belch is overdue,” and when it comes, he’d “rather be in Paris.”
• Bangkok police are investigating the nightclub fire that killed dozens of people, including many foreign nationals. Eyewitnesses claim fireworks may be to blame.
• Air New Zealand hopes to up the eco-friendly, sustainable fuels ante with its first successful test flight of a passenger plane powered in part by vegetable oil.
• Multi-toed cats, rejoice! The iconic descendants of Ernest Hemingway’s cat, Snowball—and a popular Key West tourist attraction—will not be forced off the Hemingway House property.
• A Muslim family was kicked off an Air Tran flight after passengers complained the family’s conversation seemed suspicious. Though the FBI cleared the family of wrongdoing, AirTran refused to rebook their tickets.
• A daunting slump in tourism sent one Chinese town’s officials to seek the aid of a group of marketing-savvy warrior monks. Reflecting on the situation, one local vendor offered this enduring wisdom: “If you burn incense, they will come.”

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