What We're Reading: Thursday, Sept. 22

• China's Restaurant Smiley System: Eating Based on Emoticons – LA Weekly
• Schweddy Balls Leaves Sour Taste in Conservatives' Mouths - Ad Week
• What Makes a Taqueria Truly Epic? – YumSugar
• First Lady of South Korea is Globalizing Kimchi – Wall Street Journal
• Masturbating to PETA Ads to Require Less Imagination – Gawker
• Sampling the Tastes of the Civil War – New York Times
• U.S. Spending Billions of Dollars to Subsidize Junk Food – LA Times
• The Secret Ingredient is Bacon Crack – The Atlantic

Got a great link that's piqued your interest today? Either tip us off or tell the world in the comments.