"Russia has reacted furiously to the announcement [of intervention in Syria] by the United States, saying the allegations are not reliable and accusing American officials of creating a pretense for military intervention...Like they really think the U.S. government would joke around about something that serious? Really?
...based on intelligence assessments similar to the later-disproven reports of unconventional weapons in Iraq that preceded the invasion there."Oh.
"With his power of super-neuropsychology, Superman has cleverly secluded himself within a rare epidemiological cluster of prosopagnosics. At the Daily Planet, where close observation is part of a reporter’s or photographer’s job description, the hero’s disguise gives nothing away. Nobody recognizes the Man of Steel’s face because they simply can’t perceive it. "
"There’s nothing more traditional in the grand old game, in fact, than banning goofy putting practices. Consider the case of the croquet-style stroke, which the sport’s protectors banned 45 years ago because, as the then executive director of the USGA put it, “the game of golf was becoming bizarre.” Heaven forfend!"
Dems also had an epic picture, who actually looks like he's doing big league pitching http://t.co/S1SH9CfAZz via @TPM
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 14, 2013
"Milwaukee Indyfest really gets rolling Friday at the Milwaukee Mile at Wisconsin State Fair Park. Music, carnival rides, IndyCar runs and, yes, rickshaw racing. "
"Firefighters have at least temporarily battled to a "draw" with a fast-moving fire..."
"Fish swimming in water with a trace of the anti-depressant Prozac did not adopt a cheery disposition. Instead, they became edgy, aggressive and some even killed their mates."(Or big ones, now that you mention it.)
News from @AP: Lions among Blackhawks fans in Stanley Cup finals: http://apne.ws/11HOk6w
News from @AP: Coverage may be unaffordable for low-wage workers: http://apne.ws/150wzgt
"In 1938, only a few months after the release of issue number one of Superman, a professor named Halford Luccock bemoaned the advent of "disguised fascism" in The New York Times: "When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labeled 'made in Germany'; it will not be marked with a swastika; it will not even be called fascism; it will be called, of course 'Americanism.'""
"Numerous lawmakers chose not to attend briefings offered by the House and Senate intelligence committees, even as they were repeatedly approving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Patriot Act, which granted the National Security Agency the authority to mine information from private citizens."
"In 1901, Fancy Cycling, an extraordinary book by Isabel Marks, was published, showing straight-faced paragons of Edwardian society pulling off some pretty daring (and peculiar) stunts.... "
""This is just adding a little bit of decency to our town," he said. "It's amazing – and this is a pun – how far decency has fallen through the cracks.""
"“I’m not sure people are confident that the administration has this totally under control,” he told POLITICO."["He" is Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska)]
"While all of the networks have increased their coverage of weather stories in recent years, ABC alone has given a single reporter, Ginger Zee, a beat to cover “Extreme Weather,” promoting her background in storm chasing rather than fact-driven meteorology. "Meanwhile the really bad weather news is that it's a beautiful sunny day right here. That's bad because the forecast last night was for dark and very windy, so I made a plan (and this is why I hate plans) to get a bunch of indoor stuff done. Did I mention I hate plans?
"The consultant presented me with one of those little paint chip cards, showing, in addition to Coconut Milk, the following fantastic shades: Timber Dust, Dust Bunny, Brown Buzz, and the magnificently dubbed Coral Gable Biltmore Mediterranean Mocha."Or what about mauve? Is mauve good?
"Pope Francis lamented that a "gay lobby" was at work at the Vatican in private remarks to the leadership of a key Latin American church group — a stunning acknowledgment that appears to confirm earlier reports about corruption and dysfunction in the Holy See."
"Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., an advocate for more transparency, has specifically called out Director of National Intelligence James Clapper for telling Congress in March that the NSA does not collect data on Americans. The White House on Tuesday defended Clapper, even though Clapper himself has said he gave Congress "the most truthful, or least untruthful" response he could. "Dude, really?
"Taking short walks after meals may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes in older people by helping to reduce the risky spikes in blood sugar that occur after filling the stomach with food, according to a small new study from the US."Yeah, I'm talking about the "small new study" part. What a great line! How do I know? Well, a small new study, that's how.
"Anger was mounting in Congress on Tuesday night as politicians, briefed for the first time after revelations about the government's surveillance dragnet, vowed to rein in a system that one said amounted to "spying on Americans"."...that the laws they passed in a pell-mell panic...many without even bothering to read the bills...have led to this...this!
"The risk of severe weather in Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, is roughly 45 times higher than on a normal June day, Bunting said. Detroit, Baltimore, Washington, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Louisville, Ky., have a risk level 15 times more than normal. All told, the area the weather service considers to be under heightened risk of dangerous weather includes 64 million people in 10 states."
"Rest assured that we only collected metadata on these people, and no actual conversations were recorded or meetings transcribed."
"And after the news of the NSA surveillance broke last week, Twitter rose to the occasion with a collection of NSA-themed children's book titles: The Princess and the Pea-Sized Listening Device She Found Under Her Mattress and Everyone Snoops were among the best."
"It takes journalists nearly 32 years to pay off their college loans."
""Currently 62% say it is more important for the federal government to investigate possible terrorist threats, even if that intrudes on personal privacy.""
"Despite a stated devotion to government transparency, [Obama] waited for years to speak publicly about drones and has yet to say a single word in public about the United States’ offensive use of cyberweapons. His administration, meanwhile, has set a record in prosecuting leakers."
"Never before have so many U.S. intelligence workers been hired so quickly, or been given access to secret government information though networked computers. In recent years, about one in four intelligence workers has been a contractor, and 70 percent or more of the intelligence community’s secret budget has gone to private firms."
"Although the U.S. presence in Afghanistan is ostensibly winding down towards an eventual handover to Afghan security forces, as Francis argues, "the increase in the contractors to troop ratio is yet another indication that although the vast majority of troops are leaving Afghanistan, a private army will remain in the country for years.""
"NORBORNE, Mo. — About this time last year, farmers were looking to the heavens, pleading for rain. Now, they are praying for the rain to stop.… "
"Holder’s mistakes in management and judgment are clear in the current controversy about leak investigations. He was silent as zealous prosecutors overrode the Justice Department’s guidelines for subpoenaing reporters; he recused himself from the case but bizarrely doesn’t seem to have kept a written record of the recusal; and he failed utterly to anticipate the political flap that erupted when Justice informed the Associated Press that it had collected the call records for more than 20 phone lines."
"In a statement issued Saturday, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. described PRISM as “an internal government computer system used to facilitate the government’s statutorily authorized collection of foreign intelligence information from electronic communication service providers under court supervision.”"If that's the way they talk it's a wonder we know anything at all. Unless…wait…you don't think he was trying to not say anything, do you?
"As near as I can tell, most of the public is willing to sell their innermost secrets for a free iTunes coupon. Until we figure out a way to change that, none of this stuff is going to stop."
