The Secret Lives of the Vatican’s Gay Cardinals, Monks, and Other Clergy Members | Vanity Fair

The Secret Lives of the Vatican’s Gay Cardinals, Monks, and Other Clergy Members | Vanity Fair: Despite headlines about a powerful “gay lobby” within the Vatican, and a new Pope promising reform, the Catholic Church’s gay cardinals, monks, and other clergy inhabit a hidden netherworld. In Rome, the author learns how they navigate the dangerous paradox of their lives.

Why I Won’t Do the Food Stamp Challenge – Casaubon's Book

Why I Won’t Do the Food Stamp Challenge – Casaubon's Book: When politicians and bloggers do these challenges, they start with a kitchen full of spices and seasonings to make food palatable. They don’t start with a week or two of hunger, depression and misery behind them in which there wasn’t food, so they don’t understand why poor people who finally can eat what they want might consume bad choices. They have a bathroom full of supplies, so they don’t need to use their food stamps to get things like soap.

They also have a kitchen. Many of my foster kids come after living in shelters or motels with a microwave only – no cooking facilities at all. Or after living in rental apartments where gas and electric are regularly turned off for non-payment. Or after squatting in buildings with no services whatsoever. They may have technical kitchen access, but only under limited circumstances – for example, adults only are allowed to cook, so during the long hours when my kids are home alone after school in their motel room, there is no way to heat up a can of soup.

Politico’s Mike Allen, native advertising pioneer

Politico’s Mike Allen, native advertising pioneer: Whatever the explanation, the core softness in “Playbook” and Allen’s news stories counters the public image that Politico’s leadership has promoted for years. This news outlet, VandeHei and others have preached, is a take-no-prisoners operation, forever fighting off complacency and doing gritty work. At the same time, its most famous reporter is dropping puffballs across the Internet. As Executive Editor VandeHei wrote upon being elevated as chief executive officer of Politico, “We are successful because our business and editorial strategies work in perfect synchronicity.”

A precise, and perhaps accidental, description of “Playbook.”

'The Sing-Off' season 4 groups revealed: A very careful aca-sessment | PopWatch | EW.com

'The Sing-Off' season 4 groups revealed: A very careful aca-sessment | PopWatch | EW.com

Dear Mouse: I See You | Kimchi Latkes

Dear Mouse: I See You | Kimchi Latkes: You went to a birthday party today and your father’s report was… well, not great. It seems you spent most of the time being a barnacle on your daddy’s leg, despite the kind efforts of other kids to get you to play. In fact, your daddy told me you were pretty unkind to one of the kids, and that hurt my heart a bit.

This is your modus operandi: Somewhere, based on some mysterious something, the social part of you will just shut down. No manner of encouragement and familiarity can crack the shell. In fact, it usually makes it worse. It’ll take you hours to warm up when you get like this, and by then, the event is over. Then you’re sad with very little understanding of how your behavior played a role in your disappointing situation.

Lawsuit Paid In Full: Samsung pays Apple $1 Billion sending 30 trucks full of 5 cent coins |

Lawsuit Paid In Full: Samsung pays Apple $1 Billion sending 30 trucks full of 5 cent coins |: This morning more than 30 trucks filled with 5-cent coins arrived at Apple’s headquarters in California. Initially, the security company that protects the facility said the trucks were in the wrong place, but minutes later, Tim Cook (Apple CEO) received a call from Samsung CEO explaining that they will pay $1 billion dollars for the fine recently ruled against the South Korean company in this way.

James Surowiecki: Valuing the Free Digital Economy : The New Yorker

James Surowiecki: Valuing the Free Digital Economy : The New Yorker:
“the welfare of a nation . . . can scarcely be inferred from a measure of national income.” For instance, most Web sites are built with free, open-source applications. This makes running a site cheap, which has all sorts of benefits in terms of welfare, but G.D.P. ends up lower than it would be if everyone had to pay for Microsoft’s server software. Digital innovation can even shrink G.D.P.: Skype has reduced the amount of money that people spend on international calls, and free smartphone apps are replacing stand-alone devices that once generated billions in sales. The G.P.S. company Garmin was once one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. Thanks to Google and Apple Maps, Garmin’s sales have taken a severe hit, but consumers, who now have access to good directions at no cost, are certainly better off.

Netanyahu’s Empty Bluster | The American Conservative

Netanyahu’s Empty Bluster | The American Conservative: The panic from Netanyahu’s government certainly appears to be self-defeating. The surest way to make the Obama administration ignore its protests and complaints was to engage in a very public at sabotage of ongoing negotiations, which Netanyahu did, and the quickest way to confirm that the practical alternative to a deal is war is to have Israeli officials stating that their government is prepared to attack Iran. Despite Netanyahu’s obvious desire to prevent a deal with Iran, his government’s behavior over the last few weeks seems to have lessened its influence with the administration and has made its complaints about the deal easier to dismiss.

Why Jimmy Kimmel’s Lies Matter

Why Jimmy Kimmel’s Lies Matter: As parents, we must maintain our children’s trust—and the easiest way to lose it is by lying to them. Of course, we should communicate the truth in ways they can handle—and this often demands that we suppress details that would be confusing or needlessly disturbing. An important difference between children and (normal) adults is that children are not fully capable of conceiving of (much less looking out for) their real interests. Consequently, it might be necessary in some situations to pacify or motivate them with a lie. In my experience, however, such circumstances almost never arise.

High Court gives Israel six months to evacuate illegal West Bank outposts - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz

High Court gives Israel six months to evacuate illegal West Bank outposts - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz: The High Court of Justice on Monday gave the state six months to evacuate houses built on private Palestinian land in three illegal West Bank outposts. Court President Asher Grunis and Justice Miriam Naor leveled unprecedented criticism against the state, writing that it was no longer possible to rely on the state’s commitments on such matters.

The houses to be evacuated stand in the illegal outposts of Givat Assaf, Mitzpe Yitzhar and Ma’aleh Rehavam.

Source: Female Marines will graduate enlisted infantry training this week | Marine Corps Times | marinecorpstimes.com

Source: Female Marines will graduate enlisted infantry training this week | Marine Corps Times | marinecorpstimes.com: Three women will graduate this week from the Marine Corps’ enlisted infantry training course, Marine Corps Times has learned.

Their successful completion of the program, confirmed Monday by a Marine official with knowledge of ongoing efforts to determine what additional ground combat jobs should open to women, is a historic milestone, one that would suggest at least some female Marines posses both the physical strength and acumen to keep pace with their male counterparts on the battlefield. A graduation ceremony is scheduled for Thursday at Camp Geiger, N.C.

USA Today Called "The Best Man Holiday" a "Race-Themed" Film | Awesomely Luvvie

USA Today Called "The Best Man Holiday" a "Race-Themed" Film | Awesomely Luvvie:
The Best Man Holiday was released in theaters this Friday and it beat Thor in ticket sales that day. But Thor came from behind and earned $38 million for the weekend, edging out BHM’s $31 million. I (and people who use logic) expected the film to perform well because there’s been a lot of buzz around it and people made it a group outing and folks have heard just how good it is.
Scott Bowles of USA Today wrote a piece titled “‘Holiday’ nearly beats ‘Thor’ as race-themed film soars” and when outrage poured in, he changed it to “‘Holiday’ nearly beats ‘Thor’ as diverse films soar.” FAIL FAIL FAIL.
The last thing Best Man Holiday was is “race-themed.” Try HOLIDAY-THEMED, FAMILY-THEMED, FRIENDSHIP-THEMED, FORGIVENESS-THEMED, LOVE-THEMED! But race? No.

Sterner Stuff: Why Sansa Stark Is A Political Powerhouse | The Rainbow Hub

Sterner Stuff: Why Sansa Stark Is A Political Powerhouse | The Rainbow Hub: Sansa’s arc is dependent upon her finding her agency and becoming a player in the game of thrones. (Though she may also have potential within the magical arc of the series.) Her passive action is not weakness or stupidity. It is her only option and she is working it to the best of her abilities, toeing the line between survival and destruction, identity and dissociation, self-care and necessary self-denial. From the beginning of this story, she has had every tool she needed to rule. Sansa Stark was a sheltered child thrown into emotional and political turmoil. And despite her grief, her guilt, and her longing, she has carried on, “…to porcelain, to ivory, to steel”. She is a wolf, a Stark, and at home in winter and turmoil, high functioning in peril. Her courtesy is not only armor, it is easily weaponized, she only needs the realization and the opportunity. Sansa Stark is very well the political Chekhov’s gun of this series. Not only will she live through the barbaric and oppressive nature of this society, she will be better than it.

Why Is Childcare Getting So Expensive? - Jordan Weissmann - The Atlantic

Why Is Childcare Getting So Expensive? - Jordan Weissmann - The Atlantic: Child care is a carefully regulated industry. States lay down rules about how many children each employee is allowed to watch over, the square footage centers need per child, and other minute details. And the stricter the regs, the higher the costs. If a center is required by law to have 25 square feet of space for every kid in a program, it can't ever downsize its building when rents rise. If it has to hire a care giver for every two children, it can't really achieve any economies of scale on labor to save money when other expenses go up. A comparative case in point: in Massachusetts, where child care centers must hire one teacher for every three infants, the price of care averaged more than $16,000 per year. In Mississippi, where centers must hire one teacher for every five infants, the price of care averaged less than $5,000.

Obamacare's Creative, Or Illegal, Rule-Making - Bloomberg

Obamacare's Creative, Or Illegal, Rule-Making - Bloomberg: But it seems that the administration is looking for ways to sweeten the deal for insurers. Politico reports, “Administration officials say they can take care of that problem. They're going to look at ways to adjust special payment mechanisms built into Obamacare, called 'risk corridors,' that pay health plans if they have higher costs than they expected.”

I’ve been skeptical of the argument that the risk corridors will fix things; they’ll mitigate insurer losses if the patient mix is too sick, but they don’t turn losses into profit. It’s a mechanism meant to deal with individual insurers who miscalculate their actuarial risk, not a whole marketplace filled with sicker and older patients than expected.

But this is a bit different; the administration is clearly looking for a way to increase the payments so that they defray more of the unexpected costs. Only looking at the statute, I don’t see how they can. The language is extremely clear:

Pope Francis Beats All | The American Conservative

Pope Francis Beats All | The American Conservative:
“The only sign of humility is the love of one’s enemies. When one loves his enemies, he says in effect that they are as worthy of life as he is, that the Kingdom of God does not depend upon the vindication of one’s own cause. When one loves his enemies, he has accepted the fact that he is not the center of the universe. He is willing to admit that the grace of God may be at work, even in his own behalf, in the resistance and rejection he encounters from others. By love of enemies and by this standard alone can the humility of Jesus be measured. The ‘humble of heart’ whom Jesus admires are those whose hearts have no hatred for their opponents.”
(“Free to Be Faithful” by Anthony Padovano, page 16)
Humility, I believe, consists of more than loving those who oppose or hurt us, but this act is an acid test of the virtue. Good for the Pope.

More Amazing Photos Taken Throughout History (20 Pics) | Mommy Has A Potty MouthMommy Has A Potty Mouth

More Amazing Photos Taken Throughout History (20 Pics) | Mommy Has A Potty MouthMommy Has A Potty Mouth: Railroad bridge from the years 1901-1904, in the State of Oregon, USA

Using Giant Mirrors to Light up Dark Valleys - In Focus - The Atlantic

Using Giant Mirrors to Light up Dark Valleys - In Focus - The Atlantic: The villages of Rjukan, Norway, and Viganella, Italy, are both situated in deep valleys where mountains block the sun's rays for up to six months every year. To illuminate those darker winter months, the two towns have built gigantic mirrors that track the sun and reflect daylight downwards. Viganella completed its huge computer-controlled mirror in 2006, and Rjukan followed suit just this month, mounting a mirror that will reflect a 600 square meter (6,500 square foot) beam of sunshine into the town square below. [9 photos]

Michael Ferro Isn‘t Worried | Chicago magazine

Michael Ferro Isn‘t Worried | Chicago magazine: Today you don’t even have to be particularly rich to own a big-city paper. At $20 million, Sun-Times Media “cost less than Michael Jordan asked for his house when he first listed it,” points out Mike Conklin, a former writer and editor at the Tribune who now teaches journalism and media at DePaul University.

Letters of Note: Your Loving Mother

Letters of Note: Your Loving Mother: He has lived his life; live yours as best you can. Both of my children have loved me so much that there is no need to dwell on it. You have done all you can for me and have given me the greatest love that children can give to parents. Care for your father when he is old, as I cared for my mother. But never let his or anyone else's life interfere with your real life. Goodbye, darling, and if you see me no more then it may be best that you remember me as I was in New York.

Hipster Jesus Is Coming to an Atheist Church Near You | New Republic

Hipster Jesus Is Coming to an Atheist Church Near You | New Republic: I met Jones in the lobby of the Woolly Mammoth Theatre, where he would lead a service later that evening. He was charismatic enough that I forgave him for turning up to our interview three hours late. Many journalists have noted his resemblance to popular representations of Jesus; with his unkempt beard, imposing height and thick glasses, he really does look like some kind of hipster Messiah. The attention being paid to the Sunday Assembly probably has a lot to do with its founders’ look. Evans, with her big green eyes and mass of blonde hair, looks more like a model than a preacher. The idea of a godless congregation isn’t new, after all, but the fledgling Sunday Assembly has already been written up in The Guardian, The Economist and The New York Times.

Paris Review - The Art of Fiction No. 64, Kurt Vonnegut

Paris Review - The Art of Fiction No. 64, Kurt Vonnegut: I guarantee you that no modern story scheme, even plotlessness, will give a reader genuine satisfaction, unless one of those old-fashioned plots is smuggled in somewhere. I don’t praise plots as accurate representations of life, but as ways to keep readers reading. When I used to teach creative writing, I would tell the students to make their characters want something right away—even if it’s only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time. One of my students wrote a story about a nun who got a piece of dental floss stuck between her lower left molars, and who couldn’t get it out all day long. I thought that was wonderful. The story dealt with issues a lot more important than dental floss, but what kept readers going was anxiety about when the dental floss would finally be removed. Nobody could read that story without fishing around in his mouth with a finger. Now, there’s an admirable practical joke for you. When you exclude plot, when you exclude anyone’s wanting anything, you exclude the reader, which is a mean-spirited thing to do.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/takeandread/2013/11/why-im-thankful-for-my-doubts/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/takeandread/2013/11/why-im-thankful-for-my-doubts/:
I do not doubt my son and daughter in any negative sense, but at the same time I’m not certain what they’ll face in life and what choices they will make. It is precisely this state of not knowing, of being in the dark about what may come, that lights a fire in my parental heart to raise and rear my children as best as I can.  I believe in them, I believe that they can and will make good choices, but I don’t know that they will. I doubt they’ll always behave wisely. Because I cannot know with certainty that my children will always do what they ought to do, I have to have faith in them. If I assumed that they would never make a bad decision, then I would have no cause for belief or for trust.

Neuroscience: My life with Parkinson's : Nature News & Comment

Neuroscience: My life with Parkinson's : Nature News & Comment: I was diagnosed with Parkinson's more than two years ago. From that day, I have had a different relationship with the brain — my scientific focus for the past 20 years. I now know what it is like to have a brain disorder and can explore its manifestations first hand. Take the very peculiar symptom known as 'freezing'. Occasionally, when I attempt to lift my hand it well ... won't. Notice that I didn't say can't. There is nothing wrong with my arm. It is still strong and capable of moving, but I have to put effort, even focus, into getting it to move — frequently to such a degree that I have to pause whatever else my brain is doing (including talking or thinking). Sometimes, when no one else is around, I use my other hand to move it.

MI6 spy found dead in bag probably locked himself inside, Met says | UK news | The Guardian

MI6 spy found dead in bag probably locked himself inside, Met says | UK news | The Guardian: Last year, a coroner concluded that Williams was probably unlawfully killed and his death the result of a criminal act. Following an eight-day inquest, the Westminster coroner, Dr Fiona Wilcox, said he was probably either suffocated or poisoned, before a third party locked and placed the bag in the bath.

But Hewitt said Scotland Yard's three-year inquiry had come to a different conclusion and that Williams was "most probably" alone when he died.

"Despite all of this considerable effort, it is still the case that there is insufficient evidence to be definitive on the circumstances that led to Gareth's death," he said.

Mark Bernstein: Shadows: a software allegory

Mark Bernstein: Shadows: a software allegory: But we don’t talk about those around the dinner table or across the conference table. We don’t talk about that stuff; we mostly talk about tabs and icons, bevels and borders, freemium schemes and iOS vs. Android and how about those Cubs.

There’s work to do. It’s not really so difficult to click that tab. There are people to feed, art to make, science to discover, sickness to cure, a climate to preserve, and winter is coming. But here we are again. talking about tabs and shadows.

Healthcare Triage: Sugar doesn’t make kids hyper | The Incidental Economist

Healthcare Triage: Sugar doesn’t make kids hyper | The Incidental Economist: Do you think that sugar makes kids hyper? Well, you’re wrong. Yes, WRONG. How do we know? Randomized controlled trials.

RCTs are pretty much the most robust study design there is, and also the only way to prove causality. This week’s episode of Healthcare Triage explains how randomized controlled trials work, and why they are superior to other types of studies. It also explains how they’ve been used to prove, without a doubt, that sugar doesn’t make kids hyper. Don’t believe it? Watch the video and argue with us in the comments below if you’re still not convinced.

The Republican Party Isn't Really the Anti-Science Party - Mischa Fisher - The Atlantic

The Republican Party Isn't Really the Anti-Science Party - Mischa Fisher - The Atlantic:
There is a second, larger reason why it's important to keep science bipartisan—and why cheap shots about Republicans and science are dangerous. The politics of the immediate will always trump the politics of the long term. So actions like the sequester, which left entitlements untouched but caused furloughs at NASA and the Office of Science, stalled research at the National Institutes of Health, and reduced grants from the NSF and other federally supported research agencies—will happen again and again absent tax and spending reform. If the sequester taught us anything, it's that science will always lose to Social Security, Medicare, and defense when budgets are being cut.

Science's political constituency is too small and the coalition supporting it is not powerful enough to protect research budgets against other priorities. Supporters of federal science funding, a group of which I am a card-carrying member, can ill afford to lose Republican support for science. But if it is perceived as a partisan litmus test, it will not continue to exist in its current state as the government's other financial obligations continue to grow. This may be stupid or petty and perhaps it ought not to matter whether or not it's perceived as a partisan issue, but I've been on the Hill and this is how politics works.
If we do not expand the pro-science coalition, instead of shrinking it, it will be the death knell for American leadership in science. Every American will be worse off as a result. Science funding will not just shrink as a percentage—it will shrink in absolute terms, as it did under the sequester.

Yeah, Alec Baldwin Is a Bigot - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic

Yeah, Alec Baldwin Is a Bigot - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic: This is bigotry. And it is not complicated by the fact that Baldwin supports marriage equality. One need not believe that LGBTQ human beings are equal to support their right to marry, any more than one needed to be an anti-racist to support abolition, or an anti-sexist to support women's suffrage. There any number of self-interested reasons to support the advancement of civil rights. "Let them niggers vote" or "let them fags marry" is actually a politically consistent position. It says, "I don't like you, but I'm not willing to put my tax dollars behind my dislike." Or even, "I don't like you, but I think I can profit from taking this position."

Unification Church Profile: The Fall of the House of Moon | New Republic

Unification Church Profile: The Fall of the House of Moon
 | New Republic: In Jin disappeared from public view. She stopped delivering the weekly broadcasts, and even quit showing up at the church’s Manhattan headquarters. After several months passed with no sign of her, some parishioners began pressing for information on her whereabouts. They were blocked at every turn. Even the highest circles of church leadership couldn’t—or wouldn’t—say what had happened to In Jin Moon.

Before long, it became clear that the House of Moon was crumbling and In Jin had become caught up in its downfall. But her disappearance was only one part of a much more complicated saga—one that involved illegitimate children, secret sex rituals, foreign spy agencies, and the family of Vice President Joseph Biden. Even by Moon’s famously eccentric standards, the collapse of his American project would turn out to be spectacular and deeply strange.

The Clermont Sun � SHERROD BROWNStrengthening Social Security for generations yet to come

The Clermont Sun � SHERROD BROWNStrengthening Social Security for generations yet to come: Here’s why this is a moral issue. For nearly two-thirds of seniors, Social Security provides more than half of their cash income. For more than one-third of seniors, Social Security provides more than 90 percent of their income. And for one-quarter of seniors, Social Security is the sole source of income. Think of that. After working hard all their lives, one out of four seniors would be destitute, having no income, without Social Security.

Unsurprisingly, Social Security helps to lift approximately 600,000 Ohioans out of poverty. In fact, if we didn’t have Social Security, Ohio’s poverty rate for seniors over age 65 would be 48 percent. Because of Social Security, Ohio’s poverty rate for this group of seniors is 8 percent. The result is that seniors are able to live happier and healthier lives providing them with the time and opportunity to spend more time with their families.

Yet, Social Security is under attack by those who wrongly think it adds to the federal deficit and want to cuts benefits under the false premise of deficit reduction.

Retraction for our 1863 editorial calling Gettysburg Address 'silly remarks': Editorial | PennLive.com

Retraction for our 1863 editorial calling Gettysburg Address 'silly remarks': Editorial | PennLive.com: In the editorial about President Abraham Lincoln’s speech delivered Nov. 19, 1863, in Gettysburg, the Patriot & Union failed to recognize its momentous importance, timeless eloquence, and lasting significance. The Patriot-News regrets the error.

Why We Still Talk About JFK - Peggy Noonan's Blog - WSJ

Why We Still Talk About JFK - Peggy Noonan's Blog - WSJ:
We live in now. We live in this world. Right now I can hardly believe it that I am in seat 6B of American Airlines flight 2442, LAX to Dallas-Fort Worth, a few hundred miles west of Los Angeles, mountains and desert stretching below—and I am typing on an iPad, and will press a button, and my editor in New York in just a few seconds will read this and post it on The Wall Street Journal website and you will read it. It still takes my breath away. This is “the age of miracles and wonders.” Some child born now will look back on these days as Camelot. 

Lawmaker Wants Library to Lose Funding for Teaching 'Mexicans' English

Lawmaker Wants Library to Lose Funding for Teaching 'Mexicans' English:

Speaking with the Tri-Parish Times, Toups insisted that the library has "too much money," and the so-called "jail tax" proposal allows for the funding of a 540-bed jail without raising taxes on parish citizens.

But for Toups, defunding the library is a necessary measure, irrespective of the rededication of funds.

"They’re teaching Mexicans how to speak English," he said, referring to one library's Hispanic-language section, Biblioteca Hispana. "Let that son of a bitch go back to Mexico."

"Mexicans" are the only ones "abusing" the system, per Toups.

Heartbreaking

Ariel Levy: “Thanksgiving in Mongolia” : The New Yorker: After several weeks, I was looking at it only once a day. It was months before I got it down to once a week. I don’t look at it much anymore, but people I haven’t seen in a while will say, “I’m so sorry about what happened to you.” And their compassion pleases me.

But the truth is, the ten or twenty minutes I was somebody’s mother were black magic. There is no adventure I would trade them for; there is no place I would rather have seen. Sometimes, when I think about it, I still feel a dark hurt from some primal part of myself, and if I’m alone in my apartment when this happens I will hear myself making sounds that I never made before I went to Mongolia. I realize that I have turned back into a wounded witch, wailing in the forest, undone.

Obama vs. the Generals - POLITICO Magazine

Obama vs. the Generals - POLITICO Magazine::
Dempsey grew more circumspect in subsequent congressional testimony, but “his body language,” says retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, Dempsey still suggested he was thinking, “I can’t believe how dumb this is.”
Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates was explicitly critical in a September speech: “I believe that to blow a bunch of stuff up over a couple days, to underscore or validate a point or a principle, is not a strategy.”
According to most of those I interviewed, Gates’s scathing words reflect an unhappiness with the commander in chief that is widely shared in the military. “The military does not take kindly to people asking them to do things without thinking them through,” Eaton observes. “Military guys get kind of bemused when civilians tell them it’s OK to blow people to smithereens using bombs, as long as you don’t kill them with chemical weapons.”

A Month After the Shutdown, Republicans Are More Trusted to Govern Than Obama - Businessweek

A Month After the Shutdown, Republicans Are More Trusted to Govern Than Obama - Businessweek: That’s not really so surprising. The shocker is the Quinnipiac University poll released the same day. Again, the headline number—President Obama’s approval rating fell to 39 percent, its lowest ever—is newsworthy, but not out of line with what one might expect. The surprise comes further down. On every issue cited by Quinnipiac’s pollsters, respondents said they trusted congressional Republicans to do a better job than Obama. They preferred the GOP on health care (43 percent to 42 percent), the economy (45 percent to 41 percent), the federal budget (45 percent to 40 percent), and immigration (41 percent to 40 percent).

The Curious Case of Same-Sex Divorces in Missouri Courts � CBS St. Louis

The Curious Case of Same-Sex Divorces in Missouri Courts � CBS St. Louis: ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - By next week, same-sex couples from Missouri could journey to Illinois, as they have journeyed to Iowa for years, to get married. But what happens if it doesn’t work out?

Basically, the once-happy couple is out of luck.

Because Missouri doesn’t recognize gay marriage, the state has no provisions for gay divorce.

The Radical Political Center That Somehow Never Rises

The Radical Political Center That Somehow Never Rises: It's not impossible to be a true moderate on all the major issues of the day, but such people are rare, and the candidate that professes such beliefs will alienate more people than she wins over. In other words, the radical center never rises because, to a large extent, it doesn't exist.

A Dish Reader on Contractors

Can Three Geeks Save Obamacare? Ctd � The Dish:
This post hits home. I have worked as a government contractor for over 20 years and the system is broken and wasteful. It’s no surprise to me that the Obamacare website doesn’t work. The bigger the project is, the more money at stake, the more the overpaid and unqualified managers fight for work scope within and between companies and the more bureaucratic gamesmanship within the agency. I’ve been wanting to write an article or call a whistleblower group or stand on the street and scream. Instead, I keep collecting my paycheck waiting for someone else to break the story on this huge example of waste, fraud, and abuse – the legal contracting activity right in front of your nose.

There’s so much wrong, I hardly know where to start. First, the federal staff – the more the government relies on contractors, the less the government employee knows how to DO the actual work. They only “manage” the work. After a few years of this, few have kept abreast of changing industry standards and practices. The experience they may have once had becomes increasingly irrelevant.  They know the jargon and the history of a project(s) but they rely increasingly on contractor managers to develop strategy, budget, and schedules. These contractor managers’ influence over their federal counterparts derives more from their friendship or their powers of persuasion more than actual skill.

Cyber-Pearl Harbor is a myth

Cyber-Pearl Harbor is a myth: More generally, Gartkze’s arguments imply that cyberwar isn’t a weapon of the weak. Instead, it’s a weapon of the strong — it will be most attractive to those who already have powerful conventional militaries. It works best in conjunction with traditional warfare, or, in a pinch, when deployed by states that no one else dares to attack in retaliation. The conventional wisdom among cybersecurity specialists is that cyberwar upsets the balance of traditional power by making it easier for weak states or non-state actors to deploy powerful attacks against countries such as the U.S. If Gartzke is right, this assumption is completely wrong — cyberwar is likely to strengthen the military predominance of the U.S. and other powerful countries rather than undermine them.

A Russian Tour

The Russia Left Behind: Midway through our journey, five golden domes came into view.

Set on an island in a mirror-like lake outside the city of Valdai was evidence, the first we had seen, that someone had cared a great deal about fixing something. The 17th-century Iversky Monastery, used by the Soviets to house tuberculosis patients, has undergone a swift and lustrous renovation, financed by a phalanx of state-connected companies like Sberbank, Gazprom and Russian Railways. Its lawns are velvety, its tower the colors of roses and clotted cream.

On a recent afternoon, a tour guide shared the secret of the monastery’s rebirth: Mr. Putin has a vacation home next door.

Colorful History of a Power Hotel in Beijing - NYTimes.com

Colorful History of a Power Hotel in Beijing - NYTimes.com: To the untrained eye, the Jingxi Hotel, with its box-like, Soviet-style architecture dating to the late 1950s, is just like any number of buildings that line Beijing’s central east-west boulevard. But beneath its deceptively gray and drab exterior, the Jingxi may be the most concentrated unofficial seat of power in China: For the last four days, it was the site of the Third Plenum of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, where Chinese leaders tried to hammer out a reform agenda for the coming decade and beyond.

Just Use the Damned Word. Filibuster - James Fallows - The Atlantic

Just Use the Damned Word. Filibuster - James Fallows - The Atlantic: 1) "Necessary 60-vote threshold" implies some regular Constitutional requirement, like the super-majorities necessary for impeachment trials or treaty approval. In fact incessant use of the filibuster is a recent, shift-of-norms phenomenon -- and one of the goals of its practitioners is "defining obstructionism down" precisely so that its abuse will be treated as "necessary" and routine.

2) "Fell short" and "stalled" are intransitive verbs suggesting a weakness, failure, or insufficiency. In fact the nomination received a clear majority of 56 Senators, who as it happens probably represent about two-thirds of the population, but it was actively blocked rather than petering out on its own. To be fair, the headline uses the word "reject."

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Defender of the Constitution - Andrew Cohen - The Atlantic

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Defender of the Constitution - Andrew Cohen - The Atlantic: Even if you have little sympathy for Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, you ought to support his lawyers' efforts to curtail the government's sprawling use of so-called "Special Administrative Measures" in his case. Whatever you think of him, and the capital crimes of which he stands accused, he has a right to counsel, a right to counsel who can privately and effectively communicate with him, and the Justice Department's efforts to undermine that right in this instance are unfair and perhaps even unconstitutional.

First employed in 1996, SAMs are designed to prevent criminal defendants— before, during or after their trial—from inciting violence behind bars through secret communications with their lawyers or others. The attorney general may authorize the prison's restrictions on an inmate's mail, on his telephone calls, and on his visits with lawyers or access to media, if he or she finds that "there is a substantial risk that a prisoner's communications or contacts with persons could result in death or serious bodily injury to persons."

Vaccination, and social information networks - Gene Expression | DiscoverMagazine.com

Vaccination, and social information networks - Gene Expression | DiscoverMagazine.com: Over the past few years I’ve become much more aware of cultural streams in public health, and the public’s reaction to that health advice, because I have become a father. More specifically, when my wife was pregnant with my daughter, and after she was born, we encountered major pressure from peer networks to not vaccinate. In the social circles in which we were embedded, “progressive,” “crunchy,” and “alternative,” vaccinating one’s child was the heterodox decision. It was rather obvious to us that one of the major reasons that many people do not vaccinate their children is that many of their friends, and vocal people whom they trust, do not vaccinate their children. We were able to resist and rebuff any peer pressure rather easily because we have a much stronger scientific background than most Americans, but it isn’t hard to imagine being ignorant and trusting those in whom you normally put your trust.

‘Super’ Typhoon Haiyan: Suffering and the sin of climate change denial

‘Super’ Typhoon Haiyan: Suffering and the sin of climate change denial: Christian theology distinguishes between “natural evil,” that is, destruction and suffering that can be caused by natural phenomena like earthquakes or storms, and moral evil, the kind of evils that result from the interlocking effects of human sin.

Is the destructiveness of Typhoon Haiyan a tragedy of “natural evil,” the kind of horrible occurrence that occurs randomly in nature? Or, is it actually moral evil, traceable to human sin?

There is no doubt this storm is a massive evil. Haiyan, with its sustained wind speeds of 150 to 170 mph, is among the strongest storms on record and it has produced mass suffering and death, as well as widespread destruction.

Seeking Mao's Matrimonial Blessing - NYTimes.com

Seeking Mao's Matrimonial Blessing - NYTimes.com: Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong, is no stranger to visitors: Last year, 8.5 million tourists journeyed to this small, county-level city in the mountains of Hunan Province. But on the morning of Nov. 10, with just over a month until the highly anticipated 120th anniversary of the chairman’s birth, Shaoshan hosted a new kind of pilgrim: 50 couples from across China who came to the city to participate in a “Collective Red Wedding.”

The slogan of the event: “Have Chairman Mao Bear Witness to Our Love.”

Throwing the Constitution Out With the Bath Water | Blog | The Baffler

Throwing the Constitution Out With the Bath Water | Blog | The Baffler: In any case, no one complaining about American gridlock actually means that they hate gridlock. Here’s a deal for you, and it’ll solve the problem of gridlock right now: give the deep red states far more power in the national government. Gridlock will end right away, and government will get busy doing things: banning abortion, banning gay marriage, slashing federal welfare spending, purging the military of gay and lesbian service members, increasing the military budget, expanding American military power, locking Gitmo and the military tribunal into permanent, uncontested features of our national life. Congratulations—no gridlock at all! Government will for sure be busy taking action, and won’t get bogged down at all in partisan obstructionism. What an exciting advance in the science of modern governance.

A How-To Guide to Blowing Up the Constitution - NationalJournal.com

A How-To Guide to Blowing Up the Constitution - NationalJournal.com:

As we've learned what works and what doesn't, constitutions have started to look and more alike. Not surprisingly, the U.S. has one of the world's least generic constitutions. (Djibouti has the most.) American exceptionalism is a fine thing, but there are still things we can learn from other places. "The Founders had only impressionistic, sometimes wrong, assumptions about human behavior," says Ryan Enos, a political scientist at Harvard. "We know a great deal more now, due to advances in psychology and other fields, about the nature of cooperation, group identities, incentives, et cetera."

Take elections, the most basic function of any democracy. We've been doing them the same way since the Progressive era, but instant-runoff voting has become increasingly popular because it allows voters to rank multiple choices instead of picking just one. Australia, India, Ireland, and dozens of other countries have adopted it, as has San Francisco and the Academy Awards. IRV, as it's known, would make room for new parties by allowing people to vote for a third-party candidate first without "wasting" it, and then for a mainstream candidate second. This change would force politicians to compete for everyone's votes, because they would need non-first-choice votes too. Alternately, we could also eliminate party primaries, as California did recently, and replace them with a nonpartisan runoff between the top two vote-getters. These innovations would help reduce one-party monopoly and avoid the radicalizing effects of partisan primaries.

Strobist: Pentatonix' Daft Punk Video: Low Budget Meets Awesome Creativity

Strobist: Pentatonix' Daft Punk Video: Low Budget Meets Awesome Creativity:






"We went out an bought black sheets and hung them in the room and covered the ceiling.," Bates said. "We made a 'black box' that was about 20 square feet — if that. And we shot that entire video in that little space in one of their apartments."

For those of you wincing, don't. This is not necessarily a terrible thing, and speaks to a great point: severe restriction may be the absolute best spark for creativity.

When the walls are in close — literally, in this case — the natural reaction is to push against them. Hard.

yodatsracist comments on What in your study of history has most humanized the past and its people for you?

yodatsracist comments on What in your study of history has most humanized the past and its people for you?: Chiune Sugihara is who I always start thinking about. He was the Vice-Consul for the Empire of Japan in Kaunas, Lithuania. Single-handedly (or, more accurately, only with the aid of his wife who helped him copy out papers) he saved thousands of lives. He spent reportedly 18-20 hours a day copying out visas for Jews wishing to escape. Even as he was reassigned away from the city, he continued to hand out visas from the train. After the War, he said almost nothing about it. He left the Japanese foreign service in 1946 and lived after the war a middle class clerk and businessman.

75 Years In The Making: Harvard Just Released Its Epic Study On What Men Need To Live A Happy Life | FEELguide | Film, Music, Design, Science, Style, Psychology, and More

75 Years In The Making: Harvard Just Released Its Epic Study On What Men Need To Live A Happy Life | FEELguide | Film, Music, Design, Science, Style, Psychology, and More: ‘Triumphs of Experience’ shares a number of surprising findings. For example, the people who do well in old age did not necessarily do so well in midlife, and vice versa. While the study confirms that recovery from a lousy childhood is possible, memories of a happy childhood are a lifelong source of strength. Marriages bring much more contentment after age 70, and physical aging after 80 is determined less by heredity than by habits formed prior to age 50. The credit for growing old with grace and vitality, it seems, goes more to ourselves than to our stellar genetic makeup.”

Here's The Real Reason People Hate Their Individual Market Health Insurance - Business Insider

Here's The Real Reason People Hate Their Individual Market Health Insurance - Business Insider: I suspect the higher levels of dissatisfaction come from a different source, one that has different policy implications: Unlike people on Medicare, Medicaid and employer-based insurance, people who buy coverage in the individual market know exactly how much they're paying for it. A plan that you would only rate "fair" when you have to pay $5,000 for it might merit an "excellent" if its apparent cost to you were only $1,000.

Almost all of us should be dissatisfied with our health plans, because the American health care system involves paying twice as much as people in other rich countries do to achieve similar health outcomes. People who buy in the individual market are especially likely to understand how expensive American health care is.

BuckCherries comments on I believe teaching people to avoid situations that have a higher possibility of rape is not victim blaming. CMV

BuckCherries comments on I believe teaching people to avoid situations that have a higher possibility of rape is not victim blaming. CMV: *

Are women less likely to be victims of crime because they are "treated" as victims and constantly told they are in danger and given (somewhat patronising) instructions on how to stay safe?
*

And if so, isn't is better to push this advise onto men who are more likely to be in a situation where they need to use this advice?
*

Why, despite crime statistics showing over and over again that women are far less likely to be victims of crime, are women the ones who are more likely to be given advice on how to act, dress and socialise in order to not become victims?

The Workforce Is Even More Divided by Race Than You Think - Derek Thompson - The Atlantic

The Workforce Is Even More Divided by Race Than You Think - Derek Thompson - The Atlantic: The numbers reveal a workforce stratified, if not calcified, by race, with whites seeing higher wages and lower unemployment, while blacks and Hispanics constantly stuck behind them.

According to the BLS, whose data provides the backbone for this piece, the labor economy isn't merely stratified at the macro level. It's stratified at the job-by-job level. Different races and ethnicities cluster in different sectors.

Hispanics, for example, account for about 15 percent of all jobs, but a whopping 36 percent of all high school dropouts. They make up about half of all farm workers and laborers, 44 percent of grounds maintenance workers, and 43 percent of maids and house cleaners. Blacks, who make up just 11 percent of the workforce, account for more than a third of home health aides and about 25 percent of both security guards and bus drivers—rather low paying jobs.

How China's Anti-Corruption Campaign Hurts a Liquor-Producing Town - Adam Century - The Atlantic

How China's Anti-Corruption Campaign Hurts a Liquor-Producing Town - Adam Century - The Atlantic:

But Moutai’s exorbitant price—roughly $300 for a premium bottle—combined with its longstanding links to China’s governing elite have made it an ideal target in President Xi Jinping’s mounting campaign against corruption and extravagance. Though Moutai is officially recognized as China’s “national liquor,” often served at state functions, it is priced beyond the reach of average consumers. And because of this high price, Moutai commonly used a currency in bribes, prompting the popular saying: “Those who buy Moutai never drink it, while those who drink it never buy it.”

Nowhere have the effects of Xi’s anti-corruption campaign been felt more acutely than in Maotai village. Dozens of baijiu shops that line National Liquor Avenue, the town’s main commercial street, are now shuttered. A local vendor with the surname Zheng estimated that one-third of these shops have gone bankrupt since Xi came to power. In 2012, local GDP growth in Maotai village declined for the first time in more than 20 years; it is expected to fall further in 2013.

Bonding With Subjects in Harm's Way - NYTimes.com

Bonding With Subjects in Harm's Way - NYTimes.com: Sergeant Brennan constantly tries to ease the hardships for his team, giving them fresh socks from his own supply or chivvying them along when they are down. He is a firm — but fair — leader of young men at war.

We debated the merits of publishing images of injured or killed Marines and soldiers, using Joao Silva’s photos from Iraq as an example of how showing such scenes can have benefits. Sergeant Brennan said that if anything ever happened to him, he would want people back home to see the photographs so that they could understand what is happening in Afghanistan on a daily basis.

But that didn’t make it any easier to photograph him on Monday after a rocket-propelled grenade fired by an Afghan policeman patrolling with the Marines accidentally hit a power line and exploded near the sergeant, briefly knocking him unconscious during an intense firefight and giving him a concussion. He staggered back into the relative safety of a mud-walled compound; dizzy, disoriented and vomiting.

My Suicide Attempt and My Struggles to Get Help - NYTimes.com

My Suicide Attempt and My Struggles to Get Help - NYTimes.com: Writing a suicide note to my wife on Dec. 28, 2012, was much easier than I thought it should be. I was also surprised at how easy it was to then swallow an entire bottle of sleeping pills. But lying down and accepting my fate was the easiest by far.

I stared intently at my grease-stained pair of Marine Corps-issued boots strewn across my bedroom carpet. I locked my gaze on the debossed eagle globe and anchor on the outside of each heel. I wondered if asking for help for my post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury was the smartest decision – after all, it had ended my career.

Super Typhoon Haiyan: Among Strongest Ever | New Republic

Super Typhoon Haiyan: Among Strongest Ever | New Republic: If you were reading before, I don’t really think I need to say anything. Here's a perfectly well-defined eye, surrounded by a massive, uniform, thick wall of the coldest cloud-tops on the scale. Every part of Haiyan’s central dense overcast is colder than the coldest parts of Katrina. If you were imagining the strongest hurricane ever, this is basically what it would look like.

What Is The Quantum of Proof Necessary for Police to Rape and Torture you in New Mexico? | Popehat

What Is The Quantum of Proof Necessary for Police to Rape and Torture you in New Mexico? | Popehat: That's it. The factors that allegedly justify police intrusion into David Eckert's anus are:

• That his hands were shaking and he avoided eye contact during a traffic stop;
• He refused to consent to a search of his person;
• He stood erect with his legs together;
• No drugs were found in his car or in a pat-down of him (police pat-downs for weapons often turn up drugs, which mysteriously feel like dangerous weapons when touched by police, or which are immediately identifiable as drugs when touched by police);
• A drug dog (with no information given about the dog's training or qualifications or success rate) "alerted" to his car seat (though no drugs were found in his car); and
• An unidentified Hidalgo County K-9 officer asserted, without any specificity, that Eckert had previously hidden drugs in his anus.

That's all. It really comes down to three things: (1) subjective officer impressions that Eckert looked nervous, (2) a dog alerting on his seat, and (3) an unnamed cop making an unspecific claim that he had previously hidden drugs in his anus.

Kerry: 'we hope to narrow differences' with Iran in nuclear talks – live | World news | theguardian.com

Kerry: 'we hope to narrow differences' with Iran in nuclear talks – live | World news | theguardian.com: • Lengthy talks between Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, US secretary of state John Kerry and EU foreign minister Lady Catherine Ashton extended into their sixth hour Friday evening. Talks were expected to continue in Geneva Saturday.

For Help on Iran, Netanyahu Must Look to West Bank� - Bloomberg

For Help on Iran, Netanyahu Must Look to West Bank� - Bloomberg: Netanyahu understands that a nuclear Iran poses an existential threat to the Jewish state. He also understands that the Palestinians do not pose an existential threat to the Jewish state. Quite the opposite. He has lately shown signs of understanding what Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni and other ex-Likud leaders came to understand: Holding onto the West Bank in perpetuity could lead to the end of Israel as a Jewish democracy. There are excellent reasons for Netanyahu to freeze the growth of settlements. Getting the world on his side at a particularly hazardous moment is just one.

The Seduction of George W. Bush - By Peter Baker | Foreign Policy

The Seduction of George W. Bush - By Peter Baker | Foreign Policy: At another point, Putin defended his control over media in Russia. "Don't lecture me about the free press," he said, "not after you fired that reporter."

"Vladimir, are you talking about Dan Rather?" Bush asked.

Yes, replied Putin.

Rather was in the process of stepping down as anchor of the CBS Evening News after a report accusing Bush of not fulfilling his National Guard service turned out to be based on fraudulent documents. Bush explained to Putin that he had nothing to do with Rather losing his job. "I strongly suggest you not say that in public," he added. "The American people will think you don't understand our system."

But Putin understood his own system. When the two leaders emerged for a joint news conference, a Russian reporter handpicked by the Kremlin challenged Bush on the same grounds Putin had just been citing in private.

How Twitter Was Founded - Business Insider

How Twitter Was Founded - Business Insider: How Twitter's owners and top executives say Twitter was founded is different from how Twitter was actually founded.

Mainly, the official version leaves out the role of a major co-founder. Some early Twitter investors also wonder if it also leaves out a scandal.

Twitter is now worth more than $5 billion — and climbing toward $10 billion on secondary markets — so it's worth setting the story straight.

The Fat Cats’ Veto | National Review Online

The Fat Cats’ Veto | National Review Online: People will come, and people will go, and that’s the natural state of things. But the inescapable fact, unfair as it may seem, is that the people with the highest incomes are almost by definition those in highest demand; they are the easiest to lose, and the ones that it hurts a city — or a country — most to lose. While we may not be inclined to weep for the private-jet set, it is worth keeping in mind that a great many of our so-called fat cats got fat starting and running businesses. In 2011, an average of nearly five businesses a week left California, 28 from Orange County alone, seven of which relocated to or expanded in Texas. It is almost always popular to promise to raise taxes on the fat cats, and the crude arithmetic of democratic politics means that it is usually profitable to promise to tax a wealthy minority and give the money to a less-wealthy majority. A majority may very well vote for such redistribution — moving is the fat cats’ veto. And as dysfunctional, Democrat-dominated cities around the country have seen, it becomes the middle class’s veto, too.

America’s cruel Drug War now includes forced anal probing of innocent victims by law enforcement agencies | AEIdeas

America’s cruel Drug War now includes forced anal probing of innocent victims by law enforcement agencies | AEIdeas: Albuquerque TV station KOB Eyewitness News 4 is investigating several police officers and emergency room doctors in Southern New Mexico, who apparently violated the rights and body of an innocent victim of America’s cruel, expensive and failing War on Drugs Innocent Americas Suspected of Possessing Intoxicants Not Approved by the Government. If the allegations of a pending federal lawsuit are true, law enforcement officers of the city of Deming and the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, and several doctors at the Gila Regional Medical Center, engaged in a series of unbelievably repulsive and disgusting actions against an innocent 63-year old New Mexico man, who was wrongly accused of possessing illegal drugs.

Eleven Months After Sandy Hook, Incalculable Grief and an Influx of Sympathy and Money in Newtown -- New York Magazine

Eleven Months After Sandy Hook, Incalculable Grief and an Influx of Sympathy and Money in Newtown -- New York Magazine: As grief settled on the town, so did money. Cash poured in from everywhere, arriving in envelopes addressed to no one. To Newtown. The town of Newtown. The families of Newtown. There were stories of cheerleaders, having sponsored fund-�raisers, walking around with $30,000 in their pockets. A guidance counselor at Newtown High School reportedly opened the mail to find $1,000 in cash. Around the country, people sold ribbons, bracelets, cupcakes, and sent in the proceeds, five and ten dollars at a time. The Davenport West honor society in Iowa sent in a check for $226.69, and the parents of a 3-year-old named Lillian sent $290.94, donations from her birthday party. According to the Connecticut attorney general, about $22 million has flooded the town since December 14, finding its way into about 70 different charities set up in the wake of the massacre. Very quickly, the matter of disbursing these funds became something else, a proxy fight over how to evaluate grief.

Christie to Obama on the Website Issue

Stop Digging, Mr President � The Dish:

“Here’s what my advice would be to him — don’t be so cute. And, when you make a mistake, admit it. If he was mistaken in 2009 an 2010 on his understanding of how the law would operate, then just admit it to people. ‘You know what? I said it and I was wrong. I’m sorry, and we’re gonna try to fix this and make it better.’ I think people would give any leader in that circumstance a lot of credit for just owning up to it. Instead of now trying — don’t try to lawyer it. People don’t like lawyers. I’m a lawyer – they don’t like them. When I saw that this morning, I saw that for the first time, and I thought, ‘he’s lawyering it. That’s Barack Obama the lawyer.’”

Tufts Magazine / fall 2013

Tufts Magazine / fall 2013: THE BATTLE LINES OF TODAY’S DEBATES OVER GUN CONTROL, STAND-YOUR-GROUND LAWS, AND OTHER VIOLENCE-RELATED ISSUES WERE DRAWN CENTURIES AGO BY AMERICA’S EARLY SETTLERS

Best defender of 2013: Andrelton Simmons - SweetSpot Blog - ESPN

Best defender of 2013: Andrelton Simmons - SweetSpot Blog - ESPN: Who was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2013?

In our view, it's not a close call. The SweetSpot voting panel named Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons as its Defensive Player of the Year.

VIDEO: Every amazing play Andrelton Simmons made in 2013 - Talking Chop

VIDEO: Every amazing play Andrelton Simmons made in 2013 - Talking Chop: The best defensive baseball player in the world plays shortstop for the Atlanta Braves. His name is Andrelton Simmons, and he's pretty damn amazing. Here is 25 minutes of him doing what he does best.

INTERVIEW: MIT’s Ethan Zuckerman on ‘Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection’ – Next City

INTERVIEW: MIT’s Ethan Zuckerman on ‘Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection’ – Next City: Robert Putnam of Bowling Alone for years has been bemoaning how the Internet is going to separate us and how we’re losing the social fabric of mixing in public. But he’s done recent work that is much, much less discussed, because it’s really uncomfortable. He’s found that when you’re living in a city where you’re a minority, you’re probably going to hunker down. You’re probably not going to mix much with your neighbors. You’re probably going to spend a lot of time watching TV. Confronted with high degrees of cultural diversity, people, for the most part, don’t seem to step up to the challenge and meet their neighbors. In many ways, they hide from them. A lot of cities that have the highest degrees of civic participation are pretty ethnically homogenous.

Two Days until Brief Explosion of Christie Mania

Two Days until Brief Explosion of Christie Mania: Only two states, New Jersey and Virginia, hold their gubernatorial elections in odd years. Since there's generally a dearth of other political news at that time, Washington-based reporters usually decide that whoever got elected in Virginia is suddenly a national figure with a future as a presidential or at least vice-presidential candidate. They say this because they have become familiar with the Virginia race and therefore perceive it as important, and because Virginia is a swing state, which is supposed to mean that someone who got elected there might also appeal to voters elsewhere. This year, however, the Virginia race features two candidates no one much likes: Ken Cuccinelli, who seems like he might launch a campaign to reintroduce witch trials to the commonwealth if he became governor, and Terry McAuliffe, an almost comically smarmy operator whose most profound talent lies in separating people from their money. Obviously, neither of those two is ever going to be president, so that leaves reporters with the other race up in the Garden State.

How being a tax dummy cost the New York Times $60M - Term Sheet

How being a tax dummy cost the New York Times $60M - Term Sheet:
Because the Times not only made a disastrous, overpriced purchase, but also used a tax structure that assumed that it would own the Globe forever. As a result, the Times Co., which unloaded the Globe for a pittance last month, is missing out on a tax break that would have been worth almost as much as the "approximately $70 million" that Boston Red Sox owner John Henry paid it for the Globe and its other financially disastrous Massachusetts purchase, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
It's really kind of funny. Unless you're a Times Co. shareholder, in which case it's no laughing matter.

Chongqing Restaurants Serve Cultural Revolution Nostalgia - Adam Century - The Atlantic

Chongqing Restaurants Serve Cultural Revolution Nostalgia - Adam Century - The Atlantic: In the massive central Chinese city, establishments with Red Guards, Maoist songs, and portraits of Communist luminaries have become popular.

Eric Alterman Replies to Max Blumenthal’s Letter | The Nation

Eric Alterman Replies to Max Blumenthal’s Letter | The Nation: Congratulations to Max Blumenthal. The Nation has, over the decades, published any number of extremely harsh critics of Israel and Zionism. But, as far as I’m aware, never before has anyone defended the analogizing of the behavior of Israeli Jews to that of the war criminals who led Nazi Germany. Such arguments are, unfortunately, consistent with both the quality of Blumenthal’s judgments and the honesty of his journalism.

Blumenthal’s letter is no less dishonest and disingenuous than his dreadful book (a book, I hasten to add that has received virtually no attention in the print media, save in my column). I will answer each and every one of his charges in the order he makes them and then I hope and pray I will finally be done with this mishegas forever.

Why an Egg Amendment in Farm Bill Has Pig Lobbyists Flapping - NationalJournal.com

Why an Egg Amendment in Farm Bill Has Pig Lobbyists Flapping - NationalJournal.com: The National Pork Producers Council, for example, worries that if chickens are given the right to more space in their cages, then so too will pigs.

"So our animals can't turn around for the 2.5 years that they are in the stalls producing piglets," said Dave Warner, a spokesman for NPPC. "I don't know who asked the sow if she wanted to turn around.... The only real measure of their well-being we have is the number of piglets per birth, and that's at an all-time high."

Eric Alterman v. Max Blumenthal | Corey Robin

Eric Alterman v. Max Blumenthal | Corey Robin: Like Blumenthal, you leave the interview feeling uncomfortable. Both at that anguished and abject confession that Jews “finally have the chance to be insiders”—This is what all that brutality against the Palestinians was for? This is what Jews killed and were killed for? To be insiders?—and at Blumenthal’s reply that Jews outside Israel are insiders too. If being an insider is the best defense of Israel Grossman can come up with, what happens to that defense when it confronts the fact that Jews can be insiders outside of Israel? That’s the question that Max is asking and that Grossman doesn’t answer.

A Response to Eric Alterman | The Nation

A Response to Eric Alterman | The Nation: After Alterman published the first of his attacks, I attempted to engage him in a public forum. I not only wanted to debate him on the facts contained in my book, I wanted to ask him how he squares his self-professed liberalism with his defense of disproportionate lethal violence against Palestinian civilians, including children (“So tough luck, fella. War is hell.”); with his insistence that the United States must pressure the Palestinians to accept “their historic position”; or with his extraordinary declaration that Americans must be willing to endure more 9/11-style terror attacks “if that’s the price we have to pay” to maintain the US-Israeli special relationship.

I had wanted to discuss these issues and many more raised in Goliath—and still do, and will. Unfortunately, when Robert Wright of The Atlantic and editor of Bloggingheads, the pre-eminent online political debating forum, invited Alterman to engage with me, Alterman declined without explanation.

A Critique of a Book

The ‘I Hate Israel’ Handbook | The Nation: Israel is rarely wholly innocent in the stories Blumenthal tells. Its brutal military occupation of Palestinian land, now entering its forty-sixth year, has not only deeply damaged Israel’s democracy, but also desensitized its citizens to the daily humiliations it inflicts on the Palestinians. But Blumenthal proves a profoundly unreliable narrator. Alas, his case against the Jewish state is so carelessly constructed, it will likely alienate anyone but the most fanatical anti-Zionist extremists, and hence do nothing to advance the interests of the occupation’s victims.

I Want to Be Friends With Republicans - NYTimes.com

I Want to Be Friends With Republicans - NYTimes.com: This is why we need safe places to talk politics and religion. We need to be able to say what we believe without belittling one another. We need to not pretend that things used to be easier when things used to be easier only if you were white and straight and a man. We need to stop imagining that things will get better if we keep hammering away at each other, because, every time we hammer, our resolve thickens and is harder to chip away at when we finally put those hammers down.

But, mostly, we need to listen. Not every conviction is worthy of respect, but when you hear someone out, you’re forced to acknowledge a person’s thinking and, thereby, his humanity.

Malala and Nabila: worlds apart - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Malala and Nabila: worlds apart - Opinion - Al Jazeera English: This past week Nabila, her schoolteacher father, and her 12-year-old brother travelled to Washington DC to tell their story and to seek answers about the events of that day. However, despite overcoming incredible obstacles in order to travel from their remote village to the United States, Nabila and her family were roundly ignored. At the Congressional hearing where they gave testimony, only five out of 430 representatives showed up. In the words of Nabila's father to those few who did attend: "My daughter does not have the face of a terrorist and neither did my mother. It just doesn't make sense to me, why this happened… as a teacher, I wanted to educate Americans and let them know my children have been injured."

Marriage Isn’t For You | Seth Adam Smith

Marriage Isn’t For You | Seth Adam Smith:
 With a knowing smile he said, “Seth, you’re being totally selfish. So I’m going to make this really simple: marriage isn’t for you. You don’t marry to make yourself happy, you marry to make someone else happy. More than that, your marriage isn’t for yourself, you’re marrying for a family. Not just for the in-laws and all of that nonsense, but for your future children. Who do you want to help you raise them? Who do you want to influence them? Marriage isn’t for you. It’s not about you. Marriage is about the person you married.”

It was in that very moment that I knew that Kim was the right person to marry. I realized that I wanted to make her happy; to see her smile every day, to make her laugh every day. I wanted to be a part of her family, and my family wanted her to be a part of ours. And thinking back on all the times I had seen her play with my nieces, I knew that she was the one with whom I wanted to build our own family.
My father’s advice was both shocking and revelatory. It went against the grain of today’s “Walmart philosophy”, which is if it doesn’t make you happy, you can take it back and get a new one.
No, a true marriage (and true love) is never about you. It’s about the person you love—their wants, their needs, their hopes, and their dreams. Selfishness demands, “What’s in it for me?”, while Love asks, “What can I give?”

I was a Manic Pixie Dream Girl

I was a Manic Pixie Dream Girl:
....you can spend your whole life being a story that happens to somebody else. You can twist and cram and shave down every aspect of your personality that doesn’t quite fit into the story boys have grown up expecting, but eventually, one day, you’ll wake up and want something else, and you’ll have to choose.

Because the other thing about stories is that they end. The book closes, and you’re left with yourself, a grown fucking woman with no more pieces of cultural detritus from which to construct a personality. I tried and failed to be a character in a story somebody else had written for me. What concerns me now is the creation of new narratives, the opening of space in the collective imagination for women who have not been permitted such space before, for women who don’t exist to please, to delight, to attract men, for women who have more on our minds...

Science Confirms: Politics Wrecks Your Ability to Do Math | Mother Jones

Science Confirms: Politics Wrecks Your Ability to Do Math | Mother Jones: For study author Kahan, these results are a fairly strong refutation of what is called the "deficit model" in the field of science and technology studies—the idea that if people just had more knowledge, or more reasoning ability, then they would be better able to come to consensus with scientists and experts on issues like climate change, evolution, the safety of vaccines, and pretty much anything else involving science or data (for instance, whether concealed weapons bans work). Kahan's data suggest the opposite—that political biases skew our reasoning abilities, and this problem seems to be worse for people with advanced capacities like scientific literacy and numeracy. "If the people who have the greatest capacities are the ones most prone to this, that's reason to believe that the problem isn't some kind of deficit in comprehension," Kahan explained in an interview.

The Smarter You Are, The Stupider You Are : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture : NPR

The Smarter You Are, The Stupider You Are : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture : NPR: Our values and biases are expressions of who we are. It isn't so much that our prior commitments disable our ability to reason; it is that we need to appreciate that reasoning takes place, for the most part, in settings in which we are not neutral bystanders.

It shouldn't be surprising that smart people who care about an issue will use their wits to fight for their values. This can be a corrupting influence, it can lead you to fill in the wrong bubble, but it need not be.

This is where the real aims of education come in.

And Then Steve Said, ‘Let There Be an iPhone’ - NYTimes.com

And Then Steve Said, ‘Let There Be an iPhone’ - NYTimes.com: And yet Apple today is under siege. From the moment in late 2007 that Google unveiled Android — and its own plan to dominate the world of mobile phones and other mobile devices — Google hasn’t just tried to compete with the iPhone; it has succeeded in competing with the iPhone. Android has exploded in popularity since it took hold in 2010. Its share of the global smartphone market is approaching 80 percent, while Apple’s has fallen below 20 percent. A similar trend is under way with iPads: in 2010 the iPad had about 90 percent of the tablet market; now more than 60 percent of the tablets sold run Android.

Pot and Jackpots - NYTimes.com

Pot and Jackpots - NYTimes.com: And both, in different ways, illustrate the potential problems facing a culture pervaded by what the late sociologist Robert Bellah called “expressive individualism” and allergic to any restrictions on what individuals choose to do.

This is clearer in the case of casinos, whose consequences for the common good are straightforwardly disastrous. As the Institute for American Values report points out, the alliance of state governments and gambling interests is essentially exploitative, and the tax revenue casinos supply comes at the expense of long-term social welfare. Casinos tend to lower property values and weaken social capital in the places where they’re planted, they’re more likely to extract dollars from distressed communities than to spur economic development, and their presence is a disaster for the reckless and the addiction-prone.

Flight turns unforgettable when passengers learn of fallen soldier - Yahoo Travel

Flight turns unforgettable when passengers learn of fallen soldier - Yahoo Travel: But this transcontinental flight turned out to be everything but ordinary. We later learned, when the captain got on the PA system about 45 minutes prior to landing, that we were transporting a fallen soldier. The plane went quiet as he explained that there was a military escort on-board and asked that everyone remain seated for a couple of minutes so the soldiers could get off first. He also warned us not to be alarmed if we see fire trucks since Los Angeles greets their fallen military with a water canon salute. See my video below.

A few minutes after touchdown, we did indeed have a water canon salute, which I’d previously only experienced on happy occasions like inaugural flights. This time, the water glistening on the windowpanes looked like tears.

Republicans and the “Lofgren Corollary” | The Fiscal Times

Republicans and the “Lofgren Corollary” | The Fiscal Times: A couple of years ago, a Republican committee staff director told me candidly (and proudly) what the method was to all this obstruction and disruption. Should Republicans succeed in obstructing the Senate from doing its job, it would further lower Congress's generic favorability rating among the American people. By sabotaging the reputation of an institution of government, the party that is programmatically against government would come out the relative winner.

'Let Me Stress How Shocking These NSA Revelations Are': A View From Inside the Defense World - James Fallows - The Atlantic

'Let Me Stress How Shocking These NSA Revelations Are': A View From Inside the Defense World - James Fallows - The Atlantic: But the thing about the NSA revelations is that this isn't exceptional illegality. It is routine, somehow justified by legal opinions written by John Yoo-style hacks.

And worse, it is so routine that 29 y/o contractors have access to it.

The issue isn't so much that we've expanded the national security in response to perceived threats, but rather than doing so has become so unexceptional that it is routine, widely known, and the information widely (though not publicly) available.

At the risk of Godwining the email, this is the essence of the "banality of evil" in the precise Arendtian sense of the term.

With President Obama, the Buck Stops Nowhere | TIME.com

With President Obama, the Buck Stops Nowhere | TIME.com: Still, I expected more from Obama. I expected more at the Veterans Administration, since the President said that making sure that our veterans received the best treatment really mattered to him. It is remarkable that five years on, Obama still hasn’t resolved the dispute between the VA and the Department of Defense about providing a unified electronic medical records system that would follow active-duty personnel into retirement. The waste, heartache and delay caused by his inaction is appalling.

If You Like Your Plan, You Can Keep It. Sort Of -- Daily Intelligencer

If You Like Your Plan, You Can Keep It. Sort Of -- Daily Intelligencer: When it was originally contemplated, several years away from implementation, the process of imposing regulations on the individual-health-insurance market did not feel like taking people’s health insurance away from them. In the current moment, with cancellation notices going out and alternatives not yet available, it feels exactly like that. Which is to say, a promise that felt like a mere oversimplification at the time, and may eventually feel like one in retrospect, currently feels like a lie.

Confessions of an American Drone Operator

Confessions of an American Drone Operator: He kept the targeting laser trained on the two lead men and stared so intently that each individual pixel stood out, a glowing pointillist dot abstracted from the image it was meant to form. Time became almost ductile, the seconds stretched and slowed in a strange electronic limbo. As he watched the men walk, the one who had fallen behind seemed to hear something and broke into a run to catch up with the other two. Then, bright and silent as a camera flash, the screen lit up with white flame.

Airman First Class Brandon Bryant stared at the scene, unblinking in the white-hot clarity of infrared. He recalls it even now, years later, burned into his memory like a photo negative: “The smoke clears, and there’s pieces of the two guys around the crater. And there’s this guy over here, and he’s missing his right leg above his knee. He’s holding it, and he’s rolling around, and the blood is squirting out of his leg, and it’s hitting the ground, and it’s hot. His blood is hot. But when it hits the ground, it starts to cool off; the pool cools fast. It took him a long time to die. I just watched him. I watched him become the same color as the ground he was lying on.”

Is Glenn Greenwald the Future of News? - NYTimes.com

Is Glenn Greenwald the Future of News? - NYTimes.com: Much of the speculation about the future of news focuses on the business model: How will we generate the revenues to pay the people who gather and disseminate the news? But the disruptive power of the Internet raises other profound questions about what journalism is becoming, about its essential character and values. This week’s column is a conversation — a (mostly) civil argument — between two very different views of how journalism fulfills its mission.

p m carpenter's commentary: Keller vs. Greenwald

p m carpenter's commentary: Keller vs. Greenwald: Greenwald righteously protests that he presents journalism for the greater good and with an informed partiality and in a deeper search for "the truth," and for all I know he protests authentically. Yet Glenn Beck protests the same. And absent underlying sources of unopinionated knowledge and facts--such as Keller's--I can't possibly know whose ideological story--i.e., politics reduced to personal morality--to buy. Which means I require precisely what Greenwald rejects: the "here’s-what-both-sides-say-and-I-won’t-resolve-the-conflicts" kind of journalism.

Gawker Kicks Open the Closet, but Its Disclosure Barely Reverberates - NYTimes.com

Gawker Kicks Open the Closet, but Its Disclosure Barely Reverberates - NYTimes.com: Aha. Cue the innuendo, the salacious follow-ups and the specter of mainstream media outlets picking up the item with a pair of tweezers. Except after the post was published, there was nothing but crickets, other than a piece in Slate wondering aloud why Gawker had bothered. Otherwise, there was no significant pickup, and no broad expression of outrage.

We know why: The culture has moved on. People see other people who happen to be gay at their workplaces, in their schools and on their televisions. Somewhere along the way, what was once a scarlet letter became just another consonant in the personal r�sum�. And now that gay marriage is a fact of life, a person’s sexual orientation is not only not news, it’s not very interesting.

Our Fear of Al-Qaeda Hurts Us More Than Al-Qaeda Does - David Rohde - The Atlantic

Our Fear of Al-Qaeda Hurts Us More Than Al-Qaeda Does - David Rohde - The Atlantic:
Three disclosures this week show that the United States is losing its way in the struggle against terrorism. Sweeping government efforts to stop attacks are backfiring abroad and infringing on basic rights at home.

CIA drone strikes are killing scores of civilians in Pakistan and Yemen.  The National Security Agency is eavesdropping on tens of millions of phone calls worldwide — including those of 35 foreign leaders — in the name of U.S. security.

And the Department of Homeland Security is using algorithms to “prescreen” travelers before they board domestic flights, reviewing government and private databases that include Americans’ tax identification numbers, car registrations and property records.

Will we create a Minority Report-style Department of Precrime next?

Obama administration officials have a duty to protect Americans from terrorism. But out-of-control NSA surveillance, an ever-expanding culture of secrecy and still-classified rules for how and when foreigners and even Americans can be killed by drone strikes are excessive, unnecessary and destructive.

Twelve years after September 11, 2001, the United States’ obsession with al Qaeda is doing more damage to the nation than the terrorist group itself.

The Logic of Stupid Poor People | tressiemc

The Logic of Stupid Poor People | tressiemc: Books about the modest lives of the rich like to tell us how they drive Buicks instead of BMWs. What we forget, if we ever know, is that what we know now about status and wealth creation and sacrifice are predicated on who we are, i.e. not poor. If you change the conditions of your not-poor status, you change everything you know as a result of being a not-poor. You have no idea what you would do if you were poor until you are poor. And not intermittently poor or formerly not-poor, but born poor, expected to be poor and treated by bureaucracies, gatekeepers and well-meaning respectability authorities as inherently poor. Then, and only then, will you understand the relative value of a ridiculous status symbol to someone who intuits that they cannot afford to not have it.