"Of the 41 percent of Republicans who consider Benghazi to be the worst political scandal in American history, 39 percent are unaware that Benghazi is located in Libya. 10 percent said it's in Egypt, 9 percent in Iran, 6 percent in Cuba, 5 percent in Syria, 4 percent in Iraq, and 1 percent in North Korea and Liberia."
It's quaint how people still manage to get outraged about surveillance. You are being monitored, right now, just like everybody else with a phone or a computer or a bank account or a pressure cooker, because Total Information Awareness is real. ‘Welcome to America. All of that stuff is being captured as we speak whether we know it or like it or not." Who said that, maybe Alex Jones?
A high-ranking newsroom official for Bloomberg News was ordered last year to cut off reporters' access to information about how clients used the company's information terminals, according to a former Bloomberg reporter, but the spying continued anyway. The order followed complaints from JPMorgan Chase that Bloomberg reporters had used JPMorgan's terminal-use records to break stories about the "London Whale” trading debacle, which led to more than $6 billion in losses for the company.
It’s been one week since Cleveland dishwasher Charles Ramsey was at home eating a Big Mac when he heard a woman's scream and immediately began a viral transformation from unsuspecting neighbor to true-crime hero to backlash target to trend-story subject to bemused celebrity. And seven days later, his face is now permanently inked on the back of some dude's leg.
It must be said right up front: coffee is a utilitarian beverage that exists mainly to wake you up. Therefore, treating coffee as some delicate wine-like treat that can only be appreciated by a select group of gourmands is absurd. Or is it?
Nothing delights Americans more than when a taco goes too far.
I was at the barbershop around the corner from my apartment a few Fridays ago, getting my weekly skin fade. When my barber cuts my hair, he generally turns my chair away from the mirror, which is frustrating for someone like me who likes to check the progress of the person who is altering my appearance (I have a feeling that thwarting feedback as he works is precisely why he does this). The shop is a narrow room with four stations arranged in an L; my chair was the short arm of the L.
Republicans are still furious over IRS scrutiny of non-profit groups with "Tea Party" and "patriots" in their names, but the life of the scandal depends entirely upon the political affiliation of the hundreds of other groups investigated by tax officials.
The Newseum, a gargantuan space in Washington, DC, dedicated to educating the public about the workings of journalism, unveiled a new exhibit today: a cutting-edge interactive demonstration of how pressure groups control what gets published.
When "fast food" was invented back in the 1950s or whenever, we were cautiously optimistic. A ground hamburger patty and french-fried potatoes served in less time than it takes to raise and slaughter a cow, plant a field of potatoes, and build a fire? Sure, why not? But today it seems that Americans have forgotten how to take their time with their food.
Writer/incendiary tweeter Bret Easton Ellis has written almost 3,500 words for Out on the media's treatment of gay men and his banning* from last month's GLAAD Awards because of his controversial tweets. These words are angry, self-serving, contradictory, justified, and human beyond gay. Out has agreed to let us to excerpt his essay, which is titled, "In the Reign of the Gay Magical Elves." See below.
On Monday, 83-year-old Barbara Walters officially announced her retirement from television (“special occasions” aside) on The View, a show about yelling she created in 1997 at the age of 68. She’s not officially planning to retire until the summer of 2014, she’s just giving everyone a year’s notice so that they can start planning a truly tasteful “Bye Barbara, Love, Television” party for her.
