U.S. officials say war is not an option for the U.S. Also, war is totally an option for the U.S., say U.S. officials. More stellar prognostications:

Fresh from a farewell dinner for departing New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt, the paper's standards editor, Phil Corbett, issued a memo to the newsroom yesterday on that perpetually controversial issue: use of anonymous sources. Full memo below.

Last week, Josh Gerstein explained how the information control freaks at the National Security Agency conducted secret "seminars" for reporters—basically, little classes on how and when the government would like them to keep their mouths shut about top-secret and not-so-secret information. What's funny is that no one seems to remember the sessions, which went down at NSA headquarters between 2002 and 2004. Maureen Baginski, who was listed as a presenter at the seminars, said she had no recollection of being present. Why would she? She was only the FBI's "intelligence czar" back in 2004, before she left to work for SPARTA, an employee-owned defense contractor of utmost secret-government-like creepiness. Likewise? Not a single reporter has yet come forward to claim attendance.

The Hills star Lauren Conrad has a sex tape with her ex-boyfriend Jason Wahler. The Hills star Lauren Conrad doesn't have a sex tape with her ex-boyfriend Jason Wahler. This week's Us Weekly has a four-page spread that tries to get to the heart of the matter. They rely on a couple of sources: Lauren, and a "source close to the couple." Hmm! Who??? Well, we've just gone ahead and made some edits to their item to get to the bottom of this confounding mystery.

Today in Thursgay Styles, insta-trendbot Stephanie Rosenbloom explores the issue of spying — on your children, your friends, your lover — in the digital age. The pitch obviously stems from Rosenbloom's guilt over reading her significant other's email, but seriously, swear to God, he just left the window open!