They are coming...

But, before they run us over, I have a question:

...the Los Angeles Times has reported that Mr. Snowden originally smuggled electronic files out of the National Security Agency in Hawaii using a USB thumb drive.

How can this be true?

Has the recession driven the world mad?  I think so.

Non-tribal. The lede was buried, but Bird Dog is not a Republican anymore. As an independent moderate conservative, don't expect any easing up on the Left, and don't expect any spirited defenses of conservatives who say and do stupid things.

Truly bizarre.

From comments in Greenwald in the Guardian (the blogroll on the right needs updating of this link)

The Nimitz’s entry into South Korean waters was a subject of brief controversy last week when South Korea media reported that U.S. and South Korean military officials feared a leak after the website of the North’s official news agency mentioned the ship’s arrival before it was announced or reported by the military or any other media outlets.

Yes, unbelievable.  We have come to expect laissez-faire in extremis.  From the comments.

I do agree with you that it is beyond the capacity of a nascent democratic nation to be able to have sufficient state controls and tools to police and implement the necessary regulation to ensure workers are treated ethically.

Some get it.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is the modern (2004) author of Black Swan theory:

"What we call here a Black Swan (and capitalize it) is an event with the following three attributes. First, it is an outlier, as it lies outside the realm of regular expectations, because nothing in the past can convincingly point to its possibility. Second, it carries an extreme 'impact'. Third, in spite of its outlier status, human nature makes us concoct explanations for its occurrence after the fact, making it explainable and predictable."

Mr Krauthammer in 2008 on Mr Bush.  What I like especially is highlighted.

In the hour I spent with the president (devoted mostly to foreign policy), that equanimity was everywhere in evidence -- not the resignation of a man in the twilight of his presidency but a sense of calm and confidence in eventual historical vindication.

I don't know about you, but I'm attempting to blot out the sequester and the sociopaths in the GOP and Democratic Party who designed this little fiscal cherry bomb, and who are playing politics with the well-being of American workers and families.  

To that end, here's a soulful tune, so soulful it feels like you've always been singin it: