Thursday: 6/13/13

NSA

The Overview

The privacy outcry is overblown.  "Here's the truth: We all gave up most of our information privacy long ago ... Americans ... have no problem with letting unknown numbers of unelected employees in vast, faceless, for-profit multinational corporations collect and use our personal information ... but God forbid that officials in our democratically elected government should try to collect some of that same information and use it to prevent terrorist attacks! Our collective outrage makes no sense ... These FBI and NSA data collection programs have been vetted by all three branches of government ... And sure, the government's not exactly being transparent, but neither are the multitudes of for-profit companies."  Rosa Brooks at Foreign Policy.

The leaked NSA programs pass most of the tests for surveillance, but we could be doing better on transparency.  "All nations surveil communications. Surveillance reduces risk. This makes it worthwhile if the political risks can be managed and minimized. Respect for political rights, oversight and transparency, and effectiveness are the tests for judging a surveillance program and if those who employ it are defending our rights or abusing them."  James Lewis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Merkley bill attempts to balance security and liberty.  "Our government will continue with large-scale surveillance programs to prevent future terrorist attacks ... Such programs have operated up to now with too little public scrutiny and insufficient concern over their long-term implications for our rights and our privacy ... A good place to start would be the bill introduced Tuesday by Sen. Jeff Merkley ... requiring the attorney general to declassify significant opinions by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. To have a thoughtful discussion, we need to know what authority our government has, and claims to have, under the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act."  E.J. Dionne at the Washington Post. 

Gen. Alexander is pushing back hard on NSA programs.  "The head of the National Security Agency defended his agency’s broad electronic surveillance programs ... saying that they have helped thwart dozens of terrorist attacks ... He said the surveillance programs were critical to unraveling terrorist plots ... In particular, he cited the cases of Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan American who pleaded guilty to planning suicide attacks in New York, and Pakistani American David C. Headley, who was arrested in 2009 for his role in a terrorist attack the year before in Mumbai, and who was plotting to attack a Danish newspaper that published a satirical cartoon of the prophet Muhammad."  Ellen Nakashima and Jerry Markon at the Washington Post.

Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden is a lawbreaker, not a traitor.  "What do the speaker of the House of Representatives, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations have in common? None of them seem to understand what "treason" is ... Snowden's leak was illegal -- but it wasn't treason under U.S. law. Article III of the Constitution defines it narrowly: It 'shall consist only in levying War against' the U.S., 'or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.' Judges have read that to mean joining enemy military forces or giving them intelligence directly. Snowden did neither. He sent documents to two newspapers."  Evan Soltas at Bloomberg.

Miscellaneous

Godwin's Law 2.0: 9/11 is the new Hitler.  "For the uninitiated, Godwin's Law is one of the cardinal rules of the Internet ... The principle ... the longer an online discussion persists, the greater the odds become that someone will make a comparison to Nazis or Adolf Hitler, to the point of near-inevitability ... But Hitler and the Nazis aren't the only recurring straw men used to end debates. Over the past 12 years, it's become clear that the longer a national security debate persists, the more likely it becomes that someone will try to end it by suggesting something -- some policy, some person, some technology -- 'could have prevented 9/11.'"  J. Dana Stuster at Foreign Policy.

Politics

Abortion

So this is what the House does.  "The Republican-led House on Tuesday passed a far-reaching anti-abortion bill that conservatives saw as a milestone in their 40-year campaign against legalized abortion and Democrats characterized as yet another example of a GOP war on women. The legislation ... would restrict almost all abortions to the first 20 weeks after conception ... It mirrors 20-week abortion ban laws passed by some states, and lays further groundwork for the ongoing legal battle that abortion foes hope will eventually result in forcing the Supreme Court to reconsider the 1973 Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, that made abortion legal."  Jim Abrams at the Associated Press.

Scott Walker is the new Gov. Ultrasound.  "The state Senate ... pushed through an anti-abortion measure that would ... require women in Wisconsin to have an ultrasound before terminating an unwanted pregnancy. The proposal is on its way to the state House, where it's expected to be approved by a Republican majority ... Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) said Tuesday that he would sign a law requiring women to undergo ultrasounds before having an abortion."  Steve Benen at Maddowblog.

California

FlightCity vs San Francisco Airport.  "Here's FlightCity's basic idea ... A business where you have a car storage facility near SFO and where outbound travelers can park their car for free, in exchange for allowing the storers of the vehicle to rent it out to inbound travelers. ... Parking lot operations are a totally legitimate business and so is car rental, and combining the car storage and car renting businesses into a single firm makes a ton of sense ... But here's the problem. SFO has a regulation stating that off-airport car rental agencies need to pay the airport 10 percent of gross profits and a $20 transportation fee for each rental car transaction. FlightCity is simply breaking the rule."  Matthew Yglesias at Slate.

Education

The number of Americans graduating with college degrees is increasing.  "The number of Americans graduating from college has surged in recent years, sending the share with a college degree to a new high, federal data shows ... Last year, 33.5 percent of Americans ages 25 to 29 had at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with 24.7 percent in 1995 ... In 1975, the share was 21.9 percent. The number of two-year college degrees, master’s degrees and doctorates has also risen ... Increases appear to be driven both by a sharp rise in college enrollment and by an improvement among colleges in graduating students."  Catherine Rampell at the New York Times.

Everything you need to know about the upcoming student loan rate hike.  Dylan Matthews at Wonkblog.

And why student loans matter.  "A recent report from the New York Federal Reserve found that people with student loan debt were less likely to be homeowners before the age of 30 and were less likely to purchase a vehicle ... Student loan debt, which has tripled since 2004, is even deterring many of the 'first global' generation from getting married and having children. Moreover, 41 percent of those struggling with student debt say that loan payments have forced them to postpone contributions to retirement accounts. Today’s student debt loads are a threat to the already precarious retirement security of Americans for decades to come."  Howard Dean at Roll Call.

Elections

The House is leaning GOP.  "At this very early point in the 2014 race for the U.S. House, small Republican gains — as in, less than five seats — look likelier than a similarly small gain for Democrats. That’s because the Republican targets just look a little better than the Democratic ones. While it would be foolish to rule out any outcome, there is no indication at this point that the Republican House majority is in jeopardy ... The Republicans remain heavy favorites in the House: 1. Democrats don’t have enough credible targets ... 2. The national political winds appear pretty neutral right now ... 3. The Democrats’ most vulnerable seats are more vulnerable than the Republicans’ most vulnerable seats."  Kyle Kondik at Sabato's Crystal Ball.

And Dems are having some recruiting problems.  "The head of the national committee to elect House Democrats next year has a problem: His potential recruits keep telling him they want to sit this cycle out and run in 2016, when the name at the top of the ballot might be Hillary Clinton. Even the possibility of a Clinton presidential campaign has congressional hopefuls eyeing 2016 as a wave election year for Democrats nationwide, according to Rep. Steve Israel, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee."  Ruby Cramer at Buzzfeed.

Looking for another Southern blue state on the horizon? Try Georgia. "The secret ingredient: Georgia’s minority voters are dominated by extremely pro-Democratic African-Americans. That pushes overall Democratic support among minorities in Georgia about 20 points higher than in Texas. That makes a huge difference ... But how near is this near future ... The minority percentage of eligible voters in Georgia should rise by about 3.5 percentage points between 2012 and 2016. All else equal, that could cut the Democratic deficit by as much as 5 points ... And by 2020, if trends continue, a blue Georgia seems eminently possible."  Ruy Teixeira at Think Progress. 

Energy and the Environment

US oil production is booming and breaking records.  "U.S. crude-oil production grew by more than one million barrels a day last year, the largest increase in the world and the largest in U.S. history ... In volume terms, last year's U.S. production gain of 1.04 million barrels a day surpassed the earlier biggest annual increase of 640,000 barrels per day, recorded in 1967. Most of this new production is coming from dense shale-rock formations, such as the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas. In recent years, the oil industry has developed techniques to hydraulically fracture, or frack, these shales, freeing up previously trapped oils."  Keith Johnson and Russell Gold at the Wall Street Journal.

The environmental impact of first-class air travel. "As if the nice meal and the on-demand movies and the fully reclining seats weren’t enough to infuriate the rest of us, first-class air travel is also ruining the environment. Or at least so says the World Bank in a new study estimating that the carbon footprint of a first-class airplane seat may be as much as nine times larger than an economy-class berth. A business-class ticket has three times the carbon footprint as economy."  Howard Schneider at Wonkblog.

GOP

GOP 'rebranding,' meet the House of Representatives.  "House Republicans recently passed an immigration amendment ... that would effectively mandate the deportation of the 'DREAMers' ... House Republicans are planning a vote next week on a measure that would ban abortions after 20 weeks ... And yesterday, House Republicans approved a version of the 2012 National Defense Reauthorization Act that contains ... antigay amendments ... What do these three things have in common? They would seem to run directly counter to the belief ... that the party needs to move beyond cultural battles ... that imperil the GOP’s ability to remake itself as a more tolerant, inclusive party."  Greg Sargent at the Plum Line.

Other areas aren't looking much better, either. "To much acclaim, the Republican National Committee released its road map ... emphasizing that the path to success called for moderating the party's position on immigration, courting a more diverse set of officeholders, and building the GOP around pragmatic governors rather than polarizing members of Congress. Three months later, those recommendations seem to have already been forgotten ... The composite is a party stuck in the status quo despite its leaders' public hand-wringing. Much of the desire for change is coming from the top, while the more-populist conservative grassroots ... are pulling in another direction."  Josh Kraushaar at the National Journal.

I think we've found the next Bachmann.  " With Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) retiring ... I don't think there's any doubt who'll replace her as Congress' silliest conspiracy theorist. Rep. Jeff Duncan wants to know why IRS law enforcement agents are training with AR-15 rifles ... If Duncan's name sounds familiar ... The South Carolina Republican ... is afraid of the Census Bureau. He's also the same congressman who spewed bizarre conspiracy theories ... about the Boston Marathon bombing, going so far that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano felt the need to say Duncan's ignorant inquiries were 'full of misstatements and misapprehensions,' and 'not worthy of an answer.'"  Steve Benen at Maddowblog.

Guns

Obama moving forward with executive actions on guns.  "With no major gun legislation on the horizon in Congress, the White House is quietly moving forward on an executive package of gun safety measures. The package ... is intended to bolster the nation’s database used for background checks and make it harder for criminals and people with mental illnesses to get guns ... The executive orders relax health care privacy regulations that ... state executives say prevent them from putting the names of those Americans with mental health records into the database. The orders also give states more money to help them add data to the system and compel federal agencies to share more mental health data on workers." Jennifer Steinhauer at the New York Times.

Don't expect much from Congress - the House is not interested. "It's 'very doubtful' that tougher gun laws will be considered in the House with Republicans in charge, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) predicted this week. Although the looming six-month anniversary of the Newtown, Conn., massacre has intensified advocates' calls for new gun restrictions — particularly an expansion of criminal background checks — Hoyer said there's simply no appetite among GOP leaders to consider such changes."  Mike Lillis at the Hill.

But I'm sure this should solve everything.  Not.  "It will soon be a crime to publicly identify concealed handgun permit holders and permit applicants in Louisiana. A bill making it a misdemeanor to release or publish the names or addresses of permit owners, as well as applicants for permits, received final passage Thursday and heads to Gov. Bobby Jindal's desk. A spokesman for the governor said Jindal intends to sign it into law. The House approved the measure 91-2 on Wednesday, while the Senate voted 34-2 in favor on the last day of session. Violations will carry a $10,000 fine and up to six months in jail."  Littice Bacon-Blood at the Associated Press.

Health

Obama's healthcare cost savings are materializing. "During his 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama relied on ... a promise that his health-care plan would 'lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year.' Cue ... jeers if you were a health-policy expert ... Even without Obama’s oversimplification, the $2,500 target was extremely optimistic. So here’s the shocking revelation: The savings are actually materializing ... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ... 2012 projection cuts the 2016 estimate to 18.3 percent. 'One percent of GDP turns out to be -- surprise -- $2,470 for a family of four given expected GDP that year,' Cutler wrote, 'or basically $2,500.'"  Ezra Klein at Bloomberg.

Immigration

The public support for immigration reform is enormous.  "In each state, the pollsters described the legislation in accurate but positive terms, telling participants that the Gang of Eight bill would help 'secure our borders, block employers from hiring undocumented immigrants' and require undocumented immigrants to meet 'a long list of requirements … over more than a decade' in order to obtain a pathway to citizenship. Presented with that favorable description of the legislation, voters responded warmly, with between 61 and 78 percent in each state expressing support."  Alexander Burns at Politico.

And the GOP would incur huge costs if it kills reform.  "In the current fight for comprehensive immigration reform, more than a few Republican lawmakers have used language that alienates Latino voters. They refer to immigrants as 'illegals' and warn that 'amnesty' would harm the social fabric of the United States ... If immigration reform fails ... To many Latino voters, this will confirm their view that bigotry ... drives GOP hostility to their interests. In which case, Latino voters are certain to move further in the Democratic column."  Jamelle Bouie at the Plum Line.

But the incentives of Republican House members are quite different from the party at large.  "Just 24 House Republicans represent a district where the Latino population is 25 percent or higher ... Of those 24 districts, half (12) were carried by Mitt Romney by 20 points or more ... In other words, a Republican incumbent from a district with significant Hispanic population is more likely to be representing a heavily Republican district than a swing or Democratic-leaning district. For House Republicans, then, there is little short-term gain to supporting immigration legislation. It won’t make them any safer in a general election and instead may make them more vulnerable in a primary."  Amy Walter at the Cook Political Report.

Rubio can't deal with gay rights.  "There is, however, one issue that would force the Republican senator to walk away. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, a co-author and key proponent of the Senate immigration bill, said he will revoke his support if an amendment is added that allows gay unauthorized immigrants to claim foreign same-sex partners as family ... His line in the sand has nothing to do with border security or tax penalties or provisions related to learning English. Rather, Rubio just can't tolerate gay rights."  Steve Benen at Maddowblog.

LGBT Rights

Seriously, Rubio cannot deal with gay rights.  "Sen. Marco Rubio ... a top GOP presidential prospect in 2016, thinks it should be legal to fire someone for their sexual orientation ... 'I’m not for any special protections based on orientation,' Rubio told ThinkProgress ... Workplace discrimination is an all-too-frequent reality for LGBT individuals. Two out of every five openly lesbian, gay, or bisexual employees have reported discrimination at their jobs. Among transgender workers, that figure rises to nine out of ten ... LGBT workers aren’t asking for 'special protections,' ... They’re asking to be treated like everyone else ... without fear of being harassed or fired for who they are."  Adam Peck and Scott Keyes at Think Progress.

New York

Former New York detective on the defensive after allegations of fabricating evidence and confessions.  "Mr. Scarcella, 61, was a member of the Brooklyn North Homicide squad who developed a reputation for eliciting confessions when no other detective could. But questions about his credibility have led the Brooklyn district attorney’s office to reopen all of his trial convictions. The similarity of the confessions ... raises new doubts about the statements that Mr. Scarcella presented and that the prosecutors used to win convictions in dozens of murder cases."  Frances Robles at the New York Times.

SCOTUSwatch

The Myriad ruling.  "The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday that biotech researchers have to create something to get monopoly protection to study and apply the phenomenon. Because Myriad Genetics, Inc., 'did not create anything,' the Court struck down its patent on isolating human genes from the bloodstream, unchanged from their natural form ... The decision was a major blow to a company that believed it had a right to be the sole user and analyst of two human genes ... But the ruling will give medical and scientific researchers, and family doctors, greater opportunity to help women patients discover their potential vulnerability to those types of cancer."  Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog.

Voting rights and Section 5: Possible outcomes before the Court.  "There are four main ways the court could rule: it could strike down Section 5 entirely, finding that by singling out certain areas for special scrutiny, it violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. Or it could technically uphold Section 5, but tell Congress it must find a different formula ... Third, it could decide that given its record of racial discrimination in elections, Shelby County doesn’t have the right to mount a broad 'facial' challenge to Section 5, essentially punting ... Finally, it could simply side with the Obama administration, finding Section 5 to be constitutional under the 15th amendment."  Zachary Roth at MSNBC.

What happens if Section 5 is struck down?  "The decision in the Shelby County case could have significant consequences. Should the Court eliminate or weaken Section 5, minority voting rights could be threatened ... by jurisdictions attempting to: re-enact discriminatory voting changes that have been formally blocked by Section 5 ... adopt discriminatory voting changes that previously were deterred by Section 5 ... implement discriminatory voting changes that have lain dormant while awaiting Section 5 review; adopt new restrictive changes; or implement discriminatory voting changes that have been blocked from going into effect, but technically still remain on the books."  Myrna Perez and Vishal Agraharkar at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Supreme Court bans protests on its grounds.  "The Supreme Court has come up with a new regulation banning demonstrations on its grounds. The rule approved Thursday comes two days after a broader anti-demonstration law was declared unconstitutional. The new rule bans activities such as picketing, speech-making, marching or vigils. It says 'casual use' by visitors or tourists is not banned."  Frederic Frommer at the Associated Press.

Tennessee 

FFS. "An anti-Muslim group of hecklers last week broke out into cheers at the mention of a local mosque being burned to the ground, completely missing the point of the community outreach forum they were disrupting."  Hayes Brown at Think Progress.

The VA

Maybe the VA is finally getting the backlog under control.  "The Department of Veterans Affairs has reached a 'tipping point' in its struggle to get a grip on the massive backlog of disability claims plaguing veterans, a senior department official told a Senate committee Wednesday. The number of pending cases has decreased by 74,000 over the past 45 days ... Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the committee, said the VA update represents a significant milestone for the effort to cut the backlog, which he described as 'the most contentious' issue facing the department."  Steve Vogel at the Federal Eye.

International

Africa

What an incredible story.  "After two days trapped in freezing cold water and breathing from an air bubble in an upturned tugboat under the ocean, Harrison Okene was sure he was going to die. Then a torch light pierced the darkness. Ship's cook Okene, 29, was on board the Jascon-4 tugboat when it capsized on 26 May due to heavy Atlantic ocean swells ... Of the 12 people on board, divers recovered 10 dead bodies ... Somehow Okene survived, breathing inside a four foot high bubble of air as it shrunk in the waters slowly rising from the ceiling of the tiny toilet and adjoining bedroom where he sought refuge, until two South African divers eventually rescued him."  Upstream.

Asia

What you need to know about 'Abenomics' and the Japanese economy.  Neil Irwin at Wonkblog.

Europe

Here we go again.  "Two Russian military aircraft are suspected of having violated Finland’s airspace ... The incident took place Tuesday morning over the Gulf of Finland ... The report did not identify the Russian aircraft, saying only that F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets of the Finnish Air Force were dispatched in order to identify the invaders. The Russian Defense Ministry admitted an unspecified number of Tu-22 bombers and Su-27 fighter jets conducted flights in the vicinity of Finland on Tuesday, but denied that they intruded in the country’s airspace. This is the second such incident in a month."  Ria Novosti.

Middle East

Death toll in Syria rises above 92,000 and it looks like it will just keep rising.  "The overall documented death toll in devastated Syria has reached 92,901, the United Nations said Thursday ... This is most likely a minimum casualty figure,' she said. 'The true number of those killed is potentially much higher.' The analysis shows a dramatic increase in the average monthly number of documented killings since the beginning of the conflict, from around 1,000 per month in the summer of 2011 to an average of more than 5,000 per month since July 2012, according to the U.N. report."  CNN.

Red lines. "President Obama's 'red line' has been crossed, it appears. The White House declared on Thursday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons in small doses against rebel forces ... 'Our intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin ... against the opposition multiple times in the last year,' Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, said in a statement, noting that between 100-150 have been killed by chemical attacks in Syria. 'The President has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has.'"  John Hudson at the Cable.

Now that we've cleared up this chemical weapons business, the US prepares to arm the rebels.  "The Obama administration, concluding that the troops of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria have used chemical weapons against rebel forces in his country’s civil war, has decided to begin supplying the rebels for the first time with small arms and ammunition, according to American officials."  Mark Mazzetti, Michael Gordon, and Mark Landler at the New York Times.

While Assad may be preparing to try and reclaim Aleppo. "Diplomatic observers in Jordan say they believe Syria is preparing to launch a military offensive to recapture the city of Aleppo ... The observers ... said the Syrian army has made steady advances in both the country’s north and south, and it appeared to be setting the stage for what one Western diplomat formerly based in Syria called Operation Northern Storm to seize Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and once the country’s economic center."  Sheera Frankel at McClatchy.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/06/12/193741/diplomats-predict-assad-will-soon.html#storylink=cpy

Turkey's protests were only a matter of time.  "Despite these successes, a decade is a long time to be in power ... Many of these protesters feel effectively disenfranchised by the electoral process in Turkey, and for good reason. Given the AKParti’s formidable electoral machine, the prospect of exerting influence through normal representative channels is ... quite dim. This prospect is further dimmed by the presence of mostly inept opposition parties ... Faced with almost certain electoral defeat, and an opposition which has failed to provide them adequate voice, many young Turks have chosen to express their preferences and frustrations in the street."  Daniel Ksleman at the Monkey Cage.

The Pacific

Australia's having an interesting week. "It has been an awfully strange week in Australia, at least in terms of sexism-related news. First there was Prime Minister Julia Gillard's provocative speech on abortion, then a menu popped up on Twitter featuring 'Julia Gillard Kentucky Fried Quail - Small Breasts, Huge Thighs & A Big Red Box,' and finally the Dalai Lama weighed in on what the Australian press has dubbed the country's 'gender war.'"  Lydia Tomkiw at Foreign Policy.

Economics

Legalized prostitution increases human trafficking.  "One of the advertised advantages of legalizing prostitution is that it should reduce illegal human trafficking. The theory is that customers will favor legal over trafficked prostitutes, thus reducing demand for the latter. Yet, legalization may also raise overall demand for prostitution. This increase in the size of the market may lead to more trafficking even if most customers prefer legal prostitutes."  Erik Voeten at the Monkey Cage.

Economics and religiosity.  "People don't necessarily get less religious as their countries become richer, but they do spend a lot less time in church. Since the study involves only European, predominantly Christian countries that were already at relatively high levels of development in the 1970s, it's probably not a good idea to make any overly sweeping conclusions, but it's nonetheless interesting to consider that it's the church, not God, who has an image problem in Europe."  Joshua Keating at War of Ideas.

Science

Earth is absurdly insignificant. "An international team of researchers has put together an absolutely brilliant 3D video map of the nearby universe out to a distance of 300 million light-years. The video is a not-so-subtle reminder of how freakishly tiny we are in the larger scheme of things. It’s called the Cosmic Flows project and it’s an effort to map both visible and dark matter densities around our galaxy up to a distance of 300 million light-years. The map ... shows our immediate intergalactic neighborhood through a series of dynamic 3D representations ... It's the most detailed map ever created of our local vicinity, and it does a remarkable job showing us what our neighbourhood looks like."  George Dvorsky at i09.

Meet the hyperloop.  "Wait until you hear about the mysterious Hyperloop from Elon Musk – a man that some now consider to be the world’s greatest living entrepreneur ... A revolutionary new form of transportation that’s one part Concorde, one part railgun, and one part air hockey table. And, according to Musk, it could forever change the way we think about transportation."  Dominic Basulto at Big Think.

Thunderstorms and derechos.  "The distinction between a 'derecho' and a severe thunderstorm isn’t intensity, but longevity. A derecho must possess damaging winds exceeding 58 mph, lasting for 240 miles. The definition of a severe thunderstorm, in contrast, does not suggest a less intense storm: It must have winds of at least 58 mph, or hail of 1 inch in diameter, or a tornado. Last year’s derecho was memorable in the Washington area because of its intensity, not because people in Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia suffered from the same storm. In other words, people in D.C. have falsely associated derecho with 'extremely intense,' rather than with 'long lasting.'"  Nate Cohn at the New Republic.

The secret lives of cats.  BBC.