To try and make a long story short, I met a girl 10 months ago during my last day studying abroad in London.  She is a Brazilian who lives in Argentina and we maintained communication for the last nine months in any way we could (via Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype, email).  Initially our intentions had been to meet in New York City in March of this year when we first started communicating (through a series of events NYC in March didn't happen but instead we were supposed to meet in July of this year).  The conversations we had were amazing; I've never felt such a strong connection with a person even though we had only seen each other in person once.  We had so many things in common and it seemed that we never ran out of things to talk about.  The conversations we had never felt as though we were just friends (it's worth mentioning that the night we met we danced and kissed the night away). However, the communication we had didn't go without its rough patches due to the fact that we never talked to each other in a "just friends" manner. I am incredibly attracted to her both physically and mentally and the feelings were reciprocated by her at one point.

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The work of non-governmental organizations, no doubt, is critical, and contributing money to them is laudable. But there is something troubling about government leaders initially implying -- if subtly -- that a non-governmental response is as significant as a governmental one. And there is something even more disturbing about that message being sent at a time when budget cuts and sequestrations engineered by those very governmental leaders threaten to prevent a more effective response to such disasters in the future.

It all suggests that the anti-government zeitgeist in America has become so powerful that public officials now feel compelled to downplay the public sector for fear of being tarred and feathered as a socialist, a Marxist or an opportunist unduly "politicizing" a tragedy.

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Rosen, who has not been charged in the case, was nonetheless the target of a search warrant that enabled Justice Department investigators to secretly seized his private emails after an FBI agent said he had "asked, solicited and encouraged … (a source) to disclose sensitive United States internal documents and intelligence information."

The affidavit supporting that search warrant even listed Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act. Most reporters caught in leak investigations are never accused of breaking the law. No charges have been filed currently in Rosen's case yet either.

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Of the local Scout leaders voting at their annual meeting in Texas, more than 60 percent supported the proposal.

Under the proposal drafted by the Scouts' governing board, gay adults will remain barred from serving as Scout leaders.

The outcome is unlikely to end a bitter debate over the Scouts' membership policy.

Some conservative churches that sponsor Scout units wanted to continue excluding gay youths, in some cases threatening to defect if the ban were lifted. More liberal Scout leaders — while supporting the proposal to accept gay youth — have made clear they want the ban on gay adults lifted as well.

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In 2009, two months after Nina Buckhalter's pregnancy ended in stillbirth, a Mississippi grand jury indicted her for manslaughter, citing her use of methamphetamine while pregnant as "culpable negligence." Buckhalter's attorneys challenged the charge; the Supreme Court hearing began in April and a ruling is expected soon.

Buckhalter's lawyers, as well as reproductive health advocates in Mississippi and across the country, contend that the charges, in addition to criminalizing countless women, could deter women struggling with drug and alcohol addiction during pregnancy from seeking prenatal care or treatment for substance abuse for fear of being prosecuted and create barriers to safe abortion care.

Sheppard goes on to report:

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Kristian is a student at Walford and North Shropshire College in England but earns money as a Taylor Swift impersonator -- a fact that her classmates recently discovered.

"Some girls at college had started making nasty comments, but it escalated really quickly," she told the Daily Mail. "'The girl came up behind me and dragged me off my chair by my pony tail, then started kicking me in the face."

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"I grew up with very liberal parents, thinking gun control was the way to go. It's kind of that Michael Moore movie, 'Bowling for Columbine' that kind of actually made me go [the other way]," Judge said.

Noting that he owns guns himself, he added: “I would be all for [gun control] if it’s effective but I haven’t seen anything that shows it’s effective.”

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Lee Rigby, of 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, who had joined the army in 2006, was posted in Cyprus, Afghanistan and Germany before becoming a recruiter, assisting with duties in the Tower of London.

"All he wanted to do from when he was a little boy was be in the Army," Rigby's family said in a statement issued through the Ministry of Defense. "He wanted to live life and enjoy himself."

The family said that Rigby would "do anything for anybody," always looked out for his sisters and took a "big brother" role with everyone he met.

"He was a loving son, husband, father, brother, and uncle, and a friend to many," the statement added.

Rigby, nicknamed Riggers, was an important member of the Corps of Drums who was known for his good nature and wit, as well as his love of his hometown soccer team, fellow soldiers said. Two men believed to have extremist Islamic beliefs are suspected of attacking and killing him.

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“Every single investment idea ... every desire to understand what is going to make this go up or go down is going to be overwhelmed by the most beautiful experience ... which a man will never share, about a mode of connection between that mother and that baby,” Jones told an audience at the University of Virginia, according to a video obtained by the Washington Post. “And I’ve just seen it happen over and over.”

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"Most of the jokes are about how bad the food is," Freeman told the Daily News, referring to Lindsay Bluth's "hot water ham" and George Bluth's cornballer machine, among others. "I don't think people expect it to be good," he said.

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In a speech at the National Defense University, Obama tried to redefine that fight and at least rhetorically end the war. “We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us, mindful of James Madison’s warning that ‘No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.’”

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“I think there are a lot of outside interests that would like to see Sarah Palin in some form of elected office. Most in Alaska recognize our former governor is really not involved in or engaged in the state anymore, that she’s moved to other interests,” Murkowski told the Hill. “In order for you to represent the state of Alaska, you’ve got to be in the state.”

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The $1.5 million facility in Bexar County will not house a single printed book, but will offer 100 e-readers on loan, and 10,000 digital titles accessible to readers via their home computers and digital devices, with more being added regularly.

“If you want to get an idea what it looks like, go into an Apple store,” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, the man behind the digital overhaul, told San Antonio Express News when plans were first announced earlier this year.

Saying goodbye to the printed page may be tough for some to swallow, but remote access to digital files is key to bringing books to the low-income and unincorporated areas of Bexar County currently without library access, says "BiblioTech" project coordinator Laura Cole.

Cole told the BBC in an interview this week:

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HLN, the cable network that heavily covers flashy, scandalous trials like those of Casey Anthony and Amanda Knox, apparently did well in the ratings after Jodi Arias was convicted of first-degree murder and as she addressed the jury, asking them not to sentence her to death. And so they sent out a press release to journalists headlined: "HLN #1 Among Ad-Supported Cable as Arias Pleads for Her Life."

Apparently, during the 19-minute period Jodi Arias, well, pleaded for her life (not many more apt phrases to use there), HLN outdrew all other ad-supported cable networks. Congratulations to HLN! Certainly these high ratings will be sustainable -- after all, there's always someone pleading for their life. You just have to find him or her!

The release in full is below.

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CANTOR: Well I can speak to my frustrations about the administration’s action or lack of action. If you’ve got an ongoing IG investigation or audit and there comes to you information about this type of behavior where you are discriminating against political opponents. I do not accept the fact that the White House says well we couldn't interfere with that audit or that investigation. That’s not true. They know that kind of activity was going on. That is clearly a point at which they should have gone in and said don't do that anymore.

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Twitter said in a blog post Wednesday that users will be able to enroll in a login verification program. For those who sign up, Twitter will send a six-digit code using a text message each time they sign in to Twitter.com. Besides their username and password, users will have to enter the code as well to log in.

Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. already allow two-step verification as an option. Twitter has been criticized for not having this option, especially following recent breaches of Twitter accounts belonging to major news organizations and other companies.

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“I’m willing to cut the young lady who interrupted me so slack, because it’s worth being passionate about,” Obama said. He added: “I obviously don’t agree with much of what she said."

"Will you tell the Muslim people their lives are as precious as our lives?" she yelled, as she was being escorted out. "Can you take the drones out of the hands of the CIA? Can you stop the signature strikes that are killing people on the basis of suspicious activities? Will you apologize to the thousands of Muslims that you have killed?"

"That will make us safer," she added.

Here's the video, via TPM.

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Meet 30-year-old Jason T. Willis, of Waterford, Wis. who's sitting in jail today on a $1,000 bond. Willis told police he was just "joking" when he posed as a neighbor and posted at least six sexually explicit Craigslist ads inviting men to her house. One of the hopeful, horny Craigslisters showed up in full flasher regalia, naked except for a coat. The neighbor was not amused and called the cops.

Willis has been charged with felony identity theft and is currently sitting in jail awaiting a May 28 court appearance. He's not the first one to get busted for harassing someone with sex ads on Craigslist. In March, 61-year-old LIbrary of Congress Archivist Kenneth Kuban was charged with felony stalking after allegedly harassing his 64-year-old ex-girlfriend with phony ads for months.

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Black has written to Salon to account for why, exactly, the two have such a tense relationship. We can't wait for Black's upcoming appearance on Maron's podcast!

Said Black:

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