The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler reports: Government workers repeatedly snooped without authorization inside the electronic passport records of entertainers, athletes and other high-profile Americans, a State Department audit has found. One celebrity’s records were breached 356 times by more than six dozen people. The audit, by State’s inspector general, was prompted by the discovery in March that three of the department’s contract workers had peeked at the private passport files

A thief who broke into the vehicle as it was parked on 53rd Street near Second Avenue saw the explosives, then drove the van from the mostly residential block to a remote location near the waterfront. The thief, who has an arrest record, then phoned a cop he knew from a previous run-in with the law. ” So I says to Rusty, “Dude! how could you drop the keys to

The Guardian claims to have a confidential World Bank report which concludes that biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% — more than the IMF estimate of 20-30%, and far more than the US government’s claims that biofuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. The Guardian and the New York Times suggest the World Bank report is being held back to avoid conflict with the US, though bank chief Robert

Wow.  Way to go, Rocks.  Two more, please.

To his European fans, Obama is the symbol of American renewal. They know three things about him. That he is young. That he is African-American. And that he has a Muslim name. Europeans live in countries with large, unassimilated Muslim minorities. The idea that someone with Obama’s name and background could become President of the United States astonishes and impresses them. Europeans are thrilled by the idea that the United

Secrets of Penis Enlargement Revealed! on “Two Missing U.S. Soldiers Found Dead in Iraq” (NOW WITH MORE SULLIVAN!) That’s what the kids are calling it?

Why Gallup chose to put the word “patriotic” in scare quotes in writing about its own poll is left for the reader to ponder. Inasmuch as it came up in the discussion of Barack Obama’s “national service” plan the other day, I highlight the fact that 78% of those surveyed find military service shows a great deal about the person’s patriotism, and 48% say the same about supporting US policies around the

No, not Jesse Helms. Opportunity for Chuck Adkins?

The influential New Jersey band (perhaps occupying the sonic space between the Talking Heads, Ramones and the Velvet Underground) that disbanded in 1992 has been doing a series of reunion shows this week, culminating by opening for Sonic Youth in Battery Park today.  Jon Pareles has had not one, but two articles on their return in the New York Times.  Video from their June 30th private warm-up at the legendary Maxwell’s