Today’s Photo

First posted here three years ago (and every year since because I love it).

Buy kids all the video games and Disney princess paraphernalia in the world — or let them drop stones down a storm drain grate at the soccer field. Which to you think they’ll choose?

Five of The Sweeties demonstrate. Click image for larger version.

Best line once again proving that half of Americans are below average in intelligence

The fastest-rising names for both girls and boys came from a pair of reality TV shows called “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom.” Maci was the biggest riser among girls, jumping 423 spots to No. 232. Among boys, Bentley shot up 414 spots to No. 101.

Maci Bookout has starred as a teen mother on the MTV shows. Her baby’s name is Bentley.

ABC News

Jacob and Isabella were the most popular names in 2010. Nevaeh, which is Heaven spelled backwards, was 25th.

To which I can only add, Emkcuf — which is Fuck me spelled backwards.

Can you pass an 8th grade civics test?

“Responsible citizens of a constitutional democracy such as the United States should have adequate knowledge of the country’s principles and institutions, skills in applying this knowledge to civic life, and dispositions to protect individual rights and promote the common good.”

So begins the introduction to the summary report for 2010’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which was released this morning. However, it turns out that, where civic knowledge is concerned, “the nation’s report card” does not actually look very encouraging. In fact, the average score for 8th graders on the NAEP was 151 out of 300 points — and only around 20 percent of students performed at or above the “proficient” level.

How well would you do if you took the test yourself? We’ve chosen 10 sample questions from the 8th-grade section of the NAEP’s website — some harder than others. Grab a pencil and get going!

Can you pass an 8th grade civics test? – Salon.com

Yours truly aced it, 10 correct of 10. Answers are at the bottom (after question 10), so note your responses as you go.

More on White House photos

“The White House continues to debate whether to release photos showing Osama bin Laden’s body. In theory, the photos would be proof to any doubters that the terrorist is dead. But not all photos can be believed — not even when they seem to show the President of the United States making a historic speech.”

Details at Poynter

The illogic of the torture debate

But even if it were the case that valuable information were obtained during or after the use of torture, what would it prove? Nobody has ever argued that brutality will never produce truthful answers. It is sometimes the case that if you torture someone long and mercilessly enough, they will tell you something you want to know. Nobody has ever denied that. In terms of the tactical aspect of the torture debate, the point has always been — as a consensus of interrogations professionals has repeatedly said — that there are far more effective ways to extract the truth from someone than by torturing it out of them. The fact that one can point to an instance where torture produced the desired answer proves nothing about whether there were more effective ways of obtaining it.

Excerpt from Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com.

WTF story of the day

“A teenage girl who was dropped from her high school’s cheerleading squad after refusing to chant the name of a basketball player who had sexually assaulted her must pay compensation of $45,000 (£27,300) after losing a legal challenge against the decision.”

The Independent has the story

My favorite line in all the news reports

“On Sunday, White House officials canceled all West Wing tours so unsuspecting tourists and visiting celebrities wouldn’t accidentally run into all the high-level national security officials holed up in the Situation Room all afternoon monitoring the feeds they were getting from Mr. Panetta. A staffer went to Costco and came back with a mix of provisions — turkey pita wraps, cold shrimp, potato chips, soda.”

The New York Times

Best Borowitz lines of the day, so far

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – In a startling measurement of public opinion since the successful mission to kill Osama bin Laden, Americans in record numbers are signing a petition to replace Congress with SEAL Team Six, the elite unit that took out the al-Qaeda madman.

The petition echoes the results of a new poll by the University of Minnesota’s Opinion Research Institute, in which the Navy SEALS trounce Congress by a lopsided 97% to 2% margin, with the remaining 1% answering, “Superman.”

Click for the rest from the Borowitz Report

The Situation Room Meme

The photo of the White House Situation Room during the operation that killed Osama bin Laden stunned the world when it was released. The photo is powerful, and the response to it has been strong. An image this dramatic almost seems taken in a parallel world, one removed from our cubicles and trips to the dry cleaners.

Perhaps, then, it was only a matter of time before the photoshoppers went to work on the iconic image, using it as grist for the always-grinding humor mill of the Internet. Already, Keanu Reeves, the grumpy flower girl, a velociraptor, and the shocked cat have been edited into the photo. The Situation Room has been colonized. It is part of our world. Take a look for yourself:

The Situation Room Meme: The Shortest Route From Bin Laden to Lulz

On a more serious — and more interesting — note, the reaction to the photo from some photo editors.

‘Most obvious, been-there, we should know by now’ line of the day

“The snuffing of Osama Bin Laden has already filled the Snake River Canyon with a torrent of coverage from newspapers, the Web, and television. The news output will only expand in the coming days, and as it does, remain skeptical about it. As we know from the coverage of other major breaking-news events—the Mumbai massacre, the death of Pat Tillman, Hurricane Katrina, the rescue of Jessica Lynch, to cite just a few examples—the earliest coverage of a big story is rarely reliable.

Jack Shafer – Slate Magazine posted yesterday evening.