суббота

POM Wonderful Wins A Round In Food Fight With Coca-Cola

A food fight at the U.S. Supreme Court ended in a unanimous decision on Thursday.

The justices ruled that POM Wonderful can go forward with a lawsuit alleging Coca-Cola Co. tricked consumers and stole business from POM with false and misleading juice labels.

The case centers on a product aimed at health-conscious consumers: pomegranate-blueberry juice.

One version is made by POM Wonderful, a grower of pomegranates; the other, produced by Coca-Cola's Minute Maid division, says in large print that it is pomegranate-blueberry juice, too. The Coca-Cola product is almost five times cheaper. Only if you read down to the small print on the label do you see why: While POM's juice is 85 percent pomegranate and 15 percent blueberry juice, the Coca-Cola product is just 0.5 percent pomegranate and blueberry juice — combined.

POM sued Coca-Cola, claiming that it was losing sales because Coca-Cola's label and advertising were misleading consumers into believing they were getting a juice combination consisting mainly of pomegranate and blueberry juices when, in fact, the juice was more than 99 percent apple and grape juices, which are far cheaper. POM asked for damages and a court order barring such labeling.

Two lower courts ruled against POM, agreeing with Coca-Cola that because its label complies with the requirements of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, it is immune to suits under another law, called the Lanham Act.

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Tech Week: Snooping On Steve, Uber Battles, 3-D Nutella Printing

So much tech news, so little time. Let's run down the highlights of our tech coverage this week.

ICYMI

Project Eavesdrop: In a series for Morning Edition, our Steve Henn got white hat hackers to tap his data and communications, in an experiment to see just how much of a digital trail — and pieces of heretofore private data — could be easily obtained. It turns out, it's a whole lot. Companies are doing more to better encrypt their systems, but there's a long way to go. Check out who's doing what to keep your data private. And in the final installment, Henn explains why you may not want to use open Wi-Fi networks.

The Big Conversation

Cellphone Tracking And The 4th Amendment: As Steve's experiment showed, our cellphones are constantly sending out data about us, whether we want them to or not. Cops can use it for investigative purposes, but a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday that the government shouldn't access location data stored by cellphone companies without a probable cause warrant. It's a win for privacy advocates, for now. Because other courts have ruled in the opposite direction, this issue may go to the Supreme Court to decide.

Uber vs. The World: Cab drivers across Western Europe brought capital cities to a standstill midweek, protesting Uber and similar ride-sharing services that they say are skirting safety, licensing and pricing laws — and threaten traditional cab businesses. Uber's been fighting similar battles in the U.S. Economists tell us the new frontier created by these services means regulations will have to catch up quickly.

Curiosities

Vox: How The TweetDeck Flaw Worked

TweetDeck, the platform that helps you monitor streams of Twitter feeds all at once, was exposed to a data flaw that sent out unintended tweets of code. Vox explains what happened.

The Wire: 3-D Printing ... With Nutella

Um, delicious.

NPR: Starbucks Makes Itself Even More Addictive With Wireless Phone Charging

It's happening in 7,500 stores over the next three years. You'll be able to charge your wireless-charging compatible phone on tables, without cords or outlets or adapters.

пятница

'Obvious Child': A Momentous Film Of Small, Embarrassing Truths

Obvious Child centers on Donna Stern, an aspiring standup comic in her late 20s who's out of her depth in the grown-up world. After getting smashed and having unprotected sex with a guy she barely knows, Donna discovers she's pregnant and decides to have an abortion. It shouldn't be a particularly earthshaking turn. But in a world of rom-coms like Knocked Up and Juno, in which the heroines make the heartwarming decision to go ahead with their pregnancies, this modest little indie movie feels momentous.

Director Gillian Robespierre has a good last name for a revolutionary. But it's not a revolution with placards and manifestos. It's a revolution of small, embarrassing truths. Obvious Child begins with Donna, played by Jenny Slate, standing before a mic in a Williamsburg, Brooklyn, club making fun of her Jewish features and her farts and implying it's a miracle she even has a boyfriend. That boyfriend, Ryan, is standing in the back, scowling. He doesn't seem to like her exhibitionism. In fact, he's fixing to dump her.

Of course, male comics have gotten away with self-humiliation for decades. But it's only recently that women like Sarah Silverman, Amy Schumer and, in a different context, Lena Dunham, have suggested that one mark of power is the right to parade one's weaknesses in front of the world. The fictional Donna Stern is figuring out in front of our eyes how much of herself she can expose onstage.

More On The 'Obvious Child' Movie

Movie Interviews

'Obvious Child' Tells An Abortion Story With Rom-Com Heart

Here's One Big Way Your Mobile Phone Could Be Open To Hackers

Despite the fact that every major Internet provider has added some kind encryption to its services over the past year, tracking your online traffic is easier than you think.

And you don't have to be the target of the hacker or the NSA for your traffic to be intercepted. There is a hole in mobile security that could make tens of millions of Americans vulnerable.

Unsecure Wi-Fi networks have been a well-known vulnerability in the tech industry for years. They can let even the most unsophisticated hacker capture your traffic and possibly steal your identity.

Opening The Door To Hackers

Earlier this spring, when I conducted an experiment tapping my own Internet traffic, Sean Gallagher, a reporter from the tech news site, Ars Technica, came to my house and we connected a little device called a Pwn Plug — invented by Dave Porcello, a computer security expert — to my network.

All Tech Considered

How Well Do Tech Companies Protect Your Data From Snooping?

четверг

The Sons Of The Father, Trapped In Grief

Jacob and Wes, the two child protagonists in Kat Candler's uneven Hellion, are models of the drastic transition between childhood and adolescence. Jacob (Josh Wiggins) is only a few years older than Wes (Deke Garner), but the difference in their temperaments — one is impertinent and prone to acts of reckless violence, the other impressionable and adorable — makes you want to hold tight onto Wes before his inevitable evolution takes place.

Hormones, of course, can only partly account for the changes in Jacob. His hellish behavior is as nurtured as it is natural, in this case catalyzed by the death of his and Wes's mother and the ensuing depression suffered by their father, Hollis (Aaron Paul), who reacted to the tragedy by departing on a weeks-long bender.

By the time we meet Hollis, he's back with his kids, still carrying a six-pack wherever he goes, but sporting a demeanor that's sullen rather than despairing; no longer spiraling into self-destruction, he has instead settled into a deep rut. In this sense, Hollis's pain has a more subdued tone than Jesse Pinkman's more agonizing moments in Breaking Bad, but Paul's performance nevertheless confirms that there are few actors who make suffering feel so unjust as he does.

Jacob's behavior is more explosive — early in Hellion, he and his friends smash and set fire to a pick-up truck parked outside a high-school football game — but it's no less inured. The beat-in truck is just a preamble for a construction site set aflame later in the film. On a lazier afternoon, it's a case of shaken-up pop cans that becomes the victim of Jacob's baseball bat.

Caught in the fray is Wes, too young to rebel quite like Jacob but eager to follow him around wherever he goes. Jacob attempts to play the overprotective guardian, but he can't help but get Wes involved in his exploits. A couple of run-ins with the police ultimately lead to the arrival of Child Protective Services, after which Wes is sent to live with his Aunt Pam (Juliette Lewis).

There's a sense in the first half of the film that the characters are all fighting against socially determined fates. When the motocross-obsessed Jacob signs up for a local race to secure the cash he thinks will help regain custody of Wes, the futility of the gesture is as important as the tender feeling behind it. Over the course of the film, Jacob and his friends repeatedly share stories about kids getting stabbed and beaten up in juvenile hall, which is pretty much the outcome to which most adults believe Jacob is already lost — the one from which Wes must be desperately protected.

At first such a destiny seems partly attributable to poverty. A comment by Jacob about getting invited to a "rich person's party" and a foreclosure sign on what was meant to be Hollis, Wes, and Jacob's dream home hints at a town divided by wealth. But the notion that Wes and Jacob are battling against inequality is a barely visible specter that ultimately is shooed away. The wider social world to which the three belong remains largely unexplored; we hardly get a sense of their community, of Hollis's workplace, of the schools that Wes and Jacob attend.

Instead, Candler insistently tightens her focus on the hardships of growing up in a broken family, an approach that eventually feels over-determined. Several of Jacob's equally rebellious friends, we discover, also have parents going through various stages of divorce or separation. By the time Hellion reaches its overheated climax, familial discord has ceased to be just one aspect of Wes and Jacob's story and become the defining problem of the film's worldview. Hollis' parenting and his struggle to keep his family together have turned into one battle in a widened social crisis. Hellion's boundaries begin and end with blood. But its characters live in a world that's much more complex. At first it seems like the film sets that complexity aside, but by the end, it seems more to be denying it.

In A Sunny Britain, Would We Read Classics Like 'David Coppertone'?

I'm not sure that cities like Miami and Rio de Janeiro truly appreciate the sun. They clearly enjoy the sun, what with their beach volleyball games and their fruity cocktails. But to really appreciatethe sun, I think you have to live in a place that gets dark by 4 p.m. in the winter. A place where a typical summer day involves drizzle. A place, in short, like London.

This morning, I woke up in my East London apartment to a strange vision: The bright summer sun, streaming in through my window. I thought about how much of the world's great literature is informed by British gloom, from the Hound of the Baskervilles stalking the moor to Macbeth plotting in his dark castle. And I wondered what the world's great poems, plays, and novels would look like if every day in London were so happy go-lucky. So I tweeted:

Here are a few of my favorite replies:

[View the story "#SunnyLondonLit" on Storify]

Bergdahl Reportedly To Be Flown To Texas

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is scheduled to return to the U.S. early Friday and will be flown to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, according to reports.

The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC quote U.S. officials as saying that Bergdahl, who was freed by Taliban captors in a controversial prisoner swap late last month, will return to the U.S.

According to NBC, Bergdahl "will not make any public appearances during Phase 3 of his reintegration process and there will be no media coverage of his return or during his stay at Brooke Army Medical Center."

Actress Ruby Dee Dies At 91

Ruby Dee, an actress and civil rights activist who built a career on stage and screen at a time when African-Americans had few such opportunities, has died at age 91.

Cleveland-born Dee, who was married for 56 years to fellow actor Ossie Davis until his death in 2005, also won an Emmy and was nominated for several others, The Associated Press reports.

Perhaps Dee's best-known role was as Ruth Younger in the 1961 film A Raisin in the Sun. She starred alongside Sidney Poitier. Dee was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the 2007 film American Gangster.

The New York Daily News writes:

"In 2005, Dee and Davis received the National Civil Rights Museum's Lifetime Achievement Freedom award. Davis died in February of that year.

"Dee's first film role came in 1949, in the musical drama That Man of Mine. She played Rachel Robinson in The Jackie Robinson Story in 1950, and costarred opposite Nat King Cole, Eartha Kitt and Cab Calloway in St. Louis Blues (1958)."

"Beyond her artistic work, Dee is best known for her work as an activist. She was long a member of such organizations as the Congress of Racial Equality, the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), and Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She and Davis were personal friends of both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, whose eulogy Davis gave in 1965, two years after Dee gave a stirring reading at King's March on Washington."

U.S. Drones Kill 13 Suspected Militants In Pakistan

The U.S. resumed its drone strikes inside Pakistan, killing at least 13 people in two separate attacks on militant areas late Wednesday and early Thursday.

At least 10 people were killed in the CIA drone strike on early Thursday when, according to The Associated Press, two drones "dropped three missiles on a militant compound and a vehicle in the town of Ghulam Khan." The news agency quoted two Pakistani intelligence officials.

Earlier, a U.S. drone fired two missiles Wednesday at a facility in North Waziristan, killing at least three people, the AP reported.

The drone strikes inside the country are the first by the U.S. in nearly six months, and they come just days after the Pakistani Taliban staged an audacious attack on Karachi airport, the country's largest. Those attacks have put pressure on the government to launch an offensive against the militants in North Waziristan, where the CIA strikes occurred.

Two unnamed Pakistani government officials told Reuters that Islamabad had given the Americans "express approval" for the strikes. But a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attacks, calling them a violation of Pakistani sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Here's more from Reuters:

"Pakistan military sources said six militants including four Uzbeks were killed in the first strike on Wednesday around five km (three miles) north of Miranshah, the capital of the North Waziristan tribal region where Taliban insurgents are holed up. The second attack killed four militants in the same area around 2 a.m. on Thursday."

Uber's Rapid Growth Pits Innovation Against Existing Laws

To see the speed of technological innovation, look no further than a street corner. Hailing a cab from the street is less common in cities with Uber, a service that lets you request a ride with the simple tap of a mobile phone app.

The five-year-old company — now valued at $17 billion — is growing so fast that it's operating in 128 cities globally, on every continent except Antarctica. But its disruptive entrance to the market means it's facing some growing pains worldwide.

"In 128 of our cities, we've got regulatory issues in about 128 of our cities," says Justin Kintz, Uber's policy director for the Americas.

Unfair Playing Field

Cab drivers staged traffic-snarling anti-Uber protests across Europe on Wednesday. They say Uber isn't competing on a level playing field, since the service doesn't adhere to the same driver training, safety and pricing rules that regulate existing cabs. Similar fights are happening in American cities, too.

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Fight Over Calif. Oyster Company Splits Chefs And Land Defenders

Drive just an hour and half north of San Francisco and you're in Drakes Estero, or estuary, named for the first English explorer to lay claim to California.

This near-pristine, wind-whipped marine wilderness is a federally protected home for large beds of eelgrass, the base of the marine food chain. The Estero hosts the largest colony of harbor seals on the West Coast, and tens of thousands of resident and migratory birds.

It's also home to the Drakes Bay Oyster Company.

The company plants and harvests about eight million oysters a year, and employs 30 people. Worth an estimated $1.5 million, it's one of the state's largest commercial shellfish operations.

But its future is now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court. Drakes Bay Oyster Co. sits on federal land, and its lease has expired. The oyster company is fighting to stay open, while some environmental groups are pushing back. And the debate is dividing the residents of western Marin County.

When Kevin Lunny, who owns the company, bought the operation back in 2004, it had only eight years left on a 40 year federal lease. And the National Park Service told him it wouldn't renew that lease.

Fast forward to November 2012, when then Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, ordered Lunny to wrap up operations within 90 days. But with the pro-bono help of libertarian legal groups, Lunny sued the federal government, arguing that Salazar abused his power.

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Across Europe, Anti-Uber Protests Clog City Streets

In capital cities across Europe, taxi drivers took to the streets without passengers Wednesday afternoon. They slowed to a snail's pace in what Parisians called "Operation Escargot." Horns blared around Trafalgar Square in London. In Berlin, taxis massed at the Central Station. All to protest the smartphone app Uber.

"We've opened Frankfurt last week, we've opened Lille in France, which is our third city this week. We opened Barcelona a couple weeks ago, and there's many more cities to go," Uber's Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty says.

Gore-Coty is Uber's general manager for Western and Northern Europe. He estimates that the company's European fleet is doubling in size every six months, with a presence in 20 European cities already.

"Finally seeing some sort of competition coming to the market is something that is new," he says. "And even on the protest today, what I'm seeing is taxis are trying to bring cities to a standstill, while Uber is focused on helping as many people as possible move around cities."

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Across Europe, Anti-Uber Protests Clog City Streets

In capital cities across Europe, taxi drivers took to the streets without passengers Wednesday afternoon. They slowed to a snail's pace in what Parisians called "Operation Escargot." Horns blared around Trafalgar Square in London. In Berlin, taxis massed at the Central Station. All to protest the smartphone app Uber.

"We've opened Frankfurt last week, we've opened Lille in France, which is our third city this week. We opened Barcelona a couple weeks ago, and there's many more cities to go," Uber's Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty says.

Gore-Coty is Uber's general manager for Western and Northern Europe. He estimates that the company's European fleet is doubling in size every six months, with a presence in 20 European cities already.

"Finally seeing some sort of competition coming to the market is something that is new," he says. "And even on the protest today, what I'm seeing is taxis are trying to bring cities to a standstill, while Uber is focused on helping as many people as possible move around cities.

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Hagel Faces Skeptical Lawmakers Over Bergdahl Trade

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel appears before a House panel today [Wednesday] to answer questions about the deal under which Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was traded for five high-level Taliban prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.

Hagel's appearance before the House Armed Services Committee mark the first time a senior Obama administration official is facing questions at a congressional hearing over the trade.

Both Republicans and Democrats, including some staunch supporters of the Obama administration, have criticized the deal. They say the cost of the exchange – freeing five Taliban members – was too high, and they have pointed out that the administration is required by law to give Congress 30 days' notice before prisoners are released from Guantanamo – something not done in this case.

Additionally, there have been questions about just how Bergdahl was captured in 2009. He's said that he lagged behind while on patrol. U.S. officials have said he walked off the base with three Afghans; there have been reports that he was captured during an attack on his post; and the Taliban have said they captured a "drunken American soldier." Many service members say they believe Bergdahl is a deserter.

Senior administration officials, including President Obama, have defended the deal, as have senior military officials. And Hagel previously has said Bergdahl's life was in danger, and the U.S. had to act quickly to get him out. But critics of the deal in Congress say that does not appear to be true. They are also skeptical about the administration's claims that the Army sergeant's failing health had necessitated a quick swap.

'Stunning': Reactions To Brat's Historic Upset Of Cantor In Virginia

"Dollars don't vote – you do." And with that statement to his supporters, college professor Dave Brat ousted seven-term House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in their primary battle Tuesday night. The loss by the No. 2 Republican in the House shocked many political analysts and the congressman himself.

"It's disappointing, sure," Cantor told supporters after the results came in. "But I believe in this country, I believe there's opportunity around the next corner for all of us."

Few saw the historic collapse coming, although the final tally shows Brat won handily, with 56 percent of the vote to Cantor's 44 percent. Here's a roundup of reactions and details:

Surprising Upset

"This is one of the most stunning upsets in modern American political history," Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia tells The Richmond Times-Dispatch. "This is the base rebelling against the GOP leadership in Washington as represented by Eric Cantor." He added, "I'm as stunned as anybody."

From The National Journal: " 'It should frighten everyone in leadership,' one conservative House Republican, who exchanged text messages on condition of anonymity, said shortly after Cantor's defeat was official. 'They haven't been conservative enough. We've told them that for 3 years. They wouldn't listen.' The GOP lawmaker added: 'Maybe they will listen now.' "

Steak And Coffee

"OpenSecrets' breakdown of Eric Cantor's campaign spending reveals that it spent $168,000 on steakhouses. His opponent only spent $200,000 in total." – Vox

"The prospect of a loss seemed to have gone uncontemplated in the Cantor camp. The majority leader spent Tuesday morning at a monthly meeting with large donors and lobbyists at a Capitol Hill Starbucks, helping raise money for three junior lawmakers. Cantor assured the group that he had spent heavily on his race — more than $1 million since April — to ensure victory by a large margin and to show no 'sign of weakness,' according to one attendee." — The Washington Post

Money And Polls

"According to the last campaign finance report, Cantor had raised nearly $5.5 million, of which he spent over $5 million. In contrast, Brat, who had spent $122,000, had raised a total of $206,663. Brat also missed out on the support of outside groups after flaking on meetings with influential Washington conservatives whose support he was hoping to enlist." — The Daily Beast

"Until the very end, though, Cantor appeared likely to hold on. According to Nate Silver, his internal polling showed him ahead by more than twenty points. A poll carried out on June 2nd by the Daily Caller did indicate that the race was narrowing somewhat, but even that poll showed Brat trailing Cantor by twelve points, forty per cent to fifty-two per cent." – The New Yorker

What's Next

"Two professors at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., find themselves in an unexpected position after Tuesday's primary elections: Facing each other in November for a seat in Congress." — NPR's L. Carol Ritchie, referring to Brat and Democrat Jack Trammell.

"Mr. Cantor can't run as a third-party candidate. Virginia law forbids candidates who lose primary elections from appearing on the general election ballot. It is not immediately clear if he will mount a write-in campaign , as did Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) after losing a 2010 GOP Senate primary." — The Wall Street Journal

Fallout In Congress

From House Speaker John Boehner, via Roll Call: "Eric Cantor and I have been through a lot together. He's a good friend and a great leader, and someone I've come to rely upon on a daily basis as we make the tough choices that come with governing. My thoughts are with him and Diana and their kids tonight."

"Soon after Cantor conceded, questions also began to arise about what the result means for Boehner's future as Speaker. The conventional wisdom is that Boehner has been strengthened by Cantor's defeat, as his strongest potential challenger for the Speaker's gavel has been removed." – FOX News

Tea Party And Immigration

"Many will say Cantor lost to the Tea Party, however they define or understand that boisterous-if-amorphous entity. But Cantor lost because he lost touch with his district. Yes, he risked an uprising on his right specifically by saying conciliatory things about an immigration bill and about finding ways to broaden the base of the party among working class voters – including minorities. But the reason opponents could redefine him in the eyes of his own folks back home was that he had too often taken those folks for granted." — NPR's Ron Elving

"About 72 percent of registered voters in Cantor's district polled on Tuesday said they either "strongly" or "somewhat" support immigration reform that would secure the borders, block employers from hiring those here illegally, and allow undocumented residents without criminal backgrounds to gain legal status – three key tenets of an overhaul, according to a poll by the left-leaning firm Public Policy Polling and commissioned by the liberal advocacy group Americans United for Change." — Politico

Eric Cantor's Collapse: What Happened?

That shape-shifting spirit we call the Tea Party assumed yet a new form Tuesday and took down its most prominent victim of this year, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. In some ways, Cantor is the most significant Republican incumbent ousted in a primary since the latest intra-party rebellion by conservative hardliners began five years ago.

No, Cantor is not an iconic senator like Richard Lugar of Indiana, or a popular statewide figure like Mike Castle of Delaware, both of whom had their careers cut short by insurgents from the right in recent primaries.

But Cantor was widely expected to succeed John Boehner as speaker, quite possibly at the end of this year. That's a big deal. Speakers not only run half of Congress, they stand next in line to be president after the vice president. Cantor's loss makes him the first majority leader to lose renomination since the office was created in 1899, according to the University of Minnesota's Smart Politics blog.

Voters in November have not always been kind to Senate party leaders, or senators in line for that job. Tom Daschle of South Dakota was defeated while the Democratic Senate leader in 2004, Tennessee's Jim Sasser went down when in line for that job in 1994. That was also the year Speaker Tom Foley of Washington state was beaten by an upstart Republican, becoming the first sitting Speaker defeated since the Civil War.

But in primaries, as a rule, the people in the top party jobs are unassailable. They are considered the standard bearers, the field generals, for their national organizations. But the current turmoil in the country's most conservative districts and states is different. It is not deterred by talk of lost power, prestige or pork. In fact, the rebellion springs from rejection of the value system that strives for power, prestige and pork. And the rebels are turning out in sufficient numbers to eclipse the more conventional GOP primary voters.

That is clearly what Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi did not understand in his GOP primary a week ago, and it is a major reason the six-term veteran and appropriations legend is expected to lose in his runoff on June 24.

So why did Cantor lose? And why didn't we see it coming? And who will be speaker after Boehner now?

Many will say Cantor lost to the Tea Party, however they define or understand that boisterous-if-amorphous entity. But Cantor lost because he lost touch with his district. Yes, he risked an uprising on his right specifically by saying conciliatory things about an immigration bill and about finding ways to broaden the base of the party among working class voters – including minorities. But the reason opponents could redefine him in the eyes of his own folks back home was that he had too often taken those folks for granted.

Cantor let his guard down by focusing on the intrigues of the Capitol and neglecting the demands of district service, constituent contact and visible fealty to local priorities. His weakness in that regard was underlined by his primary campaign's failure to turn out more supporters, or even to make sure absentee votes were recruited and secured.

When storm clouds gathered this year, and a plausible opponent emerged in David Brat, an economics professor and department head at Randolph-Macon College, Cantor could not decide what kind of campaign to run. Calm and perhaps complacent at first, he was rattled by the boos of protestors at the district convention this spring.

Clearly concerned, Cantor paid for ads and fliers attacking Brat as some kind of pointy-headed intellectual who had served on a large advisory panel for a Democratic governor. He also tried to mask his own occasional moderation on immigration with overheated claims to the contrary. The impression left by his zig-zag maneuvering was largely negative.

Through it all, the now familiar cocktail of outside money and conservative media, including talk radio and live bloggers, proved enough to stagger the favorite. Once again, in the relatively small turnout of a primary, a determined cadre could overpower the less committed. Cantor's seven terms and meteoric rise from freshman class whip to the pinnacle of Washington power were not sufficient to save him. They were, in the end, part of the weight that dragged him down.

How did we, the media and the obsessively political Twitterverse manage to miss all this?

One reason was the preponderance of polls showing Cantor ahead. Some soundings done by his own pollster suggested he really had nothing to worry about.

Yet not everyone was utterly clueless. Some warned of a tight contest from the start, and surely more noticed him scrambling frantically in the closing weeks. Still, the assumption was that Cantor would recover and slip by. The question was thought to be the size of his margin, which would be an asset or a debit in his bid for the speakership.

So who has the inside lane for the top House job now?

Paul Ryan, the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2012, had been counted out, in part because he was thought unwilling to challenge Cantor. Now the field is wide open. And given his lack of interest in a presidential run in 2016, wouldn't he rather be speaker than chairman of Ways and Means?

Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, now Number Three in the House hierarchy, was also said to be loath to take on Cantor, the Number Two. Given the sudden change in landscape, the popular and presentable McCarthy has to recalibrate, at least, and ask what lies ahead for him in his increasingly blue home state.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas is strong among the new conservatives. He also would bring the speakership back down South, to the state and the region that provide a disproportionate share of the GOP majority. Another favorite among conservatives is Jim Jordan of Ohio, former head of the Republican Study Committee, the ideological wellspring of the party.

And there will be calls for a woman to step up at this moment, with the spotlight likeliest to fall on Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state, who has the seat once held by Tom Foley.

There may also be boomlets for other would-be stars in the party. But a word of caution to them. Ambition is always in fashion in politics, but too great an ambition too swiftly fulfilled can also prove fatal.

вторник

Hillary Clinton Refines Her Benghazi Response

As Hillary Clinton contemplates a 2016 presidential run, it's clear she'll need to answer Benghazi questions in a way that neutralizes conservative attacks and avoids politicizing the issue.

In her interview with NPR Morning Edition co-host Renee Montagne, the former secretary of state unveiled a Benghazi answer that might be a road test of a message to parry GOP accusations in 2016.

Speaking of the four Americans killed in the 2012 attack, Clinton said:

"I regret their loss ... just as I'm sure Secretary of State [George] Shultz [during the Reagan administration] felt about the loss of 258 Americans in Beirut in 1983 when our Marine barracks and embassy were attacked. And I know how Madeleine Albright felt when our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were attacked and 12 Americans and hundreds of Africans were lost. These are terrible situations. And they happen to our civilian personnel, they happen to our military and intelligence personnel where bases and outposts are attacked ..."

A London Summit Tackles A Problem As Old As War Itself

For centuries, governments around the world have often treated sexual violence as an unpreventable fact of war. Books from the Bible to the Iliad talk about rape and pillaging as an inevitable part of conflict. Now that attitude is beginning to change.

As evidence, you can look at the global outrage when hundreds of Nigerian girls were recently kidnapped. Or you can look at a conference that began in London on Tuesday. It's the biggest global meeting ever to address the problem of sexual violence in conflict.

"It is a myth that rape is an inevitable part of conflict," said conference organizer and actress Angelina Jolie. "It is a weapon of war aimed at civilians."

Jolie and British Foreign Secretary William Hague brought together representatives from more than 100 countries for this conference, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Karen Naimer, who directs the Program on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones with Physicians for Human Rights, recently saw how the attitudes toward this issue have changed. She was in Congo, at a mobile court that brings justice to remote villages.

Related NPR Stories

Parallels

Like Food And Water, Women's Safety A Priority For Relief Aid

Clinton Sought 'Tougher Deal,' But Won't 'Second Guess' Bergdahl Swap

Below are excerpts from Hillary Rodham Clinton's interview Monday with NPR's Renee Montagne. Clinton's new book, "Hard Choices," will be published on Tuesday.

Portions of this interview will air on Morning Edition.

понедельник

'Digital Deadly Sins': The Morality Of Our Digital Obsessions

One running thread here at All Tech is smartphone distraction, and whether our increasing dependence on connecting through our devices is bringing us together — or tearing us apart. Whether it's smartphones and social media, or Internet dating, or outsourcing your life with various apps like Uber and Postmates, there's no question we are more digitally dependent than ever, and that means we're confronted with a set of moral questions and dilemmas.

A new interactive from The Guardian and the National Film Board of Canada is taking a closer look at these behaviors by clustering them into "7 Digital Deadly Sins" — sloth, envy, greed and the rest of the gang.

We've embedded the trailer for this project, which features some of its conceits. Questions like: Is it OK to download that movie for free? Are we a little too pleased with ourselves on Facebook? Since when did Twitter become so much more interesting than that flesh-and-blood, right-there-across-the-table-from-you boyfriend?

All Tech Considered

What To Do With Your Smartphone While You're Having Dinner

FBI Director Comey Looks Ahead To His Next Nine Years

FBI Director Jim Comey brushed back a dark curtain last Thursday morning and emerged to greet his audience, Tonight Show style.

"I feel like a talk show host," Comey told a group of new recruits, the first hired on his watch since he joined the FBI nine months ago.

The FBI director serves for a decade, longer than the president who appointed him, and longer than any other member of the national security establishment. That tenure's designed to insulate the FBI from political influence. But it also gives the bureau's leader the time to put his stamp on an organization that's meant to disrupt terror plots and root out corruption.

That effort is now underway, and it's significant enough to send Comey to the academy in Quantico, Va., where about 50 new agents and another 28 intelligence analysts-in-training fill half the auditorium. He wants to deliver a message about integrity, bravery and judgment.

"You're gonna get to see a lot of bad things in this work, a lot of pain you're gonna absorb," Comey said. "You're gonna help a lot of people and in the course of helping them you're going to be touched by some of the pain and suffering they've endured. I need you to look after yourselves."

FBI Director As Emergency Foster Parent

After his chat with trainees, a reporter asked the FBI director what he does off the clock to stay centered. One answer: he and his wife have been helping as emergency foster parents.

"Little boy who came to us born a month premature in a homeless shelter to a drug-addicted mother and born in very very difficult circumstances so we got him right out of the hospital," Comey said.

The baby's doing well. He's been placed with an adoptive mom but Comey and his wife, Patrice, still watch the boy a couple times a week.

"And we've stayed very close. We'll look after him his whole life," Comey said. "It is absolutely true that as a foster parent that you in a lot of ways get more out of it than you put into it."

Leaving His Mark on the FBI

These days, Comey's pouring most of himself into charting a course for the FBI. He's on track to hire 1,500 people by October to fill positions that stayed empty during the recent federal budget crunch. And he's starting to make an imprint on some of the most important jobs in the FBI, installing more than a dozen new leaders in cities around the country and 11 more key staffers at headquarters.

The new executive assistant director of the national security branch, Andrew McCabe, once led a team that questions high value terrorism suspects. The new assistant director of the counterterrorism division, John Giacalone, helped command and coordinate FBI agents and intelligence operatives in Iraq. And in Miami, the new special agent in charge is George Piro, the man who interrogated former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Many of the newly promoted leaders have backgrounds in the military and advanced degrees in law or history.

But Comey says the FBI still has a long way to go on diversity. In 2001, the bureau settled a huge discrimination case filed by African American agents. Another lawsuit filed by a female supervisor in Seattle, brought before Comey arrived, is still moving through the courts.

"I'm very fond of slightly geeky 6 [foot] 8 white guys from the Northeast — cause I am one. But if I have a table that's just filled with me's, I'm not being advised, directed, challenged, the way I need to be," Comey said.

Back in the auditorium in Quantico, Comey said the new agents and analysts would be learning more about FBI history in the coming weeks. Not just the decades-long reign of J. Edgar Hoover, but also some of the abuses carried out in his name.

That history is troubling enough that the new FBI director is adding a stop on the recruits' annual trip to DC's monuments. After visiting the Holocaust museum, they'll go to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, to reflect on how the FBI misused its power to harass the civil rights icon. Comey said he'll go along too, to make sure the trainees understand the lesson he's trying to impart.

There's room for improvement, too, Comey told his recruits, on the intelligence front.

The Two-Way

FBI Pick Is A Republican With Deep Roots In Law Enforcement

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