Day: August 20, 2013

On Aug. 18, David Miranda, the Brazilian partner of American journalist Glenn Greenwald, was stopped and held at Heathrow for nine hours, the legal maximum under the country’s antiterrorism law, before being released without charge. Though not a journalist, Miranda was on his way back to the home he shares with Greenwald, in Brazil, from Germany where he had been doing work for his partner. Greenwald is the Guardian journalist who broke the story of secret state surveillance programs in the U.S. based on information leaked by former NSA employee Edward Snowden. Miranda has stated that he had been in Berlin meeting with American filmmaker Laura Poitras, who has also been working with Greenwald on Snowden’s files.

According to Miranda, all of his electronic equipment had been confiscated by British police. “I stayed in a room, there were six different agents, entering and leaving, who spoke with me,” he…

If you are a Republican lawmaker or a GOP talking head, the following is a list of key words to use as much as possible. The more of these words you can cram into your talking points, the better. You don’t need to make sense or tell the truth, just move your lips and make sounds. No one will notice that your thoughts are nonsense.

• Greece
• Hitler
• Socialism
• Fascism
• Communism
• Train wreck
• Freedom
• Democracy
• Founding fathers
• Constitution
• Union thugs
• Welfare cheats
• Entitlements
• Job creators
• 47%
• Obamacare
• Islam
• Terrorists
• IRS
• Benghazi
• Fast and furious
• Solyndra
• Sequester

Related articles

• ABC Parrots Obama: Government Shutdown Would Cripple ‘Weak’ GOP for a ‘Generation’ (newsbusters.org)
• The Morning Plum: Republicans may need Nancy Pelosi to bail them out (washingtonpost.com)
• Dying California GOP: Pass Amnesty, It’s Our Only Hope! (pjmedia.com)

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill on Monday that bans licensed therapists from trying to turn gay individuals straight through a process known as “conversion therapy.”

Supporters of the bill said that such therapy is especially harmful for minors.  Others who oppose the bill are adamant that other non-licensed institutions like churches and social groups will continue practice conversion therapy without any oversight.

New Jersey is the second state to ban conversion therapy, after California.

Tired of silly, pointless Vines? Sadly, here’s one that documents a shocking road accident. As reported by Deadspin, on Friday night Twitter user Alex Stack posted a six-second video showing a pickup truck flying over a guardrail and into a creek near Lansing, Michigan. The truck had been towing a trailer carrying a large lawnmower at the time of the incident, according to the Lansing State Journal. Local police were able to rescue the 59-year-old driver, who was reportedly conscious and talking to rescuers, before emergency workers took him to the hospital. Watch Stack’s video here:

Confirmed fact number one: avocados are delicious. Confirmed fact number two: beer is delicious. Unconfirmed fact still up for debate: avocado-flavored beer could potentially be delicious.

Soon beer fans in L.A. will have a chance to find out. As the Los Angeles Times reports, Angel City Brewery will soon introduce its Avocado Ale, made not just with avocados, but also with cilantro and other ingredients one would generally find in guacamole. Bizarre? Yes. But remember, guacamole is the pinnacle of deliciousness. The beer will debut on Aug. 24 at the inaugural Avocado Festival, held at the brewery. For now, it looks poised to be a local brew, but if it catches on, perhaps it could be the next national craze.

(MORE: That Craft Beer You’re Drinking Isn’t Craft Beer. Do You Care?)

Though of course, this won’t be the first strange beer flavor that adventurous drinkers can find around the country…

Sandra Avila Beltran, known as the “Queen of the Pacific” for alleged drug dealings, was deported Tuesday from the United States to Mexico, where she will facemoney-laundering charges, the third set of criminal accusations against her.

Avila landed in Mexico City on a chartered plane from El Paso, Texas, along with other deportees, the Mexican attorney general’s office said.

She was being held in a hangar belonging to the attorney general’s office, where she will be served with an arrest warrant, the state-run Notimex news agency reported. She will undergo a medical exam before being transported to the state of Jalisco, where she faces charges of money laundering, according to Notimex.