Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 1125

Justin Timberlake's Fifth 'Saturday Night Live' Was a Trip Down Memory Lane

So, Justin Timberlake became the first person in the modern era to join the Five-Timers Club last night, both in the records books and in the fictional sketch world of Saturday Night Live. They brought out all the stops for the occasion, including old friends like... The Three Amigos?!

Yes, Timberlake is first person to join the legitimate Five-Timers Club since Drew Barrymore (of all people) logged her fifth appearance back in 2007. Is it a coincidence it's been five years since someone joined the Five-Timers Club? Well, yes, but as we predicted they decided to do an official sequel to the classic 1990 sketch that immortalized the group forever: 

Just like in the first sketch, Paul Simon is the first legend we see. He, uh, doesn't really know who Timberlake is. Steve Martin is there smoking a pipe, because of course he is. Dan Akroyd is hanging out, but he's only hosted once. He's finding work as a bartender. (Fun facts: he has his own vodka! In real life! It comes in a glass skull.) Chevy Chase and Steve Martin trade some barbs that are almost certainly rooted in real life distaste for each other. (Chase was the butt of a joke in the first Five-Timers sketch.) Martin Short is the waiter this time instead of Jon Lovitz, and Timberlake realizes he's standing next to the Three Amigos! But Short's the only one down to do the salute... for now. Then two bums no one has ever heard of show up. Some guys named Alec Baldwin and Tom Hanks. They watch a street fight between Bobby Moynihan and Taran Killam fight for their enjoyment. "HOLY @(@#* CANDICE BERGEN SHOWED UP," we wrote, when Candice Bergen showed up. That was directly from my notes. Seriously, night made. This was already the year's best episode. 

But first, the cold open brought us to Hugo Chavez's funeral where who else but Elton John was singing a specially written tribute song to the departed leader. Timberlake as John ran through a customized "Candle in the Wind," a cultural touchstone most people under 25 probably wouldn't even understand. Fred Armisen drinking a glass of milk as a Venezuelan official? You laughed, don't lie. But apparently the video isn't online, probably because they'd have to pay for the "Candle in the Wind" backing track. Sorry 'bout it. 

The first sketch of the night saw Bobby Moynihan outgunned and outnumbered fighting for Vanessa Bayer's affections on a Bill Hader-hosted dating show. (Would we watch that show every week? Yes, yes we would.) His competition: Timberlake and Andy Samberg as the "Dick-in-a-Box" guys, and Akroyd and Martin as the "Wild and Crazy Guys." Yes, the Wild and Crazy Guys showed up. In 2013. It was awesome, though. Samberg and Timberlake are 2013's version of the classic Martin and Akroyd characters. Obviously, Bayer chooses the foursome instead of the boring plainness of Moynihan's normal person. 

And the retreading of old things continued into the next sketch. It was a theme all night! Timberlake's veganville tofu-salesman comes out competing with Moynihan's sausage salesman. (Moynihan got a huge vote of confidence in the first half of this episode. He was prominently featured in three of the first four sketches, more than any other current cast member.) Anyway, Timberlake runs through vegan-inspired parodies of Chic's "Le Freak," Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby," Rihanna's "We Found Love," Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself," and Trinidad Jame$' "All Gold Everything." Timberlake was about to convert Moynihan's sausage salesman to his cause when the sketch just abruptly becomes... a "Harlem Shake" video. C'mon, SNL, this is how you end this sketch? There was almost a STORY with a BEGINNING and a MIDDLE and an END, but instead you did this? You're not supposed to flaunt your weaknesses so boldly. Again, this is not available online because of copyright issues. This time perhaps it's for the best.

As a boy, we're terrified to say anything about the "Nuvabling" commercial parody besides the fact that it was nice to see the show remember its extremely strong female cast members exist. Well, not all of them. Vanessa Bayer, Aidy Bryant, Kate MacKinnon and Cecily Strong were here. Nasim Pedrad was the odd woman out. But they all got to bring it in a sketch that had me dying with laughter and now let's move on before something terrible goes wrong. This was funny. Very funny. This sketch will be on Strong and Bryant's Best Of on-demand specials in 2019.

Justin Timberlake had some help for his first performance. You might recognize him.

They quite literally pulled out all the stops for this episode, which again probably made it one of the best of the year. Besides Chase, Martin, Short, Akroyd, Samberg and Candice 'The Boss' Bergen showing up, they also brought out Stefon. We're going to line up for the "Selfie" door right now. We hear you have to Snapchat the doorman just to get in.

Speaking of jokes only old people are going to get, they did a Caligula sketch? Because that movie came out over thirty years ago. Except this Caligula is sober, so there's no booze and no freaky sex. Sorry, horse head dude. Timberlake's Caligula apologizes for all the horrible, disgusting things he's done to people in the throes of passion over the years. Like eating their testicles and peeing on them! But his subjects aren't really pleased with his new attitude. They'd rather bang each other and stuff. 

They brought back the "Maine Justice" sketch, which was kind of weird the first time because it took a few minutes to get what was happening. But now that we know the joke it was a lot better this time. It was also the first time Jason Sudeikis appeared on screen this week. We were wondering if his departure from the show was trying to be masked by all the guest stars this week. But his judge and Timberlake's bailiff preside over the southern courtroom this week, with Samberg returning as the defendant. This version of Maine Justice was ten times stranger than the first iteration of the sketch. Timberlake fed chowder to a gator judge. And then a southern parade strolled through the court. 

Normally we don't include the performer videos but Justin Timberlake is just so pretty. Also, he got the Three Amigos salute he wanted earlier. Worth it? Definitely worth it. 

Nasim Pedrad eventually showed up in this romantic comedy parody trailer. It would have helped if it was funny, though.

This was another sketch they'd done before that wasn't very great the first time but really killed the second time around. Sometimes familiarity helps a joke, but that still doesn't excuse why they brought Gilly back so often. 

Final thoughts on the night: the episode was very familiar. It was filled with familiar faces doing familiar things. Timberlake, the most celebrated host of the last decade, doing old Timberlake characters. Old SNL veterans doing old SNL characters. Hader doing Stefon. Even the second half sketches were retreads of old second half sketches from the last two seasons. But oh well, it was great, and we enjoyed it. It wasn't as terrible as it could have been -- most of the sketches made us laugh, and that's why we tune in. But we're going to welcome the next episode, not scheduled until April 9 with Melissa McCarthy hosting, when the real cast will get a few more opportunities to shine. That said...

So many special guests on this #snl I'm kind of expecting the Pope Emeritus to turn up.

— Michael Roston (@michaelroston) March 10, 2013

Who wouldn't want to go to that after party? 

[Correction: in the "It's a Date" sketch we initially incorrectly identified Vanessa Bayer as Kate MacKinnon. We regret the error.]

Obama Suits Up for Decent Gridiron Comedy Routine

Occasionally, the job of the President is to tell jokes. He was tasked with being funny at a dinner party last night at the 128th annual Gridiron Club and Foundation dinner. It helps that he's not all that bad at it.

For those wondering, the Gridiron Club and Foundation is an exclusive group primarily made up of Washington newspaper reporters. Like the White House Press Corespondents' annual party, the President usually comes and speaks (but not every year) and has a few laughs with the press to keep them occupied. The stuffy ones throw stones and accuse them of being too close, but fun-haters will be fun-haters. You can never please them. But the Gridiron is unlike the WHPC dinner because the invitations are so exclusive. Celebrities don't get to mingle at the Gridiron dinner. Only the hardest of hard-nosed journalists do. 

Which is to say the attendees are a whole lot uglier, and the jokes are a whole lot dorkier. This year, the President led with sequester jokes. "Before I begin, I know some of you have noticed that I'm dressed a little differently from the other gentlemen.  Because of sequester, they cut my tails," he said, referring to the cut of his suit. But those weren't the only things trimmed from his preparation for the evening: "My joke writers have been placed on furlough," he said. "I know a lot of you reported that no one will feel any immediate impact because of the sequester.  Well, you’re about to find out how wrong you are."

In fact, it's been two years since the President showed up at the Gridiron party. He addressed it early on. "As you know, I last attended the Gridiron dinner two years ago," he said. "Back then, I addressed a number of topics -- a dysfunctional Congress, a looming budget crisis, complaints that I don’t spend enough time with the press.  It’s funny, it seems like it was just yesterday."

Of course, entertaining a room full of print journalists means the President had to address the transparency concerns brought up this year. What better time to do it when he's speaking to everyone who's complained, and they're all (at least) two glasses of wine deep? "Now, since I don’t often speak to a room full of journalists. I thought I should address a few concerns tonight," the President said. "Some of you have said that I’m ignoring the Washington press corps -- that we're too controlling. You know what, you were right.  I was wrong and I want to apologize in a video you can watch exclusively at whitehouse.gov." Ziiiing. 

The President wasn't the only one who spoke last night. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal spoke before the President, and was quite funny himself. But the President may have got the last laugh. He started singling out members of the Press for certain jokes, and perhaps got his best line in when addressing anyone who might be recording the night's speeches. "I also want to recognize David Corn.  He’s here from Mother Jones magazine.  He brought his iPhone," Obama said. "So Bobby Jindal, if you thought your remarks were off the record, ask Mitt Romney about that." 

The President was also attending the dinner alone, though, something that didn't go unnoticed or unaddressed. "Now I'm sure that you’ve noticed that there's somebody very special in my life who is missing tonight, somebody who has always got my back, stands with me no matter what and gives me hope no matter how dark things seem," Obama said, addressing the elephant in the room.  "So tonight, I want to publicly thank my rock, my foundation -- thank you, Nate Silver." 

But the President's mind was as focused as ever on the repeated challenges and failures he faces every year around this time. Getting certain things done, and succeeding, has eluded him. He knows it, and he addressed it outright. "As I was saying, we face major challenges.  March in particular is going to be full of tough decisions," he said. "But I want to assure you, I have my top advisors working around the clock. After all, my March Madness bracket isn’t going to fill itself out." Hint: don't bet on U.N.C. or Duke this year. 

Things have been going well for the President lately, despite a few bumps in the road. He's spending more time with the Republican leaders, which should, in theory, make things run smoother in the future. "I’m also doing what I can to smooth things over with Republicans in Congress," the President explains. "In fact, these days John McCain and I are spending so much time together that he told me we were becoming friends.  I said, 'John, stop.  Chuck Hagel warned me how this ends up.'" Well, or not.

And the President seized on the opportunity to take some shots at his departing Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and his incoming Secretary of State, John Kerry. It seems they have a disturbingly similar taste in sartorial choices. "Let’s face it -- Hillary is a tough act to follow. But John Kerry is doing great so far. He is doing everything he can to ensure continuity," Obama said. "Frankly, though, I think it’s time for him to stop showing up at work in pantsuits. It's a disturbing image. It really is. I don't know where he buys them.  He is a tall guy."

But, jokes aside, the President closed the show with a touching tribute to the press. They're an institution he sees that are as vital as the political offices they cover: 

Now, I do want to end on a serious note.  I know that there are people who get frustrated with the way journalism is practiced these days.  And sometimes those people are me. But the truth is our country needs you and our democracy needs you.

In an age when all it takes to attract attention is a Twitter handle and some followers, it’s easier than ever to get it wrong.  But it’s more important than ever to get it right.  And I am grateful for all the journalists who do one of the toughest jobs there is with integrity and insight and dedication -- and a sense of purpose -- that goes beyond a business model or a news cycle.

[...]

These are extraordinary times.  The stakes are high and the tensions can sometimes be high as well.  But while we'll always have disagreements, I believe that we share the belief that a free press -- a press that questions us, that holds us accountable, that sometimes gets under our skin -- is absolutely an essential part of our democracy.

So I want to thank everybody for not just a wonderful evening -- and, Chuck, I want to thank you for your outstanding presidency -- but I also just want to thank you for the work that you do each and every day.  And in the words of one of my favorite Star Trek characters -- Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise -- “May the force be with you." 

The Whole Crew Is Back in the New 'Star Trek' Trailer

Based on the trailers for Star Trek: Into Darkness so far, you'd be forgiven for thinking the only actors in the sequel are Chris Pine, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, and Chris Pine once more for good measure. So it's nice to see the rest of the Enterprise crew in the latest clip. This one's been floating around the internet, popping up and coming down, as it's not an "official" release. Slashfilm says it's the latest trailer attached to Oz: the Great and Powerful. There's nothing new revealing the identity of Cumberbatch's ambiguous villain role, but we'll take what we can get. 

We finally get to see Zoe Saldana back as Uhura, Simon Pegg back as Scotty, and hey! Is that Zachary Quinto as Spock? It's nice to know he's going to get some lines in the new movie. Bruce Greenwood is even strolling around as Admiral Christopher Pike, which is a little strange considering we last saw him in a wheelchair. Oh, and there's Karl Urban as Bones and John Cho as Sulu! It's nice knowing the whole gang is back together. The first trailers were mostly things exploding and threatening voiceovers and Chris Pine being dreamy than anything else. And there are things exploding here, too! There's a new shot of Kirk and Spock flying a space ship through a tight space that immediately recalls the climactic scene in Independence Day more than anything. But this has exposition and some semblance of a story behind it. Something happens "in London" (cue explosion shot followed by villain standing ominously) that spurs our heroes into action. It takes them off into space ("punch it") and eventually underwater? Why Simon Pegg is constantly under water in these movies is confusing and should be explained. But we'll have to wait until May 17 to find out the answer to that question, and any other lingering ones we may have: 

Republicans Can't Stop Susan Rice from Getting Her National Security Consolation Prize

U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice may get the last laugh. Republicans won't be able to stop her from claiming her consolation prize, which, if a new report proves to be accurate, will be as the head of national security. Rice was supposed to be Secretary of State, but controversy surrounding comments she gave during several Sunday talk shows a few days after the September 11 attacks in Benghazi, Libya derailed those plans. Republicans screamed unendingly about how Rice was a liar, a trickster and about two steps short of being Darth Vader. To put it lightly, they dragged her through the mud. She dropped out, and Obama settled on John Kerry, but maybe not necessarily in that order. No one said a word after that. Rice even joked about the whole ordeal with John Stewart. But the White House apparently still wants to put her in a new position focusing on foreign policy. A rather big one, in fact. 

The Washington Post's Colum Lynch reports Rice is "far and away" the leading candidate to replace Timothy Donilon as the White House national Security advisor later this year. The move wouldn't occur until the U.S. takes their turn as president of the U.N. Security Council in July, though. Rice will be pleased to know there's no Senate confirmation hearing required for the national security position, so her usual critics John McCain and Lindsey Graham can crow as much as they want to no avail. 

Donilon's served in the position for a little over two years now, and it's unclear where he'll end up once Rice takes his job. His name has been floating around for a few different White House positions in the new look Obama cabinet, but so far a promotion has evaded him. He was expected to stay on for the first six-months to a year of the new term. A July transition would fit that timeline. Replacing Donilon with Rice will certainly help the President fight the criticism that his second term cabinet is filled with white guys. 

 

How the U.S. Concluded Killing Anwar al-Awlaki Was O.K.

The September 2011 drone strike that killed American citizens Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Kahn has been the focus of intense debate for the last three years. Now, thanks to a new report from The New York Times, we know how the U.S. concluded killing al-Awlaki was justifiable. 

This week, Rand Paul held up the Senate's confirming of John Brennan's CIA director nomination by demanding the President promise not to kill American citizens' on American soil with drone strikes. Al-Awlaki was brought up then, too. He and his 16-year-old son were both killed by drone strikes in Yemen. The New York Times' Mark Mazzetti, Charlie Savage and Scott Shane just released a thorough, extensively reported story documenting how the Obama administration tracked, found, justified and killed al-Awlaki as he hid in Yemen.

We had already seen parts of the administration's legal justification for killing al-Awlaki, an American citizen on Yemeni soil. We know that, American or not, "senior operational leaders" of al Qaeda or "an associated force" would be targeted by the administration's drones. But we now know how they came to justify letting it happen. 

David Barron and Martin Lederman were the lawyers tasked with justifying targeting al-Awlaki. They had to figure out whether the administration would be able to kill him with a drone strike if they were unable to capture him. Their initial memo boiled down to the fact that al-Awlaki was a bad guy, and bad guys are targets in the war on terror. It was simple enough, but they realized it wouldn't hold up to the kind of scrutiny they knew this decision could face. They started drafting a second memo that they felt would justify killing an American on foreign soil in the war on terror. They stumbled on a law blog discussing "a statute barring Americans from killing Americans overseas," that required them to narrow their focus. Eventually, they found the previously existing court decision they needed to give the Pentagon and C.I.A. the go ahead to target al-Awlaki:

As they researched the rarely invoked overseas-murder statute, Mr. Barron and Mr. Lederman discovered a 1997 district court decision involving a woman who was charged with killing her child in Japan. A judge ruled that the terse overseas-killing law must be interpreted as incorporating the exceptions of its domestic-murder counterpart, writing, “Congress did not intend to criminalize justifiable or excusable killings.”

And by arguing that it is not unlawful “murder” when the government kills an enemy leader in war or national self-defense, Mr. Barron and Mr. Lederman concluded that the foreign-killing statute would not impede a strike.

The administration had they needed. The secret drone base in Saudi Arabia was ready, and they eventually had intel on al-Awlaki's location. Drones were sent out, an American was killed, and the administration has been answering questions about it ever since. If you read anything this weekend, it really should be this story. 

The People Are Fighting for Grumpy Cat's Freedom

South by Southwest is a week long bacchanal gathering for bands, music writers, start-up bros, tech geeks, movie makers and critics. Essentially, the world's worst people gather in the same place to talk about stuff and get obliterated. Is that the right atmosphere for a cat, let alone a grumpy one?

Mashable, and to a lesser extent Friskies cat food, have drawn the ire of the internet for bringing the real, live Grumpy Cat down to Austin, Texas for this week's festival. Of course, Grumpy Cat's real name is "Tardar Sauce," but the internet knows the feline mostly for her signature facial expression. She's a Buzzfeed favorite. Grumpy Cat is a meme, see, and that's why Mashable is letting people pose for pictures with her. You, too, can look grumpy next to Grumpy Cat. By all accounts, she's is receiving excellent treatment while at the festival, but that's not stopping detractors from taking Mashable to task for hosing a pet in the middle of all the booze and madness. 

AllThingsD's Mike Isaac started the #FreeGrumpyCat movement. He does not think the booze-soaked festival lifestyle is any place for a pet, revered by the internet or not:

I’m not cool with it. If I were a grumpy cat, the absolute last place I’d want to be is stuck in the middle of a 24-hour party for days on end, where throngs of drunk partygoers waited for a chance to take a picture with me. God knows I have a hard enough time being around them as a human capable of rational thought. Who knows what it’s like for that poor cat.

Since Isaac's post went up this morning, tens of people have joined him. The calls on Twitter for Mashable to release the poor kitty from their horrible booth slavery. This is real, folks. The people want Grumpy Cat's freedom and they're not going anywhere until they get it:

#FreeGrumpyCat soup.ps/WSHHZN

— Anthony De Rosa (@AntDeRosa) March 9, 2013

I support this with all my heart. It's cruel. RT @lheron: People of #sxsw, please #freegrumpycat dthin.gs/Z8JlrV

— Jason Gay (@jasonWSJ) March 9, 2013

Ban SXSW RT @lheron: People of #sxsw, please #freegrumpycat dthin.gs/Z8JlrV

— Ben Jacobs (@benhjacobs) March 9, 2013

Booth babes aspire to the level of empathy currently reserved for Grumpy Cat. #freegrumpycat

— Dave Zatz (@davezatz) March 9, 2013

They're exploiting him :( RT@mashable: Watch Grumpy Cat Hate Adoring SXSW Fans [VIDEO] on.mash.to/ZoJRkg #SXSW #MashSXSW

— naty caamal herrera (@natyca) March 9, 2013

I love #GrumpyCat as much as the next person but is it not a bit mean making a living creature pose for photos with 600 individuals?

— Holly Brockwell (@hollybrocks) March 9, 2013

The #FreeGrumpyCat movement doesn't care that you think it's hilarious to get your picture taken next to a cat. You can do that with McKayla Maroney if you really want to stand next to a meme. At the end of the day, propping her up on a pedestal is disgusting exploitation that we shouldn't stand for. Mashable, you've got a revolution to answer to. 

Egyptian Soccer Fans Lit a Police Club on Fire

An Egyptian court ruling Saturday morning infuriated fans of two rival soccer clubs, leading to protests from supporters from both teams that saw a police social club and the Egyptian soccer federation building lit on fire. Saturday morning, a Port Said judge, operating in Cairo for security reasons, confirmed a January ruling sentencing 21 supporters of Port Said's Al-Masry soccer club to death. They were originally sentenced in January for their roles in the deadly soccer riots on February 1, 2012, that killed at least 74 people. Supporters of the al-Masry squad stormed the pitch after defeating their rivals, the Cairo-based al-Ahly, and began throwing fireworks and debris at al-Ahly fans. The ruling in January also sparked violence that killed 21 people.  

The judge also announced a number of acquittals of al-Masry fans, which set off the protests in Cairo Saturday morning. Al-Ahly supporters had warned any acquittals would draw their ire. They responded to the news by setting a social club for police officers on fire, as well as the main building for Egypt's soccer federation.  In Port Said, al-Masry supporters furious with the upholding of the death sentences attempted (but failed) to disrupt commercial ships from entering and doing business from the Suez Canal. 

Egypt's security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets to try and disperse the protestors, which led to at least two people dying during Saturday's clashes. A number of Egyptians don't trust the police force to begin with, stemming from the role they played in enforcing the harsh rule of Hosni Mubarak.

The photos coming out of Egypt are the craziest part. The photo above is smoke simultaneously rising from the soccer federation headquarters and the police club. In this one, you can see black smoke billowing out of the soccer headquarters: 

This is perhaps an even better shot of the burning soccer building: 

This shot of a man walking past the police club while it burns is just amazing:

One AP photographer caught two police men desperately trying to put out the blaze at the club:

They didn't succeed, though. This Reuters photo shows what the place looked like after the fire was, eventually, put out: 

[All photos are courtesy of the AP unless otherwise stated.]

Is 'SNL' Bringing Back the Five-Timers Club for Justin Timberlake?

OK, not to be horrible and speculative, but tonight is Justin Timberlake's fifth time hosting NBC's Saturday Night Live, and that's a big deal. Tom Hanks once described the fifth time as "the most special of all," and, lo, Hanks and other five-timers may be making an appearance tonight. 

Five times is a special number in the world of SNL hosts. It means you've made it in this crazy world of ours. You get mentioned in the same breath as SNL legends like Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Elliot Gould, Buck Henry, Candice Bergen, Bill Murray and Christopher Walken. And people are excited for Timberlake! They're waiting out in snow storms. He's getting breathless blog buzz leading into tonight's show.

Now, we don't have any inside information from the writer's room or anything. But when Martin tweets a picture of himself hanging out with Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, Paul Simon, Tom Hanks, Martin Short, and the godfather himself, Lorne Michaels, all hanging out in the SNL offices, well, we take it as a sign. Twenty-three years ago, back in 1990, a young Tom Hanks made it. On the occasion of his fifth time hosting the show, Hanks was inducted into the Five-Timers club, quite literally, during his monologue. There's a secret handshake and everything. Hanks showed the world an exclusive look of SNL's Five-Timers Club. Keep an eye out to see if you recognize some of the staff: 

So, in that sketch we have Martin, Hanks, Simon and Elliot Gould. The sketch even takes a shot at Chevy Chase! And it just so happens  those guys are lounging around the SNL playground the day before another young whipper-snapper gets inducted into their super cool club? Call us crazy, but we'd bet our life savings that Hanks will be teaching Timberlake the 'one, two, three, four, five, you're great!' handshake before the opening credits roll tonight. 

Chuck Hagel's First Afghanistan Trip Got Off to a Scary Start

Chuck Hagel's first visit to Afghanistan as Defense Secretary got off to a scary start as two separate suicide bomb attacks greeted him. One targeted Afghanistan's Defense Ministry, but, thankfully, Hagel was nowhere near the building at the time. The attack at the Ministry killed nine people and left the cars and walls near the heavily guarded facility's front gate damaged from the explosion. Hagel was less than a mile away, at a secure U.S. facility, at the time of the attack. Reporters in Afghanistan to cover Hagel were put on lockdown while gathered at a different building within walking distance of the blast when it happened. The second suicide bombing killed eight in Khost, a provincial capital in eastern Afghanistan, including an Afghan policeman and civilian children. 

The Taliban quickly claimed credit for the attacks. "This attack was a message to him," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in an email sent to reporters. "This was not a direct attack to target him (Hagel) but we want to send a message that we are always capable of hitting Kabul even when the top US defence official is there," Mujahid told AFP. 

Hagel was in a meeting when the explosions happened. He said he could hear the explosion at the time, but brushed off the news of the bombing when discussing it with reporters Saturday morning. "We're in a war zone. I've been in war, so shouldn't be surprised when a bomb goes off or there's an explosion," the Vietnam War veteran Hagel said. 

BuzzFeed's 'Happiest Facts of All Time' Were Mostly Plagiarized from Reddit

Here's a not-so-happy fact: "The 30 Happiest Facts of All Time," the biggest hit of the week on BuzzFeed, which has been caught before lifting its highly shareable feel-good listicles from Reddit, was mostly plagiarized from a month-old Reddit thread "Reddit, what is the happiest fact you know?" The BuzzFeed post by staff editor Dave Stopera adheres to the BuzzFeed formula: there are 38 short captions and images found on the web. Of those, 22 are lifted, nearly word-for-word, from Reddit users. For instance, "Otters hold hands when sleeping so they dont drift away from each other" on Reddit became Stopera's first entry, "Otters hold hands while sleeping so they don't float apart" on BuzzFeed. A reply in the Reddit thread — "I'm checking google for a picture now. EDIT: So cute http://i.imgur.com/1vJADfN.jpg" — even furnished the adorable art. We've listed the 21 other instances below.

As of this writing, Stopera's "facts" post has 840,000 views, 86,000 Facebook likes, and 2,620 tweets since it went up on Thursday afternoon. It's made Stopera, who according to his Facebook page has been on staff with BuzzFeed since 2011 and is a member of NYU's class of '13, the site's top traffic generator this week, with 4.8 million views, crushing his second-place older brother, BuzzFeed senior editor Matt Stopera, who has 2.7 million. Dave Stopera did not respond to an email requesting comment. BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith declined immediate comment.

The previous times that BuzzFeed has been accused of spinning Reddit threads into shareable gold, its CEO and founder Jonah Peretti has been apologetic about the practice. "We were very concerned we were pissing off people in that community," he told Mashable in January when they were caught lifting photos from Reddit.

It was last June that Slate's Farhad Manjoo articulated the "secret to BuzzFeed's monster online success", pointing out several instances in which BuzzFeed recreated its signature listicles from posts on Reddit or other websites. Focusing on a post called "21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity," he traced the idea for the post and its contents back to a variety of uncredited sources. When Adrian Chen at Gawker found several listicles by Matt Stopera in which material was lifted from multiple sources, Smith, a reporter who took BuzzFeed's top editorial spot at the end of 2011, said he was working to clean up the place. "They were moving toward more traditional standards of sourcing when I got here," Smith said, "but I certainly have made those traditional reportorial standards a lot clearer."

And while it seems silly to talk about "reportorial standards" when discussing a post like "The 30 Happiest Facts of All Times," BuzzFeed considers them literal works of art. "‘Thirty-three Animals Who Are Disappointed in You’ is a work of literature … I'm totally not joking,” Smith told The New York Times last month, boasting that that piece required 15 hours of research "and that in some ways is harder and more competitive than, say, political reporting." BuzzFeed has made a name for itself with that political reporting, and made occasionally underreported "scooplets" a calling card, but even Smith, in acknowledging that success, said "we were already the best at something: Creating emotionally driven, image-heavy content people want to share." Alas, Peretti defended the site's appropriation of already shared content to Slate's Manjoo and suggested that BuzzFeed, too, had been victims of online theft.

"We see people taking entire posts of ours and publishing them and sometimes linking back and sometimes not linking back,” Peretti says. “My general feeling is that you've got to keep your head down and do great work, and sites that do that are never going to be respected. Sites that just look for someone else's hits—sites that take much more than they add—are never going to be respected."

BuzzFeed is not alone in its strategy of repurposing Reddit discussions. And in perhaps a sign of how much it's perceived a part of the BuzzFeed playbook, others are beating it to the punch. Two other sites — Ink Tank, on the day of the Reddit discussion, and Collective Evolution, last week — — cobbled together similar "happiest facts" lists as though they had come up with them themselves.

We emailed Stopera earlier this afternoon seeking comment and while he has not replied, about an hour and a half after we emailed him, a brief link to the Reddit post appeared at the end of his post. We will update this post when and if we hear from him or any of the others at BuzzFeed we've contacted.

Update, 11:30 p.m.: BuzzFeed has updated the "30 Happiest Facts" piece to reflect the origin of the article's content.

Here, the facts (a term one should take with a grain of salt) as they appeared on Reddit and BuzzFeed.

Reddit (R): Otters hold hands when sleeping so they dont drift away from each other.
BuzzFeed (BF): Otters hold hands while sleeping so they don't float apart.

R: Blind people smile - bear in mind, they've never seen smiling and have no reference for it. Smiling is a natural human reaction for happiness.
BF: Blind people smile despite having never seen someone smile before. It is just a natural human reaction.

R: The chances of you (as opposed to someone else) being born is about 1 in 40 million. Life is a precious gift. Cherish it.
BF: Despite there being a 1 in 40 million chance of you having been born, your ancestors have successfully had children up until you.

R: Wayne Allwine (The voice of Mikey Mouse) and Russi Taylor (Voice of Minnie Mouse) were married in real life.
BF: And the voice of Mickey Mouse and the voice of Minnie Mouse got married in real life...

R: Spiders and scorpions don't fly!
BF: Spiders can't fly.

R: Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, promised his daughter he'd do something special for her that no other little girl would have: he'd write her initials on the Moon.

After he parked the Lunar Rover for the last time and headed back to the Lunar Module, he took his sample excavator and wrote "TDC" -- his daughters initials, next to the Rover. The initials are still there today, and will probably last about 50,000 years if nobody shows up and drives over them.
BF: The last man to walk on the moon, Gene Cernan, promised his daughter he'd write her initials on the moon. He did, and her initials, "TDC," will probably be on the moon for tens of thousands of years.

R: if you fake laugh long enough you will start to laugh really hard, its like enducing fake happiness
BF: If you fake laugh long enough, you'll actually start to laugh really hard.

R: A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance... Just thinking about that puts me in a better mood.
BF: A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance.

R: a group of ferrets is called a "business".
BF: And a group of ferrets is called a business of ferrets.

R: At the time of your birth, you were (most likely)the youngest person on the planet.
BF: When you were born, you were, for however brief an amount of time, the youngest person on the planet.

R: Puffins mate for life, make little homes in the cliffsides to have their young in. The best part is they make a side room for a toilet.
BF: Puffins mate for life.

R: BABY PUFFINS ARE CALLED PUFFLINGS
BF: And baby puffins are called "pufflings."

R: Cuddling and other "love actions" release Oxytocin which helps speed healing and recovery from physical wounds.
BF: A chemical called oxytocin is released when people cuddle, helping to heal physical wounds.

R: Cows have best friends. For some reason it makes me happy knowing that if a cow is having a bad day she can siddle up to her best buddy and feel better.
BF: Cows have best friends.

R: Rats giggle when you tickle them. Their voices are so high-pitched you need special equipment to hear them, but when you do, their laughs are immediately evident. Also, they love it.
BF: Rats laugh when tickled. (Linked YouTube video embedded underneath.)

R: On April 1st, 1957, a BBC news program ended with a three minute segment about a Spaghetti farm in Switzerland. In the segment, spaghetti (not being a popular dish in England at the time) was said to grow on trees. Many people believed the report and called the BBC to ask how to grow their own spaghetti tree. The response: "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
BF: In 1957, the BBC ran a story about how spaghetti was growing on trees in Switzerland. So many people believed the hoax that the BBC was flooded with calls from people asking how to plant their own spaghetti tree.

R: Something like 100's of trees a year grow as a result of squirrels forgetting where they buried their nuts.
BF: Squirrels forgetting where they put their acorns results in thousands of new trees each year.

R: A monkey was once tried and convicted for smoking a cigarette in South Bend, Indiana
BF: A monkey was once tried and convicted for smoking a cigarette in South Bend, Indiana.

R: Worms communicate by snuggling.
BF: Worms communicate with one another by snuggling.

R: The Beatles used the word "love" 613 times throughout their career.
BF: The Beatles used "love" 613 times in their songs.

R: Butterflies can taste with their feet!
BF: Butterflies use their feet to taste.

R: For someone, somewhere in the world, today is the most amazing day of their life.
BF: Somewhere, someone is having the best day of their life...

Not all of the facts are from Reddit. There's at least one other source for the facts Stopera used. BuzzFeed has mastered the art of reusing interesting pieces of information — GIFs or static images or themes — throughout multiple articles. One of Stopera's facts shows window washers at a children's hospital who dress like superheroes to entertain the kids. BuzzFeed used that image before — in "21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity."