Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 846

NASA Celebrates Christmas With Some Emergency Spacewalking

A photo supplied by NASA shows American astronaut Rick Mastracchio on his spacewalk, repairing the International Space Station. (AP)

While many families will gather by gift-laden trees this Christmas, two NASA astronauts will hang out with the unfathomable terrifying vastness of space this year, thanks to urgently needed repair work on the International Space Station.

Here’s why: A faulty valve caused a system used to cool down ISS electronics to stop working, and after NASA realized it couldn’t fix it from Houston, it set out to replace the whole pump, planning for three six-hour spacewalks that began today with the third scheduled for Christmas Day. That very same pump caused problems in 2010 that required three spacewalks.

But why is the issue so urgent that they have to do this on Christmas? Every year, the space station enters a position where it receives more sunlight than usual, which prompts the satellite to do barrel rolls so the sun doesn’t overheat it, and shuts down spacewalks and cargo shipments. This year, that period is from Dec. 30 to Jan. 9, which is soon.

If even thinking about something not working while up in space gives you the cold sweats, you can thank Alfonso Cuaron the spacewalk will feature a saucy extra layer of existential horror: one of the suits that will be worn on the spacewalk sprang a leak in July, nearly drowning the astronaut inside. NASA’s solution: “makeshift snorkels.” Call us old-fashioned, but space tools really should be associated with adjectives like “advanced” or “high-tech,” and never “makeshift.”

Oh, and here’s some bonus degrees of anxiety-causing horror: because the cooling system uses ammonia, it has been leaking ammonia flakes which could in turn find themselves falling on the astronauts while they’re replacing the pipe—and the flakes are toxic.

NASA has said all the right things about having the right equipment and the right talent on board to fix the problem. In the meantime, if all this isn't enough to make you hyperventilate, you can watch a live-stream of the spacewalk here. Meanwhile, former ISS commander Chris Hadfield is live-tweeting during the spacewalk, answering questions from followers about the intricacies of the process.

.@Nester540 It's +150 in the sun, and -120 in the shade - Centigrade! A wicked place to work.

— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) December 21, 2013

It will be Rick Mastracchio’s seventh space-walk, and he will take lead with first-timer Michael Hopkins. The spacewalk record is currently held by George Clooney Anatoly Solovyev, who went outside the station 16 times.

       

Four U.S. Troops Injured in South Sudan

SPLA soldiers stand in a vehicle in the capital, Juba.  (REUTERS)

The rising civil unrest in South Sudan has cost the U.S. its first casualties. Rebel fire badly damaged two American aircraft carrying troops, injuring four, one critically.

Initial reports by the Associated Press said the aircrafts were flying to Bor, the rebel-conquered capital of what is one of South Sudan’s most fraught states right now, when they were attacked by alleged rebel fire. The military later confirmed to Reuters early Saturday morning that the mission was intended to evacuate American citizens in the country.

U.S. Africa Command released this short statement about the attack:

"After receiving fire from the ground while approaching the site, the aircraft diverted to an airfield outside the country and aborted the mission.”

The injured are currently receiving medical attention in Kenya, according to the Associated Press.

This takes things from bad to worse in a country that experts say may be headed toward ethnic cleansing. The tensions in the world’s youngest country (it split from Sudan in 2011) escalated significantly with last weekend’s alleged coup attempt on President Salva Kiir by his former vice-president, Riek Machar. Kiir belongs to the majority Dinka; Machar belongs to the second-largest majority, the Nuer, which makes up the predominance of the rebel groups. In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Machar denies the coup attempt, saying Kiir is using him as “a scapegoat” to purge political rivals. Human Rights Watch reported that Dinka soldiers targeted Nuer civilians in the capital, Juba.

Negotiations are ongoing, though Machar appears set in his demands that Kiir leave power. 

International forces haven’t proven immune to attack, either. On Thursday, three United Nations peacekeepers from India were killed in a base housing civilians, prompting the UN to warn that the country may be on the brink of civil war. The BBC reports that more than 500 have died in the fighting. 

Americans, too, have ratcheted up their support for the country over the last week. The U.S. has already sent 45 service members and a special envoy to the country. On Thursday, President Barack Obama spoke out against the fighting. 

       

From a Judge's Ruling to Husband-and-Husband in Under 100 Minutes

Seth Anderson via Twitter

Just about an hour after U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby struck down Utah's same-sex marriage ban, at least one gay Utah couple successfully applied for a marriage license in the state. And, they livetweeted the whole thing. Seth Anderson and Michael Ferguson are officially husband-and-husband. 

Me and my new husband!! My polygamous Mormon great grandparents would be so proud! pic.twitter.com/82xyh9GJoS

— Seth Anderson (@jsethanderson) December 20, 2013

Utah could still appeal the decision, but it's not clear at this point whether they will or not.

Until then, the Salt Lake County clerk's office in Utah will issue gay marriage licenses, after gaining the approval of the district attorney (the state's attorney general's office will comment on the ruling later). So it's quite possible that we'll be hearing more stories like the one below.

[View the story "Utah Residents Rush to File Marriage Papers" on Storify]  

Update: At least one other couple in the state has successfully applied for a marriage license. Here they are:

This couple just got their Utah marriage license as well. pic.twitter.com/sJejiBYUOz

— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) December 20, 2013

       

The 10 Most Ridiculous Holiday Gifts Money Can Buy

Shutterstock/Elena Stepanova

It's almost Christmas, which means fashion magazines are pumping out holiday gift guides with wild abandon. They are important reads, because companies spent a lot of money sending expensive items to magazines for free, and magazine editors spent a lot of time choosing these items for you to buy (sometimes getting kickbacks!). We've helpfully sifted through the guides to point out the stuff you should absolutely not give to another person.

Struthers

One (1) truffle, $104. Vogue recommends. The Struthers fresh black water truffle is "the ultimate foodie indulgence. Buy one and shave over mac and cheese." Or feed your children for a week!

The Forgetful Gentleman by Nathan Tan, $14. Glamour recommends. You're supposed to give this to your boyfriend, if he's a "not-so-manly man." The book will show him how to be manlier, so he can "rock a suit like a boss" and "order a proper drink." It may be a great book (we haven't read it). But if you're tempted to give your significant other a manual to become a different person, save yourself the cash and just break up. 

Marie Claire

A child's "Black Swan" outfit from Bonpoint, $820 total. Marie Claire recommends. First, $820 for any outfit meant to be worn by a child is irresponsible. Children often wet their pants. Second, why should a kid be dressing up as the Black Swan? It's an evil character in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and a highly disturbed one in the recent Natalie Portman film. This is not a good idea. 

Jonathan Adler

A brass pencil sharpener that looks like Satan from Jonathan Adler, $95. GQ recommends. Aside from the fact that you should never shell out a hundo for an easily-obtained school supply, reasonable people may not want you bringing SATAN into the holidays. 

"100 Questions" toolkit from The School of Life, about $32. Vanity Fair recommends. Another passive aggressive gift, this toolkit aims to improve the giftee's conversational skills. It's a box of 100 cards with "great questions" on them. One of them is "What are the best features of middle age?" 

A flower arrangement from Emily Thompson Flowers, $550. Vogue recommends. Flowers die. 

ThinkGeek.com

A "cat DJ scratching deck," $29.99. Real Simple recommends. This contraption will let your cat "scratch until his heart’s content." But be honest, you wouldn't be buying it for the cat, you'd be buying it for the Cat Vines. 

vespausa.com

A Vespa 946, $10,000.Vogue recommends. If "you own a bike (or a bike share membership); you need a Vespa," the mag proclaims. We don't follow. Aren't bikes supposed to be hip? 

A bamboo keyboard from West Elm, $69. GQ recommends. While this may be the accessory "that'll bring an organic vibe to any desk," we don't think anyone will thank you for it. 

Wooden snowshoes from Kaufmann Mercantile, $275. Vanity Fair recommends. Do you need a gift for a fancy mountain man? Or Sarah Palin, perhaps? Otherwise there is no godly reason to buy designer snowshoes. 

Time to get shopping! Just for, you know, other things. 

       

Remember How Much We All Totally Loved 'Despicable Me 2' in July?

The Year That Was, 2013 is far too large of a topic to tackle all at once, even when only focusing on the pop culture aspects. Breaking things down month-by-month feels like the smarter call. We'll be working our way through the year one month at a time, remembering the songs, films, TV, and other fun/horrifying stuff that we may well have already forgotten.

July 2013 The #1 Song

The world was full of lines in July, every one of them blurred. Robin Thicke, T.I., and Pharrell Williams kicked off the month at #1 and kept right on going with "Blurred Lines," a song that managed to be so good that even a wave of op-eds couldn't kill it. It helped that there was a constant stream of other pop-culture institutions that kept giving you other things to think about besides the lyrics. The Roots and Jimmy Fallon played the song with children's instruments. Thicke showed up on The Colbert Report to perform the song after the Daft Punk fiasco, at which point "Blurred Lines" cemented its Song of the Summer status. Perhaps most importantly, Vulture paired "Blurred Lines" with Fat Albert and forever changed the way anyone would hear those "hey hey hey" interstitials ever again. [Yes, all three of these things happened in the first week of August. But in August, a certain tongue-sticker-outer would place her post-teen-rebellion stamp on "Blurred Lines," as you will no doubt read about in our next installment...]

The #1 Movie

Here's something to chew on: the #1 movie in all of July—a month that was once revered for its culture-dominating blockbusters like Independence Day—was Despicable Me 2. A movie none of you reading this have actually seen, even if you brought your own children to see it.  Here's something else: did you know that Despicable Me 2 is currently the second-biggest box-office success of the whole year? (Soon to be overtaken by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, but still.) Once again: a movie that, for all you know from personal experience, does not exist made the most money of any movie this year besides Iron Man 3 (which also doesn't feel like it was a big enough cultural deal to have been #1, but that's another discussion).

In a distant second place this month was The Conjuring, which was the closest thing we had to a horror-film sensation, proving that we tend to like it when Patrick Wilson takes part in a paranormal investigation of a haunted house. Also, clapping. We were very into clapping this year.

The Month in TV

The biggest ripples in the TV universe came, of course, when Hollywood Game Night premiered on NBC. No, that's obviously not true, though I will stick up for a show that so effectively reveals which celebrities would be worthy of joining you and your friends at your own game-night parties and which you would avoid like the plague. 

No, the obvious big winner on TV in July was Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, which released its entire first season on July 11th and immediately (and somewhat unexpectedly) showed up its starrier, buzzier sister show, House of Cards. A second season was fairly quickly ordered, and an absolute cavalcade of underutilized actresses—Kate Mulgrew, Natasha Lyonne, Taryn Manning (yes, really)—reminded viewers what they have to offer.

Returning to somewhat lesser fanfare (to put it mildly) was HBO's The Newsroom, which actually came back as a more focused, less obnoxious show, at least relative to its earlier incarnation. A season-long story arc involving a falsified news report and copious scenes of Marcia Gay Harden delivering law-snark gave the season some good backbone (even if the ultimate reveal turned out to merely bury special guest star Hamish Linklater).

CBS managed to score headlines for its summer reality workhorse Big Brother, though not for anything close to what the network would have wanted. It seems that the casual racism that is occasionally dropped on the internet live feeds of the show became too much to ignore this year, to the point where the show had to bite the bullet, slap on a disclaimer, and air scenes of some of its cast members letting fly with some rather disgusting  epithets and "jokes." 

Finally, in news of import to a hardy (but enthusiastic) few, the Real World/Road Rules Challenge returned to TV with a Thailand-set season. If you're into that sort of thing. Which maybe some of us are.

Also...

The Emmy nominations were announced on July 18th. We all had a good laugh when The Newsroom's Jeff Daniels and Boardwalk Empire's Bobby Cannavale were nominated in Best Actor and Supporting Actor, respectively. Little did we know...

In a month of departures, Jason Sudekis announced he'd be leaving Saturday Night Live, some two months past the point where he might have gotten a farewell episode. Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones declared their intentions to exit Parks and Recreation, or at least were allowed to say so. And Nate Silver announced he'd be leaving the New York Times for ESPN. 

And finally, the following gifs made their respective cases for Gif of the Year:

 

       

The Jimmy Fallon/Justin Timberlake 'Saturday Night Live' Drinking Game

NBC

This weekend's Saturday Night Live is the show's apotheosis: both Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake will be on hand for the Christmas show. This means it's time to drink. 

Fallon is serving as host and Timberlake as musical guest, and just the promise of the combination of the former cast member and the five-time host surely has some weak in the knees (or queasy in the stomach—there are some complicated feelings about these two out there). The show, which has had a pretty rough season so far, will obviously revel in their presence,  so we feel we can accurately predict some of the things that are going to happen—at least well enough to make up a fine drinking game. The show's on at 11:30 p.m. on the Saturday before the week of Christmas. You have no reason not to get a little shit-faced. 

Take one sip of egg nog (or appropriately themed alcoholic holiday beverage) if... Jimmy sings. Justin appears in any capacity outside of his capacity as musical guest. Jimmy and Justin harmonize.  Someone references that Justin is a member of the Five-Timers Club. Someone references the fact that more people want to see Justin than Jimmy.  Jimmy breaks and ruins a sketch by laughing. Someone says the word "bromance." Jimmy and Justin reminisce about what sketches they have been in together. (Take a slightly longer sip if they mention playing Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson.)  Lorne Michaels makes a cameo.  Take a gulp if... The monologue is a holiday musical number. Justin makes a self deprecating joke about Runner Runner and/or The 20/20 Experience Part II. Jimmy and Justin do a The Barry Gibb Talk Show, despite the fact that it might be in poor taste since Robin Gibb died last year. Justin does a variation on one of the "-ville" sketches. (Homelessville was a Christmas sketch, after all.)  Justin shows up in his Five-Timers Club smoking jacket. The show revives the "What Up With That?" sketch for the first time this season, with Justin subbing for Bill Hader as Lindsey Buckingham and Jimmy for Jason Sudekis as the Running Man Guy. Jimmy joins Seth Meyers at the Weekend Update desk to do a "Really?!" segment, or just an advertisement for NBC's new late night lineup. A former cast  member comes back. Drink twice if one of those cast members is Andy Samberg.   Alec Baldwin or Steve Martin shows up. Finish the glass if... There's some variation on Dick in a Box. (Drink twice if it's with Samberg.)  By the end of the night you're pretty sure Justin hosted and Jimmy was just there.  Jimmy and/or Justin do some version of Schweddy Balls alongside Baldwin. 

 

 

 

       

Federal Judge Strikes Down Utah's Same-Sex Marriage Ban

AP

A federal judge declared Utah's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional on Friday, citing the constitution's equal protection and due process provisions. The decision comes one day after New Mexico's Supreme Court made the state the 17th in the nation to legalize gay marriage. This could mean that gay couples in the state will be able to apply for marriage licenses immediately (update: yep, it does). The decision was a result of a suit from three LGBT couples in the state, challenging the ban. If the decision stands, Utah will become the 18th state to legalize same-sex marriage. The Utah attorney general's office said it would issue a statement on the ruling later. 

The Salt Lake Tribune quotes U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby's decision: 

"The state’s current laws deny its gay and lesbian citizens their fundamental right to marry and, in so doing, demean the dignity of these same-sex couples for no rational reason. Accordingly, the court finds that these laws are unconstitutional."

Shelby was appointed by President Obama in 2011. He was confirmed last year. You can read the full decision below.

Interestingly, Shelby's ruling cites the Supreme Court's decision on California's Proposition 8. Mormon conservatives were one of the driving forces behind the California ban's passage in the first place. Instead of making a decision on the law itself, however, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that private individuals didn't have standing to defend the law in the courts. That decision effectively lifted California's voter-approved ban on gay marriage, but left unanswered the question of whether same-sex marriage bans in general violate due process and equal protection. Shelby writes: 

A number of lawsuits, including the suit currently pending before this court, have been filed across the country to address the question that the Supreme Court left unanswered in the California case. The court turns to that question now. 

In line with other recent decisions in favor of same-sex marriage rights, the judge's decision also cites the Supreme Court's decision to strike down parts of the Defense of Marriage Act earlier this year, opening up federal benefits to all legally-married couples. 

It's not clear whether Utah will appeal the decision or not. The state argued that its ban is necessary to preserve its interest in "responsible procreation" and the "optimal mode of child-rearing," as the AP explains. Shelby's decision compares the state's arguments in support of a same-sex marriage ban to those used by Virginia in the '60s to defend a ban on interracial marriage, finding that the arguments are "almost identical." He writes: 

The State of Utah has provided no evidence that opposite-sex marriage will be affected in any way by same-sex marriage. In the absence of such evidence, the State’s unsupported fears and speculations are insufficient to justify the State’s refusal to dignify the family relationships of its gay and lesbian citizens

Oh, and there's also this part: 

Federal judge trolls Scalia in same-sex marriage case pic.twitter.com/fDHC6a0jBk

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 20, 2013

This post is on a developing story, and we'll update as more information is available. 

Utah Ruling — Same Sex Marriage

       

No Cell Phone Signal? Text Your Friends Through Vodka

A bartender serves alcohol at a bar in Prague, September 12, 2012. (REUTERS/DAVID W CERNY )

Scientists in Canada successfully sent a text message through the medium of evaporated vodka, unveiling to the world a technological innovation we didn't even know we needed. Instead of invisible electronic and radio signal, it's apparently possible to send data through the air using chemicals, much like the way some animals use scents to "talk" to each other.

The research of Toronto-based Nariman Farsad, Andrew W. Eckford and UK-based Weisi Guo was published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, under the title "Tabletop Molecular Communication: Text Messages Through Chemical Systems," opening the door to a new era of "molecular communication."

According to the patriotic researchers, who transmitted the words "O Canada" in the inaugural text, molecular messages could provide a better alternative to traditional wireless communication technology. York University's Professor Eckford explains: 

Chemical signals can offer a more efficient way of transmitting data inside tunnels, pipelines or deep underground structures. For example, the recent massive clog in London sewer system could have been detected earlier on, and without all the mess workers had to deal with, sending robots equipped with a molecular communication system. 

York Doctoral Candidate Farsad, who led the experiment, says "we believe we have sent the world's first text message to be transmitted entirely with molecular communication." Farsad continues with details on how the experiment was done, saying his team sent the message by "controlling concentration levels of the alcohol molecules, to encode the alphabets with single spray representing bit 1 and no spray representing the bit 0." The team used a tabletop fan to physically send the message roughly 13 feet. 

The authors see a number of possibilities (most of them robotic) for chemical messaging, as they write in the paper's introduction: 

At microscopic scales, chemical signalling has been proposed as an effective solution for communication between engineered micro- or nano-scaled devices such as lab-on-a-chip devices and body area sensor networks. At macroscopic scales, use of very primitive molecular communication has been proposed in robotics for distress signalling by defective robots, estimating the size of a swarm of robots (quorum sensing), and as chemical trails for robot guidance. 

The researchers published figures demonstrating the process and photographs of their crude materials in PLOS ONE, although we're still not exactly sure where you put the booze.

According to the researchers, this type of molecular transmission is similar to chemical messaging between animals — bees use chemicals in pheromones to communicate danger, and dogs use pheromones in urine to mark their territory. 

All images courtesy of PLOS ONE.

       

Phil Robertson Is No Rosa Parks, Despite What This Congressional Candidate Might Say

Associated Press

Republican Congressional candidate Ian Bayne of Illinois figured out a nice way to draw a little attention to himself. In an email to supporters today, he compared Duck Dynasty's anti-gay Phil Robertson to Rosa Parks. Apparently the title of "Worst Analogy of 2013" has a new contender.

Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty is "Rosa Parks" of our generation http://t.co/ausKWBwg7i

— Ian Bayne (@ianbayneisright) December 20, 2013

Bayne, who uses the clever/ironic Twitter handle @IanBayneIsRight, tweeted a link to a blog post that shared the email's content, and which included his intentionally provocative headline.

"In December 1955," the post reads, "Rosa Parks took a stand against an unjust societal persecution of black people, and in December 2013, Robertson took a stand against persecution of Christians." This is the common argument in defense of Robertson's comments, the idea that he was simply expressing his religious faith when he told GQ magazine that "a vagina … would be more desirable than a man's anus" and in which he compared homosexuality to bestiality. It's the argument made by Robertson himself, by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and it's now prompted an unknown candidate in Illinois to draw an extremely poor comparison.

Bayne is running in Illinois' 11th District, one of at least three Republicans hoping to challenge Democrat Rep. Bill Foster, in a race that Cook Political sees as strongly favoring the incumbent. Bayne wants attention; Bayne, like other Republicans, wants to send a message to conservatives that he's their candidate. So he compares Robertson's obviously grasping defense for his offensive comments to the determined civil disobedience of a leader of the civil rights movement. As Talking Points Memo notes, it's made even more awkward by Robertson's lesser known comments in which he claimed that "pre-entitlement, pre-welfare" black people "were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues."

Bayne's campaign website points to another site, TakeBackAmerica.com, which features the video at left. The message is precisely the opposite of the one Rosa Parks advocated. "We will not back down and have someone tell us what to do or how to live," he argues. "We must reclaim our freedoms." Rosa Parks wanted to tell white Southerners what to do; namely, eliminate segregation. Robertson wants to tell gays what to do: Ignore their nature or go to Hell. (Literally.) That's not an attempt to claim a freedom. It's an attempt to curtail one.

"Ian Bayne’s resume resembles that of a founding father more than a contemporary American professional," his campaign biography claims. In part, apparently, because his understanding of race issues is a bit archaic.

       

Obama Closes Out His Lousy 2013 with a Press Conference

Associated Press

Late on a Friday afternoon, five days before Christmas, President Obama held a press conference wrapping up what has turned out to be — for him — a pretty terrible year. 

Here's a breakdown of what Obama discussed. 

Obamacare

The administration's reversal on the individual mandate in certain cases promises to introduce a slew of new political headaches. With the deadline for January 1 coverage approaching (it's Monday), Obama highlighted the success of the revamped Healthcare.gov at signing up users, repeating a line that "a couple million" Americans would have access to health insurance in the next few months. The president also pegged the Healthcare.gov roll out as his biggest mistake of the year. 

Economy

Economic data out Friday shows that the economy grew much more in the third quarter than expected. It's a rare piece of good news for Obama."In 2013, our businesses created another 2 million jobs, adding up to more than 8 million in all over the past 45 months," the president said at the top of the press conference

NSA Surveillance 

In the wake of his review panel's extensive recommendations for reforming the NSA's surveillance tools, the president was asked about which recommendations he would support, among other things. His answers addressed: 

Edward Snowden: when asked about a possible asylum or plea agreement for the NSA whistleblower, the president said "I will leave it up to the courts and the attorney general to weigh in on the specifics of  Mr. Snowden's case."  Recommendations: Obama will make a "definitive" statement in January on the review board's recommendations, but he specifically pegged one of them as a possibility: a proposal that private phone companies retain metadata for longer, rather than continuing the NSA's bulk storage of that same data.  Oversight: "I have confidence the NSA is not engaging in domestic surveillance or snooping around," the President said about the NSA's broad data collection programs. Although that's not quite what an audit of the agency's programs show. 

There was a contentious moment when Fox News' Ed Henry challenged Obama on his past statements — and the misleading statement offered by his director of national intelligence at a congressional hearing.

Henry: "You're not addressing the fact the public statement you made, your Director of National Intelligence, got a question from a Democrat — not a Republican — about whether some of this was going on. He denied it. Doesn't that undermine the public trust?"

Obama: "You're conflating first of all me and Mr. Clapper —"

Henry: "He's the director of national security, and he's still on the job!"

Overall, Obama's NSA answers walked a familiar line of justifications for the NSA and the White House. Here's a sampling, which references a district court ruling from earlier this week against the constitutionality of the NSA's phone collection program: 

What I have said in the past continues to be the case, which is that the NSA, in executing this program believed — based on experience from 9/11 — that it was important for us to be able to track if there was a phone number of a known terrorist outside of the United States calling into the United States, where that call might have gone. And that having that data in one place and retained for a certain period of time allowed them to be confident in pursuing various investigations of terrorist threats.

"In all the reviews of this program that have been done," he added, "there have not been actual instances where it's been alleged that the NSA in some ways acted inappropriately." Regardless, "people are concerned about the prospect, the possibility of abuse" — which was the concern of Judge Richard Leon in the ruling released on Monday.

​His poll numbers.

In poll after poll after poll, Obama's popularity is slipping. Reporters like polls, so this ended up being the very first subject of the day. "We have had ups and we have had downs," the president said addressing his all-time low poll numbers. "I think this room has probably reported at least 15 near-death experiences," he said.  

UPDATES: 

3:20 p.m.: And, we're done, about an hour after it began. 

3:17 p.m.: We're at the last question, which is about staff changes at the White House. "I think the fact that John Podesta will be coming in is terrific," he said. He anticipates more staff announcements after the New Year. 

3:10 p.m.: The New York Times's Jackie Calmes wants to know about Politifact choosing his promise that Americans could keep their healthcare plans as its "lie of the year." She also wants to know about Iran. Obama basically skipped the first question and moved on to the second. He noted that diplomatic negotiations with Iran at this point are intended to prevent Iran from producing a nuclear weapon. "I'd rather do it diplomatically," the president said. As for additional sanctions some members of Congress would like to impose on Iran, Obama argued that "there's no reason to do it right now," given the current international negotiations over the country's nuclear program. "We lose nothing during this negotiation period," he said. "We'll know if they're violating the terms of the agreement."

3:07 p.m.: Phil Mattingly of Blooomberg wants to know whether the White House is sending a message with its delegation to the Sochi Olympics in Russia in February. "I think the delegation speaks for itself," the president said, praising the delegates chosen to represent the U.S.

But the real question here is about the selection of 3 LGBT athletes for the delegation in the wake of Russia's new anti-gay laws. "The fact that we've got folks like Billie Jean King or Brian Boitano," he said, referring to two of the three LGBT delegates attending the Sochi Olympics, "...you should take that for what it's worth, that when it comes to ... Olympic performance," the U.S. doesn't make distinctions based on sexual orientation. "That's a value that's at the heart of not just America but of American sports." 

2:59 p.m.: Chuck Todd wants to know about the incremental changes to the Affordable Care Act, including a series of extensions and adjustments to the enrollment process in recent months. Asked whether the delays are essentially a delay of the mandate itself, the president says "No, that's not true." He repeats an earlier statement that "a couple million" people will have health insurance in the next few months. "The basic structure of that law is working, despite all the problems," he added. He added that over 500,000 bought health insurance plans through Healthcare.gov in December. 

2:55 p.m.: Major Garrett asks the president about the circumstances under which he would consider offering NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden asylum or a plea agreement. "I have to be careful here," the President says, noting that he's not really going to talk specifics on that question because Snowden has been "charged with crimes." "I will leave it up to the courts and the attorney general to weigh in on the specifics of  Mr. Snowden's case," the president added. 

2:54 p.m.: Keilar's follow up? What is the president's New Year's resolution. It is: "To be nicer to the White House press corps." 

2:51 p.m.: Brianna Keilar of CNN asks the president about raising the debt ceiling. In case you were wondering, the president isn't interested in negotiating with Congress on the debt ceiling when it surfaces again as an issue in 2014. 

2:48 p.m.: John Karl of ABC asks the President about his biggest personal mistake, which brings us on to healthcare. Obama's just little bit more frank here than he was on the NSA, saying that "we screwed it up," in reference to the Healthcare.gov website. 

2:45 p.m.: Obama's responses here are more or less repetitions of how the NSA has justified its surveillance programs all along. In response to a question about statements by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Obama said that Henry was "conflating" him with Clapper. Here's the testy exchange: 

Henry: "You're not addressing the fact the public statement you made, your Director of National Intelligence, got a question from a Democrat — not a Republican — about whether some of this was going on. He denied it. Doesn't that undermine the public trust?"

Obama: "You're conflating first of all me and Mr. Clapper --"

Henry: "He's still on the job!"

2:39 p.m.: Ed Henry of Fox News followed up on the NSA question, asking about apparent inconsistencies in Obama's statements on the NSA's reach. Basically, Henry is interested in whether the president was fully informed about the scope of those programs or not. The president again cites public confidence in his answer. "That trust in how many safeguards exist...has been diminished," the President added. Regarding the 215 program — or phone metadata collection — the president suggested that private phone companies could keep collected data around for longer, instead of having the NSA store it themselves. 

2:33 p.m.: Obama's second question is on the NSA's surveillance programs, the recent lawsuit challenging the agency's broad collection of phone metadata, and a recently-released set of recommendations to reform those programs. "what we're doing now is evaluating all the recommendations that have been made," noting that he will "assess" those recommendations over the next several weeks. The president promised a "definitive" statement on those recommendations in January. 

Specifically addressing the NSA's collection of phone metadata, Obama said that "the NSA, in executing this program, believed based on experiences for 9/11 that it was important for us to be able to track" data pertaining to phone conversations that might contain useful information about potential terrorist attacks. 

"I have confidence that the NSA is not engaging in domestic surveillance or snooping around," the president said. But he added that "we may have to refine this further" to give confidence domestically and abroad. 

2:28 p.m: Julie Pace of the Associated Press had the first question, about Obama's approval ratings, straight-up asking whether 2013 was the "worst year of your presidency." Surprise: Obama doesn't think so. "I have now been in office close to five years," he said in response, adding, "we have had ups and we have had downs. I think this room has probably reported at least 15 near-death experiences." 

Obama also criticized Congress's inaction on a number of issues, specifically mentioning failed federal legislation to require background checks before gun purchases. The president acknowledged that a lot of issues on his legislative agenda were not accomplished, noting that "I think 2014 needs to be a year of action." 

As for polling, Obama noted that "my polls have gone up and down a lot." 

2:26 p.m.: The president also had some cautious praise for the new budget bill's bipartisan compromise, but expressed his disappointment in the legislative branch's non-action towards renewing benefits for long-term unemployed Americans. "When Congress comes back to work, their first order of business should be making this right."

Those benefits expire on December 28, affecting 1.3 million Americans just after Christmas. An effort by congressional Democrats to include the measure in the budget deal ultimately failed. 

2:22 p.m.: Obama kicks off "the most wonderful press conference of the year" with some remarks on the economy.

"In 2013, our businesses created another 2 million jobs, adding up to more than 8 million in all over the past 45 months," the president said. The president also addressed the Obamacare exchange problems, noting that more than half a million Americans have enrolled in the federal exchanges, despite the Healthcare.gov's ongoing technical issues.