The Solitary Leaker  —  From what we know so far, Edward Snowden appears to be the ultimate unmediated man.  Though obviously terrifically bright, he could not successfully work his way through the institution of high school.  Then he failed to navigate his way through community college.

ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging NSA's Patriot Act Phone Surveillance  —  In the wake of the past week's revelations about the NSA's unprecedented mass surveillance of phone calls, today the ACLU filed a lawsuit charging that the program violates Americans' constitutional rights of free speech, association, and privacy.

Tough immigration choice for GOP  —  Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Republican Whip John Cornyn (Texas) plan to vote Tuesday in favor of the motion to proceed to the reform bill, which is more than 1,000 pages long.  —  But they are undecided about whether to vote “yes” on final passage.

Asking the U.S. government to allow Google to publish more national security request data  —  This morning we sent the following letter to the offices of the Attorney General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Read the full text below.  -Ed.  —  Dear Attorney General Holder and Director Mueller

U.S. disrupts al-Qaeda's online magazine  —  U.S. intelligence operatives covertly sabotaged a prominent al-Qaeda online magazine last month in an apparent attempt to sow confusion among the group's followers, according to officials.  —  The operation succeeded, at least temporarily …

Hillary's sorry state of affairs  —  Probes into her department's sex scandals were quashed, memo says  —  WASHINGTON — A State Department whistleblower has accused high-ranking staff of a massive coverup — including keeping a lid on findings that members of then-Secretary Hillary Clinton's security detail …

Former President George W. Bush's Image Ratings Improve  —  Views of Bush more positive than negative for first time since 2005  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' views of former president George W. Bush have improved, with 49% now viewing him favorably and 46% unfavorably.

The New York Times takes down Anthony Weiner story  —  The New York Times “inadvertently” posted an article on the women involved in Anthony Weiner's sexting scandal — and then deleted it.  —  “For Women in Weiner Scandal, Indignity Lingers” by Michael Barbaro was posted on the Times's website Monday …

Obama to End Effort to Restrict Morning-After Pill  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has decided to stop trying to block over-the-counter availability of the best-known morning-after contraceptive pill for all women and girls, a move fraught with political repercussions for President Obama.

Why Should We Even Care If the Government Is Collecting Our Data?  —  Kafka, not Orwell, can help us understand the problems of digitized mass surveillance, argues legal scholar Daniel J. Solove.  —  As people have tried to make sense of the recent revelations about the government's mass …

What to Make of a Warming Plateau  —  As unlikely as this may sound, we have lucked out in recent years when it comes to global warming.  —  The rise in the surface temperature of earth has been markedly slower over the last 15 years than in the 20 years before that.