So . . . ultimately . . . a secret USA government court could order Exxon to release a cloud of poison gas over its refinery in Rotterdam, because the secret court thinks that their are terrorists there, and has decided for a death penalty? And Exxon would need to comply, as long as the court said so?

So, if a US citizen is ordered by a secret court to kill someone, and they don't do it, then they will be held in contempt of court . . . ? (And held secretly, to boot!)

We used to think that the US government didn't just wander haphazardly around ordering people to be killed . . . but nowadays . . . it seems like anything goes.

And all those American tourists wandering around outside . . . they could all be potential killers! Getting killed is a very terrifying experience, to that would make them terrorists!

Maybe we should think about putting American tourists on the no-fly list . . . ?

Speaking of creation, "Home fucking is killing the prostitution industry!"

Hey, knock off that fact-checking - people are censed here!

Actually, I think he said, "grease the fluidity of information", and the speech to text system got it wrong.

. . . or maybe he said, "lease the fluidity of information", and was referring to charging for Cloud Big Data Service.

. . . to that end, "fleece the fluidity of information", would also make sense.

. . . or something concerning security, "police the fluidity of information" . . . ?

JFK shot himself, so the bullet didn't have to travel very far.

They can't do that to "legal" agents. "Legal" agents are US Embassy employees recognized by the host government as diplomats with immunity. "Legal" agents usually have some silly, trivial sounding titles, like, "The Under-Secretary for Cultural Exchange". But their real job is gathering intelligence, and the host country knows that and tolerates it. These folks are quite easy to spot: Just look for someone who is obviously way to intelligent and clever for his job. Like someone with a Ph.D. in international affairs from Harvard and Yale who is doing clerical work at the embassy.

Lots of intelligence work is actually quite boring, and not the James Bond stuff that you expect. The agents collect and assess political sentiment and economic developments and trends in that country. The CIA gives the President of the US a short briefing every morning for breakfast, and informs him if something is amiss somewhere in the world that needs his immediate attention. During this meeting the President also instructs them which areas he thinks need their "special attention".

When countries who aren't quite on the most friendliest of terms get in a huff, like Russia and the US . . . they will take turns tossing out some of each others' small fry "legals" described above.

The CIA Station Chief is not an occasional persona. That's usually taboo among allies. Russia knows who the CIA Station Chief is in Moscow. But they do not toss him out. The US knows who the SVR Resident is in Washington, as well . . . and leave him alone.

Tossing out the CIA Station Chief is a serious diplomatic escalation, which is why it is getting so much press coverage.

Oh, here's an interesting Pro-Tip: If a foreign diplomat wants to hand you a piece of paper with an explanation of why their country just did something very nasty . . . you don't touch it. You instruct him to read it out loud. If you put your hands on it, his country will report that you "accepted" the explanation. If you don't, you will only hear in the news that the diplomat "read out load" or "recited" the explanation. This is the next thing that you will hear about this, as the professional diplomats from Germany and the US try to paper over the cracks left by the spooks.

When the Germans discovered that the NSA had bugged Angela Merkel's phone, Obama kinda sorta said, "sorry", and it looked like the whole matter would have been forgotten. I would have thought that Obama would have told his spooks to lay off for a while. But instead, it seems that he has racketed up the spying on Germany.

Can someone tell me what Obama is trying to achieve by this? I mean, there must be some purpose behind all this. I just can't figure it out.

Awesome! Fryer University, as in bacon!

. . . do they fry up weed along with your bacon in Holland . . . ? That would be a formidable combination:

"Eggs, bacon, weed and Spam . . ."

Beavers are the Koch Brothers. They directly cause global warming by cutting down trees that safely sequester greenhouse gases. When they eat and digest the trees, the greenhouse gases are released again as beaver flatulence.

Beavers build dams blocking our natural beautiful rivers, which make our own hydroelectric facilities less efficient. This makes us more dependent on Big Coal, and forces us to build a nuke In Your Backyard.

Beavers build low-cost sub prime mortgage McMansions, which will cause another Savings & Loan bailout crisis recession.

Beaver rhymes with Bieber, and The Bieber is ripped to his tits on cough sirup most of the time.

Save the whales, nuke The Bieber.

I think it would be more appropriate to say, "It's a Sicilian Message. The first class sleeps with the fishes."

Not soft drinks, again, but maybe someone from LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy).

Apple is transforming itself into a luxury goods conglomerate.

Now what are they planning to counter Google Glasses . . . ?

. . . if you spy on your allies enough . . . you can make them your enemies.

. . . and if you spy on your own citizens enough . . . read "The Open Society and its Enemies"