The jurors who decided it wasn't a crime that Trayvon Martin was shot dead by George Zimmerman took field trips to Outback Steakhouse (blooming onions! marmalade-slathered coconut-crusted shrimp!) and the local bowling alley and a fancy Italian restaurant and the movie theater and a manicure salon.

Emmy nominations, recognizing the finest television programs in America (you already knew that, though, right?) have failed to include any drama from a broadcast network for the second year in a row. But you know who did get a nomination? Netflix. For House of Cards.

The National Security Agency told Congress yesterday its data-hoovering goes well beyond what Edward Snowden's leaks have revealed. They can figure out the names of the people who know the people who know you.

Nelson Mandela, still in the hospital, has stayed alive long enough to "celebrate" his 95th birthday. Doctors actually say his health is improving.

Vladimir Putin has a sense of humor. A leading Russian opposition figure complaining about corruption under Putin's 21st century reign has been temporarily silenced after being found guilty of petty corruption himself.

Cops everywhere in America have pictures of millions of our cars and license plates, and detailed knowledge of our whereabouts over long stretches of time, thanks to increasingly ubiquitous license plate readers.

Let's paraphrase a Republican state senator from Utah! "Compulsory education is for communists! Death to the tyranny of public schools!"

Follow Pope Francis on Twitter, spend less time righting your sin ledger in Purgatory!

Two dozen Indian children are dead, with another two dozen sent to the hospital, after school officials served them a pesticide-tainted lunch. Angry parents displayed their children's corpses outside the school in protest.

Disposable, flat-packed furniture, in the avatar of a shiny Ikea store, seems destined to arrive in Palestine before actual peace does.

If you missed last night's post, county commissioners support an investigation into Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen's affair—and it already has—as questions about his political future swirl.

HEY, NERDS! LOOK AT THIS DELIGHTFUL 3D RENDERING SHOWING HOW CAPITOL HILL WAS BUILT FROM THE GROUND UP OVER A PERIOD OF 220 YEARS!