* Main NSA data center in Utah, which uses enough energy to power 33,000 houses, experiences electrical issues. * MI5 agent defends British surveillance. * See also: Apology notes from the NSA to private citizens. * Kuwait claims it has the technology to detect homosexuals—an actual gaydar—and will use it to
* Q&A with Assad. * See also: Pictures from 2012-2013 by a photojournalist embedded with a Free Syrian Army militia in Aleppo. * Banksy parodies Syrian rebel videos as part of his monthlong New York residency. * Related: Banksy converts a New York delivery truck into a mobile garden—complete with
* Pro-shutdown House Republicans are holed up in a conservative narrative that isn't entirely crazy—but it's close enough. * Surowiecki: For small businesses and entrepreneurs, the benefits of Obamacare are enormous. * Area family putting a little money away to one day blow on single health scare.
* An uninsured physician's assistant faces a health crisis. * In response to a grassroots movement, Swiss government to vote whether to introduce an unconditional income for all adults. * During the 1950s, the average French person worked 300 more hours a year more than the average American. * Inside the exclusion
* U.S. credits Assad for eliminating Syria's chemical weapons. * Hallway, bathroom, and other informal talks between Congress members offer hope for an end to the government shutdown. * We won't actually know if the Tripoli raid counts as any sort of a triumph either until we see.
* Coders ridicule Heathcare.gov. * What is your most cherished Christmas memory? Knitted jumpers, overcooked Brussels sprouts, family arguments? Time to try Christmas in North Korea! * By next June, Pyongyang will have Carmen Electra. * Once the elixir of British kings, mead experiences a surge of popularity in the U.S.—it
* Editors of the National Review offer Republicans three strategies for ending the shutdown without losing too much face. * Far-right Republicans are deeply angry because America's political reality really does seem to have a liberal bias. * There have been at least five shootings and bombings on the Capitol
* Maybe our leaders, who seem so quick to threaten violence or shut down the government, should spend some time with dairy cows. * The Congressmen who drove the shutdown come from overwhelmingly white, gerrymandered districts—and represent 18% of the population. * A study correlates conspiracy theorists with those who distrust scientists
* People tell Jimmy Kimmel whether they prefer the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. * Many Americans think their politicians spout childish nonsense, but rarely have they actually revelled in doing so. * FBI arrests alleged Dread Pirate Roberts, man behind Silk Road, the online drug bazaar. * Corruption takes on "mind-bending
* International inspectors head to Syria to begin chemical weapon dismantling. * In terms of military cooperation and trade investments, China-U.S. relations are improving, though still tense. * A Q&A on the policy substance behind the shutdown. * See also: In October 1975 the New York Daily News published a
