Though President Obama told us we're "at war" with "al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and their associated forces," the Pentagon has classified the identity of those "associated forces" -- though the Pentagon has apparently told Sen. Levin (D-MI) who they are after he asked, but gagged him from speaking further. You know who we're at war with? No one, because Congress hasn't declared it. This "classified" rubbish, as you might already have guessed, only gives the Obama Administration some "plausible deniability" when their drones accidentally kill someone they didn't actually want dead.

As you know, the Amash/Conyers amendment curtailing PATRIOT Act surveillance powers failed by a mere 12 votes on Friday, and since both "ayes" and "nays" were fairly bipartisan, Daily Kos helps you break down the vote. Long story short: the closer your House Rep is to a leadership position, and (to a somewhat lesser extent) the closer to the ideological center your House Rep stands, the more likely he or she voted against the Amash/Conyers amendment. It's enough to make you think the real clash in American politics isn't left-right, but people-establishment.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) calls Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R) "dangerous" for his stands against "war on terror" policies that curtail American freedoms. Sadly, most folks will forget what the fight's about, and remember only that Chris Christie attacked Rand Paul, and thus made himself look like a "moderate," again, which of course he's not -- it's not like he attacked Rand Paul for doing whatever the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wants, after all.

A few Democrats (Mr. Obama and Sen. Feinstein included) think Guantanamo is "too expensive." Of course it is, and we're not just talking about money when we say that -- but who among these "critics" will house any detainees in their state's prisons? I remember that being a big problem with them back in 2009. They could solve that problem by releasing them all, since if they were guilty of something, they'd have been charged by now. But what do I know? I'm not a Nietzschean Superman like our Reps and Senators obviously are.

Finally, scientists at MIT say they've implanted false memories into mice. They say the research could help treat schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder, but I can't help but see the massive potential for abuse -- even though I've found the human mind, for good and for ill, remains fairly resistant to attempts to change it.