We've determined that this is really the new municipal infrastructure. The same kind of debate was being done 150 years ago about whether cities should be building roads or sewer systems.

There was a lot of debate about every aspect of the story to make sure we were balancing legitimate national security concerns with informing our readers about important things that were being done in their name by the government. There were a number of discussions with senior U.S. officials, and we had a number of discussions in the office over several days with Dana and her editors.

More than anybody in town, I would like to move on from the Blue Back debate.

I put all the blame on myself. We can sit up here and say the stick was slippery or whatever, but the bottom line is that we practice on these sticks every day. I was trying to pull for it and it slipped out of my hand. It's my fault.

That deuce is what helps you in the 100. I truly believe that. With my weight, my strength and doing these deuces, the 100 is coming so easy to me now. Because I've got the start. I can get you out of the blocks. Now it's 'can you hold on?' I truly believe I can hold on, because I can do it in practice now.

She gasped. “You know what your problem is? You don’t take yourself… or anything… seriously enough!”
She sat rigidly, her teeth and her buttocks clenched tight, nostrils flaring with each impassioned breath, tears burning the back of her eyelids. Was she really having this debate with Bruce Koczynski? A man she believed incapable of these intense opinions and complex ideas? She didn’t even know he had the vocabulary. It was utterly disorienting.