So WaPo today had an article on a new USDA “natural amenities index” ranking 3,111 counties on their climate and physical beauty. Monterey County came in at number 9.
Here are some unranked midday news/views treats:
* Rand Paul makes a “down payment” on the KY Republican presidential caucus he’s promised to pay for as a way of getting around a state law banning simultaneous presidential and Senate primary runs.
* German parliament approves funds for relief for Greece, overcoming conservative rebellion against Merkel.
* Ashley Madison hack threatens exposure of public figures, not to mention upsetting hundreds of thousands of marriages.
* At the New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin explains that HRC’s real problem with emails is that the federal government vastly over-classifies material, so avoiding transmittal of “classified” items nearly impossible.
* At the Prospect, Adele Stan argues that the whole purpose of the campaign against Planned Parenthood is to sideswipe HRC.
And in non-political news:
* Tropical Storm Danny looking likely to become first hurricane of the 2015 season.
As we break for lunch, here’s Earl Gaines with “Hymn Number 5.”
