Good week, Bad week

Good week for:

Spy kids, with the news that the National Security Agency is offering paid internships to high school students as young as 15 years old. “Wonderful experience,” said one young intern in an online review. “Can’t really say too much.”

Rationalizations, after China’s state-run Global Times newspaper claimed the country’s choking air pollution was good for national defense, because the smog would blind enemy missile- guidance systems and drones.

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Mocking the boss, after a word-search puzzle in Australia’s Sunday Telegraph included an insult of the newspaper’s owner, Rupert Murdoch. The puzzle featured the letter combination “LIVESIHCODRUM,” or, in reverse, “MURDOCHISEVIL.”

Bad week for:

The deaf, after a fraud provided the sign language translation at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service. “He was moving his hands around,” said South Africa’s Deaf Federation, “but there was no meaning in what he used his hands for.”

Dozing, after a passenger fell asleep on a flight to Houston, and awoke to find himself locked in a dark, empty airplane. “I mean, who shut the door?” said Tom Wagner after calling for help.

Lonely people, after officials in Madison, Wis., shut down the Snuggle House—which charges $60 for an hour of hugging with a professional cuddler—over concern the business could be a front for prostitution. Said Assistant City Attorney Jennifer Zilavy, “I don’t know any man who wants to just snuggle.”