"We granted certiorari to resolve a conflict in the lower courts over the appropriate mental state for threat prose�cutions under 18 U. S. C. �875(c)."

"Save two, every Circuit to have considered the issue�11 in total�has held that this provision demands proof only of general intent, which here requires no more than that a defendant knew he transmitted a communication, knew the words used in that communication, and understood the ordinary meaning of those words in the relevant context. The outliers are the Ninth and Tenth Circuits, which have concluded that proof of an intent to threaten was necessary for conviction. Adopting the minority position, Elonis urges us to hold that �875(c) and the First Amendment require proof of an intent to threaten. The Government in turn advocates a general-intent approach. Rather than resolve the conflict, the Court casts aside the approach used in nine Circuits and leaves nothing in its place. Lower courts are thus left to guess at the appropriate mental state for �875(c). All they know after to day�s decision is that a requirement of general intent will not do. But they can safely infer that a majority of this Court would not adopt an intent-to-threaten requirement, as the opinion carefully leaves open the possibility that recklessness may be enough."

Writes Justice Thomas, the sole dissenter in Elonis v. United States (PDF) one of this morning's new Supreme Court cases.
Click for more �

"Average US Reading Level by Grade: Country 3.3, pop 2.9, rock �n� roll 2.9, R&B/hip-hop 2.6."

Dubious song lyric science. It irks me when that "reading level" nonsense is equated with intelligence. And having country come out on top and "R&B/hip-hop" on the bottom just seems racist.

Well, Country is the only genre generally devoid of words like �oh� or �yeah� repeated 20 times in a row. Sorry everyone else, but if you say it in the song, it�s counted as a �lyric.�

But it�s also about the syllables. Country music is full of words like Hallelujah, cigarettes, hillbilly, and tacklebox. Add to that long place names like Cincinnati, Louisville, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and Country has a serious advantage over the competition....

In 2007, Rock and R&B/Hip-Hop both plunged with the help of songs like �Buy U a Drank� by T-Pain (which just made it above a 1st grade reading level) and �I Don�t Wanna Stop� by Ozzy Osbourne (a more respectable 1.6 average grade level).

ADDED: Pride in long sentences is idiotic. From Paul Johnson's "Intellectuals":

But Hemingway had had the advantage of an excellent training on the Kansas City Star. Its successive editors had compiled a house-style book of 110 rules designed to force reporters to use plain, simple, direct and clich�-free English, and these rules were strictly enforced. Hemingway later called them �the best rules I ever learned for the business of writing.'...

On this journalistic basis, Hemingway built his own method, which was both theory and practice.... He once defined the art of fiction... as �find what gave you the emotion; what the action was that gave you the excitement. Then write it down making it clear so that the reader can see it too.� All had to be done with brevity, economy, simplicity, strong verbs, short sentences, nothing superfluous or for effect. �Prose is architecture,� he wrote, �not interior decoration, and the Baroque is over.

"Afghan rapper escaped teen marriage by singing about it."

From Public Radio International. There's a skimpiness to the story and doesn't quite support the drama of the headline:

�One day my mom told me, �You have to return to Afghanistan with me. There�s a man there who wants to marry you. Your brother�s engaged and we need your dowry money to pay for his wedding.��

Sonita [Alizadeh] was devastated. So she wrote the song "Brides for Sale." The song starts �Let me whisper, so no one hears that I speak of selling girls. My voice shouldn�t be heard since it�s against Sharia. Women must remain silent� this is our tradition.�...

Sonita was worried what her parents would think about the video � but they actually loved it � and they also told her that she didn�t have to get married....

The attention around Sonita�s music landed her a full scholarship to an arts academy in Utah, and that led to the concert here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

PRI is giving her publicity and extracting a fair amount of criticism of America. The photo captions are: "Afghan rapper Sonita Alizadeh narrowly escaped a forced marriage at 14 by writing the song 'Brides for Sale.' She recently visited West Oakland, California, and was surprised that the US, like Iran and Afghanistan, has poor neighborhoods and homeless people." And: "Sonita was shocked by this neighborhood in West Oakland. 'Are you telling me in America there are places where you can�t walk alone at night?' she asked."

"Hi, I�m Monica Lewinsky... Some of you younger people might only know me from some rap lyrics.�

"Thank you for coming... and in doing so, standing up against the sexual scapegoating of women and girls."