The hearing on the topic of cyber security was going just like any other afternoon Congressional gathering when Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski briefly stopped the proceedings to openly respond to a Tweet from Buzzfeed reporter Rosie Gray. Gray had observed that the Maryland Democrat was attempting to direct questions away from the NSA spying case, tweeting “@SenatorBarb is trying hard to keep the other senators from asking Gen. Alexander anymore about data mining programs”

Instead of doing the normal thing—like hitting the reply icon or simply waiting until she’s not at work overseeing a Congressional hearing to respond to a reporter’s observation on Twitter—Mikulski addressed the entire Senate and everyone watching on C-SPAN. "I want to say to Rosie … there is no attempt here to muzzle [or] stifle any senator from any line of questions." She then held up her cell phone, looked at the camera, and said, “So Rosie, it’s an open hearing. Hi, look forward to keeping in touch.” An interesting choice considering the reporter’s concern was about the government spending too much time spying on your social media correspondence. Not creepy at all, right? … Discuss

There has been a new development in the legal battle over age limits for the Plan B “morning-after” pill. A controversial recent court decision made the contraceptive pill available over-the-counter to customers of any age without a prescription. Following the judge’s decision, the Justice Department said it would appeal the ruling, but according to The New York Times, it is now dropping the case. According to this story, Obama administration officials believed they would likely lose the case, and it would ultimately have to be decided by the Supreme Court. The NYT says, “That would drastically elevate the debate over the politically delicate issue for Mr. Obama.” The FDA now says it will approve a new plan from the maker of the pill to widen its availability “without delay” … Discuss

The home of Deric Lostutter, aka KYAnonymous, has been raided by the FBI, who were acting on a warrant to seize evidence related to accusations of computer crimes, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy. The 26-year-old is now coming forward as the leader of the KnightSec of the Anonymous hacker group that conducted “Operation Roll Red Roll” back in February, a mission to reveal information about the two Steubenville football players later charged with raping and distributing images of an unconscious classmate at a party. At one point Lostutter appeared on an online video wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, threatening to release the suspect’s social security numbers if they did not apologize to the victim.

According to the FBI’s search warrant, Lostutter has committed federal crimes for his role in hacking into a Steubenville football fan’s website, leaking emails revealing the accused players’ identities and implicating officials also involved with the football program in a potential cover-up. Anonymous’ role in releasing social media correspondence and private emails helped the case gain national media attention. According to this story, if Lostutter is fully prosecuted for the crimes he is accused of, he could face more prison time (10 years) than the rapists he helped convict. The high school football players received a one and two year sentence to be served in a juvenile correctional facility … Discuss

Sports are generally beyond the purview of RELEVANT Slices, but since the Internet is having an honest-to-goodness meltdown over the news, we might as well report on it as well. Tim Tebow, the NFL's once and future king, has signed with the New England Patriots and will be headed off to minicamp tomorrow ... Discuss

Kentucky’s Creation Museum has announced that, in an effort to attract more visitors, they will soon be adding a new attraction—zip lines. The museum first opened in 2007 with exhibits that promote the belief the Earth was created by God during a literal six-day period about 6,000 years ago. Mike Zovath, senior vice president of Answers in Genesis admitted to Northern Kentucky News that though the new feature will offer a “little bit of educational value” because of informational displays about trees and plant life, “it’s mostly an adrenaline rush.” According to the newspaper, the museum has seen a steady decline in attendance over the last few years. You may theologically disagree with the idea that early man once saddled dinosaurs and rode them like horses, but there’s a pretty good chance that you still think zip lining is totally sweet … Discuss

A 29-year-old computer technician has admitted that he is the one who leaked information to several newspapers about the NSA’s top-secret PRISM program. Edward Snowden, who worked for a contractor employed by the security agency, said that he couldn’t “in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building.” According to a report based on documents leaked to the media by Snowden, the NSA and FBI regularly access the servers of several of the Internet’s biggest companies including Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Apple and Microsoft. The access allows them to read emails, see chat conversations and view users' activity logs.

Snowden is currently in Hong Kong, and told The Guardian, “I do not expect to see home again.” In a statement, Chairman of the House Homeland Security subcommittee, Rep. Peter King said, “The United States government must prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law and begin extradition proceedings at the earliest date." Though Hong Kong does have an extradition treaty with the United States, it makes exceptions for political crimes … Discuss