Thanks to The Bully Christie, there's just so much political awfulness coming out of New Jersey these days, that "armpit" state I called home during my high school years (the very beautiful Mendham). So it's important to remember that it's actually a pretty wonderful place in many ways. Not least because it produced Bruce Springsteen, whose new album, much to my delight, was released yesterday and is really, really good.

Occasional Planet: Snowden and heroism.

Connecting the Dots: Christie and spite.

Beggars Can Be Choosers: Pussy Riot and punk.

Zandar Versus the Stupid: Booker and Israel/Iran.

Echidne of the Snakes: Conservatives and gender roles.

Round-up by Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction. (Twitter: @mjwstickings). I'll be here all week.

Send requests and suggestions to mbru@crooksandliars.com (with “For MBRU” in the subject line).