Imagine my surprise to learn that Edward Snowden was played like a violin by Vladimir Putin.

NSA leaker Edward Snowden instantly regretted asking Russian President Vladimir Putin a softball question on live television about the Kremlin’s mass surveillance effort, two sources close to the leaker tell The Daily Beast.

“It certainly didn’t go as he would’ve hoped,” one of these sources said. “I don’t think there’s any shame in saying that he made an error in judgment.”

“He basically viewed the question as his first foray into criticizing Russia. He was genuinely surprised that in reasonable corridors it was seen as the opposite,” added Ben Wizner, the American Civil Liberties Union attorney who serves as one of Snowden’s closest advisers.

According to Wizner and others, Snowden hadn’t realized how much last week’s Q&A—with Putin blithely assuring Snowden that Moscow had no such eavesdropping programs—would appear to be a Kremlin propaganda victory to Western eyes. And so the leaker quickly decided to write an op-ed for the Guardian to explain his actions and to all but label Putin a liar for his televised response.

As I wrote two days ago: Snowden’s Op-Ed: Desperately Spinning to Repair the Damage.

Remember the days when Edward Snowden praised Russia for their courageous stance against human rights violations?

To wit. http://t.co/iU4jlqEHOb @BradMossEsq pic.twitter.com/mJAeRvQq0w

— Gus (@Gus_802) April 21, 2014

Video

Today, ABC’s “This Week” chose to celebrate Easter by hosting a panel of extreme religious right crackpots who say gay people are going to hell unless they repent. And no, I’m not kidding.

As a part of a special Easter week discussion on religion, Graham told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz that gays could go heaven if they repent.

“Maybe gays that are watching want to know, ‘Can God forgive me? Or can I go to heaven as a gay person?’ Absolutely. But the same for any of us. We have to repent of our sins in turn. A person cannot stay in adultery and be accepted by God. You’ll have to repent,” said Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Happy Easter, everyone!

One of the world’s great writers passed away this week and no one seems to have created a Page here in tribute to him, so I will use this Easter Sunday to rectify that.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Born: March 6, 1927 in Aracataca, Colombia
Died: April 17, 2014 (aged 87) in Mexico City, Mexico

R.I.P.—your writing filled my life, and most assuredly countless others, with many hours of escape & pleasure. That’s not an insignificant gift. Thank you.

Getty Image

At the beginning of “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” Macondo’s patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, wants to move the idyllic yet isolated community he founded to another, more accessible location. And, since no one else wants to go with him, he decides that he and his wife, Úrsula, and their son should leave by themselves.

“We will not leave,” his wife says, reminding him that Macondo was their son’s birthplace.

“We have still not had a death,” he tells her. “A person does not belong to a place until there is someone dead under the ground.” To which his wife replies, “If I have to die for the rest of you to stay here, I will die.”

This was the first thing that came to mind when I heard that Gabriel García Márquez had died. I have always loved that scene. For anyone who’s been forced, or has chosen, to start a new life in a new place, these words seem to provide at least two possible markers by which one can begin to belong. By Úrsula’s definition, it is through life. By her husband’s, it is through death. […]

More: Gabriel Garcia Marquez: An Appreciation

Video

Video

Note: The English subtitles in the video above leave a lot to be desired.

UPDATE: The prefect tweet following the announcement of his death.

“Don't cry because it came to an end, smile because it happened.” Thank you, Gabito!

— Aonghas Crowe (@AonghasCrowe) April 20, 2014

Related:
Gabriel Garcia Marquez ‘Suffering From Dementia’, Says Brother

Vimeo

Meet Sunny and Steve, the charming characters brought to life by MPC NY in a light-hearted short film written and directed under one roof by in-house talent Bill Dorais and Ty Coyle - just in time for Easter. Born out of MPC’s love for storytelling, what started as a passion project quickly turned into an ongoing creative platform to collaborate, experiment, and develop talent within the MPC NY character design team.

The short film tells a humorous tale of an office worker as he struggles with a protective, seemingly innocent bunny on a quest for sweets.

To find out more, check out: moving-picture.com

British Pathé has posted 85,000 (!) short historical films at YouTube. A fascinating look at the history of the 20th century through the eyes of British media, before it was called “media.”

For a relatively recent example: “Arnold Schwarzenegger Wins Mr Universe (1969),” with casually sexist narration.

YouTube

This video is two archive reels in [HD]. Mr Universe 1969 + “Show of Strength”, International Bodybuilding Contest in Cologne, Germany 1966

Arnold Schwarzenegger flexes his extraordinary muscles for the judges in these two bodybuilding tournaments, one in Cologne in 1966, and the other (the first piece of footage) in London at the Mr Universe contest in 1969.

Mr. Schwarzenegger was a completely unknown figure then. Coe Boyer can also be seen in this footage.