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December 11, 2013 | | DISGUSTING The chief of staff for Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander has been put on leave without pay amid allegations of child pornography, Sen. Alexander's office announced on Wednesday. According to the statement, law enforcement agents searched the home of Ryan Loskarn, hired by Alexander in 2011. "I am stunned, surprised, and disappointed by what I have learned," Alexander said in the statement. Alexander's office said it is "cooperating fully" with the investigation. The Daily Beast's Ben Jacobs reports. It's Alive! Health insurance is so hot this holiday season. Some 250,000 people selected plans through state and federal online exchanges in November—twice as many than did during Healthcare.gov's glitchy first month, according to a report released Wednesday by the Department of Health and Human Services. The total is way below the White House's goal of 3.3 million enrollees by December 31, although administration officials insisted they could still reach their goal of seven million enrollees by March. Additionally, more than 800,000 people have realized they are eligible for Medicaid. RIDICULOUS We can think of a couple hand gestures for him. The sign language interpreter at Tuesday's memorial service for Nelson Mandela was apparently a fake, according to a South African official. The man, who worked alongside world leaders including President Obama, "was moving his hands around but there was no meaning in what he used his hands for," says Bruno Druchen, the director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa. The AP reported that three sign language experts said the interpreter was not signing in either South African or American sign languages. Throughout the service, deaf users of Twitter took to the social networking site to call out the fraud, including Wilma Newhoudt, a deaf member of South Africa's parliament tweeting, "the so-called interpreter on the stage with Cde Cyril is not signing. He's just making up." BACKSTORY How did an image of President Obama, Denmark's prime minister, and Britain's David Cameron become one of the most famous selfies of all time when none of them actually fulfilled the definition of a selfie (i.e., posting it on social media)? They have AFP photographer Robert Schmidt to, um, thank for that. Schmidt came clean about taking the photo on AFP's Behind the News blog, writing that he had been following Obama after his speech at Nelson Mandela's memorial. "I captured the scene almost reflexively," Schmidt writes. He said the atmosphere at that time at the memorial was "totally relaxed" and the smiling photo was not out of place. Enter the Internet, which is always outraged at something. Schmidt writes that he and his fellow photographers took almost 500 photos on Tuesday, but "it's a little sad" that this one became arguably the most famous. Holy Moly He's no Miley Cyrus, but we'll take it. Time magazine on Wednesday named Pope Francis the Person of the Year, beating out other runners-up such as Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Ted Cruz. "What makes this Pope so important is the speed with which he has captured the imaginations of millions who had given up on hoping for the church at all," Time wrote. Time also noted that Francis is a "former janitor, nightclub bouncer, chemical technician and literature teacher." The Daily Beast's Barbie Latza Nadeau on the reaction in Rome. | | 
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