I just passed the Supreme Court. It's being renovated. What does it have? I kid you not...

[Recursion]

... it has an honest-to-God facade with "Equal Justice Under Law" written on it.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. All in the name of 'terra' of course, but it speaks volumes we have to enter by the side. No "Equal.

Justice Under Law'

The public no longer will pass under the famous words "Equal Justice Under Law" and enter the Supreme Court through its iconic bronze front doors, the court announced Monday, citing security risks.

The court said that as part of its $122 million modernization plan, the public will now enter the building on the plaza level, where a security checkpoint will make it easier to contain any risks. The new process starts Tuesday.

The new entrance was designed in light of recommendations from independent security studies conducted in 2001 and 2009, the court said in a news release. The public will still be able to exit via the massive, 6 1/2 -ton sculpted doors.

The changes have been debated for years and came with a dissent from two justices who expressed concern about altering the symbolic experience of visiting the 75-year-old building, designed by architect Cass Gilbert.

[Cooley Hurd]

2. My SO and I were at the US Capitol in April...

...and glanced over at the SCOTUS building with its draperies. My quip:

"Oh the irony of that false facade."

[eShirl]

3. ha!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village

The phrase Potemkin villages (an alternative spelling is Potyomkin villages, derived from the Russian: Потёмкинские деревни, Potyomkinskiye derevni) was originally used to describe a fake village, built only to impress. The phrase is now used, typically in politics and economics, to describe any construction (literal or figurative) built solely to deceive others into thinking that some situation is better than it really is. It is unclear whether the origin of the phrase is factual, an exaggeration, or a myth.

According to the story, Russian minister Grigory Potemkin who led the Crimean military campaign erected fake settlements along the banks of the Dnieper River in order to fool Empress Catherine II during her visit to Crimea in 1787.

[LiberalEsto]

4. roflmao