Ten Words from Today's NY Times - August 22, 2012

When the flotilla of 21 fishing boats arrived at an island chain at the center of a growing territorial dispute with China, the captains warned the dozens of activists and politicians aboard not to attempt a landing.

The ramifications for the United States are also potentially more troubling, analysts said.

Even so, Mr. Toita agreed with mainstream opinion that Japan should cleave more closely to the United States.

Sent into Sangin, Afghanistan’s opium-producing heartland, in 2010, the battalion faced a formidable enemy expert in the use of I.E.D.’s., losing 25 Marines in a seven-month tour, the second most of any American unit in the entire war, a Times analysis shows.

Mark Moyar, an independent national security analyst who has studied the battalion’s operations, said that the British who had preceded the Marines in Sangin, a district in Helmand, focused on economic development and political outreach to undermine the insurgency.

Jason Morris prevailed on Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates to leave them in place.

He had wanted to join the Marine Corps ever since 9/11, despite her many attempts to dissuade him.

Then came prom singalongs as the song finally became ubiquitous around the Fourth of July.

The song catapulted Ms. Jepsen, apple-cheeked and giggly at 26, from obscurity to worldwide fame.

“Call Me Maybe” is a watershed case for the use of social media as a marketing tool, but the song’s success will be difficult to replicate — even for Ms. Jepsen as she prepares to release her album.