It makes sense that Bachmann's remarkable new To the Races marks his first conventional album as a solo act: Shedding the prickly remoteness that has made him an acquired taste, he crafts a spare collection that pairs his gruff, world-weary lyrics with a newfound approachability.

NPR: Touring the World, but Always Lost

We face both conventional and emerging security threats, and commit to act together based on our 2011 Common Strategic Objectives in addressing global challenges such as terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and piracy.

WHITEHOUSE: The White House

The US recently said it would consider cyber attacks an "act of war", and reserved the right to respond to attacks with conventional means if they were found to have been orchestrated by a nation state.

BBC: Lulz attacks: US orders review as Senate site hacked

And Canada is still fighting for an exemption from a rule inserted into the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act that bars the American government from buying fuels whose production causes more greenhouse-gas emissions than conventional petroleum sources, as producing oil from tar sands does.

ECONOMIST: Stephen Harper looks to Washington, not Alberta