Believe it or not, in our patent office -- now, this is embarrassing -- this is an institution responsible for protecting and promoting innovation -- our patent office receives more than 80 percent of patent applications electronically, then manually prints them out, scans them, and enters them into an outdated case management system.

WHITEHOUSE: Forum on Modernizing Government: Opening Session

Now that is important and it isn't just politicians who make that difficult, if I may be so bold, it's also your profession because if a politician says perhaps that's wrong we'll do it slightly differently, your attitude is this is a major and embarrassing u-turn, not actually a sensible modification.

BBC: News Online

Nor can Ms Merkel hope for a boost from Germany's staging of the World Cup this summer, which is becoming an embarrassing tale of leaking stadiums and ticket-allocation mishaps.

ECONOMIST: German reform

This is an embarrassing setback for Caterpillar, which has expanded aggressively in China and competes with domestic heavy-machinery manufacturers like Zoomlion and Sany.

FORBES: Alleged Fraud At Caterpillar's Chinese Acquisition Puts Spotlight On U.S. Principals

Haney's recollections are his own, and subject to dispute, but this is a rich and compelling rendering of a complicated athlete undone less by embarrassing details than by a self-inflicted, unsustainable myth.

WSJ: The Masters: Tiger Woods and His Conspirators

This account will include e-mails embarrassing to Citigroup Chief Executive Sanford Weill Sanford Weill , but it is unlikely to go much beyond the details about Weill that are already public.

FORBES: Wall Street Buys Peace