Top Items:
Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Judge Rejects Bush's View on Wiretaps — WASHINGTON — A federal judge in California said Wednesday that the wiretapping law established by Congress was the “exclusive” means for the president to eavesdrop on Americans, and he rejected the government's claim that the president's constitutional authority …
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Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2008: Montana Presidential Election — Montana: Obama Leads McCain By Five — Barack Obama is leading John McCain by five percentage points in Montana. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state shows Obama attracting 48% of the vote while McCain earns 43%.
Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Employment Situation Summary — Technical information: — Household data: (202) 691-6378 USDL 08-0928 — Establishment data: (202) 691-6555 Transmission of material in this release — http://www.bls.gov/ces/ is embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EDT), Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Thursday, July 3, 2008.
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Faiz / Think Progress:
6th straight month of job losses. — The monthly Labor Department jobs report released this morning says “payrolls dropped by 62,000” while the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent. June marks the sixth month in a row that the economy has lost jobs.
BBC:
Google must divulge YouTube log — Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled. — The ruling comes as part of Google's legal battle with Viacom over allegations of copyright infringement.
Discussion:
Blogs of War
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Kurt Opsahl / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Court Ruling Will Expose Viewing Habits of YouTube Users
Court Ruling Will Expose Viewing Habits of YouTube Users
Discussion:
Crooked Timber
Ryan Singel / Threat Level:
Judge Orders YouTube to Give All User Histories to Viacom
Judge Orders YouTube to Give All User Histories to Viacom
Discussion:
Reason Magazine
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Can Barack Buy the Presidency? — On the money front, how do Sens. Obama and McCain stack up? No contest, it seems. Since the campaign began, Mr. Obama has raised a staggering $295-plus million, versus Mr. McCain's almost $122 million. But that's misleading. — Mr. Obama spent a lot to win the nomination.
Wall Street Journal:
McCain Allies Find Finance-Law Holes — Governors' Fund Recruits Big Donors; Bid to Catch Obama — Allies of Sen. John McCain have found new loopholes in the campaign-finance law he helped write — and they're using them to reel in huge contributions to help him compete with Sen. Barack Obama.
Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
Hostage Rescue Is Happy Coincidence for McCain in Colombia — Senator John McCain, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, and his wife, Cindy, visited a Colombian Navy drug interdiction boat off Cartagena on Wednesday. Mr. McCain cited both progress and work to be done in stemming the flow of drugs into the United States.
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The Politico:
A dose of discipline for McCain's campaign — The Sergeant has been promoted. — Whenever Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) needed an answer to a political question during long days on buses and planes with reporters during the GOP primary, he would turn to a linebacker of a campaign adviser.
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Political Perceptions, Wonkette, Political Radar, Marc Ambinder, THE GUN TOTING LIBERAL™ and TIME.com
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Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:
Justice Dept. Admits Error in Not Briefing Court — WASHINGTON — In a highly unusual admission of error, the Justice Department acknowledged on Wednesday that government lawyers should have known that Congress had recently made the rape of a child a capital offense in the military …
Discussion:
The Corner, The Volokh Conspiracy, Sentencing Law and Policy, CAAFlog and National Review
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Lewis Page / The Register:
Research: Wind power pricier, emits more CO2 than thought — 'Windfarm output is never zero. Sometimes it's less' — Fresh contenders have entered the UK wind power debate, as a turbines expert funded by the Renewable Energy Foundation publishes an investigation into a hotly-disputed subject …
Discussion:
QandO
CNN:
Deputy Chief of Staff to leave White House — WASHINGTON (CNN) — White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin will be leaving his job this month, according to White House spokesperson Dana Perino. — Perino says Hagin's last day will be July 20th. — “The President said that he thanks Joe …
Discussion:
Think Progress
Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:
YOU AND YOUR CELL....All modern cell phones are equipped with GPS capability that allows your location to be tracked within a few meters at all times. Question: does the federal government have access to this tracking information without a warrant? The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information request …
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Thomas F. Madden / Wall Street Journal:
America's Days Aren't Numbered — I have a simple request. As we celebrate the birth of the American Republic, can we all stop predicting its death? It's getting depressing. — The last time I strolled through the local Barnes & Noble, there were so many books announcing the end of American power …
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
YOUR WORLD IN CHARTS: UNDERINSURED EDITION. — One of the tricky questions in health policy is how to delineate between different types of the insured. We talk a lot about those without any coverage, but a fair portion are hurtling through life with all the protection afforded by a rusted, rattling Kia.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
CNN:
Fist bump not gone? — (CNN) — Rest assured America, perhaps Barack Obama has not abandoned his signature fist bump. — It appears Tuesday's pool report — widely reported by several media outlets, including CNN — that Obama refused to bump fists with a child in Ohio was incorrect.
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
One Nation No More? — Civics Needs a Boost, but Our Identity Endures — Just in time for Independence Day, a conservative think tank has delivered a controversial report asking whether America's national identity is eroding under the pressure of population diversity and educational slackness.
MoJoBlog:
MoJo Convo: Iran Panic? A Follow Up Question for the Experts — Earlier this week MoJo writer Laura Rozen asked an Israeli intel correspondent, an Iranian American activist, an arms expert, a former peace negotiator, and an anti-war intellectual: — How likely is a scenario in which the US …
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com
New York Times:
Panel Questions State Dept. Role in Iraq Oil Deal — Bush administration officials knew that a Texas oil company with close ties to President Bush was planning to sign an oil deal with the regional Kurdistan government that ran counter to American policy and undercut Iraq's central government, a Congressional committee has concluded.
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker, Prairie Weather, Emptywheel, Brilliant at Breakfast and The Washington Independent