Top Items:
Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:
Current TV Dismisses Keith Olbermann — 5:13 p.m. | Updated Current TV said Friday afternoon that it had terminated the contract of its lead anchor, Keith Olbermann, scarcely a year after he was hired to reboot the fledgling channel in his progressive political image.
Discussion:
tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, The Other McCain, Runnin' Scared, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Caller, Hollywood Reporter, Gawker, Weasel Zippers, Show Tracker, Washington Post, DownWithTyranny!, National Review, Hot Air, The Raw Story, CANNONFIRE, The PJ Tatler, The Lonely Conservative, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, NewsBusters.org, Althouse, The Moderate Voice, New York Magazine, Conservatives4Palin, Jammie Wearing Fools, Joe. My. God. and The Hinterland Gazette, more at Mediagazer »
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Keith Olbermann / TwitLonger:
TwitLonger — My full statement: — I'd like to apologize to my viewers and my staff for the failure of Current TV. — Editorially, Countdown had never been better. But for more than a year I have been imploring Al Gore and Joel Hyatt to resolve our issues internally …
Current TV:
Open letter to the viewers of Current — To the Viewers of Current: — We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet. We are more committed to those goals today than ever before.
Keach Hagey / Politico:
Current TV fires Keith Olbermann
Current TV fires Keith Olbermann
Discussion:
Wonkette and americanthinker.com
Keach Hagey / Politico:
Olbermann out, Spitzer in on Current TV
Olbermann out, Spitzer in on Current TV
Discussion:
Business Insider, iOwnTheWorld.com and Truthdig
Alyssa Rosenberg / ThinkProgress:
Current TV Fires Keith Olbermann, Replaces Him With Spitzer Immediately, Olbermann to Sue
Current TV Fires Keith Olbermann, Replaces Him With Spitzer Immediately, Olbermann to Sue
Discussion:
Show Tracker, Hollywood Reporter, TBogg, Business Insider and Booman Tribune, more at Mediagazer »
host.madison.com:
Federal court strikes down parts of collective bargaining law — MORE (2) — A federal judge on Friday upheld most of Gov. Scott Walker's controversial collective bargaining law, but struck down key parts of it by ruling that the state cannot prevent public employee unions …
Discussion:
2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, Hot Air, Firedoglake and Talking Points Memo
RELATED:
Bruce Vielmetti / JSOnline:
Federal court strikes down parts of union law
Federal court strikes down parts of union law
Discussion:
americanthinker.com and Althouse
Daniel Bice / JSOnline:
Barrett will run in recall election
Barrett will run in recall election
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Washington Post, Althouse and msnbc.com
Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
IRS not investigating Nikki Haley for tax fraud — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's office Friday provided IRS documentation that she is not facing investigation for tax fraud, calling accusations that she was “totally contrived.” — Haley denied the rumors of a looming tax indictment on Thursday.
Discussion:
americanthinker.com, Outside the Beltway, The Reaction and Washington Monthly
RELATED:
Cynthia McFadden / ABCNEWS:
No IRS Investigation into SC Governor Nikki Haley
No IRS Investigation into SC Governor Nikki Haley
Discussion:
Palmetto Public Record, RedState and FITSNews
Wall Street Journal:
EPA Backpedals on Fracking Contamination — Texas Water-Pollution Suit Dropped; Third Recent Setback on Drilling for Agency — The Environmental Protection Agency has dropped its claim that an energy company contaminated drinking water in Texas, the third time in recent months that the agency …
Discussion:
americanthinker.com
Michelle Singletary / Washington Post:
Mega Millions: Why I threw away common sense and bought a ticket — We played. — My husband and I decided to do a financially unwise thing and take a chance at winning the $640 million dollar Mega Millions lottery. It's not a smart use of even a dollar because the odds of winning are, well, astronomical — 1 in 176 million.
Discussion:
CNN, Hot Air and Prairie Weather
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Gary Strauss / USA Today:
Winning Mega Millions ticket bought in Maryland!
Winning Mega Millions ticket bought in Maryland!
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, JustOneMinute, Gawker, Real Time Economics and The Informer
Brad Plumer / Ezra Klein:
Mega Millions frenzy: Can you ever beat the lottery's long odds?
Mega Millions frenzy: Can you ever beat the lottery's long odds?
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Runnin' Scared, CBS News and Real Time Economics
New York Times:
A Health Law at Risk Gives Insurers Pause — As the Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of the federal health care law, one option that had seemed unthinkable to its designers and supporters now seems at least possible: that the court could strike down the entire law.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather and Althouse
Andrew Theen / Bloomberg:
Obama Campus Fervor Losing to Apathy as Students Sour on 2012 — On election night 2008, freshman Meagan Cassidy left Lake Forest College and hopped a train to Chicago to celebrate Barack Obama's impending victory. — “There was probably no better place to be,” Cassidy said in a phone interview.
Discussion:
Shot in the Dark
Robert Shrum / The Week:
Will a Tea Party Supreme Court guarantee Obama a second term? — The court's conservative wing appears ready to engage in some despicable judicial activism on ObamaCare. Politically, at least, the justices are doing Obama a favor — Recall the scorn toward health reform dripping from the lips of Injustice Antonin Scalia.
Discussion:
Don Surber, protein wisdom and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
John Brownlee / Cult of Mac:
This Creepy App Isn't Just Stalking Women Without Their Knowledge, It's A Wake-Up Call About Facebook Privacy [Update] — This app is meant to all be in good fun, but it's potentially a weapon in the hands of stalkers. — “Boy, you sure have a lot of apps on your phone.” — “Well, it's my job.”
Discussion:
Unfogged, msnbc.com, The Verge, Firedoglake, TechCrunch and Gawker
Loretta Chao / Wall Street Journal:
Sina, Tencent Shut Down Commenting on Microblogs — BEIJING—China mounted a broad Internet crackdown beginning Friday, putting temporary restrictions on popular microblogging services run by Sina Corp. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. and detaining individuals that it accused of spreading rumors of a coup attempt in Beijing.
Discussion:
BBC and Rectified.name
Joe Nocera / New York Times:
Orwell and March Madness — If you've been watching the N.C.A.A. men's basketball championship — a k a March Madness — you've undoubtedly seen the commercial. It's an N.C.A.A. ad that shows college athletes pumping iron, running sprints and playing games.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
Jamie Klatell / The Hill:
Obama: Buffett Rule tax hike will ‘make this country a little fairer’ — President Obama urged lawmakers to “make this country a little fairer” and pass legislation that would raise taxes on those making more than $1 million annually. — “Congress is going to vote on what's called the Buffett Rule …
Discussion:
Politico
Curtis Dubay / The Heritage Foundation:
No Fooling: U.S. Now Has Highest Corporate Tax Rate in the World — This April Fool's Day, the joke is on all of us. That's because as of April 1, the U.S. now has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. — Our high corporate tax rate has long made the U.S. an uncompetitive place for new investment.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Doug Ross
Alexander Burns / Politico:
Romney campaign: Release all transcripts of all meetings with foreign leaders — Via National Journal, the Mitt Romney campaign ratchets up the transparency game in a novel direction, in response to a call for Romney to release decades' worth of tax returns:
Discussion:
CNN
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Lara Seligman / NationalJournal.com:
Report: Obama Camp Calls For Romney Tax Returns
Report: Obama Camp Calls For Romney Tax Returns
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Reaction, Campaign 2012, Hot Air, Business Insider, Wonkette, Wall Street Journal and Daily Kos