memeorandum: Texas Gov. Rick Perry signs ‘Merry Christmas bill’ into law (David Knowles/NY Daily News)

10:30 AM ET, June 15, 2013

Top Items:

Facebook Releases Data, Including All National Security Requests — Over the last week, in press statements as well as Mark's post last Friday, we've repeatedly called for governments worldwide to be willing to provide more details about programs aimed at keeping the public safe.

Discussion: Digits, Taylor Marsh, AllThingsD, Engadget, Mashable, The Verge, ABC News, CNN, GigaOM, BBC and TalkLeft

Reuters:

Web companies begin releasing surveillance information after U.S. deal — (Reuters) - Facebook and Microsoft have struck agreements with the U.S. government to release limited information about the number of surveillance requests they receive, a modest victory for the companies as they struggle …

Discussion: The Verge, AllThingsD and Business Insider

Gail Collins / New York Times:

The Other Side of the Story — The deck is always stacked when we debate keeping the nation safe. — Recently, we discovered that the National Security Agency is keeping an enormous file of our phone calls. In the N.S.A.'s defense, its chief, Gen. Keith Alexander, said “dozens” …

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Balloon Juice

Reuters:

Moderate Rohani looks on road to winning Iran presidential vote — (Reuters) - Moderate cleric Hassan Rohani took a solid lead over conservative rivals on Saturday in preliminary vote counting in Iran's presidential election in what could be the makings of a surprise victory over favored hardliners.

Discussion: The Week and Booman Tribune

Thomas Erdbrink / New York Times:
Moderate in Iranian Election Leads in Initial Returns

Discussion: AEIdeas, The Huffington Post, Washington Post and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Guardian:
Iran presidential election: second round forecast after late flurry at polls

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

David Knowles / NY Daily News:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry signs ‘Merry Christmas bill’ into law — Schools will now be able to display religious symbols as long as at least one secular or other religion's symbol is also displayed. At the signing ceremony high-school cheerleaders wore t-shirts that read ‘I cheer for Christ.’

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Huffington Post and National Review

Will Weissert / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Texas gov. signs ‘Merry Christmas’ law; says religious freedom is not freedom from religion

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Senators skip classified briefing on NSA snooping to catch flights home — A recent briefing by senior intelligence officials on surveillance programs failed to attract even half of the Senate, showing the lack of enthusiasm in Congress for learning about classified security programs.

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Prairie Weather and Outside the Beltway

Micah Cohen / FiveThirtyEight:

Polls Show Chemical Weapons Affect Public's View on Syria — The Obama administration, which had long resisted sending weapons to antigovernment forces in Syria's civil war, has decided to supply them with small arms after concluding that the troops of President Bashar al-Assad …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Reaction and Hit & Run

CNN:
Sources: US to send small arms, ammo to Syrian rebels

Discussion: RIA Novosti, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Reality-Based Community

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:
Obama to press Putin on Syria when they meet Monday

Discussion: Guardian and Politico

Suzanne Goldenberg / Guardian:

Al Gore: NSA's secret surveillance program ‘not really the American way’ — Former vice-president - not persuaded by argument that program was legal - urges Congress and Obama to amend the laws — The National Security Agency's blanket collection of US citizens' phone records was …

Discussion: Mediaite, Yahoo! News, Hot Air, The Hill and emptywheel

Justin Sink / The Hill:

White House: Obama's $100M Africa trip ‘great bang for our buck’ — President Obama's $100 million trip to African offers “great bang for our buck,” the White House said Friday. — Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes defended the cost of Obama's upcoming trip to South Africa …

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Weasel Zippers, TheBlaze.com and Michelle Malkin

Justin Sink / The Hill:
White House: Obama will defend Internet spying to Europeans

Discussion: CNN

Ashley Killough / CNN:

The Romney video that never was-starring Donald Trump — (CNN) - Real-estate mogul Donald Trump said Friday night that Mitt Romney's team asked him to appear in a “commercial” for the campaign last year-but it never saw the light of day. — The video, he said, was supposed to run during …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Politico, Hot Air, Mediaite and Weekly Standard

Erik Slavin / Stars & Stripes:

Judge: Obama sex assault comments ‘unlawful command influence’ … Two defendants in military sexual assault cases cannot be punitively discharged, if found guilty, because of “unlawful command influence” derived from comments made by President Barack Obama, a judge ruled in a Hawaii military court this week.

Discussion: Politico, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Taegan Goddard's … and The Hill

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Paul Ryan a Favorite of Republicans — Christie, Rubio more popular among all Americans than Ryan — PRINCETON, NJ — Of five recent Republican newsmakers also mentioned as potential 2016 presidential candidates, Wisconsin Rep. and 2012 vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan is rated …

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite and Politico

Emily Schultheis / Politico:
Paul Ryan explains GOP's 2012 loss

Discussion: Reuters and Daily Kos

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Obamacare, Public Opinion, and Conservative Self-Delusion — One of the more important conservative beliefs about Obamacare, running right alongside the certainty that the law is a disaster that will fail in every respect, is the belief that Americans share their antipathy to the law.

Jordy Yager / The Hill:

Holder dodges GOP subpoena — Attorney General Eric Holder has agreed to meet with House Republicans as part of their probe into whether he misled Congress or acted inappropriately in the Justice Department's investigation of two separate leaks to media outlets.

Discussion: Hot Air, CNN and The Huffington Post

David Edwards / The Raw Story:

‘Cliff’ from ‘Cheers’ wants Allen West to spread his ‘gene pool’ across America — Conservative actor John Ratzenberger, who is best known as the character “Cliff” from the television sitcom Cheers, on Friday called for former Rep. Allen West (R-FL) to take “something from his gene pool” …

Discussion: Mediaite

Ynetnews:

Erdogan claims Jewish investors behind protests — At first he blamed opposition, hooligans, foreign governments, now Turkey's PM charges Western, Jewish financiers of scheming to topple economy through prolonged demos — Prof. Dror Zeevi — In the demonstrators' viewpoint …

Discussion: Jihad Watch and Weasel Zippers