Top Items:
Facebook Newsroom:
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.
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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:
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
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
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Guardian:
Iran presidential election: second round forecast after late flurry at polls
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh
Thomas Erdbrink / New York Times:
Moderate in Iranian Election Leads in Initial Returns
Discussion:
AEIdeas, The Huffington Post, Washington Post and JIMROMENESKO.COM
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 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 and Hit & Run
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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, Hot Air, Yahoo! News, The Hill and emptywheel
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
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:
Weasel Zippers, TheBlaze.com and Michelle Malkin
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Will Weissert / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Texas gov. signs ‘Merry Christmas’ law; says religious freedom is not freedom from religion — AUSTIN, Texas — Surrounded by sleigh bell-ringing Santa Claus impersonators, Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday signed a law protecting Christmas and other holiday celebrations in Texas public schools …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
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 …
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
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.
Kyle Balluck / The Hill:
Clinton: Christie ‘consorting with a leper’ — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) raised eyebrows among Republicans last year, when he heartily embraced President Obama in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which hit shore just days before the presidential election.
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
Elizabeth Flock / US News:
Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference: Most Bizarre Statements — ‘Immigrants are more fertile,’ said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaking at the conference. — Speakers at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's annual “Road To Majority” conference Friday sought to spur social conservatives …
Discussion:
The Political Carnival
Carlo Muñoz / The Hill:
DOD omits details of secret disclosures in ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ report — Pentagon investigators intentionally omitted details of possible disclosures of top-secret information to the makers of “Zero Dark Thirty” in their final review of the department's involvement in the film.
Discussion:
Politico
Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
George Zimmerman's Father Says The ‘True Racists’ Are African-American — As the murder trial for George Zimmerman begins, his father has released an emotional and highly unusual e-book, publicly opining on all aspects of the case. The book by Robert Zimmerman Sr., called “Florida v. Zimmerman …
Discussion:
THEROOT.COM and Booman Tribune
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