memeorandum: Eliot Spitzer sued for defamation by Wall Street titan Hank Greenberg (Daniel Beekman/NY Daily News)

12:15 PM ET, July 13, 2013

Top Items:

NTSB:

NTSB statement on erroneous confirmation of crew names — The National Transportation Safety Board apologizes for inaccurate and offensive names that were mistakenly confirmed as those of the pilots of Asiana flight 214, which crashed at San Francisco International Airport on July 6.

Discussion: KAKE-TV, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Moderate Voice, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite, Gawker, msnbc.com, CBS New York, Clayton Cramer's Blog, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Boing Boing, ThinkProgress, Joe. My. God. and Deadline.com

NY Daily News:

San Francisco plane crash: TV station duped into giving racist, false names of pilots by NTSB intern — Oakland's KTVU apologizes for saying ‘Captain Sum Ting Wong,’ ‘Wi Tu Lo,’ ‘Ho Lee Fuk,’ and ‘Bang Ding Ow’ flew the plane - but says NTSB had confirmed the names.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Colorlines

KTVU-TV:

KTVU Apology for Friday Noon report — Sponsored Links — On Friday evening, KTVU Channel 2 issued the following on-air apology. — On Friday, July 12, during the KTVU Channel 2 Noon newscast, we misidentified the pilots in the Asiana Airlines crash. — We made several mistakes when we received this information.

Discussion: Asian American Journalists …, Los Angeles Times, addictinginfo.org, The Hill, AMERICAblog, Michelle Malkin, Poynter, PoliticusUSA, The Raw Story, KDVR.com, CBS New York and BuzzFeed, more at Mediagazer »

Nick Gass / Politico:

NTSB confirmed fake pilot names of Flight 214 — The NTSB said late Friday that an intern had confirmed to a California news station the fake names of the pilots aboard the crashed Asiana flight in San Francisco, sparking an outcry in the national media and prompting an on-air apology from the station.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, KTVU-TV, americanthinker.com and NewsBusters blogs

Barry Petchesky / Deadspin:

Pranked TV Station Reports “Ho Lee Fuk,” “Wi Tu Lo” As SF Crash Pilots — Bay Area Fox affiliate KTVU purportedly learned the names of the flight crew of Asiana flight 214, which crashed last Saturday at San Francisco International Airport, killing two. These—"Sum Ting Wong," “Wi Tu Lo …

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools, The Gateway Pundit and Outside the Beltway

Matier And Ross:

KTVU apologizes for racist SF plane crash gaffe — Update: The National Transportation Safety Board late Friday issued its own apology for “inaccurate and offensive names that were mistakenly confirmed” to KTVU Channel 2 as those of the pilots of Asiana flight 214, which crashed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday.

Discussion: Boston Globe

Cord Jefferson / Gawker:
KTVU Reports Asiana Air Pilots Were “Sum Ting Wong” and “Ho Lee Fuk”

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Sense of Events

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
KTVU Apparently Pranked

Discussion: USA Today and Power Line

The Huffington Post:

Tampons Confiscated, Guns Still Allowed At Texas Capitol Ahead Of Abortion Vote [UPDATE] — UPDATE — 4:43 p.m.: According to a tweet from Stand With Texas Women, the Department of Public Safety has stopped confiscating tampons and maxi pads. According to Burnt Orange Report …

Discussion: Prairie Weather, Juanita Jean's, Off the Kuff, Taegan Goddard's …, PoliticusUSA, AMERICAblog, LifeNews.com, CNN, Crooks and Liars, Yahoo! News, RH Reality Check and The Raw Story

KETK NBC:

Jars of urine, feces confiscated at TX capitol as abortion bill voting takes place — AUSTIN, TEXAS (DPS) — The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) today received information that individuals planned to use a variety of items or props to disrupt legislative proceedings at the Texas Capitol.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative, addictinginfo.org, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and National Review

Shefali Luthra / The Texas Tribune:
Protesters Question Report on Confiscations

Discussion: Guardian and RH Reality Check

The Texas Tribune:
Abortion Bill Finally Passes Texas Legislature

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and The Reaction

Chris Tomlinson / Associated Press:
Tampons Seized In Security Checks At Texas Abortion Debate

Discussion: Associated Press, Mediaite and Lawyers, Guns & Money

The Texas Tribune:
Abortion Regulations Bill Nears Final Vote

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Trail Blazers Blog, The Daily Caller, Gawker, The Other McCain and BOR

Katherine Haenschen / BOR:
HB2 Liveblog: Senate Vote, Stand With Texas Women Rally Today at the Capitol

Discussion: The Raw Story, Daily Kos and Jezebel

Daniel Beekman / NY Daily News:

Eliot Spitzer sued for defamation by Wall Street titan Hank Greenberg — Lawsuit charges Spitzer has kept up 'a long-standing malicious campaign ... to discredit Mr. Greenberg and damage Mr. Greenberg's reputation and career, while attempting to bolster Mr. Spitzer's own reputation and career.'

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Wall Street Journal and New York Times

Gothamist:
A Spitzer Petitioner's Tale: $1,600 To Get Signatures For “A Schmuck”

Discussion: New York Times and FT Alphaville

John Schwartz / New York Times:

Texas Senate Vote Puts Bill Restricting Abortion Over Final Hurdle — AUSTIN, Tex. — The Texas Senate gave final passage on Friday to one of the strictest anti-abortion measures in the country, legislation championed by Gov. Rick Perry, who rallied the Republican-controlled Legislature late …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Gawker and Outside the Beltway

Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:
You're Allowed To Carry A Gun Into The Texas Senate Gallery, But Not A Tampon

Discussion: americanthinker.com, CNN, The Raw Story, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Reuters, Hullabaloo and Dallas Morning News

Matt Gouras / Daily Journal:

APNewsBreak: Former Democratic Mont. Gov. Schweitzer won't run for open US Senate seat — HELENA, Montana — Popular former Gov. Brian Schweitzer says he will not run for Montana's open U.S. Senate seat in 2014. — The Democrat tells The Associated Press on Saturday he doesn't want to leave Montana and go to Washington, D.C.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Post Politics and Daily Kos

Adam Weinstein / Gawker:

This, Courtesy of MSNBC, Is Trayvon Martin's Dead Body. Get Angry. — A reader of mine sent me this photo last night. As the murder trial of George Zimmerman wheezes to its conclusion, the TV networks dutifully pipe in live pool video from the courtroom, as if it is force-fed …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, The Week, The PJ Tatler, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Poynter and The Dish

Jessica Chasmar / Washington Times:
‘Justice for Trayvon’: Audio released of DOJ member urging action against George Zimmerman

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Rule of Law, The PJ Tatler, Jammie Wearing Fools and Scared Monkeys

Daniel J. Flynn / American Spectator:
Two Males, No Men

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh and Balloon Juice

Holly Williams / CBS News:

Egyptian protesters (on both sides) angry at U.S. — (CBS News) CAIRO - Supporters of Egypt's ousted president Mohammed Morsi are still on the streets of Cairo. — But their protest is being ignored by Egypt's new unelected government appointed by the military.

Discussion: americanthinker.com

Gail Collins / New York Times:

The House Just Wants to Snack — And, now, the Tasty Bites theory of government. — You may have heard that the House of Representatives passed a farm bill this week. Or possibly not. I have found that many Americans can go for a very long time without mentioning the farm bill.

Discussion: Slate and Prairie Weather

Janegalt / Megan McArdle:

Should the Senate end the filibuster? — As it happens, I like the filibuster. I'm fine with its broad use against as many laws as the minority likes. I like minorities being able to hold the majority back. — That said, I don't like what the Republicans are doing with it against presidential nominees.

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Booman Tribune