memeorandum: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (Travel.State.Gov)

9:10 AM ET, August 3, 2013

Top Items:

Eric Schmitt / New York Times:

Qaeda Messages Prompt U.S. Terror Warning — WASHINGTON — The United States intercepted electronic communications this week among senior operatives of Al Qaeda, in which the terrorists discussed attacks against American interests in the Middle East and North Africa, American officials said Friday.

Discussion: CBS New York, CANNONFIRE, BBC, CNN, Eschaton, BuzzFeed and The Lead with Jake Tapper

Travel.State.Gov:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE — The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the continued potential for terrorist attacks, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, and possibly occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula. Current information suggests that al-Qa'ida …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, CBS News, The Long War Journal, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Taylor Marsh, emptywheel, Weasel Zippers, Business Insider, New York Times and The Hinterland Gazette

Chris Lawrence / CNN:
U.S. issues global travel alert, to close embassies due to al Qaeda threat

Discussion: The Week, The Moderate Voice, CBS New York, The Lead with Jake Tapper, National Review, Outside the Beltway, Washington Monthly, Yahoo! News, Questions and Observations and The PJ Tatler

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:
State Department Issues Global Travel Alert

Discussion: ABC News, FOX5 San Diego, Prairie Weather and Israel Matzav

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

House votes 232-185 to block the IRS from enforcing ObamaCare — The House voted Friday to prevent the IRS from enforcing any aspect of ObamaCare, a bill meant to exact revenge against an agency that Republicans say is incapable of neutral enforcement of the law.

Discussion: CNN, Liberal Values, his vorpal sword, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard and The Raw Story

Michael Kitchen / MarketWatch:
Congress to get Obamacare exemption: report

Discussion: Examiner, American Glob, The Gateway Pundit and Vox Popoli

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo: House GOP Passes 40th Obamacare Repeal Bill Before Going Home For Summer Recess

Avik Roy / Forbes:
Congressmen Rejoice! Govt. To Subsidize Their Health Insurance Through Obamacare's Exchanges

Discussion: NewsBusters blogs, Politico, Corrente, National Review and The World's Greatest …

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:

Clouds Spread to Democratic Side of Virginia Governor's Race — For months, the governor's race in Virginia has unfolded beneath a cloud of scandal over the Republican incumbent that spread to his would-be Republican successor, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II. — But now a potential scandal …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Washington Post:
Company with ties to Terry McAuliffe is under SEC investigation

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air, Politico and The PJ Tatler

Allegra Stratton / BBC:

Tories hire key Obama strategist — The Conservative Party has hired Barack Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina for its general election campaign team, BBC Newsnight has learned. — Sources confirmed that he would act as a campaign strategy adviser to the Conservative party.

Discussion: Post Politics, Washington Monthly, Twitchy, The Hill and First Read

Tal Kopan / Politico:
Jim Messina jumps across the pond

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

David Freedlander / The Daily Beast:

Charlie Rangel on Immigration, Pope Francis & His Successor — He's survived redistricting and a censure. At 83, Harlem's controversial House stalwart is finally confronting retirement. He won't be going quietly. By David Freedlander. — Charlie Rangel barged into his office …

Discussion: Conservative Blogs Central, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Fox News, CNN, Weasel Zippers, American Glob, Hot Air, Twitchy, Sister Toldjah, The Hinterland Gazette, Politico, Politicker and The Raw Story

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:
Charlie Rangel: Tea Party Is ‘Same Group’ Of ‘White Crackers’ Who Fought Civil Rights

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, The Hill, Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, The Other McCain, Right Wing News, Mediaite, TheBlaze.com, The Right Scoop, No More Mister Nice Blog and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

James Arkin / Politico:

Alaskans don't back Palin for prez — There would be no home field advantage in Alaska for Sarah Palin if the former governor made a run for the White House in 2016, according to a new poll released Friday. — Hillary Clinton, the front runner for the Democrats in 2016 …

Discussion: Public Policy Polling, CNN and The PJ Tatler

Nick Gillespie / Washington Post:

Five myths about libertarians — Nick Gillespie, editor of Reason.com and a columnist for the Daily Beast, is a co-author of “The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America.” — The specter of libertarianism is haunting America.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Yahoo! News, Hot Air, Hit & Run and National Review

Mike Fleming Jr / Deadline.com:

George Clooney To Hedge Fund Honcho Daniel Loeb: Stop Spreading Fear At Sony — EXCLUSIVE: George Clooney, who yesterday sent his Smokehouse Pictures partner Grant Heslov to Hollywood to show Sony and Fox a first cut of their Oscar-season period film The Monuments Men, has spent …

Discussion: DealBook, Quartz and The Huffington Post

Andrew Siff / nbcnewyork.com:

Anthony Weiner: I'm “100 Percent Not” Sexting Right Now, Deleted Everything from Past Affairs — “I don't have any of the records,” Weiner said in an interview with NBC 4 New York Friday — For a man who just wants the press to move forward from the revelations of his controversial sexual trysts online …

Discussion: Politicker

Joseph Erbentraut / The Huffington Post:

Illinois Medical Marijuana Bill Signed Into Law By Governor Pat Quinn — Illinois on Thursday officially became the 20th U.S. state to legalize medical marijuana. — At a ceremony at the University of Chicago, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed the bill while joined by Jim Champion …

Discussion: Chicago Tribune and ThinkProgress

Tim Murphy / Mother Jones:

VIDEO: House GOPer Won't Push Back on Birther Calling Obama “Communist Despot” — Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) is no John McCain. — At a town hall forum in her district on Monday that was sponsored by a local tea party group, Roby was asked by an attendee what she would do to counter …

Discussion: Daily Kos

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog:

New Nixon audio: “Aristotle was a homo... Roman emperors, fags” — This is brilliant. They've found new audio of then-President Richard Nixon complaining about a TV show he stumbled upon that was glorifying homosexuality: “All in the Family.” — It's hard to imagine Nixon wasn't familiar with All in the Family.

Discussion: Booman Tribune

David Lieberman / Deadline.com:

NO DEAL! CBS And Showtime Go Dark On Time Warner Cable — CBS and Time Warner Cable negotiators failed to reach an agreement in their retransmission deal negotiations. Shortly after 5:00 PM ET some 3.5M TWC customers in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas lost programming …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and TVLine, more at Mediagazer »

Jessica Chasmar / Washington Times:

13 Wisconsin officials raid animal shelter to kill baby deer named Giggles — Two weeks ago, Ray Schulze was working in a barn at the Society of St. Francis no-kill animal shelter in Kenosha, Wis., when officials swarmed the shelter with a search warrant. — “[There were] nine …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Power Line

Conor Friedersdorf / Reuters:

The Attack in Benghazi: Worth Investigating After All — CNN reports that dozens of CIA agents were on the ground there — and that they're being pressured to keep quiet. Why? — Suddenly it is imperative that Congress investigate details surrounding the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens.