To Our Customers  —  We designed our phone, video, and text services (Silent Phone and Silent Text) to be completely end-to-end secure with all cryptography done on the clients and our exposure to your data to be nil.  The reasons are obvious — the less of your information we have, the better it is for you and for us.

FIRST ON CNN: U.S. pulls diplomats from Lahore, Pakistan, amid terror threat  —  Washington (CNN) — The State Department has evacuated most of its diplomats from Lahore, Pakistan in response to a terrorist threat against the U.S. consulate, senior State Department and other senior U.S. officials told CNN.

Why Seniors Are Turning Against The GOP  —  There's something going on with seniors: It is now strikingly clear that they have turned sharply against the GOP.  This is apparent in seniors' party affiliation and vote intention, in their views on the Republican Party and its leaders …

Gutierrez: 40-50 House Republicans will back immigration reform  —  Forty to 50 House Republicans will support immigration reform, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) predicted Thursday.  —  Gutierrez said many of the Republicans supportive of immigration reform don't want to be identified …

EXCLUSIVE: Alec Baldwin Set To Host New MSNBC Primetime Show (UPDATED)  —  Mediaite has learned from a senior source in the cable news industry with knowledge of MSNBC's programming that actor Alec Baldwin is getting his own weekly show in MSNBC's primetime lineup.

Jesse Benton on Mitch McConnell: “I'm sorta holding my nose for 2 years”  —  What does Mitch McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton really think about working for the Mitch McConnell re-election campaign?  —  EconomicPolicyJournal.com has obtained a recording of a phone conversation between Dennis Fusaro …

Apple's Tim Cook, tech execs meet with Barack Obama to talk surveillance  —  President Barack Obama hosted Apple CEO Tim Cook, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Google computer scientist Vint Cerf and other tech executives and civil liberties leaders on Thursday for a closed-door meeting about government surveillance, sources tell POLITICO.

Roger Ailes on Megyn Kelly Report: ‘All of Our Stars Will be Back’  —  Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes is being interviewed by Neil Cavuto at this hour in California at a 21st Century Fox investors conference.  —  The first question Cavuto asked was about the rumor …

A how-to book about inciting a moral panic.  —  Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner has uncovered a fascinating document: an 80-page “talking points” monograph titled “Preventing Gun Violence Through Effective Messaging,” written by a trio of Democratic political operatives.

Shushers: Wrong about movies.  Wrong about the world.  —  [Update: Some a**hole wrote a response to this piece, about “Respecting Cinema in the Digital Age”.]  —  There's been a delightful debate the last few days about how to accommodate the increasing number of people who want the experience …

Obama Announces Friday News Conference  —  President Barack Obama says he'll hold a news conference at the White House on Friday.  —  Obama will answer reporters' questions in the midst of a terror alert that led the government to close nearly two dozen embassies and consulates in the Middle East and North Africa.

Phony Fear Factor  —  We live in a golden age of economic debunkery; fallacious doctrines have been dropping like flies.  No, monetary expansion needn't cause hyperinflation.  No, budget deficits in a depressed economy don't cause soaring interest rates.  No, slashing spending doesn't create jobs.

Quinn Leads Democratic Candidates for Mayor, Poll Finds  —  Christine C. Quinn is leading the crowded field in the Democratic primary race for New York City mayor, lifted by support among Manhattanites and higher-income voters, the latest New York Times/Siena College poll finds.

Va. doctor who lent governor's firm $50,000 was offered medical board appointment  —  A Virginia Beach radiologist lent $50,000 to a real estate corporation owned by Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his sister in 2010 — the same year the doctor was offered an appointment to a state medical board.

Sydney Leathers: The Best, Only, and Last Interview With Her You Should Ever Read  —  Long story short: Sydney Leathers is a 23-year-old who happened to exchange some texts with a guy, except those texts were sexts, and the guy is now running for the mayor of New York City, one Anthony Weiner.

U.S. reports a breakthrough in malaria vaccine  —  (CNN) — U.S. researchers reported a breakthrough Thursday in the search for a vaccine for malaria, the mosquito-borne disease that sickens millions worldwide.  —  More than three dozen volunteers received multiple, intravenous doses …

When Stephanie got her facts wrong: One Nation candidate makes gaffe after gaffe in TV interview  —  Follow Rachel on Twitter Email Rachel  —  Stephanie Banister, the One Nation candidate for Rankin in Queensland, says Islam is a country and gets her facts wrong on multiple issues in an embarrassing television interview.

IRS agent: Tax agency is still targeting Tea Party groups  —  WASHINGTON SECRETS TAXES TEA PARTY IRS  —  In a remarkable admission that is likely to rock the Internal Revenue Service again, testimony released Thursday by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp reveals …