Top Items:
Guardian:
NSA loophole allows warrantless search for US citizens' emails and phone calls — Exclusive: Spy agency has secret backdoor permission to search databases for individual Americans' communications — The National Security Agency has a secret backdoor into its vast databases under …
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Washington Post:
Obama announces proposals to reform NSA surveillance — President Obama announced plans Friday to pursue reforms that would open the legal proceedings surrounding the National Security Agency's surveillance programs to greater scrutiny, the administration's most concerted response yet to a series of national security disclosures.
Discussion:
The Impolitic, American Prospect, Forbes, Hit & Run, The Verge, The Fix, Lawfare and The Spectacle Blog
Jeremy Herb / The Hill:
Obama: Putin looks like ‘bored kid in the back of the classroom’ — President Obama on Friday insisted he doesn't have a bad personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. — Obama, who cancelled a meeting next month in Moscow with Putin over Russia's granting of asylum …
Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:
Obama Administration Launching NSA Transparency Website — And the NSA is releasing a paper explaining some of its methods. — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced on Friday it will create a new website to address concerns over the transparency of controversial dragnet surveillance programs.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress and The Week, more at Mediagazer »
New York Times:
Obama Offers Plan Meant to Ease Concerns on Surveillance — WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday sought to get his administration ahead of the roiling debate over National Security Agency surveillance, releasing new information about spying activities and calling for changes aimed …
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Washington Monthly and Hot Air
Jana Winter / Fox News:
NSA head says agency working to reduce leaks by replacing people with machines
NSA head says agency working to reduce leaks by replacing people with machines
Discussion:
protein wisdom and The PJ Tatler
Joshua Green / Businessweek:
Rand Paul on Republicans' Voter Appeal and the Federal Reserve — How seriously are you thinking about the White House? — At this point we're thinking about ways to grow the Republican Party and won't make any decision about whether that involves me running or not for about a year.
Discussion:
The Week, National Review, Fortune, The Dish, American Prospect and Wonkblog
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Paul Krugman:
A Poll I'd Like To See — Jonathan Chait finds Rand Paul talking …
A Poll I'd Like To See — Jonathan Chait finds Rand Paul talking …
Discussion:
Eschaton
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Rand Paul Not So Good With Numbers
Rand Paul Not So Good With Numbers
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Politico, Washington Monthly and Liberal Values
Washington Post:
TRANSCRIPT: President Obama's August 9, 2013, news conference at the White House — By Washington Post Staff, — President Obama took questions from reporters at the White House on Aug. 9, 2013. — PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Good afternoon, everybody. Please have a seat.
Discussion:
Electronic Frontier Foundation, News Desk and National Review
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TIME:
The Bourne Hypocrisy: Matt Damon's Peculiar School Choice — The movie star's explanation for sending his four daughters to private school is disingenuous. — Oscar winner Matt Damon has earned millions successfully playing a super spy, tortured genius, rugby icon, and poker player.
Discussion:
PJ Lifestyle, The Daily Caller, The PJ Tatler, The Reliable Source and Eduwonk
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Reid raises race in discussing GOP opposition to Obama's agenda — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Friday said he hoped GOP opposition to President Obama was not based on his race. — Reid made the comments in response to a question during a radio interview.
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CNN
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Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Harry Reid: Conference would lead to ‘win’
Harry Reid: Conference would lead to ‘win’
Discussion:
ModBee.com, The Gateway Pundit, The Plum Line, Post Politics and The Daily Caller
boxer.authoring.testing.senate.gov:
Boxer Sends Open Letter to San Diego Mayor Bob Filner — Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today sent an open letter to San Diego Mayor Bob Filner. The text of the letter follows: — Dear Bob, — We've known each other for a long time, and have worked together …
Discussion:
Politico and ThinkProgress
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Seth Koenig / Bangor Daily News:
LePage in fighter jet simulator: ‘I want to find the Press Herald building and blow it up’ — NORTH BERWICK, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage — who earlier this summer told his commissioners to stop speaking to reporters from the Portland Press Herald and its two sister papers after he objected …
Discussion:
CNN and The Huffington Post
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Ezra Klein / Bloomberg:
How Dumb Is Immigration Debate? This Dumb. — Everything you know about immigration, particularly unauthorized immigration, is wrong. — So says Princeton University's Doug Massey, anyway. Massey is one of the nation's preeminent immigration scholars.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and AL.com
Andrew Rafferty / U.S. News:
Weiner mocks reporter, scolds staff as cameras roll at campaign event — “I just have a feeling I like stepped into a Monty Python bit,” Anthony Weiner said as a British journalist questioned him about his campaign to become New York City mayor. He then offered to present an impromptu weather forecast.
Discussion:
New York Post, Death and Taxes, msnbc.com, BuzzFeed and New York Times
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Erin Durkin / NY Daily News:
Anthony Weiner slips to lowest rating ever in poll of Democratic voters
Anthony Weiner slips to lowest rating ever in poll of Democratic voters
Discussion:
Capital New York and New York Times
Patrick Gavin / Politico:
Candy Crowley on Clinton documentary: ‘Life more difficult’ — In the wake of news that NBC plans a four-part drama about the life of Hillary Clinton and that CNN has commissioned a documentary on her, both television networks have had to deflect criticism that these are designed to bolster a potential Clinton presidential run.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Huffington Post and NewsBusters
Joel B. Pollak / BREITBART.COM:
TOP 10 QUESTIONS JOURNALISTS WON'T ASK PRESIDENT OBAMA AT PRESS CONFERENCE — President Barack Obama rarely makes himself available to the mainstream media. They adore him anyway. At rare press conferences, such as the one scheduled for noon Friday at the White House …
James Hohmann / Politico:
Ken Cuccinelli slams Terry McAuliffe at forum — MANASSAS, Va. — Republican Ken Cuccinelli threw the kitchen sink at his Democratic opponent Friday, using a forum here to unload the most blisteringly negative and far-reaching attacks yet of an already nasty governor's race.
Discussion:
CNN, National Review and Washington Free Beacon
Jim Romenesko:
Patch staffers will be laid off and sites closed over next 7 days as Tim Armstrong takes charge — Patch employees listened in on this morning's conference call expecting to hear that hundreds are losing their jobs today. But AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong told the listeners that the layoffs …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Washington Monthly, Gawker, Mashable, Forbes and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »
Jason Richwine / Reuters:
Why can't we talk about IQ? — “IQ is a metric of such dubiousness that almost no serious educational researcher uses it anymore,” the Guardian's Ana Marie Cox wrote back in May. It was a breathtakingly ignorant statement. Psychologist Jelte Wicherts noted in response that a search for …
Discussion:
Wonkblog and Little Green Footballs
Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:
EXCLUSIVE: Oklahoma Congressman Comes Out As A Birther — AFTON, Oklahoma — Although Freshman Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) believes President Obama may secretly be a Kenyan who forged his birth certificate, he thinks it's too late to do anything about it. — During a town hall meeting …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Goppers, Daily Kos and msnbc.com
Megan R. Wilson / Hillicon Valley:
Twitter seeks clout in Washington — Twitter is ready to play the Washington power game. — The company is starting its own political action committee — called Twitter#PAC — and has registered its first in-house lobbyist as it seeks influence in the nation's capital.
Discussion:
Politico
Tony Romm / Politico:
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.
Discussion:
CNN, TechCrunch, BuzzMachine, ReadWrite, Digits, VentureBeat, Hit & Run, Fortune, GigaOM, Business Insider, The Verge and Mashable
Andrew Kaczynski:
Congressman Suggests “Arab Persons” Might Disguise As Hispanics To Cross The Border — Republican Rep. Buck McKeon was speaking at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10049 in Simi Valley, California Wednesday on immigration reform where he suggested terrorists from the Middle East might disguises as Hipanics to cross the border.
Chicago Tribune:
Durbin's enemies list — Rather than accusing political enemies of flouting federal law, Sen. Dick Durbin is suggesting that he may publicly expose them to public outrage over the killing of Trayvon Martin. … “It is absolutely unacceptable to single out any political group — right …
Discussion:
Overlawyered, The Raw Story, Booman Tribune, Wall Street Journal and Illinois Review
Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Steve Lonegan camp deletes Cory Booker tweet — The campaign team for the Republican running for Senate in New Jersey sent out a racially charged tweet during Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker's debate against three rival Democrats vying for the nomination in the special election.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, theGrio and The Save Jersey BlogThe …