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4:10 PM ET, August 12, 2013

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Justice Dept. Seeks to Curtail Stiff Drug Sentences  —  WASHINGTON — In a major shift in criminal justice policy, the Obama administration will move on Monday to ease overcrowding in federal prisons by ordering prosecutors to omit listing quantities of illegal substances in indictments …
RELATED:
Sari Horwitz / Washington Post:
Holder seeks to avert mandatory minimum sentences for some low-level drug offenders  —  Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is set to announce Monday that low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with no ties to gangs or large-scale drug organizations will no longer be charged with offenses that impose severe mandatory sentences.
Jonathan Weil / Bloomberg:
Eric Holder Owes the American People an Apology  —  The Justice Department made a long-overdue disclosure late Friday: Last year when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder boasted about the successes that a high-profile task force racked up pursuing mortgage fraud, the numbers he trumpeted were grossly overstated.
David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
‘Mandatory minimum’ sentences to end for many drug offenders
Discussion: Crooks and Liars and TalkLeft
Gabriel Debenedetti / Reuters:
Holder to outline new drug offender sentencing proposal
Discussion: Hit & Run
RELATED:
Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Spokeswoman Won't Say If Rep. Farenthold Is A Birther
Discussion: ThinkProgress
Maria Sudekum / Associated Press:
Missouri Fair clown draws criticism for Obama mask  —  You are here  —  Home » Barack Obama » Missouri Fair clown draws criticism for Obama mask  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A clown wearing a President Barack Obama mask appeared at a Missouri State Fair rodeo this weekend …
RELATED:
Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Obama Rodeo Mask Is ‘Racist’ But Decapitated George Bush Head on a Pike Was Funny  —  Liberals were outraged this weekend after a rodeo clown at the Missouri State Fair wore an Obama mask as he taunted the Bulls.  —  Obama clown at Missouri State Fair rodeo (Show Me Progress)
Mark Morris / Kansas City Star:
Clown's Obama stunt at Missouri State Fair draws rebuke
CNN:
Rodeo clown mocks Obama at Missouri State Fair
Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Missouri State Fair apologizes after rodeo clown mocks Obama
Discussion: Mediaite and The Week
Joseph Goldstein / New York Times:
Stop-and-Frisk Practice Violated Rights, Judge Rules  —  In a repudiation of a major element in the Bloomberg administration's crime-fighting legacy, a federal judge has found that the stop-and-frisk tactics of the New York Police Department violated the constitutional rights of tens of thousands …
RELATED:
CBS News:
NYC stop-and-frisk policy violates constitutional rights, federal judge rules
New York Post:
Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner being filmed for possible documentary  —  Anthony Weiner may be gearing up for the big screen.  —  Even if he doesn't make it to Gracie Mansion, the mayor wannabe could star in a documentary film about his headline-grabbing campaign.
RELATED:
Erin Durkin / NY Daily News:
Anthony Weiner aims to be top banana at Dominican Day parade in New York
New York Times:
Republicans and Democrats Both Miscalculated  —  TWO years ago, Adm. Mike Mullen, at the time the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that debt was the “single biggest threat to our national security” — not some rogue nation, or terrorist group, but debt.
Glenn Greenwald / Guardian:
Michael Hayden, Bob Schieffer and the media's reverence of national security officials  —  The former NSA director is held up by the Face the Nation host as an objective authority when he is everything but that  —  In 2006, the New York Times won the Pulitzer Prize for having revealed …
Discussion: Gawker, Hullabaloo and The Dish
RELATED:
Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:
Michael Hayden, Former NSA Chief: After A Major Attack, U.S. Likely To Seize More Surveillance Powers
Discussion: Crooks and Liars
Stephen Moore / Wall Street Journal:
The Budget Sequester Is a Success  —  The Obama spending blitz is over and the deficit is heading below 4% of GDP.  —  The biggest underreported story out of Washington this year is that the federal budget is shrinking and much more than anyone in either party expected.
Ben Geman / E2-Wire:
White House warns of rising threat to power grid from ‘extreme weather’  —  Power outages from severe weather have cost the nation an average of $18 billion to $33 billion annually, according to a new Obama administration report that stresses the threat of climate change.
RELATED:
Kyle Smith / New York Post:   Nudge off!  —  Why czars of suggestion — Eat better!  Exercise more!
David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Gays in Russia Find No Haven, Despite Support From the West  —  MOSCOW — If this article were published in a newspaper based in Russia, it could be labeled 18+ — like an X-rated movie — and start with the following disclaimer: “This article contains information not suitable for readers younger …
RELATED:
Daily Mail:
'Oprah's a liar': Sales assistant in Swiss racist handbag row denies telling TV host that she could not view item because she couldn't afford it  —  The sales assistant who refused to show U.S. talkshow billionaire Oprah Winfrey a luxury handbag costing nearly £25,000 claims the superstar lied …
Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Althouse
Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
The Surveillance Speech: A Low Point in Barack Obama's Presidency  —  His tone on Friday was inappropriately dismissive, while the substance was misleading at best and mendacious at worst.  —  Jon Stewart once reacted to a Barack Obama speech by marveling that “at 11 o'clock on a Tuesday …
Discussion: Yahoo! News and Informed Comment
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
Obama's Opaque Commitment to Transparency
Discussion: CNN and The Dish
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Expats Balk at Tax Law  —  American Citizen Renunciations Are Soaring  —  By - MARIKO SANCHANTA And - JASON CHOW  —  More U.S. citizens are giving up their American passports as the government cracks down on tax evaders.  The WSJ's Deborah Kan speaks to lawyer Eugene Chow …
Discussion: The Hill and TaxProf Blog
Anthony Breznican / Inside Movies:
‘The Day the Clown Cried’: New video surfaces from famed (and shamed) Jerry Lewis Holocaust film  —  This is making-of footage from a film that will never-be.  —  The Day the Clown Cried was a 1972 Holocaust drama directed and starring Jerry Lewis that was famously decried for its bad taste before ever being released.
Talking Points Memo:
Benton: I Saw ‘Hurt’ In McConnell's Eyes Over My Comments  —  Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) re-election campaign manager Jesse Benton told a local Louisville, Ky. news outlet that he “could see hurt” in the Senate minority leader's eyes over the aide's recently reported remarks about reluctantly serving in that position.
Discussion: WHAS, Booman Tribune and Ballot Box
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Milton Friedman, Unperson  —  Recently Senator Rand Paul, potential presidential candidate and self-proclaimed expert on monetary issues, sat down for an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek.  It didn't go too well.  For example, Mr. Paul talked about America running “a trillion-dollar deficit every year” …
David Brock / Reuters:
CNN's Hillary Clinton problem  —  Once again, CNN chief Jeff Zucker has his network stuck between a rock and a hard place — between appeasing the relentless Republican noise machine and confronting growing frustrations with CNN's sensationalism and misinforming bias.
Discussion: TheBlaze.com and Politico
 
 
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 More Items: 
Tony Leys / Des Moines Register:
Wisconsin senator who hates Obamacare plans visit to D.M. to talk about it
Discussion: Ballot Box and The Daily Caller
Kate Nocera / BuzzFeed:
GOP Strains To Win Back Senate While Keeping Conservative Activists Happy
Eric Schmitt / New York Times:
Embassies Open, but Yemen Stays on Terror Watch
 Earlier Items: 
James Hohmann / Politico:
GOP poll: Tom Cotton has edge over Mark Pryor
Digits:
Next iPad Takes After Thin, Light Mini
Discussion: GigaOM, TechCrunch and Business Insider
Scott Neuman / U.S.:
Family Rescued In Pacific After Sailing ‘Where God Led Us’
Discussion: The Mahablog and Balloon Juice
Politico:
Next fiscal fight: Why Wall Street should worry
Discussion: Business Insider
WBIR-TV:
Tennessee Judge orders baby's name be changed from ‘Messiah’
 

 
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Shirin Ghaffary / Bloomberg:
One year after Sam Altman was dramatically ousted and reinstated, OpenAI remains dominant as it continues to push ahead on impressive new products

Financial Times:
Sources: xAI raised $5B at a $45B valuation, almost double its valuation a few months ago; SpaceX prepares a tender offer that would value the company at $250B+

 
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