Top Items:
Mark Rumold / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
EFF Victory Results in Release of Secret Court Opinion Finding NSA Surveillance Unconstitutional — Update: In response to EFF's FOIA lawsuit, the government has released the 2011 FISA court opinion ruling some NSA surveillance unconstitutional. — For over a year, EFF has been fighting …
Discussion:
The Switch, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Techdirt, Hit & Run, emptywheel and Boing Boing, more at Mediagazer »
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Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
NSA gathered thousands of Americans' e-mails before court struck down program — The National Security Agency unlawfully gathered as many as tens of thousands of e-mails and other electronic communications between Americans as part of a now-discontinued collection program, according to a 2011 secret court opinion.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Switch, TechCrunch, Guardian, Hot Air, The World's Greatest …, msnbc.com, NPR, The Verge and Mashable
New York Times:
2011 Ruling Found an N.S.A. Program Unconstitutional — WASHINGTON — A recently revealed National Security Agency program that searches the contents of Americans' international Internet communications for people who mention foreigners under surveillance violated the Constitution for several years …
Brendan Sasso / Hillicon Valley:
Court: NSA collected domestic emails, violating the Constitution
Court: NSA collected domestic emails, violating the Constitution
Discussion:
ABC News
Washington Post:
FISA court ruling on illegal NSA e-mail collection program
FISA court ruling on illegal NSA e-mail collection program
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, CBS News, The Verge and The Volokh Conspiracy
Kimberly Dozier / ABC News:
NSA Collected Thousands of US Communications
NSA Collected Thousands of US Communications
Discussion:
Andrew Kaczynski, Associated Press, Politico, BuzzFeed, Little Green Footballs and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »
Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Poll: Louisiana GOPers Unsure If Katrina Response Was Obama's Fault — A significant chunk of Louisiana Republicans evidently believe that President Barack Obama is to blame for the poor response to the hurricane that ravaged their state more than three years before he took office.
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Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Jindal plummets and other notes from Louisiana — Three years ago in August PPP declared Bobby Jindal to be the most popular Governor in the country. 58% of voters approved of him to only 34% who disapproved. Jindal's fortunes have seen an amazing shift since that time though …
Julie Tate / Washington Post:
Judge sentences Bradley Manning to 35 years — A military judge on Wednesday morning sentenced Army Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. — Manning, 25, was convicted last month of multiple charges …
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New York Times:
Manning Sentenced to 35 Years for Leaking Government Secrets — FORT MEADE, Md. — A military judge on Wednesday sentenced Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for providing more than 700,000 government files to WikiLeaks, a gigantic leak that lifted the veil on military and diplomatic activities around the world.
Dylan Byers / Politico:
Maureen Dowd: I ‘screwed up’ — New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd says she “screwed up” by misquoting the wife of New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio in her recent column and attributed the mistake to a “noisy” coffee shop. — “I screwed up. The coffee shop was so noisy, my tape recorder didn't pick up everything.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Bill's Turn at Bat — So it turns out that Michael Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio, who's campaigning for mayor on a promise to de-Bloomberg Gotham, do have something in common. — Both men, who grew up in the Boston area, threw caution to the wind and admitted while running for mayor of New York that they were Red Sox fans.
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Mother Jones, Politicker, New York Magazine, Wonkette, Towleroad News #gay, CBS New York, Metropolis, The Huffington Post and theGrio
Joe Coscarelli / New York Magazine:
Maureen Dowd's Frankenstein Quote Gave Christine Quinn a Temporary Opening on de Blasio
Maureen Dowd's Frankenstein Quote Gave Christine Quinn a Temporary Opening on de Blasio
Discussion:
The Raw Story and Politicker
Loveday Morris / Washington Post:
Syrian activists accuse government of deadly chemical attack near Damascus — BEIRUT - Syrian activists accused the government on Wednesday of launching a massive chemical weapons attack that killed scores of people in the Damascus suburbs and left makeshift hospitals packed with victims gasping for breath.
Discussion:
NBCNews, CBS News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, CNN, The Week, p m carpenter's commentary, Daily Dot, The Jawa Report, The Moderate Voice, Reuters and The PJ Tatler
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Seth / GLAAD:
Wentworth Miller rejects Russian film festival invitation; ‘As a gay man, I must decline’ — Actor and screenwriter Wentworth Miller today rejected an invitation to attend the St. Petersburg International Film Festival, citing Russia's anti-LGBT laws. In a letter to the Festival's Director …
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Gawker, LGBTQ Nation, Towleroad News #gay, PinkNews.co.uk and Good As You
Hilary Whiteman / CNN:
‘Senseless’ shooting of Australian Chris Lane sparks calls for U.S. boycott — (CNN) — They were younger than him, just teenagers who were driving around, apparently bored and looking for somebody to kill, according to police in Duncan, Oklahoma. — The indiscriminate shooting of Christopher Lane …
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Salon:
(Credit: Michael Lionstar) — I can vividly remember the first time I read Camille Paglia. I was visiting New York with my mom during college and we happened across “Vamps and Tramps” at a bookstore near our hotel. Lying in neighboring twin beds, I read passages out loud to her.
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, UrbanGrounds, Hot Air, Questions and Observations, Jihad Watch, Sense of Events and Althouse
Dylan Byers / Politico:
Fox News firing tied to Ailes book — The decision last month by Fox News chief Roger Ailes to fire his top communications executive, Brian Lewis, was due to a number of factors, including what the network's parent company 21st Century Fox has described as “financial irregularities” and breaches of contract.
Discussion:
FishbowlDC, JIMROMENESKO.COM and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »
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Karoli / Crooks and Liars:
The Terrible Obama Black Dog Conspiracy — Warning: cute puppy ahead. Watch the video and you'll be filled with a moment of puppy sighs. It seems that Bo has a new pal to keep him company when he isn't doing White House stuff. … Yeah, Sunny's cute, and I've loved Bo from day one.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, susiemadrak.com and No More Mister Nice Blog
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Justin Sink / The Hill:
White House: Obama not ready to back legalized marijuana
White House: Obama not ready to back legalized marijuana
Discussion:
Politico
Joe Biden / CNN:
Beau Biden in ‘great shape’ after procedure — (CNN) - Beau Biden, who traveled to Texas this week for medical tests, successfully underwent a procedure Tuesday and is currently in “great shape,” the White House said Wednesday. — The Delaware attorney general and son of Vice President Joe Biden …
Discussion:
Politico
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Kyung Lah / CNN:
18th woman accuses San Diego mayor — (CNN) — Another woman has come forward to accuse San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment. — Businesswoman Dianne York told CNN that Filner put his hands on her buttocks during a photo opportunity that followed a meeting three months ago.
Discussion:
KGTV-TV, Politico, Weasel Zippers and National Review
Carla Caldwell / bizjournals:
UPS to drop 15,000 spouses from insurance, cites Obamacare — United Parcel Service Inc. plans to remove thousands of spouses from its medical plan because they are eligible for coverage elsewhere. The Atlanta-based logistics company points to the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Michelle Malkin, Washington Free Beacon, National Review, The PJ Tatler and Sense of Events
jhnewsandguide.com:
Breaking news: Cheney pays $220 for fishing license ticket — Angus M. Thuermer Jr., Jackson Hole News&Guide — U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Lynne Cheney posted a $220 bond in Ninth Circuit Court in Teton County on Monday on a charge of making a false statement to procure a fishing license.
Discussion:
Ballot Box and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:
Maggie Gallagher: Chris Christie ‘Banned Chastity’ By Signing Ex-Gay Therapy Ban — Maggie Gallagher claimed that her first response to Gov. Chris Christie (R) signing New Jersey's ban on ex-gay therapy for minors was issued in error, but her actual response is not so different.
Discussion:
Good As You, Equality Matters, ThinkProgress and National Review
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Maggie Gallagher / National Review:
What I Really Think About Christie's Veto — Due to staff error …
Blake Neff / The Hill:
Rep. Clyburn likens American media to Nazi propagandists — Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the third-ranking House Democrat, on Wednesday accused the U.S. media of spreading “manufactured controversies” that pose dangers similar to the propaganda spread by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
Discussion:
CNN, Weasel Zippers and National Review
James Hohmann / Politico:
Scott Walker's stealth 2016 strategy — MADISON, Wis. — He can't use the Senate soapbox to rack up media hits and political points, like Rand Paul or Marco Rubio. He isn't poised to run up the score in his reelection campaign as a show of strength heading into 2016, as Chris Christie intends to do this November in New Jersey.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Spectacle Blog, American Spectator and CNN
Chris Christoff / Bloomberg:
Abandoned Dogs Roam Detroit in Packs as Humans Dwindle — Detroit Dominated by Pitbulls as 50K Dogs Roam Free — As many as 50,000 stray dogs roam the streets and vacant homes of bankrupt Detroit, replacing residents, menacing humans who remain and overwhelming the city's ability to find them homes or peaceful deaths.
Discussion:
americanthinker.com, Gawker, Weasel Zippers, NPR, Weekly Standard and American Spectator
Daria Solovieva / Washington Times:
Egypt's Coptic Christians face unprecedented reprisals from the Muslim Brotherhood — CAIRO — Islamist mobs have torched schools and businesses owned by Christians, looted churches and even paraded captive nuns through the streets of a city south of Cairo in a display of rage unseen in Egypt's recent history.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and The Daily Caller
Economic Policy Institute:
A Decade of Flat Wages: The Key Barrier to Shared Prosperity and a Rising Middle Class — The nation's economic discourse has finally shifted from talk of “grand bargain” budget deals to a focus on addressing the economic challenges of the middle class and those aspiring to join the middle class.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Week, Wonkblog and PolicyShop