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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, Techdirt, Hit & Run, The Hinterland Gazette, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, emptywheel and Boing Boing, more at Mediagazer »
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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:
Guardian, ThinkProgress, The World's Greatest …, Hot Air, The Verge, NPR, msnbc.com, TechCrunch, Mashable and The Switch

Secret Court Castigated N.S.A. on Surveillance — WASHINGTON — A federal judge sharply rebuked the National Security Agency in 2011 for gathering and storing tens of thousands of Americans' e-mails each year as it hunted for terrorists and other legitimate foreign targets …
Discussion:
TalkLeft

Court: NSA collected domestic emails, violating the Constitution
Discussion:
Yahoo! News and ABC News

FISA court ruling on illegal NSA e-mail collection program
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, CBS News, The Verge and The Volokh Conspiracy


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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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 …

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, CBS New York and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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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:
CBS New York, Politicker, Mother Jones, New York Magazine, Wonkette, Towleroad News #gay, Yahoo! News, Metropolis, theGrio and The Huffington Post


Maureen Dowd's Frankenstein Quote Gave Christine Quinn a Temporary Opening on de Blasio
Discussion:
The Raw Story, The Reality-Based Community and Politicker

The anti-Clinton media — here we go again
Discussion:
Politico, The Huffington Post and Washington Free Beacon

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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Manning Sentenced to 35 Years For a Pivotal Leak of U.S. Files — FORT MEADE, Md. — A military judge sentenced Pfc. Bradley Manning on Wednesday to 35 years in prison for providing more than 700,000 government files to WikiLeaks, a gigantic leak that lifted the veil on American military and diplomatic activities around the world.

White House eyes ‘gun trust’ loophole — The Obama administration is working to close a loophole in the nation's gun laws that allows for some machine guns and sawed-off shotguns to be sold without the buyer submitting fingerprints or photographs. — The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco …
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The Terrible Obama Black Dog Conspiracy
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, susiemadrak.com and No More Mister Nice Blog

White House: Obama not ready to back legalized marijuana
Discussion:
Politico


‘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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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, CNN, LGBTQ Nation, Gawker, Towleroad News #gay, PinkNews.co.uk and Good As You


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
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Illinois Offering $9-An-Hour Jobs To Have Workers Sign People Up For ‘Obamacare’
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools

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:
Politico, Ballot Box and Alan Colmes' Liberaland


(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, Hot Air, Jihad Watch, UrbanGrounds, Questions and Observations, Sense of Events and Althouse


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:
The Daily Caller and Weasel Zippers
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Egyptian court orders Mubarak released from prison
Discussion:
New York Times, Firedoglake and Washington Monthly

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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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:
Weasel Zippers, CNN and National Review


Another sex harassment accusation for San Diego Mayor Bob Filner — (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

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, Mediaite, JIMROMENESKO.COM, New York Magazine, Hollywood Reporter and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »


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:
The Daily Caller, americanthinker.com, Gawker, Weasel Zippers, NPR, Weekly Standard and American Spectator

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


Al Gore explains why he's optimistic about stopping global warming — Al Gore was vice president of the United States from 1993-2001. Since leaving politics, he's been heavily involved in the campaign to fight global warming, even winning a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
Discussion:
E2-Wire, Weasel Zippers and Viking Pundit

Brown opts out of run for Mass. governor — Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) said Wednesday night he will not run for Massachusetts governor in 2014. — Brown said he wanted to remain in the private sector, noting that another run for public office would take a lot of “thought, analysis, money and sometimes personal sacrifice.”
Discussion:
Politico


How to Be John Boehner's Bitch: The Official Manual — Washington, D.C., interns — in particular, congressional interns — tend to be embryonic versions of the monsters they serve: rich, white, and drunk on even the tiniest modicum of actual power. How do they get that way?
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA