Exclusive: Intercepted Calls Prove Syrian Army Used Nerve Gas, U.S. Spies Say  —  Last Wednesday, in the hours after a horrific chemical attack east of Damascus, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons unit …

A Better Way to Honor Dr. King's Dream  —  The goal of the civil-rights movement was opportunity—not a ‘post-racial’ society.  —  On the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, we will hear a good deal about how life in this country for black Americans has not changed as much as Martin Luther King Jr. might have wished.

Ben Bradlee's daughter-in-law reveals (almost) all on Facebook  —  Ben Bradlee, one of the great men of American journalism, celebrated his 92nd birthday yesterday, and his daughter-in-law paid tribute by posting a photo of them and saying “it is a dream to be part of his family.”

Immigration reform's No. 1 enemy: Time  —  Immigration reform advocates have a new enemy: the congressional calendar.  —  Fall's fiscal fights have lined up in a way that could delay immigration reform until 2014, multiple senior House Republican leadership aides tell POLITICO …

Solidarity is For Miley Cyrus: The Racial Implications of her VMA Performance  —  As a black woman, I feel like I owe a debt of gratitude to Mikki Kendall, of Solidarity Is For White Women fame for managing to so perfectly encapsulate years of subjugation of black women by white women.

People Who Need to Retire: Pat Robertson Edition  —  The 700 Club host falsely asserted that gay men in San Francisco use special rings to give AIDS to unsuspecting people who shake their hands.  What year is it?  —  Dear people in public life: When you love your job …

Senate Hopeful Lonegan Launches Attack on Cory Booker  —  More ways to share...  Mixx  —  Stumbled  —  LinkedIn  —  Vine  —  Buzzflash  —  Newstrust  —  Technocrati  —  Forward Article  —  Steve Lonegan, who has been endorsed for U.S. Senate by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie …

August 2013 Ratings: MSNBC Down Double Digits  —  MSNBC continued its rough 2013 in the ratings, continuing to lose significant audience from 2012.  The problems were particularly prevalent in primetime, with some shows losing close to -50% of viewers.  —  The ratings for August 2013 (Nielsen Live + Same Day data):

Taxpayer Dollars Paid A Third Of Richest Corporate CEOs: Report  —  WASHINGTON — More than one-third of the nation's highest-paid CEOs from the past two decades led companies that were subsidized by American taxpayers, according to a report released Wednesday by the Institute for Policy Studies, a liberal think tank.

Behind the Scenes of The Hunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev  —  All photographs by Massachusetts State Police Sergeant Sean Murphy  —  It was likely the most terrifying manhunt in Boston history.  With the city under lockdown and armored vehicles rolling through Watertown, the alleged Boston …

Ousted Illinois Republican chairman hired to lobby on gay marriage bill … Clout Street  —  Pat Brady, who was forced out as chairman of the state Republican Party after backing gay marriage legislation, said Tuesday he has been retained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois …

Mildest US Summer In A Century  —  This summer, the US has experienced the fewest number of 100 degree readings in a century.  The five hottest summers (1936, 1934, 1954, 1980 and 1930) all occurred with CO2 below 350 PPM.  —  CO2 went over 400 PPM this year, indicating that heatwaves and CO2 have nothing to do with each other.

MLK would be alarmed by black-on-black violence, lack of family values  —  It is hard to believe that 50 years have elapsed since the famous “I have a dream speech” of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Mall in Washington.  I was an 11-year-old child in Detroit languishing in the midst of poverty …