memeorandum: Justice Department eases rules on marijuana enforcement (Blake Neff/The Hill)

5:50 PM ET, August 29, 2013

Top Items:

Kim Jong-un's ex-lover ‘executed by firing squad’ — Kim Jong-un's ex-girlfriend was among a dozen well-known North Korean performers who were executed by firing squad nine days go, according to South Korean reports. — Hyon Song-wol, a singer and rumoured to be a former lover of the North Korean leader …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Via Meadia, The Daily Caller, The Other McCain and Boing Boing

Digital Chosunilbo:

Kim Jong-un's Ex-Girlfriend ‘Shot by Firing Squad’ — Kim Jong-un's ex-girlfriend was among a dozen well-known North Korean performers who were executed by firing squad on Aug. 20, reports said Wednesday. — Sources in China said singer Hyon Song-wol as well as Mun Kyong-jin …

Discussion: FP Passport, Gawker, NBCNews, Business Insider and AL.com

Joe Kemp / NY Daily News:

Ex-girlfriend of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un executed by firing squad: report — Hyon Song-wol, a well-known pop artist and longtime girlfriend of the dictator, was one of a dozen performers gunned after they were arrested for allegedly breaking pornography laws, according to a report.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Fox News:
Kim Jong-un's ex-girlfriend reportedly executed by firing squad

Discussion: The Daily Banter

Washington Post:

U.S. spy network's successes, failures and objectives detailed in ‘black budget’ summary — U.S. spy agencies have built an intelligence-gathering colossus since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but remain unable to provide critical information to the president on a range of national security threats …

The United States Department of Justice:

Justice Department Announces Update to Marijuana Enforcement Policy — Today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an update to its federal marijuana enforcement policy in light of recent state ballot initiatives that legalize, under state law, the possession of small amounts of marijuana …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Firedoglake, TalkLeft, The Volokh Conspiracy, BBC, VICE, msnbc.com, Hit & Run and The Verge

Evan Perez / CNN:

No federal challenge to pot legalization in 2 states — Washington (CNN) — The Justice Department said it won't try to block state laws that legalize marijuana and issued loosened enforcement guidelines for federal prosecutors intended to focus on serious trafficking cases.

Discussion: The Reality-Based Community and AL.com

Blake Neff / The Hill:
Justice Department eases rules on marijuana enforcement

Discussion: Politico and The Democratic Daily

Ryan J. Reilly / The Huffington Post:
Eric Holder Says DOJ Will Let Washington, Colorado Marijuana Laws Go Into Effect

Discussion: New York Times, Hit & Run, Red Alert Politics and Wonkblog

U.S. Department of the Treasury:

All Legal Same-Sex Marriages Will Be Recognized for Federal Tax Purposes — Ruling Provides Certainty, Benefits and Protections Under Federal Tax Law for Same-Sex Married Couples — WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Arizona Republic, The Volokh Conspiracy, Advocate, Wonkblog, AL.com, msnbc.com, Daily Kos, Althouse, National Review and NPR

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Same-Sex Married Couples To Get Federal Tax Recognition Regardless Of State

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay, LGBTQ Nation and Joe. My. God.

HHS.gov:
HHS announces first guidance implementing Supreme Court's decision on the Defense of Marriage Act

Discussion: Weekly Standard, LGBTQ Nation and ThinkProgress

Annie Lowrey / New York Times:
I.R.S. to Recognize All Gay Marriages, Regardless of State

Discussion: Mediaite and Outside the Beltway

Associated Press:

AP SOURCES: INTELLIGENCE ON WEAPONS NO ‘SLAM DUNK’ — You are here — Home » United States government » AP sources: Intelligence on weapons no ‘slam dunk’ — WASHINGTON (AP) — The intelligence linking Syrian President Bashar Assad or his inner circle to an alleged chemical weapons attack …

Discussion: Associated Press, CNN, New York Times, NBCNews, BBC, CANNONFIRE, Hit & Run, Politico, Reuters, Outside the Beltway, Guardian, Hullabaloo, NO QUARTER USA NET, Yahoo! News, The Week, Hot Air and Connecting.the.Dots

Jim VandeHei / Politico:

The ironic war plan — Imagine Dick Cheney in a “Saturday Night Live” skit fantasizing about Barack Obama handling the pressures of going to war. — Cheney's sitting there, yucking it up with Rummy and the boys, eating yellow cake. He laughs off his own reckless rush to an unwinnable war fought on flawed grounds.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Reuters and AEIdeas

Josh Rogin / The Daily Beast:
Exclusive: Obama Refused to Send Gas Masks to Syrian Opposition for Over a Year

Discussion: Post Politics

Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:
Reinforce a Norm in Syria

Discussion: The Spectacle Blog, Los Angeles Times, Hit & Run and American Spectator

Josh Lederman / Associated Press:

OBAMA OFFERS NEW GUN CONTROL STEPS — You are here — Home » United States government » Obama offers new gun control steps — WASHINGTON (AP) — Striving to take action where Congress would not, the Obama administration announced new steps Thursday on gun control …

Discussion: Associated Press, Weekly Standard, Daily Kos, The Week, msnbc.com, Global Grind, The Truth About Guns, BuzzFeed, The Raw Story, BizzyBlog and UrbanGrounds

Washington Post:
Pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA positions itself to support Hillary Clinton

Discussion: Ballot Box and Washington Free Beacon

Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:
NRA Slams New Obama Executive Orders On Guns

Discussion: PoliticusUSA

Allison Benedikt / Slate:

If You Send Your Kid to Private School, You Are a Bad Person — A manifesto. — You are a bad person if you send your children to private school. Not bad like murderer bad—but bad like ruining-one-of-our-nation's-most- essential-institutions-in-order-to-get- what's-best-for-your-kid bad.

Discussion: National Review, AEIdeas, protein wisdom, Hot Air, JustOneMinute, Business Insider, The Daily Banter, FITSNews, TheBlaze.com, NewsBusters, The Other McCain, BizzyBlog and Overlawyered

Clara Ritger / NationalJournal.com:

Obama's Affordable Care Act Looking a Bit Unaffordable — Independent National Journal analysis finds premiums higher under Obamacare as employers weigh dropping coverage. — Republicans have long blamed President Obama's signature health care initiative for increasing insurance costs, dubbing it the “Unaffordable Care Act.”

Discussion: Yahoo! News, JustOneMinute, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers, The Plum Line, Speaker.gov, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler, Washington Free Beacon, Taegan Goddard's …, Power Line, First Read, kff.org and Forbes

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
This Is What Obamacare Outreach Looks Like (VIDEOS)

Discussion: American Prospect, The Fix, A plain blog about politics, PERRspectives and ThinkProgress

Elise Viebeck / The Hill:
No widespread premium increases coming under ObamaCare, study says

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN and NPR

Douglas McIntire / Bangor Daily News:

Sabattus man says ‘shoot’ posting wasn't a threat against Obama, defends using racial slur — SABATTUS, Maine — David Marsters said Tuesday night that the wording of his Facebook post was a mistake, but he defended it, anyway. — “(The Secret Service) didn't see no pictures of Obama with bullet holes in his head,” Marsters said.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Raw Story, News One, ThinkProgress, The Democratic Daily and Talking Points Memo

David Hench / Portland Press-Herald:
Local official rebuked for offensive Obama Web post

Discussion: Mediaite and Daily Kos

Eliana Johnson / National Review:

Cory Booker's Imaginary Friend — Go back and listen to Cory Booker's stump speeches over the years, and, as in those of any politician, you'll hear many of the same stories. But Booker's are more dramatic and heart-rending than most. They draw heavily on his experiences in Newark, N.J. …

Discussion: TheBlaze.com, Weasel Zippers, Twitchy, Hot Air, Gawker, Taegan Goddard's …, Ed Driscoll, Real Clear Politics and The Daily Caller

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:

Stan Solomon: Trayvon Martin Deserved To Die And So Does ‘That Faggot’ Dan Savage — Conservative talk show host Stan Solomon is obsessed with the idea that President Obama is fomenting a race war in order to murder white, Christian heterosexuals, so when we noticed he was hosting a special …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Huffington Post and The Raw Story

Alana Semuels / Los Angeles Times:

National fast-food wage protests kick off in New York — NEW YORK — Beginning a day of protests that organizers say will spread to 50 cities and 1,000 stores across the country, a crowd of chanting workers gathered Thursday morning at a McDonald's in midtown Manhattan to call for higher wages and the chance to join a union.

Discussion: Power Line, The PJ Tatler and TheBlaze.com

Reuters:
U.S. fast-food workers plan nationwide strikes over wages

Discussion: Joe. My. God. and Firedoglake

Yahoo! News:

Eliot Spitzer loses advantage in bid for political comeback: poll — NEW YORK — Eliot Spitzer's commanding lead in the race for city comptroller has vanished, according to a new poll. — A Quinnipiac University survey released on Thursday found the former New York governor tied with rival Scott Stringer …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Post Politics and Joe. My. God.