Top Items:
Alex Seitz-Wald / NationalJournal.com:
How Adam Lanza Wrecked Obama's Second Term — Don't blame the catastrophic health care rollout for the president's woes. The Sandy Hook shooting is the real reason things went amok. — There are plenty of reasons this is the lowest point of Barack Obama's presidency.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, PR Newswire, The PJ Tatler, No More Mister Nice Blog, A plain blog about politics and Hot Air
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The Top Ten Finalists for Person of the Year in 2013 — Here are the final ten contenders for TIME's Person of the Year (listed alphabetically): Bashar Assad, President of Syria Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder Ted Cruz, Texas Senator Miley Cyrus, Singer Pope Francis, Leader of the Catholic Church Barack Obama …
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Alyssa Rosenberg / ThinkProgress:
Why Miley Cyrus Should Be The 2013 Person Of The Year Instead Of Pope Francis
Why Miley Cyrus Should Be The 2013 Person Of The Year Instead Of Pope Francis
Discussion:
Religion Dispatches and The PJ Tatler
New York Times:
Spies' Dragnet Reaches a Playing Field of Elves and Trolls — Not limiting their activities to the earthly realm, American and British spies have infiltrated the fantasy worlds of World of Warcraft and Second Life, conducting surveillance and scooping up data in the online games played …
Discussion:
Taking Note, Hit & Run, The Verge, Guardian, TechCrunch and Liberaland
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World of Spycraft: NSA and CIA Spied in Online Games — by Justin Elliott, ProPublica, and Mark Mazzetti, The New York Times … Not limiting their activities to the earthly realm, American and British spies have infiltrated the fantasy worlds of World of Warcraft and Second Life …
Discussion:
Prairie Weather, The Minority Report Blog, Techdirt, KDVR.com, NPR and Gawker
James Ball / Guardian:
Xbox Live among game services targeted by US and UK spy agencies
Xbox Live among game services targeted by US and UK spy agencies
Discussion:
Activist Post, The Lead with Jake Tapper, CNN, ProPublica, emptywheel, The Raw Story, Discourse.net, Boing Boing, Computerworld, Balloon Juice and Mashable
Reuters:
Israeli Top Leaders Not Attending Mandela Funeral — JERUSALEM — Neither Israel's prime minister nor president will attend South Africa's commemorations of the late Nelson Mandela this week, officials said, a notable absence at events expected to draw more than 70 world leaders.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and The Hinterland Gazette
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Hillary Clinton / CNN:
Obama flies to South Africa with Bushes, Hillary Clinton
Obama flies to South Africa with Bushes, Hillary Clinton
Discussion:
Politico
Susan B. Glasser / Politico:
Was Hillary Clinton a Good Secretary of State?
Was Hillary Clinton a Good Secretary of State?
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Hot Air, The Fix and TheBlaze.com
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George Zimmerman's Girlfriend Wants to Drop Charges, ‘Be With Him’ … George Zimmerman's girlfriend who called Florida police to say he was breaking her stuff and was brandishing a weapon no longer wants to press charges against him and instead wants to get back together with him.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Liberaland, Mediaite and The Raw Story
Matthew Barakat / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
APNewsBreak: US Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida loses $18M in fraud scheme — McLEAN, Va. — U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida lost $18 million in a scheme that cheated him and about 120 other investors out of more than $35 million, according to court papers. — The Virginia man who ran the scheme …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Post Politics
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John Bresnahan / Associated Press:
Alan Grayson loses $18M in fraud scheme
Alan Grayson loses $18M in fraud scheme
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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On Health Exchanges, Premiums May Be Low, but Other Costs Can Be High — WASHINGTON — For months, the Obama administration has heralded the low premiums of medical insurance policies on sale in the insurance exchanges created by the new health law. But as consumers dig into the details …
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Stephanie Kirchgaessner / Financial Times:
New Affordable Care US health plans will exclude top hospitals
New Affordable Care US health plans will exclude top hospitals
Discussion:
The Mahablog, The Plum Line, Rush Limbaugh and americanthinker.com
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Sarah Palin Joins Sportsman Channel as Host of Original Series “Amazing America with Sarah Palin” — Cultural, Political and Media Force, Palin Returns to Unscripted Television as Sportsman Channel's “First Lady of the Outdoors” — New Berlin, WI (December 9 2013) Former U.S. vice presidential candidate …
Discussion:
CNN, Post Politics, PoliticusUSA, Talking Points Memo, Deadline.com, NewsHounds blog, Politico, Jezebel, The Gateway Pundit and Shakesville
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Limited Support for Iran Nuclear Agreement — Iran's Leaders Seen as ‘Not Serious’ in Addressing Nuclear Concerns — The public is reacting skeptically to last month's multilateral agreement aimed at freezing parts of Iran's nuclear program. Overall, more disapprove than approve of the deal …
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Politico, Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard, Taegan Goddard's … and Post Politics
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Ben Armbruster / ThinkProgress:
Cheney: The Iran Deal Is Bad Because Of Obamacare
Cheney: The Iran Deal Is Bad Because Of Obamacare
Discussion:
PERRspectives, Liberaland and Agence France Presse
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Kentucky Man Sets Gun On Toilet Paper Dispenser While Using Restroom, Gun Goes Off — A Kentucky man just needed a place to set his gun while he relieved himself in a restaurant restroom on Sunday, but the toilet paper dispenser may not have been the best choice.
Discussion:
TheNewsEnterprise.com and The Raw Story
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Erin Golden / Omaha World-Herald:
Pete Festersen drops out of U.S. House race against Lee Terry — He's out of the race — again. — Democrat Pete Festersen is ending his campaign for Republican Lee Terry's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Omaha City Council president told The World-Herald on Monday that he's …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Politico, Post Politics, The PJ Tatler and Roll Call
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Heritage Action Bashes Ryan-Murray Budget Framework — Heritage Action fired a warning shot Monday against an emerging budget agreement between Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) to set spending levels for a few years and mitigate some of the sequester cuts.
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TSA agent confiscates sock monkey's toy pistol — “Rooster Monkburn” the cowboy sock monkey is without his pistol, thanks to a diligent TSA agent in St. Louis. — Phyllis May of Redmond, Wash. says she is “appalled and shocked and embarrassed all at the same time” about the incident that happened on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Gawker, Mediaite, KDVR.com, Weasel Zippers, National Review, The Raw Story, The PJ Tatler and Boing Boing
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Whose sarin? — Barack Obama did not tell the whole story this autumn when he tried to make the case that Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the chemical weapons attack near Damascus on 21 August. In some instances, he omitted important intelligence, and in others he presented assumptions as facts.
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Dylan Byers / Politico:
White House: Sy Hersh report ‘false’
White House: Sy Hersh report ‘false’
Discussion:
The Hill, Mediaite and The Agonist
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RIA Novosti to Be Liquidated in State-Owned Media Overhaul — The Kremlin announced Monday the dissolution of RIA Novosti, the country's major state-run news agency, amid a significant reorganization of state-owned media assets. — News agency RIA Novosti and the state-owned Voice …
Discussion:
New York Times, AMERICAblog News, The Daily Caller, Guardian, Business Insider, NPR, Towleroad News #gay and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
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Timothy Heritage / Reuters:
Putin dissolves state news agency, tightens grip on Russia media
Putin dissolves state news agency, tightens grip on Russia media
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler and Politico
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There's Now A Coloring Book To Teach Your Children To Love Ted Cruz — Are you a new parent terrified that the liberal media will turn your child into an Obama supporter? Or do you just need something to entertain your kids during those long drives to Tea Party rallies?
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Obama Faces Backlash Over New Corporate Powers In Secret Trade Deal — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration appears to have almost no international support for controversial new trade standards that would grant radical new political powers to corporations, increase the cost of prescription medications …
Discussion:
Techdirt, Teamster Nation, susiemadrak.com, National Review and Shakesville
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Americans Discover They're Trapped In GOP's Medicaid Expansion Gap — With HealthCare.gov working better and the first deadline to sign up for health coverage that starts in January approaching, Obamacare's so-called navigators — the people and organizations receiving federal funds to help people enroll …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Washington Monthly and Progressive Eruptions