Top Items:
David Brooks / New York Times:
Weed: Been There. Done That. — For a little while in my teenage years, my friends and I smoked marijuana. It was fun. I have some fond memories of us all being silly together. I think those moments of uninhibited frolic deepened our friendships. — But then we all sort of moved away from it.
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Wire, Conservative Intelligence …, National Review, The Week, American Spectator, his vorpal sword, Business Insider, Mediaite, Little Green Footballs, Firedoglake, Hot Air, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, alicublog, The Dish, The Raw Story, ThinkProgress, Democracy in America, Hit & Run, Booman Tribune, Taylor Marsh, Talking Points Memo, Boing Boing, Althouse, The Daily Caller, Ed Driscoll and Crooked Timber
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Gary Greenberg:
I smoked pot with David Brooks — Please note: What follows here is satire of the Juvenalian variety. I thought I embedded enough tipoffs, but then again I forgot how much stranger than fiction truth can be. So to those who thought it was real and suffered pain as a result, I apologize.
Discussion:
National Review, BuzzFeed, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, The Other McCain, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Business Insider and The Impolitic
Matt Welch / Hit & Run:
Repeat After Me, David Brooks: Repealing Prohibition Is Not the Same As Endorsing the Previously Prohibited Activity
Repeat After Me, David Brooks: Repealing Prohibition Is Not the Same As Endorsing the Previously Prohibited Activity
Discussion:
Mediaite and National Review
Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
The perils of legalized pot
The perils of legalized pot
Discussion:
American Prospect, Power Line, AL.com and GovBeat
World News:
Kim Jong Un's executed uncle was eaten alive by 120 hungry dogs: report — Rodong Sinmun / Yonhap via Reuters, file — Kim Jone Un's uncle Jang Song Thaek is dragged into court by uniformed personnel prior to last month's execution. — By Eric Baculinao and Alexander Smith, NBC News
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Max Fisher / WorldViews:
No, Kim Jong Un probably didn't feed his uncle to 120 hungry dogs — If you've been on the Internet at all today, you've almost certainly seen the story claiming that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had his uncle executed last month by stripping him naked and feeding him to 120 hungry dogs.
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Yahoo! News and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Tom Gardner / Daily Mail:
Kim Jong-Un killed his ‘scum’ uncle by stripping him naked, throwing him into a cage and leaving him to be eaten alive by a pack of 120 starving dogs — North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un sentenced his uncle to be eaten alive by a pack of 120 wild dogs in a savage punishment for treachery, it has been claimed.
Ben Goad / The Hill:
DOJ rejects nuns' argument on ObamaCare contraception mandate — The Obama administration on Friday offered a vigorous defense of the Affordable Care Act's “birth control mandate,” disputing as unfounded the religious challenge that led a Supreme Court justice to partially block the provision from taking effect this week.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Politico, Talking Points Memo, CNN and Los Angeles Times
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Fox News:
Administration to high court: Don't exempt Catholic groups from contraception mandate
Administration to high court: Don't exempt Catholic groups from contraception mandate
Discussion:
protein wisdom
Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:
Sonia Sotomayor faces health law contraception decision
Sonia Sotomayor faces health law contraception decision
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Times, The BLT and Religion Clause
New York Post:
Public advocate caught in lie over Times homeless story — She lied on her first day on the job — and got caught. — Just hours after being sworn in as the city's public advocate, Letitia James went on TV to claim that she played a key role in helping expose “the face of poverty in the City of New York” …
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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Jill Colvin / Politicker:
Video: Bill de Blasio Threatens to Strip During Storm Briefing
Video: Bill de Blasio Threatens to Strip During Storm Briefing
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and USA Today
Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:
Clay Aiken ‘actively considering’ run for Congress: sources — Clay Aiken is “actively considering” a run for Congress, sources say. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key) — Gay singer and “American Idol” runner-up Clay Aiken is actively considering a bid to represent North …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, ABC News, WIS-TV, Pat Dollard, The Daily Caller, PoliticusUSA, NBCNews, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story, Politico, Talking Points Memo, AL.com and WJLA-TV
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Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:
Report: Clay Aiken weighs N.C. bid
Report: Clay Aiken weighs N.C. bid
Discussion:
Mediaite and The PJ Tatler
The White House:
FACT SHEET: Strengthening the Federal Background Check System to Keep Guns out of Potentially Dangerous Hands — Today, the Administration is announcing two new executive actions that will help strengthen the federal background check system and keep guns out of the wrong hands.
Discussion:
AL.com
RELATED:
Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:
BREAKING: Obama Issues New Executive Actions on Background Checks for Gun Purchases — President Obama has released two new executive actions on background checks for gun purchases. The actions were posted on WhiteHouse.gov Friday afternoon and according to the Department of Justice …
Discussion:
protein wisdom
Associated Press:
APNewsBreak: Adding a new baby to plan not easy — WASHINGTON (AP) — There's another quirk in the Obama administration's new health insurance system: It lacks a way for consumers to quickly and easily update their coverage for the birth of a baby and other common life changes.
Discussion:
Hot Air, “The Lid”, BizzyBlog, Mediaite, Independent Journal Review, Power Line and americanthinker.com
Henry K. Lee / San Francisco Chronicle:
Hospital agrees to let Jahi McMath family take girl — (01-03) 12:43 PST Oakland — Children's Hospital Oakland reached an agreement with the family of Jahi McMath on Friday that will allow a critical care team to enter the hospital to move the girl to an unspecified facility.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, LifeNews.com and The Hinterland Gazette
Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:
This Might Be The Most Bizarre Campaign Video Of 2014 So Far — Rodney Lee Conover launched his campaign in California's 8th Congressional District with a video published on YouTube Thursday in which he compared House Republicans to his 1972 Ford Ranchero. — “Hi, I'm Rodney Lee Conover, and I'm running for Congress.
Discussion:
Mediaite
Matt Higgins / CBS DC:
Doctor's Office Spends 2 Hours On Hold With Health Insurer For Patient's Surgery Authorization — CHICAGO (AP) — The new year brought relief to some Illinois patients newly insured under the nation's health care law. Others still weren't sure whether they were covered …
Discussion:
The Right Scoop, No More Mister Nice Blog and Weasel Zippers
Ken Ham / Around the World with Ken Ham:
Yes, the Debate with Bill Nye Is On — Well, we were going to make this announcement next week, but our friends at the post office were able to get our January newsletter into AiG supporters' homes very early this time, so the word is now getting out about next month's creation/evolution debate.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, ABC News, Americans Against the … and NBCNews
Commentary Magazine:
The Closing of the Scientific Mind — The huge cultural authority science has acquired over the past century imposes large duties on every scientist. Scientists have acquired the power to impress and intimidate every time they open their mouths, and it is their responsibility to keep this power in mind no matter what they say or do.
Discussion:
TheBlaze.com, Vox Popoli, Ed Driscoll and Instapundit
David Martosko / Daily Mail:
‘They had no idea if my insurance was active or not!’: Obamacare confusion reigns as frustrated patients walk out of hospitals without treatment — MailOnline spoke with patients who were told they would have to pay their bills in full if they couldn't prove they had insurance
Timothy Jost / CNN:
GOP health plans good for the rich — Editor's note: Timothy Jost is a professor of law at Washington and Lee University. — (CNN) — The first day of 2014 was a day to celebrate in our history — it was the first time that all Americans could buy health insurance regardless …
Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:
A GOP Year — A White House official once noted that the problem with the national press corps is it can only keep one idea in its mind at a time. And while that's often true, it's not at the moment in regard to Republicans. — Today's media line on the Republican party is it faces irreversible decline.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Adam Bell / The Charlotte Observer:
Indian Trail councilman tenders resignation — in Klingon — An Indian Trail councilman decided to boldly go where no politician has gone before — and tendered his resignation this week in the Klingon language. — Apparently David Waddell no longer wanted to live long and prosper on the board.
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Mediaite, Yahoo! News, Balloon Juice and Talking Points Memo