CNN exclusive: Port Authority job created for Christie ally, source says  —  Who's who in Christie bridge scandal  —  (CNN) — Give him a position at the top of the agency; he's a good friend of the governor.  —  That's how David Wildstein was introduced to the Port Authority of New York …

‘Journalism has died’ at New York Times: Graham, McCain slam Benghazi report  —  Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain harshly criticized The New York Times on Thursday over a recent report which concluded that Al Qaeda was not involved in the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.

Initial Thoughts on the Proposed Amendments to the Voting Rights Act  —  I have now had a chance to review the text the Voting Rights Amendments Act of 2014 introduced today by Representatives Sensenbrenner and Conyers (with parallel legislation being introduced by Senator Leahy in the Senate).

'Gilligan's' ‘professor’ dies  —  (CNN) — Actor Russell Johnson, best known as Professor in the 1960s TV sitcom “Gilligan's Island,” died Thursday, his agent said.  Johnson was 89.  —  Johnson played the iconic role of Professor Roy Hinkley, whose scientific schemes to get the castaways rescued …

Executed Ohio killer Dennis McGuire took 15 minutes to die with never-before-tried drugs  —  The two-drug combination was used for the first time on the convicted killer and rapist, who stabbed pregnant woman Joy Stewart to death in 1989.  —  Condemned killer Dennis McGuire was executed using a never-tried lethal cocktail.

Iran Top Nuke Negotiator: Deal Reversible In One Day  —  In an interview with Iranian television, Iran's top nuclear negotiator says Tehran can resume enriching uranium to 20 percent levels within one day if it so desires.  —  Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araghchi …

NSA collects millions of text messages daily in ‘untargeted’ global sweep  —  The National Security Agency has collected almost 200 million text messages a day from across the globe, using them to extract data including location, contact networks and credit card details, according to top-secret documents.

Museveni blocks Anti-Homosexuality Bill  —  Parliament- President Museveni has confronted Speaker Rebecca Kadaga for passing the controversial Anti-gays Bill without quorum and described homosexuals as “abnormal” beings who can be “rescued” through economic empowerment.

Today I Briefed Congress on the NSA  —  This morning I spent an hour in a closed room with six Members of Congress: Rep. Lofgren, Rep. Sensenbrenner, Rep. Scott, Rep. Goodlate, Rep Thompson, and Rep. Amash.  No staffers, no public: just them.  Lofgren asked me to brief her and a few Representatives on the NSA.

Senate approves $1.1 trillion spending bill  —  A landmark $1.1 trillion spending bill cleared Congress Thursday evening after conservative resistance collapsed in the Senate and tea party favorite Ted Cruz dropped his insistence on a vote on funding for President Barack Obama's health care plan.

Even Worse Than We Thought  —  Fascinating email from TPM Reader DW about the sheer level of attempted sabotage down at the ground level in GOP-run Obamacare rejectionist states.

How in good conscience?  —  By early 2011, writes former defense secretary Robert Gates, he had concluded that President Obama “doesn't believe in his own [Afghanistan] strategy, and doesn't consider the war to be his.”  —  Not his?  America is at war and he's America's commander in chief.

IRS Targeting and 2014  —  Democrats are working hard to make sure conservative groups are silenced in the 2014 midterms.  —  President Obama and Democrats have been at great pains to insist they knew nothing about IRS targeting of conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofits before the 2012 election.

Netanyahu Slams EU ‘Hypocrisy’ on Settlements  —  'When did the EU call in the Palestinian ambassadors about incitement that calls for Israel's destruction?'  Prime Minister asks.  —  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu slammed the European Union Thursday for summoning envoys …

Who's Rubin's Early Fave for '16?  —  One of the more amusing pastimes in Washington on slow news days is to observe how certain pundits who are only happy if they are shilling for a presidential campaign seem to be lining up early in the 2016 cycle.  Nobody was more prone to this malady …

Movie mogul says new Streep film to make NRA 'wish they weren't alive'  —  Producer reveals secret project to Howard Stern  —  Movie producer Harvey Weinstein announced for the first time on Howard Stern's radio show that he is making a full feature drama to try to destroy the National Rifle Association.