Top Items:
James Ball / Guardian:
NSA and GCHQ target ‘leaky’ phone apps like Angry Birds to scoop user data — GCHQ documents use Angry Birds - reportedly downloaded more than 1.7bn times - as a case study for app data collection. — The National Security Agency and its UK counterpart GCHQ have been developing capabilities …
Discussion:
NBCNews, Talking Points Memo, Truthdig, emptywheel, Booman Tribune, Hinterland Gazette, Gawker, The PJ Tatler and The Verge
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New York Times:
Spy Agencies Scour Phone Apps for Personal Data — When a smartphone user opens Angry Birds, the popular game application, and starts slinging birds at chortling green pigs, spy agencies have plotted how to lurk in the background to snatch data revealing the player's location, age …
Discussion:
Politico, Liberaland, Mashable, Hit & Run, NPR and emptywheel
Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:
A Pen, a Phone, and a Flailing President — The White House's problem might not be strategies and tactics. It might be Obama himself. — For months, the White House and its allies mocked critics of Barack Obama's leadership, arguing that no president has “Green Lantern” superhero powers.
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Power Line, neo-neocon, The Fix, Hot Air, National Review, VodkaPundit and Politico
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Wall Street Journal:
Obama to Assert Unilateral Agenda — President to Seek to Use State of the Union Address to Shift Souring View of Leadership … WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night will seek to shift the public's souring view of his leadership …
Discussion:
Business Insider, Guardian, The Plum Line, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, New York Times and Towleroad News #gay
Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Some Republicans Departing From State of Union Response Script
Some Republicans Departing From State of Union Response Script
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Balloon Juice and Taegan Goddard's …
Jake Sherman / Politico:
Trey Radel to resign House seat — Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) will resign from Congress on Monday, according to multiple sources. — Radel, 37, was caught buying cocaine in November from an undercover federal agent in Washington and spent nearly a month in a rehabilitation facility.
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Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
Hillary Clinton Admits She Hasn't Driven A Car Since 1996 (VIDEO) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday that she hasn't driven a car since 1996, the year her husband Bill Clinton was elected to a second term as president. — “I have to confess that one of the regrets …
Discussion:
American Power
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RealClearPolitics Video Log:
Hillary Clinton: “My Biggest Regret Is What Happened In Benghazi”
Hillary Clinton: “My Biggest Regret Is What Happened In Benghazi”
Discussion:
Liberaland, The Daily Caller, National Review and The Gateway Pundit
Dan Merica / CNN:
Clinton's biggest regret at State: Benghazi
Clinton's biggest regret at State: Benghazi
Discussion:
Politico and Fox News Insider
Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed:
Clinton Supporters Want Iowa To Want Her
Clinton Supporters Want Iowa To Want Her
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Weekly Standard, Washington Post and Booman Tribune
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
Deficit Reduction Declines as Policy Priority — Just Half of Democrats Rate Deficit as ‘Top Priority’ — For the first time since Barack Obama took office in 2009, deficit reduction has slipped as a policy priority among the public. Overall, 63% say reducing the budget deficit …
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Washington Monthly, Post Politics, Politico, Wonkblog, PoliticusUSA, Daily Kos and Taegan Goddard's …
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Brian Beutler / Salon:
How the right destroyed itself: History, ideology and strategic blunders — Even if they could, Democrats already beat them there — Last week I wrote an article arguing that the impediments to conservative reform are structural — that the idiosyncrasies of the Republican base make appealing …
BBC:
Sochi 2014: No gay people in city, says mayor — The mayor of Sochi, host of the Winter Olympics, has said there are no gay people in the city. — Anatoly Pakhomov said homosexuals were welcome at the Games - as long as they “respect Russian law” and “don't impose their habits on others”.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, Mashable, AMERICAblog News, ABC News, Mediaite and Outside the Beltway
National Review:
Don't Do It — The House Republican leadership has been confronted by devilishly difficult tactical choices over the years. But what to do on the issue of immigration right now isn't one of them. The correct course is easy and eminently achievable: Do nothing.
Discussion:
Hot Air and Weekly Standard
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Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Are House Republicans planning to pull a fast one on immigration?
Are House Republicans planning to pull a fast one on immigration?
Discussion:
The Plum Line, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Washington Wire and Business Insider
Fox News:
A Republican plan to replace ObamaCare, cover pre-existing conditions and lower costs — During his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Obama will probably declare that his signature health care law is finally starting to work as designed. — We expect him to claim the mantle of …
Discussion:
Business Insider and AEIdeas
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Sally Kohn / The Daily Beast:
Dear GOP, Stop Talking About Women's Bodies — Mike Huckabee and Rand Paul think women have out-of-control “libidos” and like playing the victim. Did they not learn anything from Todd Akin? — Perhaps it's time for Republican men to stop talking about women's bodies and choices.
Discussion:
Mediaite, TheBlaze.com, TIME, No More Mister Nice Blog and CNN
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Hawaiians, D.C. Residents Most Approving of Obama in 2013 — Wyoming and West Virginia residents least approving — PRINCETON, NJ — Residents of 11 states and the District of Columbia gave President Barack Obama job approval ratings above 50% in 2013. Hawaii had the highest approval rating among …
Discussion:
GovBeat, Hinterland Gazette, National Review and Washington Post
Chicago News and Weather:
Gary woman admits selling baby for sex — HAMMOND, Ind. (Sun-Times Media Wire) - — A Gary, Ind. woman admitted this week that she sold a baby eight times to a Gary man for sex and was in the room for all the meetings except for the last one. — Natisha Hillard, 25 …
Discussion:
Hinterland Gazette, LifeNews.com, The Other McCain, Right Wing News and The Raw Story
Dylan Byers / Politico:
Stephen Glass denied California law license — Stephen Glass, the former journalist who famously fabricated his articles, was denied his bid for a law license by the California Supreme Court on Monday. — Glass, whose fabrications were the subject of a 2003 film, left The New Republic …
ThinkProgress:
Stop ‘Constantly Bashing Banks’ And ‘Lecturing On Ethics And Integrity,’ Megabank CEO Says — “Life is hard enough,” according to Swiss banking executive Sergio Ermotti, “without people “constantly bashing banks. ” The UBS chief executive made those remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. ”
Discussion:
susiemadrak.com
Matt West / Boston Herald:
Sheriffs cheer pot shot, say DEA chief ripped Obama remarks — Photo by: — WE'RE ‘FRUSTRATED’: Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson, above, lauded DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart after she criticized President Obama for comparing smoking marijuana to drinking alcohol. — By:
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Paranoia of the Plutocrats — Rising inequality has obvious economic costs: stagnant wages despite rising productivity, rising debt that makes us more vulnerable to financial crisis. It also has big social and human costs. There is, for example, strong evidence that high inequality leads to worse health and higher mortality.
Greg Richter / NewsMax.com:
D'Souza Producer: ‘I Never Feared My Govt Until Now’ — More ways to share... Stumbled — LinkedIn — Vine — Newstrust — Tell my politician — Technocrati — Get Short Link — Gerald Molen, the producer of Dinesh D'Souza's documentary film “2016: Obama's America,” …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Washington Monthly
American Prospect:
Macroeconomics and the Iron Truths of Accounting Identities — Most college-educated people have been through an intro econ class where they were punished with the basic macroeconomic accounting identities. They then quickly forget them as soon as the class was over.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly