memeorandum: Militias move forward on Texas border, leader's background emerges (Kolten Parker/MySanAntonio.com)

4:10 PM ET, July 11, 2014

Top Items:

BY LEBRON JAMES (AS TOLD TO LEE JENKINS) — Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. It's where I walked. It's where I ran. It's where I cried. It's where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart. People there have seen me grow up.

Jessica Taylor / The Hill:

Judge strikes down GOP-drawn Florida congressional lines — A Florida Circut County Court has struck down the state's congressional map and ordered a redrawing of district lines. — In his 41-page ruling issued Thursday evening, Judge Terry Lewis writes that the map drawn …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Florida Court Declares One Of The Worst Partisan Gerrymanders In The Country Unconstitutional — Florida's congressional districts are some of the most GOP-friendly in the country. Although President Obama won a narrow victory over Mitt Romney in Florida during the 2012 presidential election …

Discussion: Liberaland and Shakesville

Mary Ellen Klas / MiamiHerald.com:
Judge throws out Florida's congressional map

Discussion: Roll Call, Daily Kos and Election Law Blog

Mary Ellen Klas / Tampa Bay Times:
Judge invalidates two Florida congressional districts

Discussion: Washington Post

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

U.S. Muslims Most Approving of Obama, Mormons Least — Relative rank order of religious groups stable throughout his presidency — PRINCETON, NJ — Seventy-two percent of U.S. Muslims approved of the job President Barack Obama was doing as president during the first six months of 2014 …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Fox News, Mediaite and Taegan Goddard's …

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:
Obama approval high with Muslims

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Red Alert Politics and Israel Matzav

Jane Arraf / Foreign Policy:

The Resurrection of Ahmad Chalabi — The man who helped convince the United States to invade Iraq has spent the last decade in the political wilderness. But now, with his country in chaos, he could be its next leader. — GOOGLE +

Discussion: Firedoglake and Washington Monthly

BBC:

Iraq conflict: Kurds seize two oil fields in north — Iraqi Kurds have taken over two oil fields amid a growing dispute with the government in Baghdad, Iraqi and Kurdish sources say. — Kurdish peshmerga forces seized control of production facilities at the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oil fields in the north of the country on Friday.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, New York Times, The Week, Outside the Beltway and Hot Air

Weekly Standard:
The Truth About Iraq

Discussion: NO QUARTER USA NET and Liberaland

New York Times:

Who Wants a Depression? — One unhappy lesson we've learned in recent years is that economics is a far more political subject than we liked to imagine. Well, duh, you may say. But, before the financial crisis, many economists — even, to some extent, yours truly — believed …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Washington Monthly and Eschaton

Tom Junod / Esquire:

IN PRAISE OF 42-YEAR-OLD WOMEN — In our occasional ranking of the ages, we found that this year's most alluring is not what you'd expect. It's not 27 (honored in 1999) or 39 (2008) or 86 (1937 and 1983). No, this year it's 42. Because it's not what it used to be. … Marc Hom/Trunk Archive

Discussion: The Other McCain, The Huffington Post, Guardian and susiemadrak.com

Keli Goff / The Daily Beast:

The Secret War On Black Republicans — Why are racist attacks on black Republicans so underreported by the media? — There has been much written about the racial rhetoric that has permeated political discourse since President Obama took office, and the media often highlights …

Discussion: Hot Air

Maria Tadeo / The Independent:

L'Oreal cuts ties with Belgium supporter Axelle Despiegelaere after hunting trip photographs — L'Oreal confirms Axelle Despiegelaere's contract with the French beauty behemoth has “been completed” — French cosmetics giant L'Oréal has cut its ties with a Belgian football fan …

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, National Review and The Daily Caller

Politico:

Pay up: House GOP cash woes prompt dues crackdown — House Republicans, so worried that a swelling cash deficit will keep them from making big gains this November, have begun cracking down on dozens of lawmakers who haven't paid dues crucial to the party's campaign accounts.

Discussion: Roll Call, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite and The Mahablog

Byron Tau / Politico:
Democrats use impeachment talk to gin up donations

Discussion: Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway and Right Wing Watch

Emma Green / The Atlantic Online:

Is Religion ‘Old-Fashioned’ and ‘Out of Date’? — The downsides of using poll data to understand the arc of history — In one of the most ambiguous poll questions ever, Gallup has asked Americans to once again act as a tenuous bellwether for the impending death of religion.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Geoff Pender / The Clarion-Ledger:

Merdian man dials back vote-buying claim — A Meridian man has recanted — sort of — his story that he helped U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran's campaign buy votes for $15 each in Lauderdale County. — Stevie Fielder now says he was asked to buy votes — by someone he won't identify …

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and Business Insider

Ben Jacobs / The Daily Beast: Could Chris McDaniel Get A Do-Over In The Mississippi Senate Race?

Kolten Parker / MySanAntonio.com:

Militias move forward on Texas border, leader's background emerges — SAN ANTONIO - Groups describing themselves as militias have set up a training area near San Antonio and say there already are four “operations on the ground” along the US-Mexico border in Texas.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, addictinginfo.org, The Raw Story and Liberaland

Ari Berman / thenation.com/blogs/163253:

North Carolina Will Determine the Future of the Voting Rights Act — 93-year-old Rosanell Eaton heading into federal court (photo by Jennifer Farmer, Advancement Project) — Winston-Salem—In 1940, 19-year-old Rosanell Eaton took a two-hour mule ride to the Franklin County courthouse in eastern North Carolina to register to vote.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ACS Blog and Talking Points Memo

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

Brace for the next round of Obamacare rate shock — OBAMACARE HEALTH CARE INSURANCE INDUSTRY — As insurance companies begin to propose premiums for 2015, it's time for Americans to brace themselves for the next round of rate shock in the wake of President Obama's health care law.

Discussion: VodkaPundit

Steven Erlanger / New York Times:

Killing of Palestinian Youth Puts an Israeli Focus on Extremism — JERUSALEM — Even as the Israeli public offers strong support for airstrikes on Hamas fighters and their weapons stocks in Gaza, there is a good deal of reflection over the coldblooded killing of a Palestinian teenager …

Discussion: NewsBusters, The New Republic and American Power

Michael Wilner / Jerusalem Post:
Obama speaks with Netanyahu, offering to broker ceasefire with Hamas

Discussion: Guardian, The Week, BillMoyers.com and Roger L. Simon

Kendall Breitman / Politico:

Megyn Kelly: Nancy Pelosi ‘guilty’ of sexism — Fox News host Megyn Kelly is charging House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) with being “guilty” of sexism after her comments on the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling. — “The latest installment of misleading hysteria comes …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Mediaite

www.austin360.com:

Obama visits Franklin Barbecue, buys lunch for a couple of patrons — Less than 24 hours after polishing off some barbecue from John Mueller, Barack Obama hit another one of Austin's most famous men of smoked meat on his way out of town. — Following his speech at the Paramount …

Discussion: Red Alert Politics and Talking Points Memo

Samuel Gibbs / Guardian:

iPhone 6 screen looks like sapphire, says expert who spoke to Apple — Bigger iPhone screen could be made of third-hardest material known, after Apple consulted experts 18 months ago — Apple discussed forming screens from super-hard “sapphire glass” 18 months ago with experts in the field …

Discussion: The Verge, Business Insider and MacRumors