Top Items:

Why Obamacare probably isn't doomed — The Affordable Care Act took a potentially serious hit today when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a rule that extended the law's health-care subsidies to residents of the three-dozen states where the federal government runs a health insurance exchange.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and New York Times
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Courts Issue Conflicting Rulings on Health Care Law — WASHINGTON — Two federal appeals court panels issued conflicting rulings Tuesday on whether the government could subsidize health insurance premiums for people in three dozen states that use the federal insurance exchange.


This Shamefully Dishonest Obamacare Ruling Could Blow Up in the GOP's Face — The case of Halbig v. Burwell (formerly Halbig v. Sebelius), in which plaintiffs are attempting to void Affordable Care Act subsidies in states that didn't set up their own healthcare exchanges …
Discussion:
New York Times, PoliticusUSA and Daily Kos


Why a federal court just ruled Obamacare subsidies are illegal in 36 states — Halbig v. Burwell is arguably the Affordable Care Act's greatest existential threat since the Supreme Court case decided in 2012. — On July 22, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a ruling …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Balkinization, Washington Post, Alas, a Blog, Taylor Marsh, Eclectablog and ACS Blog


Federal courts issue conflicting rulings on legality of ObamaCare subsidies
Discussion:
NewsBusters and Fox News Insider

Appeals Court Deals Major Blow To Obamacare
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, The Mahablog and Balloon Juice

Federal appeals courts issue contradictory rulings on health-law subsidies
Discussion:
American Prospect, PoliticusUSA, Slate, RH Reality Check, Watchdog.org, Hullabaloo, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Politico

BREAKING: Two Republican Judges Order Obamacare Defunded
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Guardian and Washington Post

Court Rules That Subsidies in Obamacare's Federal Exchange are Illegal, Dealing Huge Legal Blow to Health Law

Halbig v. Burwell Would Free More Than 57 Million Americans From The ACA's Individual & Employer Mandates

A stinging defeat for the government
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality

Appeals courts split on whether ObamaCare subsidies are legal
Discussion:
The Federalist, Weasel Zippers, PoliticusUSA, Hot Air, Business Insider and National Review

Don't Send Your Kid to the Ivy League — The nation's top colleges are turning our kids into zombies — In the spring of 2008, I did a daylong stint on the Yale admissions committee. We that is, three admissions staff, a member of the college dean's office, and me, the faculty representative …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, The Other McCain, Blazing Cat Fur and Booman Tribune


News Outlets Fall For Parody That Took Credit For Brooklyn Bridge White Flags — Two prominent news outlets were fooled Tuesday by a Twitter parody account that claimed responsibility for replacing two American flags atop the Brooklyn Bridge with white flags.
Discussion:
CBS New York and DNAinfo.com New York
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Surrender, Brooklyn: Mysterious White Flags Top Brooklyn Bridge
Discussion:
ABC News and Business Insider

White flags planted on Brooklyn Bridge, American flags missing as mystery deepens
Discussion:
New York Times, Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post and Politico


For second time, rockets found at UN school in Gaza — ‘How many more schools will have to be abused by Hamas missile squads before the international community will intervene?’ Foreign Ministry fumes — For the second time in less than a week, rockets have been found in a school …
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Of all the places I never thought to be mentioned, HBO's True Blood vampire show would have to be near the top of the list. Sunday night, they aired a misogynist and profanity-ridden episode where Texas Republicans are murdered attending a “Ted Cruz fundraiser.”
Discussion:
Pop Culture Blog, Politico, Mediaite, OnPolitics, Business Insider, Trail Blazers Blog and The Raw Story


Sarah Palin — Ticketed for Speeding ... 'I Wasn't Speeding, I Was Qualifying' — Ticketed for Speeding — 'I WASN'T SPEEDING I WAS QUALIFYING' — EXCLUSIVE … President Obama — MYSTERIOUSLY CANCELS — Hollywood Leg of L.A. Visit
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CNN and OnPolitics


Snoop Dogg talks about that time he got high at the White House — Security at the White House is apparently a bit looser than everyone thinks. — Snoop Dogg, while on his internet talk show “Double G News Network” with Jimmy Kimmel, told about the time he got high at the White House.
Discussion:
Washington Post and National Review


Thomas the Tank Engine had to shut the hell up to save children everywhere — Classism, sexism, anti-environmentalism bordering on racism: any parent who discovered these hidden lessons will appreciate that the show's star just quit — There are many terrible children's programs through …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and National Review


Airlines Suspend Flights to Israel After Hamas Rocket Falls Near Main Airport — Airlines in the United States and Europe suspended flights to and from Israel on Tuesday after a rocket fell about a mile from Ben-Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Capital New York, The Times of Israel, The Verge, Politico, Outside the Beltway and Mediaite


MH17: my error of judgment, by Sky News reporter — Colin Brazier on how he came to pick up crash victims' luggage live on air - and immediately realised he had crossed a line — Journalists spend most of their working days in familiar environments. For me, that mainly means the Sky News studio …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Huffington Post and Taylor Marsh

Charles Schumer: Adopt the Open Primary — WASHINGTON — POLARIZATION and partisanship are a plague on American politics. — Political scientists have found that the two parties have each grown more ideologically homogeneous since the 1970s. The Senate hasn't been so polarized since Reconstruction …
Discussion:
Hot Air, ABC News, OnPolitics, Bloomberg View, Washington Post, Firedoglake, Politico and Eschaton


New Surveillance Whistleblower: The NSA Violates the Constitution — John Napier Tye is speaking out to warn Americans about illegal spying. The former State Department official, who served in the Obama administration from 2011 to 2014, declared Friday that ongoing NSA surveillance abuses …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, US News, The Moderate Voice and BillMoyers.com
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McDonald's Fires Mom Who Was Arrested For Letting 9-Year-Old Play In Park Alone — Debra Harrell, the mother who let her nine-year-old daughter play in a park while she worked her shifts at McDonald's and was arrested after adults at the park called the police, has been terminated from that job, her lawyer confirmed for ThinkProgress.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Grist and Shakesville