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American Forces Said to Bomb ISIS Targets in Iraq — DOHUK, Iraq — American military forces bombed at least two targets in northern Iraq on Thursday night to rout Islamist insurgents who have trapped tens of thousands of religious minorities in Kurdish areas, Kurdish officials said.
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Airstrikes on ISIS Militants Have Begun, Kurds and Iraqis Say — WASHINGTON — Airstrikes on towns in northern Iraq seized by Islamist militants began late Thursday in what Kurdish and Iraqi officials called the first stage of an American-led intervention to blunt the militants' advance …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Mashable, Guardian, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Hot Air, White House Dossier and Al Jazeera English


Jets, explosions reported near Islamic State lines as Kurds beg for U.S. help — IRBIL, IRAQ — Jet aircraft attacked Islamic State positions outside the town of Kalak, 25 miles northwest of Irbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, a resident of Kalak told McClatchy early Friday.
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Yahoo! News, USA Today and Global Guerrillas


Rebels Capture Iraq's Largest Dam
Discussion:
Bloomberg, National Review, ThinkProgress and Daily Surge

The Islamic State's bloody campaign to exterminate minorities: 'Even Genghis Khan didn't do this'
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Yahoo! News, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Dish

Islamic State militants seize major Christian town in Iraq; thousands flee
Discussion:
ABC News, NewsBusters, Samizdata and JustOneMinute


Walsh drops out of U.S. Senate race — HELENA — Sen. John Walsh said Thursday he is pulling out of the Senate race because his campaign was distracted by the controversy over allegations that he plagiarized a U.S. Army War College research paper. — Walsh, a Democrat, said he decided to drop out of the race.
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John Walsh, Montana Senator in Plagiarism Case, Ends Election Bid
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Real Clear Politics, Washington Post, PoliticusUSA, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Ricochet


Americans' views of Obama, Congress, political parties: Gloomy — Shares - — Americans' views of both political parties are negative and nearly match historic lows, a new CBS News poll reveals. — Just 29 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the Republican Party …
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War Against Whites? I Think Not — When Representative Mo Brooks …
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA, The New Republic and The Huffington Post


URGENT: Democratic emails a fundraising bonanza
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CNN, PoliticusUSA and Washington Post

Here's why suing Obama could backfire on Republicans
Discussion:
Daily Kos


Has the ‘Libertarian Moment’ Finally Arrived? — “Let's say Ron Paul is Nirvana,” said Kennedy, the television personality and former MTV host, by way of explaining the sort of politician who excites libertarians like herself. “Like, the coolest, most amazing thing to come along in years …


Murkowski sends ‘cease and desist’ letter to Begich over ad — Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) isn't happy about Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) using her in his latest campaign ad — and has called in her lawyers to try to force Begich to stop airing it. — Murkowski's campaign lawyers sent a …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
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Lisa Murkowski to Mark Begich: Knock it off
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Wall Street Journal


Stillwater cafe faces heat for adding ‘minimum wage fee’ to tab — Each tab at Stillwater's Oasis Cafe now includes 35 cents to offset minimum wage increase. — A small cafe in Stillwater has thrown itself into the big battle over Minnesota's minimum wage increases, inundating the cafe …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Raw Story and National Review

Local Kansas GOP official: ‘Offending Muslims is the duty of any civilized person. Especially with a .45.’ — Gavin Ellzey, the vice chairman of the Kansas Republican 3rd Congressional District Committee, advised on Twitter in early July that “offending Muslims is the duty of any civilized person.”
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and The Raw Story
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Va. GOP official resigns after controversial Facebook post
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Liberaland and Mediaite

The Executive Editor on the Word ‘Torture’ — Dean Baquet is the executive editor of The Times. — Over the past few months, reporters and editors of The Times have debated a subject that has come up regularly ever since the world learned of the C.I.A.'s brutal questioning of terrorism suspects …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Politico and The Dish, more at Mediagazer »


Republicans Have More Reason Than Ever To Worry About Primary Challenges — One of the most universal lessons of sports prediction is that margins matter. An NFL team that wins a number of games by less than a touchdown might get banner headlines for its clutch performance.
Discussion:
Bloomberg View and Hot Air


Donald Trump Has A Huge Factual Error In His Tom Cotton Endorsement — Donald Trump thinks that Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR) was a Rhodes Scholar. Donald Trump is wrong. — The reality television star and real estate mogul gave his endorsement to Cotton, the GOP U.S. Senate aspirant in Arkansas …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly


GOP Guv On Lackluster Primary Performance: Blame Obama — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) had a theory for why a chunk of voters were backing Jennifer Winn, his challenger, in the Republican gubernatorial primary: blame President Barack Obama. — “I think a big part of it is Barack Obama,” Brownback told Kansas's 41 Action News.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Daily Banter, Daily Kos and KSHB-TV

Rep's ‘shagging’ tweet gets attention — Eyebrows were raised after a message on Rep. Stephen Fincher's Twitter account declared the Tennessee Republican's love of “shagging.” — But a spokeswoman for the congressman's office says the since-deleted tweet “had nothing to do” with Fincher — nor the British slang term for sex.
Discussion:
Politico and Talking Points Memo


IRS notches legal win over lost tea party emails — The IRS won what might be Round One in a series of contests pitting tea party groups against the agency, with a federal judge rejecting a conservative group's bid for a court-appointed forensics expert to hunt for ex-official Lois Lerner's lost emails.
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon

Ann Coulter blames doctor for catching Ebola — Conservative commentator Ann Coulter criticized the American doctor who contracted Ebola in Africa, arguing that his missionary efforts had caused more harm than good. — “Whatever good Dr. Kent Brantly did in Liberia has now been overwhelmed …
Discussion:
Politico and Warren Throckmorton


‘Porch Shooter’ Theodore Wafer Found Guilty of Murder … A Detroit jury ruled today that Theodore Wafer was guilty of murder in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Renisha McBride on his porch. — The jury, which consisted of seven men and five women, began its deliberations on Wednesday after nine days of testimony.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Detroit Free Press and Lawyers, Guns & Money