Top Items:


Actor, comic Robin Williams dies at 63 in apparent suicide — Robin Williams, a comic and sitcom star in the 1970s who became an Oscar-winning dramatic actor, died Monday at 63 in Marin County. The Marin County Sheriff's Office said he appears to have committed suicide.
RELATED:

Robin Williams Dies of Suspected Suicide — The Oscar-winning actor and comedian was 63 — Oscar-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams has died at age 63, according to police in Marin County, Calif. — The full statement is below. … Williams' publicist Mara Buxbaum told The Hollywood Reporter …
Discussion:
Daily Mail, Gawker, The Raw Story, Ed Driscoll, Althouse, WTVC-TV and The Daily Caller


Robin Williams Dead — Commits Suicide — COMMITS SUICIDE — BREAKING NEWS — Robin Williams has committed suicide. — The Oscar-winning actor/comedian killed himself in Tiburon, in Northern California. His people tell us he's been recently battling severe depression.
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, The Urban Daily and Western Journalism


Robin Williams dead at 63 — Oscar winner and comedian Robin Williams died this morning at 63. While his publicist wouldn't confirm that it was a suicide, they did issue this statement. “Robin Williams passed away this morning. He has been battling severe depression of late.
Discussion:
Hinterland Gazette, PopWatch, The Raw Story and PoliticusUSA


Robin Williams dead at 63 in suspected suicide — Oscar-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams, who dazzled in such wide-ranging dramatic and comedic roles as alien, nanny, therapist and cartoon genie during a four-decades long career, was found dead in his northern California home in a suspected suicide Monday.
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications and protein wisdom

Comedian Robin Williams dead, sheriff says
Discussion:
FOX2now.com and Booman Tribune


Barack Obama's mixed messages — President Barack Obama isn't just grappling with what feels like an endless foreign policy nightmare around the world. Now he's got one hell of a messaging problem at home. — The United States will not intervene in foreign crises directly …
RELATED:


Obama seeks Iraq regime change — The White House on Monday took new diplomatic steps to force Iraq's prime minister from power as it looked for ways to stop fighters with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from gaining a deeper foothold in the country.
Discussion:
Politico and his vorpal sword

Bombs Over Erbil — It was an applause line during almost …
Discussion:
Western Journalism and TPNN


US to directly arm Kurdish peshmerga forces in bid to thwart Isis offensive
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Poynter, National Review and Mish's Global Economic …

U.S. sending weapons directly to Kurdish forces, officials say
Discussion:
Hot Air, Hullabaloo and The Week

Iraqi Shi'ite coalition close to nominating prime minister
Discussion:
Power Line, Bloomberg and TalkLeft


We Have a Rape Gif Problem and Gawker Media Won't Do Anything About It — Working at Gawker Media is a dream job for many of the women on staff here at Jezebel. This is a place that takes chances on developing writers, that has always stood behind us no matter what.
Discussion:
PandoDaily, Capital New York, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Mashable and Feministing, more at Mediagazer »


Obama's Immigration Plan Should Scare Liberals, Too — Crossing a Rubicon of presidential authority. — Shares — The Obama years have taught us the sometimes frightening lesson that our Constitution and legal structure alone don't secure the Republic.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice and New York Times


Democrats Pay Black Staffers 30% Less — Campaign staffers who are people of color routinely get paid less than their white counterparts, and are often given less glamorous jobs. How an antiquated understanding of race relations results in minority staffers getting the short shrift.
Discussion:
Hot Air, RedState, NewsBusters and Independent Journal Review


James O'Keefe Is Getting Desperate as Hell, Part MCMXVII — “I just returned from the border with shocking new video—video that will outrage you,” James O'Keefe III writes. “I dressed up like Osama bin Laden and crossed the Rio Grande river from Mexico to the United States.”
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite and Balloon Juice

EXCLUSIVE: “MEET THE PRESS” plans to announce new moderator soon: CHUCK TODD is the favorite - BACKSTORY on Hillary interview with Jeffrey Goldberg - B'DAYS: Rob O'Donnell, Sam Myers Jr. — SIREN: Chuck Todd, a political obsessive and rabid sports fan, is the likely successor to David Gregory as moderator of …

Customer finds Nazi symbol on her chicken sandwich — MOREHEAD CITY, CARTERET COUNTY - — A Carteret County mother makes a shocking discovery when she goes to eat her chicken sandwich from a McDonald's drive-thru in Morehead City. That customer, Charleigh Matice, said when she went …
Discussion:
Gawker, Jezebel, TPNN, Talking Points Memo, Independent Journal Review and The Raw Story


How many unarmed people have to die? — Editor's note: LZ Granderson is a CNN contributor, a senior writer for ESPN and a lecturer at Northwestern University. He is a former Hechinger Institute fellow and his commentary has been recognized by the Online News Association …

Intel Chief Blasts Obama — As the world watches the strengthening of global jihadist movements - from ISIS to al Qaeda to dozens of affiliated and like-minded groups - one of those inside the U.S. government who was most vocal about the growing threats is leaving his position.
Discussion:
Hot Air and The PJ Tatler


Colleen Hanabusa cites ‘irregularities’ in Hawaii vote — Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, who's trailing in the too-close-to-call Hawaii Democratic Senate primary against incumbent Brian Schatz, warned Monday of voting “irregularities” in precincts crippled by a massive tropical storm last week …
Discussion:
Honolulu Star-Advertiser

DEA IMPROPERLY PAID $854,460 FOR PASSENGER LISTS — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Drug Enforcement Administration paid an Amtrak secretary $854,460 over nearly 20 years to obtain confidential information about train passengers, which the DEA could have lawfully obtained for free through a law enforcement network …
Discussion:
Hit & Run and The Raw Story

More Than a Dozen Pulitzer Winners Call on the Justice Dept to End its Pursuit of James Risen — Today, fourteen Pulitzer Prize winners have issued statements in support of journalist James Risen and in protest of the Justice Department's attempt to force Risen to testify against his sources.
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Firedoglake and Hullabaloo


Ronan Farrow: ‘My White Mother Had Black Motheritis’ — MSNBC host Ronan Farrow understands the enormously disparate scrutiny faced by black men for their public appearance or behavior because his mother, actress Mia Farrow, has an adoptive black son. — During a Monday afternoon segment discussing …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Last Refuge and Washington Free Beacon

“The Enthusiasm Gap was Taken to the Woodshed” — Regular readers might guess this excerpt from a Chris Cillizza post is sweet music to my ears: … The 2012 numbers show an “enthusiasm gap” favoring Republicans similar to that being shown by similar polls today.
Discussion:
Washington Post and Booman Tribune


Is the Tea Party Express Just a Fundraising Scam? — $9.5 million raised, at a cost of $8 million, with less than $400,000 going to candidates. — What would you consider a charity that raised almost $10 million, but actually used less than 5% of that total on its mission and programs?
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice