memeorandum: Another 1,000 U.S. Troops to Stay in Afghanistan (Allen McDuffee/The Atlantic Online)

11:25 PM ET, December 7, 2014

Top Items:

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:

Rolling Stone Publishes Updated Apology over UVA Rape Story — Last Friday Rolling Stone published a brief and, to many, unsatisfactory Readers Note retracting a large part of its story on a UVA gang rape, which was falling apart in the face of the Washington Post's re-reporting.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post, Balloon Juice, Politico and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Yvonne AbrahamGLOBE / BostonGlobe.com:
Rolling Stone's UVA story a disaster for all

Discussion: Mediaite, New York Times, The Huffington Post, Addicting Info, FOX News Radio and ThinkProgress

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
If You Were An Early Reader Of the WaPo UVA Rape Expose...

Discussion: NPR, The Dish, The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress and Instapundit, more at Mediagazer »

Julia Horowitz / Politico:
Why we believed Jackie's rape story

Discussion: Raw Story, The College Fix and Ed Driscoll

Olga Khazan / The Atlantic Online:
The Rolling Stone Fiasco Is Terrible News for Rape Survivors

Discussion: Politico, Mashable, Althouse and Mother Jones

Sarah Ferris / The Hill:

GOP pins hopes of dismantling ObamaCare on the courts — The GOP is refocusing its attention on the courts as it searches for any way to weaken President Obama's signature healthcare law while he continues to wield a veto pen. — Twenty-five Republicans asked the Supreme Court …

Discussion: Politico and Political Wire

Politico:

Massive funding bill kicks off 113th Congress' final chapter — GOP riders on funding bill could bring veto threat. — Don't worry, Washington. Congress will give you your Christmas and New Year's back this year — right after some more deadline-induced drama.

Donna Cassata / Associated Press: GOP Gains Largest House Majority Since Truman Administration

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:

Limbaugh on Eric Garner: The Left Wanted a Powerful State, ‘Here It Is’ — Rush Limbaugh appeared on Fox News Sunday to bemoan the “grievance industry” that is “literally ripping our fabric apart.” — Limbaugh said that the aftermath of the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases called …

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette and Liberaland

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:

Not a parody — Columbia Law School is permitting students claiming to be impaired due to the emotional impact of recent non-indictments in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner matters to postpone taking their final exams. Here is the text of a message from interim dean Robert Scott to the law school community:

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Don Babwin / Associated Press:

Chlorine gas sickens 19 at furries convention — 5 photos — ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — Chlorine gas sickened several people and forced the evacuation of thousands of guests from a suburban Chicago hotel early Sunday, including many dressed in cartoonish animal costumes for an annual furries convention …

Discussion: New York Magazine and Balloon Juice

Chicago Tribune:
19 hospitalized, thousands evacuated in ‘intentional’ gas leak at Rosemont hotel

Discussion: ABC News, Raw Story and UPROXX

Daily Mail:

Punched in the face while handcuffed in a police car - but her cop attacker will NOT be charged: Prosecutors say officer who left woman, 23, with a broken eye socket ‘acted professionally’ — Prosecutors claim he ‘acted professional’ even though he fractured her eye socket during the incident

Discussion: Liberaland and FOX News Radio

Sean Kelly / opposingviews.com/homepage.xml:

12-Year-Old Girl Discovers She's Eight Months Pregnant By 54-Year-Old Man — A 54-year-old Massachusetts man has been arrested and charged for impregnating a 12-year-old girl, according to WickedLocal.com. — Elbert Richardson, of Brockton, MA, pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated rape …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and FOX News Radio

John Harwood / New York Times:

For Obama, a Go-It-Alone Push Fits the Times — WASHINGTON — To the surprise of both allies and adversaries, President Obama has declined to humble himself following another midterm election bludgeoning. — To the contrary, his recent immigration action made clear his determination …

Redditt Hudson / Washington Post:

Being a cop showed me just how racist and violent the police are. There's only one fix. — Redditt Hudson, a former cop, works for the NAACP and chairs the board of the Ethics Project. The views expressed here are his own. — Police officers drag away a protester to take him into custody during …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Unfogged

Allen McDuffee / The Atlantic Online:

Another 1,000 U.S. Troops to Stay in Afghanistan — During a surprise trip to Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said on Saturday that up to 1,000 additional American troops will remain in the country for the first part of 2015. This means abandoning a plan to cut U.S. troop levels …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Bernie Becker / The Hill: US to keep 1,000 more troops than planned in Afghanistan

Eric Lipton / New York Times:

Energy Firms in Secretive Alliance With Attorneys General — The letter to the Environmental Protection Agency from Attorney General Scott Pruitt of Oklahoma carried a blunt accusation: Federal regulators were grossly overestimating the amount of air pollution caused by energy companies drilling new natural gas wells in his state.