Top Items:
Speaker.gov:
12 Taylor Swift GIFs for you — 1. Last week, President Obama announced his latest idea to provide “free” community college to millions of Americans. It sounded exciting at first... 2. But then, we got to thinking... 3. Free?! Is he using magic money? Nothing is free. So we did a little math.
BuzzFeed:
Supreme Court Will Hear Four Cases Challenging Same-Sex Marriage Bans — A decision in the Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee cases, expected by late June, could lead to the end of such bans across the country. [Update: The Obama administration will “urge the Supreme Court to make marriage equality a reality for all Americans."]
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Towleroad News #gay, Daily Kos and Advocate
RELATED:
Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Court will rule on same-sex marriage — Taking on a historic constitutional challenge with wide cultural impact, the Supreme Court on Friday afternoon agreed to hear four new cases on same-sex marriage. The Court said it would rule on the power of the states to ban same-sex marriages …
Discussion:
Jezebel, Towleroad News #gay and NPR
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Supreme Court to Decide Whether Gays Nationwide Can Marry — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether all 50 states must allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. The court's announcement made it likely that it would resolve one of the great civil rights questions …
Discussion:
Liberaland, WDIV-TV, Towleroad News #gay and Outside the Beltway
Washington Post:
Holder limits seized-asset sharing process that split billions with local, state police — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Friday barred local and state police from using federal law to seize cash, cars and other property without evidence that a crime occurred.
Bryan Lowryeagle Topeka / Wichita Eagle:
Steep tax hikes on liquor, tobacco part of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback's proposed budget fix — › — ‹ — During his State of the State address Thursday Gov. Sam Brownback declared the state would continue its “march to zero” on income taxes, but the budget and tax plans …
RELATED:
Luke Brinker / Salon:
Defiant Sam Brownback vows to move toward zero income tax — and make Kansas even more unequal — His supply side economic experiment has been an utter disaster, but Brownback can't be bothered — Here's what Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback's supply side economic experiment has wrought …
Discussion:
Progress Pond
Politico:
Sam Brownback reverses course, proposes new taxes — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, whose massive tax cuts became a cause célèbre for conservatives but threw his state's budget into disarray, announced Friday that he would pursue tax increases. — In a stark turnaround …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Jonathan Shorman / Topeka Capital-Journal:
Brownback promises income taxes will continue to fall
NASA:
NASA, NOAA Find 2014 Warmest Year in Modern Record — The year 2014 ranks as Earth's warmest since 1880, according to two separate analyses by NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists. — The 10 warmest years in the instrumental record, with the exception of 1998, have now occurred since 2000.
Discussion:
Politico, Daily Kos, Vox, Washington Post, Liberal Values, Chicago, Boing Boing, EcoWatch, ThinkProgress, Climate Etc., Common Dreams, The Verge and NBC News
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Justin Gillis / New York Times:
2014 Was Hottest Year on Record, Surpassing 2010 — Last year was the hottest in earth's recorded history, scientists reported on Friday, underscoring scientific warnings about the risks of runaway emissions and undermining claims by climate-change contrarians that global warming had somehow stopped.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Bloomberg.com, New York Magazine, kottke.org, Prairie Weather, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Gothamist
Chris Mooney / Washington Post:
It's official: 2014 was the hottest year in recorded history
It's official: 2014 was the hottest year in recorded history
Discussion:
Guardian and Joe. My. God.
Bloomberg:
Kerry Brings Paris a ‘Big Hug’ And James Taylor After Attacks — Secretary of State John Kerry, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit France since Islamic militant attacks in Paris left 17 dead, met with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and French President Francois Hollande to offer condolences this morning.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, Mashable, Bloomberg Politics, Washington Free Beacon, New York Magazine, Mediaite and neo-neocon
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Derek Hunter / The Daily Caller:
Apology Tour: John Kerry Brings James Taylor To Paris To Play 'You've Got A Friend' [VIDEO]
Apology Tour: John Kerry Brings James Taylor To Paris To Play 'You've Got A Friend' [VIDEO]
Discussion:
Twitchy, TPNN, The PJ Tatler, Hit & Run and National Review
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
That time John Kerry got James Taylor to sing 'You've got a friend' to France
That time John Kerry got James Taylor to sing 'You've got a friend' to France
Discussion:
RedState, Hit & Run, Shakesville and Moe Lane
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
If You Want To Understand What's Happened To The Supreme Court, You Need To Listen To Rand Paul — Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is an odd place to seek counsel on the Constitution. As a Senate candidate in 2010, Paul told a Louisville editorial board that he opposed the federal ban on whites …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money
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Jonathan Cohn / The Huffington Post:
Key Obamacare Official Stepping Down
Key Obamacare Official Stepping Down
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Hit & Run and Washington Free Beacon
Politico:
RNC rolls out 2016 debate schedule — The committee plans to partner mainstream organizations with conservative commentators and outlets. — CORONADO, Calif. — The Republican National Committee will announce Friday that it has sanctioned nine presidential primary debates …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Business Insider and Adweek
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Paul Singer / USA Today:
Jindal doubles down on Muslim ‘no-go zones’ in Europe — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a potential candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, will give a speech Monday in London and reiterate the disputed claim that Muslim immigrants have created “no-go zones” in Europe where non-Muslims are not welcome.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Daily Signal and No More Mister Nice Blog
RELATED:
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Fox News to correct guest's misstatements on Birmingham, ‘no-go zones’
Fox News to correct guest's misstatements on Birmingham, ‘no-go zones’
Discussion:
Right Wing Watch, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, @politifact and Guardian
Reuters:
Swiss central bank stuns market with policy U-turn — (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank shocked financial markets on Thursday by scrapping a three-year-old cap on the franc, sending the currency soaring against the euro and stocks plunging on fears for the export-reliant Swiss economy.
Discussion:
Bloomberg View, The Huffington Post, The Dish, Slate, rubber hose, Bloomberg and BBC
RELATED:
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Regime Change in Switzerland
Regime Change in Switzerland
Discussion:
Marginal REVOLUTION, TheMoneyIllusion, Washington Post and Discourse.net
Yvonne Dean-Bailey / Campus Reform:
All-women's college cancels ‘Vagina Monologues’ because it's not feminist enough — Mount Holyoke College, an all-women's school, announced in a campus-wide email that the Theatre Board has cancelled its annual production of the “Vagina Monologues.” — The board has decided to retire …
Discussion:
Daily Mail, Jezebel, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Althouse and The PJ Tatler
RELATED:
Elizabeth Nolan Brown / Hit & Run:
Women's College Cancels ‘Vagina Monologues’ Because It Excludes Women Without Vaginas
Women's College Cancels ‘Vagina Monologues’ Because It Excludes Women Without Vaginas
Mark Joyella / Adweek:
Jim Clancy Leaves CNN After 34 Years — CNN confirms longtime correspondent Jim Clancy has left the network after nearly 34 years. Clancy made the announcement to colleagues in an email obtained by TVNewser, calling CNN “one of the greatest news organizations in the world” and “a family to my own family.”
Lyndsey Layton / Washington Post:
Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty — For the first time in at least 50 years, a majority of U.S. public school students come from low-income families, according to a new analysis of 2013 federal data, a statistic that has profound implications for the nation.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Shakesville, Vox Popoli and U.S. News
Tim Alberta / National Journal:
Ben Carson to the GOP Establishment: I'm Not ‘Crazy’ — The political novice with eyes on 2016 auditions before the RNC and blames his zealot image on the mainstream media. — CORONADO, Calif. — Ben Carson—a Washington outsider, a world-renowned neurosurgeon, a favorite among tea-party insurgents …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Hot Air, The Huffington Post, Liberaland and Joe. My. God.