Top Items:
Alyssa Marino / ABC57 News:
RFRA: First Michiana business to publicly deny same-sex service — A small-town pizza shop is saying they agree with Governor Pence and the signing of the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act. — The O'Connor family, who owns Memories Pizza, says they have a right to believe in their religion and protect those ideals.
Discussion:
CBS Cleveland, Mediaite, Unicorn Booty, Washington Post, Politico, BarbWire.com, msnbc.com, The Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress, Bloomberg Business, Towleroad News #gay, The Atlantic Online, Raw Story, Liberaland, CBS New York, ABC News, National Review, Talking Points Memo, abc7news.com, Hot Air, Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit, The Hinterland Gazette, Scripting News, PinkNews, New York Magazine and Balloon Juice
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Rich Juzwiak / Gawker:
Indiana Pizzeria Takes Brave Stand of Denying Gays Pizza for Weddings — Crystal O'Connor of Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana, has her finger on the pulse of what gays want at their weddings: pizza. But thanks to her home state's new Religious Freedom Restoration Act …
Discussion:
Right Wing Watch, Hit & Run and The Daily Banter
New York Times:
Arkansas Governor Asks Lawmakers to Recall Religious Freedom Bill — LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Facing a backlash from businesses and gay rights advocates, Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas on Wednesday called on state lawmakers to either recall or amend legislation billed as a religious freedom measure …
Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Want Some Cheese With That Whine, Conservatives? — If you want a good example of what cultural conservatives are telling themselves about the backlash over Indiana's (and probably Arkansas' before the week is out) “religious liberty” law, there's none better than the pity party Timothy Carney held …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune, Washington Post, Slate and Shakesville
Tracy Walsh / Talking Points Memo:
David Letterman: ‘This Is Not The Indiana I Remember As A Kid’ (VIDEO) — Comedian and native Hoosier David Letterman during his show Tuesday night tore into Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) for signing the state's divisive Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law.
Discussion:
Bloomberg Business, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Mediaite
Eric Bradner / CNN:
Arkansas governor sends religious freedom bill back to legislators — Washington (CNN)Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he does not plan to sign the religious freedom bill that sits on his desk right now, instead asking state lawmakers to make changes so the bill mirrors federal law.
Michael Falcone / ABC News:
The Note: Obama's Latest Numbers … NOTABLES — A FLATTENED APPROVAL RATING IS SOFTENED BY SOME UNDERLYING GAINS for Barack Obama in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll — with no sign of tailwinds for the Republicans in Congress. After a 9-point jump in overall approval in January …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune, Associated Press and San Diego Gay and Lesbian
Indianapolis Star:
Exclusive: ‘Religious freedom’ proposal with limited LGBT protections taken to Pence
Exclusive: ‘Religious freedom’ proposal with limited LGBT protections taken to Pence
Discussion:
Politico, Towleroad News #gay, Weekly Standard and Fox 59
Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:
February Poll: Majority Support Religious Right to Refuse Gay-Wedding Services
February Poll: Majority Support Religious Right to Refuse Gay-Wedding Services
Discussion:
Bloomberg Business, Washington Post and National Review
Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
Indiana Pizzeria Vows To Never Deliver A Pizza To A Gay Wedding
Indiana Pizzeria Vows To Never Deliver A Pizza To A Gay Wedding
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Daily Caller, The Mahablog, Raw Story, ABC News, National Review and New York Times
Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
Indiana governor backs down, calls for fix to religious law
Indiana governor backs down, calls for fix to religious law
Discussion:
Firedoglake
Krishnadev Calamur / NPR:
Arkansas Governor Asks Lawmakers For Changes To ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill
Arkansas Governor Asks Lawmakers For Changes To ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill
Discussion:
USA Today, Business Insider, Washington Post, Politico, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and National Review
Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:
The Left wages total war; and then plays victim
The Left wages total war; and then plays victim
Discussion:
The Federalist, The Other McCain, alicublog, The Anchoress, Hot Air and New York Times
Politico:
DOJ: No contempt charges for former IRS official Lois Lerner — The Justice Department will not seek criminal contempt charges against former IRS official Lois Lerner, the central figure in a scandal that erupted over whether the tax agency improperly targeted conservative political groups.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Washington Post, The Right Scoop and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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Darius Dixon / Politico:
House panel inquiring into former energy official's $1.7 million job
House panel inquiring into former energy official's $1.7 million job
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler
Pew Internet:
U.S. Smartphone Use in 2015 — Key Themes of This Report — 10% of Americans own a smartphone but do not have broadband at home, and 15% own a smartphone but say that they have a limited number of options for going online other than their cell phone. Those with relatively low income …
Discussion:
Pew Research Center, The Hill and NPR, more at Mediagazer »
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Dylan Byers / Politico:
The Mobile Election: How smartphones will change the 2016 presidential race
The Mobile Election: How smartphones will change the 2016 presidential race
Discussion:
Political Wire and Pew Research Center
Barack Obama / Medium:
A New Tool Against Cyber Threats — It's one of the great paradoxes of our Information Age—the very technologies that empower us to do great good can also be used by adversaries to inflict great harm. The same technologies that help keep our military strong are used by hackers in China …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, The Hill, The Verge, White House.gov Blog, The Daily Caller and Mashable
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Stephen Peters / Human Rights Campaign Blog:
Tech Industry Leaders Make Unprecedented & Historic Joint Statement to Legislators — Today, in response to a host of anti-LGBT bills pending or signed in to law in states around the country, tech industry leaders signed an unprecedented joint statement supporting the addition …
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Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Tech Leaders Call For States To Pass LGBT Protections, Ban Denial Of Services
Tech Leaders Call For States To Pass LGBT Protections, Ban Denial Of Services
Discussion:
The Verge and New York Times
Jason Horowitz / New York Times:
Scott Walker, Allergic to Dogs, May Run Against Political History — Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and his wife, Tonette, had planned to spend a recent Friday night at the Nashua home of Jennifer Horn, the New Hampshire Republican chairwoman. — Then he heard about Al, the Horns' beloved Dalmatian-Catahoula Leopard mix.
Discussion:
Greenville News, Fox News Insider, OnPolitics, BarbWire.com, Hot Air, Althouse and New York Magazine
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Cruz enters top tier of GOP hopefuls — PPP's newest Republican national poll finds that Ted Cruz has the big momentum following the official announcement of his candidacy last week. His support has increased from 5% to 16% in just over a month, enough to make him one of three candidates …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog and Real Clear Politics
Erick Erickson / RedState:
Two Years Later, You'll Still Be Made to Care — In the last twenty-four hours, much of the mainstream media has shown itself perfectly willing to serve as agents of Satan (or should I use Moloch to make you feel better?). Most of the news anchors, reporters, and opinion writers of the press …
Discussion:
Political Insider blog, BizPac Review, The Right Scoop and The American Conservative
Los Angeles Times:
Brown orders California's first mandatory water restrictions: 'It's a different world' — Gov. Jerry Brown, standing on a patch of brown grass in the Sierra Nevada that is usually covered with several feet of snow at this time of year, on Wednesday announced the first mandatory water restrictions in California history.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Boing Boing, The Week and Mediaite
Bloomberg.com:
Tim Gunn Does ‘180-Degree About-Face’ on Hillary Clinton — The king of fashion takes back what he said about the woman who he hopes is the next president of the United States. “I have been very critical of her style. I have done a 180 degree about-face,” he says. And about the men in Washington?
Discussion:
Washington Post
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Eleven of 12 APS defendants found guilty — After more than eight days of deliberation in a case that rattled the region and garnered unwanted national attention, a jury found 11 of 12 former Atlanta Public Schools teachers, principals and administrators guilty of conspiring to change student answers on standardized tests.
Pierre-Jean Cobut / The Hill:
Let us stay: Innovators need immigration reform — Many know today as April Fools' Day, a day for practical jokes and pranks. For me, however, today represents something entirely different - and much less funny. April 1 is the day the U.S. government starts accepting applications for the H-1B visa …
Discussion:
Siskind Susser PC