memeorandum: Can IQ tests settle whether Trump is a moron or not? (Gavin Haynes/The Guardian)

4:00 PM ET, October 11, 2017

Top Items:

Trump Wanted Tenfold Increase in Nuclear Arsenal, Surprising Military — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he wanted what amounted to a nearly tenfold increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal during a gathering this past summer of the nation's highest ranking national security leaders …

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“I Hate Everyone in the White House!”: Trump Seethes as Advisers Fear the President Is “Unraveling” — In recent days, I've spoken with a half dozen prominent Republicans and Trump advisers, and they all describe a White House in crisis as advisers struggle to contain a president that seems …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Salon, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Mediaite and Mashable

Politico:

Trump suggests challenging NBC's broadcast license — His tweet follows a story by NBC News Wednesday that the president calls ‘pure fiction, made up to demean.’ — President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that NBC's broadcast license should be pulled as punishment after NBC News published …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Axios, Mediaite, Consumerist, New York Times, Mother Jones, RedState, Washington Post, The Guardian, Jamie Dupree - PBP, Raw Story, Business Insider, IJR, Political Wire, The Daily Caller and Joe.My.God.

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Trump expected to name Kelly's White House deputy as DHS secretary — Kirstjen Nielsen, who also served as Kelly's No. 2 at DHS, was his pick to fill his old job, which has been vacant since July. — President Donald Trump is expected to nominate Kirstjen Nielsen to run the Department …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Axios, New York Times, Daily Kos, Business Insider and IJR

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Trump threatens to cancel NBC's broadcast license over critical reporting

Discussion: The Federalist, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart Unmasked, Business Insider, CNBC, Raw Story, Media Matters for America, NBC News, Politicus USA, Mediaite and Shareblue Media

Mike Allen / Axios:
Inside Bannon's plans for a GOP civil war

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Breitbart, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hill, RedState and BuzzFeed

Noah Bierman / Los Angeles Times:
Trump unleashes himself from would-be handlers, lashing out mornings, nights and weekends

Discussion: Political Wire

CNNMoney:
President Trump threatens NBC over critical coverage

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Post, Politico, Business Insider, Vox, IJR, The Resurgent, Shareblue Media, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Axios, Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God., Raw Story and The Root, more at Mediagazer »

Elizabeth Preza / Raw Story:
GOP official imagines Kelly and Mattis discussed tackling Trump if he ‘lunges for the nuclear football’: report

Discussion: twitchy.com

Washington Post:

Undisclosed deal guaranteed Roy Moore $180,000 a year for part-time work at charity — Former Alabama judge Roy Moore, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, once said publicly that he did not take a “regular salary” from the small charity he founded to promote Christian values because he did not want to be a financial burden.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God. and Political Wire

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:

How NBC ‘Killed’ Ronan Farrow's Weinstein Exposé … Freelance NBC News correspondent Ronan Farrow, whose months-long investigation into reports of Harvey Weinstein's sexual misconduct was spiked by the network but morphed into a journalistic blockbuster at The New Yorker …

TMZ.com:
Harvey Weinstein Flying to Europe Tonight for Sex Addiction Rehab

Discussion: The Hill, Page Six, Daily Wire, Gothamist, The Daily Caller, IJR, IndieWire, Instapundit, Washington Post, The Resurgent and Mercury News, more at Mediagazer »

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:
Why Ronan Farrow's Harvey Weinstein Bombshell Did Not Run on NBC

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Vox Popoli, more at Mediagazer »

People.com:
Harvey Weinstein's Wife Georgina Chapman Is Leaving Him: ‘My Heart Breaks for All the Women Who Have Suffered’

Kate Maltby / CNN:
Harvey Weinstein and his enablers

Discussion: Shakesville, Instapundit, Mediaite, Fox News, IJR and Mashable

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:

Mitch McConnell Goes to the Mattresses for Trump's Judicial Nominees — The Senate majority leader takes charge of the confirmation process. — The Republican drive to confirm federal judges has gained momentum from a series of actions by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Crime and Consequences Blog, Washington Free Beacon and Business Insider

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Mitch McConnell Is Keeping The Senate Rule That Lets Dems Block Trump's Judges

Discussion: Business Insider, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, Political Wire and Politico

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
McConnell ratchets up judicial wars — again

Discussion: Power Line

Scott Johnson / Power Line: Goodbye, blue slips!?

Erin Mershon / STAT:

An old-school pharmacy hand-delivers drugs to Congress, a little-known perk for the powerful — ASHINGTON — If House Speaker Paul Ryan comes down with the flu this winter, he and his security detail won't be screeching off toward the closest CVS for his Tamiflu.

Discussion: Vox

Pete Williams / NBC News:

Boy Scouts Will Admit Girls, Allow Them to Earn Eagle Scout Rank — The Boy Scouts of America announced Wednesday that girls will soon be allowed to become Cub Scouts and to earn the coveted rank of Eagle Scout, the organization's highest honor. — “We believe it is critical to evolve …

Discussion: RedState, Conservative News Today, Friendly Atheist, Washington Free Beacon, Boing Boing, Mashable, Axios and IJR

David Dayen / The Intercept:

Puerto Rico Relief Bill Cancels $16 Billion in Debt — But Not for Puerto Rico — House Republicans unveiled a $36.5 billion disaster relief supplemental package Tuesday night, intended to pay for relief and rebuilding efforts for the floods, hurricanes, and wildfires of the past several months.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Raw Story, Politico and New York Magazine

Richard Wolffe / The Guardian:
Puerto Rico: US officials privately acknowledge serious food shortage

Discussion: New York Times and The Daily Caller

Michael Bamberger / GOLF.com:

‘He hit the ball on the screws’: Sen. Graham details President Trump's improbable 73 — The real Donald Trump is revealed through his golf game — Late on Monday afternoon, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), offered, by way of Twitter, a report on his Columbus Day round with President Trump …

Discussion: Political Wire

Wall Street Journal:

Russia Has Turned Kaspersky Software Into Tool for Spying — Searches exploited popular Russian-made antivirus software to seek classified material, officials say — WASHINGTON—The Russian government used a popular antivirus software to secretly scan computers around the world …

Discussion: Gizmodo, New York Magazine, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Security Affairs, Washington Post, Daily Wire, CANNONFIRE and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Shannon Hall / New York Times:

A Surprise From the Supervolcano Under Yellowstone — Beneath Yellowstone National Park lies a supervolcano, a behemoth far more powerful than your average volcano. It has the ability to expel more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of rock and ash at once — 250,000 times more material than erupted …

Discussion: CBS Dallas and Althouse

Michael Kranish / Washington Post:

'He's better than this,' says Thomas Barrack, Trump's loyal whisperer — NEW YORK — Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a billionaire who is one of President Trump's oldest friends, had spent weeks trying to smooth the way for a May presidential meeting in Saudi Arabia with Gulf leaders. — All initially went well.

Discussion: Business Insider, ABC News and CNBC

Sophia Tesfaye / Salon:

Trump's Benghazi? Ambush of U.S. soldiers in Niger goes unnoticed — Four dead Americans. — It's been five years since terrorists attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012, leaving four Americans dead. Last week, as CIA officers disguised in wigs and mustaches testified …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Politicus USA and New York Times

Washington Post:

‘Pure devastation’: At least 17 dead, with hundreds missing, as California wildfires spread — SANTA ROSA, Calif. — A series of historically deadly Northern California wildfires regained momentum Wednesday as winds whipped back up, pushing blazes through parched hills and vineyards and prompting …

Discussion: Axios, Los Angeles Times, Blue Lives Matter, CNN, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, Faithwire, IJR, 1A and Refinery29

Gavin Haynes / The Guardian:

Can IQ tests settle whether Trump is a moron or not? — Following reports that Rex Tillerson questioned the US president's brain power, the latter has offered to settle the matter with an IQ test. But are they really a way to reliably quantify intelligence?

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Washington Post, Business Insider, Gizmodo and The Atlantic

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:

House Democrat unveils articles of impeachment against Trump, but misses chance to force vote — (D-Texas) on Wednesday unveiled articles of impeachment against President Trump in an effort to force a House vote on removing him from office. — Green's articles of impeachment were introduced as …

Discussion: Vox and Raw Story

Sarah Spellings / thecut:

Hilarie Burton Says Ben Affleck Groped Her on TRL The accusation began with a tweet from a fan. October 11, 2017 — Ask Polly: 'I Work Too Hard and I'm Still Poor and Miserable!' You have to decide to be good to yourself. October 11, 2017 — Megyn Kelly Is Reportedly Ruining Everybody's …

ESPN:

Gerald McCoy: 'It's going to be an uproar' if players forced to stand — Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Gerald McCoy, speaking on Adam Schefter's Know Them From Adam podcast, said he thinks there might “be an uproar” if NFL players are forced to stand for the national anthem.

Discussion: Daily Wire, Washington Free Beacon, IJR, ProFootballTalk, Fox News Insider, CBS Philly, The Daily Caller and AOL

Deena Zaru / CNN:

Eminem unleashes on Trump: The 11 fiercest lines — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — " to a “racist grandpa” in an explosive 4.5-minute freestyle rap. — The Detroit rapper challenged his fans at the BET Hip Hop Awards to “decide who you like more” — Eminem or Trump.