Top Items:
New York Times:
Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program — WASHINGTON — In the $600 billion annual Defense Department budgets, the $22 million spent on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program was almost impossible to find. — Which was how the Pentagon wanted it.
Discussion:
Vox, Instapundit, Business Insider and Mashable
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New York Times:
2 Navy Airmen and an Object That 'Accelerated Like Nothing I've Ever Seen' — The following recounts an incident in 2004 that advocates of research into U.F.O.s have said is the kind of event worthy of more investigation, and that was studied by a Pentagon program that investigated U.F.O.s.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Bryan Bender / Politico:
The Pentagon's Secret Search for UFOs — The Pentagon, at the direction of Congress, a decade ago quietly set up a multi-million dollar program to investigate what are popularly known as unidentified flying objects—UFOs. — The “unidentified aerial phenomena” claimed to have been seen …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Axios, The Daily Caller and Mediaite
Mike Allen / Axios:
Scoop: Mueller obtains “tens of thousands” of Trump transition emails — Special Counsel Robert Mueller has obtained “many tens of thousands” of Trump transition emails, including sensitive emails of Jared Kushner, transition team sources tell Axios. — Trump officials discovered Mueller …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, The Right Scoop and CNN
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Josh Delk / The Hill:
Democrat: Rumor is Trump could fire Mueller before Christmas — (D-Calif.) said Friday that “rumors” on Capitol Hill suggest President Trump — could fire special counsel Robert Mueller before Christmas, after Congress leaves Washington for the winter recess.
Fox News:
Trump lawyer: Mueller improperly obtained transition documents in Russia probe — A lawyer for the Trump presidential transition team is accusing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office of inappropriately obtaining transition documents as part of its Russia probe, including confidential …
Discussion:
The Right Scoop
KQED News:
Rep. Speier: ‘Rumor on the Hill’ is Trump to Fire Mueller Before Christmas — Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo) told KQED Newsroom on Friday that she believes Republicans are trying to shut down the House Intelligence Committee's probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 elections.
Discussion:
CANNONFIRE and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:
So much losing: Trump is least popular first year president ever, down 49 points from Obama — Donald Trump's plunging approval rating has officially made him the most unpopular first-year president in the history of presidential polling, according to the latest figures from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Discussion:
Kennebec Journal & …
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Washington Post:
CDC gets list of forbidden words: fetus, transgender, diversity … The Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation's top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases — including “fetus” and “transgender” — in any official documents being prepared for next year's budget.
Discussion:
ABC News, Little Green Footballs, Hollywood Life, Common Dreams, The Verge, Gizmodo, Talking Points Memo, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, STAT, IJR, The Guardian, NPR, Marginal REVOLUTION, Splinter, ThinkProgress, TheBlaze, Sam Altman, KTLA, The Root, myfox8.com, New York Magazine, Friendly Atheist, Mediaite, AOL, Al Jazeera English, Business Insider, Shareblue Media, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, WCMH-TV, East Bay Times, The Week, Axios, Mother Jones, Mashable, Balloon Juice and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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Jessica Ravitz / CNN:
Word ban at CDC includes ‘vulnerable,’ ‘fetus,’ ‘transgender’
Word ban at CDC includes ‘vulnerable,’ ‘fetus,’ ‘transgender’
Discussion:
The Right Scoop and Joe.My.God.
New York Times:
‘Trump, Trump, Trump!’ How a President's Name Became a Racial Jeer — For more coverage of race, sign up here to have our Race/Related newsletter delivered weekly to your inbox. — The high school basketball squad from Eagle Grove, population 3,700, had traveled 60 miles up Highway 69 …
Discussion:
Politicus USA
New York Times:
World's Most Expensive Home? Another Bauble for a Saudi Prince — A $300 million chateau is one of a string of extravagant purchases for a prince who is cracking down on ill-gotten wealth and preaching fiscal austerity. — LOUVECIENNES, France — When the Chateau Louis XIV sold …
Washington Post:
After Alabama loss, Trump has ambitious plans to campaign in 2018 midterms — President Trump is not on the ballot in 2018, but the White House is planning a full-throttle campaign to plunge the president into the midterm elections, according to senior officials and advisers familiar with the planning.
New York Times:
Omarosa, Leaving the White House, Suggests the Show Will Go On — WASHINGTON — Every must-watch television show needs two ingredients to survive its first season: a believable villain and a nail-biter of a cliffhanger. Omarosa Manigault Newman, a veteran of “The Apprentice,” …
Discussion:
Daily Mail, Raw Story, Hollywood Life, The Right Scoop and theGrio
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Tara Palmeri / ABC News:
Omarosa Manigault Newman's White House role fraught with tension, sources say
Omarosa Manigault Newman's White House role fraught with tension, sources say
Discussion:
Business Insider and Raw Story
David Sirota / International Business Times:
Donald Trump And GOP Leaders Could Be Enriched By Last Minute Tax Break Inserted Into Final Bill — Republican congressional leaders and real estate moguls could be personally enriched by a real-estate-related provision GOP lawmakers slipped into the final tax bill released Friday evening …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Outside the Beltway and Raw Story
John Hudson / BuzzFeed:
Trump's Ambassadors Are Going Rogue On Twitter — Callista Gingrich, Nikki Haley and Scott Brown are all running afoul of federal guidelines on social media while the State Department whistles in the wind. — Reporting From Washington, D.C. — US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has her staff support her personal Twitter account.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
FBI officials' text message about Hillary Clinton said to be a cover story for romantic affair — Two senior FBI officials who texted each other about President Trump and Hillary Clinton relied on work phones to try to hide their romance from a spouse and made the bureau's probe …
Discussion:
twitchy.com, Althouse and John Hawkins' Right Wing News
Kathy Lally / Washington Post:
The two expat bros who terrorized women correspondents in Moscow — Matt Taibbi and Mark Ames trafficked in hideous stereotypes and body-shaming. — There's more than one way to harass women. A raft of men in recent weeks have paid for accusations of sexual harassment with their companies, their jobs, their plum political posts.
Perry Stein / Washington Post:
The owner of Steve Bannon's D.C. rowhouse wants a 3-foot security fence. D.C. government is not having it. — (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) — While the Breitbart News operation pushes an anti-establishment message across the country, it is also steeped in a municipal battle in the nation's capital.
Discussion:
The Hill
Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:
“It just seems wrong.” GOP rep admits tax scam he voted for rips off working people — There's not much to like about the GOP tax scheme. The bill, drafted hurriedly and under the cover of darkness, is wildly unpopular among the American people and economists alike …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast and CNBC
Associated Press:
Trump calls wife of hospitalized Sen. John McCain — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has called the wife of John McCain as the Arizona senator is hospitalized for cancer treatments. — The White House said Trump called Cindy McCain on Friday to send his best wishes and check on her and her husband.
Discussion:
Axios and The Daily Caller
Clark Kauffman / Des Moines Register:
Iowa Supreme Court justice blocks Register's use of court records — Newspaper says Wiggins' order violates the First Amendment — An Iowa Supreme Court justice has issued a highly unusual order prohibiting the Des Moines Register from publishing information gleaned from court records.
Elena Schneider / Politico:
Kihuen will not seek reelection — Rep. Ruben Kihuen (D-Nev.) said Saturday that he will not seek reelection after facing accusations about sexual harassment. — Kihuen has been under fire after a former campaign staffer and a Nevada lobbyist both accused Kihuen of sexual harassment …
Discussion:
The Nevada Independent and The Right Scoop