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.
RELATED:
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:
Axios, The Daily Caller and Mediaite
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, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, IJR, Sam Altman, Marginal REVOLUTION, The Guardian, NPR, New York Magazine, Shareblue Media, myfox8.com, Splinter, KTLA, Friendly Atheist, STAT, TheBlaze, The Root, Business Insider, AOL, Al Jazeera English, Mediaite, WCMH-TV, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, The Week, Mother Jones, Axios, Mashable, Balloon Juice and Lawyers, Guns & Money
RELATED:
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.
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.
Discussion:
RedState
RELATED:
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 …
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, Political Wire, Outside the Beltway and 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
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
RELATED:
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
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
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
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.
New York Times:
E.P.A. Contractor Has Spent Past Year Scouring the Agency for Anti-Trump Officials — One of the top executives of a consulting firm that the Environmental Protection Agency has recently hired to help it with media affairs has spent the past year investigating agency employees who have been critical …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Shareblue Media, Raw Story, DeSmogBlog, Media Matters for America, Grist, Mashable and Mother Jones, more at Mediagazer »
Josh Delk / The Hill:
Roy Moore fundraising for ‘election integrity fund’ ahead of election certification — 's campaign announced Friday that it is seeking donations for an “election integrity fund” following the former judge's unsuccessful bid for an Alabama Senate seat. — Moore has refused to concede the race …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, AOL, Politico, WBRC-TV, twitchy.com and RedState
David J. Lynch / Washington Post:
Trump promised ‘America First’ would keep jobs here. But the tax plan might push them overseas. — Delegates hold signs reading “Make America First Again” during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. It was a theme of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)
Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Brookings fellow rips Trump: I entered through lottery system — A fellow at the Brookings Institution blasted President Trump — 's derision of the visa lottery system on Friday, putting himself forward as an example of the program's effectiveness. — “I won a green card through …
Discussion:
Althouse and Hullabaloo
Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
The Grande Dame of Documentary is Leaving Her Home at HBO — After almost 40 years, she has reels of memorable film, a pile of awards and plenty of perspective on the current battle of the sexes. — When Sheila Nevins first started working in television in the 1970s, she thought …
Dan Balz / Washington Post:
On the eve of the tax vote, Republicans place a big bet for 2018 — The tax bill now ready for final passage represents a big bet on the part of congressional Republicans. Facing an energized Democratic base and saddled with an unpopular president, GOP lawmakers hope that completion …
Discussion:
Politico
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
Associated Press:
AP-NORC Poll: 52 percent say country worse off under Trump — WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are painting a pessimistic view of the country and President Donald Trump as 2017 comes to a close. — That's according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Discussion:
Shareblue Media