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2:15 PM ET, August 12, 2013

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Justice Dept. Seeks to Curtail Stiff Drug Sentences  —  WASHINGTON — In a major shift in criminal justice policy, the Obama administration will move on Monday to ease overcrowding in federal prisons by ordering prosecutors to omit listing quantities of illegal substances in indictments …
RELATED:
Jonathan Weil / Bloomberg:
Eric Holder Owes the American People an Apology  —  The Justice Department made a long-overdue disclosure late Friday: Last year when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder boasted about the successes that a high-profile task force racked up pursuing mortgage fraud, the numbers he trumpeted were grossly overstated.
Sari Horwitz / Washington Post:
Holder seeks to avert mandatory minimum sentences for some low-level drug offenders  —  Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is set to announce Monday that low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with no ties to gangs or large-scale drug organizations will no longer be charged with offenses that impose severe mandatory sentences.
David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
‘Mandatory minimum’ sentences to end for many drug offenders
Discussion: Crooks and Liars and TalkLeft
Gabriel Debenedetti / Reuters:
Holder to outline new drug offender sentencing proposal
Discussion: Hit & Run
Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Holder to scale back tough sentences for low-level drug crimes
Maria Sudekum / Associated Press:
Missouri Fair clown draws criticism for Obama mask  —  You are here  —  Home » Barack Obama » Missouri Fair clown draws criticism for Obama mask  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A clown wearing a President Barack Obama mask appeared at a Missouri State Fair rodeo this weekend …
RELATED:
Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Obama Rodeo Mask Is ‘Racist’ But Decapitated George Bush Head on a Pike Was Funny  —  Liberals were outraged this weekend after a rodeo clown at the Missouri State Fair wore an Obama mask as he taunted the Bulls.  —  Obama clown at Missouri State Fair rodeo (Show Me Progress)
Discussion: Hypocrisy-Now!
Dana Loesch / RedState:
Clown Dresses As Obama At MO State Fair, Democrats Cry “Racism®” *UPDATED  —  A rodeo clown at the Missouri State Fair over the weekend donned an Obama mask instead of typical clown fare.  The clown, a participant in the fair and not officially representative of the fair …
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit
Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Missouri State Fair apologizes after rodeo clown mocks Obama
Discussion: CNN, Mediaite and The Week
Andrew Kaczynski:
Republican Congressman: We Probably Have The Votes To Impeach Obama  —  “I'll give you a real frank answer about that: If we were to impeach the president tomorrow, you could probably get the votes in the House of Representatives to do it.”  —  youtube.com
Joseph Goldstein / New York Times:
Stop-and-Frisk Practice Violated Rights, Judge Rules  —  In a repudiation of a major element in the Bloomberg administration's crime-fighting legacy, a federal judge has found that the stop-and-frisk tactics of the New York Police Department violated the constitutional rights of tens of thousands …
Jill Colvin / Politicker:
Anthony Weiner Releases First TV Ad  —  A scene from Anthony Weiner's first ad.  —  Mayoral contender Anthony Weiner is set to hit the airwaves Monday with his first televised ad, which he sent out to his supporters early this morning.  —  “Our campaign has had policy speeches, idea books and lots of community meetings.
RELATED:
Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Weiner unveils first TV ad, vowing to fight ‘powerful voices’
Kevin Liptak / CNN:
Weiner's first TV ad: ‘Powerful voices’ against him
Glenn Greenwald / Guardian:
Michael Hayden, Bob Schieffer and the media's reverence of national security officials  —  The former NSA director is held up by the Face the Nation host as an objective authority when he is everything but that  —  In 2006, the New York Times won the Pulitzer Prize for having revealed …
Discussion: Gawker, Hullabaloo and The Dish
RELATED:
Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:
Michael Hayden, Former NSA Chief: After A Major Attack, U.S. Likely To Seize More Surveillance Powers
Discussion: Crooks and Liars
Keith Laing / The Hill:
Rep. McCaul says Obama now trying to ‘salvage’ NSA program
Discussion: Washington Examiner and Hot Air
Stephen Moore / Wall Street Journal:
The Budget Sequester Is a Success  —  The Obama spending blitz is over and the deficit is heading below 4% of GDP.  —  The biggest underreported story out of Washington this year is that the federal budget is shrinking and much more than anyone in either party expected.
Kyle Smith / New York Post:
Nudge off!  —  Why czars of suggestion — Eat better!  Exercise more!  Save don't spend! — are doomed to inevitable failure  —  Unemployed?  Underemployed?  Working the register at Denny's when you used to be on the management track?  Just been informed you'll be one of the ObamaCare …
RELATED:
Ben Geman / E2-Wire:   White House warns of rising threat to power grid from ‘extreme weather’
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Milton Friedman, Unperson  —  Recently Senator Rand Paul, potential presidential candidate and self-proclaimed expert on monetary issues, sat down for an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek.  It didn't go too well.  For example, Mr. Paul talked about America running “a trillion-dollar deficit every year” …
Anthony Breznican / Inside Movies:
‘The Day the Clown Cried’: New video surfaces from famed (and shamed) Jerry Lewis Holocaust film  —  This is making-of footage from a film that will never-be.  —  The Day the Clown Cried was a 1972 Holocaust drama directed and starring Jerry Lewis that was famously decried for its bad taste before ever being released.
Tony Leys / Des Moines Register:
Wisconsin senator who hates Obamacare plans visit to D.M. to talk about it  —  A Wisconsin senator who is an ardent foe of Obamacare plans to meet with Iowa business leaders Tuesday to discuss the impact of the law.  —  Ron Johnson, a Republican elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 …
Discussion: Ballot Box and The Daily Caller
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Expats Balk at Tax Law  —  American Citizen Renunciations Are Soaring  —  By - MARIKO SANCHANTA And - JASON CHOW  —  More U.S. citizens are giving up their American passports as the government cracks down on tax evaders.  The WSJ's Deborah Kan speaks to lawyer Eugene Chow …
Discussion: The Hill
Bloomberg:
Obama's Opaque Commitment to Transparency  —  At President Barack Obama's news conference today, he pledged to strengthen oversight, transparency and constraints on the use of U.S. surveillance authority in the future.  Too bad he coupled this pledge to a disingenuous attempt to rewrite the past.
Discussion: The Dish and Politico
WBIR-TV:
Tennessee Judge orders baby's name be changed from ‘Messiah’  —  Jaleesa Martin and the father of Messiah could not agree on a last name, which is how they ended up at a child support hearing in Cocke County Chancery Court on Thursday.  —  That is when the first name came into question.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Susie Madrak / Crooks and Liars:
Anybody But Cory Booker
Kate Nocera / BuzzFeed:
GOP Strains To Win Back Senate While Keeping Conservative Activists Happy
John Steele Gordon / Commentary Magazine:
Obama's Political Incompetence
Discussion: VodkaPundit and Betsy's Page
Eliana Johnson / National Review:
Lerner's FEC Problem
Emma Jones / BBC:
Elysium: A politically charged ‘popcorn sundae’
Discussion: Samizdata and Right Wing Watch
James Hohmann / Politico:
GOP poll: Tom Cotton has edge over Mark Pryor
 Earlier Items: 
Digits:
Next iPad Takes After Thin, Light Mini
Discussion: GigaOM, TechCrunch and Business Insider
Scott Neuman / U.S.:
Family Rescued In Pacific After Sailing ‘Where God Led Us’
Discussion: The Mahablog and Balloon Juice
Politico:
Next fiscal fight: Why Wall Street should worry
Discussion: Business Insider
Stephen Carter / Bloomberg:
Unpopular Republicans See Gains in '14 Elections
Discussion: The Week and The Daily Caller
Wall Street Journal:
Statement Issued by Ann Heywood
Discussion: Guardian, National Updates and BBC
 

 
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Alex Heath / The Verge:
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Ryan Morrison / Tom's Guide:
Microsoft researchers introduce VASA-1, an AI model that creates a realistic talking face video from a portrait photo and an audio file, in research preview

Raffaele Huang / Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China, saying it was ordered to do so by China's cyberspace officials citing national security concerns

 
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