memeorandum: U.P.S. to End Health Benefits for Spouses of Some Workers (Steven Greenhouse/New York Times)

11:10 AM ET, August 22, 2013

Top Items:

Scott Stump / TODAY.com:

Bradley Manning: I want to live as a woman — Facebook - Twitter - Reddit - Pinterest - Email — Bradley Manning, the Army private sentenced to military prison for leaking classified documents, revealed he intends to live out the remainder of his life as a woman. — “I am Chelsea Manning.

Chelsea E. Manning / TODAY.com:

‘I am Chelsea’: Read Manning's full statement — Video: “I am Chelsea Manning. I am female,” explains the Army private via a statement read on TODAY Thursday. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday for leaking classified government documents.

Discussion: Guardian, Firedoglake, Hit & Run, Boing Boing, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Week, Weasel Zippers, Telegraph, Shakesville, msnbc.com, Associated Press, Mashable, The Other McCain, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Gawker and No More Mister Nice Blog

Michael Pearson / CNN:

Bradley Manning says he wants to live as a woman, be called Chelsea — (CNN) — Bradley Manning wants to be a woman. — The U.S. Army soldier sentenced this week to 35 years in prison for leaking 750,000 pages of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said Thursday …

Discussion: Guardian and KTLA 5, more at Mediagazer »

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Bradley Manning: ‘I am a female’ — Army Pfc. Bradley Manning wants to live as a woman, his lawyer announced Thursday morning. — Manning, who was sentenced on Wednesday to 35 years in prison, asks to be called Chelsea Manning in a statement Manning's lawyer read Thursday morning on the “Today” show on NBC.

Discussion: Courthouse News Service and Feministing

Eli Stokols / KDVR.com:

Sparks fly after Sen. Marble's ‘chicken’ comment in poverty hearing — DENVER — Democratic lawmakers couldn't believe their ears as they listened to Sen. Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins, deliver a long soliloquy explaining that more blacks and Hispanics live in poverty, in part, because of fried chicken.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, Wonkette, The Raw Story, Taegan Goddard's … and WTVR-TV

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:

McCain: Assad sees ‘green light’ from US to use chemical weapons — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday said that a weak U.S. response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had given the embattled leader a “green light” to continue using chemical weapons against civilians.

Discussion: Politico

CNN:
France calls for ‘force’ if Syria chemical weapons use is proved

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Via Meadia, Hot Air and The Week

Michael Hirsh / NationalJournal.com:
Why Assad Will Win — The U.S. is giving up on the Arab Spring …

Discussion: Yahoo! News

Jeffrey Goldberg / Bloomberg:
Does Anybody Care If Assad Uses Chemical Weapons Again?

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Dish, sana.sy, Guardian and FP Passport

Sam Baker / The Hill:

University of Virginia cuts some health benefits, citing ObamaCare costs — The University of Virginia said Wednesday that it will stop offering health insurance to some employees' spouses because of rising costs under ObamaCare. — The university said the Affordable Care Act will add $7.3 million to its healthcare costs next year.

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action for America

Jay Hancock / Kaiser Health News:

UPS Won't Insure Spouses Of Some Employees — This KHN story was produced in collaboration with — Partly blaming the health law, United Parcel Service is set to remove thousands of spouses from its medical plan because they are eligible for coverage elsewhere.

Discussion: The Hill and National Review

Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:
U.P.S. to End Health Benefits for Spouses of Some Workers

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Via Meadia

Rich Lowry / Politico:

Ted Cruz, traitor to his class — Henry Adams said that politics is the systematic organization of hatreds. For the left, over the past year it has seemed at times to be the systematic organization of hatred of Ted Cruz. — The freshman senator is not the first Texan to be so honored.

Discussion: National Review, Slate and CNN

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:
Ted Cruz: Savior or bane of the Republican Party?

Discussion: The Hugh Hewitt Show

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:
GOP Strategist To MSNBC: Ted Cruz Is ‘Lying to the Voters’

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

The great Democrat hope: Government shutdown — They'd never say it publicly. But catch many Democrats in an honest moment and they would admit that a Republican-led government shut down this fall might be the best thing — perhaps the only thing — that could revive their fading hopes of capturing the House next year.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Caren Bohan / Reuters:

Republicans weigh using debt limit as leverage on Obamacare — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers, who staunchly oppose President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, are considering using a fall showdown over the country's borrowing limit as leverage to try to delay the law's implementation.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, PoliticusUSA, The Plum Line and RedState

Scott Gordon / nbcdfw.com:

Police: Texas Lt. Gov. Dewhurst Asked to Get Relative Out of Jail — In statement, Dewhurst says he acted as “concerned family member” — The Allen Police Department released the full audio of a call Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst made to police to find out what he had to do to get a recently arrested relative out of jail.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Post Politics

Erich Schlegel / ABC News:
Texas Lt. Gov. Calls Police After Relative's Arrest

Discussion: CNN

Lauren McGaughy / New Orleans Times-Picayune:

Polls show Louisianians disappointed with Jindal, blame Obama for post-Katrina response — President Barack Obama is shown here with Gov. Bobby Jindal and Gen. Thad Allen in 2010. According to a poll released Wednesday, Jindal's approval rating in his home state has dropped 13 points below that of the president.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Prairie Weather

Rebecca Leber / ThinkProgress:
More Louisiana Republicans Blame President Obama For Hurricane Katrina Response Than Bush

Discussion: The Reaction, What Would Jack Do, The PJ Tatler and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Talking Points Memo:

Liz Cheney Pays Fine For Fishy Fishing License — Republican Wyoming Senate candidate Liz Cheney paid a $220 bond Wednesday for making a false statement on an application for a fishing license last year, Jackson Hole News&Guide reported. — Records show that the daughter …

Discussion: Daily Kos

jhnewsandguide.com:
Breaking news: Cheney pays $220 for fishing license ticket

Discussion: The Fix, Taegan Goddard's …, Politico, Ballot Box and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

NSA gathered thousands of Americans' e-mails before court struck down program — The National Security Agency unlawfully gathered as many as tens of thousands of e-mails and other electronic communications between Americans as part of a now-discontinued collection program, according to a 2011 secret court opinion.

New York Times:
Secret Court Rebuked N.S.A. on Surveillance

Discussion: MiamiHerald.com and TalkLeft

Seth / GLAAD:

Wentworth Miller rejects Russian film festival invitation; ‘As a gay man, I must decline’ — Actor and screenwriter Wentworth Miller today rejected an invitation to attend the St. Petersburg International Film Festival, citing Russia's anti-LGBT laws. In a letter to the Festival's Director …

Discussion: Guardian, CBS News, BBC, The Moderate Voice, CNN, Gawker, Towleroad News #gay, BuzzFeed, LGBTQ Nation, Deadline.com, PinkNews.co.uk and Good As You

Jeffrey A. Singer / Wall Street Journal:

Jeffrey Singer: The Man Who Was Treated for $17,000 Less — Bypassing his third-party payer, my patient avoided a high hospital ‘list price.’ — Every so often I have an extraordinary and surprising experience with a patient—the kind that makes us both say, “Wow, we've learned something from this.”

Tamar Lewin / New York Times:

Obama's Plan Aims to Lower Cost of College — President Obama plans to announce a set of ambitious proposals on Thursday aimed at making colleges more accountable and affordable by rating them and ultimately linking those ratings to financial aid. — A draft of the proposal …

Discussion: The Hill, Marginal Revolution, First Read, msnbc.com and Economix

Michael A. Fletcher / Washington Post:

Recession's pain reaching deep into the economic recovery — The buying power of Americans continues to be weaker than it was when the recession ended four years ago, underscoring the lasting damage wrought by the downturn, according to a report released Wednesday.

Discussion: Sense of Events

Mayor Bob Filner / Most Recent:

CNN: Spa owner says groped by Filner — Businesswoman claims Filner put his hands on her behind while they were being photographed — A prominent businesswoman came forward today as the 18th woman to accuse San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment.

Discussion: Politico and Washington Wire