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12:00 PM ET, May 20, 2017

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Julia Edwards Ainsley / Reuters:
White House looking at ethics rule to weaken special investigation: sources  —  The Trump administration is exploring whether it can use an obscure ethics rule to undermine the special counsel investigation into ties between President Donald Trump's campaign team and Russia, two people familiar with White House thinking said on Friday.
RELATED:
CNN:
First on CNN: Comey now believes Trump was trying to influence him, source says  —  Washington (CNN)Former FBI Director James Comey now believes that President Donald Trump was trying to influence his judgment about the Russia probe, a person familiar with his thinking says …
CNN:
First on CNN: Russian officials bragged they could use Flynn to influence Trump, sources say  —  Washington (CNN)Russian officials bragged in conversations during the presidential campaign that they had cultivated a strong relationship with former Trump adviser retired Gen. Michael Flynn …
Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
Trump's Berating of Comey for the Consumption of Our Enemies  —  I admit to being slack-jawed over the New York Times report that President Trump smeared former FBI director James Comey in a conversation with representatives of Russia's murderous, anti-American regime.
The Daily Beast:
Trump Officials: ‘He Looks More and More Like a Complete Moron’ … Donald Trump and his senior staffers were headed across the Atlantic when news broke that the president had trash-talked former FBI director James Comey in a meeting with Russian government officials—a meeting …
Wall Street Journal:
Fired FBI Director James Comey to Testify in Public  —  Former FBI Director James Comey has agreed to testify publicly in Congress, capping a week that may shape President Donald Trump's administration for months, or even years, and prompting White House aides to rethink how they operate in this new political and legal environment.
New York Times:
Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump told Russian officials in the Oval Office this month that firing the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, had relieved “great pressure” on him, according to a document summarizing the meeting.
Washington Post:
Russia probe reaches current White House official, people familiar with the case say
Jake Tapper / CNN:
Between Trump and his national security adviser lie ‘ferocious’ internal politics
McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Comey agrees to testify in public as Trump-Russia probe heats up
Andrew Buncombe / The Independent:
Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner ‘person of interest in Russia investigation’
Discussion: Outside the Beltway and CANNONFIRE
Kyle Olson / The American Mirror:
GREAT AGAIN: Unlike Obama, Trump doesn't bow to Saudi king  —  What a difference an election can make for the respect American leaders have for our country.  —  There were two very different outcomes when two American presidents greeted the king of Saudi Arabia.
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and twitchy.com
RELATED:
Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Trump gets elaborate welcome in Saudi Arabia as he begins first foreign trip
New York Times:
Trump Gets a Gold Medal as Welcome From Saudi King
Daily Mail:
Donald Trump lands in Saudi Arabia for ‘big foreign trip’
Discussion: Infowars
Why Evolution Is True:
A new academic hoax: a bogus paper on “the conceptual penis” gets published in a “high quality peer-reviewed” social science journal  —  It's been 21 years since physicist Alan Sokal submitted a bogus paper to a special “Science Wars” issue of the cultural studies journal Social Text.
Discussion: The College Fix
RELATED:
Skeptic:
The Conceptual Penis as a Social Construct: A Sokal-Style Hoax on Gender Studies  —  Note from the editor: Every once in awhile it is necessary and desirable to expose extreme ideologies for what they are by carrying out their arguments and rhetoric to their logical and absurd conclusion …
Hawaii News Now:
Suspect in cockpit threat on Honolulu flight had been detained at LAX  —  A Turkish man on board a Honolulu-bound flight tried to break into the cockpit Friday before being subdued by passengers and flight crew, who used duct tape, pillows and blankets to make sure he couldn't get out of his seat.
RELATED:
Jeff Daniels / CNBC:   Military jets scramble to escort Honolulu-bound American Airlines flight after cockpit incident
Tara Palmeri / Politico:
Melania scours media to protect Trump  —  Melania Trump's spent her first few months as first lady in New York, only rarely appearing in Washington or speaking at events.  Yet friends and aides say she's keeping a close watch from her gilded apartment in Trump Tower on how her husband …
Discussion: Raw Story
RELATED:
Josh Dawsey / Politico:
Trump told aides firing Flynn was a mistake
Discussion: Mediaite
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Roger Ailes: The Man Who Wrecked Conservatism  —  Friends and colleagues who knew Roger Ailes better than I did attest that he was a nicer and more considerate man than most liberal obituarists will ever give him credit for.  They add (and the same obituarists concede) that the creator …
Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Fox News
Mike Allen / Axios:
Exasperated Trump WH staff admit his special resilience  —  As the the bombshell headlines flew with Air Force One en route Saudi Arabia yesterday, a top outsider adviser to the West Wing emailed me: “The drips are filling the bucket.”  —  And a top official in another Republican White House told …
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
Democracy Is Not Your Plaything  —  When the circus comes to Washington, it consumes everything, absorbs all energy.
CBS News:
Notre Dame students plan walk out during Pence speech  —  On Monday, graduates of the University of Notre Dame Class of 2017 traded trivia at a campus game night.  On Wednesday, they danced in formal attire at a banquet overlooking the St. Joseph's River.  And on Sunday, a number of them will walk …
Discussion: IJR and WGN-TV
 
 
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 More Items: 
David Streitfeld / New York Times:
‘The Internet Is Broken’: @ev Is Trying to Salvage It
Discussion: The Verge and Political Wire
Mike Kelly / NorthJersey.com:
In hometown of Allendale, James Comey is no ‘nut job,’ but principled career man
Al Jazeera English:
Hassan Rouhani wins Iran's presidential election
Discussion: The Week
Daily Kos:
LEADING OFF  —  North Carolina: On Monday, the Supreme Court delivered …
Discussion: ThinkProgress and al.com
Janell Ross / Washington Post:
‘They were not patriots’: New Orleans removes monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee
Discussion: The Root
Melanie Zanona / The Hill:
Court strikes down rule forcing toy drone users to register with govt
James Downton / The Federalist:
We Are Watching A Slow-Motion Coup D'etat
Claire Newell / Telegraph:
Exclusive: MI5 opened file on Jeremy Corbyn amid concerns over his IRA links
Discussion: Daily Mail
 Earlier Items: 
Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Israeli intel officials shouted at US counterparts after Trump disclosure: report
Discussion: RedState, Foreign Policy and Hot Air
CNN:
US Navy moves second aircraft carrier near North Korea
Discussion: The National Interest
Mike Cernovich / Medium:
Trump's Media Strategy is Failing — Here's How to Fix It
Discussion: Vox Popoli
David Axe / The Daily Beast:
Russia's ‘Killer Satellites’ Re-Awaken
Discussion: Raw Story and Daily Mail
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Watching the downfall of a generation of Washington Republicans
Susan B. Glasser / Politico:
‘People Here Think Trump Is a Laughingstock’
Discussion: Politicus USA, Hullabaloo and Raw Story
 

 
From Techmeme:

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Meta details Llama 3: 8B- and 70B-parameter models, a focus on reducing false refusals, and an upcoming model trained on 15T+ tokens that has 400B+ parameters

David Pierce / The Verge:
Google announces a new Platforms and Devices team overseeing Pixel, Android, Chrome, Photos, and more, to integrate AI across its products, led by Rick Osterloh

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

 
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