Sunday, June 9, 2013

True News Sunday Update

Embattled state Sen. John Sampson’s campaign filings are peppered with missing cash and phantom refunds

PAC cash vanishes in Sampson’s books
Campaign contributions go missing in state Sen. John Sampson’s records (NYP) Where did the money go?  Embattled state Sen. John Sampson’s campaign filings are peppered with missing cash and phantom refunds, The Post has found. In three cases, money paid by political action committees to Sampson’s re-election campaign from 2009 to 2012 does not show up on his records. Lawpac, run by the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, donated $3,000 on June 17, 2009, state campaign-finance records show. But two days later, Sampson reported receiving only $1,000 from the group.  The Educational Leadership PAC gave a $1,000 contribution to the Brooklyn Democrat’s campaign on Jan. 22, 2010. But the campaign reported receiving just $500 from the group and not until April 21, 2010. The Committee for Action for a Responsible Electorate PAC reported a contribution of $1,000 to Sampson’s campaign on Jan. 21, 2010. A spokesman for the PAC says the check was cashed for its full $1,000 amount on Feb. 2 2010. The cash does not show up on Sampson’s records, state campaign-finance records show. “What we’re talking about are small amounts,” said Mitch Alter, treasurer for the Committee to Re-elect John Sampson. “If mistakes were made, we’ll correct them. There’s nothing nefarious here.”

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Canadian War


War with Canada(NYP Ed)
On the Canadian side, the Toronto Star calls it “The War of 1812, Part 2.” The “it” is a dispute between the American and Canadian sides of the “Peace Bridge” between Buffalo and Fort Erie.Buffalo News columnist Donn Esmonde says Gov. Andrew Cuomo is vastly out-gunned in his battle with the Canadian government.

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NY's Troubling Economy



Low Tax Texas Leading the Nation in Business Growth
Easy Fed money keeps NY humming, but what happens when it’s gone?  In 2008, the American economy was hit with the most devastating economic crisis since the Great Depression. Now, nearly six years later, the American economy is recovering — but deeply divided along state lines. In my research, I found that the states with the greatest exposure to the housing bust, like California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida, have been close to crippled, with their economies cumulatively having grown only 2% from 2008 to 2011 compared to 6% nationally. In contrast, states largely ignored by the big banks and the housing boom, like Texas, Louisiana, and North Dakota, are leading our country into the next economic super cycle and grew well in excess of 8% during that time. New York was and still is heavily impacted by the credit crisis. After the decline of manufacturing businesses upstate, “down state” New York began to dominate New York’s economy post 1970s. Thank you ''fracking.'' North Dakota grows five times faster than nation

Old Upstate Business Are Dying
Today, the down-state economy, otherwise known as the New York City metro area, contributes 80% of the state’s personal  and generates over 70% of the state’s personal income.income taxes.  Unfortunately, a lot of that recent windfall has been the result of government spending. With Fed purchase programs, QE, QE2, and today’s QE “Can’t kick the addiction,” profits of financial firms rebounded, helping New York’s economy grow by 7.2% from 2008 to 2011, better than the national rate.  Now that the Fed purchase programs appear to be coming to an end and global growth continues to struggle, it is hard to imagine New York will benefit from similar tailwinds. Already struggling with limp revenues Wall Street firms have cut and are continuing to cut thousands of positions.


Federal Bailout Money Ending
Unfortunately, a lot of that recent windfall has been the result of government spending. With Fed purchase programs, QE, QE2, and today’s QE “Can’t kick the addiction,” profits of financial firms rebounded, helping New York’s economy grow by 7.2% from 2008 to 2011, better than the national rate.  Now that the Fed purchase programs appear to be coming to an end and global growth continues to struggle, it is hard to imagine New York will benefit from similar tailwinds. Already struggling with limp revenues Wall Street firms have cut and are continuing to cut thousands of positions.


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Making Money Off the Homeless

As the City Homeless Population Grows Some Make $$$ Off of Them
Homeless-housing business booming(NYP)
Homeless services might just be the best business in town these days. A nonprofit agency that operates 23 homeless facilities under city contracts has doubled its revenues in just two years, even though it was the target of a scathing audit in 2011. Aguila Inc., once run by the son of state labor chief and former Assemblyman Peter Rivera, is being paid $68.9 million by the city this year, records show.  In 2011, when Comptroller John Liu charged its clients were being housed in “hazardous and unsanitary conditions,” Bronx-based Aguila took in $33.7 million.The agency’s business boomed after its management was assumed by a newly formed company called Housing Solutions USA — run by Robert Hess, who ended a four-year stint as the city’s homeless commissioner in 2010.


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Toxic Silver

The Speaker Has No Clothes
Defended by Assemblymembers he Funds Silver Does Not Understand the Growing Public Anger Against Him
Silver’s fat-cat $$-raiser (NYP)  Embattled state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and his political operatives squeezed business fat cats, labor leaders and lobbyists for campaign cash at a swank fund-raiser at The Plaza Hotel yesterday, just as the Assembly is about to pass a...

Goodwin NYP:
"His backroom style and firm hold on the perks and power of the Assembly let him shrug off calls for his resignation. His constituency of about 100 Democrats, most from the city, say his name with the respect accorded mob bosses. Even Gov. Cuomo dances around him. But nobody is impervious forever, and the drip-drip-drip of scandal isn’t stopping. In the same week that a Quinnipiac poll showed only 22 percent think Silver should stay as speaker, against 51 percent who want him out, he was sued by two of the women who claim they were sexually harassed by the disgraced Vito Lopez." Silver has gotten away with his role because he had veto control over whether the ethics panel would charge him. But the lawsuits could be different. Depending on what information emerges, and the possibility that Silver will testify under oath, he finally might become too toxic even for Albany. Imagine that.

Plaza Cheap
“It’s the cheapest place we could find,” Silver told reporters who confronted him as he entered a $1,000-a-plate fund-raiser that he hosted for the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee at The Plaza on Friday.
VITO WHO? Speaker Silver puts Lopez scandal behind him with glamorous $1G-a-plate fund-raiser at Plaza, which he says was 'cheapest place we could find'(NYDN)Campaign finance laws, Vito Lopez scandal don’t keep Sheldon Silver from fund-raiser.  The assembly speaker joined lobbyists, union reps, trial lawyers and other pols for a $1,000-a-plate meal of roasted chicken and fingerling potatoes amid state Democrats pushing for campaign finance reform laws and the career-threatening Vito Lopez scandal.* Anthony Weiner criticized NYPD, called stop-and-frisk a "racial tool" during a campaign stop

Vito Lopez scandal can’t keep Silver from fund-raiser

Living in the Albany Bubble Its Always the Public is Powerless Fuck Them
A source close to the Silver camp said some urged him to cancel the fund-raiser, fearing it would look bad at a time when Democrats are pushing for campaign finance reform and also amidst a new flurry of activity around the Lopez scandal.  But another Silver source said the successful fund-raiser “shows that he’s still powerful.” * Queens civic associations speak out against actions of Silver (Times Ledger) * The Auburn Citizen wants legislative leaders and Cuomo to call for the resignation of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver due to the Vito Lopez scandal.



In A Throw Back to the 1950's Bypassing the 70's Women Lib Movement Albany Women Please the Speaker In Spite of Bear Mountain Compact Sexual Abuse

Daily News Says Pay and Go
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver must pay and go(NYDN Ed)
He needs to foot the bill for damages and legal fees in the Vito Lopez scandal, and then voters need to give him the boot. Pelosi backs Cuomo's women's agenda (Capital) * NY1... reached out to a bunch(of women members), and most were not eager to discuss the current state of affairs



Where is the Albany Culture of Sexual Assault Outrage?
Kirsten's war (NYDN)
New York’s junior senator throws down the gauntlet against the military’s culture of sexual assault



Survivor Albany Scandals
Up to the NYT to Vote Silver Off the Island
Is It Enough for Silver Protector to Turn On Him For Good?
Since NYT Said On May 17th That Silver Should Step Down the Paper Has Been Silent
Unforgivable Conduct in Albany(May 17th, 2013, NYT Ed)
Mr. Lopez should be expelled from the Assembly now. And Mr. Silver — whose colleagues made last-minute efforts to redact critical details from the report — should be replaced as speaker. Enough


Update
Governor Cuomo Fights for Women(NYT Ed)
Senate leaders, however, are blocking an abortion rights provision from coming to a vote.
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NYS Government
The Daily News wonders why Cuomo “has chosen to end the 2013 legislative session with a brawl over abortion.”

Experts on Indian issues say Cuomo’s methods to get New York’s tribes to agree to his casino expansion plans are similar to ones being employed in other states as gambling laws change.

Sen. John Bonacic says the governor’s casino bill isn’t transparent enough, unwisely locks out Queens and a referendum as proposed could fail in November.

The new SAFE Act and other magazine limits do not apply to the guards behind the wire at the state’s four nuclear power plants, officials say.
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Mayoral Campaign

Black Support Was Key to Koch Becoming Mayor

Weiner Looking to the Runoff with Rev Al Meet
In 1977 Koch Won the Runoff After He Got the Blacks and County Leaders to Support Him
Runoff Votes That Settled Other Contests (1993)

Anthony Weiner talking to petition volunteers and Rev Al in Harlem * Anthony Weiner & underage girls(Malkin, NYP) As The Post reported this week, Weiner had a bit of a snit fit when a local Democratic official boldly slammed his sexting habits with underage girls. Chris Owens, a state committeeman in Brooklyn, called out the skeezy ex-congressman at a mayoral candidate forum. * Weiner Critical Of Stop-And-Frisk At National Action Network Rally(NY1) * Weiner Criticizes Police Stops, but Offers No Alternative(NYT) *Al Sharpton Unimpressed After Anthony Weiner Appearance at ...(NYO) * Candidate Weiner Criticizes Stop-And-Frisk Program (WCBS) * In '01, NYC mayor race was decided in part on anger over flyers RE . Now, he's watching campaign from afar * Candidates for NYC Mayor court Sharpton for endorsement(NYDN) * Weider proudly announced on Both Satmar Rebbes Attended Fund-raiser at Continental Hall In Williamsburg* Fix, but don’t get rid of stop-and-frisk: Weiner(NYDN) * Former Congressman and NYC mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner criticized the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy, which he called a “racial tool,” and said he would seek to discontinue it if elected, but didn’t offer an alternative. * After A Late Start, Anthony Weiner Gets The Celebrity Treatment At Puerto Rican Parade(NYDN)

Sharpton so far seems unimpressed by Weiner, though says the disgraced ex-congressman deserves a second chance.  
Democratic mayoral candidates court the Rev. Al Sharpton(NYDN)
The outspoken TV and radio host has briefly stepped away from his national pulpit to talk about local politics, specifically the contentious race for Mayor of New York City, whose contenders eagerly seek Sharpton’s endorsement.

 NYT Sill Pushing Quinn Publish BS Analysis of Polls
Race to Look At is 1977 Koch Won the Democratic Primary Was Polling in the Low Single Digits in June

Early Leader in Polls Usually Wins New York Mayoral Primary(NYT)





Showing Brooklyn Pride

CATS Did Not Vote in 2001 But Has A Lot to Say About 911 Leaderhip
Catsimatidis has a lot to say about 9/11 leadership but couldn't bother to vote in 2001 Mayor race 

Quinn Muslim Monitoring
Speaker Quinn Voices Support for NYPD Monitoring of Muslims (WSJ)
Christine Quinn Offers Self-Defense Classes


de Blasio The Beard

Win or lose by a whisker (NYP) Anthony Weiner isn’t the only mayoral candidate to have bared his cheeks. Bill de Blasio’s face has evolved from grizzly bear to naked mole rat — right around the time his name began to be mentioned as a serious mayoral candidate. As a Brooklyn..As a Brooklyn councilman, de Blasio sported a beard when elected in 2001, taming it to a rakish mustache and goatee by the time he was public advocate in 2010. Just a year later, he made his smooth transition.


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Campaign 2013

TV anchor Molly Rokasy says politician hubby dumped her for state employee
Months after beautiful news anchor Molly Rokasy and Queens power broker Austin Shafran married, she claims, he left her for a state employee who’s steadily risen in the government ranks. Shafran, a City Council candidate, fell in love with then-news...

Barking up the wrong tree (NYDN)
Vallone's proposed crackdown on animal abuse is fatally flawed Vallone wants the Health Department to circulate names of abusers among shelters, breeders and animal rescue organizations. He would also have the department meet with abusers annually to verify their information.  As for where the department would get the names of abusers, well, Vallone would have them self-report. Yeah, that’ll work.
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Sick Pay Veto

Mayor Vetoes Paid Sick Day Legislation(WSJ)

The NYC Council is expected to override the veto and make New York the most populous place in the United States with such a law.


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911 Death 

POINTING FINGERS: Union, FDNY battle over blame in delay of 911 response to crash that killed Ariel Russo, 4(NYDN)911 Worker’s Error Delayed Response to Crash That Killed Girl, Officials Say  A 911 dispatcher failed for several minutes to see an incoming report about a Manhattan crash that killed a 4-year-old girl, fire officials said. * FDNY, EMS Union Debate Reason For Slow Response To Fatal Manhattan Crash(NY1) * FDNY, EMS Union Debate Reason For Slow Response To Fatal Manhattan Crash(NY1) *Vigil to be held for girl killed on Upper West Side(WABC) *  Funeral services will be held Sunday for Ariel Russo, a 4-year-old who died after being struck by an SUV. 
Update City Council to review 911 system after delays in response times (NYT) ___________________________________________________________________________________
Education

High schools that didn’t grade their own Regents exams last year fared worse than those that did(NYP)City Scores on Selection of 'Gifted'(WSJ)

CUNY Waste
CUNY perk is car-$ick(NYP)
City College President Lisa Coico’s Upper West Side home is just four subway stops from the Manhattanville campus, but Coico is chauffeured the two miles to work and back every day in a state-issued Buick. Coico, whose salary is $300,000, is among... 

 Standardized Test Protest
Thousands of teachers, students and supporters organized by NYSUT rallied in front of the state Capitol on Saturday, taking aim at a slate of standardized tests that they say have been poorly implemented.

Grouping Students by Ability Regains Favor in Classroom(NYT)

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BOE $98 Million Scanner Crime Ignored



Mayor On Board As BOE Inspects Lever Machines(NY1)

NY1's Courtney Gross Does Not Ask BOE Commission Umane If the Scanner Cannot Handle Runoffs, Why Did the Board By Them?
"We can't physically do it with the scanners," said Frederic Umane of the Board of Elections. "So if somebody else has a better idea, we're certainly willing to listen to it. But so far, we've been unable to come up with any other viable alternative."

Brooklyn GOP Civil War BS - Using the Media to Attack Oppents
While Gail Brewer Won't Investigate Why The BOE Paid $100 Million for Scanners That Do Not Work She Wants An Investigation Into an Old Lady Who Works At the Board Because She Will Not Sell Her House 
EXCLUSIVE: Board of Elections official won’t sell vacant, run-down upper West Side brownstone(NYDN)

A Tammany Hall Fixer Tries to Save the BOE for the Bad Guys(True News)



BOE Scanner Vendor Paying Grandson of Queens GOP Leader Payoff for A Pay to Play Contract
BOE Corruption Investigation

True News Has Confirmed From A Current Top Executive That BOE warehouse employee Phil Ragusa the nephew of the Queens GOP leader is on the payroll of ESS as A Paid Consultant.

New Yorker's Were Prevented From or Had A Hard Time Voting Because of A Corrupt Contract
The BOE purchased the scanners and a maintence contract from ES&S that every New Yorkers now knows cannot do the job of allowing voters to vote and counting them.

Mayor Bloomberg continues to slam NYC's electronic voting system. "It is just a nightmare," he said.


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Boom

NYC blows up building on Governor's Island(NYP)
With Thunderous Blasts, a Governors Island Holdout Tumbles to Earth(NYT)

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Cuomo Choice

Daily News Editors: Cuomo’s choice on choice

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A Parade Examined



As Puerto Rican Parade Grows, So Do Complaints(NYT)
Organizers of the New York City event, which attracts two million spectators, are being scrutinized for how it is organized and what they do with the money it generates.




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Bike Share BS

NYT Thinks Bike Share is A Good Thing
What’s All the Fuss About Bikes?(NYT Ed)
There is a lot of unnecessary anxiety and hyperventilating over a bike-sharing program that is indisputably a good thing for New York City.
 Loose bikes, other glitches at CitiBike stations 

Bike Share Skips Many(WSJ)
While New York City's nearly two-week-old bike-share program already is among the largest in the world, it's passing over neighborhoods where nearly 90% of the city population lives.


My favorite new criticism of bike share: we gave free helmets to the wrong people.


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Acting Councilmembers

Council Members act clueless at park hearing(Queens Crap)

From the Daily News:
Hundreds of millions of dollars are being generated each year in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park by big-money operations like the Mets, but Queens lawmakers say the park isn’t getting its slice of the pie. The Mets and the U.S. Tennis Association pay a total of $2.5 million to lease their sites from the city. Meanwhile, the 900-acre park operates on $11.6 million in city funds and counts only 18 full-time city maintenance workers. “It’s incredibly frustrating that this city has not identified a way to have our park be able to collect on the revenue it generates,” said City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst), who called a Council hearing on Friday to address the lack of city funding to help pay for the park’s upkeep.___________________________________________________________________________________
NY Taxi History

All hail the yellow cab! As the taxis of tomorrow gear up to hit the streets, take a trip down memory lane with one of New York's iconic forms of transportation(NYDN)


 
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Ground Zero Mosque


Ex-Leader of Planned Mosque Near Ground Zero Settles Suit With Donor
The contributor, Robert Leslie Deak, returned $1.35 million to a charity led by the imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, and said he was satisfied that the imam and his wife were not “involved in any wrongdoing.” *  Settlement reached in NYC mosque suit(WSJ)

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Sandy

How Totally Rebuilt Its Shoreline in Just Five Months

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Another Cheap Bus Shut Down

Safety Agency Shuts Down Discount Bus Line

Federal regulators, citing a variety of mechanical and operational violations, ordered the company that operated the Lucky Star line to take all of its buses off the road.


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Washington

With Little Time Before Election, Senate Race in New Jersey Begins to Take Shape(NYT)
Booker to Announce Senate Bid(WSJ)
NSA seeks criminal probe of program leaker (CBS)
U.S. and China Move Closer on N. Korea, Not on Cyberspying(NYT)
How U.S. Uses Technology to Mine Data More Quickly(NYT)

NSA Seeks Criminal Probe Into Leaks(Huff Post)
Sources: NSA sucks in data from 50 companies 
Sen. Feinstein draws link between 9/11 & value of surveillance dragnet. We are still in "war" on terror/distorting balance bet sec & liberty
 Snooping's a Slippery Slope - Michael Goodwin, New York Post
Is Prism Really a Scandal? - Alan Dershowitz, The Daily Beast
Peeping Barry - Maureen Dowd, New York Times
Let's Get Rid of the IRS - Nolan Finley, Detroit News
Obama's Foreign Policy Reset - Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times
Why Rice and Power Are So Troubling - David Limbaugh, DC Examiner
Third Democrat to Seek Lautenberg’s Senate Seat(NYT)

Update
NSA contractor comes forward as source of secret 'Prism' spy program documents(NYP)
WASHINGTON — A 29-year-old American who works as contract employee at the National Security Agency is the source of The Guardian's disclosures about the U.S. government's secret surveillance programs..

.*White House readies to open criminal probe into Prism spy program leak(NYP) * Ex-Worker at C.I.A. Says He Leaked Data on Surveillance(NYT) * Feinstein ‘Open’ to Hearings on Data Tracking Program(NYT) * The Guardian Reveals Identity of NSA Whistle-blower [Updated] (NY Mag)
* Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations (The Guardian) The 29-year-old source behind the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA's history explains his motives, his uncertain future and why he never intended on hiding in the shadows
Why Americans Don't Fear the NSA - John Dickerson, Slate
This Abuse of the Patriot Act Must End - Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Guardian
Obama Falls Flat on Economy - Sherman Frederick, Las Vegas Review-Jrnl
The Folly of Sequestration - Albert Hunt, Bloomberg
How to Investigate the IRS - Cleta Mitchell, Wall Street Journal
Elijah Cummings Outplays Darrell Issa - Joan Walsh, Salon
Scandals Erode Fatigued Public's Trust - Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Trib
Millennials Are Rejecting the Republican Party - Jon Favreau, Daily Beast
"Anonymous" Is No Hero - Cathy Young, RealClearPolitics
Big Pot: Will Capitalism End the Drug War? - Timothy Egan, NY Times
The Era of Metadata - Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal
Sen Mark Udall, member of the Intelligence Committee, on PRISM: "It grabs content, photographs, emails."
On Sunday Shows, Familiar Cast of Characters - Jennifer Steinhauer, NYT
Lindsey Graham's Big Government World - Nancy Mace, RedState
Virginia's New Dominion - Jamelle Bouie, The American Prospect
Dems Try to Turn Court Into Rubber Stamp - Carrie Severino, USA Today
What Happened to Eric Holder? - Matthew Cooper, National Journal
China & U.S.: Special Relationship in the Making - Rana Foroohar, Time
Where's the Tough Love for China? - Gordon Chang, The Daily Beast
The Internship: Not the Movie - Thomas Friedman, New York Times
Global Warming Alarmism in Twilight - John Hinderaker, PowerLine
Why Gay Marriage Matters - Nathaniel Frank, Los Angeles Times
A Plague Called Apathy - Bill Cosby, New York Post
Senator Mark Udall on -- "I want to reopen the Patriot Act."
Silicon Valley Joins the Surveillance State - Bloomberg
Public Should Know About Gov't Collection of Records - Washington Post
The True Obama: Scandals Are of a Piece - New Hampshire Union Leader
Fracturing in California - Wall Street Journal

Christie, at G.O.P. Event, Finds Many Unburned Bridges(NYT)
Sen Mark Udall, member of the Intelligence Committee, on PRISM: "It grabs content, photographs, emails."
Former NSA director Hayden calls the agency's monitoring "very effective" and respectful of "civil liberties."
Rep. Mike Rogers Attacks Glenn Greenwald For NSA Expose: On ABC ‘He Doesn’t Have A Clue How This Thing Works’ (VIDEO) 
 maher Maher Defends The NSA: Slippery Slope, But We Need Gov't To Protect Us From Terrorists With Nukes
Many Rivals Surge Past U.S. in Job Creation - Nelson Schwartz, NY Times
Why Is It So Hard to Create a Business in America? - Niall Ferguson, WSJ
ObamaCare Is Killing the GOP - Noam Scheiber, The New Republic
The IRS' Deliberate Attack on Our Liberty - Bill Kristol, Weekly Standard
Obama's Overdue Reckoning on Secrecy - David Rhode, Reuters
Corruption of the Permanent Bureaucracy Inevitable - Mark Steyn, NRO
Behind the NSA's Dark Star Data Center in Utah - Clive Irving, Daily Beast
On Whistleblowers & Government Threats - Glenn Greenwald, Guardian
Three Challenges to Libertarian Populism - Ben Domenech, The Transom
Competing in California Key to GOP Future - Sen. Rand Paul, Wash Times
At GOP Event Christie Finds Many Unburned Bridges - Trip Gabriel, NYT
When Presidential Words Led to Swift Action(NYT)
Two of the finest presidential speeches of the 20th century, by John F. Kennedy, on the Soviet Union and civil rights, also had immediate results.
Border Security a Primary Concern - Scott Rasmussen, Boston Herald
The Gathering Storm in Syria - Harnden & Hookham, Sunday Times
Intelligence for Dummies - Gail Collins, New York Times
Obama's Thin Ice: Scandals, Jobs & the Economy - Larry Kudlow, Investor's
Why I Confronted the First Lady - Ellen Sturtz, Washington Post
NY Times Criticizes Obama. They're Racists, Right? - James Taranto, WSJ
Geraldo On The O’Reilly Factor: ‘The NY Times Is Constantly Surprised Obama Is Not A Liberal’
New Phone Record Seizures Raise Basic Issues - Investor's Business Daily
Obama Administration Has Now Lost All Credibility - New York Times
Well, Another Day, Another Washington Furor - Wall Street Journal
Why Did Obama White House Keep Program Secret? - Washington Post
Congress Was Told About Surveillance, Obama Aides Say(NYT)
Top Secret America: Our 2010 investigation on the expansion of secret intelligence departments (Wash Post)

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Law and Order

Texting-while-driving tickets have soared in recent years in New York, but only 44 percent have led to convictions so far, state records show.

Legal Guns en Route to New York Are Cause for Arrest Before Flight Home(NYT)

A 17-year-old was stabbed and killed in Gravesend early Sunday morning, authorities said.
5 injured in 2 separate B'klyn shootings(NYP)

Culture of FDNY groupies rages out of control as 'badge bunny' obsession turns scary(NYP) 

Horror in Penn mug aftermath (NYP)  A desperate crook made a wild car getaway through Midtown yesterday, running over a cop and mowing down a bicyclist as he sped away from a violent robbery, cops said. The thief broke the 24-year-old cyclist’s pelvis, arm and both his legs on East...
Annoying a Police Officer Is Still Legal in New York(WSJ)

She Rode Horses, Drove an S.U.V. and, the Authorities Say, Farmed Marijuana(NYT)
Federal authorities say Andrea Sanderlin, 45, raised thousands of marijuana plants with state-of-the-art equipment in a Queens warehouse.


Man fatally stabbed in Fort Greene housing development(NYP)
Police said a 63-year-old man was stabbed to death early Saturday morning in Downtown Brooklyn.
Man Fatally Stabbed in Downtown Brooklyn: Cops(NBC)
Man fatally stabbed in Brooklyn(Fox 5) 

Brooklyn teen stabbed to death
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Terrorism

Actress who tried to set up hubby is busted for ricin letters to prez: feds(NYP)
The “Vampire Diaries” and “Walking Dead” actress who ratted out her husband to the feds for allegedly mailing ricin-laced letters to Mayor Bloomberg and President Obama was lying — and sent the... * Woman From Texas Is Charged in Ricin Case(NYT) * Texas Woman Arrested in Ricin Case(WSJ)




Online data grab helped catch NY subway plotters(NYP)

AP: Phone Monitoring Program Helped Thwart 2009 NYC Subway System Bomb Plot(NY1)