NEW YORK TIMES: Russian submarines and spy ships are aggressively operating near the vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications, raising concerns among some American military and intelligence officials that the Russians might be planning to attack those lines in times of tension or conflict. The issue goes beyond old worries during […]
When the media attacks Kathleen Kane on her gender, it is sexism pure and simple
“This whole scene has prompted several observers, including women, to remark privately that Kane’s travails, many of them brought on by her own actions, will set back women in Pennsylvania political life. That may or may not be true.”
Amid Splits, Catholic Bishops Crack Open Door on Divorce
NEW YORK TIMES: After a three-week global assembly on family issues that exposed their deep divisions, Roman Catholic bishops produced a consensus document on Saturday that reinforced church doctrine but appeared to give Pope Francis enough support to advance his vision of a more merciful church… It offers divorced and remarried Catholics the possibility of […]
F.B.I. Chief Links Scrutiny of Police With Rise in Violent Crime
NEW YORK TIMES: The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said on Friday that the additional scrutiny and criticism of police officers in the wake of highly publicized episodes of police brutality may have led to an increase in violent crime in some cities as officers have become less aggressive. With his remarks, Mr. Comey lent […]
Why we feel so sorry about Mitt Romney
But because he felt the need to pander to the extreme right wing of his party, and perhaps he did, he turned his back on himself and from his outstanding accomplishment in broadening health care in his state of Massachusettes.
Top Judge Joked About Raping, Tasing Women
DAILY BEAST: …Justice J. Michael Eakin used a private email account with the pseudonym “John Smith” to communicate with state and federal officials, including prosecutors, judges, and attorneys. One email from Eakin among many obtained by The Daily Beast suggests a battered wife treat her wounds by “keeping her mouth shut.”… The Daily Beast obtained […]
Three takes on Hillary Clinton testimony before the Benghazi special committee
Rep. Trey Gowdy said as the questioning drew to a close. After the hearing was over, Gowdy wasn’t sure that he got all that much new information. “I don’t know that she testified that much differently today than the previous times she’s testified,” he said.
KEISLING: State court porno emails and relationships demand federal prosecutor
Last week Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane acknowledged that a single”raunchy, sexist (and) racist” email had “circulated among ‘a district attorney, a first assistant district attorney, a county judge, a senior deputy attorney general, an assistant U.S. attorney and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife employee, a deputy clerk for a federal judge, a lawyer with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and a second Common Pleas judge in Dauphin County.'” 
Capitolwire: Kane releases more ‘offensive’ emails.
A review of the files shows Eakin was a recipient on all the emails but only actively participated in two separate email chains, while the rest he received but did not respond to or forward. The files of emails, pictures and videos contained some crude jokes, profane language and pictures of nude women. One email included a video of a sex act. However, the two email chains in which Eakin actively participated contained jokes and photos of women, but no nudity.
Kane: Justice’s explicit emails offensive to all, will be released
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: …“I am quite confident that the public, upon viewing these emails in their totality, will see them as I see them for what they are: offensive,” [Attorney General Kathleen] Kane wrote. In the letter to Chief Justice Thomas Saylor, she criticized last year’s Judicial Conduct Board investigation of Justice Eakin and challenged its […]
TSUKERMAN: Russian reactions to writer receiving 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature
Girls rushed to the front voluntarily, only a coward could not go to fight. Nurses were bold, unusual girls. There are statistics: loss among nurses was second only to losses in the infantry battalions. What, for example, it meant to pull a wounded soldier from a field fight? I’ll tell you right now ..
Carson surges past Trump in Iowa poll
POLITICO: Ben Carson has surged past Donald Trump in Iowa, according to a Quinnipiac University poll of likely Republican caucus participants out Thursday. The retired neurosurgeon leads the Republican field with 28 percent, while Trump has fallen behind with 20 percent. A September survey had Trump at 27 percent, and Carson at 21 percent. Also […]
Marijuana use more than doubles in just 12 years
WASHINGTON POST: …In 2001, just 4.1 percent of adults said they used marijuana. That increased to 9.5 percent by 2013. The findings were published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry. Researchers also found that marijuana abuse or ependence increased during that 12-year time frame, likely because the overall number of adults using increased so much. [Why college […]
Court Orders DOJ To Stop Prosecuting Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
“It defies language and logic for the government to argue that it does not prevent California from implementing its medical marijuana laws by shutting down these … heavily regulated medical marijuana dispensaries,” Breyer wrote in the decision for MAMM v. USDOJ, which could set a precedent for how the justice system addresses state-legal protection of pot businesses.