A look at the leading stories in the news

Israel continues its attacks on Gaza, so you'd assume that'd be the lead story today. Let's see ...


From CNN:

BREAKING NEWS

Kids marking holiday killed

Flares, explosions, gunfire in Gaza

Israel and Palestinians traded blame after a blast at refugee camp that Gaza officials said killed 10. A hospital also was hit. Five Israeli soldiers died Monday. FULL STORY

• Exclusive look in Hamas tunnels
• How Gaza cease-fire faltered
• Terror loosens grip on everyday life
• Photos: Israel's ground offensive  

From Fox News:

WHAT A WASTE: Taxpayer billion$ squandered in Afghan War

• SIGAR
• AUDIT REPORTS by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction identify potentially billions of taxpayer funds wasted in Afghanistan, including donation of planes the government doesn't need or can't use.
• Report: US loses track of thousands of firearms given to Afghan forces
• VIDEO: US weapons reach insurgents

From Washington Post:

Court rules Va.’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional

Robert Barnes and Jenna Portnoy

A federal appeals panel in Richmond rules that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed under the Constitution.


From New York Times:

Europe and U.S. to Sharply Escalate Russia Sanctions

By JACK EWING and PETER BAKER 59 minutes ago

A package targeting Russia’s financial, energy and defense sector was driven by the conclusion that Moscow has taken a more direct role in Ukraine.

So, yes, there are other events in the nation and world that are top stories in major news outlets.


It is interesting that only one of these stories is about crime or criminal justice, too.

Does it matter where you get your news?

It turns out, yes, it does. These are the lead stories from different sources today:

CNN:

'OBJECT OF INTEREST'

It was found on Australia's coast

An "object of interest" in Flight 370 search was recovered several hours drive south of Perth, an Australian official tells CNN. FULL STORY

• Inside black box lab | Photos
• What if drone doesn't find plane?  
• Families want the data  
• How we comb ocean for Flight 370

SOUTH KOREAN FERRY DISASTER

Divers find no air pockets on key decks

The absence of air pockets on the third and fourth decks of the sunken ferry all but eliminates any hope of finding survivors of the disaster in South Korea. FULL STORY

More:

• Crew member died helping others
• Passenger made first distress call  
• What to do if a ship is sinking  
• Photos  

Fox News:

BOOTS ON THE GROUND: US troops
arrive in Poland amid Ukraine crisis

• Reuters
• US ARMY PARATROOPERS arrive in Poland to kick off military exercises across Eastern Europe meant to reassure NATO allies, amid Russian meddling in Ukraine.
• US journalist held hostage by pro-Russian insurgents in Ukraine
• US conducts spy flight over Russia after delay
• Pro-Russian groups tighten grip on eastern Ukraine

NY Times:

 Colleges Seek New Paths to Diversity After Court Ruling

By TAMAR LEWIN

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision upholding Michigan’s ban on racial preferences in admissions, many educators envision relying more heavily on criteria such as income.

• 49 Comments
• Graphic: Shifts Seen in Minority Enrollment

General Motors Seeks to Fend Off Lawsuits on Switch

By HILARY STOUT and BILL VLASIC

The company asked a federal bankruptcy judge to dismiss dozens of lawsuits over its handling of a defective ignition switch in millions of cars, and to bar similar cases in the future.

• 15 Comments

Washington Post:

General rebuked over bungled
sex-assault case

Craig Whitlock

The commander of U.S. forces in Japan was reprimanded after letting sexual misconduct complaints slide, but despite being disciplined, he has been moved to an important Pentagon post.

• Read: The investigation report

Has the Navy learned from its $3.2B Marine One fiasco?

Christian Davenport

The president’s copters need upgrades, a process that will test whether the Pentagon can purchase major systems without busting budgets and deadlines.

Top stories today ... spying anyone?

CNN:

Obama changing how the NSA spies

Technology forces reforms, he says

In announcing changes to the way the National Security Agency works, President Obama says there was no agency intention to violate the law. LIVE BLOG

• Watch live  
• Snowden revealed program

Fox News:



USA Today:

Obama: 'Intelligence has helped secure our country'

• Read Story
• David JacksonUSA TODAY

 Washington Post:

Obama unveils new NSA limits

Eavesdropping on friendly heads of state to end

David Nakamura and Ellen Nakashima 11:39 AM ET

Obama is also taking steps to protect the privacy of foreigners by extending some of the protections given to Americans.

• Read: Policy directive | Speech
• How phone data collection changes

LiveLatest updates

•Companies will now be able to disclose more about data requests
•Obama's calculated oratory
•Civil liberties advocates call changes a 'significant victory'
•'A victory for civil liberties'
•Pushback from Obama on foreign spying

Obama talks about new NSA limits. (AFP)

5 big takeaways from the speech

 

 

Huge counterterrorism news!

Just as I have stated on numerous occasions, and even written about as well, a study finds that US intelligence gathering is actually making us LESS safe in some ways. Years ago I wrote: "Every minute and every dollar spent determining the books that I read is a minute and a dollar not spent addressing real threats, and there are real threats out there." Turns out, unfortunately, that I was right.

Report Finds Police Intelligence Gathering Tactics Threaten National Security (By Candice Bernd, Truthout | Report)

To top that off, a federal judge has ruled that the entire NSA data mining program is a violation of the US Constitution, just as I wrote about as well. After all, why have a Fourth Amendment prohibiting unreasonable searches and seizures without a warrant unless it is going to apply to the federal government?!?!?

According to the Washington Post, "U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon found that a lawsuit by Larry Klayman, a conservative legal activist, has 'demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success' on the basis of Fourth Amendment privacy protections against unreasonable searches.

"Leon granted the request for an injunction that blocks the collection of phone data for Klayman and a co-plaintiff and orders the government to destroy any of their records that have been gathered. But the judge stayed action on his ruling pending a government appeal, recognizing in his 68-page opinion the 'significant national security interests at stake in this case and the novelty of the constitutional issues.'"

This is what Justice Leon, a judge on the US District Court for the District of Columbia, wrote:

“I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval. Surely, such a program infringes on ‘that degree of privacy’ that the founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment.”

And, incredibly, if you recall, Obama's Director of National Intelligence stated publicly that this program did not even exist!

Obama Urged to Fire Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (By Staff, Consortium News | News Analysis)

And finally, we learn this:

Beyond the NSA: Other Agencies Spy on You, Too (By Shahid Buttar, Truthout | Op-Ed)

Reading all this might make you think, what? USA! USA! USA! USA!????

 

Clearly, this is big news. Thanks at least to the news agencies covering it!

 

 

 

Quick, what is the most important news story right now?

....

Compare what you think with these sources.

USA TODAY:

Thousands protest at former U.S. embassy in Iran

• Read Story
• Pro_Israeli groups resist Obama
• AP

 

WASHINGTON POST:

Nonprofits, politics and the money trail

Matea Gold and Tom Hamburger 12:51 PM ET

In California, new revelations detail how operatives helped move $15 million into ballot-initiative campaigns while trying to avoid naming financial backers.

• How the money is shuffled

 

CNN:

 

'Tied up like a fish'

Michelle Knight: I was hung by feet, hands, neck

Six months after she was freed from the "house of horrors" where Ariel Castro held her captive for 11 years, Cleveland kidnapping victim Michelle Knight speaks out to Dr. Phil on "AC 360." FULL STORY

• Evidence from Castro's trial  

FOX NEWS:

IT MIGHT BE AN OFF-YEAR for Election Day Tuesday, but union money is reaching deep into key state, city and local contests — including $2 million into the Virginia governor's race — trying to influence the makeup of state houses, city halls and school boards across America.

How are the media covering the government shutdown?

CNN:

PLENTY OF BLAME TO GO AROUND

Poll: All sides take a hit in shutdown

A majority of Americans say the government shutdown is causing a crisis or major problems, a new CNN/ORC Poll shows. FULL STORY

• Day 7: Things you need to know
• Photos: Sorry, we're closed  
• Shutdown forecast: Clouds ahead
• Glimmer of hope or rhetoric?
• Amber Alert website restored

Fox:

Slimdown exposing 'bloated' gov't?

• AP
• A LOOK THROUGH the slimdown contingency plans of the federal government shows some commissions and agencies have zero employees reporting for work, prompting watchdog groups to ask the question: Why do they even exist?
• 7 not-so-essential things still operating during slimdown
• Amber Alert website brought back online after outcry
• Pols probe reports of property owners kicked off federal land amid slimdown
• Dem rep tries to block oil, gas exploration during partial shutdown
• You know that one guy who successfully signed up for ObamaCare? He didn't
• TODD'S AMERICAN DISPATCH: Feds shut down roadway, block off graveyard

USA Today:

What are furloughed workers doing?

• Read Story
• Military commissaries begin to reopen
• John Bacon, Laura Petrecca and Marisol BelloUSA TODAY

More people blame GOP for shutdown
 New York Times:

Default Threat Makes Impasse in Washington a Global Risk

By STEVEN ERLANGER 3:52 PM ET

Five years after a financial crisis in the United States helped spread a deep global recession, much of the world again fears it could be collateral damage.

• 157 Comments

Obama Challenges Boehner on Vote

By JACKIE CALMES 2:47 PM ET

President Obama said Speaker John A. Boehner should hold a vote in the House on a measure to finance the government. 

Washington Post:

Democrats step up pressure to raise debt ceiling

Zachary A. Goldfarb 5:20 PM ET

For the first time, the White House says it is open to a short-term increase in the federal borrowing limit, which will be fully exhausted Oct. 17.

• Poll: 70 percent disapprove of GOP
• A consumer guide to the shutdown

LiveLatest updates

•Video: Want a clean CR vote? Not happening.
•Back-pay bill hits snag in Senate
•Private donors offer $10 million for Head Start
•NWS forecasters stuck around during blizzard

Congress represents plenty of you, none of us. (AFP/Getty)

Blame America, not Washington

Petula Dvorak

COLUMN | You sent these lawmakers here, voters. That imported brand of cuckoo is what’s causing this shutdown.

• Wonkblog: 13 reasons why Washington is failing

Comparing the top stories from TV stations with newspapers! ...

I guess you can still find it in the newspapers....

Washington Post's top stories:

Divided on Egypt, Arab leaders vie for influence

Liz Sly 6:43 PM ET

Saudi Arabia is leading an effort by Persian Gulf monarchies to back the country’s new military leaders, putting the kingdom at odds with the United States.

• Deadly conflict continues in Egypt

Mubarak may be released within days, lawyer says

Mary Beth Sheridan

The possibility of the former Egyptian dictator’s release injects a volatile new element into the political crisis.

• Timeline: Egypt's rocky revolution

 

New York Times' top stories:

 

Secret Memo to Chinese Party Warns Against Western Ideas

A document released to Communist Party cadres enumerated what it called subversive social currents, including Western-inspired notions of human rights, that must be fought.

 

Egyptian Court Is Said to Order Mubarak’s Release

While the authorities could find a way to keep former President Hosni Mubarak in detention and his release did not appear imminent, the development risked adding a volatile new element to Egypt’s crisis.   

 

Meanwhile, over at CNN:

 

Photos of Prince George released

Four-legged friends featured

Kensington Palace released two photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with their newborn son, Prince George. FULL STORY

• Photos: The royal baby
• William: About that car seat ...
• Prince William talks fatherhood

 

 

And over at Fox:

 

ObamaCare Launch Triggers Scams

• AP
• Consumer confusion about the October launch of ObamaCare is creating a feeding frenzy for scammers looking to swindle unsuspecting Americans.
• FOX NEWS FIRST: Obama Tries to Drop Second Term Jitters
• HOWARD KURTZ: Jack Germond Speaks Out on 'Crap' Journalism
• Filings Show Caroline Kennedy Could Be Worth Up to $500M
• Emails Reportedly Show White House Cooperation on Stuxnet Leak Book

Never before in my life have I seen clearer evidence of the problem with mainstream television (and their websites) news organizations.

Top stories in leading newspapers today

From the New York Times

 S.E.C. Is Asked to Require Disclosure of Donations

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE

The Securities and Exchange Commission may soon make publicly traded corporations disclose all of their political donations, and business groups are already preparing a counterattack.

• Hazy Future for S.E.C.’s Whistle-Blower Effort
• Post a Comment | Read (17)

News Analysis

Unraveling Boston Suspects’ Online Lives, Link by Link

By MICHIKO KAKUTANI

Once the search for the marathon bombing suspects focused on Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the brothers’ social media postings provided a rich vein of material to mine.

• Post a Comment | Read (2)

Boston Suspects Are Seen as Self-Taught and Fueled by Web

By MICHAEL COOPER, MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and ERIC SCHMITT

Investigators’ early portrait of the two brothers accused in the marathon bombings suggests they were driven by extremist Islamic beliefs and may have learned to build bombs on the Web.

Senators See Problems in Agencies’ Data Sharing

From the Washington Post

FBI searches home of another man in ricin case

Lenny Bernstein and Kimberly Kindy

Authorities dismiss charges against Mississippi man in case of poison-laced letters sent to lawmakers and are now investigating a second man.

• Read the dismissal of charges
• Home of another man is searched

Bombing suspects appear to lack ties to foreign terrorists

Scott Wilson and Greg Miller

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan inspired him and his brother to attack, officials say.

• Stories of the bombing victims

Baltimore City Detention Center’s guards are accused of aiding a gang. (Post)

‘The inmates literally took over’

Ann E. Marimow and John Wagner

13 female guards are accused of aiding gang’s criminal efforts in case that also alleges sex with inmates and access to fancy cars.

• ‘It really does sound like something out of’ a TV show

Collapse of building housing garment factories kills at least 87 in Bangladesh

Associated Press 7:39 AM ET

The collapse stirred memories of a fatal fire at a garment factory in November that killed 112 people.

Why Americans aren’t mad as hell about failure of the gun bill

Chris Cillizza and Sean Sullivan 7:00 AM ET

THE FIX | Post-Pew poll suggests that Senate vote reflected how people generally feel about guns.

______________________________________________________

These are the top stories from two leading--inner ring or first tier--newspapers.

What do you notice about them?

Terrorism, Terrorism, Terrorism, criminal justice, guns ...

AND ....

two stories about possible crimes committed by the powerful.

Now check CNN and Fox News and see if those stories are there as well.

Probably not.

A look at the leads stories of various news organizations

New York Times:

Strike on Iran Seen as a Huge Task for Israeli Air Power

By ELISABETH BUMILLER

An attack would take at least 100 planes, American defense officials and military analysts said, and take far more time than earlier strikes on nuclear sites in Syria and Iraq.

• U.N. Nuclear Inspectors Return to Tehran 6:21 AM ET

Washington Post:

Gingrich records show contradictory stances

(Joe Holloway, Jr. / AP)

Jerry Markon

An examination of the papers collected over nearly three decades reveals a politician of moderate-to-liberal beginnings, a product of the civil rights era who moved to the right with an eye on political expediency and privately savaged Republicans — such as Reagan — he praised in public.

• 500+ comments: ‘Anything can be taken out of context’
• For Santorum, faith inspires — and judges

USA Today:

Economic crisis slows U.S. population growth

Downturn's effect on birth and immigration lingers.MORE: World population hits 7BU.S.: Cities show declines

• 3 skiers killed in Wash. avalanche; 4th survived
• Storm dumps snow on parts of South
• U.S. urging Israel not to attack Iran, general says
• Apple OKs environmental audits of China suppliers
• Lin keeps improving as Knicks beat Mavs
• Whitney Houston dress, earrings up for auction

 CNN.COM:

Nuclear officials meet Iranian leaders as war talk rumbles

Israel has made it clear it is thinking about attacking Tehran's nuclear infrastructure. Iran has warned it may block the strait used by oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. FULL STORY

Zakaria: Israel, don't strike Iran




FoxNews.com:

• University of Maastricht
  In its test-tube form, it doesn't quite get your mouth watering, but Dutch scientist Dr. Mark Post of the University of Maastricht is betting that his stem cell 'meat' is going to 'look like and feel and, hopefully, taste' like real, juice-dripping burgers — would you take that bet?
• YOU DECIDE: Would You Eat a Test-Tube Burger? | Egypt Eyed as Possible Source of Fake Version of Avastin
• Boy Survives After Being Born With Heart Outside Body

Major props to the New York Times and to CNN for making the TOP STORY an international one that has serious implications for Americans. Not sure what to make of Fox News' lead story titled, "Test tube meat to be available this fall ..."

That is just weird.

Their next top three stories are also "not critical."

• 

  Expert Skiers Buried Alive
  In Washington Avalanche

  Skier says she was 'completely buried' in snow after group swept away by avalanche near popular resort, killing 3
  • VIDEO: Deadly Avalanche at Popular Ski Resort
  • Extreme Weather Center
  • Winter Storm Causes Power Outages, Accidents in South

• 

  Obama Team Defends Policies as Gas Prices Soar

  Re-elect team defends energy policy, touts more domestic oil production, amid criticism of gas price hikes
  • Oil Prices Jump After Iran Halts Exports to Britain, France

• 

  Police Find Remains of
  Girl Missing Since 1999

  Ohio teen's remains found in house of accused rapist who had been suspected in her disappearance
  • South Carolina Police Urge Help in Search for Missing Executive