Good morning! Babe Ruth, Bob Marley and Ronald Reagan were all born on this day. Here are some of the stories we’re reading this a.m….
Working out great –> 26 Florida children or teenagers have been killed in “stand your ground”-related cases, reports Nicole Flatow for TP.
Pen, phone –> Coral Davenport reports for the NYT that Obama’s next executive action will be the creation of “regional climate hubs” to help people prepare for extreme weather events.
Corrections –> WaPo’s Erik Wemple looks at all the media outlets that changed their headlines or offered corrections after botching reports on the CBO’s new Obamacare projections.
Oops –> The Koch brothers left a list of VIP donors at a hotel. MoJo’s Andy Kroll and Daniel Schulman report its significance.
Bizarre case –> A disgruntled former Mormon has convinced a British court to hear his suit charging that the church is a fraudulent operation because it makes theological claims that aren’t demonstrably true. Scott Kaufman runs down the details for The Raw Story.
Tacky, corrupt –> Western journalists arriving in Sochi for the Olympic games are finding the accommodations rough and wondering where the $51 billion Russia spent to give the city a facelift actually went. Justin Peters reports for Slate. ALSO: US authorities warned Russia-bound airlines to be on the lookout for explosives contained in toothpaste tubes. Brian Ries recalls the history of toothpaste bombs for the Daily Beast.
Has DC’s deficit fever broken? –> At TNR, Ryan Cooper says it has, but the question is whether that will translate into policy.
Tough gig –> At FP, Gordon Lubold introduces us to the man tasked with fighting off contractors and members of congress in order to cut the Pentagon’s bloated budget.
Just say no –> The title of Mark Bittman’s NYT op-ed urging Obama to kill Keystone and veto the awful farm bill.
Rolling back the 20th century –> NPR’s Alan Greenblatt looks at the quixotic tea party campaign to repeal the 17th Amendment, which empowered citizens to elect their senators directly.
OK, we give up –> Washington Monthly’s Ed Kilgore is left speechless by news that John Boehner is now considering a demand for more spending in order to lift the debt limit. ALSO: At TAP, Paul Waldman argues that the GOP isn’t choosing its hostages wisely when it messes with the debt limit.
Big bill, horrible band –> Steve Hsieh reports for The Nation that the industrial rock band Skinny Puppy billed the Pentagon $666,000 in royalties for using its music to torture prisoners at Gitmo without permission.
Smoking gun –> Scientists think they’ve determined the exact mechanism for the extinction of woolly rhinos, mammoths and other extinct ice age mammals. Via: Science Daily.
