The Morning Scoop - The Facebook Smear Blame Game

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MAY 13, 2011

The Facebook Smear Blame Game The stunning story of Facebook's attempt to smear Google with exaggerated claims of privacy invasion got still more dramatic yesterday as the public relations agency hired to do the dirty work turned on Facebook, laying the blame for the boneheaded idea squarely at the feet of Mark Zuckerberg's band of corporate communications commandos. The Daily Beast's Dan Lyons, who revealed the secret plot, explains how the ensuing blame game is making both companies look foolish. Read it at The Daily Beast U.S. Interrogates bin Laden Wives U.S. officials have finally interrogated three widows of Osama bin Laden, sources told CNN on Thursday night. The three women, who were living with the late al Qaeda chief in his Abbottabad compound when he was killed, were described as "hostile" toward America during the questioning. U.S. authorities reportedly had difficulty in getting access to the women (they are in Pakistani custody), and were only allowed to interview them all at once—with members of Pakistan's intelligence agency present. The youngest widow, 29-year-old Amal Ahmed Abdulfattah, was shot in the U.S. raid. Read it at CNN McConnell: No More Debt Meetings Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday, "We don't need any more hearings" about the debt, saying instead that "significant" Medicare reforms are needed in exchange for lifting the legal limit on borrowing. McConnell, the top-ranking Republican in the Senate, is part of a group of lawmakers from both parties meeting with President Obama on Friday to discuss the debt ceiling. Republicans have called for an overhaul of Medicare in exchange for raising the amount of money the country can legally borrow—a pressing problem since the country will reach that limit in August and will run out of money. McConnell said he will not insist on the controversial House plan to gut Medicare and will cooperate with the White House in drafting a "grand bargain" toward lowering the debt. Read it at The Washington Post Damage at Japan Reactor Worse Than Expected There may be a complication in Tepco's plan to bring the Fukushima reactors under control in the next nine months. One of the reactors previously thought to be relatively undamaged was found to have surprisingly low water levels. Workers were able to get close enough to the No. 1 reactor Thursday to attach a water gauge, which showed that the water was three feet below where the fuel rods would normally stand. The rods themselves seem to have melted and slumped to the bottom of the containment vessel. But the overall temperature of the reactor indicates that though the fuel had melted, the water kept it cool, and therefore not as dangerous as a worst case scenario. Meanwhile, the Japanese government says it will help Tepco compensate victims of the nuclear disaster, an undertaking that could run into the tens of billions of dollars. Read it at The New York Times Bombing at Pakistan Base Kills 80 Two suicide bombings at a Pakistan military training center killed 80 people and injured at least 120, police say. As cadets were getting into buses for a short leave after finishing their training, a bomber drove a motorcycle onto the base and set off his bomb. Then, when people came to help the injured, another bomber on a motorcycle drove in and set off his bomb. The Pakistani Taliban say they launched the attacks to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden. "It's the first revenge for the martyrdom of... bin Laden. There will be more," said Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan. Read it at BBC Laid-Off Worker Confronts Obama "I just wonder what you would do, if you were me?" Trump Sued by Hundreds For lending his name to defunct buildings, dishonest schools. Missouri Army Base Shooter Caught Has a history of breaking out of jail. Software Developer Wants Cut of Winklevoss Settlement Says they had agreement to jointly operate site. Spider-Man Back On After three-and-a-half week hiatus. Sign up for The Yes List email, our weekly cultural recommendations. For more of The Daily Beast, become a fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Are Democrats Health-Care Hypocrites? by Jill Lawrence Democrats are feasting on the GOP's Medicare cuts one year after playing defense on their own cutbacks. Jill Lawrence on why neither side can resist pandering to seniors. Pakistan's Yuppies in Danger by Lorraine Adams Pakistan's small middle class is vulnerable and exposed to the growing violence between al Qaeda and the government. Novelist Lorraine Adams on why this vital group cannot be forgotten by the U.S. The 13 Ballsiest Commando Raids by The Daily Beast The bin Laden mission hit all the military musts: quick, well-executed, no casualties. But how does it rate historically? From Entebbe to Iran, The Daily Beast ranks the raids, from first to worst.

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