Cheat Sheet - ISIS Just Risked Everything

Read This, Skip That .... June 30, 2014 ALL IN 1. ISIS Just Risked Everything to Declare a Caliphate On Sunday, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) made its boldest move yet by declaring the reformation of the caliphate, a historical religious state that once stretched across the Islamic world. The pronouncement of the caliphate may ultimately prove to be a costly one for ISIS, writes J.M. Berger. Read it at The Daily Beast GONE ROGUE 2. Blackwater Threatened to Kill U.S. Official The State Department official tasked with investigating Blackwater's conduct in Iraq says a manager at the private security contractor threatened to murder him. In a newly published memo dated August 31, 2007, Jean C. Richter, the chief investigator, claimed that Daniel Carroll, a Blackwater project manager, told him "that he could kill" him and "no one could or would do anything about it as we were in Iraq." While he was in Baghdad, Richter began to find serious failings in Blackwater's conduct, but he says the U.S. embassy stepped in to back up Blackwater and sent him back to America. Once home, he reported that Blackwater created "an environment full of liability and negligence" whose "contractors saw themselves as above the law." Two weeks later, Blackwater agents shot dead 17 civilians, including a child, in Baghdad's Nisour Square, a watershed shooting that has severely damaged U.S. and Iraqi relations. Read it at The New York Times CHILL OUT 3. Snowden Leaks Don't Worry New NSA Head The man newly tasked with taking the reins of the National Security Agency seems remarkably relaxed about the infamous Edward Snowden leaks. New director Adm. Michael S. Rogers said that despite the damage caused by the renegade NSA contractor, he was calm. "You have not heard me as the director say, 'Oh, my God, the sky is falling,'" he said. "I am trying to be very specific and very measured in my characterizations." He was also realistic about the potential for leaks in the future, saying he will never claim with "100 percent certainty" that a determined insider couldn't "compromise our systems." Read it at The New York Times FALSE PROPHET 4. Megachurch Star's Shocking Downfall Mark Driscoll helped found a megachurch that boasts 12,000 weekly attendees and wrote a New York Times bestseller. Now, his controversial evangelical empire is crumbling thanks to plagiarism charges, reports Warren Throckmorton. Read it at The Daily Beast VICTORY 5. The Inside Story of How Thad Cochran Won The man who engineered Senator Thad Cochran's surprising victory over Tea Party candidate Chris McDaniel explains how he did it. Stuart Stevens writes it wasn't black Democrats who propelled Cochran to victory but something entirely more simple. Read it at The Daily Beast NEW DIRECTION Obama Taps Big Business Exec to Lead VA No more retired generals. SORRY NOT SORRY Facebook Defends Experimenting on Users Without them knowing. NIGHTMARE VACATION North Korea to Indict Two U.S. Tourists For "hostile acts." MAKING WAVES Israel Backs Independent Kurdish State Wants military presence in West Bank. STICK TO SHAMU 48 Stuck in Mid-Air on SeaWorld Ride For four hours. GET The Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from across the Web. You'll love the featured original stories on politics, entertainment, and more from The Daily Beast's diverse group of contributors. GET Culture Beast Weekly cultural recommendations from The Daily Beast. The Crumbling Post-35 Pregnancy Myth by Jean Twenge Mark Ruffalo Blasts Iraq Warmongers by Marlow Stern True Blood's Steamy Gay Sex Scene by Kevin Fallon

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