Los Angeles Times @latimes

BREAKING: #HannahAnderson kidnapping suspect is killed; teen is safe, law enforcement sources say. More soon at latimes.com

Friday, August 09, 2013

Posted by Chris Carr., executive vice president, U.S. Retail

Dear Customers,

At Starbucks we are proud that our stores serve as gathering places for thousands of communities across the country and we appreciate that our customers share diverse points of view on issues that matter to them. We also believe in being sensitive to each community we serve.

Today, advocacy groups from different sides of the open carry debate announced plans to visit our Newtown, Connecticut store to bring attention to their points of view. We recognize that there is significant and genuine passion surrounding this topic, however out of respect for Newtown and everything the community has been through we decided to close our store early before the event started. Starbucks did not endorse or sponsor the event. We continue to encourage customers and advocacy groups from all sides of the debate to contact their elected officials, who make the open carry laws that our company follows. Our long-standing approach to this topic has been to comply with local laws and statutes in the communities we serve.

Thank you for your understanding and respect for the Newtown community.



Sincerely,

Chris Carr

executive vice president, U.S. Retail

Matthew Schuerman @mlschuer

Bill Lynch, 72, dies of complications from kidney disease. R.I.P. @WNYC

Longtime New York City political consultant Bill Lynch passed away today. He was 72. A statement from Lynch’s family said that the cause of death was complications from kidney disease.

Lynch was instrumental in helping David Dinkins win election as the city’s first African-American mayor and was one of Dinkins’ chief advisers during his administration, serving as deputy mayor for intergovernmental affairs. He would later leave the Dinkins administration to run Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign operation in New York. Clinton would later appoint Lynch to the Democratic National Committee in 1997, where he served as vice-chair until 2003.

Lynch’s influence extended internationally as well, advising Nelson Mandela during South Africa’s transition from apartheid and his subsequent presidential campaign.

Prior to his work in government, Lynch served as Director of Legislation and Political Action for District Council 1701 of AFSCME, as well as playing key roles in the presidential campaigns of Jesse Jackson and Walter Mondale.

Rep. Peter King R NY calls Obama NSA reform "monumental failure of wartime leadership" claiming he is not defending programs

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced on Friday it will create a new website to address concerns over the transparency of controversial dragnet surveillance programs.

“We also will be creating a website next week that is going to serve as the hub for further transparency, so this can be a home for citizens who are interested in learning more about our activities and declassifying efforts in responding to queries that people have about these programs,” said a senior administration official on a phone call with reporters ahead of a scheduled President Obama press conference.

The official also said that “in line with the President’s direction, the Department of Justice is going to be releasing the legal rationale for the government’s collection activities under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.” Section 215 of the Patriot Act provides the legal basis for some of the National Security Agency surveillance practices that have become a subject of national contention — and a locus for criticism of the Obama administration’s culture of secrecy — in the wake of revelations leaked by Edward Snowden to The Guardian.

Obama’s opening remarks at the press conference on Friday will focus on “the ongoing national debate and dialogue that he has encouraged as it relates to our intelligence community and, in particular, our surveillance programs, and some of the steps we have been taking as a government to respond to the President’s interest in pursuing greater transparency and pursuing necessary reforms to help build public confidence in our surveillance programs and our intelligence community, broadly,” a senior administration official said.

Via @yellincnn: POTUS is set to announce new measures today to increase transparency in govt surveillance programs, acc to admin official

NewsBreaker @NewsBreaker

BREAKING: Obama to announce new measures today to increase transparency in government surveillance programs @JessicaYellin | @BrookeBCNN