Welcome to the Daily News Drop! I hope that everyone had a good Thursday. Plenty is going on in the news today, so without further ado, here is today’s news!

Muammar Gaddafi Killed The actual details on the killing is unclear at this point. Some footage has surfaced of Gaddafi being captured alive. More footage was found of Gaddafi’s lifeless body being dragged behind a truck. Regardless of how it happened, what we’re left with is another dead dictator in a Muslim country. Are we safer as a nation because of this? Can we finally leave the Middle East? No. I am glad that it was the Rebels that achieved the final victory in Libya and maybe this means they’ll have some sort of self-determination. But, if Libya’s ideology tilts too much against U.S. imperialism, you can be sure we’ll find new enemies within the country.

Democrats Rev up to Beat Romney A Super PAC that Democratic strategist Paul Begala is running has started their attack on the presumptive GOP nominee, Mitt Romney, and that attack is on Romney’s unwillingness to support the Buffett Rule (which would slightly raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans). They have branded Romney’s opposition a plan in and of itself – The Romney Rule. Refusing to raise taxes on the rich but more than willing to tax the middle class more. David Sirota had a really interesting post on Salon that delved into the phenomenon of politicians openly pitying billionaires while most of America is struggling to survive and feed themselves. My thoughts on the matter is simple; I’m not surprised that Republicans are bending over backwards to protect the wealthiest. I find it sad that Democrats need a Super PAC and their unlimited money to compete in elections. Until we get the money out of politics, our wishes will never fully be listened to in Washington.

Henry Rollins’ View on Occupy America Henry Rollins is one straightforward dude. As someone who’s followed his career since he began leaving music to become a world traveller, storyteller and social commentator, one thing he doesn’t do is mince words. When I saw that he put out a column stating his view on the Occupy movement, I knew that it would have conviction. Rollins sees Occupy as a boulder whose momentum cannot be stopped. Read the article and get the full force of the argument.

Sessions Trying to Cut Food Stamps Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama is attempting to cut the Food Stamp program and make it harder to qualify for it in the first place. Sessions stated that he believed that the program was out of control and much of the increases are because of fraud in applicants – specifically mentioning lottery winners who were still on food stamps (how many lottery winners does Senator Sessions know?). These claims are provably false. Cases of fraud in the program are at a record low, and with one in five Alabamans on food stamps… maybe Sen. Sessions should listen to his constituents in the matter. Another case of the GOP demonizing and punishing the poor while pitying the rich.

FBI Closes in on Expanding Definition of Rape An FBI Panel has given a recommendation for an update and expansion of the definition of rape. Where is the story in this? The current definition only refers to the forcible penetration by a man to a woman against her will. This assumes that if there isn’t any clear physical signs of a struggle (where the victim might be too scared or threatened so there isn’t any fight back), then a rape didn’t occur. Are you kidding me? Also, it assumes that a man cannot be raped and a woman cannot rape another woman. To say that this definition is archaic and antiquated is a bit of an understatement. The language changes will not be instituted until early 2012 at the earliest. Can’t come soon enough.

Thanks for reading and staying informed! Keep reading The Progressive Playbook and come back tomorrow for another Daily News Drop. Also, if you’re interested, I wrote a blog earlier today that made a connection between corporate actions today and Ayn Rand’s crackpot philosophy. I hope you check it out and let me know what you think!

Sources: Al Jazeera English, Talking Points Memo, Salon, LA Weekly, Think Progress, Raw Story