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Psyche's Links: 2013 : 15,066 Links

123113
Poll: United States Seen As Greatest Threat To World Peace In 2013 | FDL News Desk

Planet likely to warm by 4C by 2100, scientists warn | Environment | The Guardian - New climate model taking greater account of cloud changes indicates heating will be at higher end of expectations
Climate Change Worse Than We Thought, Likely To Be 'Catastrophic Rather Than Simply Dangerous'
? Climate Sensitivity and Clouds - YouTube

What The Hell Is Happening At Fukushima Reactor 3? | Crooks and Liars - We don't know exactly what's going on at Fukushima. But then, we're not supposed to. (evacuate the West Coast)

New Study Refines View of Sarin Attack in Syria - NYTimes.com - A new analysis of rockets linked to the nerve-agent attack on Damascus, Syria, in August has concluded that the rockets were most likely fired by multiple launchers and had a range of about three kilometers, according to the two authors of the analysis ... Dr. Postol said it undermined the Obama administration’s assertions about the rockets’ launch points. (Obama lied, of course)
One Palestinian child has been killed by Israel every 3 days for the past 13 years
Israel accused of torture in death of Palestinian detainee | Toronto Star - Death of 30-year-old Palestinian sparks clashes in West Bank; senior Palestinian official alleges the detainee was tortured.
IDF social media director criticized for 'Obama-style' blackface photo
5 Overlooked Activist Victories In 2013 | PopularResistance.Org

The Year America’s Post-9/11 Foreign Policy Failed

U.S. Frees Last of the Chinese Uighur Detainees From Guantánamo Bay - NYTimes.com
Uighur men held for 12 years leave Guantánamo Bay for Slovakia | World news | theguardian.com - Federal judge ordered that three be freed in 2008 • Pentagon praises 'humanitarian gesture' by Slovakia

Fewer deaths from drone strikes in 2013 after Obama policy change | World news | theguardian.com - Strikes kill up to 271 people, down from 2012 figure • President signalled policy shift in May speech (to focus on wedding parties)

King Snowden and the Fall of Wikileaks

President Obama claims the NSA has never abused its authority. That's false | Trevor Timm | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The facts that we know so far – from Fisa court documents to LOVEINT – show that the NSA has overstepped its powers (stupid, incompetent, compromised, or just a big liar?)

Twitter / trevortimm: Ex-NSA chief Michael Hayden - who remains unindicted for multiple felonies, tells Obama to reject the NSA review panel http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/12/30/gen-michael-hayden-urges-obama-reject-nsa-commission-recommendations/4249983/ …
Ex-NSA chief calls for Obama to reject recommendations - "And I think some of the right things with regard to the commission's recommendations are not the popular things. They may not poll real well right now. They'll poll damn well after the next attack, all right?"

Court Rules No Suspicion Needed for Laptop Searches at Border | American Civil Liberties Union - Decision Dismisses ACLU Lawsuit Challenging DHS Search Policy as Unconstitutional (Constitution-Free Zone within 100 miles of border = 66% of population)

Report: NSA team spies, hacks to gather intelligence on targets - CNN.com
The NSA Reportedly Has Total Access To The Apple iPhone - Forbes (iZombies)
The Most Important Surveillance Order We Know Almost Nothing About | American Civil Liberties Union - we still know very little about Executive Order 12,333, which governs the NSA's surveillance abroad — even when that surveillance sweeps up Americans' communications.
Jacob Appelbaum's must-watch 30C3 talk: why NSA spying affects you, no matter who you are - Boing Boing
Stratfor Monitors and Studies Social Movements | PopularResistance.Org
Sorry for letting them snoop? Dell apologizes for ‘inconvenience’ caused by NSA backdoor — RT USA - Dell told an irate customer on Monday that they “regret the inconvenience” caused by selling to the public for years a number of products that the intelligence community has been able to fully compromise in complete silence up until this week.
Glitter nail-polish is the best tamper-evident seal - Boing Boing

#FreedomAct | Cassandra Rules' Super Fun Blog (check how your rep is voting: MA loves spying, apparently)

Paul Krugman Trolls Bitcoin Fans. Guess What Happens Next.

Transvestites, ‘Erotic Massages,’ and Metadata: DEA’s Colombia Scandal Deepens - But less has been reported about the DEA agents and their extensive history of solicitation in Colombia, where prostitutes are known to be used as spies by drug cartels. Those details are contained in the inspector general report. (drug cops at work)

Mile-long train carrying crude oil derails, explodes in North Dakota - U.S. News
Scientists Find 7,300-Mile Mercury Contamination 'Bullseye' Around Canadian Tar Sands | ThinkProgress - Just one week after Al Jazeera discovered that regulatory responsibility for Alberta, Canada’s controversial tar sands would be handed over to a fossil-fuel funded corporation, federal scientists have found that the area’s viscous petroleum deposits are surrounded by a nearly 7,500-square-mile ring of mercury.

Only A Quarter Of Unemployed Americans Receiving Benefits After Congress Failed To Act: Data

The RNC Wrote A 100-Page Autopsy, But Apparently Nobody Read It
Texas Republicans Lose Three Major Donors In 2013

U.S. Population Grows At Slowest Rate Since The Great Depression - The U.S. population grew by just 0.72 percent in the year ended July 1, 2013
At 77 He Prepares Burgers Earning in Week His Former Hourly Wage - Bloomberg

NYPD’s Next-Gen “Smart Car” Loaded with High-Tech Surveillance Tools | LeakSource



A Colorado marijuana guide: 64 answers to commonly asked questions | The Cannabist

Quick Reads: 55 Books Under 200 Pages - Half Price Books Blog - HPB.com


123013
The Japanese Mob Is Hiring Homeless People to Clean Up Fukushima | Motherboard
Second Blast Hits Russia, Raising Olympic Fears - NYTimes.com
Volgograd in lockdown as bombings raise security concerns for Olympics | World news | The Guardian - Russian city under tight security after suicide bombing on trolleybus leaves 14 dead, one day after 17 people were killed at train station
Russia Trolley Attack: Bomb Blast Kills 14 In Same Town As Deadly Train Station Explosion (they are so going to blow-up the Olympics)
Afghanistan War Poll Shows Support Falling To Below Iraq, Vietnam Levels
The Afghan Puzzlement - Esquire - The National Intelligence Estimate also predicts that Afghanistan will quickly fall into chaos if Washington and Kabul fail to sign a security pact to keep an international military contingent there beyond 2014, the newspaper said.
Egypt arrests al-Jazeera journalists | World news | theguardian.com - Three journalists detained as government crackdown intensifies following move against Muslim Brotherhood
Chinese police shoot eight dead in alleged terrorist incident in Xinjiang | World news | theguardian.com - Latest outburst of unrest in troubled western province where Chinese authorities say Islamic militants are active

And the winner is… a look back at a dramatic 2013 in US politics | Michael Cohen | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Edward Snowden is America's person of the year if there ever was one, but don't count President Obama out yet
2013 in Review: As Governments in the Arab World Crack Down, Activists Fight Back | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Avedon Carol & Jay Ackroyd • Top Ten Stories of 2013 — Virtually Speaking - commentators Avedon Carol & Jay Ackroyd look back at 2013.

The FAA's Selection of Six Drone Test Sites Comes a Year Late | Motherboard

Is the NSA's Spying Constitutional? It Depends Which Judge You Ask - Andrew Cohen - The Atlantic - Two recent rulings draw diametrically opposed conclusions about the same set of facts.
The primary NSA issue isn't privacy, it's authority | Jeff Jarvis | Comment is free | theguardian.com - At heart, the NSA debate is about what the government is allowed to do with what it knows and who is overseeing it

NSA Will Keep Breaking Encryption, No Matter What a White House Panel Says - the agency's elite hacker group, known as Tailored Access Operations, infiltrated networks of European telecommunications companies and accessed and read emails that "were believed to be securely encrypted."
Opinion: Would NSA surveillance have stopped 9/11 plot? - CNN.com (no, but be afraid anyway)
Glenn Greenwald: The NSA Can "Literally Watch Every Keystroke You Make" | Democracy Now! (Amy Goodman with transcript) (every breath you take ...)
Glenn Greenwald: U.S., British Media Are 'Devoted Servants' To Government
NSA and Corporate Cooperation Revealed | The Dissenter
NSA's Personal Propagandist For CBS Officially Takes Counterterrorism Job Everyone Knew He Was Getting | Techdirt - . Now, apparently, they think it's "journalism" to shill for the surveillance state.

The edge of the abyss: exposing the NSA's all-seeing machine | The Verge - "I know the capability that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that this agency and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision, so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return." - Frank Church 1975
Three things I learned from the Snowden files » Pressthink

? 30c3: Sysadmins of the world, unite! (incomplete) - YouTube Sarah Harrison gets standing 0)
Julian Assange landmark speech (4) | WISE Up Action – A Solidarity Network for Manning and Assange - A Year At The Ecuadorian Embassy
? Backdoors, Government Hacking and The Next Crypto Wars [30c3] - YouTube - Speaker: Christopher Soghoian
? Through a PRISM, Darkly - Everything we know about NSA spying [30c3] - YouTube - Speaker: Kurt Opsahl

'To Protect and Infect: The militarization of the internet' | Privacy SOS
? 30c3: To Protect And Infect, Part 2 - YouTube
NSA malware turns your iPhone into a spy device, obliterating your privacy | Privacy SOS - he NSA internally referred to iPhone users as "zombies" who "pay for their own surveillance." (iStupids)
Unhackable System Claimed: Could It Be True? : Discovery News
NSA Reportedly Hacks Americans Via Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn
Quantumtheory-Fähigkeiten des GCHQ: Dieser Präsentation zufolge haben die...
Glenn Greenwald Says NSA, GCHQ Dismayed They Don't Have Access To In-Flight Internet Communication | Techdirt - “The very idea that human beings can communicate for even a few moments without their ability to monitor is intolerable.”

State Dept. whistleblower has email hacked, deleted | New York Post
MI5 whistleblower launches defense fund for whistleblowers - Boing Boing
French telecom operator Orange threatens to sue NSA over cable tapping — RT News
The NSA's elite hackers can hijack your Wi-Fi from 8 miles away | The Verge
How NSA Hunts Metadata “Content” in Search of Your Digital Tracks | emptywheel

Google: Government request to remove content worrying - Times Of India - "one worrying trend has remained consistent: governments continue to ask us to remove political content".
The Daily Dot - The 10 NSA leaks you need to understand in 2013
Year of living dangerously – security breaches and scams of 2013 - Enterprise - | siliconrepublic.com - Ireland's Technology News Service

Republicans React to Benghazi News - NYTimes.com
Why the Tea Party Isn't Going Anywhere - Theda Skocpol - The Atlantic - The movement's structure means it can withstand low popularity and continue to exert a huge pull on the GOP.
Dave Weigel for Democracy Journal: The Tea Party and the 2016 Nomination
The GOP’s Insane Race Strategy by Ryan Cooper | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - Our results indicate that proposal and passage are highly partisan, strategic, and racialized affairs. These findings are consistent with a scenario in which the targeted demobilization of minority voters and African Americans is a central driver of recent legislative developments.

Public’s Views on Human Evolution | Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project
Republicans growing more skeptical about evolution - Over the last four years, the percentage of Democrats who said they believe in evolution has risen by three points, from 64 percent to 67 percent. But the percentage of Republicans who believe in the theory has dropped 11 points, from 54 percent to 43 percent. So while there was a 10-point gap in 2009, there is now a 24-point gap. (Republican war on reality +WOMEN are ten points less likely than men to believe in evo; is this their ladybrainz? wtf?)
Surprising Number Of Americans Still Don't Believe In Evolution (comments for both WaHuffPo pretty pro evolution but if the subject were Snowden ...)
Desayuda comments on That THEORY (A theory is the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another.)
bktwQ.png (scientific method and "theory")
I made a (sort of) comic to explain evidence/theory and figured some of you might find it useful. : skeptic

2013 Financial Reform Went Way Better Than Anyone Expected | New Republic - Everyone assumed the banks would beat financial reform. They didn't

US law enforcement deaths fall to 50-year low, report finds | World news | theguardian.com - In 2013, 111 officers died, with more widespread use of body armour and officers wearing seatbelts credited for decline - Forty-two percent of the officers killed in auto crashes the last couple of years were not wearing their seatbelts

Politico’s John Harris on Mike Allen story: ‘Totally unfair’; ‘innuendo’

Mormon-owned TV station: Don’t air gay kissing footage | The Desk - Viewer complaints prompted a Utah-based television station to stop airing news footage of same-sex couples kissing during wedding ceremonies.

Study suggests we're all susceptible to false memories | The Verge (watching Fox makes it worse)
Doctors Are Now Prescribing Books to Treat Depression | Smart News - “bibliotherapy” (and billing at top rates for your read time)

Cultural differences? Iowa State researchers examine media impact in multiple countries - News Service - Iowa State University - A cross-cultural study, led by Iowa State University researchers, shows prosocial media and video games positively influence behavior regardless of culture. The study, a first-of-its-kind, tested levels of empathy and helpfulness of thousands of children and adolescents in seven countries. (anti-social media doesn't work)

He Ain't Going Nowhere | Texas Monthly
‘The Wire’ creator David Simon is writing a Pogues musical | Death and Taxes
Ikea Heights: A soap opera filmed both entirely in an Ikea, and entirely without Ikea's permission. : videos

Zappos Does Away With Job Titles, Managers - Retailer turns to 'holacratic' model - the company was ditching job titles and management positions in favor of a system known as "Holacracy." The term, which comes from the Greek "holon," meaning a whole inside something bigger, is about "self-governing." It works by dividing the company into some 400 circles; inside a circle, a worker can have multiple jobs, Quartz reports.
11 Reasons You Should Quit Facebook In 2014

122913
US Navy Crew Sue TEPCO, Half Have Cancer From Fukushima | PopularResistance.Org - 70+ USS Ronald Reagan Crew Members, Half Suffering From Cancer, to Sue TEPCO For Fukushima Radiation Poisoning - responded to the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan for four days, many returned to the U.S. with thyroid cancer, Leukemia, brain tumors and more. (four days)
Steam coming from Fukushima Unit 3 reactor building — Observed multiple times this week (evacuate California)

Afghanistan gains will be lost quickly after drawdown, U.S. intelligence estimate warns - The Washington Post - A new American intelligence assessment on the Afghan war predicts that the gains the United States and its allies have made during the past three years are likely to have been significantly eroded by 2017, even if Washington leaves behind a few thousand troops and continues bankrolling the impoverished nation, according to officials familiar with the report. (all for nothing)
Russia Suicide Bombing: Attack On Train Station Kills At Least 14 In Volgograd
Qatar signs aid deal worth $1.25 billion for Morocco | Arab News — Saudi Arabia News, Middle East News, Opinion, Economy and more. - , part of a five-year package of financial assistance extended by Gulf states to the North African kingdom to help it weather ‘Arab Spring’ protests.
As tension rise, Saudi Arabia to give Lebanese army $3 billion - World News (proxy war)
A proxy civil war is underway in Lebanon | The National - That war is part of a larger war between Saudi Arabia and Iran on Syrian territory, amid a conspicuous Shiite-Sunni polarisation across Lebanon +(The corruption scandal in Turkey revealed that corrupt ruling-party officials have been protected by the cloak of Islamism – as if the pretence of piety alone is sufficient to cover up blatant infractions of the law.)
How the IAEA Basically Helped Assassinate Iranian Nuclear Scientists | Global Research

Noam Chomsky, the Salon interview: Governments are power systems, trying to sustain power - Salon.com - : The polymath looks back with Salon on this year's NSA revelations and ahead to the earth's destruction

I worked on the US drone program. The public should know what really goes on | Heather Linebaugh | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Few of the politicians who so brazenly proclaim the benefits of drones have a real clue how it actually works (and doesn't) The UAV's in the Middle East are used as a weapon, not as protection, and as long as our public remains ignorant to this, this serious threat to the sanctity of human life – at home and abroad – will continue. (Obama's favorite toy)

Times Deals Another Blow to Benghazi Truthers -- Daily Intelligencer

United States to make a deal with Edward Snowden - Hackers News Bulletin - When interrogated if she supposed Mr Snowden might be impeached if he was wedged by the US, she told: “I assume what will occur actually is there’ll approach a contract that he doesn’t liberate to any further extent, but I actually don’t know.”
NSA: An Orwellian surveillance system gone global — RT Op-Edge

NSA, Not China, the Global BIOS Suicide Cyber-Bomber | emptywheel - Remember when, to fearmonger as part of 60 Minutes NSA propaganda, they warned of a Chinese attack on the US economy that, if launched, would have amounted to China acting as a suicide cyber-bomber? inserting backdoors into BIOS is (or was, back in 2008) the preferred method of NSA’s Access Network Technology group, which provides tools to access hardware and software. (we need constant surveillance to protect us from our government)
Michael Hayden 'Drifting' Toward Calling Edward Snowden A 'Traitor' - "I think there's an English word that describes selling American secrets to another government, and I do think it's treason," Hayden said on CBS' "Face the Nation." ("selling" and AP doesn't ask to whom?)

Obama's NSA Phone Spying Reforms Might Make Things Worse | Threat Level | Wired.com (what would you expect?)

? Alexa O'Brien - 30C3 CCC Hamburg - YouTube - Alexa O'Brien speaking at Chaos Computer Club 30th Convention on the secret Trial of Manning.
Videos of Global Uprisings conference now online | ROAR Magazine
Technology Research Firm Predicts Occupy On A Larger Scale | PopularResistance.Org
Whistleblowers: Information Warriors for the Modern Age

Intel officials' arrogance and the limits of democracy in a total surveillance state | Privacy SOS - There’s a lot to digest in Barton Gellman’s interview with Edward Snowden, published a few days before Christmas in 2013.

NSA has a 50-page catalog of exploits for software, hardware, and firmware - Boing Boing - A Snowden leak accompanying today's story on the NSA's Tailored Access Operations group (TAO) details the NSA's toolbox of exploits, developed by an NSA group called ANT (Advanced or Access Network Technology).
Inside TAO: The NSA's Shadow Network - Spiegel Online
NSA 'hacking unit' infiltrates computers around the world – report | World news | theguardian.com - NSA: Tailored Access Operations a 'unique national asset' • Former NSA chief calls Edward Snowden a 'traitor' (or "drifting" anyway)

The NSA Uses Windows Error Messages To Spy On Targets: Gothamist - the NSA's elite team of spies intercepts brand new computers on their way to customers and uses Windows error messages to exploit the weaknesses of their targets.
The NSA Actually Intercepted Packages to Put Backdoors in Electronics
E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths) - Forbes (oh, NSA tracking devices in all the cars, great idea!)
Is NSA watching you as you wait for the train? On hacking into live video streams | Privacy SOS
SD Cards Aren’t As Secure As We Think | TechCrunch

IT firms lose billions after NSA scandal exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden - News - Gadgets & Tech - The Independent
From Gore to Greenwald: Establishment-Made Heroes | Global Research - By Sibel Edmonds (Sibel unhinged)

Obamacare Website Enrollment Tops 1 Million

alicublog: "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" Is About Obama, Isn't It? You Can Tell Me!

The Slow Motion Lynching of President Barack Obama

Officer who forced dozens of anal cavity searches for fun gets only 2 years in prison | Police State USA - MILWAUKEE, WI –A disgusting scandal involving police officers performing illegal anal cavity searches with the intent to “degrade and humiliate” dozens and dozens of victims has come to an apparent conclusion, which some feel amounts to little more than a slap on the wrists for those involved.

Red, blue states move in opposite directions in a new era of single-party control - The Washington Post (polarization)

It’s the Suburbs, Not the Kids » Balloon Juice
Don't Blame Social Media if Your Teen Is Unsocial. It's Your Fault | Wired Opinion | Wired.com
Diana Serra Cary's Books (birth of the child star)

Mariposa botnet 'mastermind' jailed in Slovenia - A hacker accused of masterminding one of the biggest ever botnets has been sentenced to just under 5 years in jail.

122813
Volgograd train station rocked by suicide bombing | World news | The Guardian
Riots erupt in Turkey over corruption scandal - Europe - Al Jazeera English - Politicians accuse Turkish government of "arrogance" as protests gain momentum in at least three cities.
Turkey's Erdogan rejects calls to resign - Europe - Al Jazeera English - Prime minister says he will not step down, as protests continue against a widening corruption scandal.
Justice Minister stopped police from carrying out prosecutor’s order - Today's Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news - Bekir Bozdag, the new justice minister, prevented the police from following prosecutor Muammer Akkas's order to detain 30 suspects, and the minister also leaked the names of suspects listed on investigation files, circles close the police have claimed. (Islamic justice)
Street Battles in Hamburg as Activists Defend Rosa Flora Squat | Earth First! Newswire (looks like Istanbul)
Indigenous reserve in the Brazilian Amazon attacked - An indigenous reserve in Brazil's Amazon region has been attacked in the latest incident of violence in the region. ("farmers and loggers")
500 local Chinese lawmakers resign in fraud scandal - The Times of India - More than 500 municipal lawmakers in one Chinese province have stood down following an electoral fraud scandal, as Beijing ramps up its sweeping anti-corruption crackdown, state media reported on Saturday.
12 Ridiculous Moments From Pussy Riot's First TV Interview
Pussy Riot Speaks: Still Critical Of Putin’s Rule | PopularResistance.Org
How Hollywood cloaked South Sudan in celebrity and fell for the 'big lie' | World news | The Observer - Film stars have been speaking from a flawed script about the newest nation. Daniel Howden points a finger at those who have failed to grasp the awful reality

Uruguay's marijuana growers come out into open | UTSanDiego.com (tourists!)
The lie that won’t die: “We don’t know enough about marijuana!” - Salon.com - Drug warriors insist we still don't know enough about its possible therapeutic properties. It's simply not true

The Hellfires of Christmas | emptywheel - How can the rash action and blind folly of repeated drone strikes lead to anything other than ruin for Obama and Brennan? Let us hope that they don’t drag the rest of us down with them. (Obama loves killing little children; not enough army men in his childhood)

How al-Qaeda Changed the Syrian War by Sarah Birke | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books - the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, or ISIS. Linked to al-Qaeda, the fearsome group has swept across northern Syria, imposing sharia law, detaining and even beheading Syrians who don’t conform to its purist vision of Islam, and waging war on rival militias.
Syria: Harrowing torture, summary killings in secret ISIS detention centres | Amnesty International - ISIS, which claims to apply strict Shari’a (Islamic law) in areas it controls, has ruthlessly flouted the rights of local people. In the 18-page briefing, Rule of fear: ISIS abuses in detention in northern Syria, Amnesty International identifies seven detention facilities that ISIS uses in al-Raqqa governorate and Aleppo. Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)
Amnesty International, ISIS and Islamic penal law « pietervanostaeyen

Swartz, Fracking, Manning, GMO: 13 most underreported news stories of 2013 — RT News

2013 was HUGE. And this is what the highlights look like in 4'15" | Greenpeace UK
2013 in Review: Encrypting the Web Takes A Huge Leap Forward | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Open WhisperSystems >> Blog >> TextSecure, Now With 10 Million More Users

Six reasons 2013 was an amazing year for drones - 4) Obama vowed to review his policy on drone strikes. (and gave himself a gold star and kept killing little brown children +really, WaPo)
The Pentagon's Vision for the Future of Military Drones | Motherboard - The Defense Department released its updated roadmap for the future of military drones this week, outlining the 25-year plan to "take the 'man' out of 'unmanned'" warfare, to quote one of the more colorful bullet points in the report.
Timeline Photos - Amerika War Criminal Nation | Facebook (nice Arabic-looking font, guys)

? Glenn Greenwald Keynote on 30c3 - YouTube
Greenwald: US, British Media Are Servants Of Security Apparatus | PopularResistance.Org - The NSA’s goal, Greenwald said, is to “ensure that all forms of human communication . . .are collected, monitored, stored and analyzed by that agency and by their allies.”

The most Kafkaesque paragraph from today’s NSA ruling - Re-read that a few times and let it sink in. Pauley is essentially saying that the targets of the order have no recourse to challenge the collection of their personal data because Congress never intended for targets to ever know that they were subject to this sort of spying. And that the fact that everyone knows about it now, thanks to Edward Snowden, doesn't change the targets' ability to challenge the legality of the order. (another one of Obama's signature rabbit-holes)
The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - Let us congratulate U.S. District Judge William Pauley III. It cannot be easy issuing an important ruling while hiding under your bed ... "al-Qaeda plotted in a seventh-century milieu to use that technology against us. It was a bold jujitsu. And it succeeded because conventional intelligence gathering could not detect diffuse filaments connecting al-Qaeda."
Judge on NSA Case Cites 9/11 Report, But It Doesn’t Actually Support His Ruling - ProPublica - To this day, some details related to the incident and the NSA's eavesdropping have never been aired publicly. And some experts told us that even before 9/11 -- and before the creation of the metadata surveillance program -- the NSA did have the ability to track the origins of the phone calls, but simply failed to do so.

This Week, Mass Surveillance Wins - NYTimes.com - Has the National Security Agency’s mass collection of Americans’ phone records actually helped to prevent terrorist attacks? Judge William Pauley III of the Federal District Court in Manhattan came to the opposite conclusion. “The effectiveness of bulk telephony metadata collection cannot be seriously disputed,”
Judge Upholds N.S.A.’s Bulk Collection of Data on Calls - NYTimes.com - The decision on Friday “is the exact opposite of Judge Leon’s in every way, substantively and rhetorically,” said Orin S. Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University. “It’s matter and antimatter.”
Daily Kos: NY Times' Editorial: "This Week, Mass Surveillance Wins"

Judge Pauley’s Deliberate Blind Spot: Systematic Section 215 Abuses | emptywheel
Judge rules that NSA metadata surveillance is constitutional - Boing Boing - The ACLU disagreed: "[The decision] misinterprets the relevant statutes, understates the privacy implications of the government’s surveillance and misapplies a narrow and outdated precedent to read away core constitutional protections."
No doubt about NSA's impact? Yeah, there is. | MSNBC - Only four plots among the fifty-four the NSA claims to have helped foil have been made public. Pauley cited three of those four plots in arguing that the metadata program was effective, but journalists and legislators have picked already picked those examples apart. ProPublica published a piece in October by Justin Elliott and Theodoric Meyer noting that in each of the three cases Pauley mentions, there were serious doubts as to whether or not the NSA was exaggerating either the plot itself or the impact of the program. (secret laws and secret courts for secret attacks)
Federal Judge Rules NSA Spying IS Legal; Strange Ruling Cites Emotion, Sept 11. and Edward Snowden “Spawning Mischief” | Ben Swann Truth In Media

NSA drowning in overcollected data, can't do its job properly - Boing Boing
Interview with NSA Whistleblower Bill Binney: Afraid We’re Spreading Secret Government Around World | The Dissenter - he “planned program perjury policy right out of the Department of Justice.” (Obama was always a big liar)

Obama signs NDAA 2014, indefinite detention remains - Salon.com - The president called defense bill a "welcome step" toward closing Gitmo, but civil liberties issues abound (your civil liberties mean nothing to Obama; Ted Cruz is far to the left of him)
Activist Post: Bigger, Badder NDAA 2014 Quietly Passed the House and Senate – On the Way to Obama’s Desk

Coincidental Timing in NSA’s Telecom Switch Collection | emptywheel
Will Shifting Loyalties in the Middle East (and Fracking) Bring Truth about 9/11? | emptywheel - As the IBT reported yesterday, Congressman Walter Jones recently managed to get intelligence gatekeeper Mike Rogers to share the 28 redacted pages of the Joint Intelligence Committee Inquiry into 9/11 that show Saudi involvement in the plot. (there are a lot of buried bodies)

Who Is Selling Target's Data? - NYTimes.com - We may be one step closer to knowing who was behind the security breach at Target that compromised 40 million customer records.
Who’s Selling Credit Cards from Target? — Krebs on Security
The top 10 most important hacks of 2013 - Hackers News Bulletin (they missed Target)

Environmental Protestor Jailed - I Bought The Law And The Law Won - Esquire - And that, my friends, is how you seriously abridge freedom of speech in this country. You take someone with an explicitly political message who commits a specifically political act and you throw him in jail for having committed it. (no speech for you in Obama's authoritarian corporate police-state)

Final Newtown police report yields chilling account of massacre | World news | theguardian.com

Academics Who Defend Wall St. Reap Reward - NYTimes.com (rigging the system)

Indiana GOP: While Banning Gay Relationships, Why Not Enact White Supremacy, Too? | Clay Farris Naff - " Together with criminal penalties already in the law, this would make Indiana the state most like Russia when it comes to gay oppression.
2013 Was The Year Bills To Criminalize Animal Cruelty Videos Failed : The Salt : NPR - Three states signed ag-gag bill into law in 2011 and 2012, setting new legal precedents. This year, a flurry of legislation — 15 ag-gag bills — was introduced in 11 states, but interestingly, not a single one passed. (Indeed, in some states, more than one measure was introduced: Tennessee and Arkansas each had two, while Indiana had three.)

Police Salaries and Pensions Push California City to Brink - NYTimes.com - Here, under the budget enacted last spring, about $7 million of the city’s $10.6 million annual payroll went to the 39-member police force.

A Bad Month For The Private Sector - The Invisible Hand Is All Thumbs - Esquire - I'm sure that, next year, FedEx and UPS will solve the mysteries that are winter and Christmas in time to demonstrate once again that the Private Sector does everything better than the public sector, or else will find a way that it is all the government's fault because freedom. And snow. (so let's kill the post office)

Louisiana parish claims incarcerated 14-year-old consented to be raped by a corrections officer - Salon.com - "These girls in the detention center are not Little Miss Muffin," remarked one official

My Life With the Thrill-Clit Cult - Block used to be an Apple Genius Bar troubleshooter. Now he works for OneTaste, a company devoted to a practice called "orgasmic meditation," or OM, as an orgasm coach. He wore a navy-blue t-shirt that read "Powered by Orgasm." ... This was the first night of OMXperience, a three-day August conference meant to "kick off the industry of orgasm," with speakers including Naomi Wolf, New York Times bestselling author Dr. Sara Gottfried, and Robbie Richman, the former "culture strategist" at Zappos. Roughly 1,400 people had paid between $200 and $400 to attend. (feminism's revenge: the industrialization of sex)
? TEDxSF - Nicole Daedone - Orgasm: The Cure for Hunger in the Western Woman - YouTube - She is the founder of OneTaste, a cutting-edge company bringing a new definition of orgasm to women. The practice at the heart of her work is called OM or Orgasmic Meditation. Nicole graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in semantics and gender communication. (someone call Ken Wilbur)
Who Is The Goddess? | The Goddess of Sacred Sex
OneTaste
Reese Jones , Singularity University - United States | Viadeo (apparently invented sound and twisted-pair wiring, but no Wikipedia article +Ray Kurzeil blessed the technology of orgasm, which is like the internets)
Come to Mama - Take a successful New York woman who's tanned, toned, waxed, blow-dried, and tastefully dressed. What does Mama Gena's School of Womanly Arts have to teach her? The art of pleasure. Getting it, not giving it. From ice cream to orgasms.
? My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - Kooler Than Jesus - YouTube
? Clarence Carter- Strokin' - YouTube

A judge just gave an elementary lesson on copyright to the owners of Sherlock Holmes - Given that Holmes first appeared in print more than 125 years ago, you'd think that would be obvious. Not according to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's estate, which argues that so long as 10 of his stories remain under copyright, all of the elements therein must also be under copyright, and anyone who uses Holmes, Watson or 221B Baker Street has to pay the estate a licensing fee. (Big Mickey will just pay Congress to extend their copyright another century)

UK.Gov passes Instagram Act: All your pics belong to everyone now • The Register - Everyone = Silicon Valley ad platforms tech companies - For the first time anywhere in the world, the Act will permit the widespread commercial exploitation of unidentified work (they orphan you and steal your babies)

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The 52 Most Breathtaking Photos From Around The World This Year
mgraunk comments on In 1988, the "L.A. Times Magazine" showed what it thought the year 2013 in Los Angeles would look.

The dark money in climate change - The thrust of the study, done by Dr. Robert J. Brulle, is that climate-denial money has largely been driven underground to dark-money sources. About 75 percent of the money backing climate-denial efforts is untraceable, primarily via conservative foundations and shadowy tax-exempt groups that obscure their funding sources.

Car bomb kills Mohamad Chatah, aide to ex-PM of Lebanon Saad Hariri | World news | theguardian.com - Chatah, outspoken critic of Hezbollah and Syrian regime, assassinated in attack near Hariri's compound in Beirut
Turkish army says it will not get involved in political corruption scandal | World news | theguardian.com - First military statement on crisis comes after Erdogan adviser blames foreign conspiracy for investigation
Turkish prosecutor removed from fraud probe - Europe - Al Jazeera English - Akkas says investigation targeting government and business circles has been blocked by police and chief prosecutor.
Okinawa marine base move signals strengthening of US-Japan ties | World news | theguardian.com - Long-sought deal to help seal wider shift in US policy • Agreement to close base comes after years of disputes ("disputes" = rapes)
Spirited Away - Why Shinzo Abe's visit to a Tokyo shrine could make his lousy relations with Beijing much worse.
UK anti-Muslim hate crime soars, police figures show | Society | theguardian.com - But the figures could be much higher as nearly half of the 43 forces in England and Wales did not reveal how many hate crimes had targeted Muslims. Some forces admitted they did not always record the faith of a religious hate-crime victim.
Over 30,000 Ethiopian maids ran away in Saudi Arabia - The Times of India - The overall number of domestic workers who left their sponsors high and dry was estimated at 58,715 based on a report prepared by the Ministry of Labour.
Ukraine Reporter's Suspected Attackers Accused Of Opposition Ties - Opposition journalist brutally beaten * Police say suspects linked to opposition members
Bomb Hits Montenegrin Newspaper Offices Known For Criticism Of Country's Leadership - Vijesti says blast is murder attempt on editor * Newspaper fiercely critical of government
Saudi Gazette - Why Saudi women languish in jail - Having a guardian’s consent is a prerequisite for the release of female prisoners who have completed their jail terms. Current prison and detention regulations forbid keeping anyone in jail after they have served their sentences but nearly 35 percent of female prisoners remain incarcerated after finishing their jail terms because they are rejected by their families
China doesn’t want our genetically modified corn | Grist - And we’re not talking about trifling amounts here. In November and December, the country rejected more than 500,000 tons of American corn that had been genetically modified by Syngenta to repel caterpillar pests.

Philadelphia priest to be released after appeals court reversal - CNN.com (he had no idea those pedophiles would pedo again)

The US Has Bombed at Least Eight Wedding Parties Since 2001 | The Nation - Why are so many of our "surgical" strikes going so terribly wrong? (Bride and Boom)

Glenn Greenwald: 'A Lot' More NSA Documents to Come | Threat Level | Wired.com - “There are a lot more stories to come, a lot more documents that will be covered,” Greenwald said. “It’s important that we understand what it is we’re publishing, so what we say about them is accurate.” He said he was working on a new story indicating that the NSA was “obsessed” by the idea that people could still use some Internet devices and mobile phones on airplanes without being recorded. “The very idea that human beings can communicate for even a few moments without their ability to monitor is intolerable.”
Lawrence O'Donnell: Edward Snowden's Christmas Message Was 'Wildly Overblown,' 'Provably Untrue' (left in the dust of history +you know who's "overblown")

Twitter / AdamSerwer: Latest NSA ruling takes a direct ... - shot at Snowden: Says "lawbreaking conduct by a government contractor" cannot "frustrate Congress' intent"
Twitter / YourAnonCentral: The tale of 2 Federal Judges. ... - Good guy judge says the NSA is violating the constitution while scumbag judge says its completely legal & ok.
Twitter / charlie_savage: Judge who dismissed call records ... - lawsuit also rejected my FOIA for a report that would've brought it to light in '12

Judge rules NSA surveillance program is legal | MSNBC - “The September 11th terrorist attacks revealed, in the starkest terms, just how dangerous and interconnected the world is,” wrote U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III on Friday. “While Americans depended on technology for the conveniences of modernity, al-Qaeda plotted in a seventh-century milieu to use that technology against us. It was a bold jujitsu. And it succeeded because conventional intelligence gathering could not detect diffuse filaments connecting al-Qaeda. Pauley’s ruling contradicts Leon’s at almost every turn–even on whether the metadata program is effective at preventing terrorism ... t “the effectiveness of bulk telephony metadata collection cannot be seriously disputed.” (because Clapper said so)
Judge Dismisses ACLU Lawsuit Against NSA, Citing Threat Of Terrorists' 'Bold Jujitsu'
NSA mass collection of phone data is legal, federal judge rules | World news | theguardian.com - Dragnet program deemed 'controversial but lawful' • Lawsuit brought by ACLU dismissed
Judge Grants Motion to Dismiss in NSA Surveillance Case | American Civil Liberties Union - ACLU Intends to Appeal Decision Allowing Telephone Tracking

Courthouse News Service - New York Times reporter Charlie Savage has lost his effort to expose the U.S. government's secret interpretation of a section of the Patriot Act, a federal judge ruled. (same scumbag judge)
ACLU v. Clapper - Order Granting Government's Motion to Dismiss and Denying ACLU Motion for Preliminary Injunction | American Civil Liberties Union
- Charlie Rose June 17, 2013 Guests: Barack Obama, Colum McCann (full text of Oliars lies)
No NSA Poster Child: The Real Story of 9/11 Hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar - Defense One - Unfortunately for Feinstein, a simple review of the facts she marshals to support her position reveals a total reliance on dubious intelligence community statements that have already been widely debunked. (which Pauley then recycled)

? How did the NSA hack our emails? - YouTube - Professor Edward Frenkel discusses the mathematics behind the NSA Surveillance controversy
Fight the spies, says Chaos Computer Club | Threat Level | Wired.com - “This year we found ourselves waking up from a bad dream, to a reality that was even worse,” said Tim Pritlove, one of the congress’s organizers. “We have woken to a reality that can no longer be ignored.”
Annus Horribilis 2013: NSA's Awful Year in Retrospect - Matthew Aid - 10 most shocking NSA revelations of 2013

The Switchboard: This app shows how easy it is to match your metadata to you
MetaPhone: The NSA’s Got Your Number « Web Policy - “You have my telephone number connecting with your telephone number,” explained President Obama in a PBS interview. “[T]here are no names . . . in that database.” (Oliar)

Bletchley's cybersecurity exhibit will not mention Edward Snowden; McAfee's sponsorship blamed - Boing Boing - Bletchley Park's historical exhibit on cybersecurity will not mention Edward Snowden -- possibly the most significant figure in the world of contemporary cybersecurity -- because its corporate sponsor, McAfee, has prohibited them from doing so ... "Either it's a history exhibition or it's not." (corps overrule your "history")

How You Should Have Spent $100 In 2013 (Hint: Bitcoin) - Forbes
xs
Military Sexual Assault Reports Jump By 50 Percent - The number of reported sexual assaults across the military shot up by more than 50 percent this year, an increase that defense officials say may suggest that victims are becoming more willing to come forward after a tumultuous year of scandals that shined a spotlight on the crimes and put pressure on the military to take aggressive action.

Chris Hayes: 'Knockout Game' Most Over-Covered Story Of 2013 Thanks To Fox News

Police Release Thousands Of Documents On Newtown Massacre

FBI Allowed Informants To Commit More Crimes In 2012 Than Year Before - The FBI allowed its informants to break the law at least 5,939 times last year, a 5 percent jump from 2011, according to a newly disclosed document. (giant criminal organization)
There's an alarming number of deaths in US jails | Cara Tabachnick | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Whether guilty or innocent, people in the criminal justice system are still people. Their cries for help should not go ignored

For ESPN, Millions to Remain in Connecticut - NYTimes.com - ESPN has received about $260 million in state tax breaks and credits over the past 12 years (corporate welfare queens)
New York Soon to Trail Florida in Population - NYTimes.com - New York, whose status as the most populous state has long been ceded, will soon fall behind Florida into fourth place, a long-anticipated drop that is rife with symbolism and that could carry potentially serious economic consequences in coming years.

Employers can still fire Colorado pot smokers for legal use - The Denver Post - State law gives employers full authority to impose any drug prohibitions they wish (alcohol, tobacco, prozac and salt up next)

NY increasing minimum wage to $8 an hour in 2014 | New York Post
Why Restaurants Won't Be Adding Gratuity Onto Large Group Checks: LAist - The new year is time for change, even in the service industry. Starting January 1, the IRS will classify automatic gratuities as service charges that are taxable as regular wages and subject to payroll tax withholding. That might sound like a bunch of arcane tax law mumbo jumbo, but what it means is that restaurants have to treat those tips like regular wages. (servers will have to wait 2 wks for their tips)

The Least Important Writers of 2013
An Open Letter to the Makers of The Wolf of Wall Street, and the Wolf Himself - the daughter of Tom Prousalis, a man the Washington Post described as "just some guy on trial for penny-stock fraud." (I had to change my name after my father stole my identity and then threatened to steal it again, but I'll get to that part later.) I was eighteen and a freshman in college when my father and his attorneys forced me to attend his trial at New York City's federal courthouse so that he "looked good" for the jury -- the consummate family man.

10 most irreplaceable ecosystems on Earth | GlobalPost - Scientists have ranked the world's ecosystems. These are the most irreplaceable. Protect them.
Good news: Researchers discover wonder drug which prevents AIDS | - “Gladstone has made two important discoveries, first by showing how the body’s own immune response to HIV causes CD4 T cell death via a pathway triggering inflammation, and secondly by identifying the host DNA sensor that detects the viral DNA and triggers this death response,”

Target Confirms Encrypted PIN Data Was Stolen In Data Breach - Earlier this week, a senior payment executive who asked to remain anonymous told Reuters that the hackers who compromised Target's system had taken PIN data. At the time Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder told Reuters, "We continue to have no reason to believe that PIN data, whether encrypted or unencrypted, was compromised."

Reddit,what's the dumbest rule you've had to follow? : AskReddit (authority loves stupid rules)
What should I absolutely NOT do when visiting your country? : AskReddit

Vagabond Scholar: Jon Swift Memorial Roundup 2013
Reflected hidden faces in photographs revealed in pupil | KurzweilAI - What do your Instagram and Facebook photos reveal?
The Daily Dot - Hackers may have just exposed entire database of Snapchat usernames - the GibSec team justified their hack by noting it had been four months since they last pointed out security issues and that “nothing had been really improved upon.” (ignoring security is our top priority)
The Daily Dot - Another study says what we already know: Teens are over Facebook - teens ages 16 to 18 had not only abandoned the social media giant in record numbers, but they view it as decidedly uncool. What is cool? Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and WhatsApp. “Mostly they feel embarrassed even to be associated with [Facebook],”
Facebook 'dead and buried to teens', research finds | Technology | theguardian.com - Comprehensive European research has found that teens are leaving the service in droves - and the biggest deterrent is their parents ... "Facebook is not just on the slide - it is basically dead and buried," "What appears to be the most seminal moment in a young person’s decision to leave Facebook was surely that dreaded day your mum sends you a friend request," wrote Miller.
Meet the Stats Master Making Sense of Wikipedia's Massive Data Trove | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com - Wikistats data made it clear that a core of Wikipedians does an outsize portion of the editing. As of October, 4.7 million people have contributed to the English language Wikipedia, but just over 26,000 people have made more than 1,000 edits. In fact, that relatively small group of people has made 73 percent of all edits
The Electronic Avenue: How Xerox Predicted the Internet With a Broadway Show Tune | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com - It grows and grows, bit by bit, Flows on an electronic avenue,
Why We Should All Fear The Righteous Online Mob - Although arguably less egregious than the message that got her fired, her employer didn’t seem to balk at her off-color comments until her post became news.

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This man wants you to know the truth about Fukushima | MoveOn.Org | Democracy In Action (Japan incapable of dealing with it)

Report: Israel Passes U.S. Military Technology to China | Defense Tech
PressTV - 9/11 attacks carried out by US, Israel and Saudi Arabia: Expert
? Israel Lobbyist suggests False Flag attack to start war with Iran - YouTube
A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm - It has since been criticized for advocating an aggressive new policy including the removal of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq, and the containment of Syria by engaging in proxy warfare and highlighting their possession of "weapons of mass destruction".
The Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies Jerusalem, Washington - A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm
GGwwcn7.jpg - Zionist necons lied US into disasterous war because Israel
White man's burden Israel News | Haaretz - The war in Iraq was conceived by 25 neoconservative intellectuals, most of them Jewish, who are pushing President Bush to change the course of history. Two of them, journalists William Kristol and Charles Krauthammer, say it's possible. But another journalist, Thomas Friedman (not part of the group), is skeptical
IraqWarPart1-Timeline.pdf - 1 THE IRAQ WAR -- PART I: The U.S. Prepares for Conflict, 2001 National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 326 Timeline
Israeli right-wing assault on leftist NGOs is classic 'stab in the back' gambit - West of Eden Israel News | Haaretz - Just like the German generals of World War I, the politicians most responsible for Israel’s international isolation are trying to scapegoat saboteurs at home.
Does your rabbi own an iPhone? If so, your wedding doesn’t count - Routine Emergencies Israel News | Haaretz - Prominent rabbi reportedly declares marriages and divorces witnessed by those who have Internet access invalid. (the internets are not kosher)

U.S. Sends Arms to Aid Iraq Fight With Extremists - NYTimes.com - WASHINGTON — The United States is quietly rushing dozens of Hellfire missiles and low-tech surveillance drones to Iraq to help government forces combat an explosion of violence by a Qaeda-backed insurgency that is gaining territory in both western Iraq and neighboring Syria. (that worked out really well)
Will graft scandal stick to Erdogan, the Teflon Turk? - World Israel News | Haaretz - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has run Turkey for a decade without interference, but a bribery scandal may have clouded his presidential chances in 2014.
Syria inks oil, gas exploration deal with Russian firm: AFP
Cameron's internet filter goes far beyond porn - and that was always the plan - Through secretive negotiations with ISPs, the coalition has divided the internet into 'acceptable' and 'unacceptable' categories and cut people off from huge swathes of it at the stroke of a key.

Appeals Court: Bagram Detainees ‘Beyond the Reach’ of Constitution -- News from Antiwar.com - President Can Do Whatever He Wants With Captives Henderson cited administration claims that troops at Bagram “are actively engaged in a war with a determined enemy” as an argument that the constitution doesn’t apply to the captives therein. (that would be Karzai)
Internet privacy as important as human rights, says UN's Navi Pillay | World news | The Guardian - Navi Pillay compares uproar over mass surveillance to response that helped defeat apartheid during Today programme

? Nuclear Explosions. Trinity and Beyond. Full HD. - YouTube

Millions of Dogecoin stolen in Christmas hack | The Verge

Spy wars: Americans need to know more than Snowden has revealed - latimes.com - We've been here before, in the 1960s and '70s, when spy agencies flagrantly violated civil rights in the name of national security. - It is past time for another Church Committee. Congress should promptly conduct hearings and demand to know not only what the NSA is collecting but how its customer agencies are using it: (rogue deep-state worse than ever)
If not the NSA, who should store the phone data? - The Washington Post (out-source it to Israel and Target)
Glenn Greenwald: I Defend Edward Snowden 'Like People On MSNBC Defend President Obama'
Building on the Snowden effect » Nieman Journalism Lab - The Snowden revelations are a classic example of journalistic critical mass. The journalists covering them have used the documents to identify and amplify an issue of such importance and scope that it doesn’t flame up and out in the manner of most stories. Rather, this one has gained weight in the public sphere as time goes on, in what Jay Rosen aptly calls the “Snowden Effect.” (CPP, actually)

Author Of Torture Memo Says Judges Are Too Out Of Touch To Determine If NSA Violated The 4th Amendment | Techdirt - John Yoo, who famously wrote the legal rationale for allowing the US government to torture people, has already defended the NSA's activities, arguing that it takes too long for the NSA to obey the Constitution, so it shouldn't have to. from the well-that's-insane dept
Hotels' Privacy Rights Backed by Appeals Court - WSJ.com - A Los Angeles ordinance requiring hotels to turn over guest records to police without a warrant violates the Constitution, a federal appeals court ruled.
Hotels Don’t Have to Hand Over Guest Records, Appeals Court Says - Law Blog - WSJ - “A lot of the hotel owners in the L.A. area are being subject to warrantless searches under this ordinance,” said Frank Weiser, a lawyer for L.A. motel owners Naranjibhai and Ramilaben Patel, who filed the lawsuit. “I assume that will stop now.”

What Surveillance Valley knows about you | PandoDaily - “In 2012, the data broker industry generated 150 billion in revenue that’s twice the size of the entire intelligence budget of the United States government—all generated by the effort to detail and sell information about our private lives.”
Target Denies That PIN Data Stolen During Huge Security Breach - ABC News
Source: Target hackers stole bank's encrypted PIN - Hackers News Bulletin - , the Target spokesperson said “no unencrypted PIN data was accessed” and there was no evidence that PIN data has been “compromised.” She confirmed that some “encrypted data” has been stolen, but declined to say if that included any encrypted PINs. (yes, that made no sense)
AT&T Texas County Phone System Hacked | Cyberwarzone - Getting a bill that’s larger than expected can result in a sinking feeling. For Bell County, that sinking feeling was caused by a phone bill about $27,000 higher than usual.

Tom Tomorrow Spin cartoon from 1994 predicted Patriot Act, NSA surveillance.

Predictions for Journalism 2014 » Collections » Nieman Journalism Lab » Pushing to the Future of Journalism
The best and worst media errors and corrections in 2013 | Poynter. (#1: Benghazi!)

The GOP's History of Sexist Hillary-Bashing - The Daily Beast - Desperate to stop a second Clinton presidency in 2016, it’s a sure bet many in the GOP will reprise the ugly attacks they used on her 22 years ago. (yeah, 22 years)

The Defeat-Resistant Tea Party by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly
Why the Tea Party Isn't Going Anywhere - Theda Skocpol - The Atlantic - The movement's structure means it can withstand low popularity and continue to exert a huge pull on the GOP ... overwhelmingly older, white, conservative-minded men and women who fear that “their country” is about to be lost to mass immigration and new extensions of taxpayer-funded social programs (like the Affordable Care Act) for low- and moderate-income working-aged people, many of whom are black or brown.
CNN Poll: GOP has edge in early midterm indicator – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs (Obama's >image< is now "loser")

Scott Walker makes Wisconsin No. 1 — in jobless claims (they always destroy the economy)
From fast food strikes to Wal-Mart: 2013 and the year in labor - Salon.com - 2013 was a year of unexpected vulnerability and vitality — and the year fast food and Wal-Mart campaigns diverged

Chris Christie Officials Messed With Bridge Traffic Despite Being Warned About Congestion Problems (vindictive fucker)

E.R. Costs for Mentally Ill Soar, and Hospitals Seek Better Way - NYTimes.com - Nationally, more than 6.4 million visits to emergency rooms in 2010, or about 5 percent of total visits, involved patients whose primary diagnosis was a mental health condition or substance abuse. That is up 28 percent from just four years earlier, according to the latest figures available from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in Rockville, Md.

JHQ_Study_Supports_Eliminating_Restrictions_on_Hospital_Visiting_Hours_-_FINAL.pdf - Study Supports Eliminating Restrictions on Hospital Visiting Hours
The Battle We Didn't Choose - my wife's fight with breast cancer

In a Car-Culture Clash, It’s the Los Angeles Police vs. Pedestrians - NYTimes.com - Adam Bialik, a bartender, stepped off the curb on his way to work at the Ritz-Carlton a few blinks after the crossing signal began its red “Don’t Walk” countdown, he was met by a waiting police officer on the other side of the street and issued a ticket for $197. (next: a license to walk)

ISU Researcher Dr. Dong-Pyou Han Resigns For Faking AIDS Research Worth Millions - A researcher at Iowa State University resigned after being investigated for falsifying AIDS research funded by millions in federal grants.

The trouble with TED talks - In the cult of TED, everything is awesome and inspirational, and ideas aren’t supposed to be challenged, says Martin Robbins.

The Daily Dot - Hulu faces privacy lawsuit for sharing too much of your information with Facebook
Music publishers claim to own "Silent Night" & ripoff indie Youtube singer; ContentID helps them do it - Boing Boing - despite having been composed in 1818 and being firmly in the public domain. Once their claims had been laid, all the money his video generated was diverted to them.
2013 in Review: The Next Great Copyright Act? | Electronic Frontier Foundation - We've been saying for years that copyright law is broken. 2013 saw the beginning of what could be a meaningful effort to fix it – if Internet users pay attention and stay involved.

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Santa's 'flying' reindeer story traced back to magic mushrooms | MNN - Mother Nature Network - Shamans in the Siberian and Arctic regions used to give dried Amanita muscaria mushroom as gifts on the winter solstice.
Pitch Perfect Satire: NSA Intercepted Children's Letters To Santa | Techdirt - The documents describe an operation known as MILK COOKIES, based out of Fort Meade and run in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Service. COOKIES is the interception of the letters while MILK feeds them through a complex series of algorithms to spot any hidden messages.
Christian activists show their love by covering Chicago atheist display and berating onlookers | The Raw Story - He said the display could be upsetting to families with children who expect to encounter a Christmas tree or Nativity scene, but not atheist symbols that criticize their religious beliefs.

Bottlenose dolphins off US coast hit by measles-like virus | Environment | theguardian.com - Death toll exceeds 1,000 and morbillivirus epidemic shows no signs of abating

US drone strike kills three in northwest Pakistan - Yahoo News (a little Christmas present from Obama)
Drone Survival Guide (how to escape Obama's killer drones)

Turkish Prime Minister Reshuffles Cabinet Amidst Corruption Scandal And Resignations - ANKARA/ISTANBUL, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan reshuffled his cabinet on Wednesday after three members quit over a corruption scandal that has posed an unprecedented challenge to his 11-year rule.
Turkey Will Either Lose Erdogan or Democracy - Bloomberg
U.S. embassy in Afghanistan hit - Associated Press - POLITICO.com - Two rounds struck the sprawling embassy compound but it was not immediately clear which part of the complex, and a U.S. Embassy official said the incident was under investigation.
UNRWA condemns Israel's 'Christmas Eve demolitions' in the West Bank | Maan News Agency - The United Nations Palestine refugee agency on Wednesday condemned Israel's latest demolitions of Palestinian Bedouin homes in the West Bank, which UNRWA said displaced 68 people.
Israel Settlement Construction Likely To Be Announced Next Week, Says Official
Jang Song-thaek's Aides Executed With Antiaircraft Machine Guns: Report
Egypt's Government Declares Muslim Brotherhood A Terrorist Group
Turkish Political Crisis Deepens As Three Cabinet Ministers Quit; Prime Minister Erdogan Urged To Resign | Zero Hedge
The Best Story Yet About The UK's Online Porn Filters - Forbes - The opt-in filters also deny access to the Parliament and Government websites and the sites of politicians, including Claire Perry, the MP who has campaigned prominently for the introduction of filters.
Uruguay Marijuana Law Signed By President Jose Mujica

Alternative Christmas Message - 4oD - Channel 4 - Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden broadcasts Channel 4's alternative Christmas Day message | World news | theguardian.com - "A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. They'll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves an unrecorded, unanalysed thought. And that's a problem because privacy matters; privacy is what allows us to determine who we are and who we want to be." (Obama has destroyed your private self)
In a message broadcast on British television, Edward J. Snowden, the former American security contractor, urged an end to mass surveillance, arguing that the electronic monitoring he has exposed surpasses anything imagined by George Orwell in “1984,” a dystopian vision of an all-knowing state : worldnews
trot-trot comments on In a message broadcast on British television, Edward J. Snowden, the former American security contractor, urged an end to mass surveillance, arguing that the electronic monitoring he has exposed surpasses anything imagined by George Orwell in “1984,” a dystopian vision of an all-knowing state
A Christmas Message From Edward Snowden

Canada’s intelligence service asked foreign agencies to spy on Canadians — RT News (eh?)

? Anonymous ..... a look back at 2013 .... EXPECT US 2014 - YouTube
The Syrian Electronic Army Is at It Again - NYTimes.com
Activist Post: Military Exercises in Cyberspace; Anonymous attack comes from unidentified direction - NATO Cyber Defense Center in Tallinn features a fusion of modern technology with outdated cold war ideology
Pro-Assad malware targets Syria activists | ZDNet - A high-stakes and brutal form of cyberwarfare is being waged, on Facebook and elsewhere, by those in the service of the Syrian government against those in opposition.

Prestigious speaker Mikko Hypponen cancels RSA talk to protest NSA deal | Ars Technica - Will other speakers follow in wake of a report that the NSA paid RSA $10 million?

U.S. Court Rejects BP Bid to Require Proof of Gulf Oil Spill Losses - NYTimes.com (what oil spill?)



Appeals Court Refuses To Halt Utah Marriages For Same-Sex Couples - A Christmas Eve order from the 10th Circuit. Update: State officials say they will ask the Supreme Court to step in.

Hack list No. 1: Mike Allen - Salon.com - Our annual list is here! This time, we channeled each hack's unique voice -- and let them "write" their own entries
Hack List No. 10: Malcolm Gladwell - Salon.com
Raw Story’s top 10 villains of 2013 | The Raw Story
Top Ten Things Fox Decided Will Lead To The "Wussification of America" In 2013 | Research | Media Matters for America

Judge sentences man who beat girlfriend to write ‘boys do not hit girls’ 5,000 times | The Raw Story - Yesterday, the Montana judge who only sentenced a teacher who raped one of his 14-year-old students to 30 days in jail because the teenage victim was “older than her chronological age” and “in control,” ordered a man convicted of abusing his girlfriend to write “boys do not hit girls” 5,000 times.
Alabama Judge Once Again Sentences Rapist To Probation Without Prison Time | ThinkProgress

Leonard Peltier’s Christmas Message: Disappointments Do Not Just Come on Christmas | Native News Online - Peltier is serving a life sentence in the U.S. Penitentiary in Coleman, Florida. He was accused of the 1975 murders of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He was convicted in 1977.

Nursing Scholar Sheds Light on Bullying in Academia | Rutgers University-Camden - In the study, Beitz notes that in the most common cases of bullying, academic administrators are targeting faculty, but in some cases, faculty are bullying other faculty members or their administrative superiors.

In the shadow of my mother’s suicide - Salon.com - My mom, Anne Sexton, killed herself at 45, and I swore I'd never do the same. Then, at 44, my world fell apart

Shock Therapy Can 'Erase' Bad Memories, Brain Researchers Show (or, your whole brain)
Has someone in your social circle ever been revealed as unscrupulous (addicted, sociopathic, etc.)? Did you honestly get a sense that something was "off" about them? : AskReddit

Researchers report security flaw in Samsung's Galaxy S4 | Security & Privacy - CNET News - An Israeli security team says a vulnerability in Samsung's Knox security platform enables malicious software to track e-mails and record data communications.
How to Use Reddit | A Beginner's Guide | Digital Trends
Anonymous' 'Operation Payback' Twitter Account SUSPENDED

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Thyroid Cancers Surge Among Fukushima Youths | Zero Hedge

Pussy Riot Member: Forced Daily Gynecological Exams In Russian Jail - A musician from the Russian protest group Pussy Riot told The Guardian that her imprisonment included nearly three weeks of forced daily gynecological exams ... women in Russian prisons, including Alyokhina, had been subjected to the treatment. (meanwhile, in New Mexico ...)

South Sudan: three mass graves discovered, UN says | World news | theguardian.com - Graves discovered at two different sites, while senior official said emerging civil war's death toll had run 'into the thousands'
Israel launches Gaza airstrikes for worker killing
Netanyahu 'to demand release of spy in return for peace talks concessions' | World news | theguardian.com - Israeli PM will demand release of Jonathan Pollard, convicted of spying for Israel against US in 1987, reports say (any excuse will do)
Palestinian girl 'dead' as Israel sends jets, tanks in retaliatory Gaza op — RT News
Greeks protest after 150 Syrian refugees disappear from northern village | World news | The Guardian - Activists say group was probably forced back into Turkey by police as part of campaign of enforced deportation
Egypt police HQ explosion: spokesman blames Muslim Brotherhood | World news | The Guardian - Spokesman for Egypt's cabinet reportedly blames group for bomb in Mansoura which has killed at least 14 people
Typhoon Haiyan and the Philippine Military | The Diplomat - The disaster may affect the modernization of the military, with disaster relief favored over external defense.
Kim Jong-un: North Korean leader 'was very drunk' when ordering executions - Asia - World - The Independent (the whole leadership is drunk all the time)

The Daily Dot - Maybe we shouldn't have given copyright trolls the names of 30,000 RedTube users, says court - Good news for the tens of thousands of Germans who were seemingly sued for streaming free porn on RedTube.

Hullabaloo - The oath of allegiance is not an oath of secrecy. That is an oath to the Constitution. That is the oath that I kept that Keith Alexander and James Clapper did not.

Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished - The Washington Post - During more than 14 hours of interviews, the first he has conducted in person since arriving here in June, Snowden did not part the curtains or step outside. (Obama's assassins lurking everywhere +At the NSA, he said, “there are people in the office who joke about, ‘We put warheads on foreheads.’ Twitter doesn’t put warheads on foreheads.”)

Snowden: 'I am still working for the NSA ... to improve it' • The Register - 'Mission accomplished', leaker tells Washington Post
“I didn’t want to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself.” - Edward Snowden after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished : news
Edward Snowden: 'Mission's Already Accomplished... I Already Won' - Asked about the Snowden interview, White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said: "Mr. Snowden faces felony charges here in the United States and should be returned to the U.S. as soon as possible, where he will be afforded due process and all the protections of our criminal justice system."
Snowden will help Germany investigate NSA spying if granted asylum – report — RT News
Edward Snowden to broadcast Channel 4's alternative Christmas Day message | World news | theguardian.com - NSA whistleblower records message from Russia, filmed by Laura Poitras, warning of the dangers of a loss of privacy

The War on Terror's Jedi Mind Trick - Julian Sanchez - The Atlantic - National-security officials insist new violations of privacy are essential for keeping Americans safe from terror—but there's no evidence the programs have stopped any attacks.
Congress Gives NSA-Controlled US Cyber Command More Resources | Techdirt - from the keep-feeding-the-beast dept
RSA issues non-denying denial of NSA deal to favor flawed crypto code | Ars Technica - Nothing in response denies RSA got $10 million to make Dual EC_DRBG default. (weasels)
Non-denying denial? RSA aims to distance itself from NSA scandal — RT USA

Reuters Investigates - Unaccountable: The Pentagon's bad bookkeeping - Why the Pentagon’s many campaigns to clean up its accounts are failing (because it's a criminal enterprise)

Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves the Drug War is a Joke | | Rolling Stone - If you've ever been arrested on a drug charge, if you've ever spent even a day in jail for having a stem of marijuana in your pocket or "drug paraphernalia" in your gym bag, Assistant Attorney General and longtime Bill Clinton pal Lanny Breuer has a message for you: Bite me.

The 13 Most Important Charts of 2013 | Economic Policy Institute
Now the Kochs Are Coming After Your Solar Panels | Alternet - The right-wing corporate consortium ALEC is trying to undermine the solar industry.

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court strikes down juvenile life without parole | ACLU of Massachusetts

The Battle Within the Democratic Party - Molly Ball - The Atlantic - A schism between moderates and liberals over economic inequality is the first front in defining a post-Obama platform.
Upstart Groups Challenge Rove for G.O.P. Cash - NYTimes.com (the battle within the Repubican Party for money)

Demand for food stamps soars as cuts sink in and shelves empty | World news | The Guardian - More working Americans are lining up at emergency food banks and going hungry, as cuts to those programmes take effect (you've been Republifucked)

Erick Erickson’s persecution narrative: How right-wing Christian pundits avoid accountability - Salon.com - The defense of Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson sadly epitomizes a technique aimed at protecting a kind of cruelty
New Battles in the War on Liberal Christians
Matheson's Exit Likely to Result in GOP Pickup - NationalJournal.com - Meanwhile, Matheson's retirement continues the decline of two overlapping Democratic groups: Blue Dogs and Democrats who opposed Nancy Pelosi's bid to continue leading their caucus after the electoral shellacking of 2010. There are just 15 Blue Dog Democrats in the House now, down from 26 in the previous Congress and 54 in the Congress before that. Meanwhile, 19 Democrats publicly opposed Pelosi for speaker on the House floor in January 2011, and Matheson will become the 11th to leave the House at the end of his term.
2009, Blue Dogs and 218 » Balloon Juice - During the 111th Congress, the Democrats had a maximum of 40 spare votes to lose before legislation would fail if we assume that there would be no Republican votes for anything more adventurous than renaming post offices ... The Blue Dog caucus was always larger than the margin of failure. (they fucked up health care and now they are ambassordors to China +comments are now very anti-boomer)

The Empire Strikes Back: How Wall Street Has Turned Housing Into a Dangerous Get-Rich-Quick Scheme - Again - Blackstone released history’s first rated bond backed by securitized rental payments

Teen Dies After Being Shot - Police say he shot and killed his 14 year old step daughter after he mistook her for burglar.
Drug court judge Gisele Pollack enters rehab after court meltdown | Mail Online - Judge Gisele Pollack spoke in a slurred voice before ending a court session abruptly after an hour and a half (no irony here)

Book bannings on the rise in US schools, says anti-censorship group | Books | theguardian.com - The Kids' Right to Read Project investigated 49 book bannings or removals from school shelves in 29 states this year ... To date in 2013, KRRP investigated 49 book bannings or removals from shelves in 29 states, a 53% increase in activity from last year (liberty not to read)

7 Nokia Lumia photography communities you should join today - Nokia Conversations

United States Army using unlicensed Windows 7 in its Qatar Army base, shocking but true ~ Techworm - The self proclaimed world beholder of copy rights and advocate of strong anti piracy in the world is it self using pirated operating system. Yes, the United States Army Base which was using a pirated logistics software has agreed to a out of court settlement for $50 million. What is more astonishing is that the computers which ran this pirated software are still being run on a unlicensed Windows 7 operating system.

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Explosion At Egypt's Daqahliya Police Station Injures Dozens
Pussy Riot are free, but the beast lives on | Dazed Digital - Anastasiia Fedorova on the regime that deigns to free those it should never have locked up
China to tighten control of universities' journalism schools - ???? - The Chinese Communist Party has decided to become directly involved in the management of the country's top journalism schools and strengthen the administration of those universities, it was learned Sunday from university and media sources.
UK's new national firewall: O2's "parental control" list blocks Slashdot, EFF, and Boing Boing (it was always about controlling your opinion)
American Sentenced to a Year in United Arab Emirates Jail for Parody Video

Exposed: The CIA's Clandestine Operations in Colombia | Common Dreams - Washington Post investigation exposes 'multibillion dollar black budget' underlying CIA role in targeted killings, surveillance, torture (Obama loves all those things)
Torture Whisleblower John Kiriakou Needs Your Help | PopularResistance.Org - John Kiriakou remains the only person from the Bush Administration era to have been incarcerated, or even tried, over issues related to torture. His crime? Blowing the whistle on it. (see above)

International: Ripe for rebellion? | The Economist - Where protest is likeliest to break out (US is "low risk")

If Snowden Returned to US For Trial, All Whistleblower Evidence Would Likely Be Inadmissible | Freedom of the Press Foundation (Obama's ultimate catch-22: Espionage Act prevents using leaked evidence of criminal wrong-doings as evidence)
Snowden Effect In Court - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - he government continues to assert -- through James Clapper who, at this point, doesn't have enough credibility to throw to a cat, as Sean O'Faolain would have said -- that it knows best, and that everything it is doing is proper and constitutional, although (alas) our all-too human and curiously error-prone heroes can't prove how proper and constitutional everything is because freedom, that's why.

U.N. votes to protect online privacy; Edward Snowden leaks credited - latimes.com
White House Tries to Prevent Judge From Ruling on Surveillance Efforts - NYTimes.com - telling a court that recent disclosures about National Security Agency spying were not enough to undermine its claim that litigating the case would jeopardize state secrets. (Obama ties himself in knots; claims Snowden didn't tell America Obama was spying on them so, he can keep spying and secret courts and Snowden is still a traitor)
James Clapper Claims Publicly Acknowledged Details Are State Secrets While Boasting of Transparency | emptywheel
NSA Panel Member Recommends Increased Data Collection - NationalJournal.com - Former CIA chief says controversial "bulk" collection of data should be expanded to include email, and could prevent the next 9/11. (Bush not going golfing would have prevented the first one)
Twitter / ggreenwald: The key to the WH panel: its ... - stated purpose was to re-establish public confidence in NSA - NOT reform it

The Daily Dot - White House review panelist: NSA should track every American email - Those familiar with the faces on Obama's five-member NSA review panel probably wouldn't be surprised with who made the recommendation: Michael Morell, former director of the CIA.
Rep. Mike Rogers Goes On National TV To Lie About NSA Programs And Snowden | Techdirt - from the aren't-journalists-supposed-to-call-out-these-things? dept (poofy-hair confront a blatant liar?)
Tech executives to Obama: NSA spying revelations are threatening business - The Washington Post

How Sotomayor undermined Obama's NSA | MSNBC - It was Sotomayor’s lonely concurrence in U.S. v Jones, a case involving warrantless use of a GPS tracker on a suspect’s car, that the George W. Bush-appointed Judge Richard Leon relied on when he ruled that the program was likely unconstitutional last week. It was that same concurrence the White House appointed review board on surveillance policy cited when it concluded government surveillance should be scaled back. (the only judge who understands the Constitution)

Schneier on Security: NSA Spying: Whom Do You Believe? - NSA Spying: Whom Do You Believe? (RSA)
Eight-volume hardcover set collects 4.7 million Linkedin passwords in alphabetical order - Boing Boing

Who Owns the World's Biggest Bitcoin Wallet? The FBI | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com - The FBI now controls more than 144,000 bitcoins that reside at a bitcoin address that consolidates much of the seized Silk Road bitcoins. Those 144,000 bitcoins are worth close to $100 million at Tuesday’s exchange rates. Another address, containing Silk Road funds seized earlier by the FBI, contains nearly 30,000 bitcoins ($20 million).
Stolen Target Credit Cards and the Black Market: How the Digital Underground Works | The State of Security

Inequality: Government Is a Perp, Not a Bystander | Op-Eds & Columns - The problem is that President Obama wants the public to believe that inequality is something that just happened ... Inequality did not just happen, it was deliberately engineered through a whole range of policies intended to redistribute income upward.
House Republicans Opposed To Extended Unemployment Benefits Could Pay The Price In 2014: Poll

Here Are The 15 Democratic Senators Bucking The White House And Threatening War With Iran (Dem Likudniks and neocons at heart)
Where’s the Anti-War Left on Iran? - The Daily Beast - Democratic senators joined Ted Cruz to put new sanctions on Iran last week. Liberals should make them pay - AIPAC will resist any move toward rapprochement with Iran because a menacing Iran is crucial to its efforts to convince American Jews that, without AIPAC, they’d be living in 1938

20 Ways Obama and Democrats Have Betrayed the World | Chris Ernesto - #5: Deported a record number of immigrants. (pretty much an inventory of his "legacy")
The Presidential Hack List: Ranking Barack Obama’s favorite columnists - Salon.com - Every columnist ever specifically named as an Obama favorite, with one exception, is white. None are women. Nearly all of them, to a man, vigorously supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Is President Obama … the biggest hack of all?
Tom Friedman's Yard Sale - Tom Friedman Should Take The Week Off And Regroup - Esquire (Obama's 2nd favorite columnist which speaks libraries about him)
Culture of Truth: Ridiculous! — Virtually Speaking - Because nothing says civics class like Bill Kristol on national security, Matthew Dowd on privacy, Tom Coburn on fictional fraud, David Gregory on economic animal spirits, Peter King on civil liberties, Edmund Burke on Obamacare, David Brooks on Christianity, Ted Cruz on political correctness, and Bobby Jindal on Duck Dynasty. (meanwhile on planet Earth)
The Late, Great American WASP - WSJ.com - The old U.S. ruling class had plenty of problems. But are we really better off with a country run by the self-involved, over-schooled products of modern meritocracy? (WSJ goes full white supremacist)

'O Holy Night' Surprise At Museum Of Fine Arts In Boston, From Berklee Students, Is Chillingly Good (VIDEO)

Ohio Woman Killed By Errant Shot in Drug Raid | StoptheDrugWar.org - A Ross County, Ohio, woman was shot and killed in an apparent accidental discharge of a deputy's weapon during a December 11 drug raid. Krystal Barrows, 35, becomes the 39th person to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year.

Lethal Neutrinos
Since neutrinos are almost never absorbed shouldn't their numbers be steadily climbing as the universe ages? Could this be a useful way of measuring the ratio between entropy and rate of spacial expansion? : askscience
20 Ancient Supervolcanoes Discovered in Utah and Nevada | Geology | Sci-News.com - “In southern Utah, deposits from this single eruption are 4 km thick. Imagine the devastation – it would have been catastrophic to anything living within hundreds of miles,” Dr Christiansen said.

Ark. Man Accused of Defacing Racist Billboard - ABC News - A billboard along a Harrison highway had read "Anti-Racist is a Code Word for Anti-White." Police said a witness saw people paint "Love" over "Anti-White" last month ... A branch of the Ku Klux Klan is based near Harrison. The city 's trying to overcome a racist image.

imgur: Doge Meme: Wow


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US Sailors, Assisting With Fukushima Clean Up, Crippled By Cancer | Zero Hedge - What is sad is that while everyone in the alternative media was repeatedly warning about the radiation exposure being misrepresented by both TEPCO and various Japanese ministries, it was the mainstream media that was constantly complicit in disseminating official and unofficial lies that there is nothing to fear.
Fukushima: Wave of Radiation Will Be Ten Times Bigger than All of the Radiation from Nuclear Tests Combined | Global Research

Thousands in the dark as ice storm hits Ontario, Quebec, Maritimes - The Globe and Mail - Hundreds of thousands without power. Families mourning loved ones lost in fatal car accidents blamed on icy road conditions. Live electrical wires threatening blacked-out streets. Newborns transferred out of a hospital relying on back-up generators as a “precautionary measure,” not knowing what might come next.

Not just the Koch brothers: New study reveals funders behind the climate change denial effort - The climate change countermovement is a well-funded and organized effort to undermine public faith in climate science and block action by the U.S. government to regulate emissions
Prime-time's global warming omission : Columbia Journalism Review - most Americans already tie weather to climate change; in a poll, 58 percent said “global warming is affecting weather in the United States.” (it's called dissociation: they will still vote for Republicans)

North and South Korea exchange faxes threatening to attack each other - threatening "a merciless retaliation without warning" in response to an anti-North Korean demonstration that had taken place in Seoul. This is Pyongyang's first such threat via fax.
Iraq suicide bombers kill at least 18 military officers | World news | theguardian.com - Senior army officers killed and 32 soldiers wounded after ambush in Sunni Muslim-dominated Anbar province
Sudanese Guantanamo detainee says he was tortured - The Washington Post
Police clash with protesters in Turkey - Europe - Al Jazeera English - Police fired water cannons and tear gas at protesters denouncing Prime Minister Erdogan's government over corruption. (blames foreign ambassadors for widespread crony corruption)
Covert CIA program helped Colombia kill rebel leaders | World news | theguardian.com - The multi-billion dollar program had the NSA provide 'substantial eavesdropping help' to the Colombian government - The multibillion-dollar program was funded secretly and separately from $9bn in aid that the US has openly provided to Colombia, mostly in military assistance. It was authorized by President George W Bush and has continued under President Barack Obama, the newspaper reported.
Covert action in Colombia | The Washington Post - U.S. intelligence, GPS bomb kits help Latin American nation cripple rebel forces (because drugz, supposedly)
Conditions for Abu Dhabi's migrant workers 'shame the west' | World news | The Observer - Calls for urgent labour reform after Observer reveals construction workers face destitution, internment and deportation
IRA sniper Bernard McGinn found dead in Ireland | World news | theguardian.com - 56-year-old shot Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick, the last British soldier to be killed before the Good Friday agreement
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Freed Former Russian Tycoon, Challenges Putin Over Political Prisoners - He said the decision to leave Russia immediately after his release had not been his.
Egypt court jails activists over protests - Middle East - Al Jazeera English - Three leading activists sentenced to three years in prison over illegal protests, the latest move in widening crackdown. (funded with your tax dollars)
French soldier wears Nazi slogan on uniform in Central African Republic | World news | theguardian.com - Soldier, said to be in an elite parachute regiment, photographed with patch carrying the words 'Meine Ehre heisst Treue'
Thousands rally against racism in Sweden - Europe - Al Jazeera English - Huge crowds gather in Stockholm suburb, a week after similar gathering was attacked by neo-Nazis.
The case of incest and depravity which came to rest in the hills of a quiet country town | thetelegraph.com.au - a case of shocking depravity which came to rest in the hills surrounding a picturesque farming community nestled in a valley southwest of Sydney.
Protesters force Libya internet shutdown - Protesters armed with knives and sticks have stormed the building of Libya's largest internet provider in the capital, Tripoli.

? HSBC shuts down following a santa invasion in central London - YouTube

Family Of Innocent U.S. Drone Victims Compensated With 101 Kalashnikovs (what's wrong with this picture?)

Folha de S.Paulo - Internacional - En - World - David Miranda: Open Letter to the Brazilian People - 22/12/2013 - At this moment I request, as a Brazilian citizen, that my country honour this treaty and grant asylum to Edward Snowden.

Why the Story on Snowden and the NSA Doesn't Add Up | Mother Jones - an infrastructure analyst at the N.S.A., like a burglar casing an apartment building, looks for new ways to break into Internet and telephone traffic around the world.

NSA review panel members to appear before Senate committee in January | World news | theguardian.com - Senator Leahy announced special session on January 14 • 'Momentum is building for real reform,' Leahy said ... The Republican chair of the House intelligence committee, Mike Rogers, made it clear on ABC's This Week that there was considerable conservative opposition to anything that would reduce the NSA’s surveillance activities (and there you have it)

Mr. Obama’s Disappointing Response - NYTimes.com - He did not do any of that. (loves his authoritarian spy-state)
James Clapper Claims Publicly Acknowledged Details Are State Secrets While Boasting of Transparency | emptywheel (same as Obama)
U.S. reasserts need to keep domestic surveillance secret - The Washington Post
Conning the Record, Conning the Courts, Defrauding the People | emptywheel - But the other cold water thrown came from Obama himself when he gave a slippery and disingenuous press conference Friday (sleazy mofo)
Is “Bribery” a Demand, or a Polite Request? | emptywheel (typical Obama sleaze-speak: we just "ask" and if you don't obey we will destroy you, but that's not a "demand")

Report on NSA 'secret' payments to RSA fuels encryption controversy | PCWorld - Charges of subverting security
A Few Thoughts on Cryptographic Engineering: RSA warns developers not to use RSA products - We can only speculate about the past. But here in the present we get to watch RSA's CTO Sam Curry publicly defend RSA's choices. I sort of feel bad for the guy. But let's make fun of him anyway.

Snowden ally Appelbaum claims his Berlin apartment was invaded | News | DW.DE | 21.12.2013 - Jacob Appelbaum, a US Internet activist and one of the people with access to Edward Snowden's documents, has told a Berlin paper that his apartment was broken into, saying he suspected US involvement.
Snowden ally Applebaum says his Berlin apartment subject to raids — RT News

Israel condemns US spying revelations | World news | theguardian.com - Officials call on US to stop spying on Israel amid renewed calls for release of Jonathan Pollard, jailed in 1980s for spying (because Israel never spies on anybody)
More NSA Surveillance Origins Documents Are Released - The director of national intelligence on Saturday declassified more documents that show how the National Security Agency was first authorized to start collecting bulk phone and Internet records in the hunt for al-Qaida terrorists.
Intelligence Committee Leaders Defend NSA Against Critical Review (DiFucker fucking the Constitution)
U.S. Government Asks Google To Remove Almost 4,000 Political Items From Search | Ben Swann Truth In Media (Obama hates your knowing what's going on)
Report Suggests NSA Engaged In Financial Manipulation | PopularResistance.Org
NSA program stopped no terror attacks, says White House panel member - Investigations
Despite Releasing New NSA Information, Government Still Tries to Block Groundbreaking EFF Case | Electronic Frontier Foundation
CSIS slammed for end-running law to snoop on Canadians abroad - Politics - CBC News - Spy agency made 'deliberate decision to keep the court in the dark'
Canadian spies lied to judge to obtain surveillance warrants - Boing Boing - they deliberately misinterpreted the law and asked other countries' intelligence services to conduct the spying for them -- something forbidden under Canadian law. The judge is not impressed.
The Washington Post Servers Hacked again, possibly by Chinese Hackers - The Hackers Post
US Department of Defense's public domain archive to be privatized, locked up for ten years - Boing Boing - "The U.S. Department of Defense has entered into a contract with T3 Media to get its gigantic still and moving image collection digitized at no cost to the government. In exchange, T3 Media will become the exclusive public outlet for millions of images and videos for ten years.
The final frontier: AT&T comes knocking for in-home surveillance | Privacy SOS - “Digital Life” is marketed as a ‘home security and automation’ system. Among the many options paying customers can have installed in their homes are a variety of sensors; mechanisms to control heat, electricity, water, and locks; and video cameras.
? "I Think The American People Want Security Over Freedom" (Those Who Surrender Freedom For Security.. - YouTube

Data brokers won’t even tell the government how it uses, sells your data | Ars Technica - They do disclose consumer types like "credit reliant" and "resilient renter."

NSA Revelations Could Undermine Transatlantic Trade Negotiations
Insight: How U.S. spying cost Boeing multibillion-dollar jet contract | Reuters
Snub of Boeing-made fighter rattles Missouri manufacturers | Reuters

Activist Post: Bigger, Badder NDAA 2014 Quietly Passed the House and Senate – On the Way to Obama’s Desk - While everyone is distracted with the holiday festivities, Congress has been hard at work, screwing us over in the name of national security.

The Daily Dot - How Dogecoin changed my perspective on cryptocurrency

‘#NotYourNarrative’: Journalist Rania Khalek on Lack of Arab or Muslim Voices in US Media | The Dissenter

Linda Taylor, welfare queen: Ronald Reagan made her a notorious American villain. Linda Taylor’s other sins were far worse. - In the 1970s, Ronald Reagan villainized a Chicago woman for bilking the government. Her other sins—including possible kidnappings and murders—were far worse. (+she was white)
Rightbloggers Prove They're No Sissies By Supporting Duck Dynasty, Beating Up Pajama Boy (the marketing of racism and bigotry)

Meet The Press Reportedly in Jeopardy as NBC Looks to Cut Back DC Bureau | Mediaite - “Instead of getting better, NBC News has been getting worse [since Turness arrived earlier this year.] It’s a mess.” In October, the reporter cited rumors about Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski adding Meet The Press hosting duties to their already full 15 hours a week on MSNBC. (devolution)
Daily Kos: Millionaire Oligarch Poses as Walmart Protester: Harasses Shoppers to Discredit/Mock Employees! - His name is Peter Schiff. (rich asshole dept)
Matt Yglesias #slatepitches dividends : Columbia Journalism Review - Matt Yglesias trolls business readers with a piece headlined, “Dividends Are Evil: They’re a triumph of short-term thinking and do nothing for the economy.”

Eschaton: Health Care Is Expensive In This Country - The NYT's perpetual pity party for its affluent readership is genuinely annoying.
The New York Times and the ACA: the yuppie whine-athon continues by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - I see the New York Times has published yet another article about very privileged people whining about the ACA. (their specialty; see Bill Keller)
NYT Goes for the Gold in the Find Bad Things to Say About Obamacare Game | Beat the Press
The Times Magazine problem | Capital New York - New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson had given herself until the end of the year to name a new editor for The New York Times Magazine to replace Hugo Lindgren, whose imminent departure

7 Reasons the TSA Sucks (A Security Expert's Perspective) | Cracked.com

Subtract Teachers, Add Pupils - Math of Today’s Jammed Schools - NYTimes.com - Across the country, public schools employ about 250,000 fewer people than before the recession, according to figures from the Labor Department. Enrollment in public schools, meanwhile, has increased by more than 800,000 students. To maintain prerecession staffing ratios, public school employment should have actually grown by about 132,000 jobs in the past four years, in addition to replacing those that were lost (but those wars and tax cuts were totally worth it)

America's Least Healthy States: 24/7 Wall St. - Hawaii is the healthiest state in the country, while Mississippi is the least healthy state.

A Smartypants Scientist Makes An Easy Analogy About Our Planet, And Now I'm Scared (humans have already passed the 59th minute of exponential growth and we're fucked; see the Catholic Church and the Koch Bros)
A Solar Boom So Successful, It's Been Halted: Scientific American - Photovoltaics proved so successful in Hawaii that the local utility, HECO, has instituted policies to block further expansion
One Year: 45 Fossil Fuel Disasters | PopularResistance.Org
Pharmacy Staff Frequently Misinform Teens Seeking Emergency Contraception | Center for Advancing Health - Pharmacists often cited institutional or personal beliefs as reasons for not stocking or dispensing emergency contraception.

Rape Victim Was Kicked Off UConn Hockey Team For Not Being 'Stable Enough': Lawsuit - officials did not investigate her removal from the team, didn't advise her she could stay in school, and didn't tell her she had the option to call police or pursue a complaint with the school that could lead to a hearing. "They did not ask for the identity of her rapist," she wrote.

Nigella Lawson cocaine use will be subject to police review after all | Life and style | theguardian.com - Scotland Yard says a team will examine 'all the evidence emerging', though there is no imminent prospect of prosecution

Legal challenge questions reliability of police dogs | Las Vegas Review-Journal - a failure rate of 85 percent. Although drug-sniffing dogs are supposed to find drugs on their own, the researchers concluded that they were influenced by their handlers, and that's what led to such a high failure rate (cops tell their dogs who to sniff)

Taking liberties: Santa Claus rejects NORAD escort, may be placed on no-fly list | rabble.ca - The NORAD Tracks Santa website is a paean to militarism, inviting young children to play at war and offering videos that are recruitment vehicles featuring martial music more akin to a 1980s Tom Cruise bomb-em-up flick than a period of peace and good will to all.
Anonymous donor buys out Goodwill kids section, allowing children to take toys home for free | The Coloradoan | coloradoan.com

Swiss artist Sipho Mabona designs a life-size origami elephant.
Windows XP: Microsoft’s ticking time bomb | Analysis | Features | PC Pro - Shona Ghosh examines the security threat posed by Microsoft’s decision to end support for its 12-year-old OS in April - Windows XP will essentially have a zero-day vulnerability forever.
The TumblrInAction Dictionary 2.0: What the hell do all of these things mean?! : TumblrInAction
TumblrInAction: Actually Not That Bad

2013: The Year 'the Stream' Crested - Alexis C. Madrigal - The Atlantic - The Stream is fun and fast, but don't you miss the sense of an ending?
The blog is dead, long live the blog » Nieman Journalism Lab - The primary mode for the distribution of links has moved from the loosely connected network of blogs to tightly integrated services like Facebook and Twitter. If you look at the incoming referers to a site like BuzzFeed, you’ll see tons of traffic from Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Stumbleupon, and Pinterest but not a whole lot from blogs, even in the aggregate

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U.S. Military Aircraft Hit In South Sudan - , wounding three U.S. service members and heavily damaging at least one of the aircraft, officials said. South Sudan blamed the attack on renegade troops in control of the breakaway region
Yemen on lockdown as protests continue - Middle East - Al Jazeera English - A week of protests has been launched over the death of local tribal chief who was to be buried on Saturday.
US Sponsored “Democracy”: A Tale of Two Protests. Ukraine and Thailand | Global Research
Syria: Harrowing torture, summary killings in secret ISIS detention centres | Amnesty International

Iceland’s jailed bankers ‘a model’ for dealing with ‘financial terrorists’ — RT Op-Edge (Obanker's path not taken)
Wage Statistics for 2012

Tomgram: Engelhardt, Washington's Wedding Album From Hell | TomDispatch - “Bride and Boom!” We’re Number One... In Obliterating Wedding Parties - this is at least the eighth wedding party reported wiped out, totally or in part, since the Afghan War began and it extends the extermination of wedding celebrants from the air to a third country -- six destroyed in Afghanistan, one in Iraq, and now the first in Yemen. (Obama's favorite sport)
If a Drone Strike Hit an American Wedding, We'd Ground Our Fleet - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic - But after a dozen or more deaths at a Yemeni wedding, don't expect anything to change.
Murder in Yemen | The Nation - Obama essentially said “too bad” when it comes to civilian casualties caused by drone strikes. “I must weigh these heartbreaking tragedies against the alternatives.”
Yemen Deaths Test Claims of New Drone Policy - NYTimes.com - Moreover, the president said in May, no strike can be authorized without “near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured” — a bar he described as “the highest standard we can set.” (as usual, he lied)

Google reports 68% jump in government takedown requests — Tech News and Analysis - The increase in this report appears tied to a spike in requests from Turkey, which demanded the most takedowns of any country (1,673). The second biggest number came from the United States (545), which was followed by Brazil, Russia and India.
UK's New Mandatory Porn Filter Already Defeated By A Single Chrome Extension | Techdirt - from the it-can-be-beaten-with-one-hand-(tied-behind-your-back) dept - The extension, dubbed "Go Away Cameron," simply utilizes a proxy to get around the filters.
Six Domains Later, The Pirate Bay Returns to Sweden | Motherboard - Well, they're back where they started.
U.S. tests surveillance balloons on Mexico border - Brownsville Herald: Local News

The FBI's top secret interrogation can be viewed at the Library of Congress by anyone with a library card | Mail Online - The author of a sensitive FBI interrogation manual submitted the document for copyright protection In doing so, the FBI agent made it available to the public at the Library of Congress Experts are baffled at the security lapse and why the officer believed the secret document needed copyright protection at all The manual doesn't even qualify for copyright because it is a government document (well, if Obama can copyright himself ...)

National intelligence chief declassifies Bush-era documents on NSA programs | World news | theguardian.com - James Clapper documents relate to bulk collection origins • Disclosures part of campaign to justify NSA surveillance • Obama concedes NSA bulk collection may be unnecessary

Obama: Snowden leaks caused 'unnecessary damage' | World news | theguardian.com - Obama said he could not comment specifically on possible amnesty because Snowden was 'under indictment' (which was supposed to be a secret; Obama leaks; he was going to reform it anyway, supposedly)
NSA review panel stops short of concrete surveillance reforms | World news | The Guardian - Report leaves room for Obama administration to decide any number of next steps in addressing concerns over spy agency (enjoy your legacy)
Obama's NSA review gives the lie to Britain's timid platitudes: a debate is possible | Alan Rusbridger | Comment is free | The Guardian - In the US, the official response to Snowden's revelations celebrates journalism and calls for real change. In Britain, the picture has been rather different - ""airy-fairy lah-di-dah" types" (Camerons's fascist police-state worse than Obama's)

Govt drops objection to publishing secret opinion - The Obama administration has dropped its objection to the publication of a secret court opinion on the law that authorizes the National Security Agency's bulk collection of millions of Americans' telephone records. (Obama loves his secret courts and secret laws; our anti-Constitutional scholar)
Obama Concedes NSA Spying May Need 'Refining' | Threat Level | Wired.com (you know what he means)
Do We Have the NSA on the Run, or Is a Much Worse Surveillance State in the Making? | Alternet - It's way too soon to break out the applause.
Why NSA Spying is Unlikely to be Stopped | Nullify NSA!Nullify NSA! - Bad news first. The courts, the review panel, congress – all efforts to pass bills like the USA Freedom Act – all these efforts are virtually doomed. (because Obama)

Why I want Bitcoin to die in a fire - Charlie's Diary

Researchers crack the world’s toughest encryption by listening to the tiny sounds made by your computer’s CPU | ExtremeTech - This acoustic cryptanalysis, carried out by Daniel Genkin, Adi Shamir (who co-invented RSA), and Eran Tromer, uses what’s known as a side channel attack.
AT&T says it will publish reports on data requests - that it receives from law enforcement agencies, the latest move in the telecommunications industry toward fuller disclosure amid debate over government surveillance programs.
Boeing and NSA Get Schooled, Brazil Edition | Firedoglake
HOWTO delete your smartphone's fine-grained log of everywhere you've been - Boing Boing - If you have an Android or Ios smartphone, it defaults to storing the history of all the places you go, at a very fine resolution, for a very long time, and mirrors that data on remote servers from which it might be leaked or subpoenaed. (your iSpy)
Crossword Puzzle: What Did We Learn About the NSA This Year? | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Everyone Knows Obama's 2013 Was Bad, The Tough Question Is Why (because he sucks?)

Any Hope Of American Equality Died In The 1980s (And Here's Proof) (and St Ronnie will rot in hell for 12 trillion years)
Honey Badger Hedge Fund: Hackers Predict Stock Market With Open Source Mojo | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com - Yes, seven out of seven of the trades the team recommended on Twitter were profitable, providing a return of 9.38 percent

Americans Have Little Faith In Scientists, Science Journalists: Poll - Republicans in the new poll were most likely to say that they have only a little bit of trust in scientists to give accurate and reliable information, and the most likely to say that they think scientific findings may be tainted by political ideology -- possibly reflecting distrust in scientists over topics such as evolution and climate change. (57% of Americans hate science)

Target Corp. feels customers' fury over response to card-data breach - CSMonitor.com - Target is offering 10 percent off purchases on Saturday and Sunday, in a goodwill gesture. But complaints are mounting about the retailer's response to massive theft of customer credit-card data.

Deserving vs. undeserving poor — for the love of God, here we go again by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - “People who are perfectly capable of working are buying things like beer,” said Senator James Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma, on those getting food assistance in his state. (if there were any jobs in his fucking state)

Seattle Catholic school's firing of gay official pits state law against religion | World news | theguardian.com - firing of legally married vice-principal raises questions about the place of gay rights in today's Catholic church (institutionalized bigotry)

Lizz Winstead's post on Media & Entertainment | Latest updates on Sulia - Further proof reality shows are just reality until advertisers are offended." It's bigger than Duck Dynasty.
Why The Racist And Homophobic 'Duck Dynasty' Comments Have Nothing To Do With Free Speech | ThinkProgress - What actually is taking place is that conservatives are taking umbrage because a fellow conservative’s beliefs are being publicly criticized.
Your mandatory <i>Duck Dynasty</i> update by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly (Fuck Dynasty)

Peggy Noonan Bemoans Economic Inequality, Flying Coach | Blog | Media Matters for America - the horrors of sitting on an airplane, among which is the ever-present threat that the seat assigned to you "was used on the last flight by a Senegalese tourist with typhus." (or an alcoholic Nooners with foot and mouth disease)

Lawsuit: Woman Faced Illegal Body Cavity Search, Observed Bowel Movement « CBS Las Vegas - But the woman was transported in handcuffs to the University Medical Center of El Paso, the lawsuit said, where doctors subjected her to an observed bowel movement, a CT scan and other exams without a warrant.
Joe Arpaio Loses: New Times Co-Founders Win $3.75 Million Settlement for 2007 False Arrests - Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin were taken from their homes in the middle of the night and jailed on misdemeanor charges alleging that they violated the secrecy of a grand jury -- which turned out never to have been convened.

Dramatic decline in industrial agriculture could herald ‘peak food’ | The Raw Story

Justine Sacco tweet 'Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS', causes Twitter outrage | Mail Online - In February 2012 Sacco Tweeted: 'I had a sex dream about an autistic kid last night.' (should have been a warning)

Top 1001 Books Books on Loved.la

Kim Dotcom Ratted Out Rival File-Sharing Sites, Court Documents Claim | Threat Level | Wired.com
Why Apple's Suburban Spaceship Could Lose the War for Tech Talent | Wired Business | Wired.com - But there’s a problem. As Apple seeks to change Silicon Valley’s view of what buildings should be, Silicon Valley is rethinking its view of where they should be, even as the company that Jobs built is staying put in its hometown.

122013
Conservative groups spend up to $1bn a year to fight action on climate change | Environment | theguardian.com - Author: 'I call it the climate-change counter movement' • Study focuses on groups opposing US political action

Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Law Punishes Gays With Life Imprisonment
Canada's Anti-Prostitution Laws Struck Down By Supreme Court (free market wins)
The Supreme Court of Canada has struck down the country's anti-prostitution laws in a unanimous decision. : worldnews
Who is Devyani Khobragade, the Indian diplomat at the center of the firestorm? - The Washington Post - new details are emerging about the woman at the center of the controversy, a professional who advocated for women’s rights in public but is accused of underpayingher nanny at home ... she typically worked 90 to 100 hours a week for Khobragade, which would work out to only $1.32 to $1.46 an hour.
Divide deepens among Democrats on Iran - That raises an interesting question: What if this bill comes to a vote and goes down in the Senate? (you-know-who wins)

We were subjected to 'meticulous, daily torture' – freed Gitmo detainee — RT News (this is who they are, at their core, and their commander-in-chief is powerless to stop it)

Porn filters block sex education websites - Pornography filters used by major internet service providers are blocking websites offering sex education and advice on sexual health and porn addiction, the BBC has learned. (the great firewall of Cameron)
UK's Great Firewall of Cameron blocks sexual health, rape crisis centre, sex ed sites - Boing Boing

Cards Stolen in Target Breach Flood Underground Markets — Krebs on Security

5 ways you can support free speech today | Jillian C. York

NSA program stopped no terror attacks, says White House panel member - Investigations - A member of the White House review panel on NSA surveillance said he was “absolutely” surprised when he discovered the agency’s lack of evidence that the bulk collection of telephone call records had thwarted any terrorist attacks. (oh, so Obama and all those NSA guys were lying, right? +apparently Snowden killed 15 kids, orsomething)

WASHINGTON: ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ leak investigators now target of leak probe | National Security & Defense | McClatchy DC - Instead, the Pentagon Inspector General’s Office is working to root out who might have disclosed the findings on Panetta and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers to a nonprofit watchdog group and to McClatchy.
Anonymous US Officials Lie About Drone Attack on Wedding Convoy in Yemen | The Dissenter - US officials sometimes appear to be misinformed when they report on drone strikes that kill people associated with individuals who appeared to be suspected al Qaeda militants. That’s essentially what you get when the Times covers America’s covert drone war.

Officials’ defenses of NSA phone program may be unraveling - The Washington Post
Ratner: NSA Surveillance Program Needs to be Torn Apart from Branch to Branch - White House review panel report doesn't go far enough and potentially undercuts the more serious reform of the NSA proposed by the U.S.A. Freedom Act (which was, you know, the whole point)

GCHQ and NSA targeted charities, Germans, Israeli PM and EU chief | UK news | The Guardian - Unicef and Médecins du Monde were on surveillance list • Targets went well beyond potential criminals and terrorists • Revelations could cause embarrassment at EU summit ... targeting organisations such as the United Nations development programme, the UN's children's charity Unicef and Médecins du Monde, a French organisation that provides doctors and medical volunteers to conflict zones. The head of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) also appears in the documents, along with text messages he sent to colleagues.
Eyes everywhere: NSA's second tier spying partners identified — RT News - The "third party partners" to the Five Eyes nations has now grown to include nine states - Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain ... a new leak submitted by journalist Glenn Greenwald to Danish TV reveals.
NSA Debate Shifts In Favor Of Surveillance Limits - Even Russian President Vladimir Putin chimed in on Thursday. He said U.S. surveillance efforts are necessary to fight terrorism and "not a cause for repentance," but he, too, said they should be limited by clear rules.
The Nine Things You Should Know About the NSA Recommendations From the President’s Review Group | American Civil Liberties Union
Judge: NSA “systematically violated” its own privacy requirements | Ars Technica - Unsealed docs show NSA collected tens of thousands of "non-target" communications.
Does Obama really 'welcome debate' on his national security policies? | MSNBC (Pres Super-Secret? what do you think?)

High-Level Confirmation That Snowden's a Whistle-Blower - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com - The wheels of justice have turned swiftly in the past few days for Edward Snowden, proving that he is a whistle-blower who exposed abuse and illegality of the highest order by the National Security Agency, and that he does not deserve having the United States government threaten him with the crushing silence of a jail cell.

Judge smacks Obama secrecy in unique FOIA case | Suits & Sentences | McClatchy DC - This is an important case; as Huvelle noted, it's the first time an administration sought to apply the executive communication privilege to an executive directive. The administration's legal posture, Huvelle declared at various time, was "limitless" and "unbounded." (Obama classified himself top-secret; "transparency" in Obama-speak means "totally opaque")

Amazon, ‘The Washington Post’ and That $600 MIllion CIA Contract | The Nation
Verizon to publish reports on surveillance requests, wants to detail NSA efforts - The Washington Post
Glenn Greenwald: U.S. uses terrorism as excuse to do almost everything | Al Jazeera America - Glenn Greenwald: U.S. uses terrorism as excuse to do almost everything (from killing little brown children (Obama's favorite sport) to changing your bank balance)

Exclusive: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer | Reuters - As a key part of a campaign to embed encryption software that it could crack into widely used computer products, the U.S. National Security Agency arranged a secret $10 million contract with RSA, one of the most influential firms in the computer security industry, Reuters has learned. (this is big)
Acoustic cryptanalysis - Daniel Genkin Adi Shamir Eran Tromer - RSA Key Extraction via Low-Bandwidth Acoustic Cryptanalysis (the S in RSA)

? Former NSA Official "No One is Watching the Watchers" - YouTube - with NSA whistleblower Bill Binney.
Why Is The New Republic Taking Money from an NSA Contractor to Run Defenses of the NSA? | The Nation (Ben Wittes and Lawfare and Harvard-Brookings)
Critics: NSA agent co-chairing key crypto standards body should be removed | Ars Technica - There's an elephant in the room at the Internet Engineering Task Force. (the system is riddled with spies)

The Daily Dot - Lawyer for Anonymous's 'PayPal 14' facing multiple charges - the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York notified the public Thursday that criminal charges were being pursued against attorney and political activist Stanley Cohen. (most vindictive president ever)
An Incomplete List of Things That Are Not Actually “Hacking” | Motherboard
The final frontier: AT&T comes knocking for in-home surveillance | Privacy SOS - “Digital Life” is marketed as a ‘home security and automation’ system. Among the many options paying customers can have installed in their homes are a variety of sensors; mechanisms to control heat, electricity, water, and locks; and video cameras. (bright idea! buy a super surveillance system for your home so the government can watch you every move)

At Least Two Moderators Of 'Silk Road 2.0' Drug Site Forums Arrested - Forbes
What is Dogecoin? The Meme that Became the Hot New Virtual Currency - As the year of bitcoin comes to an end, David Gilbert investigates the next big crypto-currency - Dogecoin.

Infographic: Who's looking out for homebuyers? - Economics - AEI (mortgage debt $11 trillion)

States Cite Surge in Obamacare Sign-Ups Ahead of First Deadline - ABC News - The increase has ranged from 30 percent to 40 percent in the past few weeks, according to state officials who briefed reporters Wednesday. Monday is the last day to sign up for a plan that will guarantee health coverage effective Jan. 1.
Reid: Unemployment insurance first on Senate’s 2014 to-do list - The U.S. Senate will vote in early January on temporarily extending unemployment insurance to millions of out-of-work Americans, Senate leaders said Thursday.
Conservatives freak out over 'pajama boy' | MSNBC - How could the sight of an earnest twenty something in pajamas drive so many dashing specimens of unassailable masculinity to complete panic?

Democrats currently have a 1 percent chance of retaking the House (Obama's actual legacy)
Federal judge strikes down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage | The Salt Lake Tribune
President Obama Talks About His Daughters' Dating Lives - “I’ve got men with guns following them around … this is the main reason I ran for reelection,” (he thinks that's funny)
Wyoming U.S. Senate candidate Liz Cheney's husband faces voting registration issue - The husband of U.S. Senate candidate Liz Cheney could face felony charges for having been simultaneously registered to vote in Wyoming and Virginia, according to the Teton County Clerk's Office. (voter fraud)

Political centrism is not objectivity : Columbia Journalism Review - How the media wrongly treats deficit reduction as non-ideological ... journalists often treat centrist policy priorities—especially on fiscal policy—as value-neutral
Assessing Neil Irwin's Assessment of Ben Bernanke | Beat the Press - Irwin also downplays the extent to which Bernanke failed to appreciate the disaster even as it was unfolding. Bernanke apparently failed to recognize that the loss of more than $1 trillion in annual demand from the collapse of the housing bubble could not be easily replaced from other sources. He also totally missed the depths of the financial crisis.

Report finds no evidence of widespread sexual misconduct in Secret Service - The Washington Post - A long-awaited report analyzing the male-dominated culture of the U.S. Secret Service has concluded that the elite law enforcement agency does not have a widespread problem with its employees engaging in sexual misconduct while on official business. (just a few barrels of bad apples)
Obama Orders Military To Review Sexual Assault - Obama isn't specifying what other reforms he would consider. The Senate is debating legislation that would take authority for prosecuting attackers away from commanders.

Tim Draper Wants To Split California Into Pieces And Turn Silicon Valley Into Its Own State | TechCrunch (ten new Senators!)

What do ‘Duck Dynasty’ star Phil Robertson and 45 percent of Americans have in common? - What may surprise some people is that his viewpoint — the part about homosexuality being a sin — is espoused by nearly half the country.
In embrace of ‘Duck Dynasty’ star, 2016 hopefuls make bid for evangelicals - The Washington Post (the racist play)
'Duck Dynasty' Family And Fans React To Phil Robertson's Hiatus After Offensive Comments
Phil Robertson's America - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic

These 2 Cities Are Now Exclusively For Rich People (Bloomfuck's richopolis)

Politics Blog Best Posts Of The Year - Charlie Pierce's 10 Best Posts Of The Year - Esquire

Woman sues over vaginal, anal exams in El Paso drug search - El Paso Times - New Mexico woman was searched for six hours at border, University Medical Center (cops and docs spent 6 hrs raping her, then billed her for it)
Woman billed after vaginal, anal exams in El Paso drug search : news

The Mating Habits of Early Hominins | The Scientist Magazine® - A newly sequenced Neanderthal genome provides insight into the sex lives of human ancestors. (incest and interbreeding)
This Is Your Brain on Gluten - James Hamblin - The Atlantic - carbohydrates, even the whole-grain carbs that many of us think of as the good ones, are the cause of almost every modern neurologic malady. That includes dementia, decreased libido, depression, chronic headaches, anxiety, epilepsy, and ADHD.

Topless Snapchat Photo Of Mother And Daughter Leads To Charges - The photo was taken by the 14-year-old's younger sister and eventually was seen by an unknown number of eyes on Snapchat, a smartphone app that deletes a photo after a recipient has had a few seconds to look at it. (that really worked)
Occidental College flooded with fake reports of sexual assault - latimes.com - Officials say roughly 400 false allegations were made by Reddit and 4Chan users, some claiming to represent 'men's rights.'
High Schoolers Staged A Massive Sit-In After Their Vice Principal Was Ousted Over Same-Sex Marriage - Mark Zmuda, the former vice principal of Eastside, was asked to resign after the school’s administration learned he had married his boyfriend.

Lawson and Saatchi assistants found not guilty of fraud | UK news | theguardian.com - In trial that revealed TV cook's cocaine use, sisters Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo cleared of unauthorised spending of £685,000
Charles Saatchi was loser in court of public opinion | Art and design | The Guardian - One poll found only 2% would side with art dealer over Nigella Lawson as picture emerged in court of cruel, controlling figure
Nigella Lawson, Charles Saatchi and the ugly face of patriarchal power | Jacqueline Rose | Comment is free | theguardian.com - What was really on display during the trial of the Grillo sisters was the ruthless nature of masculinity in thrall to itself
What does a chap have to do to be ostracised? | Nick Cohen | Comment is free | The Observer - What does it take these days to be banished from polite society?

jabber.org security plan
Qadars: A banking Malware making its round in Netherlands, France, Italy, Canada, Australia and India.
Hackers can steal your credit card info from your mobile too - Hackers News Bulletin
The Daily Dot - The Dots team helped this guy hack the game to propose to his girlfriend
Cryptolocker the RANSOMWARE has infected 250000 systems and the makers have earned $35 million in RANSOM!!! ~ Techworm

121913
Study - Many Dolphins Sick 1 Year After Oil Spill - NYTimes.com (remember that harmless "dispersant?")

Iran nuclear deal imperiled by new sanctions bill, White House warns | World news | theguardian.com - Iranian experts concerned Congress could sabotage final deal ("Congress" = bought by AIPAC)
Iran Sanctions Bill From Sens. Bob Menendez And Mark Kirk Could Endanger U.S. Negotiations - Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) are threatening to push the United States toward war with Iran, circulating and planning to introduce a sanctions bill despite warnings that it could derail nuclear negotiations at a delicate moment. (Menendez D, Likud)
10 Democratic Committee Chairs Warn Menendez's Iran Sanction Bill Could Blow Up Negotiations - In a remarkable rebuke to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), 10 other Senate committee chairs are circulating a joint letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, urging him to reject an effort by Menendez to tighten sanctions on Iran and warning that his bill could disrupt ongoing nuclear negotiations.
Michael Carey, Fired Air Force General, Misbehaved In Russia, Report Says - Investigators say the Air Force general fired in October as commander of the U.S. land-based nuclear missile force engaged in "inappropriate behavior" while in Russia, including heavy drinking and rudeness to his hosts.

MI5 and MI6 face questions over torture of terrorism suspects | Politics | The Guardian - Gibson inquiry concludes UK government and intelligence agencies had been involved in so-called rendition operations - 'It is deeply shocking that Britain facilitated kidnap and torture' (the poodle followed Bush's orders)

European boycott of death penalty drugs lowers rate of US executions | World news | theguardian.com - New Death Penalty Information Center report claims there were 39 executions this year – the lowest number since 1994

Congressional NSA critics: review panel report gives 'momentum' for reform | World news | theguardian.com - Though critics concerned that panel did not adequately address how long telecoms ought to hold NSA’s desired call data
Obama Can't Avoid the NSA Report, But He'll Try | Motherboard
President’s Review Group Suggests NSA Currently Acts as a Domestic Security Service | emptywheel (Merkel was right)

Pierre Omidyar Provides Initial Funding of $50M to Establish First Look Media – Omidyar Group - First Look Media is made up of several entities, including a company established to develop new media technology and a separate nonprofit journalism organization. The journalism operation, which will be incorporated as a 501(c)(3), will enjoy editorial independence, and any profits eventually earned by the technology company are committed to support First Look’s mission of independent journalism.
More Details Emerge About Glenn Greenwald's New Website

Report Suggests NSA Engaged In Financial Manipulation, Changing Money In Bank Accounts | Techdirt - from the that-would-be-big dept - Governments should not use their offensive cyber capabilities to change the amounts held in financial accounts or otherwise manipulate the financial system.

(227) Twitter / Search - #NSAmovietitles

Under Amazon’s CIA Cloud: The Washington Post | MyFDL - News media should illuminate conflicts of interest, not embody them. But the owner of the Washington Post is now doing big business with the Central Intelligence Agency, while readers of the newspaper’s CIA coverage are left in the dark.
The Daily Dot - NSA spying costs U.S. a $4.5 billion defense contract with Brazil

Tor and HTTPS | Electronic Frontier Foundation

U.S. v. Auernheimer (weev) - 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Grants Government's Motion for a Word Extension » Tor Ekeland, PC: Tor Ekeland, PC

Hullabaloo - She understands that the economy is fundamentally broken and requires big changes for the middle class to survive. (in contrast to Barry-Above-It-All)
$10.10 Minimum Wage Would Actually Create New Jobs: Study (Republicans caught lying again)

Obama Commutes Sentences Of 8 Inmates Convicted Of Crack Offenses - In 2011, Congress passed a law that effectively reduced the federal government’s mandatory penalties for people convicted of crack offenses, but commuting the sentences represents the first time the reform has been applied to those convicted before it was adopted. “
Hillary Clinton Vote For Iraq War - Hillary Clinton's Biggest Mistake - Esquire - The first real hand-hold that the president had in climbing out of single digits in the Democratic primaries in 2008 is that he had condemned the Iraq War and Hillary Clinton had voted for it. It was the first real difference between the president, and most of the rest of the field.

New Mexico becomes 17th US state to legalise same-sex marriage | World news | theguardian.com - State's highest court rules gay marriage ban unconstitutional

Linda Taylor, welfare queen: Ronald Reagan made her a notorious American villain. Linda Taylor’s other sins were far worse. - In the 1970s, Ronald Reagan villainized a Chicago woman for bilking the government. Her other sins—including possible kidnappings and murders—were far worse. (dept. of history)

Right To Privacy - The Tyranny Of The Brand - Esquire - As it happens, I had disciplinary action taken against me at the last newspaper I worked for because of things I had written on the Esquire.com Politics blog prior to coming to work here full time. When I asked my immediate supervisor why this happened, he replied, "My primary obligation is to the company." (Charlie discloses)

Hack list No. 1: Mike Allen - Salon.com - Our annual list is here! This time, we channeled each hack's unique voice -- and let them "write" their own entries

Prosecutors were ready to charge Va. Gov. McDonnell, but final decision delayed by Justice officials - The Washington Post

Chomsky Turns 85 | PopularResistance.Org

Volcker Rule Pretty Watered Down, Executives And Consultants Say (899 pages of exemptions)
Should the NFL Lose Its Tax-Exempt Status? | Mother Jones - hat's not enough for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. He wants to nearly triple the league's revenues to $25 billion by 2027—a mind-bogglingly large number. But here's an even more shocking fact: The NFL pays nothing in taxes on all those revenues. Not a nickel. (because liberty and sports)
Whole Foods CEO: Government Shouldn't ‘Take Over Entire Health Care System' - Whole Foods CEO John Mackey doesn’t want the government running America's health care system.

Target Hacked: Retailer Confirms 'Unauthorized Access' Of Credit Card Data - In a press release posted on the Target website, the Minneapolis-based retailer admitted that approximately 40 million credit and debit card accounts may have been impacted by the breach.

Data brokers sell rape victim names for 7.9 cents each, congressional hearing reveals | The Raw Story
Drug Warriors Kidnap and Sexually Assault a Woman After Getting Permission From a Dog - Hit & Run : Reason.com
Missoula Police Try To Escape 'Rape Capital' Nickname - "I said, 'No, but why does that matter?'" recalled Barrett. "He responded, 'Some girls cheat on their boyfriend and regret it and blame it on rape.'"

'Duck Dynasty' Star Phil Robertson Claims Black People Were 'Happy' Pre-Civil Rights (racist rednecks on TV; HuffPo educates their dimbulb readership about Jim Crow)
'Duck Dynasty' Fans Are Losing Their Minds On Facebook (many FB users are extremely racist)

Kids Will Eat Veggies If You Pay Them, Economists Find

Marijuana Businesses May Get Good Banking News In Early 2014 - Marijuana businesses may not yet get a full green light on the banking rights that non-marijuana businesses already enjoy, but they are likely to get a "yellow light" as soon as the new year, Jack Finlaw, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper's (D) chief legal counsel, said on a joint call Thursday. ("joint")

agenda 21 map - Google Search (parts of US the UN will take over; batshit dept)

Falling in love with a Danish girl while traveling. : travel (great story)
Spoiler alert: Bill Gates did not get you, because he got me. - Secret Santa 2013 - redditgifts
Tinder Creator Justin Mateen Defends App: 'Women Aren't Wired That Way, Right?'

121813
South Sudan factional fighting leaves hundreds feared dead | World news | The Guardian - Vice-president Riek Machar denies that he made coup attempt, amid reports of of bloodbath in Juba - t between 400 and 500 people had been killed and up to 800 wounded. More than 16,000 people were seeking refuge at UN facilities.
No jail time for leading Israeli rabbi convicted of sex offenses - National Israel News | Haaretz - Former head of Yeshivat Hakotel in Jerusalem, Rabbi Moti Elon said he welcomes his community service: 'I've been doing such work for 40 years, and will be happy to continue till I’m 120 years old.'
Sochi Olympic Critics Harassed, Treated Like Terrorists
Obama Jabs Putin, Picks Openly Gay Delegates For Winter Olympics In Russia
Journalist Killings, Jailings And Kidnappings Are Huge World Problems
Second worst year on record for jailed journalists - Reports - Committee to Protect Journalists

Merkel compared NSA to Stasi in heated encounter with Obama | World news | The Guardian - In an angry exchange with Barack Obama, Angela Merkel has compared the snooping practices of the US with those of the Stasi, the ubiquitous and all-powerful secret police of the communist dictatorship in East Germany, where she grew up.

CIA Bay of Pigs Secrecy Case Reaches Appeals Court - CIA claims release would "confuse the public" (the truth would confuse them because we've been lying to them for 50 yrs)
In Bizarre No-Fly List Trial, Even the Verdict Might Be Top Secret | Threat Level | Wired.com - former Stanford University scholar Rahinah Ibrahim connected to Malaysian jihadists, as the FBI once suggested, or is she the victim of misguided U.S. bureaucrats who erroneously placed her on a U.S. terror watchlist? Is she even on a watchlist at all? (daughter, US citizen in Malaysia barred from flying to US; she could take a bus or train, though; number infinity of Obama's rabbit holes)

The 6,000-Page Report on CIA Torture Has Now Been Suppressed for 1 Year - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic - It cost $40 million to produce, documents serious wrongdoing, and doesn't threaten national security. Team Obama won't release it.
Mark Udall Demands CIA Report Amid Dispute Over Torture Study - A member of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday disclosed the existence of a secret Central Intelligence Agency document that committee members believe supports their conclusions in a study highly critical of "waterboarding" and other harsh counterterrorism practices.

DOD official: Snowden ‘stole literally everything’ | The Daily Caller - “What’s floating is so dangerous, we’d be behind for twenty years in terms of access (if it were to be leaked),” a ranking Department of Defense official told the Daily Caller ... British and U.S. intelligence officials speculated Snowden had in his possession a “doomsday cache” of intelligence information, including the names of undercover intelligence personnel stationed around the world ... The damage would be “of biblical proportions,” the official said.

NSA's Creative Interpretations Of Law Subvert Congress And The Rule Of Law - Forbes - If Cole is right that, try as it might, Congress cannot end bulk collection because the secret FISA court may defer to the NSA’s interpretation of the rules, there is no rule of law. The NSA is in charge, the FISA court process is just a fig leaf, and this is no longer a democracy. There’s been a coup d’etat.
NSA’s Bid for a 6 Month Delay in Protecting Larry Klayman’s Phone Records | emptywheel - The NSA suggested it would need 6 months notice to take just two people out of the dragnet. I can imagine no feasible technical reason that’s true. So why were they implying they’d need that 6 months?

Four Takeaways from Yesterday's NSA Ruling - The U.S. District Court decided that the NSA's collection of phone metadata is likely unconstitutional. What does that mean?
Senators clash with Justice Department lawyer over CIA intelligence memos | World news | theguardian.com - CIA nominee Caroline Krass angers intelligence committee by claiming legal opinions on torture are beyond its scope (CIA is beyond review; Feinstein not happy but loves her spy state)

untitled - 2013-12-12_rg_final_report.pdf - LIBERTY AND SECURITY IN A CHANGING WORLD (how they framed it; "choices will have to be made" said Ospy)
Dianne Feinstein Glosses Jeffrey Miller Phone Dragnet Decision | emptywheel - Dianne Feinstein just released a statement effectively saying she likes the FISA Court phone dragnet decisions and the one Judge Jeffrey Miller made in the Moalin case better than the one Richard Leon issued yesterday.
Obama Panel Recommends New Limits on N.S.A. Spying - NYTimes.com - Mr. Obama appointed the panel after an uproar over revelations of the N.S.A.'s vast spying on communications of Americans and foreigners following leaks by Mr. Snowden.
Obama review panel: strip NSA of power to collect phone data records | World news | The Guardian - • Forty-six recommendations in 300-page report released early (because ruling)
The Daily Dot - Why 54 civil liberties groups want to kill an NSA reform bill - Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has authored a bill designed to reform the the data-collection practices of the National Security Agency, but her efforts aren’t sitting well with privacy advocates.
EFF Statement on President's Review Group's NSA Report | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Twitter / trevortimm: This NSA report recommendation ... - is terrible: in some cases, the mass surveillance of Americans should stay secret.
Twitter / apblake: Around 1.5 million Americans ... - have Top Secret clearance. NSA review says "those numbers...certainly seem high."
Twitter / apblake: "Governments should abstain ... - from penetrating the systems of financial institutions and changing the amounts held in accounts there" #noshit
Twitter / piersmorgan: Hard not to conclude that today's ... - #NSA recommendations are a total vindication of Snowden, @ggreenwald & @guardian ... (CNN)
Twitter / RidT: Remarkable: NSA panel doesn't ... - name Snowden even once, but implies that his "concerns might be justified,"
Twitter / CassandraRules: WOW! A #Snowden ad on a D.C. ... - bus c/o @nytimes

Why the NSA Ruling Could Backfire into a Court Disaster We'll Regret for Decades | Alternet - Judge Richard Leon is no friend of progressives—and never has been.
I challenged the NSA in court because it's a totalitarian attack on human rights | Larry Klayman | Comment is free | theguardian.com - I'm pleased Judge Leon sided with the American people Monday by ruling that the NSA's actions likely violate the constitution
NSA methods reminiscent of those used in USSR under Stalin – Lavrov — RT News
Ex-CIA Director Calls For Snowden To Be “Hanged By His Neck Until He Is Dead” | JONATHAN TURLEY - Former CIA Director James Woolsey has one wish for the holidays: for Edward Snowden to be tried for treason and “hanged.”
Edward Snowden Is a Patriot | Anthony D. Romero

Greenwald Reveals 'Crux' of NSA Spying: The 'Elimination of Individual Privacy Worldwide' | Common Dreams - 'Every story we've done is driven by this overarching theme,' journalist tells EU panel - "The NSA doesn't need a specific reason to collect any communications. The fact that people are communicating is reason enough."
Greenwald at EU Parliament video)
? NEWSNIGHT: Paxman speaks to Glenn Greenwald on NSA curbs - YouTube

NSA Report Means More Trouble For 60 Minutes | Blog | Media Matters for America
'60 Minutes' Benghazi Debacle Named 'Error Of The Year'

Tech executives to Obama: NSA spying revelations are threatening business - The Washington Post (thanks, Barry, you fucked the economy again)
NSA Fallout Hits American Business To The Tune Of Four Billion Dollars: Brazil Ditches Boeing, Buys Gripen - Falkvinge on Infopolicy
US-Israeli Security Company Selling Mobile Phone Surveillance Products To Agencies Around The World | Techdirt - from the NSA-power-at-budget-prices! dept (meanwhile)
Hackers break into Washington Post servers - The Washington Post - Hackers broke into The Washington Post’s servers and gained access to employee user names and passwords, marking at least the third intrusion over the past three years, company officials said Wednesday.

China Just Popped the Bitcoin Bubble | Motherboard
Bitcoin Price Is Crashing (Again) Because China Says It Isn't Real
The Daily Dot - As Bitcoin prices spiral downward, suicide looms large
Child Labor in Bitcoin Mines Exposed | The Coinion - Bitcoin skeptic and liberal mouthpiece Bloomberg News was up in arms today after a report from Labor International documented poor working conditions in Bitcoin mines in the developing world. “There is widespread abuse” one investigator reported

Income Inequality Is Hurting The Economy, 3 Dozen Economists Say - Income Inequality Is Hurting The Economy, 3 Dozen Economists Say
Another Rebuke of the Tea Party? - The Daily Beast - The budget agreement is well on its way to passage thanks to Republican votes, but has anything changed? (only safe-seat Republicans voting for temporary sanity)
Stewart Blasts GOP: If Not Boehner Or Ryan, Who IS Conservative Enough?
New Documentary Threatens to Make You Like Mitt Romney - He was, after all, just a human being.
Hidden Within The TPP: The RIAA's Secret Plan To Screw Musicians Out Of Their Rights | Techdirt - from the but-of-course dept

Hack List No. 4: David Brooks - Salon.com - Our annual list is here! This time, we channeled each hack's unique voice -- and let them "write" their own entries

Hack List No. 5: Richard Cohen - Salon.com - Our annual list is here! This time, we channeled each hack's unique voice -- and let them "write" their own entries
The Conservative Media Arms Race Coming To An Internet Near You
NYT Mag Offers Inexplicable 2006 John McCain Cover Profile in 2013 - Did we need 6,600 words about the utterly irrelevant John McCain? Somebody thought we did.

Federal Employee Morale Hits Record Low (because Americans hate government)

Michael Bloomberg’s America - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Speaking of the New Gilded Age, Michael Bloomberg sure is the perfect plutocrat/political leader for it (the soulessness of Michael Bloomberg)
Bloomberg View Has Big Names, Small Influence | New Republic - “Bloomberg View was never able to be part of the Internet, because it was caught between the real Internet and this parallel Bloomberg proprietary Internet”

Celebrating Christmas and the Holidays, Then and Now | Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project - three-quarters say they believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. (even those who don't believe in Jesus agree)

Marijuana in Washington: Residents Consume More Than Officials Thought | TIME.com - A new report highlights the difficulty of predicting supply and demand for a legal weed market

9 Things Media Called The "War On Men" in 2013 | Blog | Media Matters for America

In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a "Prediction of a Future Crime" (it's come to that)
Colorado Cities Routinely Jail Individuals Because They Can't Pay Fines, ACLU Finds | ThinkProgress
New data suggests Boston police targeted working class, black communities with invasive surveillance tool | Privacy SOS
Cops arrest anti-brutality protesters in Santa Rosa : Indybay - On Oct. 22, in Santa Rosa, Ca., Sonoma County Deputy Sheriff Erich Gelhaus screamed at 13-year-old Andy Lopez, telling him to drop his “weapon,” a toy gun. Within five seconds Gelhaus shot seven bullets into Lopez, killing him. Then, Gelhaus handcuffed the boy's body and evacuated the scene rather than get medical attention for Lopez.
Victims’ families file multimillion dollar lawsuits against “affluenza” teen | KFOR.com
2013: a year of very bad cops (and some good ones) - Boing Boing

Watch: A Light Installation That Makes You Lose All Sense of Space | Wired Design | Wired.com
Someone Made a '3-D Printer' Inside Minecraft, and It's Amazing | Underwire | Wired.com

Nigella Lawson's former assistant Francesca Grillo denies being fantasist | UK news | theguardian.com - Italian rejects prosecutor's claim she made up allegations about TV cook's cocaine use to avoid conviction for fraud (saga continues)

The Daily Dot - How Tor helped catch the Harvard bomb threat suspect (don't use your schools wifi to send bomb threats)
The Daily Dot - Cybercriminals have figured out a way to steal from the world's richest people - Because asset management staff travel often, a criminal can set up a non-secure Wi-Fi network in an airports and hotels and wait for their mark to log on, and from there send a fraudulent email as the employee asking a bank to transfer some funds.
Public Citizen Press Room - Public Citizen Sues Online Retailer That Damaged Utah Customer’s Credit in Retaliation for Critical Online Review Customer Refused KlearGear.com’s Demand for $3,500 Over Web Posting (Kleargear sucks)
Pirate bay moves from Peru to Guyana, fourth Domain in a week, Domain suspension still continues. ~ Techworm
How to Use Enigmail with GnuPG in Thunderbird | Security In A Box
Between a quarter and a third of everything on the web is copied from somewhere else - Quartz
The 200 top-scoring reddit posts of all time | Visual.ly
Why Reddit's Science Forum Banned Climate Deniers | ThinkProgress

121713
Wave of attacks kill 65 people in Iraq - The Washington Post (and little Tommie Friedman is happy they are still sucking on it)
A Wave of Violence Sweeps Iraq
There's So Much Violence In Iraq The Tragedy Has Become Easy To Ignore
We Broke Iraq And We're Still Paying For The Damage

ICSR Insight: Up to 11,000 foreign fighters in Syria; steep rise among Western Europeans / ICSR - We estimate that the number of fighters from Western Europe ranges from 396 to 1,937. Compared to April, when we provided an estimate of 135 to 590, this represents a threefold increase.
Saudi Arabia Passes Anti-Terror Law, Banning Defamation - criminalizes acts that disturb public order, defame the reputation of the state or threaten the kingdom's unity, raising concerns by activists it could be used to quash political dissent.
Torrent Site Uploader Ordered to Pay $652,000 For Sharing One Movie | TorrentFreak - A moderator and uploader of one of Sweden’s oldest but now defunct private torrent sites has been hit with a huge damages award.
Hiring an Internet Hitman in Russia Is Just Like Ordering Pizza | VICE United Kingdom - A list of sexually violent acts is also advertised, the most graphic being “rape by a gay man, shaved head, over 100kg and loves virgin ass”, which is yours for just $1,000. (+great customer service)
Report accuses BT of supplying backdoors for GCHQ and NSA
Norway´s secret surveillance of Russian politics for the NSA - nyheter - Dagbladet.no
Sexual Harassment PSA Shows What It's Like To Be An Egyptian Woman Every Day

Dispatch from Gitmo: Infamous prison, surreal experience | Al Jazeera America - Up close and personal at U.S. base in Cuba at center of international controversy over detention of 160 inmates
Syracuse Is Fifth City to Pass Anti-Drone Resolution | Let's Try Democracy
Russell Brand banned from Guantánamo Bay | Books | theguardian.com - Funny the US government is so keen to look after Shaker Aamer's wellbeing that despite judging him one of the "most dangerous, best-trained, vicious killers on the face of the earth", they're worried he won't be able to handle a bit of swearing. At least, according to Aamer, that's the reason censors have stopped him reading the second volume of Russell Brand's memoirs, Booky Wook 2. (they really "think" like this, which is the problem)

Snowden Not Renewing Request For Asylum In Brazil, Greenwald Says - Brazil has been one of the most outspoken opponents of NSA spying. Glenn Greenwald says Edward Snowden’s letter to the people of Brazil has been “wildly misreported.”
Tone Deaf NSA Officials Tell Reporter It's Time To Reform The First Amendment | Techdirt - from the how-about-reforming-the-nsa-out-of-existence dept (the right of the NSA to control your speech and so-called journalism will not be abridged)
Tech firms push back against White House efforts to divert NSA meeting | World news | theguardian.com - Administration said meeting would focus on healthcare website • 'We are here to talk about the NSA,' says one tech executive (is he really this stupid? he's killing their business and they want to talk about his website?)

Twitter / YourAnonNews: "I would rather be without ... - a state than without a voice." ~ Edward Snowden
Folha de S.Paulo - Internacional - En - World - An Open Letter to the People of Brazil - 16/12/2013
Snowden's open letter offers to help Brazil look into NSA surveillance - CNN.com
Edward Snowden Pens 'Open Letter' Offering To Help Brazil Investigate U.S. Spying
Edward Snowden Praises Judge's Ruling Against NSA Phone Surveillance Program - “I acted on my belief that the N.S.A.'s mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts,” Snowden said. “Today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans’ rights. It is the first of many.”
Judge's Decision That NSA Program Is Unconstitutional Won't Be The Last Word (Pres Constitutional Scholar flunked the Constitution)
Plotting the Snowden plea bargain | Jack Shafer - The best answer that comes to mind is that Ledgett was authorized to open negotiations with Snowden via “60 Minutes.” ... By offering and withdrawing amnesty on TV, the U.S. government could be playing both Snowden and Russia simultaneously
John Bolton: Edward Snowden 'Ought To Swing From A Tall Oak Tree'
Greenwald: Court ruling vindicates Snowden | MSNBC - The reporter who introduced the world to Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, discusses his opinion of today’s major anti-NSA court ruling.
Glenn Greenwald To Jeffrey Toobin: NSA Ruling Vindicates Edward Snowden (the Toobes is lookin' even more stupid now)
Google Translate

Richard Leon: A Phone Dragnet Is Not a Special Need | emptywheel
The Domino's Hypothetical: Judge Leon vs. the N.S.A. : The New Yorker - cynicism does not give the government a pass when it comes to its constitutional obligations
It’s Not About Snowden -- It’s About Madison - The jig is up for anyone who argues that the Constitution doesn't cover metadata.
The NSA v. the Fourth Amendment - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Ryan Lizza: Why Won’t Obama Rein in the N.S.A.? : The New Yorker - Why won’t the President rein in the intelligence community? (or the bankers, or the military or big content/pharma ...) Wyden estimates that he gets about fifteen minutes a year to ask questions of top intelligence officials at open hearings. (there's oversight for you)
Judge Richard Leon rules the NSA's phone-record collection program probably violates the Fourth Amendment. - If this judge doesn’t buy the legal basis for the NSA’s intrusive phone snooping, no one should.
NSA metadata ruling: Would the authors of the Fourth Amendment have agreed with Edward Snowden? - What the Fourth Amendment originally meant.
Feinstein: NSA phone surveillance 'important' but not 'indispensable' | World news | theguardian.com - Senate intelligence committee chair a staunch ally of NSA • 'I welcome a supreme court review of its constitutionality'
Alan Rusbridger, Jimmy Wales and ex-GCHQ chief debate spying – as it happened | World news | theguardian.com

Does Congress think we're stupid? - Dianne Feinstein and NSA cheerleaders in Congress think they can sneak through a fake NSA reform bill that would give the government even more power to collect, track, monitor, and share information about our daily lives. (DiFucker)
Snowden’s Leaks Have Finally Forced Companies to Enhance Their Security | MIT Technology Review - Revelations about NSA surveillance have prompted Yahoo, Microsoft, and other companies to deploy long-overdue security improvements.

Why Barrett Brown's Trial Matters | Kevin M. Gallagher - It's no accident that the DOJ, which has already been implicated in schemes to go after critical journalists and activists (see: Team Themis), has brought its full force down upon Barrett Brown, overreaching quite dramatically in the process ... Noam Chomsky states that Barrett Brown is being "punished for the crime of taking citizenship seriously." (authoritarian Obama's DOJ is really pathetic)
US Election Federal Commission suffers breach by Chinese hackers at the time of Government shut down. ~ Techworm (China will decide your next election)
Recent hacks against US election watchdog seen as 'worst' in its history | The Verge

A Glitter-Covered Banner Got These Protesters Arrested for Staging a Bioterror Hoax | Mother Jones - Energy giants have lobbied police to treat environmental activists like potential terrorists. Looks like it's working (more cop/corp-state America psychosis)

How hackers made minced meat of Department of Energy networks | Ars Technica - Hint: Some critical security patches not installed for years.
Everybody is under an Eye: Check which govt. agency spying on you - Hackers News Bulletin
Customs Asked to Leak Kim Dotcom Secrets to FBI for “Brownie Points” | TorrentFreak - The scandal follows on from last week’s news that Dotcom is still being spied on. (US government is a real asshole)
The Daily Dot - AT&T patents tech that can block copyright pirates in real-time
Acxiom, the Quiet Giant of Consumer Database Marketing - NYTimes.com - IT knows who you are. It knows where you live. It knows what you do. (and it isn't the NSA)

Exclusive: How DC police use citizens as spies | Al Jazeera America - Al Jazeera investigates shadowy surveillance technology revealed in correspondence between law enforcement and TrapWire
Metropolitan Police Department's suspicious photo report (Trapwire)
Harvard Student Charged In Bomb Hoax « CBS Boston - Kim was scheduled to take a final exam at 9 a.m. in Emerson Hall. According to investigators, when he heard the alarms go off, “he knew his plan had worked.” (except for the whole email part)

China Bans Payment Companies From Clearing Bitcoin, News Says - Bloomberg
Dogecoin Brings the Cryptocurrency Craze to Its Logical Conclusion | Motherboard - “Is this supposed to be retarded on purpose?” wondered a confused onlooker on the BitcoinTalk forums.
Denmark makes it LEGAL to establish Bitcoin Exchanges - Cryptocurrency News, Bitcoin Trading Analysis | Cryptocurrency News, Bitcoin Trading Analysis

The fall of the house of Tsarnaev — The Boston Globe

New York Affirms The Protection of Confidential Sources : The New Yorker
Jana Winter's victory : Columbia Journalism Review

We Are Not All in This Together - NYTimes.com - The Obama administration has done little to push back directly against the rise of inequality ... If you’re an average American, you don’t see this at all. It’s been more than 30 years, and you’ve barely seen a drop trickle down. (the rich won)
Conservative Wonks, Conservative Politicians, and Recessions - NYTimes.com - the conservative inability to deal in any meaningful way with the reality of recessions

Pope Francis Cleans House - Your More Than Occasional Pope - Esquire - "He is saying that you don't need to be a conservative to become a bishop,"
James Carroll: A Radical Pope’s First Year : The New Yorker - A radical Pope’s first year.
Cardinal Raymond Burke Replaced In Congregation Of Bishops As Pope Francis Reforms Continue
CARD+RAYMOND+BURKE+5.JPG (far rightwing Bishop fired by Francis)

America’s angriest white men: Up close with racism, rage and Southern supremacy - Salon.com - Up close with small-town white rage, with bitter, scary men who feel left behind by economic and cultural change (gotta blame somebody for their racism and stupidity)

Haters gonna hate. But they plan to vote Republican.
Journalists, White House Agree To Work Towards Expanding Access To Obama - expanding access to President Barack Obama's public duties to give news photographers a less restricted view of the president at work. (they became what they didn't want you to behold)
Yet Another Poll Shows People Hate Journalists (slightly better than lawyers for print, worse for TV reporters)
Cable News Had A Rough 2013 - Fox News Channel averaged 1.774 million viewers in primetime (down 13% from 2012) and 297,000 adults 25-54 (down 30%). (three more years = 0 kids watching)

Pew Study Makes More Conservative Voters: Ross Douthat Column | New Republic - The impulses behind social conservatism often stem from a desire to control the sex lives of women. (It is surely not a coincidence that nearly every conservative religious tradition places a disturbing amount of emphasis on women's sexuality.)
David Brooks' scant self-awareness: Divorced pundit suddenly not so worried about family breakdown. - This morning, David Brooks published an enigmatic column titled “The Thought Leader” that basically offers a satirical recounting of the life and times of a member of America’s opinion elite
David Brooks Thought Leader Column - Was It Something We Said? - Esquire

eaturbrainz comments on That Kelly was disturbed by the possibility of Santa being any other color than white is part of the disturbance many white Americans feel in a country where demographic changes mean that white is no longer the norm
Urban Outfitters Ganesh Socks Upset Hindu Community - "Lord Ganesh was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be wrapped around one's foot," the statement reads.

'Huckabee Post' to be Launched by Mike Huckabee, Former Arkansas Governor - David Huckabee said that the Post is a “natural extension and expansion” of the commentary that Mike Huckabee already does online and on other outlets such as his radio show and Fox News. (which flopped)
Chris Christie Polls - Chris Christie Meets His Future - Esquire - At first, Big Chicken tried to bluster his way past the affair. Then people found it necessary to resign. It was either an astonishingly petty, or an astonishingly stupid, act. There is no third alternative. (The "traffic study" alibi was laughable.)

SEC, Get Money Out of Politics | EcoWatch - Even with all of this backing, SEC Chairman Mary Jo White removed the rule from the committee’s formal long-term agenda. Unbelievable. It appears that special interests groups like the Chamber of Commerce, who desperately want to keep their billions flowing in the dark, won another round because they bet on a cynical public not engaging. (got record-breaking 700K positve comments in support; another business-friendly Obama appointee buried reform)

Charles Saatchi threatened to hunt and destroy me, housekeeper tells court | UK news | theguardian.com - Francesca Grillo tells fraud trial that multimillionaire said he would humiliate her when he confronted her with allegations
Two people jailed for a month while their soap was tested for drugs - Boing Boing - Annadel Cruz and Alexander Bernstein spent one month in a Pennsylvania jail while their soap was tested for cocaine. They were released when the laboratory test results revealed the soap to be free of illegal drugs.

Cancer Patient Robert Chambers Kicked Out Of Morton's Steakhouse For Wearing Beanie - Other guests dining with Chambers said he tried explain his medical situation to the manager, who allegedly said that the gentleman should bring a doctor's note or call ahead so that he could be seated in a private dining area, Fox17.com reported ... the entire group was asked to leave, and that Morton's called the police, according to Newser.
Photographer Documents Her Parents' Struggle With Illness In 'Cancer Family'

Human Hand Fossil Suggests Complex Tool-Making Began Far Earlier Than Thought - The discovery of a 1.4-million-year-old hand-bone fossil reveals that the modern human ability to make and use complex tools may have originated far earlier than scientists previously thought, researchers say.

Against 'Long-Form Journalism' - James Bennet - The Atlantic - When it comes to great magazine writing, what’s in a name? (books are long)
Vatican, Oxford put ancient manuscripts online - Technology & Science - CBC News

Why You Should Date Taller Women (And Women Should Date Shorter Men) - Esquire - The average woman is eight percent shorter than her male partner. Women over six feet receive forty percent fewer messages on OkCupid than their 5’4” counterparts

Twitter: Here Are The Most Popular Tweets of 2013 - Forbes
45 of the most powerful images of 2013. - Imgur

? Grandma Got Phished by a Hacker - YouTube

Was 2013 the year anonymity died on the Internet? - 10,000 Words
Comments on News Stories | The Transition to Digital Journalism | kdmcBerkeley
Want to comment on HuffPost? Just give Facebook your phone number first | Poynter.
Facebook testing video advertisements | abc7news.com - MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Facebook said Tuesday that it's testing video advertisements that show up in its users' news feeds, creating another potential source of advertising revenue for the social network.
YouTube Unleashes Strange Storm Of Copyright Claims On Video Game Content Producers - Forbes
The end of the Facebook era - Studies show that the number of teens active on Facebook has declined as much as 16% in Q3 of 2013. This foreshadows the inevitable exodus to the next generation of social networks. (Failbook)
This Week in Review: Facebook’s viral content crackdown, and the NSA’s cookie grab » Nieman Journalism Lab - Facebook wants its News Feed to be (a tightly crafted “personalized newspaper” of useful information) and what its users want out of its News Feed (a lighter, more junk-foody stream of whatever’s popular at the moment).
Everyone wants to be the one messaging app that rules them all — but there’s no such thing, and never will be — Tech News and Analysis
The Daily Dot - Got sender's remorse? Instagram will let you delete photo messages

Five free Firefox add-ons for the security conscious user - TechRepublic

121613
UN launches $6.5bn Syria appeal | World news | theguardian.com - United Nations warns that nearly three-quarters of country's population will need humanitarian support in 2014
North Korea erases Jang Song-thaek from web archives | World news | theguardian.com - Thousands of references to Kim Jong-un's uncle removed from online media reports since last week's execution
Israeli troops shoot two Lebanese soldiers in border skirmish | World news | theguardian.com - Shooting took place hours after Israeli soldier was killed by Lebanese sniper on Sunday
South Sudan president says military has foiled coup | World news | theguardian.com - Salva Kiir accuses former vice-president Riek Machar of orchestrating attempted coup with group of soldiers
Egyptian man faces questioning after son is jailed for having pro-Morsi ruler | World news | theguardian.com - Mohamed Bakara is investigated for allegedly inciting 15-year-old son to carry subversive piece of stationery
'MI6 agent' was spying on Iran oil shipping, officials claim - Iranian man arrested on charges of spying for British intelligence was passing on information on shipping operations to help impose sanctions, parliamentarians told
Neo-Nazis attack anti-racism demonstrators in Sweden - CNN.com
Saudi political activist sentenced to 300 lashes, 4 years in prison, rights group says - World News

War On Democracy: Spain And Japan Move To Criminalize Protests | Zero Hedge - Citizens’ Security Law (doublethink)
This is what happens when you outlaw peaceful protest | ROAR Magazine

The 'fake' Mandela memorial interpreter said it all | Slavoj Žižek | Comment is free | The Guardian - He claimed an 'attack of schizophrenia' rendered his signing unintelligible, but his performance translated an underlying truth - Jantjie's performance was not meaningless – precisely because it delivered no particular meaning (the gestures were meaningless), it directly rendered meaning as such – the pretence of meaning

Imperialist Traitor COCKS Condemned

Fighting terror with terror - Opinion - Al Jazeera English - Despite its rhetoric, the US government continues to disregard the loss of civilian lives in drone strikes.
Yemen parliament bans drone attacks: News agency - Region - World - Ahram Online

Pope’s crackdown on order that celebrates old Latin Mass riles traditionalist Catholics - The Globe and Mail - Volpi though was undeterred: He sent their founder, the Rev. Stefano Maria Manelli, to live in a religious home while he set about turning the order around. (this is how it's done)

Two Guantánamo prisoners transferred to Saudi Arabia | World news | theguardian.com - Saad Muhammad Husayn Qahtani, 35, and Hamood Abdulla Hamood, 48, transferred 'to the custody of their own government'

Japanese business confidence hits six-year high, Tankan survey shows | Business | theguardian.com - Fourth straight quarter of improvement as companies benefit from robust domestic demand and weak yen

BBC payoffs damaged its reputation, say MPs | Media | The Guardian - Public accounts committee accuses the BBC Trust of 'sitting on its hands' while the payoffs were being made
Angelina Jolie may testify in News Corp phone hacking case | Media | theguardian.com - Angelina Jolie may be called to give evidence in a phone hacking legal action in the United States, according to a report in the Hollywood Reporter.

Harvard evacuates students after reports of bomb threat | Education | theguardian.com - No reported explosions and no explosives detected but university makes evacuations 'out of an abundance of caution'
Leaked! Harvard’s Grading Rubric - NYTimes.com - A longtime government professor at Harvard lashed out Tuesday at what he deemed a system of rampant grade inflation after learning that students are receiving mainly A’s. (your snowflake deserves nothing less)

Federal Judge Rules Against N.S.A. Phone Data Program - NYTimes.com - In a 68-page ruling, Judge Richard J. Leon of the District of Columbia called the program’s technology “almost Orwellian” and suggested that James Madison, the author of the Constitution, would be “aghast” to learn that the government was encroaching on liberty in such a way.
NSA Surveillance Court Ruling - The Snowden Effect Continued, Part Deux - Esquire - A federal judge this afternoon said that a great number of people owe apologies to Edward Snowden, International Man Of Luggage. Glenn Greenwald was crowing a bit about it on MSNBC this afternoon. He's earned that right ... Privacy is central to who we were, and to who we are, as a democratic self-governing people If it is obsolete then, frankly, so are we.
Judge: NSA phone program likely unconstitutional - Josh Gerstein - POLITICO.com
DC District Court Rules NSA Surveillance Unconstitutional. Program will Continue Pending Appeal. | Nullify NSA!Nullify NSA!
obamansa.pdf - Klayman vs Obama)
Twitter / trevortimm: As far as I know, Snowden is ... - the first person charged under the Espionage Act for revealing something a court later ruled unconstitutional.
NSA Phone Program Likely Unconstitutional, Federal Judge Rules - Congress "may not hang a cloak of secrecy over the Constitution." (that's not what our "Constitutional scholar" said)

Matt Apuzzo, AP Reporter Behind CIA Scoop, Calls Out U.S. Government - "I'd like to see the government talk a little bit less about the AP and little more about Bob Levinson," Apuzzo said on CNN's "Reliable Sources" Sunday.
Dissecting the CIA's Lost Spy Scandal, Its Biggest Since 9/11 | Motherboard - " McCain said on CNN's "State of the Union." "If that's true, then you put this on top of things that our intelligence committees didn't know about other activities, which have been revealed by (NSA leaker Edward) Snowden -- maybe it means that we should be examining the oversight role of Congress over our different intelligence agencies."
Tone-Deaf at the Listening Post
Obama Meeting With Tech CEOs Amid NSA Surveillance Concerns
Slobberknockered - POLITICO Magazine - How a toothless bureaucratic commission went all Snowden on the NSA.
2013 Was An Insane, Important Year For The Media - Time and again, people in 2013 grappled with the fact that governments in multiple countries seemed willing to intervene in journalism in startling ways. They were also reminded, if they needed it, of the power and value of journalism itself.

Encrypt the Web Report: Who's Doing What | Electronic Frontier Foundation

An NSA Coworker Remembers The Real Edward Snowden: 'A Genius Among Geniuses' - Forbes - Perhaps Edward Snowden’s hoodie should have raised suspicions. (he wore an EFF hoodie to work)
Keith Alexander, Rick Ledgett Discuss Amnesty For Edward Snowden - To an adversary, Ledgett said, "It is the keys to the kingdom."
NSA officials consider Edward Snowden amnesty in return for documents | World news | The Guardian - Key official tells CBS 'it's worth having a conversation' • State Department and other key figures oppose deal
Snowden Effect On 60 Minutes - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - it is not unreasonable to assume that Snowden still has some fairy astonishing revelations stashed in the chiffarobe there in his dacha. Of course, really smart people knew this was going on all along, so what should the rest of us care, right?

The Sad Decline of ‘60 Minutes’ Continues With This Week’s NSA Whitewash | The Nation
'60 Minutes' Trashed For NSA Piece - The piece was fronted by reporter John Miller, who had to tell viewers this at the top of the segment: "Full disclosure: I once worked in the office of the director of National Intelligence, where I saw firsthand how secretly the NSA operates. (objectivity)
CBS newsman Miller to rejoin Bill Bratton at NYPD | Page Six
Don't Believe a Word of Last Night's 60 Minutes NSA Interview
Don't be fooled by the 60 Minutes report on the NSA | The Verge
The Four Questions '60 Minutes' Forgot To Ask The NSA | ThinkProgress
Seven Crucial Questions That '60 Minutes' Failed to Ask the NSA | Motherboard
NSA speaks out on Snowden, spying - CBS News - The following is a script from "Inside the NSA" which aired on Dec. 15, 2013. John Miller is the correspondent. Ira Rosen and Gabrielle Schonder, producers.

60 Minutes Betters Their Benghazi Debacle: Pirates Ahoy! and Chinese Global Suicide Bombers | emptywheel - That China was effectively going to set off a global suicide bomb. Strap on the economy in a cyber-suicide vest and … KABOOOOOOOM! And the NSA heroically thwarted that attack. That’s what they want us to believe and some people who call themselves reporters are reporting as fact. (down the crazy-hole with the NSA and their propaganda sources)
NSA goes on 60 Minutes: the definitive facts behind CBS's flawed report | World news | theguardian.com - Among the more eye-opening claims made by NSA is that it detected what CBS terms the “BIOS Plot” – an attempt by China to launch malicious code in the guise of a firmware update that would have targeted computers apparently linked to the US financial system, rendering them pieces of junk. (media don't question whether this is even possible)

CALL-ArabCulture.pdf - Arab Culture Condensed to 15 Slides (
Dead Prez Member Mike Flo Kicked off Plane bc of 'Suspicious' face Tattoos - Hip-Hop and Politics

The Daily Dot - Cyberwar in the Deep Web as Silk Road clones vie for supremacy
JPMorgan's "Bitcoin-Alternative" Patent Rejected (175 Times) | Zero Hedge - patent applications of existing inventions need to be finally rejected and not be resurrected as zombies (no matter how powerful the claimant).
Bitcoin Inventor Satoshi Nakamoto is Anonymous-style Cell from Europe - IBTimes UK - Expert says a group, with strong footing in financial sector, could be behind Bitcoin phenomenon
Tormarket Hacked – Database Leaked By… Dread Pirate Roberts | Deep Dot Web - Following our previous report regarding the mutual DDOS attacks of the darknet markets, the situation has just escalated to a full marketplace Cyberwar as Dread Pirate Roberts posted a proof showing that he has the database of the competing market TOR marketplace
The Daily Dot - I bought fake job references on the Internet—and it worked - The scale of the operation and the attention to detail was impressive. The company has created a Kafka-like labyrinth for recruiters to navigate through, all seemingly purposeful on the surface (you can buy a fake life on the internets)
Italian Authorities Sign Off on Local SOPA, Adopt New Anti-Piracy Measures - The system is quite similar to the one set in place in Russia earlier this year.
The Daily Dot - Man who joined Anonymous DDoS attack for '1 minute' fined $183,000 - distributed denial-of-service attack organized by hacker collective Anonymous against the webpage of Koch Industries in 2011. (that sounds just)

Take that, Paul Ryan! Elizabeth Warren beats back Social Security plot - Salon.com - The years-long campaign to slash Social Security benefits has finally met its match - The Overton Window tends to be positioned by the owners and bureaucrats of the major media, who tend to share an elite consensus with politicians and the donors who fund them. (+Atrios)
Why Inequality Matters - NYTimes.com

Soon, Obamacare Will Get the Blame For Your Kid's Acne | Mother Jones - Obamacare has been a boon for employers and insurers who want to cut back their health benefits but don't want to take the blame for it. They just blame Obamacare instead.

Our sick gun fetish is destroying us: Tea Party fantasies kill kids - Salon.com - Newtown and Arapahoe shootings keep happening because there's big money in guns -- and outdated myths we must end - Much of the rest of the country is still living out the pioneer fantasy forged in the 1800s – and that fantasy is still fulfilling the same economic purpose: to distract them from the true imbalances in power that rob them of agency and economic power.
Hack List No. 9: Thomas Friedman - Salon.com - Our annual list is here! This time, we channeled each hack's unique voice -- and let them "write" their own entries
Lara Logan to return to '60 Minutes' - POLITICO.com

Shorter Texas: We Welcome Another Fertilizer Plant Explosion - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - There is still no state fire code, reporting requirements, etc. For Texas Republicans, enormous explosions that wipe out half a town are easily worth the price of being seen as “pro-business.” For that matter, it’s worth noting that the actual meaning of “pro-business” is “allowing corporations to do whatever they want to local communities.”
Secret Inside BofA Office of CEO Stymied Needy Homeowners - Bloomberg
Our Most Powerful Weapon Against Wall Street? The Rise of Reverse Eminent Domain | Alternet - Richmond, California is facing the full brunt of the housing collapse. The average value of its homes has declined by 50 percent. Foreclosures and vacant houses blot its neighborhoods. The costs of policing and collecting garbage from vacant homes has increased. It was time to take action.

Police Harassment In Louisiana May Be Increasing The Number Of People Dying From AIDS | ThinkProgress - That’s created a culture where some New Orleans residents are risking HIV transmission rather than risking getting caught with condoms.
Sheriffs Refuse to Enforce Laws on Gun Control - NYTimes.com - “Our way of life means nothing to these politicians, and our interests are not being promoted in the legislative halls of Sacramento or Washington, D.C.,” said Jon E. Lopey, the sheriff of Siskiyou County, Calif. ("our way of life" = 30 round magazines)

Chicago’s ‘Smart Card’ Debacle and Privatisation | The Nation - The contract to replace Chicago’s fare payment system was awarded to the publicly traded corporation Cubic in 2011 by the previous mayor, Richard M. Daley, for $454 million, and implemented with alacrity by the current mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Jameis Winston's Heisman win dogged by fallout from sexual assault case | Sport | theguardian.com - FSU quarterback says: 'I knew I did nothing wrong' • NY Daily News: 'This was both the right and wrong choice'
What R. Kelly Teaches Us About How Sexual Predators Choose And Silence Their Victims | ThinkProgress

Serotonin deficiency may not cause depression after all - Salon.com - New research may lead to a more direct and effective treatment than common SSRIs

Pay for U.S. College Presidents Continues to Grow - NYTimes.com - The three top earners were Robert J. Zimmer, University of Chicago ($3,358,723); Joseph E. Aoun, Northeastern University ($3,121,864); and Dennis J. Murray, Marist College ($2,688,148). (very special snowflake administrators supported by student debt)
Nobody's Daughter, by Ross Douthat
In ‘Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.,’ Women Flummox a Writer - NYTimes.com - In ‘Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.,’ Women Flummox a Writer

Brilliant crow makes a sled out of mayonnaise lid, has more fun than you’ve had all winter | Death and Taxes
? How attached cats are to their owners? - YouTube - Cats view the owner as a provider of resources. (cats don't have insecure attachment)
The mysterious origns of cat domestication in China -- Science & Technology -- Sott.net

Amazon takes away access to purchased Christmas movie during Christmas - Boing Boing ("buying" no longer works)
Google will not answer to British court over UK privacy claim | World news | The Guardian - Search giant insists lawsuit concerning UK internet users' privacy should be brought in California where it is based
Exclusive: Twitter working on “edit” feature for tweets | The Desk

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CIA officials' testimony sheds light on Benghazi consulate attack | World news | theguardian.com - Congress probes allegation CIA told to 'stand down' • Private testimony bolsters White House denial of cover-up

The Budget Deal Is a Big Win for the Pentagon | Mother Jones (military is a cancer on the body-politic)
Mapping the Blind Spots: Developer Unearths Secret U.S. Military Bases (they don't want you to look at a hole in reality)

There's Still A Lot We Don't Know About Obama's Targeted Killing Program - Business Insider - In a speech, Obama vowed that the U.S. would only use force against a "continuing and imminent threat to the American people." (like that wedding convoy in Yemen)

Stratfor, a.k.a 'Shadow CIA,' Had Contracts With 13 Federal Departments: WikiLeaks
20,000 porn-watchers' addresses mistakenly released in German court: lawyer - World News - About 20,000 people who watched pornography on a U.S.-based website have had their names and addresses mistakenly released by a court and are now being ordered to pay fines, a lawyer said Friday.
Snowden still retains access to 1.5 million NSA secret documents - NSA - Hackers News Bulletin

Inside the Saudi 9/11 coverup | New York Post - But the White House never let it see an entire section of Congress’ investigative report on 9/11 dealing with “specific sources of foreign support” for the 19 hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudi nationals.

Scientists Turn Their Gaze Toward Tiny Threats to Great Lakes - NYTimes.com - More recently, the question of smaller bits has gained attention, because plastics degrade so slowly and become coated with poisons in the water like the cancer-causing chemicals known as PCBs.

Tar Sands Protesters Charged With Felony For Releasing Glitter | Crooks and Liars - Two of the protesters have been arrested and charged with "Terrorism Hoax," a state felony which can carry a ten year prison sentence. (nothing says terror and chemical weapons like glitter; judge them by their huge overreaction to dissent)

Since Newtown, 127 Children Have Been Killed by Guns in Their Own Homes | Mother Jones - The NRA says arming adults will make kids safer. Our investigation shows why that's dead wrong. - Their average age was 6.
At Least 194 Children Have Been Shot to Death Since Newtown | Mother Jones - The NRA says arming more adults will protect kids—but most are killed at home, our investigation shows, often with unsecured guns.
Good Guys With Guns, and 194 More Dead Children - Lawyers, Guns & Money : And worse, in “accidental” cases, adults are rarely held responsible:

The Selling of Attention Deficit Disorder - NYTimes.com - The Number of Diagnoses Soared Amid a 20-Year Drug Marketing Campaign
A medical collision with a child in the middle - Metro - The Boston Globe
15 Yr Old Girl Locked in Psych Ward 10 Months Against Doctors' and Parents' Wishes -- Boston Globe : news
15yr Old Girl With Flu Locked in Boston Children's Hospital Psych Ward For Nine Months : news

Police Zip Tie 5 Year Old And Charge Him With Battery On Officer - Liberty Crier (terrorist babies dept)

Nick1693 comments on 1938 Cost of Living

New Mexico teacher disciplined for 'Santa is white' remark - El Paso Times - "Don't you know Santa Clause is white? Why are you wearing that?" (Megyn Kelly)

‘The Nostalgia Factory: Memory, Time and Ageing’ by Douwe Draaisma - The Washington Post
True story: Not everyone lies frequently - Many liars prove honest in their dishonesty - many people are honest most of the time, that many are honest about their lying, and that some lie a lot.

What Online Communities Can Learn From Twitter's 'Block' Blunder | Wired.com (seems incredibly stupid)
Derek Powazek - The Argument Machine - I’m not saying that Twitter was designed to create arguments. I’m just saying that, if you set out to create an Argument Machine, it’d come out looking a lot like Twitter. (yeah, but there's this free speech thing)
AT&T Invents New Technology to Detect and Ban Filesharing | TorrentFreak - k. Based on a network activity score users are assigned to a so-called “risk class,” and as a result alleged pirates may have their access to file-sharing sites blocked. Whether AT&T has plans to implement the technology in the real world remains unknown.
xs
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China safely lands rover on the moon | Al Jazeera America - The Jade Rover is the first soft landing of a space probe on the moon in four decades
American And Chinese Warships Engage In Bizarre Game Of Chicken - As China goes around claiming vast swaths of territory based on controversial claims, more and more confrontations are going to occur in the waters of Asia
Iran claims to have captured MI6 spy - Iran says it has captured a spy working for British intelligence agency MI6 in the south-eastern city of Kerman. He said the accused was now on trial and had confessed. The nationality of the alleged spy is not yet known.
Nelson Mandela memorial security scandal: 'There were no checks' | WashingtonExaminer.com

Lessons from a Mexican theft | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (next time it will be a dirty bomb)

27 years later, CIA pilot tells of using secret Costa Rican airstrip to traffic guns, cocaine / Costa Rica Newspaper, The Tico Times - They seemed like isolated events unfolding in the chaos of Central America in the 1980s. But now, the pieces of the puzzle are fitting together. (Ronnie thought he was in a movie +of course we should trust the CIA)
The Chilling Geometry of Every US Military Base Seen From Space

Former Pink Floyd frontman sparks fury by comparing Israelis to Nazis | Music | The Observer - Religious leaders react angrily to Roger Waters' latest outspoken attack on treatment of Palestinians - "The parallels with what went on in the 1930s in Germany are so crushingly obvious" (they played the anti-Semitic card)
Gaza flooding drives 40,000 from their homes (Israel makes sure they have no electricity)
Israel 'opens dams' flooding Gaza Strip near Deir al Balah | Maan News Agency
Twitter / GeorgieBC: Oops. Slipped. Cablegate: Israel ... - wanted #Gaza "functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis."

Dear Pres. Obama: Dissent isn't Possible in a Surveillance State | Informed Comment - Greatness has escaped Mr. Obama. He seems content to be the community organizer of the Federal government, asking Congress and Federal officials what they think they need and offering to try to get it for them. That isn’t leadership. His response to the NSA leaks was to announce that the country could now have a discussion of the practices, as though the citizenry could discuss matters being actively hidden from them, on which a sitting senator like Wyden is muzzled. Mr. Obama’s chance at greatness is before him. Most of the abuses are in the executive, over which he largely has control. He could initiate major reforms restoring constitutional liberties. If he does not, he is very unfortunately choosing to play P.W. Botha, not Nelson Mandela.
Twitter / YourAnonNews: Hypocrisy from the White House: (where is his consciousness?)

121013-humanrightsfacts.pdf ACLU: What You Should Know About The U.S. And Human Rights (America sucks in the rights dept)

New York Times Withheld News Of Missing American's CIA Ties For Six Years - Baron also defended the decision to publish the material, telling HuffPost that the Levinson story “contained important revelations about the CIA that deserved ultimately to be disclosed.”
Panetta Revealed Classified Info to Zero Dark Thirty Filmmaker | Washington Free Beacon - Internal review: CIA violated procedure in allowing filmmaker access to award ceremony (leaking gov secret by some people is fine)

NSA reform presidential task force draft recommendations: Don't split the IAD from the agency. - (This recommendation to split up the signals intelligence gathering and information assurance branches of the NSA is separate from the apparently already-dismissed recommendation that the NSA be placed under separate direction from the U.S. Cyber Command.)
How FISA Dockets (Appear To) Work and Why Snowden Likely Got Few or No PayPal Documents | emptywheel - Because Bill Binney made an observation about the high docket number of the phone dragnet order released this year, Sibel Edmonds has decided that Glenn Greenwald is hiding a bunch of Edward Snowden documents to protect Pierre Omidyar showing PayPal cooperated with NSA.
Checkbook Journalism & Leaking to the Highest Bidders (Sibel Edmonds original post on BFP)

The Decentralized Web | Free Press (#1: ditch Google; this can't be good for business)

NSA Can 'Easily' Break Cellphone Encryption, Report Says

Officials Say U.S. May Never Know Extent of Snowden’s Leaks - NYTimes.com - “They’ve spent hundreds and hundreds of man-hours trying to reconstruct everything he has gotten, and they still don’t know all of what he took,” a senior administration official said. “I know that seems crazy, but everything with this is crazy.”
The Government Really Isn’t Sure What Snowden Took | TechCrunch - n recent days, a senior N.S.A. official has told reporters that he believed Mr. Snowden still had access to documents not yet disclosed. ("access" and "disclosed")

MI5 spy on SAS: Spooks spied on high-ranking SAS officers in as part of military secret leak probe - Mirror Online - A team of hand-picked MI5 agents is understood to have monitored phones, computer traffic and watched senior members between 2010 and 11 (spies spying on spies)
If You Argue That the NSA Data Has Not Been Misused, You Must Know Something the NSA Doesn’t — Surveillance State — Medium - In a dramatic failure of quis custodiet ipsos custodes, the NSA has all but admitted it doesn’t really know what Edward Snowden took, or how exactly.
Twitter / Chanders: @zeynep that's a total dodge. ... (Tom Watson was/is very naive)
Canadian Spy Agency Establishes Covert Surveillance Operations Worldwide as Part of NSA Global Spying Apparatus | Global Research
ACLU calls for Massachusetts moratorium on controversial license plate readers | ACLU of Massachusetts

The quest to make encryption accessible to the masses (Wired UK) - It's been two years since Nadim Kobeissi unleashed his user-friendly, feline-themed chat software, Cryptocat. At the time, Kobeissi felt that there wasn't exactly a great deal of enthusiasm for his program. "Two years ago not a lot of people cared," he comments. But times have changed. "Now a lot of people care."

Pirate Bay founder kept as ‘political prisoner’ in solitary — RT News - At the same time, Wikileaks’ Julian Assange has gone so far as to call Gottfrid a political prisoner.

Eschaton: Funemployment Getting Even More Fun - The moochers and takers are finally going to get what they deserve and get no more of the tax money that should be going to Galtian defense contractors.

? House Republicans' 12 Days of Congress - YouTube

The Reasoning of the Utah Opinion Partially Striking Down and Rewriting the State's Bigamy Law | The Volokh ConspiracyThe Volokh Conspiracy (heh, because ... liberty and a Mormon Judge)
Federal Court Strikes Down Criminalization of Polygamy In Utah | jonathan turley

Cops Pretend To Be 11th Graders, Then Arrest 25 Students - The arrests were the result of a semester-long undercover drug sting by a male and female police officer posing as 11th graders, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. (what's wrong with this picture?)
Twitter / YourAnonNews: MT @gptsresistance: Lawyer ... - talked to police, alleged banner droppers are being threatened w "biochemical assault" & "Terrorism Hoax" charges (glitter fell off their banner - terrorist-state America)
Increasing Police Brutality: Americans Killed by Cops Now Outnumber Americans Killed in Iraq War | Global Research (but we're so much safer)
The Horror Every Day: Why Police Brutality Goes Unpunished | Alternet - An investigation into the Houston police department reveals why officers rarely face the consequences of beatings or shootings.
After 30 Years In Prison, Judge Releases Inmate Whose Testimony Was Beaten Out Of Him | ThinkProgress (torture by cop)
Prison guard caught on camera throwing inmate to ground who later died from injuries | Mail Online
Sweden Is Closing Prisons Due to Lack of People to Put In Them (compare and contrast)

Appeals court allows horse slaughterhouses to open - seattlepi.com

Journalists: Stop falling for hoaxes : Columbia Journalism Review - Initially there were only a few viral hoaxes. Now, with the immense popularity of social media, they are happening almost daily.
The Daily Show's jab at Gretchen Morgenson : Columbia Journalism Review - There’s no business reporter anywhere who has done more, week after week, year after year, to expose Wall Street wrongdoing than Gretchen Morgenson. Period. (Daily Show went for yuks)
Megyn Kelly Defends Her Santa Comments, Attacks Critics For 'Race Baiting' (says Malcolm X was white also)
Florida boy says he was barred from speech contest due to critical comments on religion | The Raw Story - A Florida fifth-grader said he was stripped of his blue ribbon and barred from taking part in a speech competition because his essay mentioned harm caused by religion.

Warning signs for school shooters: What parents who own guns should look out for. (Nancy Lanza and Adam were a folie-a-deux)

The shadow genome: why DNA isn't destiny | The Verge - Epigenetics is changing the way scientists look at genetic inheritance

British Library uploads over a million historical images onto Flickr to research and remix | The Verge

Debt and bankruptcy: Great articles about Greece, Detroit, and broke athletes and writers.

Riot in cell blocked 737 | The Raw Story - Matthew Yglesias who actually used to be thoughtful at one time (No, it’s true. Also the Red Hot Chili Peppers used to be interesting years ago – ask your grandparents.. ) but now his posts are like the bastard spawn of some unholy meth-fueled Slate-Buzzfeed-Upworthy threesome. (Tbogg is great)

Google’s Road Map to Global Domination - NYTimes.com (google will photograph everything)
LansdowneStreet comments on Baseball writer goes on /r/redsox and copies comments word for word into her article (ESPN writer caught plagierizing; the internets will out)
Apple Won't Explain Why It's Against Bitcoin | Motherboard - Apple first gave Bitcoin a taste of the cold shoulder in mid-November by removing the Coinbase iOS app from the app store. For the unacquainted (enjoy your authoritarian walled garden)

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These Are The Most Water-Stressed Countries In The World
NASA says ozone hole stabilizing but won't fully recover until 2070 - latimes.com

Downsides for Europe and Ukraine - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com - Is Kiev a key ally to the European Union, or just a potential trading partner and a buffer against Russia?
Today's World Affairs - I Say To Myself What A Wonderful World - Esquire - Stuck between European plutocrats and Russian kleptocrats seems like a terrible position in which to be, and we get another series of lessons that "democracy" is far from humanity's default position. The barricades are going up in Kiev again.

An Inside Look At the Israeli Spy Agency's Secret Kill List - PolicyMic
Palestinian activism grows at US universities - Human Rights - Al Jazeera English - Despite heavy backlashes, academic institutions are increasingly endorsing boycotts against Israel's occupation. (ADL losing control)
At the Mall in Israel, Window Shopping for War Drones | Motherboard
CSEC watchdog muzzled, defanged: Greg Weston - Politics - CBC News - The revelation that a little-known Canadian intelligence operation has been electronically spying on trading partners and other nations around the world, at the request of the U.S. National Security Agency, has critics wondering who's keeping an eye on our spies.
Court of Appeal stays conviction due to ‘torture’ by Toronto police | Toronto Star - “Canadian society cannot tolerate … police officers to beat suspects in order to obtain confessions. Yet, sadly, that is precisely what happened,” ruled the Ontario’s top court in staying Neil Singh’s robbery conviction. (but cops walk)
Female protester pictured kissing policeman accused of sexual assault - Picture of female protester kissing Italian policeman has riled police union
Moroccan Ghosts Hacks Nigerian Ministry of Finance Website over Sahara Dispute – HackRead – Latest Cyber Crime – Information Security – Hacking News
Arctic 30 told they cannot leave Russia | Environment | theguardian.com - Greenpeace repeats call to allow activists and journalist to go home after it emerged Russia's Investigative Committee wrote to one of the 30 saying they are not allowed to leave the country
Pirate Bay Swede suffers Danish prison 'torture' - The Local - The mother of Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, who has been detained in Denmark on hacking charges since November, has slammed Danish prison conditions, claiming the isolation her son faces is "torture".

Brennan Blows Up Another Wedding Party, This Time in Yemen | emptywheel - Did you notice what AP reported the “military official” to have said? From that snippet, we see the claim that it was the drone that made the mistake in targeting, as if we already are employing drones that are capable of autonomous function. (they don't know how not to lie)
Air strike in Yemen kills 15 wedding guests mistaken for al-Qaida – officials | World news | theguardian.com - Security officials report wedding convoy in al-Bayda province hit by strike from what tribal and local sources say was US drone
We Still Don't Know How Many Civilians Have Been Killed by Drones | Motherboard - There have been a number of incidents of drone strikes killing civilians in the months since, and they're all part of the Obama Administration's drone legacy. But now, with yet another tale of innocent people being killed by drones, it's as good a time as ever to revisit a simple fact: We still have no idea how many civilians have been killed by drones. (Obama's favorite thing is killing little brown children to keep you safe)
Attack on Wedding Convoy One of the Worst in History of Drone War in Yemen | The Dissenter

NSA considers amnesty for Snowden if he stops leaks — RT USA
Report: NSA officials may consider amnesty for Snowden if leaks stop | Al Jazeera America - Officials say whistle-blower has 1.5 million more classified documents that he has not yet revealed
Twitter / Thomas_Drake1: Hit piece against #Snowden ... - airing on @60Minutes this Sunday designed to manipulate public opinion against NSA reform

Obama Panel Said to Urge N.S.A. Curbs - NYTimes.com ("curbs" = faint lines on the road)
NSA review to leave spying programs largely unchanged, reports say | World news | theguardian.com - Panel to propose bulk surveillance continue – with some curbs • Adviser calls apparent decision to leave core intact 'shameful'
White House to preserve controversial policy on NSA, Cyber Command leadership - The Washington Post
White House just announced to the world it will reject recommendations of own NSA review board and preserve controversial policies. "The White House is not inclined to impose restraints on the NSA’s activities." : worldnews
The NSA is out of control and must be stopped | The Verge - End the nightmare of mass surveillance now

Yup, John Brennan Rolled DiFi on the Torture Report | emptywheel - You see, he knows DiFi wants to be loved by the spooks she oversees, and they could care less what she thinks of them, so long as they continue to hide the true nature of their organizations. And her desire to be loved by those she oversees makes her an easy mark.
Did DOJ Prosecute Basaaly Moalin Just to Have a Section 215 “Success”? | emptywheel

By cracking cellphone code, NSA has ability to decode private conversations - The Washington Post
2_1.png (how the NSA/Obama spies on you infographic)
The Daily Dot - Did Google autocomplete ruin this man's life? - Back in 2009, government contractor Jeffrey Kantor was browsing online, seeking to make a radio-controlled airplane for his son. He began to type his search into Google: “How do I build a radio-controlled”—[enter autocomplete]—”bomb.” That's right, before Kantor knew it, he had accidentally asked Google how to make an explosive device. And his life would never be the same.
U.S. Government Nastygram Shuts Down One-Man Bitcoin Mint | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com (bullshit "wire fraud")

New York Times Knew Missing American in Iran Was Working for CIA Back in 2007 | The Dissenter - Around six years later, is it troubling that the Times was not going to publish this story unless another outlet did? Was the refusal to publish acceptable?
CIA And Robert Levinson Disappearance - The Strange Case Of Robert Levinson - Esquire - The CIA paid Levinson's family $2.5 million to pre-empt a revealing lawsuit, and the agency rewrote its rules restricting how analysts can work with outsiders. - But Robert Levinson was a spy, and we were told he was something else. The Iranians were the ones telling the truth on this deal. That does not fill me with glee.
Missing CIA operative failed by US government, family says | World news | theguardian.com - Robert Levinson's family to Obama: 'Time to step up' • White House says it cannot comment on CIA revelations

Watchdog Report - ATF uses rogue tactics in storefront stings across nation
Another Nineteen: Investigating Legitimate 9/11 Suspects: Kevin Robert Ryan: 9781489507839: Amazon.com: Books

Intel Contractors Give Millions to Lawmakers Overseeing Government Surveillance | MapLight - Money and Politics - Members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence have received $2.2 million since January 1, 2005 from top intelligence services contractors, while members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence have received $1.5 million.
Retailers Go High-Tech To Track Shoppers « CBS New York - a growing number of stores are using discrete and sophisticated technology — including mannequins with facial-recognition cameras hidden in their eyes
NSA caught red-handed in Google’s cookie jar: How to opt-out | Privacy SOS
How Much Should We Trust Government? - WhoWhatWhy - An academic warns us that we have reason not to automatically trust the government—but cannot make the larger leap. He describes most abuses as moderate, and the worst ones as long past (Schneier +Russell Baker in comments)

NO Fast Track on Trans Pacific Partnership Job Killer - YouTube

President Obama turns left - Edward-Isaac Dovere - politico.com
Sharon Bowen: The Wall Street Lawyer President Obama Wants to Appoint | New Republic (Obama turns right)

New York Court Won’t Order Fox Reporter to Testify, Shoring Up State Shield Law - NYTimes.com - In unusually strong language, the New York Court of Appeals wrote, “There is no principle more fundamental or well-established than the right of a reporter to refuse to divulge a confidential source.”
Stop and frisk a dilemma for Bratton as NYPD head - Western Massachusetts Breaking News and First Warning Weather with WGGB.com ABC 40 - Further complicating matters for Bratton is that one of stop-and-frisk’s most vocal critics, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, is the man who is giving Bratton a second shot at running the nation’s largest police force.

Here's A Look At All The Gun Control Laws Congress Has Passed Since Newtown
Shame On DC: Americans Speak Out Against Washington's Inaction On Gun Control
Shooting at Arapahoe High School, 1 reported in serious condition, suspected gunman dead - The Denver Post - A student who carried a shotgun into Arapahoe High School and asked where to find a specific teacher opened fire on Friday, wounding two fellow students before apparently killing himself, Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said.

$2.75 an Hour?! The Shocking Secret of Goodwill | Alternet - Goodwill CEOs make over $400,000 a year. But some of its disabled employees are paid less than $3 an hour. (Wallmart of charities)
Professors to Grad Students: Focus on Studies, Not Wages | The Nation
Democratic Candidate Paid Herself Handsomely Out Of Own Charity - The charity, Women's Campaign International, aims to get women into leadership and politics around the world, and has been a central part of Margolies' work since her first term as a Pennsylvania congresswoman ended in 1995

War on Christmas - S#@t's Getting Weird Edition - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 12/12/13 - Video Clip | Comedy Central - Gretchen Carlson issues a manger danger warning, and Megyn Kelly defends Santa Claus's historically-based Caucasian bona fides.

TSA 'Security Fee' Expected To Double Next Year, Current Level Of Ineptness To Remain Unchanged | Techdirt - from the rights-to-be-violated-twice-as-effectively-in-fiscal-2014 dept

National Police Misconduct NewsFeed Daily Recap 12-12-13 | PoliceMisconduct.net
Columbus Police Officer Admits To Child Porn Charges | WBNS-10TV Columbus, Ohio
Minnesota Woman Loses Her License For Driving Drunk To Flee Her Abusive Husband | ThinkProgress
US guards 'did nothing' to stop adult prisoners from raping juveniles — RT USA
KC cop threatened to destroy home and kill pets unless he was allowed to conduct a warrantless search - Boing Boing
TeamBerserk hacktivists use US judge’s credit card to buy sex toys for him | Naked Security
Freelance Photographer Sues NYPD For Arresting Him During Stop-And-Frisk Shoot: Gothamist

Steubenville school workers plead not guilty to charges related to rape case | World news | theguardian.com - Charges allege officials tried to thwart investigation • Town's top school official Michael McVey among those charged

Who Owns the Code of Life? by Peter W. Huber, City Journal Autumn 2013 - Washington control of genetic data would send us down the road to medical serfdom.

Nigella Lawson lied to court, fraud defendant claims | UK news | The Guardian - Elisabetta Grillo tells court her former employers lied under oath, and says TV cook let children smoke marijuana

The 10 Best Memes of 2013 | Underwire | Wired.com
Reverting the changes to block functionality | Twitter Blogs (the twitter thing backs down)
Google Removes Vital Privacy Feature From Android, Claiming Its Release Was Accidental | Electronic Frontier Foundation - can confirm that the App Ops privacy feature that we were excited about yesterday is in fact now gone.
AT&T Whines About Sharing Utility Poles With Google Fiber | DSLReports, ISP Information - The city of Austin owns about 80% of the city's telephone poles, and AT&T owns the other 20%. Austin appears well within their right-of-way rights to require AT&T share their poles, and Google says they're happy to pay. At the same time, AT&T appears well within their rights to argue Google technically isn't a telecom company, and therefore that under current laws AT&T doesn't have to share their poles: (because "telecom" means "phone company")

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Study: Dead sea creatures covered 98% of seafloor last year about 150 miles off California coast; Unprecedented, had been below 1% prior to event — ‘Major’ changes began in spring 2011 (oceans are dying)

North Korea media reports Kim Jong Un's uncle has been executed (UPDATED) | GlobalPost - Unconfirmed news reports vary in saying that one Jang associate — or two individuals — fled to China carrying potentially damaging information including details of the North Korean nuclear program and account books for Kim’s slush funds, used for his and his family’s luxury purchases and for buying luxury gifts to pay off military and civilian officials for their loyalty.
Guantanamo commander supports closing facility | Al Jazeera America - Admiral's statement follows Obama's public call to shutter the military detention center in Cuba
Missing American in Iran was on unapproved mission
NCIS agent implicated in Navy’s ‘Fat Leonard’ scandal to plead guilty - The Washington Post - A senior law enforcement agent accused of taking bribes in a Navy corruption scandal has agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with investigators, a major break in a case that has ensnared half a dozen Navy officers and threatens to tar more.
Insight - Sweden rethinks pioneering school reforms, private equity under fire - swissinfo.ch - This year's demise of JB Education, owned by Danish private equity firm Axcel, was the biggest, but not the only bankruptcy in Sweden's reformed education sector. (call Michelle Rhee)
Promise of naked pictures of Carla Bruni was used as bait to break into computers at G20 summit in Paris - The Independent (they all clicked on it)
MP staffers forced to sign lifelong gag orders to get raises - The Globe and Mail
Cyber command's psychological warfare unit under probe over smear campaign (this one got a little sloppy)
Ukraine: The Untold Story – Far-Right Connections of Pro-EU Faction | Global Research

In US Drone Attack, Wedding Convoy Is Mistaken for an al Qaeda Convoy; At Least 15 Killed | The Dissenter - : It is now being reported by Reuters that a wedding convoy was mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy in a drone attack that killed fifteen people. (Obama is STILL shooting up wedding parties)
Air strike kills 15 civilians in Yemen by mistake: Fifteen people on their way to a wedding in Yemen were killed in an air strike after their party was mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy : worldnews
Pope attacks mega-salaries and wealth gap in peace message | Reuters

Gitmo media blackout hopes to undermine hunger strikers | Al Jazeera America - Official at detention facility tells Al Jazeera new policy aims to curb favorable attention for prisoners' campaign

NSA director says your phone records are ‘vital to national security’
Consumer Groups Want AT&T Punished For Selling User Data to CIA | DSLReports, ISP Information
The Other Surveillance, Security, and Police Powers: Corporate and FBI | MyFDL

The Daily Dot - Edward Snowden may be the star witness in EU's NSA inquiry
Digital Rights Ireland European Court ruling condemns mass surveillance » Digital Rights Ireland
Time Criticized For Choosing Pope Francis Over Edward Snowden As Person Of The Year
Cypherpunk rising: WikiLeaks, encryption, and the coming surveillance dystopia | The Verge - . A few days later I found myself at the feet of Eric Hughes — who, along with John Gilmore and Tim May, is considered one of the founders of the cypherpunk movement — getting the total download. (3/7/13 about 1992)

' Pirate Bay Docks in Peru: New System Will Make Domains “Irrelevant” | TorrentFreak
By Privatizing Secrets, Greenwald and Omidyar Are Turning Them Into a Blockbuster | Motherboard - The Glenn Greenwald bashing taking place in certain corners of the media is nothing short of ferocious
Greenwald's Twitter War Over PayPal-NSA Allegations | MyFDL
TwitLonger — When you talk too much for Twitter

Backpacker stripped of tech gear at Auckland Airport - National - NZ Herald News - The only possibility of why it occurred was his attendance - and tweeting - of a London meeting on mass surveillance sparked by the Snowden revelations, he said.
DHS Interrogates NY Times Reporters At Border, Then Denies Having Any Records About Them | Techdirt - from the right,-sure dept

The Pirate Bay's Peruvian Site Is Up | Motherboard
Revealed: The FBI's Internal Guidelines for Warrantless Drone Surveillance | Motherboard (says Fourth Amendment not applicable)

Federal Pipeline Safety Agency Approves Startup of Keystone XL Southern Half | DeSmogBlog

Lamar Alexander top aide Ryan Loskarn arrested on child porn charges - Burgess Everett and John Bresnahan - politico.com (child abuse porn)
Washington Post Megyn Kelly Profile - Megyn Kelly Gets The WaPo Treatment - Esquire

Entitled to better reporting : Columbia Journalism Review - With the notable exception of liberal blogger Duncan Black, whose online moniker is Atrios, the media rarely discussed the deeper, related narrative—the looming crisis in retirement income.
Echidne Of The Snakes: Needed: A Different Concept of Infrastructure

Obamacare exposes Republican hypocrisy on health care
Cory Doctorow: If employees’ health plans have to adhere to... - "If employees’ health plans have to adhere to company owners’ religious beliefs, what happens if your boss doesn’t believe in vaccinations? Or as Guardian columnist Jill Filipovic tweeted, “What if your blood transfusions violate your employer’s religious beliefs? No surgery coverage?
Obama’s shutdown critics look like morons after budget deal - Salon.com - Guess what, tired Beltway pundits: Obama's successful leadership from October brought an end to GOP hostage-taking

Tea Party Favorability Falls to Lowest Yet - Fifty-one percent view it unfavorably
Republicans and Tea Party Activists in 'Full Scale Civil War' - ABC News

How gun control is losing, badly (in charts) - Seventy of the enacted laws loosen gun restrictions, while just 39 tighten them. And, though largely symbolic, some 136 bills nullifying federal gun regulations were sponsored in 40 states. (more guns=more killings=more guns=win)

Fla. Millionaire Dad Gets Jail Time For Letting Son, 16, Marry - ABC News - In November 2010, Miami Dade Circuit Court judge Kevin Emas mandated that Dan Rotta enroll Peter in Logan River Academy in Logan, Utah, "an educational institution for teenagers who have behavioral, emotional and educational issues," according to court documents. (Miami judges feed extremely abusive private school for troubled kids)

Michigan 'Rape Insurance' Bill Passes Into Law - “This tells women who were raped … that they should have thought ahead and planned for it,”
Lawsuit accuses MDOC guards of having sex with juveniles, allowing them to be raped | MLive.com
School drops sexual harassment claim against 6-year-old - CNN.com - Amid a tidal wave of negative publicity, a Colorado school system has let a 6-year-old boy return to school and said it won't classify his kissing a girl on the hand as sexual harassment.

Even when test scores go up, some cognitive abilities don’t - MIT News Office - MIT neuroscientists find even high-performing schools don’t influence their students’ abstract reasoning. nstead, the researchers found that educational practices designed to raise knowledge and boost test scores do not improve fluid intelligence.

Ethan Couch Sentenced To Probation In Crash That Killed 4 After Defense Argued He Had 'Affluenza'

Police Who Seized Woman's Phone As 'Evidence' Of Bogus Crime Now Complaining About Criticism | Techdirt (CPD "allows" case to be discussed on social media)
Police say teen shot self in head — while hands cuffed behind back - Salon.com - A strange phenomenon has been occurring in police custody around the U.S., which seems to defy both the laws of physics and the limits of human physiology. Young people of color, handcuffed with their hands bound behind their backs, are able to shoot themselves in the head
Female cops sue police dept for deploying secret surveillance cam in locker room — RT USA

Lesbian Encounters: Scientist Debra Herbenick On Why Girl-On-Girl Action Is On The Rise - Earlier this week, HuffPost Live discussed a recent British study which found that the number of women who claim to have had same-sex encounters has quadrupled over the past 20 years.

Blocking People On Twitter Now Just Mutes Them - Forbes
The Daily Dot - Twitter's new block function poses a major privacy problem - “It’s the digital equivalent of plugging your ears,” writes Kashmir Hill at Forbes.

The Daily Dot - 4chan dupes Mac users with 'secret Bitcoin mining feature' (rm -rf /* ; the stupidity pool is bottomless)
The Daily Dot - This 'fix' for 4chan's Xbox One prank only makes things worse
The Daily Dot - This 4chan user bought a Lamborghini with $200K in Bitcoin
Exploits no more! Firefox 26 blocks all Java plugins by default • The Register - Users can also opt to click "Allow and Remember," which adds the current webpage to an internal whitelist so that Java code on it will run automatically in the future, without further human intervention.
7 Nokia Lumia photography communities you should join today - Nokia Conversations

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Central African Republic conflict – in pictures | World news | theguardian.com - French soldiers are trying to disarm between former rebels and militias who have sown terror in the CAR, especially the capital, Bangui. Rebels known as the Seleka, a mostly Muslim coalition, overthrew the government of the majority Christian nation nine months ago, sparking increasingly bloody sectarian violence

Central African Republic conflict – in pictures | World news | theguardian.com
Russian Supreme Court Declares Pussy Riot Sentence Unlawful | The Interpreter
interview: Jeremy Scahill Accuses US Government Of Executing Bin Laden - 'An Unarmed, Elderly Man' Almost everything that the White House officials told us that happened in the compound that night turned out to be a total fabrication. (Murderer/Liar in Chief)
Ukraine Protest: Riot Police Withdraw After Moving Against Demonstrators Overnight
Ukraine protests: outrage as police attack Kiev barricades | World news | theguardian.com - Unexpected scenes only a few hours after President Viktor Yanukovych pledged restraint to EU foreign policy chief
Twitter / christibelcourt: We know a hypocrite when we see one (Stephen Harper, Conservative)
Of 706 Rape Cases Reported In Delhi In 2012, Only 1 Resulted In Conviction
India Court Homosexuality Ruling: Law Making Gay Sex Crime Will Remain In Effect - a colonial-era law making homosexuality a crime will remain in effect.
Indian LGBT activists outraged as supreme court reinstates gay sex ban | World news | The Guardian - Protesters gather in Delhi to denounce ruling overturning high court's decision in 2009 to decriminalise homosexual relations
Amnesty probe finds Australia breaches asylum laws | Reuters
Norway is digitizing all its books and making them free to read online | The Verge
CIA Document Suggests U.S. Lied About Biological, Chemical Weapon Use in the Korean War | The Dissenter

Obama’s Orwellian Image Control - NYTimes.com - Manifestly undemocratic, in contrast, is the way Mr. Obama’s administration — in hypocritical defiance of the principles of openness and transparency he campaigned on — has systematically tried to bypass the media by releasing a sanitized visual record of his activities through official photographs and videos, at the expense of independent journalistic access. (this is his "image")

NSA chief on spying programs: 'There is no other way to connect the dots' | World news | theguardian.com - Keith Alexander insists bulk data collection stops terror attacks and says he would be 'failing' America if the practice stopped (sorry, you can't have your Constitution)

Former whistleblowers: open letter to intelligence employees after Snowden | Thomas Drake, Daniel Ellsberg, Katharine Gun, Peter Kofod, Ray McGovern, Jesselyn Radack, Coleen Rowley | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Blowing the whistle on powerful factions is not a fun thing to do, but it is the last avenue for truth, balanced debate and democracy
Snowden docs had NYTimes exec fearing for his life - Dec. 9, 2013 - The Times had to quietly sneak hard drives containing the top-secret documents back to its New York headquarters. Pant didn't explain how the newspaper did it but said, "We smuggled it into the country, basically."

Meet Jack. Or, What The Government Could Do With All That Location Data | American Civil Liberties Union
Data-sharing among US law agencies amounts to 'organised chaos' – report | World news | theguardian.com - Report describes lack of oversight and civil liberties violations • Agencies 'risk masking reliable counter-terrorism intelligence'
FRA has access to controversial surveillance system - Uppdrag Granskning | SVT.se
NSA uses Google cookies to pinpoint targets for hacking - The National Security Agency is secretly piggybacking on the tools that enable Internet advertisers to track consumers, using "cookies" and location data to pinpoint targets for government hacking and to bolster surveillance.
Location Tracking: A Pervasive Problem in Modern Technology | Electronic Frontier Foundation
NSA Collects Leaked Location Data from Mobile Apps in Ad-Targeting Efforts | The Dissenter
The NSA Isn’t Evil, It’s Trying To Protect Us, Says PayPal’s Max Levchin | TechCrunch - The NSA is designed to protect us from terrorism, so even if it oversteps its bounds, PayPal co-founder Max Levchin says we shouldn’t hate it. That’s diametrically opposed to the sentiment of many in the tech industry, including Michael Arrington who thinks the NSA’s spying doesn’t stop terrorism — it is terrorism.

Pirate Bay Founder Held in Solitary Confinement Without a Warrant | TorrentFreak - Since his arrival in Denmark to face hacking charges Gottfrid Svartholm has sat in solitary confinement, denied free access to mail and denied access to his books. The situation has outraged Wikileaks’ Julian Assange who says Gottfrid is now a political prisoner.
Kim Dotcom still being spied on - judge - National - NZ Herald News
DDoS Services Advertise Openly, Take PayPal — Krebs on Security (selective prosecution - see PP14)
JPMorgan patents Bitcoin-like payment system - Dec. 10, 2013
“We cannot trust” Intel and Via’s chip-based crypto, FreeBSD developers say | Ars Technica - Following NSA leaks from Snowden, engineers lose faith in hardware randomness.

Greenwald Attacks Time For Person Of The Year Selection: 'A Meaningless Award From A Meaningless Magazine' - "But for the reasons which the New Yorker's John Cassidy, the New York Times' Margaret Sullivan, and the Washington Post's Andrea Peterson all stated, Snowden is clearly, by far, the person who has most influenced this year's news events.
TIME’s Repellent Presentation of Snowden’s Whistleblowing as ‘Most Spectacular Heist’ in ‘History of Spycraft’ | The Dissenter
Pope Francis Is Time's Person Of The Year - Some criticized Time for not choosing Snowden for the top slot, saying that the title had gone with a safe, popular decision instead of the right one. Gay marriage pioneer Edith Windsor, Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad and senator Ted Cruz rounded out the top 5 slots.
Time Criticized For Choosing Pope Francis Over Edward Snowden As Person Of The Year
Egyptian General Trumps Miley to Win 'Time' Person of the Year Poll - In fact, "[Egypt] accounted for the largest number of votes on the Time.com poll."

Shooting at Federal Drones Is Neither Legal Nor Smart | Motherboard

Obamacare Enrollments Surpass 1 Million

Support for a $10 Minimum Wage Is Surprisingly High | Mother Jones - 63 percent were in favor of raising the minimum wage to $10.10. That's surprisingly high. Hell, 43 percent even favor raising it to $12.50.
Lots Of Men Don't See What The Big Deal Is With Workplace Equality - —About 75 percent of women ages 18-32 say the U.S. needs to do more to bring about equality in the workplace, compared with 57 percent of young men.

Inequality: Democrats Should Campaign Against It | New Republic
Voucher-mania: Why the right is diseased (and out of ideas) - Salon.com - “Vouchermania” may be the term used by future historians to describe the puzzling rage for vouchers that has swept the right wing in the last few decades. You got a problem? I got a voucher.


Dinosaur asteroid 'sent life to Mars' - "We find that rock capable of carrying life has likely transferred from both Earth and Mars to all of the terrestrial planets in the solar system and Jupiter," says lead author Rachel Worth, of Penn State University.

Materialism: a system that eats us from the inside out | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian - Buying more stuff is associated with depression, anxiety and broken relationships. It is socially destructive and self-destructive

Why We Can't Let Men Off the Hook on Housework - The Cut
Stephen Marche Is Making My Argument Look Bad -- Daily Intelligencer

San Diego man charged with operating 'revenge porn' site | World news | theguardian.com - Kevin Christopher Bollaert charged with 31 felony counts of conspiracy, identity theft and extortion for allegedly blackmailing women

D.C. officer arrested in prostitution case - The Washington Post - A longtime D.C. police officer accused of prostituting teenage girls was arrested Wednesday after a week-long investigation that began when the search for a missing 16-year-old girl led police to his apartment.
Utah cop uses Taser on naked man who bit police dog | The Raw Story
Cleveland ISD: Girl involved in altercation on school bus hit with Taser after resisting officer | abc13.com - The struggle didn't end there. Chief Evans said despite being hit by the Taser, the student continued to harass the officer who in turn had to shock the teenage girl a second time. Only then did the student comply and finally got off the bus.

Vanity Fair Quietly Wonders: Does Marissa Mayer Have Asperger's?
Happy Holidays: Startup CEO Complains SF Is Full of Human Trash - Greg Gopman, and his company, AngelHack, offer no apparent utility or value to our planet. It's a startup that begets other startups, a hackathon for hackathons, an engorged, vomiting ouroboros in reverse.
How much is your privacy worth? $350 a year, according to AT&T - Would you pay less for Internet access if it meant being tracked more closely online and seeing advertising based on your behavior?

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Canada to lay claim to North Pole amid Arctic resources rush | Reuters

1 In 9 Girls Marries Before Age 15, And Here's What Happens To Them
Twitter / KimDotcom: Obama live at #Mandela memorial ... - "You must trust others so they can trust you." Big words from a guy who spies on the world, incl. his allies
alicublog: Courtesy Is Treason. - At Nelson Mandela's memorial service, Obama shook the hand of Raul Castro instead of (as William Wolfrum suggested) punching Castro in the mouth, screaming "Capitalism!!" and then eating a Big Mac. Early reaction from idiots:

PUSSY RIOT TO BE FREED!!

TPP Talks Stalled - The Latest On A Really Bad Deal - Esquire - It seems that the talks aimed at producing the monstrous -- in every sense of the word -- Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal have bogged down, which is good news for a lot of people, and for democracy in general. The bad news is that the reason it is bogged down is because the assembled plutocrats from other nations have gotten bugs up their well-tailored asses at how hard the United States is trying to ramrod this beast through. (as usual, Obama is "negotiating" for you by selling out to big pharma/content/spymachine in secret)

Bill Clinton says security does not justify espionage - Xinhua | English.news.cn - - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, currently on a visit to Brazil, has said the United States' security need does not justify spying on allied countries ... The United States has no justification for the espionage on Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff and the country's state- controlled oil giant Petrobras as well as on emails and telephone calls of millions of Brazilians, he said.

Snowden document shows Canada set up spy posts for NSA - Politics - CBC News - CSEC conducted espionage activities for U.S. in 20 countries, according to top-secret briefing note
» MetaPhone: The NSA Three-Hop Web Policy - Under current FISA Court orders, the NSA may be able to analyze the phone records of a sizable proportion of the United States population with just one seed number.
AT&T and T-Mobile received 600,000 government requests for user data last year | The Verge - It's particularly troubling because courts see the data as a "business record" belonging to the carrier, so law enforcement doesn't need a warrant to see it. (America is overrun with terrorists)
You Have No Unread Messages - Why Amnesty Is Bringing a Claim Against the UK Over Surveillance Concerns | Allan Hogarth
UK citizen sues Microsoft over Prism private data leak to NSA - A British citizen's UK court action will test the legal right of Microsoft to disclose private data on UK citizens to the US electronic spying organisation, the National Security Agency (NSA).

No Contest: Edward Snowden is Person of the Year : The New Yorker - According to Time, its award, which will be bestowed on Wednesday, goes to the person who, in the opinion of the magazine’s editors, had the most influence on the news. By this metric, it’s no contest

Write wrongs! Over 500 world-famous authors sign anti-surveillance petition — RT News (Obama will put them on the no-fly list as terrorsymps)

Q & A with Alan Rusbridger, editor of the Guardian - The Washington Post
Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald: The Men Who Leaked the NSA's Secrets | Politics News | Rolling Stone - How two alienated, angry geeks broke the story of the year
Jeremy Scahill: From pursuing Washington over its secret war on terror to becoming a rebel fighter in the global war against journalism - Press - Media - The Independent
The journalist who hacked the old system | PandoDaily
Keeping Secrets: Pierre Omidyar, Glenn Greenwald and the privatization of Snowden’s leaks | PandoDaily
UT Documents: Questions/responses for journalists linking to the Pando post - and other matters - There are dozens of examples, one of whom is the author of a post this week at Pando.com which accuses me and Laura Poitras of having "promptly sold [the Snowden] secrets to a billionaire", Pierre Omidyar, and claims we made "a decision to privatize the NSA cache" by joining Omidyar's new media organization and vesting it with a "monopoly" over those documents.
The Privatization of Snowden’s Secrets: Glenn Greenwald responds | PandoDaily
Hi, so as all of yall know i have spent a lot of time lately arguing with people - Pastebin.com - Do you really feel like the man who has helped silence Chelsea Manning and attempted to put the Paypal14 in prison is going to do whats right when it comes to edward snowden?
Bob Woodward and Monopoly Journalism | emptywheel
NSA seeks a few brave interns: Spy agency recruiting students as young as 15 - Salon.com - In this lackluster economy, a young person could do a lot worse than getting a cushy job reading your emails

The Pirate Bay resurfaces at a new domain following seizure | The Verge - its domain has been seized by authorities — ostensibly under pressure from copyright holders keen to shut the file-sharing site down. Unfortunately for them, thepiratebay.ac is already up and running in the equally obscure realm of Ascension Island.
Everywhere the Pirate Bay Set Up Shop in 2013 | Motherboard

Senate Republicans Block More Obama Nominees
Senate Democrats Schedule Vote On Patricia Millett Nomination For Appeals Court

Why Elizabeth Warren baffles pundits: “Economic populism” isn’t just a campaign slogan - Salon.com - The point of economic populism and pushing Democrats to the left is to push them to the left, not to beat Hillary

Chris Christie Administration In A Jam Over Charges Of Using Busiest U.S. Bridge In Political Payback
Fox News Paid Ousted Exec $8 Million In 'Hush Money': Gawker - That's the figure that Gawker said Brian Lewis, the ousted former consigliere to Roger Ailes, was paid by Fox News in a recently uncovered settlement.
Homophobic RNC Committee Member Accuses Gay Colleagues Of Manipulating Health Benefits - An official associated with the Republican National Committee made head-turning comments at a GOP holiday party last week, accusing gay individuals of pushing health care reform because they die earlier in life.
Virginia's Recount Mess - Virginia Is For Lawsuits - Esquire - So, if the recount shows that the Democratic candidate wins, there's a possibility that this thing gets tossed into a Republican state legislature desperate to maintain the gains made in Virginia by the transvaginalist movement. Who dealt this mess anyway? World's greatest democracy strikes again.

Mr. de Blasio’s Fiscal Challenge - NYTimes.com - Mr. Bloomberg’s pronouncement of a balanced budget may not square with the fiscal reality Mr. de Blasio faces come January. The new mayor has just a few short weeks before showing the public how he will make the numbers work.
What Washington Gives New York - Added Strain on the Social Safety Net - NYTimes.com
NY Post Editorial Board: Homeless Shelter With Sexual Assault And Mice Is "Too Generous" | Blog | Media Matters for America

Reports: Alleged trend of 'knockout game' a myth - But police officials in several cities where the attacks have been reported say the knockout game is an urban myth, and that attacks that have received recent attention in the media have been random assaults, the New York Times is reporting.

Associated Press - It was one among many allegations announced by federal officials as they charged 18 current and former Los Angeles County sheriff's officials with beating inmates and jail visitors, falsifying reports, and trying to obstruct an FBI probe of the nation's largest jail system.
Hackers Target US Judge, Claim to Have Ordered Adult Toys with His Credit Card - The hackers have leaked a total of 23 internal documents allegedly stolen from the judge’s computers. Some of the documents are dated December 2013, so the data appears to be fresh. None of the leaked documents appear to be publicly available.
D.C. officer charged with producing child pornography to be released pending trial - The Washington Post - A federal court judge ordered Officer Marc L. Washington, 32, to be placed into the high intensity supervision program, put on electronic monitoring and ordered to keep a 24-hour curfew for the first 21 days. (cops always walk)
Admitted child abuser keeps his Navy career - U.S. - Stripes - But when the Navy examined the same allegations, the result was the opposite. The officer was cleared. He has faced no criminal prosecution. To the contrary, he has been promoted and allowed to stay in his job unhindered. (he was the commander of his kids)

News from The Associated Press - DENVER (AP) -- The suspension of a 6-year-old boy for kissing a girl at school is raising questions about whether the peck should be considered sexual harassment.

Antarctica Hit Record Cold Temperature So Ridiculously Low It Hurts Just Hearing About It - Try 135.8 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. Better yet, don't. That's so cold scientists say it hurts to breathe.
Oldest Human Footprints in North America Identified | Western Digs - “To my knowledge the oldest human prints previously reported in North America are around 6,000 years old, so the … prints pre-date these by some 5,000 years,”
There’s a Reason They Call Them ‘Crazy Ants’ - NYTimes.com - Rasberry crazy ants were first discovered in Texas by an exterminator in 2002. Within five years, they appeared to be spreading through the state much faster than even the red imported fire ant has. The fire ant is generally considered one of the worst invasive species in the world. The cost of fire ants to Texas has been estimated at more than $1 billion a year.

If You Haven't Heard Of DMT Yet, You Might Soon
Michael Gerson: After cancer diagnosis, seeing mortality in the near distance - The Washington Post (Michael Gerson, pro Iraq War, anti-ACA got cancer but had insurance because he's rich)

New York's Roaring '20s come alive with interactive audio map | The Verge

Australian newspaper hides anti-Murdoch message in puzzle | The Desk
FCC halts AT&T plan to raise Internet prices on Sprint and other rivals | Ars Technica - Like the price of a barrel of oil, AT&T backhaul rates affect everyone—even you.
The Brilliant Hack That Brought Foursquare Back From the Dead | Wired Business | Wired.com
Amazon.com: Samsung UN85S9 85-Inch 4K Ultra HD 120Hz 3D Smart LED TV: Electronics

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Nixing Mandela funeral as too costly, Bibi shows world what he's truly made of - A Special Place in Hell Israel News | Haaretz - Israel's prime minister proves he is not the smug, petty, vindictive, waffling, in-your-face insulting man he seems. He's something worse. (Bibi loves his arpartheid states)
Israeli Top Leaders Not Attending Mandela Funeral - NYTimes.com - Palestinians, who hail South Africa's first black leader as an inspiration in a conflict with what they call Israeli "apartheid", will be represented by President Mahmoud Abbas.
“A nigger is a nigger and a Swede is a Swede”. Sweden’s main gov party stated its position on Mandela’s struggle against apartheid « Professors blogg -- On Human Rights For All
Culture of Truth: Whitewashing History — Virtually Speaking - So. Nelson Mandela was violent, militant, and Marxist, so he had to stay in prison, and Zimbabwe and Mozambique might have gone communist, so we had to support a violent racist government, but it all worked out, because Mandela came out of prison mature and dignified and respectable, and the real credit for getting Mandela out of prison goes to a Republican President who left office after 8 years with Mandela still in prison, and who put Mandela on the terrorist watch list, where he would remain until 2008.

Obama and Netanyahu downplay differences on Iran nuclear deal | World news | theguardian.com - Israeli prime minister says he shares US preference for ending Tehran's alleged weapons programme through diplomacy (Bomb'em Bibi is not happy)
Chuck Hagel’s Tour of Failure | emptywheel - . Not content to settle for a mere snub, though, Karzai went a step further in his disrespect to Hagel. Under a story with the headline “President Karzai Leaves for Iran, While Hagel Still in Kabul“, Tolo News informed us yesterday of Karzai’s latest move:
Censorship in China: How Western Journalists Censor Themselves | New Republic
Brazil's child sex trade soars as 2014 World Cup nears | Global development | theguardian.com - Officials and campaigners fear explosion in child prostitution amid rising demand from football fans
RIA Novosti - Business Insider - In its place will be a new organization run by a TV presenter who had been embroiled in anti-gay remarks.

Seymour M. Hersh · Whose sarin? · LRB 8 December 2013
Sy Hersh Writing about Politicized Intelligence Again, Syria Edition | emptywheel (lying US into war; what could go wrong?)
Sy Hersh's Chemical Misfire - What the legendary reporter gets wrong about Syria's sarin attacks.
Stop Saying Only 355 Died in Chemical Weapons Attack | Dissected News
Retired Marine Gen. John R. Allen considers U.S. resolve in a troubled world - The Washington Post - “But undergirding all of that .?.?. has been in the end the ability for us to exert coercive power, and no diplomacy in the end can be effective without the potential coercive arm necessary to drive diplomacy home if diplomacy fails.”
NSA Failures and Terror Successes Drive the Dragnet | emptywheel - But whether or not the UndieBomber alone or in conjunction with the Hasan attack was the catalyst, I absolutely agree Obama got spooked.
Obama: My Overseas Spying Not Constrained by the Law I Passed as Senator | emptywheel - To all this, Obama’s solution is to propose self-restraint on the NSA.

Assange in Sweden › The truth will out, the truth wins out - She didn’t want to file that complaint

Second release of secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement documents
Trans-Pacific Partnership Documents Released - Chickens Coming Home To Roost - Esquire - The administration inexcusably is trying to short-circuit debate on what would be a massive reconfiguration of the relationship between the American government and the universe of international business and finance, which latter is acting in this matter very much the way a state would if it were negotiating a treaty -- or, say, the terms of a surrender (Obama's usual "negotiating" style)

William Hague letter brings hope to Shaker Aamer in Guantánamo | World news | The Observer - Fears over health of last British resident in US camp have been raised as he takes part in a new hunger strike (new rules just a coincidence)
Gitmo officials change procedures for hunger strikes, force-feeding | Al Jazeera America - In move shrouded in secrecy, officials admit they have revised protocols regarding controversial prisoner protest

Tech Giants Issue Call for Limits on Government Surveillance of Users - NYTimes.com
Twitter, Facebook and more demand sweeping changes to US surveillance laws | World news | theguardian.com - AOL, Twitter, Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Apple and LinkedIn to call for reforms to restore the public's trust in the internet
NSA and CIA counterterrorism efforts included Xbox Live, Second Life, WoW spying | Polygon
NSA And CIA Spied In 'World Of Warcraft' And Other Online Games (gamers=terrorists)
Bob Cesca Glenn Greenwald - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - In his ongoing effort to miss the point, and to cause me to really dislike both sides of the Edward Snowden dilemma, Bob Cesca today reminds us that Glenn Greenwald does, indeed, suck. (Cesca flattened by the fast-moving truck of history)
u9ygQRe.jpg (new NSA logo)
The Silicon Valley Backlash Against the NSA Heats Up | Motherboard
US spying revelations: Indian government wakes up to risk of Gmail, Hotmail | NDTV Gadgets
Sweden's Top Secret Agreement with NSA Revealed | Rixstep Industry Watch - This secret agreement dates back all the way to the 1950s.

Cellphone data spying: It's not just the NSA - law enforcement using methods from nsa playbook (the spyification of America)
Someone's Been Siphoning Data Through a Huge Security Hole in the Internet | Threat Level | Wired.com (looks like you-know-who)
Inside Wisconsin's Bipartisan Effort to End Warrantless Cellphone Tracking | Motherboard
Arizona State Senator Introducing Fourth Amendment Protection Act | Nullify NSA!Nullify NSA! - An Arizona state senator has committed to take on the National Security Agency spy machine.
Navy Launches a Drone from a Submerged Submarine - Defense One

Edward Snowden voted Guardian person of the year 2013 | World news | theguardian.com - NSA whistleblower's victory, for exposing the scale of internet surveillance, follows that of Chelsea Manning last year
TIME Person of the Year Finalists 2013 | time.com (from Assad to Cruz to Cyrus to Snowden)
Six months after NSA story broke, Edward Snowden looks even more patriotic | Dan Gillmor | Comment is free | theguardian.com - President Obama, congressmen and tech companies promise to 'rein in' the surveillance, but we should be skeptical (very skeptical)
Obama and leakers: Who are the eight charged under the Espionage Act? | Al Jazeera America - Obama has prosecuted more people under the 100-year-old act than any other president (Obama is tough on dissent)
Hacktivists on Trial | The Nation - Prosecutors are warping the law to throw activist hackers like Aaron Swartz behind bars for years. (Obama hates activists)
Florida cop arrested for wearing ‘Anonymous’ mask warns ‘there’s a war coming’ | The Raw Story - tried to convince the officer that the anti-masking statute didn’t apply to him, because that statute “was not put into place for peaceful protests, not for figures just standing on the side of the road trying to express their first amendment rights.” (same as bank-robbers)

Morning Plum: Sequester will be lifted, but unemployed likely to be left behind (Dems throw them under the bus)
12 Years a Slave and the Obama Era -- Daily Intelligencer - this column in National Review by Quin Hillyer, a conservative pundit (thinks Obama is uppity)
Cheney: The Iran Deal Is Bad Because Of Obamacare | ThinkProgress (yeah he said that)

Robbing Illinois's Public Employees - Detroit's bankruptcy and a new state law have gutted public-employee pensions—that's likely to become the new norm. (millions for banker/corp bonuses)
Feds sell final stake in GM | The Detroit News - leaving taxpayers with a $10.5 billion loss on the $49.5 billion bailout.

Something In the Water by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly (interesting: Baptists used to be pro-chuch-state-separation because you know, persecution by states but now they rule, so ...)
Religious affiliations of Presidents of the United States (Jefferson, Lincoln non-believers, Nixon was a Quaker and Obama is his own religion)
Southern Baptist Spokesman Condemns Barton And Copeland For 'Shocking And Unconscionable' PTSD Remarks | Right Wing Watch
A Convention Of States: The Right's Latest Plan To Amend The Constitution | Right Wing Watch - For the last several months, spurred on by the publication of Mark Levin's "The Liberty Amendments," right-wing activists have been floating the idea of convening a "Convention of States" through which representatives of the individuals states would gather together for a convention to amend the Constitution and reign in the federal government. (secession re-branded)
Oklahoma Satanic Monument - The Devil In Oklahoma - Esquire - The Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit seeking its removal. But the New York-based Satanic Temple saw an opportunity. It notified the state's Capitol Preservation Commission that it wants to donate a monument and plans to submit one of several possible designs this month, said Lucien Greaves, a spokesman for the temple.

Navy promoted officer who admitted molesting daughter in lieu of investigation | The Raw Story - According to the daughter in statements obtained by The Virginian-Pilot, the officer actively molested her for two years before the night he took her into a bedroom, pinned her down and raped her. A judge in the divorce hearing, believing these allegations an attempt to derail the officer’s career, declared the wife to be in contempt of court and sentenced her to 10 days in jail or a $5,000 fine. (military justice: he was her commander)

Amazon delivery drone problems: Birds WILL attack. (damn right they will)

Courthouse News Service - The TSA not only refused to provide records, it said it had lost Bishop's letter requesting the records. He sent it a copy of the letter through counsel, but that didn't work either.

GOP Senate candidate: Women have to be talked to on an ‘emotional level’ | The Raw Story - A Republican candidate for Senate from Iowa says he’s had lessons communicating with women and has learned that they need to be talked to on an “emotional level.” (their lady-brainz don't do logic)


Liberals want to stop men from checking out women | The Daily Caller (Rethugs think libs will stop them from staring at womens' boob, or something)

Lawsuits accuse Phila. police of resuming 'nickel rides' - Philly.com

Flashmob Performs 'Here Comes the Sun' in Madrid Unemployment Office - YouTube
Chicago Bulls Cheerleader Surprised With Marriage Proposal During Bulls-Heat Game

DNA Testing Is Not Why 23andMe Is in Trouble | Motherboard

Samsung Set to Ship Terabyte Flash Drive
inside twitter's global headquarters by IA interior architects

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Kiev Protesters Toppled Lenin Statue
UN nuclear weapons inspectors visit Iranian plant | World news | theguardian.com - IAEA team go to Arak heavy-water plant after Tehran agrees to curb nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief
South Korea extends its air defence zone to overlap with China's | World news | theguardian.com - New spur to regional tensions as Japan also warns China against claims on South China Sea
Poll on deaths in Iraq ignored by British media | @guardianletters | World news | The Guardian - The ComRes poll is powerful evidence that the media misled the public about the consequences of the war ... According to 59% of the respondents, fewer than 10,000 Iraqis died as a result of the war ... The latest scientific estimate of the death toll from the war is almost 500,000. (swept under the rug; mission accomplished)
How a creationist fatwa proved a shocking example of Wahhabi Islam's influence | Andrew Brown | Comment is free | theguardian.com - It's outrageous that an imam like Usama Hasan faced death threats for challenging creationism. But outrage only takes us so far
Japan cracks down on leaks after scandal of Fukushima nuclear power plant - Asia - World - The Independent

Obama Faces Backlash Over New Corporate Political Powers In Secret Trade Deal - The Obama administration appears to have almost no international support for controversial new trade standards that would grant radical new political powers to corporations, increase the cost of prescription medications and restrict bank regulation, according to two internal memos (Obama's super-secret TPP shows his true colors)

Ex-Spy Alleges Bush White House Sought to Discredit Critic - NYTimes.com - Juan Cole, a professor, blogger and Iraq war critic, said he would have been a disappointing target for the Bush White House. (2011)

Homeland Security chairman: Threat of terrorism spreading like ‘wildfire’ overseas – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs - "I personally see it spreading like a spiderweb, like a wildfire, through Northern Africa and the Middle East," Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, told CNN's Candy Crowley on "State of the Union." (we killed all those people for what, again?)

Edward Snowden to give evidence to EU parliament, says MEP | World news | theguardian.com - British Conservatives oppose video appearance by NSA whistleblower, which Green MEP says could happen this year
A very middle class enemy of the State: How DID an ex-pupil of £30k-a-year Sevenoaks School in Kent end up in exile in Berlin... clutching a laptop of UK state secrets...via a 'romance' with Julian Assange? | Mail Online - Sarah Harrison is wanted by British and American secret services The former public school girl led Edward Snowden to Moscow If she returns to UK she fears she will be detained and interrogated

'Do you love your country?' is a trick question | Anne Perkins | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Alan Rusbridger was asked by the home affairs select commitee if he loved his country, but national pride is a slippery concept
Pierre Omidyar in 2009: “Anybody who publishes stolen info should help catch the thief” | PandoDaily
WikiLeaks responds to Pierre Omidyar's op-ed, questions PayPal's blockade of WikiLeaks (with tweets) · m_cetera · Storify
The US has access to Swedish intelligence - Radio Sweden | Sveriges Radio - The United States has been allowed access to information obtained by Sweden's National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) through cable interception since 2011, top-secret documents obtained by Swedish Television show.
Released documents prove that Utah mayor exaggerated NSA water contract | Washington Times Communities - “The proposed Utah 4th Amendment Protection Act would ban any city or state agency from providing material resources, like water, to the NSA while it continues its warrantless mass-spying program. So that would take the decision over it out of the Mayor’s hands,” said Maharrey.
NSA morale down after Edward Snowden revelations, former U.S. officials say - The Washington Post (in veiled threat against Obama)

Assange Marks 3 Years in Custody: Still in Great Jeopardy from US - Michael Ratner, lawyer of Wikileaks founder, says his client wants to clear any allegations of sexual misconduct in Sweden but the fear of extradition to U.S. keeps him in Ecuadorian embassy in Britain
Exclusive interview: Julian Assange, a Spy for the People - His big goal and ideal remains to create Wikileaks, an encyclopedia for the 21st century.
? Interview with Stanley Cohen on the PayPal 14 Plea Deal - YouTube

AT&T to transparency-seeking shareholders: shut up and take what you're given - Boing Boing
ZeroAccess Botnet Down, But Not Out — Krebs on Security - Europol, Microsoft Kneecap Click-Fraud Botnet
The Daily Dot - The FBI can turn on your webcam without you even knowing
Indiana State Police tracking cellphones — but won't say how or why | Indianapolis Star | indystar.com - This year, the Indiana State Police paid $373,995 for a device that law enforcement personnel have described as a powerful tool in the fight against crime and terrorism.
Proof That Using a VPN Keeps Piracy Lawsuits and ‘Strikes’ Away | TorrentFreak - hanks to information recently posted to the ChillingEffects repository, we can now see real-life examples of VPN users avoiding costly settlement disputes with anti-piracy companies.

No Bail for Alleged Silk Road Mastermind — Krebs on Security - A federal judge has denied bail for Ross Ulbricht, the 29-year-old man arrested last month on suspicion of running the Silk Road, an online black market that offered everything from drugs and guns to computer hackers and hitmen for hire.
How Many Zero-Days Hit You Today? — Krebs on Security - Security experts have long suspected that governments and cybercriminals alike are stockpiling zero-day bugs:
Meet Jack: What The Government Could Do With All That Location Data | American Civil Liberties Union - quick taste of our new system’s capabilities in the domestic policing context. (Obama's cop-state America)
10,000 Top Passwords

The Daily Dot - The dwindling potential of digital democracy
Credibility of the Ruling Elite is Being Shredded - Chris Hedges on Reality Asserts Itself pt2

Badge of Seriousness Watch - NYTimes.com - And once you realize how long self-styled centrists have virtually defined their identity in terms of what they imagine is their courage in going after Social Security, you can see why the shifting tides — the rise of Democrats who no longer feel the need to keep the WaPo opinion page happy — are leaving them a bit unhinged. (whoa, he really said that)
Third Way Shares Consultant With Group Spending Big to Defeat Third Way Co-Chairs | The Nation
Calif. Obamacare Shares Data Without Consent - Los Angeles (AP) — The California health exchange says it's been giving the names of tens of thousands of consumers to insurance agents without their permission or knowledge in an effort to hit deadlines for coverage.

Obesity is an inflammatory disease, rat study shows : science
Obesity is Inflammatory Disease, Rat Study Shows | Medicine | Sci-News.com
An effective eye drug is available for $50. But many doctors choose a $2,000 alternative. - The Washington Post

The Homeschool Apostates (Christian teahadi madrasas)

Pregnant Woman Suffers. You Won't Believe Who's to Blame. | American Civil Liberties Union - Because Mercy Health is Catholic-sponsored, it is required to adhere to the "Ethical and Religious Directives," a set of rules created by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to govern the provision of medical care at Catholic-run hospitals. At hospitals like Mercy Health, the Directives are put above medical standards of care.
EXCLUSIVE: 'First degree rape...lmao' - Shocking tweets at the center of allegations of a SECOND Steubenville rape months before the assault that scandalised America | Mail Online - Tweets exchanged between star Steubenville High School athletes mock the 14-year-old 'victim' whose life they boast is 'ruined'

Why it's time for brain science to ditch the 'Venus and Mars' cliche | Science | The Observer - Reports trumpeting basic differences between male and female brains are biological determinism at its most trivial, says the science writer of the year (lady-brainz wired for gossip)
The Case for Filth - NYTimes.com - “women’s housework did not decline significantly and men’s housework did not increase significantly after the mid-1980s in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.” (men-brainz not wired for housework +perception of effort was totally distinct from the actual effort. + men who do more housework have less sex)

Online in 3D: the 'grotesque beauty' of medieval Britons' diseased bones | Science | theguardian.com

EXCLUSIVE: 'First degree rape...lmao' - Shocking tweets at the center of allegations of a SECOND Steubenville rape months before the assault that scandalised America | Mail Online (jock rape culture)
US porn industry faces shutdown after another actor tests positive for HIV | Culture | theguardian.com

notjustaprettybeard comments on I don't feel clever enough to do higher level mathematics. (idiolocation)

The Gallop Asian Bistro has taken... - Gallop Asian Bistro | Facebook (next chapter)

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The Right Wing's Campaign To Discredit And Undermine Mandela, In One Timeline | ThinkProgress
The Toxic Smog Cloud Hanging Over Shanghai Looks Just As Bad As It Sounds
Japan passes a democracy-muzzling Patriot Act | GlobalPost - The Obama-supported State Secret Bill criminalizes investigative journalism and equates terrorism with ‘imposing one’s opinions.’ (or having any opinion at all)
Why Palestine should seek justice at the International Criminal Court | Maan News Agency
What Does the American Studies Association’s Israel Boycott Mean for Academic Freedom? | The Nation - . If it passes, the ASA will become the second significant American academic association to boycott Israel, after the Association for Asian American Studies, which joined the boycott in April. It will be a sign that the BDS movement, long far more influential in Europe than in the United States, is gaining a real foothold in American academia.
Afraid of Free Speech, on Many Fronts: PEN, Google, China, Goliath - James Fallows - The Atlantic - Free societies depend on free-swinging critiques, even those that are "unbalanced" or "go too far." (criticising Israel = terrorism; Abe Foxman and the Israel lobby at work)
CIA Role in Mandela’s Capture? — FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting

How Rachel Maddow Helped Force Bill Clinton's Support For Mandela's AIDS Plan - pressuring former President Bill Clinton into abandoning his administration's hostility to Nelson Mandela's AIDS relief programs in the 1990s. (Clinton hated gays too)

JFK Assassination: First JFK Conspiracy Theory Was Paid For By The CIA - Less than one day after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, a Central Intelligence Agency-funded organization in Miami published a special edition of its monthly magazine in which it linked the accused assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, to Cuban President Fidel Castro. (they had already typed it up)

The Daily Dot - New Snowden leak reveals U.S. espionage in Rome and Milan
How the NSA is tracking people right now - The Washington Post
NSA Wrongly Says Warrantless Mobile-Phone Location Tracking Is Legal | Threat Level | Wired.com (of course it's legal if they do it)
FBI’s search for ‘Mo,’ suspect in bomb threats, highlights use of malware for surveillance - The Washington Post - The FBI’s elite hacker team designed a piece of malicious software that was to be delivered secretly when Mo signed on to his Yahoo e-mail account, from any computer anywhere in the world
Snowden Leaks Notwithstanding, It's Business as Usual at the NSA Museum - Alexis C. Madrigal - The Atlantic - Despite all the media attention, attendance is roughly flat at the "National Security Agency's principal gateway to the public."
U.S. Spy Rocket Has Octopus-Themed 'Nothing Is Beyond Our Reach' Logo. Seriously. - Forbes
Twitter / tinyrevolution: New logo for US spy satellite ... - from National Reconnaissance Office is weirdly similar to Nazi anti-semitic propaganda:
Saving the Net from the surveillance state: Glenn Greenwald speaks up (Q&A) | Politics and Law - CNET News - The man to whom Edward Snowden entrusted his NSA documents isn't content just to save the Bill of Rights and reinvent journalism. He also wants to stop the Internet from becoming history's most dangerous spy tool.

It's Not a WikiLeak: Assange-Manning Chat Logs Surface on Army Website | Threat Level | Wired.com
'All the ships came in' – how Assange and Manning plotted WikiLeaks story | Technology | theguardian.com - The US army has released detailed records of discussions between Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning, revealing the co-ordination and camaraderie behind the explosive story

Tor: Myths and Facts | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Hackers have taken down 2 Million Facebook, Gmail and Twitter Accounts - Hackers News Bulletin - According to web security firm ‘Trustwave’, hackers have stolen user login names and passwords from different sites in the past month with the help of Pony malware, a bit different than a typical violation.
Look What I Found: Moar Pony! - SpiderLabs Anterior
The Ordeal of the PayPal 14 — Medium - Thirteen of the Anonymous participants are nearly done with their case.

So, Bitcoin Is Crashing - The price of the crypto-currency tumbled nearly 21 percent on Friday to $877.46 on trading site Mt. Gox and has fallen more than 29 percent since closing at a record high of $1,237.96 on Wednesday

Obama Quietly Okays Military Aid to Countries That Use Child Soldiers | Common Dreams - Overrides law banning such aid; critics charge 'Obama becoming an expert at waiving human rights laws'

Institute a policy that calls for immediate drug testing of every taxpayer's member of congress. Then schedule random | We the People: Your Voice in Our Government - The Citizens of the United States of America by a large majority wish to impose drug testing measures on our public servants, the Members of Congress.
Measles Cases Triple in U.S., Vaccine Refusal Here and Elsewhere to Blame - Wired Science

Today's Doonesbury. : WTF
2 Democrats Split on Tactics to Fight Military Sex Assaults - NYTimes.com - The McCaskill approach would strip commanders of their ability to overturn jury verdicts and mandate dishonorable discharge or dismissal for anyone convicted of sexual assault. But it would keep control of court-martial proceedings within the chain of command. (which has been so effective with their coverups)

Listen Up, Budget Cutters. Austerity Can Lead to Blood on the Streets, Even in America | Alternet - Researchers find statistical evidence that austerity policies are linked to explosive unrest.

Supreme Court takes on case that judge warns could spell the 'death' of software patents | The Verge - Next year, it will have to decide whether a handful of patents should be thrown out for cloaking a basic concept in technical terms — or whether doing so would effectively invalidate all software patents.

Sarcasm at it's best.

Why Are Prison Riots Declining While Prison Populations Explode? - Joseph Bernstein - The Atlantic - A visit to corrections officers’ annual Mock Prison Riot
NYPD Orders Precincts to Deny Journalists Access to Crime Reports - Civic Center - DNAinfo.com New York - The move is the latest — and perhaps not the last — taken against the media by outgoing Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

The Anonymous problem with feminism | Emer O'Toole | Comment is free | theguardian.com - One Anonymous campaign takes down a big bad rapist, while another helps to intimidate women who realise there's more to activism than challenging authority

Gou Miyagi - YouTube

You can’t get entangled without a wormhole - MIT News Office - MIT physicist finds the creation of entanglement simultaneously gives rise to a wormhole.
You can’t get entangled without a wormhole: MIT physicist finds the creation of entanglement simultaneously gives rise to a wormhole. : science
If a man decides to suddenly start eating at a 1000-calorie deficit, how large is the metabolic adaptation effect? : askscience

The Free Software Foundation: Windows 8 Is a Dud, Switch to Linux - Windows 8 has been around for a while, but it indeed failed to impress, sticking to a market share that’s well below 10 percent and remaining below leaders Windows 7 and Windows XP. (which if 4% more than all of Mac OSX)

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9 questions about Nelson Mandela you were too embarrassed to ask - Almost no one calls him a "terrorist" anymore, of course, but some people did for a long time – especially here in the United States. (well, except for Dick Cheney)
Dick Cheney Didn't Regret His Vote Against Freeing Nelson Mandela, Maintained He Was A 'Terrorist'
Nelson Mandela: From 'terrorist' to tea with the Queen - World - News - The Independent
C.I.A. Tie Reported In Mandela Arrest - New York Times - June 10, 1990
Justice and the Sword
Mandela and Conservative Racial Blindness -- Daily Intelligencer - Why Conservatives Got Segregation Wrong a Second Time in South Africa
For Most of His Life, Nelson Mandela Was an Enemy of the American State by Ryan Cooper | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly
7 Nelson Mandela Quotes You Probably Won't See In The U.S. Media

Apartheid's Useful Idiots - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic - For many years, a large swath of this country failed Nelson Mandela, failed its own alleged morality, and failed the majority of people living in South Africa.
The National Review, American Conservatism, and Nelson Mandela |
Go Ahead, Politicize Mandela
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

‘The Long Journey’: Digitizing the Palestine Refugee Experience | UNRWA

Schoolchildren ordered indoors as air pollution cloaks Shanghai | Environment | theguardian.com - Eastern China's dangerous levels of air pollution blamed on coal burning, car exhaust, factories and weather patterns
The Daily Dot - Shanghai residents share images of record-breaking pollution

6 detained in Mexico theft of radioactive material
Rocket With Secret Payload Launches off California - ABC News - A rocket carrying a secret payload for the U.S. government has successfully launched from the central California coast.
Google Translate - Kissing teens Morocco acquitted - Street countless couples also began kissing and kissing appeared with # FreeBoussa on social media. There was also a Facebook page set up for them. In the coastal town Mohammadia a "kiss-in" was organized.

Japan parliament approves contentious secrets law - The Washington Post - stiffens penalties for leaks by government officials and for journalists who seek such information, overriding criticism that it could be used to cover up government abuses and suppress civil liberties.

Linux drone hijacks other drones in mid flight ·  LinuxGizmos.com (you can see where this is going)

Patriot Act author: Obama’s intel czar should be prosecuted | TheHill - Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr., the original author of the Patriot Act, says Director of National Intelligence James Clapper should be prosecuted for lying to Congress.
How to Tell When the N.S.A. Is Lying : The New Yorker - If the National Security Agency says that it is not “intentionally” doing something—say, collecting records of the locations of Americans’ cell phones—then it is almost certainly taking that very action.
NSA tracks phone locations under executive order | TheHill - The National Security Agency uses its authority under a 1981 executive order to collect cellphone location data around the world, the agency said Friday.
Internet’s new biggest threat? How web traffic can be secretly redirected — RT USA (BGP hack)
AT&T Refuses to Disclose to Shareholders What Data It Shares with the NSA | The Dissenter
Microsoft to protect customers from government snooping

WikiLeaks' Sarah Harrison: 'How can you take Pierre Omidyar seriously?' | Technology | theguardian.com - WikiLeaks staffer who accompanied Edward Snowden to Russia, attacks the eBay founder for not helping the 'PayPal 14'
Pierre Omidyar's Leaky Struggle to Become a Press Freedom Fighter | Motherboard - She added that his op-ed was only published after the parties had reached a deal—that is, after part of the case had essentially come to a close. The ethics committee needs an ethics committee.

'Going to be one hell of a decade’ – Manning to Wikileaks in private online chat in 2010 — RT News (he was right about that)
Sundance Selects The Internet's Own Boy - Documentary for 2014 Film Festival Series - BWWMoviesWorld

Federal Flood Maps Left New York Unprepared for Sandy—and FEMA Knew It - ProPublica

Obama Gets Real - NYTimes.com - Mr. Obama laid out a disturbing — and, unfortunately, all too accurate — vision of an America losing touch with its own ideals, an erstwhile land of opportunity becoming a class-ridden society.
Obamacare 834 Error Rate Falls from 25 Percent to 10 Percent | New Republic - Some perspective on the latest ACA freak-out
Daily Kos: Social Security expansion now very real. Thanks, Third Way!
The ACA v. the Heritage Plan: A Comparison in Chart Form

State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax | World news | theguardian.com - State Policy Network co-ordinating plans across 34 US states • Strategy to 'release residents from government dependency' • Revelations come amid growing scrutiny of tax-exempt charities ("government dependency" = staying alive)

Boeing factory demands: A free factory.

Minnesota Archdiocese Reveals Names Of 30 Priests Accused Of Abusing Minors (1950-80 only)

Elizabeth Warren: Education Department Shouldn't Be A 'Lapdog' - the Education Department had recently told Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest handler of student loans, that it intended to renew its federal contract to collect payments on federal student loans, despite pending investigations by at least other three federal agencies over allegations the company violated borrowers’ rights. (good 'ol Arne)

Katie Couric promotes dangerous fear mongering with show on the HPV vaccine. | The Panic Virus
Anti-Vaccine: Katie Couric program gives false balance to dangerous quackery.
Is The HPV Vaccine Safe? v 2.0 | Information Is Beautiful
Moms Who Vax: The Incredible Hulk Vaccine Side Effect: Or, Understanding VAERS

Florida cop arrested for refusing to remove Guy Fawkes SPEAKS OUT - YouTube
Cops: "If we have to get a warrant...we’re gonna shoot and kill your dogs" - Hit & Run : Reason.com

Parents irate at Woodstock cop's punishment - Chicago Tribune - Officer suspended after allegedly sending sexually inappropriate message to 12-year-old, misusing database
Twitter / YourAnonNews: #CharlesAmati - http://t.co/z2IGlnelFT

Creativity is rejected: Teachers and bosses don’t value out-of-the-box thinking. - People don’t actually like creativity.
Are lesbian sex and anal sex increasing? 19 percent of young British women report a same-sex experience. - One result of this surge is that reported same-sex activity between women has eclipsed reported same-sex activity between men - The proportion of men who report having had a same-sex experience is only about 7 percent—half the rate among women—and the share who say they’ve had a male sex partner in the last five years is only 3 percent
Female promiscuity in primates: When do women have multiple partners?
'Determination' can be induced by electrical brain stimulation | Ian Sample | Science | theguardian.com - Applying an electric current to a particular part of the brain makes people feel a sense of determination, say researchers
Alternative sexuality lexicon: 1 of 6, non-monogamy and cheating.

Netflix's War on Mass Culture | New Republic - Instead of feeding a collective identity with broadly appealing content, the streamers imagine a culture united by shared tastes rather than arbitrary time slots. (+Vladimir Nabokov believed that humanity’s highest yearning ought to be to leave behind any desire to be up-to-date, to be unconcerned with what is happening now)

Rob Ford's Toronto

The Daily Dot - Popular flashlight app secretly collected and sold users' location data

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Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, dies aged 95 | World news | theguardian.com - Nelson Mandela led South Africa from apartheid to multi-racial democracy and will be mourned around the world
Nelson Mandela: An ideal for which I am prepared to die | World news | theguardian.com - Mandela made this statement from the dock at the opening of his trial on charges of sabotage, Supreme court of South Africa, Pretoria, April 20 1964 (sentenced to life in prison)
Twitter / Gulag1930: Why don't you just fuck off ... - Dave and stop lying you Tory cunt @David_Cameron pic.twitter.com/mKIKXLkaOc
Mandela off U.S. terrorism watch list - CNN.com - Former South African President Nelson Mandela is to be removed from a U.S. terrorism watch list under a bill President Bush signed Tuesday. (2008)

The Bush White House Was Deaf to 9/11 Warnings - NYTimes.com - On April 10, 2004, the Bush White House declassified that daily brief — and only that daily brief — in response to pressure from the 9/11 Commission, which was investigating the events leading to the attack. (it wasn't the only warning they ignored so they could lie us into war, bankrupt the country, kill thousands of innocent people and create terrorists everywhere: 2012)

Israeli former security chief: failure to end conflict is bigger threat than Iran | World news | theguardian.com - Yuval Diskin says two-state solution will soon no longer be possible and Palestinian youths are 'frustrated and hopeless' (Likudniks at work)
Algerian Army Kills High-Level Al Qaeda Leader, Says Official - Algerian army helicopters killed a top al-Qaida leader and four associates as they sped through the southern Algerian desert, a local official said Thursday.
Nearly 80 people killed in C.African capital - Almost 80 bodies were found lying in a mosque and its surrounding streets in the Central African capital Bangui on Thursday after overnight violence, reporters saw.
52 doctors, nurses, patients reported killed in attack on Yemen Ministry of Defense - Committee said 52 people, including doctors, nurses and patients, were killed in Thursday's attack on the Ministry of Defence and around 162 people were injured.
Thousands of Eritreans 'abducted to Sinai for ransom' - Up to 30,000 Eritreans have been abducted since 2007 and taken to Egypt's Sinai to suffer torture and ransom demands, new research says.

Precision Strike Technology Goes Global | The Diplomat - Surviving a world of diffuse precision strike is a strategic and organizational problem for the US military. (your aircraft carriers are so old school)

Bitcoin Debate Ramping Up On Wall Street - Business Insider
Chinese government says Bitcoin cannot be used as currency
OpUkraine kicked off by r00tsecurity - A group of hackers who call themselves r00ts3curity or #r00ts3c have started attacking Ukraine based websites and leaking data.

Over Snowden Leaks, The Guardian's Alan Rusbridger Defends Paper | New Republic - At a truly shameful interrogation before a U.K. Parliament committee yesterday—at one point, Rusbridger’s patriotism was questioned; at another, an M.P. credited the British with creating the Enigma code (it was Britain who cracked Enigma, a Nazi code)—Rusbridger had to defend his paper.
The Snowden Leaks and the Public by Alan Rusbridger | The New York Review of Books
Ken Auletta: Can the Guardian Take Its Aggressive Investigations Global? : The New Yorker - A British newspaper wants to take its aggressive investigations global, but money is running out. by Ken Auletta

Jailed whistle-blowers to Edward Snowden: Don'€™t come home | Al Jazeera America - What happens to whistle-blowers after the whistle is blown
NSA considered ‘unilateral spying’ on Australia, Canada, NZ citizens — RT News (Al Qaeda havens +minimize this!)
How the NSA is tracking people right now - The Washington Post
Sweden Reportedly Helped U.S. Spy On Russia

Following Plea Bargains, PayPal 14 Members Can Avoid Felony Charges | Motherboard - The US government was initially seeking out punishments of up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000, but the final deals are much lighter, which may reflect the protest-driven nature of the case.
477 OBJECTIONS Corrected Order Re- PayPal's Motion to Quash and:or Modify Subpoena and for Protective Order (March 15, 2013).pdf - Google Drive
FBI raids Texas colocation facility in 4chan DDoS probe | Ars Technica - The FBI is all over a Texas server host outfit whose computers appear to have …
Your Computer can he Hacked Using Only Sound ! - Hackers News Bulletin - “audible/ sound based networking as a covert communications technology is a considerable threat for PC security.”
Do Antivirus Companies Whitelist NSA Malware? Microsoft/Symantec/McAfee Fail to Respond to Transparency Plea from Privacy/Security Experts | LeakSource

Freedom Of The Press Foundation To Release New Version Of Anonymous Whistleblower Submission System - Forbes

? [289] International Activist Exposed as Stratfor Agent, IAEA Praises TEPCO for Fukushima Clean-up - YouTube
The FBI COINTELPRO Program and the Fred Hampton Assassination | G. Flint Taylor

Two million stolen Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, ADP passwords found on Pony Botnet server | ZDNet - Trustwave's SpiderLabs found a Pony Botnet Controller server holding over two million passwords and account credentials for ADP payroll, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and more belonging to victims around the world.
Google, Facebook, payroll accounts targeted in major password theft, security experts say - The Washington Post
JPMorgan Warns 465,000 Customers About Data Theft - JPMorgan Chase & Co is warning some 465,000 holders of prepaid cash cards issued by the bank that their personal information may have been accessed by hackers who attacked its network in July.

To Make Hospitals Less Deadly, a Dose of Data - NYTimes.com - error responsible for many more deaths — probably around some 440,000 per year. That’s one-sixth of all deaths nationally, making preventable hospital error the third leading cause of death in the United States. And 10 to 20 times that many people suffer nonlethal but serious harm as a result of hospital mistakes. (5-10 million/yr; where is the call to bomb/invade hospitals?)

ALEC, Ron Johnson support Convention of States. - At this year's conference, ALEC isn't just working to promote conservative state laws, but to dismantle the federal government's control over the states. (it's always the Confederacy)
US lawmakers make 'good progress' on two-year budget deal to avert shutdown | World news | theguardian.com - Bipartisan congressional staff expected to hold talks on Thursday to thrash out finer details of hoped-for $1tn budget deal
State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax | World news | theguardian.com - Strategy to 'release residents from government dependency' (by making them die)
Most youth unhappy with Obama's job performance: poll | Reuters (Obama's mission to destroy the Democratic Party: apres moi, rein)
Over-Interpreting Mundane Poll Results - There's nothing special about the drop in Obama's approval ratings among young people.

Schwartz chair of Wall Street group attacking Elizabeth Warren :: Blogs :: The Naked City :: Philadelphia City Paper - On Sunday, an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal attacked the "economic populism" of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio as "disastrous for Democrats," and criticizes "the new expansion of entitlement benefits that the Warren wing of the Democratic Party is proposing." U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz—a Democratic candidate for governor of Pennsylvania—serves as an honorary co-chair. (Third Way)
Schwartz Campaign calls Wall Street Journal op/ed ‘outrageous’ — but will not drop ‘Third Way’ affiliation | PhillyNow | A blog about Philadelphia news, politics and culture by Philadelphia Weekly

The Inside Story Of The Plan To Send Hazardous Materials Straight Through The Heart Of D.C. (perfectly safe)

Hiding From Managers Can Increase Your Productivity — HBS Working Knowledge - Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Ethan S. Bernstein explains why decreasing workplace transparency can increase productivity. (panopticon/surveillatron paradox +"The frontline people who perform a particular task 12 hours a day may ...")

Katie Couric and the HPV vaccine: The “journalist” throws in with the anti-vaccination crowd on her ABC talk show.

Georgia insurance commissioner: It’s ‘your fault’ if you have a pre-existing condition | The Raw Story - Ralph Hudgens told a group of Republican women in November that having a pre-existing condition like breast cancer or asthma is like being at fault in a car accident and that insurance companies should rightfully be reluctant to cover you. (they elect "Insurance Commissioners" in GA)
Michigan Lawmakers Considering Abortion Bill That Would Force Women To Buy 'Rape Insurance' | ThinkProgress (in case their slut-pills fail, which aren't convered either)

Federal Drug Defendants Who Don't Plead Guilty Spend Three Times Longer In Prison, Report Finds | ThinkProgress
Rewarding Reduced Crime Rates—Not Mass Incarceration - A new Brennan Center report offers advice on how to deal with the United States' prison disaster.
Unarmed Man Charged After Cops Shoot Two Bystanders in Times Square - ANIMAL - Back in September, NYPD officers opened fire on Glenn Broadnax, a crazed but unarmed man, missing and hitting two innocent bystanders instead. Now, Broadnax is being charged with assault for their injuries, with the District Attorney’s office arguing that he is responsible for the shots cops fired.
Men Do Not Need Guns Or Violence To Be Men | The Raw Story
Public Enemies: Social Media Is Fueling Gang Wars in Chicago | Underwire | Wired.com

Rehtaeh Parsons Case: Teens Charged With Child Porn In Court - The case of two teenagers facing child pornography charges after the death of Rehtaeh Parsons has been adjourned until the new year.

Quantum Entanglement May Link Wormholes In Universe, Physicists Say
Scientists: Vast freshwater reserves trapped beneath ocean floor could sustain future generations | The Raw Story
Chickenpox Vaccine Not Responsible for Rise in Shingles, Study Says – WebMD - "We really don't know why about one-third to one-quarter of people who've had chickenpox go on to develop shingles over their lifetime while others don't," he explained.

cf: The Wells Fargo Wagon - YouTube

On Smarm - What is smarm, exactly? Smarm is a kind of performance—an assumption of the forms of seriousness, of virtue, of constructiveness, without the substance. Smarm is concerned with appropriateness and with tone. Smarm disapproves ... It is also no accident that David Eggers is full of shit.
The Daily Dot - Facebook's 'Hot Mom' suspended for fat-shaming - Three hours later, Kang’s post and page were suspended. Facebook labeled her comments “hate speech.”

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Climate Change's Biggest Threats Are Those We Aren't Ready For: Report - Climatic changes -- and the results of those changes -- could occur within decades or even sooner, and they are becoming a greater concern for scientists, according to a new paper from the National Academy of Sciences.

Anonymous Message To Morocco - Pastebin.com
(19) Twitter / Search - #NadorKiss
Twitter / Samurai_Lucy: Seems the shitstorm did arrive ... - in #Morocco. Tango downs and looks like #Anonymous has rooted a server w loads of financial info.
Twitter / YourAnonCentral: Newsflash @ChefGov_ma #Morocco ... - is second in SEX TRAFFICKING. Criminalize THAT. #NadorKiss
Twitter / YourAnonCentral: It is ridiculous that #Morrocco ... - doesn't allow Teens to kiss but is perfectly fine with grown men fucking children. #NadorKiss
(1) Anonymous Operations (YourAnonCentral) on Twitter - "Approximately 26,000 children are raped each year, a traumatic average of 71 children a day". (so they outlaw teen-kissing)
Moroccans protest against pardon of Spanish pedophile | Reuters - serving a 30-year sentence for raping and filming children as young as four.

Uruguay's likely cannabis law could set tone for war on drugs in Latin America | World news | The Guardian - State control of marijuana market should be seen as part of long and pragmatic tradition of market intervention and nationalisation (undermining Obama's war on drugz)

Kill team: Obama war chiefs widen drone death zones - Washington Times - The Pentagon has loosened its guidelines on avoiding civilian casualties during drone strikes, modifying instructions from requiring military personnel to “ensure” civilians are not targeted to encouraging service members to “avoid targeting” civilians. (that's right: their response to killing brown children is to make it easier)
First UK legal challenge to CIA drones reaches Court of Appeal | The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

NSA Has a Massive Program Which ‘Incidentally’ Collects Cell Location Data of Millions of Americans | The Dissenter (they can say they aren't "targeting" you because they don't need to "target" anything)
NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show - The Washington Post
NSA Tracks 5 Billion Cellphone Locations Each and Every Day | Mother Jones
Atlas Bugged II: Is There an NSA Mass Location Tracking Program? | Cato @ Liberty (Julian Sanchez nailed it in July)

Bergen: Is the U.S. less safe from terror? - CNN.com - On Sunday's CNN "State of the Union" show, anchor Candy Crowley asked Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D- California), the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and her counterpart in the House, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Michigan), a simple question: "Are we safer now than we were a year ago, two years ago, in general?" (DiFucker calls for even more tragic failure)
Unlocking the latest Wyden code: Does NSA operate a bulk domestic location tracking program? | Privacy SOS (New Rule: when Wyden asks the spysters are you spying on us, the anwer is always yes when they say no)
French bill to legalize bulk Internet spying moving through National Assembly - Boing Boing

Rep. Hunter: US Should Use Tactical Nukes on Iran if Strikes Become Necessary | Defense News | defensenews.com
US delays prison for Somali man as officials tell of 'intelligence watershed' | World news | theguardian.com - Lawyers confirm extended co-operation from man who secretly pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in New York two years ago
Hussein al-Laqis Dead: Hezbollah Commander Killed Outside His Beirut Home - The overnight killing of Hassan al-Laqis, described as a founding member of the group and one of its top commanders, was a huge blow to the Iranian-backed group that dominates power in Lebanon.
Gaza in 2020: A liveable place? | UNRWA - Gaza will have half a million more people by 2020 while its economy will grow only slowly. In consequence, the people of Gaza will have an even harder time getting enough drinking water and electricity, or sending their children to school."
Truck Carrying Nuclear Waste Stolen In Mexico: IAEA

ALEC calls for penalties on 'freerider' homeowners in assault on clean energy | World news | theguardian.com - Documents reveal conservative group's anti-green agenda • Strategy to charge people who install their own solar panels

US will no longer report Guantanamo Hunger strikes - The U.S. military will no longer disclose to the media and public whether prisoners at Guantanamo Bay are on hunger strike, a spokesman said Wednesday, eliminating what had long been an unofficial barometer of conditions at the secretive military outpost. (response to abuses is to hide them because AQ will think we're pussies, or something)
Guantánamo ends daily hunger-strike reports - Guantánamo - MiamiHerald.com - The Guantánamo prison, whose motto is "safe, humane, legal, transparent detention," announced Tuesday that it will no longer disclose daily hunger-strike figures — abandoning a practice that allowed the public to see the rise and fall of the captives’ nearly year-long protest.

Libor Lies Revealed in Rigging of $300 Trillion Benchmark - Bloomberg

Parliament may charge Guardian under Terrorism Act for publishing Snowden leaks | VentureBeat | Media | by Meghan Kelly
Why FISA Court Judges Rule The Way They Do : NPR - Self-policing comes with big challenges. Is it possible to control the vast spy agency? (Obama's over-sight free spy system)

Opinion: After Snowden, we're self-censoring and we don't care - CNN.com - The public's dulled senses when it comes to online privacy should not be grounds for forfeiting the rights the Founding Fathers put first above all others. (Obama's main job is undermining America)
Nearly 1 in 4 US Writers Has Self-Censored For Fear of Government Surveillance | Dispatches from the Underclass
News, analysis, action | GeorgieBC's Blog - The future of journalism is in all of us.
The Many Arrests of Canadian Journalist Miles Howe | VICE United States (how Canada treats journalists)

Reflections on the Corporate Security State » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names - The irony of a private security firm calling me “paranoid” while spying on me at the same time is not lost on me.
12 Corporate Espionage Tactics Used Against Leading Progressive Groups, Activists and Whistleblowers | Alternet - Corporate spies for Dow, Kraft and others have tried to discredit, shame and infiltrate civic groups using an array of dirty tricks.
At least four undercover spies infiltrated anarchist groups | Guardian Undercover Blog | UK news | theguardian.com - Interview on anarchist radio show gives overview of undercover infiltration of political groups since 1968
CIA-Linked Tech Startup MongoDB Helping Create India’s Biometric ID Database | LeakSource - CIA-Linked Tech Startup MongoDB Helping Create India’s Biometric ID Database
FBI Guidelines on Investigating Political Parties, Journalists, Religious Leaders and More via @intelwire
DOJ asks court to give police the benefit of the doubt on murky surveillance law | Privacy SOS - the officers who placed the tracker on Katzin's car did so in good faith, believing that what they were doing was legal. (new standard: "they thought is was legal")

(3) Anonymous Operations (YourAnonCentral) on Twitter
WikiLeaks responds to Pierre Omidyar's op-ed, questions PayPal's blockade of WikiLeaks (with tweets) · m_cetera · Storify - WikiLeaks and Pierre Omidyar converse on Twitter after the publication of Omidyar's op-ed in the Huffington Post.

The Daily Dot - How politics, spying, and censorship shape the Web - The top countries were Sweden, Norway, United Kingdom, United States, and New Zealand. Interestingly, the latter three countries were implicated in large-scale online spying operations by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden

Anonymous-related Twitter accounts suspended after misogynist abuse | Technology | theguardian.com - Hacktivist collective blames Labour MP Stella Creasy and Times columnist Caitlin Moran for the suspension of 30 accounts (Alex Hern center of twitter shit-storm)
(2) Twitter / Search - #Trollocaust2013
Twitter / ninjafckinduck: @alexhern @YourAnonCentral ...
BBC Newsnight’s anti-trolling fail (Update: Reporter gone) | Doubtful News

NSA FOIA Response Claims Data On Vendor Contracts 'Unsearchable' | Techdirt - from the it's-easier-to-not-find-something-when-you-don't-bother-looking-for-it dept (lying is what they do dept)
The further details of Ibrahim's life, her arrest and treatment, all suggest a situation where US law enforcement totally screwed up, and seriously mucked up someone's life -- and now they seem to be doing everything possible to avoid taking responsibility for it. (Obama's rabbit-hole of non-logic)
Canadian Cyberbullying Bill Expands Scope, Targets Open WiFi Over Terrorism, Child Porn Fears | Techdirt - n other words, Dechert is suggesting that accessing a neighbour's cable or wireless Internet access might somehow be linked to planning a terrorist attack, sending child pornography, or engaging in cyberbullying.
MPAA 'Settles' Another 'Victory' Against Hotfile For $80 Million That No Artists Will Ever See | Techdirt
This Is the MIT Surveillance Video That Undid Aaron Swartz | Threat Level | Wired.com

15 Documentary Features Advance in 2013 Oscar® Race - "Dirty Wars," Civic Bakery

Found: hacker server storing two million pilfered passwords | Ars Technica - Credentials belonged to users of Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Twitter, and more.
a 2 Million Stolen Facebook, Yahoo And Google Passwords Posted Online

Pulling back the curtain on civic tech - Knight Foundation - . Since 2010, Knight has invested more than $25 million in technology ranging from open government tools that improve public data access and service delivery, to platforms that empower residents to connect and collaborate around civic issues.

The Affordable Care Act Is Not Remotely Similar to the Heritage Plan - Lawyers, Guns & Money : The Heritage plan was an individual mandate for catastrophic coverage with a tax credit to help subsidize it. That’s pretty much it ... the Heritage plan essentially proposes to apply the principles of welfare “reform” to Medicaid, allowing states more “flexibility” (to reduce coverage) and allegedly helping the poor by eliminating state regulations requiring health insurance to have actual content.

Politico Stonewalls Mike Allen Payola Scandal -- Daily Intelligencer

Now Is A Horrible Time To Cut Food Stamps, In 1 Depressing Chart - Congress effectively pulled money out of the hands of 47 million struggling Americans last month when it allowed massive cuts to the country’s food stamp program to go through without a hitch.

Exposed: University President Lied to Students About Fracking On School Property | Occupy.com (looks like a liar)
7NEWS - Oil, gas industry sues 2 Colorado towns over fracking votes - Local Story - Colorado's largest oil and gas industry group has filed a lawsuit against two Front Range towns that voted last month to ban hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Chamber Of Commerce Leader Says Fracking Regulations 'Undermine Freedom' | ThinkProgress (Donahue's freedom to screw Americans)

US Congress has close encounter over extraterrestrial life | Science | theguardian.com - Witnesses from Nasa and MIT suggest to House committee that scientists may be on verge of breakthrough in search for aliens (who might be Al-Qaeda operatives) /a>

Dallas Police Rule Change Gives Officers 72 Hours To Get Their Stories Straight After Shooting Citizens | Techdirt - from the accountability-is-for-bullet-riddled-civilians dept

The only shameful thing about sex is justifying outdated views with 'science' | Jill Filipovic | Comment is free | theguardian.com - A study argues evolution is why women are more likely to regret casual sex. It ignores the cultural norms we're enshrouded in - college-age women are more likely to regret a one-time sexual encounter, whereas men are more likely to regret not taking a sexual opportunity.

Male and female brains: the REAL differences | Science | theguardian.com - One startling difference between male and female brains is where they are found. It may surprise many, but male brains are found almost exclusively inside male skulls, whereas female brains are found only inside female skulls!
So, men and women's brains are wired differently – but it's not that simple | Oscar Rickett | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Reducing a scientific study about mental illness to pop psychology suggesting men and women are from different planets does us all a disservice
asking questions about men and women by looking at teenagers - Speech Communication Lab - This are a few comments on this paper on sex differences in the human connectome, published in PNAS. Cor, ain't it been popular in the press though, guvnor.
Are men better wired to read maps or is it a tired cliché?
New insights into gendered brain wiring, or a perfect case study in neurosexism?

RealClearScience - Oldest Known Early Human DNA Recovered - The femur clocked in at around 400,000 years old, placing its former owner in the Middle Pleistocene and making the DNA by far and away oldest human DNA ever collected. The previous record belonged to 100,000-year-old Neanderthal DNA.
ELI5:The main differences between Catholic, Protestant,and Presbyterian versions of Christianity : explainlikeimfive

Wal-Mart pays lawyer fees for dozens of executives in bribery probe | Reuters

Charles Saatchi spread false claims about drug use, claims Nigella Lawson | UK news | theguardian.com - The court had previously heard Saatchi had been sent accounts by the Grillos that Lawson was a habitual drug user, after which he sent her an angry email on 10 October mocking her as "Higella".
Rob Ford: Gang members targeted mayor in blackmail plot, police documents say | Toronto Star - Mayor Rob Ford’s habit of doing drugs with gang members led to him being targeted in an apparent extortion plot related to the crack cocaine video and possibly a series of photographs of him in compromising situations, newly released police documents say.

I am Rick Doblin, Ph.D, founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Ask me and my staff anything about the scientific and medical potential of psychedelic drugs and marijuana! : IAmA
Microdosing: drugs at small doses for therapy and growth

Animating Noam Chomsky: French Director Michel Gondry on New Film "Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?"
Best Books of 2013 : NPR

BaeD3juIMAAF4Ek.jpg:large (Amazon attempted drone-delivery notice)

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Fukushima two years on: a dirty job with no end in sight | Environment | The Guardian - The tsunami that wrecked the Fukushima Daiichi power plant has led to the toughest nuclear cleanup ever. Radioactive water is still poisoning the sea – and it could take 40 years to fix the mess. Is Japan up to the challenge?

With Russia in mind, U.S. takes cautious approach on Ukraine unrest - The Washington Post
Taliban urge Afghan president Hamid Karzai to reject US security deal | World news | theguardian.com - Taliban offer Karzai rare support but say 'the decision of Afghan nation is clear: they don't want any occupier in our homeland' (expensive, tragic, stupid mission accomplished)
Guantánamo Bay detainees claim Poland allowed CIA torture | World news | The Guardian - Terror suspects subjected to extraordinary rendition tell European court of human rights they were waterboarded
Egypt's Students Defy Protest Law In Familiar Battle Against Government

Jeffrey Lewis • Israel, Nuclear Weapons and the 1973 Yom Kippur War
Yasser Arafat poisoning allegations challenged by French research group | The Verge

Only 1% of Snowden files published - Guardian editor
Guardian Newspaper Staff May Face Charges For Assisting Terrorists
Terrorism offences 'may have been committed' over Miranda material | UK news | The Guardian - It appears "possible that some people may have committed offences" Scotland Yard's head of counter-terrorism told MPs when she updated them on the state of the investigation into the material seized from David Miranda in August. (Cressida Dick, Mark Reckless +"may have" because they can't crack the encryption)
Home Affairs Committee MPs Worry about Minimization Procedures — of Newspaper, not Spy Service | emptywheel
The Daily Dot - Guardian editor grilled by Parliament over Snowden leaks - Before the conclusion of the meeting, Rusbridger added that since Glenn Greenwald left the newspaper, it’s had no further contact with Snowden.
UPDATE 1-British news staff may face terrorism charges over Snowden leaks | Reuters
It's outrageous to accuse the Guardian of aiding terrorism by publishing Snowden's revelations | Ben Emmerson | Comment is free | The Guardian - Alan Rusbridger is being grilled by MPs – but he has published nothing that could be a threat to national security
Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger appears before MPs – live coverage | World news | theguardian.com - Editor defends paper over Snowden leaks • Some people 'may have committed an offence' - police
MPs' questions to Alan Rusbridger: do you love this country? | Media | theguardian.com - Key extracts from the Guardian editor's appearance before the home affairs select committee over the impact of NSA leaks (who loves their country?)
An open letter from Carl Bernstein to Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger | Media | theguardian.com - Watergate scandal journalist's letter comes as Guardian editor prepares to appear before MPs over Edward Snowden leaks (disagrees with Woodfuck)
Guardian Australia fiercely defends its reporting on spy agencies | World news | theguardian.com - Attacks on the publication of stories based on NSA documents threaten to shut down debate on the issues that matter
Venezuela investigates near-nationwide power outage | The Raw Story - A blackout that plunged much of Venezuela into darkness as President Nicolas Maduro spoke on TV was caused by a ruptured conductor in a transmission line, the government said Tuesday. (CIA job)

New report highlights cyber weaknesses at Homeland Security, says progress is being made | The Verge - New report highlights cyber weaknesses at Homeland Security, says progress is being made
Tech giants are countering government spying - Worried that fears of compromised data could hurt their business, the tech firms are in damage-control mode.
Twitter / StanleyCohenLaw: what can i say http://t.co/7nVTKBKPrn

Trial Opens in Case Challenging Scholar's Placement on TSA Watchlist | Threat Level | Wired.com - In 2005, Rahinah Ibrahim, a visiting scholar at Stanford University, was handcuffed, detained and interrogated for two hours at San Francisco International Airport, after being told she was on a U.S. government watchlist. the government’s vast secret watchlist system, which contains 875,000 names (Obama encouraged more of this crap)
Watching the Watch List: Landmark Case Goes to Trial over Massive U.S. Terrorism "No-Fly" Database | Democracy Now!

Report: Military Doctors Designed, Enabled U.S. Torture of Prisoners at Guantánamo, Secret Prisons | Democracy Now!
Two-Thirds Of Military Supreme Court Cases Are About Child Pornography

Online drugs marketplace shut down after £3.5m bitcoin hack | Technology | theguardian.com - Sheep disappears from the internet after admins report a Bitcoin hack - but users accuse them of absconding with 20 times that
Online black market members hunt down $100 million in bitcoins, blame site owners for theft | The Verge

Map of Obamacare attack ad spending. - t conservative groups are hammering negative Obamacare ads in markets where Senate Democrats are up for re-election in 2014.
Cost of Health Care Law Is Seen as Decreasing - NYTimes.com - . The sluggish economy is one reason that health spending has grown so slowly recently.
As Hospital Prices Soar, a Single Stitch Tops $500 - NYTimes.com

UPS researching delivery drones that could compete with Amazon's Prime Air | The Verge - Flying parcel-carriers are the next logical frontier for delivery companies (next: they shoot it out in the skies)

ALEC facing funding crisis from donor exodus in wake of Trayvon Martin row | World news | theguardian.com - Rightwing lobby group appealing to major donors to return • Internal documents reveal so-called 'Prodigal Son Project' • Network lost almost 400 state legislators over past two years (defund the corporo-fascist-racist assholes)
ALEC Trayvon Martin Case - The ALEC Documents Exposed - Esquire - Nobody has any excuse any longer. Reporters -- local and national -- no longer have any excuse to treat ALEC and its work product as anything more than corporate-funded propaganda designed to exist outside the imperatives of democratic self-government.

Third Way Warns Democrats That Running On Popular Economic Positions Would Be 'Disastrous'

U.S. students lag around average on international science, math and reading test - The Washington Post - Scores in math, reading and science posted by 15-year-olds in the United States were flat while their counterparts elsewhere — particularly in Shanghai, Singapore and other Asian provinces or countries — soared ahead, according to results of a well-regarded international exam released Tuesday. (land of the stupid +Republicans hate education)
Americans are bad at math and average at science, study shows | The Verge - Education Secretary Arne Duncan calls OECD findings a "picture of educational stagnation" (which is why 'ol Arne loves corporate schools)

Elizabeth Warren Should Stay Senator - Why Elizabeth Warren Should Stay Where She Is - Esquire - It is pretty plain that she's wrongfooted Wall Street poodle Chuck Schumer pretty badly, too. (as bad as Difucker, hates "left-wing" blogs which are mirrors of teaparty with less clout)
Native Americans face casino limits as supreme court weighs Michigan case | Law | theguardian.com - Legal independence of Native American communities at stake in landmark case brought against casino operators in Michigan

Today in Hackery -- Daily Intelligencer - Charles Krauthammer is possibly the most influential conservative political writer in the United States. (what passes for a human being +expands on Atrios')
13 Times The Reagan White House Press Briefing Erupted With Laughter Over AIDS - White House acting press secretary Larry Speakes, and some of the reporters at press briefings, found the crisis to be quite the joking matter. (Republican love seeing people die)

Female Fort Hood soldiers recruited for prostitution ring, trial hears | World news | theguardian.com - Seventeen-year veteran accused of using service set up by co-ordinator of base's sex assault and harassment prevention program (how your completely corrupt military works)
Archie Comics co-CEO accused of gender discrimination by male employees - NY Daily News - The embattled co-CEO also mocked the five employees’ claim that she’d used her “gender as a weapon” by yelling, “Penis! Penis! Penis!” during a business meeting.
One Woman's Dangerous War Against the Most Hated Man on the Internet - Hunter Moore (revenge-porn king smashed)

? Gravity Visualized - YouTube
Male and female brains wired differently, scans reveal | Science | The Guardian - Maps of neural circuitry show women's brains are suited to social skills and memory, men's perception and co-ordination (left-right vs front-back in 15-22 yr olds)
Paul Bloom writes in the New York Times on his study of sexual objectification. - While focusing on people’s bodies as opposed to their minds does decrease our perceptions of their ability “to act, plan and exert self-control,” he writes, it can actually increase our perceptions of their capacity to “feel pain, pleasure and emotions.”

We Already Know What Adam Lanza’s Real Motive Was at Sandy Hook - Monday’s report doesn’t conclusively name a reason for the shooting last December, but we know why Adam Lanza was at the elementary school: He wanted to shoot kids. (severe OCD and autism)
? Sometimes Cops Find Your Stolen Car. Sometimes Cops Stole It. - YouTube (asset foriture turns government into organized crime)
TSA Expands Searches Of Parked Cars At Airports | TSA Controversy - TSA-approved warrantless searches of vehicles parked outside airports are being expanded, with a photograph taken at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport informing Thanksgiving travelers that all vehicles belonging to AmeriPark customers “will be searched by uniformed security.”

Millennial narcissism: Helicopter parents are college students’ bigger problem. (entitled, overprotected narcissists is the narrative)

Chicago Sun-Times could rehire photographers after replacing them with iPhones | The Verge

BuzzFeed and Elan Gale's Internet hoax: Too good to check.
How Facebook could kill the new wave of viral media
Cicero’s Twitter: Tom Standage on the forgotten history of social media | The Verge
Google takes aim at Microsoft and Amazon with its Cloud Platform | The Verge
The Elan Gale internet hoax sums up all that is rotten about our online lives | Hadley Freeman | Comment is free | The Guardian - And then it transpired on Monday night, after several days of self-defensive self-righteousness from Gale, that he had made the whole thing up. Incidentally, Gale is 30. Not 13. Thirty. (everyone is a troll +"eat my dick, Dianne")

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Kiev Protests Draw Over 300,000 People To March Against Regime - The mass rally in central Kiev defied a government ban on protests on Independence Square, in the biggest show of anger over President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign a political and economic agreement with the European Union. (Putin's pay-off proves costly)
Kiev anti-government protesters remain in control in parts of city | World news | theguardian.com - Police keep their distance as Viktor Yanukovych's government ponders next move
Twitter / YourAnonNews: Drones yield the best views ... - of #UkraineProtests yet -

Biden arrives in Japan to try to heal rift over China's air defence zone | World news | theguardian.com - Vice-president to reassure Pacific allies of American support • Japanese and US air authorities at odds over civilian flights
Top Syrian officials involved in war crimes – UN investigators | World news | theguardian.com - President Bashar al-Assad among those linked to evidence of crimes against humanity in civil war, says human rights official
No respite for Qatar's migrant workers, international trade union finds | World news | theguardian.com - Delegation finds 'no improvement in living and working conditions' of migrants building world cup infrastructure
Croatia Votes To Ban Gay Marriage - 65 percent of those who voted answered "yes" to the referendum question: "Do you agree that marriage is matrimony between a man and a woman?" About 34 percent voted against.

Teen arrested for Clutha helicopter online comments - The Scotsman - A 16-year-old male has been arrested for allegedly posting sectarian and racist comments online in the wake of the Glasgow helicopter crash. (no free speech for you in super-nanny-state Scotland)
Orsenfelt comments on 16 year old arrested for online comments following #Clutha helicopter crash

US Citizen Charged Under UAE Cybercrime Decree | Electronic Frontier Foundation - A US citizen has become the first foreigner to be charged under the United Arab Emirates' "cybercrime" decree for a satirical video about young people in Dubai. (why we need a cybercommand to command our cyber squads)

NSA files: what's a little spying between old friends? | World news | The Guardian - By targeting allies and enemies alike, the 'Five Eyes' club of English-speaking powers have eroded trust on the world stage
What now for the surveillance state? | World news | The Guardian - Even GCHQ and the NSA know their work may not be sustainable without a proper debate about their power
The long arm of US law: what next for Edward Snowden? | World news | The Guardian - The US will chase the NSA whistleblower wherever he tries to go, and if he ends up in an American court, he may not be free for decades ... America would "do everything in its power short of snatching him from Russia to try to have Edward Snowden put on trial in the US"
Edward Snowden revelations prompt UN investigation into surveillance | World news | The Guardian - UN's senior counter-terrorism official says revelations 'are at the very apex of public interest concerns' (should settle the debate)
The privacy of ordinary Australians is under serious threat | Geoffrey Robertson | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Intelligence representatives offered to share the confidential data of law-abiding Australians with international partners. In this Orwellian climate, who will guard the guardians? (mu-hahaha)

The Real War on Reality - NYTimes.com - If there is one thing we can take away from the news of recent weeks it is this: the modern American surveillance state is not really the stuff of paranoid fantasies; it has arrived.
Revealed: How Corporations Spy on Activists | Alternet - “common aspect of intelligence work: deception. That is, it is involved not just with the concealment of reality, but with the manufacture of it.”
The war on democracy | Nafeez Ahmed | Environment | theguardian.com - How corporations and spy agencies use "security" to defend profiteering and crush activism

Exposed: Globally Renowned Activist Collaborated With Intelligence Firm Stratfor | Occupy.com - Serbia’s Srdja Popovic is known by many as a leading architect of regime changes in Eastern Europe and elsewhere since the late-1990s, and as one of the co-founders of Otpor!, the U.S.-funded Serbian activist group which overthrew Slobodan Miloševic in 2000.

20121116 (AE 339 ENC 01) Log of Unclassified Emails (with Emails) - CCIU seize copies of Manning's books with highlights and underlines, including Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (Obama hates terror-symp Jane Austen)

Clueless French Court Orders Search Engines To Disappear Entire Sites For Copyright Infringement | Techdirt

China’s Largest Bitcoin Exchange Seeks Recognition for Currency - Bloomberg
Silk Road Competitor Shuts Down And Another Plans To Go Offline After Claimed $6 Million Theft - Forbes - by one of its sellers who found a security vulnerability in the site.
Did One of the Silk Road's Successors Just Commit the Perfect Bitcoin Scam? | Motherboard
Bitcoins stolen from the users of Sheep Market Place? | Hacker News
YourFreeProxy Is Caught Installing A Toolbar That Mines Bitcoin On The Sly | TechCrunch

Can OpenGov's Madison Platform Change the Surveillance State? | Motherboard - Last week, the non-partisan, non-profit OpenGov Foundation and US Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) announced they are using the Madison lawmaking software to help craft the USA Freedom Act, a National Security Agency (NSA) reform bill.
NSA Sent Home Talking Points for Employees to Use in Conversations with Family & Friends During Holidays | The Dissenter (still trotting out the 54 plots bullshit)

Is the use of unmanned military drones ethical or criminal? - video debate | Comment is free | theguardian.com
Amazon to deliver by drone? Don't believe the hype | James Ball | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Jeff Bezos's 'plan' for drone deliveries is little more than a publicity stunt – timed for the biggest online shopping day of the year (bombs to your front door +shoot them down games

‘Paper Tiger’ at the Pentagon - Glenn Thrush - politico Magazine - For months, Chuck Hagel has played a secretary on defense. Is this his punch-back moment? (meaning, against any cuts to huge military budget because readiness for infinite war)

The Affordable Care Act v. Supreme Court, Round 2 - Diving into the two contraception-mandate cases the high court will hear this term: Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius and Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (get ready for Scalia to fuck the country again)

The Rise Of Obamacare McCarthyism (transtemporal twins)

House Only Working 8 More Days This Year - The House had 239 days off scheduled during 2013, and they have even more off days scheduled for next year. (high-paid moochers)

The Supreme Court confronts the line between free speech and security with protester’s case - The Washington Post - But the line at issue in his free-speech case before the Supreme Court on Wednesday is real and tangible — painted in thick green on a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway.

6 U.S. Cities That Criminalize Homelessness | Care2 Causes
Henry A. Giroux | The Politics of Disimagination and the Pathologies of Power - The Violence of Neoliberalism
This Is Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality...: Rise of the Machines?: From the Inaugural "Uncharted" (the Anglo-Saxon sadism disease)

Sheriff’s Department hired officers with histories of misconduct - Los Angeles Times - Despite background investigations that revealed wrongdoing, incompetence, or poor performance, the department still hired dozens of problem applicants in 2010, internal records show.
Rochester Teens Arrested For Obstructing The Sidewalk While Waiting For School Bus | ThinkProgress (while black)
Private Prison Company Allegedly Put 73-Year-Old Grandmother In Solitary Confinement For 34 Days | ThinkProgress - the prison was prescribing her Zantac, which is known to cause false positives for methanphetamine. Lester reportedly offered to pay for a blood test to prove she was clean, but was put in solitary confinement instead. (no rigged system there)
Driver Arrested In Ohio For Secret Car Compartment Full of Nothing - Slashdot (yeah, they can arrest you for the non-possession of drugz as well)
Department of Justice funds 'pre-crime' and face recognition research for state and local police | Privacy SOS

Government Chemist Tampered With 40,000 Cases, Locking Countless Innocent Americans in Prison | Filming Cops (just a bad apple in the corrupt barrel of the war on some drugz and the poor people who use them)
DEA to Create Pot Concentrate Code | High Times (strabismis)

Introduction to the Bhagavad-Gita by Aldous Huxley - The Phora - These false and historically, aberrant and heretical doctrines are now systematically taught in our schools and repeated, day in, day out, by those anonymous writers of advertising copy who, more than any other teachers, provide European and American adults with their current philosophy of life. And so effective has been the propaganda that even professing Christians accept the heresy unquestioningly and are quite unconscious of its complete incompatibility with their own or anybody else’s religion.
Aldous Huxley on Man's Inherent Inner Conflict - YouTube

Diesel Exhaust Responsible for Thousands of Lung Cancer Deaths | EcoWatch - An estimated 6 percent of lung cancer deaths in the U.S. and the United Kingdom—11,000 deaths per year—may be due to diesel exhaust, according to a new study.

In praise of viciousness: the case for negative reviews. Plus: links to ten classic hatchet jobs! by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly
Not Just Bad Sex - Kathy Pollitt wrote this review for the 10/4/93 New Yorker about Katie Roiphe's "The Morning After: Sex, Fear and Feminism on Campus".
I Am The Cosmos | Welcome To Grigr - Impolitic, by Molly Ivins - “So write about Camille Paglia,” suggested the editor. Like any normal person, I replied, “And who the hell might she be?” (seminal slut-shaming rape-defending and epic takedown +wrong side of statistics)

Tool use in crocodylians: crocodiles and alligators use sticks as lures to attract waterbirds | Tetrapod Zoology, Scientific American Blog Network
ANON122342124124 comments on [50/50] Me And My Mrs Making Sweet, Sweet Love! (NSFW) | A Guy And A Dolphin Making Sweet, Sweet Love! (NSFW)


Nocontext: Classic lines from other posts
Even With Context

In praise of viciousness: the case for negative reviews. Plus: links to ten classic hatchet jobs! by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly

Cartoonist Donna Barstow Reappears To Generate More Negative Press While Attempting To Stifle Year-Old Negative Press | Techdirt (you're doing it totally wrong and the internet is a karma machine)

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American and Delta notify China of flights through disputed zone | World news | theguardian.com - Airlines confirm compliance with government advice a day after China scrambles jets in answer to US and Japanese planes
50 killed in air strikes on Syria's Al-Bab: NGO - Yahoo News
Kiev Protests Draw Over 100,000 People To March Against Regime - More than 100,000 demonstrators chased away police to rally in the center of Ukraine's capital on Sunday, defying a government ban on protests on Independence Square, in the biggest show of anger over the president's refusal to sign an agreement with the European Union.
Egypt: Police Use Tear Gas On Protesters
Leaked paper reveals UN split over war on drugs | World news | theguardian.com - Latin American nations call for treatment strategy, claiming UN's prohibition stance plays into hands of paramilitary groups (Obama tough on drugz in his terror-factory)
Bangkok protesters make 'final push' to topple Yingluck Shinawatra | World news | theguardian.com - Week of demonstrations against government turn violent, with two people killed during mass rally at university sports stadium
French MPs vote to impose fines on prostitutes' customers | World news | theguardian.com - Legislation shifts criminal responsibility from prostitutes to clients, following Sweden's example
Bali talks are make or break for World Trade Organisation | World news | theguardian.com - The WTO will cease to exist as a forum for serious trade liberalisation talks if countries fail to reach agreement this week
Shock four-country poll reveals widening gulf between Britain and EU | Politics | The Observer - Poll of France, Germany, Poland and the UK shows British hostile to EU, and other nations hostile to Britain
Al-Qaida: US committed 'crime of piracy' by kidnapping Abu Anas al-Liby | World news | theguardian.com - Former spokesman for Osama bin Laden demands revenge for October capture of Islamist militiaman in Libya (another part of Obama's terror factory)
Protests outside Qatari embassy in Cairo - Middle East - Al Jazeera English - Qatari and Turkish flags burned in first demonstration apparently permitted after introduction of strict protest law.
The Co-op scandal: drugs, sex, religion … and the humiliation of an idealist movement | Business | The Observer - purchases of Class A substances ranging from cocaine to ketamine and his hopes for a "drug-fuelled gay orgy".

Who Is Watching the Watch Lists? - NYTimes.com - Yet the federal government’s main terrorist watch list has grown to at least 700,000 people, with little scrutiny over how the determinations are made or the impact on those marked with the terrorist label. (no due process because terror and you can't get off))

Protestors Shine Light on Trans-Pacific Partnership’s Secret Corporate Coup | EcoWatch - The Sierra Club has said the TPP would result in an “explosion of fracking.” Public Citizen called it a “corporate power tool of the one percent.” And, in a letter signed by more than 130 Democratic members of Congress, Rep. DeLauro (D-CT) and Rep. Miller (D-CA) described the TPP as “weakening … buy America provisions, providing extraordinary investor-state privileges, and restricting access to lifesaving medicines in developing nations.”
Eschaton: Where All The Waste Is - Sure defense contractors are robbing us all blind, but we really need to cut the salary of the grunts. (says the 1% at the NYT editior board)
NY Times Editorial Board Offers Their Very Serious People Bona Fides | MyFDL - . It seems whichever member of the Editorial Board that authored this, thinks the military members are not “sacrificing” enough so pay and benefits need to be “on the table.” (this reeks of Keller)

America Is 'Less Safe' Than 2 Years Ago, Intelligence Committee Chairs Say - Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she believed that there are now more terrorists with the technological means to carry out a bombing in the U.S. ... "I think terror is up worldwide," said Feinstein (2 trillion dollars and the shredding of the Constituion later, they call for even moe idiocy)
Feinstein and Rogers say terrorism threat to US is increasing | World news | theguardian.com - House intelligence committee leader uses appearance to bemoan effect of leaks on US surveillance programmes (DiFucker will legalize their own bullshit)
Britain targets Guardian newspaper over intelligence leaks related to Edward Snowden - The Washington Post - Britain targets Guardian newspaper over intelligence leaks related to Edward Snowden
Berners-Lee blasts surveillance as a threat to democracy | PCWorld
Pressure builds on Boehner for NSA vote | TheHill - Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has defended the NSA's spying programs, but a growing bloc of his conference is signing on to a bill that would end the NSA's practice of collecting records on virtually all U.S. phone calls, which was revealed in leaks by Edward Snowden.

Digital era confounds the courts - Tal Kopan - politico.com (stuck in the '90's)

This Princeton professor is building a Bitcoin-inspired prediction market | The Verge

Four dead and 63 injured in New York passenger train derailment | World news | theguardian.com - Fire Department of New York says 11 in critical condition after accident in Bronx near Spuyten Duyvil station

Bernie Sanders for president? by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - “I personally have Clinton fatigue, noting that it was a Clinton team that has been running Obama’s economics,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute. “A Clinton administration seems like a continuation of the same team.” (16 yrs of failure) Bernie Sanders is clearly saying that if Elizabeth Warren doesn’t jump into the 2016 Democratic primary, he will.

Inside the Race to Rescue a Health Care Site, and Obama - NYTimes.com - an insular White House that did not initially appreciate the magnitude of its self-inflicted wounds, and sought help from trusted insiders as it scrambled to protect Mr. Obama’s image. (it's always all about "image" which makes his "image" look very bad; Obama's core problem: image over competence)
HealthCare.gov team claims victory: 'We have met the goal' | TheHill
The Biggest News in the Healthcare.gov Report: Just How Bad It Was - Garance Franke-Ruta - The Atlantic - In order to boast how far the federal site has come, HHS laid out how bad it used to be.
W.H.: Obamacare site now works for 'vast majority' - Brett Norman and Jennifer Haberkorn - politico.com
White House says Obamacare website 'will work smoothly' after fixes | World news | theguardian.com - Troubleshooter Jeff Zients marks deadline for federal fix by saying 'we are night and day from where we were on 1 October'
Officer accused of refusing to ID himself, take off mask during Obamacare protest - Sun Sentinel - He told police he was protesting Obamacare, but still he "was asked several times to remove his mask and produce some form of identification or tell us his name," according to the incident report. "He refused each time."

Harold Meyerson: If corporations have rights, they also should have duties - The Washington Post ("We, The corporations" and "You, the Slaves")

Having a child is nothing like deciding to buy a Porsche | Martha Fineman | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Greg Mankiw (free market! - they actually think like this - ideolonomics)
MMT for Toddlers | New Economic Perspectives

U.S. Student Homelessness Up 10% Since Last Year « naked capitalism - On Bill Moyers last week, Henry Giroux talked about how our political system is willing to throw young people on the trash heap: Zygmunt Bauman, calls them the zero generation: zero jobs, zero hope, zero possibilities, zero employment

The Need for Listening and Empathy in Journalism | Free Press - Two recent blog posts raise this question: Just how often do news organizations actually listen to their communities? (they expect their communities to listen to them)

Jan Brewer Under Fire Over Her Administration's Child Abuse Failures - her administration ignored thousands of child abuse and neglect reports that prompted calls for her to replace her hand-picked leader of the state's social services agency.
6 U.S. Cities That Criminalize Homelessness | Care2 Causes

The Steubenville Rape Case You Haven't Heard About | ThinkProgress - Newsweek reports that half of those charges, including the charge of failing to report child abuse, are actually related to a separate alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl that occurred months before the more high-profile incident.

PLOS Pathogens: Highly Significant Antiviral Activity of HIV-1 LTR-Specific Tre-Recombinase in Humanized Mice
Why are more women having mastectomies? - Features - Health & Families - The Independent - There was no reconstruction. Women were savaged by surgeons who didn't give a monkeys about their long-term care or looks. Stick a couple of pairs of socks in your bra and you'll be fine, they said.

Vermeer’s Secret Tool: Testing Whether The Artist Used Mirrors and Lenses to Create His Realistic Images | Vanity Fair - a camera obscura
Vermeer: Master of Light: The Music Lesson, Part 2 | ArtBabble
Levin Rodriguez - Vermeer Artwork

"The Last Text." It profiled four crashes, three of them fatal, believed to have been caused by the typing of banal messages like "Yeah," "LOL" and "Where u at

(1) Cheliotis, L. K. (2013) ‘Neoliberal Capitalism and Middle-Class Punitiveness: Bringing Erich Fromm’s “Materialistic Psychoanalysis” to Penology’, Punishment & Society 15(3): 247-273. | Leonidas Cheliotis - Academia.edu - Why is it that imprisonment has undergone an explosive growth in the USA and Britainover the last three decades against the background of falling crime rates in bothcountries? And why has this development met with a significant and escalating degreeof support among the public?
FDL Book Salon Welcomes E. Fuller Torrey, American Psychosis: How The Federal Government Destroyed The Mental Illness Treatment System | Book Salon

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China's largest desert freshwater lake shrinking faster than ever | Environment | theguardian.com - Hongjiannao Lake has been disappearing since the 1970s but has now shrunk by almost one-third since 2009 (desertification of China)

Vice President Biden Tries To Keep U.S. Focus On Asia - In meetings with leaders in Japan, China and South Korea, the vice president will seek to show that while the administration has been preoccupied with Mideast flare-ups and a series of domestic distractions, the U.S. remained determined to be a Pacific power. ("flare-ups" = ten years of tragic, useless, very expensive wars)
Coalition apologizes for killing Afghan child, seeks to shore up prospects of security deal - The Washington Post
U.S. commander in Afghanistan apologizes for civilian death, injuries - latimes.com (Obama: "the little fucker was a terrorist-in-training")
Israel-Palestine: Enough Negotiations Already! - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants negotiations with the Palestinians to continue for decades to come. But the Palestinian leadership would be foolish to go along with this charade (they've been running this scam for decades)
Israeli Police Attack Large Anti-Prawer Protests In Haifa | PopularResistance.Org - Protests took place on both sides of the Green Line as well as worldwide, as Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals protested in Israel, the West Bank, Gaza and in at least 14 other countries in Europe and the Arab World against the plan to forcibly relocate tens of thousands of Palestinian Bedouins.
Cayman Islands agrees to report US citizens’ offshore assets under controversial law — RT Business - “My husband cannot understand why Americans are so offended by having their personal emails and phone calls monitored by the (National Security Agency) yet are very comfortable requiring a Canadian to hand over their bank account data, which is far more sensitive,” said Ruth Anne Freeborn, an expat who has lived in Ontario for over 30 years.
Christian leaders rage at naming of gay US ambassador to Dominican Republic | World news | theguardian.com - A Catholic cardinal, Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez, waded in several times and at a press conference referred to "faggots and lesbians".
Turkish Hackers Hacks official Vodafone Iceland website, leaks 77,000 accounts and SMS logs – HackRead – Latest Cyber Crime – Information Security – Hacking News
Alleged member of RedHack ‘Taylan’ sent to prison, RedHack denies affiliation, vows to take revenge – HackRead – Latest Cyber Crime – Information Security – Hacking News
Evidence authorities are threatening to take children from anti-fracking Protesters ! | World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum. - The following video shows how a protester in an anti-fracking protest being questioned and followed by a member of Multi-Agency Unit, the connotations is that the social service worker is threatening the parents right to have a family (UK)

Grand corruption is ‘crime against humanity’ - lawmakers

The Sun on Sunday lied about me last week. Have they learned nothing? | Comment is free | The Guardian - the Sun inflicted by falsely claiming that I cheated on my girlfriend, in the context of such awesome corruption, is a pale liver-spot on the back of Murdoch's glabrous claw. Still though, it's a tiny part of the demon's dermatology and as such, connected to all the other pestilence ... Rupert Murdoch, an animatronic al-Qaida recruitment poster (you go, Russell)

We are often asked to 'step aside' at US borders. It's not making anyone safer | Rifat Malik | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The US security system can't be working when immigration officials are wasting time repeatedly stopping innocent people (Obama's tough-on-brown-people stance)
Fair Trials International group urges reforms for Interpol arrests - The Washington Post - The case of a Russian environmental activist who fled the country but was later arrested, despite finding sanctuary in Finland, reveals how political motives can sometimes improperly influence international police work, a London-based group said this week.

End the N.S.A. Dragnet, Now - NYTimes.com - By Ron Wyden, Mark Udall And Martin Heinrich

NSA, Cyber Command leadership should be split up, officials advocate - The Washington Post (which will do nothing as long as they are both run by the military)
The debate continues on Edward Snowden: hero or traitor | Jeff Jarvis | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Recall that 155 Manhattan Project scientists petitioned Truman to not use the bomb on Japan. They were too late. Will we be? - Official means of oversight of American and British spying have failed. So we are left with the protection of last resort: the conscience of the individual who will resist abuse of power or expose it once it is done ... • Executive-branch oversight is by all appearances nonexistent. (Obama is "overseeing" it, all right)
NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders after US official handed over contacts | World news | The Guardian - Agency given more than 200 numbers by government official • NSA encourages departments to share their 'Rolodexes' • Surveillance produced 'little intelligence', memo acknowledges
Dutch intelligence agency AIVD hacks internet forums - nrc.nl - The Dutch intelligence service - AIVD - hacks internet web forums to collect the data of all users. The majority of these people are unknown to the intelligence services and are not specified as targets when the hacking and data-collection process starts

Conservative MP’s statement made in House on the CBC paying for stolen NSA documents | BC Blue: One BC Conservative's view on it all... - Greenwald is a Brazilian based former porn industry executive, now assisting Edward Snowden leak national security information.
CBC pays former porn promoter for 'spy scoop' | Canada | News | Toronto Sun - On his own blog, Greenwald wrote that the CBC paid him $1,500 for the story, which came from documents that only he has.
TwitLonger — - Where are the Missing #Manning Closed Session Transcripts which Judge Lind Ordered the Prosecution and USG to Produce in an Expedited Fashion? ("expedited" = some time in the next 20 years)

Eschaton: Every Villager Pundit Upon Hitting A Certain Age - Decides that what the country really needs is mandatory military service for people younger than them. Mandatory "service and sacrifice." In the military. For other people. (Milbank)

Catholic Church Has Been 'Outmarketed' On Gay Marriage, Says New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan - and has been "caricatured as being anti-gay." (how did that happen?)

Obama Gets A Second Shot At Getting Health Care Reform Right (Pres Above-it-All)

Mitch McConnell: Republicans Need To 'Stand Up To' Conservatives 'Giving Conservatism A Bad Name' (oh, those "Conservatives")

San Francisco Bay View » The Dallas 6 Case: Solitary confinement on trial in a US courtroom - The trial of the Dallas 6 is set to begin on Dec. 9, 2013, in the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania,


Milky Way Galaxy's Oldest Brown Dwarfs Discovered | Astronomy | Sci-News.com - They are moving at speeds of 100-200 km per second, much faster than normal stars and other brown dwarfs and are thought to have formed when our Galaxy was very young, more than 10 billion years ago.

Sentient code: An inside look at Stephen Wolfram's utterly new, insanely ambitious computational paradigm | VentureBeat | Dev | by John Koetsier
Sentient code: An inside look at Stephen Wolfram's utterly new, insanely ambitious computational paradigm : technology

Arielle Scarcella, Vlogger, Releases 'Lesbians Explain: Why Straight Girls Love Lesbian Porn - According to Scarcella's video, a whopping 50 percent of lesbian porn site subscriptions are purchased by straight women -- and apparently it's all about girls wanting more oral sex!

What moment completely shattered you, ruined you, or broke your heart completely? [Serious] : AskReddit
Redditors who got married too soon, what did you find out about your SO after it was too late? : AskReddit
I had a brief sexual relationship with my stepmother. AMA : casualiama
IAMA Man who had a sexual relationship with his mother. (Probably NSFW) : reddit.com
Have you ever called 911? If yes, why? : AskReddit
What's a reddit joke you don't understand? : AskReddit
We_Are_Legion comments on Islam Is Easy: Don't Make It Hard For Yourself


Facebook reveals friends list even when it’s set to private | Naked Security (depends how you define "private")

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US has already broken its promises on civilian deaths, says Afghanistan | World news | theguardian.com - Nato airstrike that killed two women and a child comes as Hamid Karzai continues to stall on signing security pact (deep-state puppet Obama's ongoing war-crimes)

Boycott Israel (Zionist opinion control system)

4 Quick Hypotheses on Why China Suddenly Declared this New Air Defense Zone » Duck of Minerva
China's dispatch of jets ratchets up tension over air defence zone | World news | theguardian.com - Analysts fear China may have miscalculated international reaction but cannot step back after raising domestic expectations
Tribesmen blow up Yemen' oil export pipeline - Middle East - Al Jazeera English - Attackers strike one of the country's main sources of foreign currency, according to state news agency Saba.
Photographs Tell a History of Palestinians Unmoored - NYTimes.com (NYT couldn't find any actual Palestinians to quote so they went with Israelis)
Brazil World Cup host city Natal seethes at cost | World news | The Guardian - "There are no big football teams here – the biggest team gets gates of around 5,000 and we're building a 42,000-seater World Cup stadium."
Nigeria sharia police smash 240,000 bottles of beer - Yahoo News - Police enforcing Islamic law in Nigeria's city of Kano publicly destroyed some 240,000 bottles of beer on Wednesday, the latest move in a wider crackdown on behaviour deemed "immoral" in the area.
Time Magazine Official twitter account and time person of the year voting poll Hacked by Syrian Electronic Army. ~ Techworm
General Joseph Dunford Calls Hamid Karzai To Apologize For Afghan Drone Strike (but that won't stop anything, again)

For Nearly Two Decades the Nuclear Launch Code at all Minuteman Silos in the United States Was 00000000 (top secret idiocy; Pentagon didn't want any codes at all)

Greenwald to BBC: Journalists must investigate the Powerful in Gov’t since they Lie to the People (BBC Surprised) | Informed Comment - Glenn Greenwald on the BBC’s Hardtalk seems to surprise the anchor by asserting that journalists need to investigate the powerful since the latter tend to lie to the people. (shocking news to the BBC, of course)
Newstalk - 'We're proud of what Chelsea's done' - 'What ever happened to the people in that helicopter?' asks Sharon. 'Were they ever reprimanded? Were they punished? In this country if you go around killing people you're locked up. Seems like there's one set of rules for Chelsea and another set of rules for them. '

Microsoft, Yahoo Upgrades Shows Snowden Won, Obama Failed - Bloomberg (President Let's Keep Everything a Secret)
Warrantless Surveillance Continues to Cause Fallout - NYTimes.com - The Justice Department has notified a Somali-American man who was convicted this year of trying to detonate a bomb in Portland, Ore., that his trial included evidence derived from warrantless wiretapping, a move that could disrupt plans to sentence him next month. (Verrilli lied to SC)
NSA files – live coverage of all developments and reaction | World news | theguardian.com - Oversight of agencies should be increased - ex-DPP • Opposition shock in Canada over NSA spying on G8 and G20
The NSA's Porn-Surveillance Program: Not Safe for Democracy - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic - Its targets extend beyond suspected terrorists—and some rhetoric that the First Amendment would protect is singled out. (Ospy)
UT Documents: Wall Street Journal's Alistair MacDonald "reports" an outright lie - The Wall Street Journal's Toronto-based reporter, Alistair MacDonald, last night published what can only be described as an outright lie. Here's what he claimed:
? Cryptoparties and how to protect your data - YouTube
Techies Vs. NSA: Encryption Arms Race Escalates

The Daily Dot - Anonymous is winning its Craigslist battle against Scientology - Anonymous’ campaign against Church of Scientology recruiting attempts on Craigslist is a success, a member of the hacking collective told the Daily Dot.

Beyond Bitcoin: A Guide to the Most Promising Cryptocurrencies | Motherboard

White House delays small business healthcare market by one year | World news | theguardian.com - Officials said delayed launch of small employers' site driven partly by need to divert resources to fixing main public website (Oblunder)
Obamacare Is Not a 'Train Wreck' - Garance Franke-Ruta - The Atlantic - The problem with Republicans' metaphor of choice
Obamacare’s Secret Success - NYTimes.com - In fact, the slowdown in health costs has been dramatic.

Despite Filibuster Limits, a Door Remains Open to Block Judge Nominees - NYTimes.com - “The blue slip rule for judges has been more problematic than the filibuster, in part because it is a silent, unaccountable veto.”

Florida Tea Party Leader Bashes Gay GOP Group - Danita Kilcullen, the founder of a Florida Tea Party group, accused the Florida Republican party of being taken over by "gay thugs."

Pipeline explosion sends fireball 300 feet into air | fox4kc.com - An overnight explosion at the Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Company near Hughesville, Mo., in Pettis County lit up the sky for miles early Friday morning. Fox 4 viewers from more than 30 miles away reported seeing the fireball in the sky.

Deadline looms on undetectable guns | TheHill - Guns that cannot be detected by X-ray machines will no longer be banned if Congress does not renew the decades-old prohibition by Dec. 9. (what could go wrong?)

Michael O'Hanlon Op-Ed Ignore Hamid Karzai - Declare Victory And Get Out - Esquire - Michael O'Hanlon, whose holiday was ruined because only one of the pet wars for which he helped shill is still going on, has unlimbered his startlingly military-service-free resume again and co-authored an op-ed in The New York Times wherein he makes yet another pitch to be recognized as the lost Bundy brother.

? Prince, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne and others -- "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - YouTube
? Eric Clapton - While my guitar gently weeps (HQ)(Concert for George) - YouTube

Muslim scholar Reza Aslan: Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin would call Jesus a ‘Marxist’ | The Raw Story - Religious scholar Reza Aslan said American conservatives are basing their criticism of recent comments made by Pope Francis on a “profoundly unhistorical view of Jesus.” (gun-toting dinosaur-riding gay-hating capitalist)

Noam Chomsky: Modern universities designed to ‘deprive you of your freedom’ | The Raw Story - “In fact,” he continued, “one of the main effects of the sharp increase in tuition is just indoctrination and control.”
No, Daily Caller, A Meteorologist Survey Does Not Contradict Climate Consensus | Blog | Media Matters for America (weathermen who work for Fox are "climate scientists")
Scientists find aggressive new strain of HIV - Europe - Al Jazeera English - Patients infected with new HIV strain develop AIDS over two years faster than those with other versions of the virus.
10 animals that live the longest | MNN - Mother Nature Network

College Textbooks Could Be Free Under Legislation Introduced In Congress - The bill, named the "Affordable College Textbook Act," was filed by Durbin and Franken earlier this month. A complimentary bill was drafted in the House by Reps. Rubén Hinojosa (D-Texas) and George Miller (D-Calif.).
100 Notable Books of 2013 - NYTimes.com
Three unpublished J.D. Salinger stories leak online | The Verge - How did 'Three Stories' end up in the suburbs of London?
New Books by J.D. Salinger to be Published : books
Nicholson Baker’s best advice: Writers must write every day - Salon.com - Trust Me on This: A writer needs focus and to really put in the work. The acclaimed novelist shares his top tips
Books are still most durable way to store information - Salon.com - That hard disk may not be as fail proof as you think, and CDs can degrade in as little as ten years
Why I can’t stop reading Mormon housewife blogs - Salon.com
Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson’s ex-husband has ‘no proof’ she took drugs | The Raw Story

Court Orders Google, Microsoft & Yahoo to Make Pirate Sites Disappear | TorrentFreak - In order to protect the copyrights of film producers, the High Court of Paris has concluded a 2011 case by ordering Google, Microsoft and Yahoo to completely de-list 16 video streaming sites from their search results.

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Thanksgiving is Bullshit – The New Inquiry - Also, obviously, the holiday is a racist and nationalist celebration of American manifest destiny, an expression of gratitude for God’s gift of “America” to the (white) people who arrived and took it by force from the (non-white) people who were living there.

Asia Times Online :: US diplomatic iceberg spotted near China
China Military Sends Fighter Jets Into Disputed Air Space Over East China Sea - The move raises the stakes in a standoff with the United States, Japan and South Korea over the zone. Japan and South Korea sent their own military aircraft through the air space on Thursday.
Japan and South Korea defy Chinese air defence zone | World news | theguardian.com - Tokyo says patrol planes will continue to operate over East China Sea, and Seoul says navy plane flew over disputed rock

Two U.N. experts express concern over limits to Japan's secrets bill - UPI.com - At issue is whether the Special Secrets Bill establishes overly broad grounds for secrecy and includes "serious threats to whistle-blowers and even journalists reporting on secrets," said Frank La Rue, U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of expression.
Japan Reacts to Fukushima Crisis By Banning Journalism | Zero Hedge - 2 weeks after the Fukushima accident, we reported that the government responded to the nuclear accident by trying to raise acceptable radiation levels and pretending that radiation is good for us.

Vietnam Announces Fines for Citizens who Criticize the Government on Social Media | technoblimp - Under the provisions of a law passed earlier this week, the Vietnamese Government will now issue fines of 100 million dong (about $4,740) for anyone who criticizes the government on social media.
Anonymous DDoS attack snowballs, affects several Microsoft services - SC Magazine - “The DDoS attack was launched in response to Taiji...Operation Killing Bay OR #OpKillingBay,” according to the post. Operation Killing Bay is an initiative protesting the slaughter of dolphins in the village of Taiji in Japan – a controversial topic that has gained a lot of coverage in recent years.
Pakistani Political Party Escalates Resistance Against US Drone Strikes By Naming CIA Station Chief | The Dissenter
Phone-hacking trial shown Glenn Mulcaire's investigation whiteboards | UK news | theguardian.com - Boards featured diagrams, phone numbers, and names, including Rebekah Wade and Venus Williams
Stoning will not be brought back, says Afghan president | World news | theguardian.com - Hamid Karzai's government backs away from reintroduction of brutal punishment after outcry (US supported Taliban for years)
'Fight Club' producer says he spied for Israel | The Verge - Milchan said he has no regrets about his involvement with Israeli intelligence. "I did it for my country and I'm proud of it," he said.

? Glenn Greenwald "The Goal Of The U.S. Government Is To Eliminate ALL Privacy Globally!" - YouTube
Canada 'allowed NSA to spy on G8 and G20 summits' | World news | theguardian.com - Snowden documents 'reveal Canada spy operation'
How The FBI Actually Does Much Of The NSA's Spying, But Is Keeping That Quiet | Techdirt - from the like-they-don't-have-a-history-of-abuses? dept
NSA’s Targeting of Radical Muslims’ Porn Viewing Like Something Out of Hoover’s COINTELPRO | The Dissenter

Citizens Protest NSA Data Center | PopularResistance.Org - “When I learned that this one spy center uses 1.7 billion gallons of water to cool its servers, I was stunned. We live in a desert state, often under forced water restrictions. We have a situation where the government has taken a valuable, limited, and life supporting resource to use for the very purpose of undermining our rights–and our legislature let them get away with it.”

Doesn’t Eat, Doesn’t Pray and Doesn’t Love - NYTimes.com - The question of whether for-profit companies can claim a religious identity, one that exempts them from obeying a generally applicable law, is fully worthy of the attention the Supreme Court is about to give it (Linda, dear, a war on "modernity" IS a war on "women")

Disabled woman denied entry to U.S. after agent cites supposedly private medical details | Toronto Star - A Toronto woman is shocked after she was denied entry into the U.S. because she had been hospitalized for clinical depression.


Second Solar System Like Ours Discovered - It includes seven exoplanets orbiting a star with the small rocky planets close to their host star and the gas giant planets further away.

CNN and MSNBC lose almost half their viewers in one year | Hang The Bankers | He Who Controls the Money Supply, Controls the World - Data released Tuesday show CNN shedding 48 percent of total viewers since last November and MSNBC dropping 45 percent.

Judge Orders Black Friday Protesters to Post a $10K Bond if Activity Disrupts Access to Walmart Property | MyFDL - “This is yet another move from Walmart to try to bend the law to its liking. Walmart has made it a practice to pursue over-the-top legal maneuvers to try to avoid hearing the real concerns of workers and community members,”

Police Shoot Toothless 16-Year-Old Family Dog During No-Knock Raid - informationliberation - the systemic formation of an American police state.
A Systemwide Failure | A Death in St. Augustine | FRONTLINE | PBS - A nine-month investigation by FRONTLINE and The New York Times found that law enforcement often downplays domestic violence allegations in their own ranks, letting abusers remain on their beats and victims fall through the cracks of the criminal justice system.
Students Attacked And Intimidated By UC Administration | Your Fellow Worker - The administration had gone to the Facebook accounts of the students and copied photos of them. The photos, stark in the black and white format in which they were sent out, reveal the extent to which Gary Ratcliff had gone to find our fellow students

Are We Overstating Alcohol’s Health Benefits? | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly - Why the “Moderate drinking is good for what ails ya” theory has found such ready acceptance, while a comparable finding about moderate cannabis use and academic performance was ignored, is left as an exercise for the reader.

The 20 greatest Hunter S. Thompson quotes as voted by Goodreads : books

US govt caught using pirated software for military, settles for $50mn — RT USA

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How to Talk Climate Change at Holiday Gatherings | EcoWatch

Poll: Americans Support Iran Deal By 2-To-1 Margin
The Terrible Consistency of Iran Hawks | The American Conservative - Hawks look at Iran as a foe to be forced into submission, and their opponents see it as a country with its own interests that can and should be accommodated within reason. No, I’d say there is a terrible consistency to the hawkish view.
Geneva Is Not “Worse Than Munich” | The American Conservative - Bret Stephens reaches new depths of foolishness: (they love killing other peoples' kids with their huge penises)

The Contributor | The Next Hot Trend? H&M Pledges Living Wages for Its Garment Factory Workers in Bangladesh
The Daily Dot - RedHack counters arrests with an embarrassing hack - On Friday, 14 alleged members of RedHack, the prominent Turkish socialist hacking crew, were arrested and held without bail. But after a day in court and an embarrassing breach of a government website, all of the individuals involved have been released.
News from The Associated Press - a metal structure that buckled on part of the Itaquerao Stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. Part of the stadium that will host the 2014 World Cup opener in Brazil collapsed on Wednesday, causing significant damage and killing three people
US Army Doc on Syrian Electronic Army

UN gives green light to internet privacy resolution — RT News - The UN human rights committee unanimously passed a 'right to privacy' resolution sponsored by Germany and Brazil that protects the right to privacy against illegal surveillance, following revelations about NSA spying.

New Snowden docs show U.S. spied during G20 in Toronto - Politics - CBC News - Surveillance during 2010 summit 'closely co-ordinated with Canadian partner' CSEC
Illuminating The Billion Dollar U.S. Intelligence Budget: Project SpyLighter Documents NSA Surveillance Technology - Forbes
Drones Turned the CIA Into a Paramilitary Force, and There's (Probably) No Turning Back | Motherboard
The Feds Have No Idea Who's Flying Drones | Motherboard

NSA Contractors Are Literally Paying Off the Senators in Charge Of Keeping Them in Check - PolicyMic - the only "improvement" in the bill is for Feinstein's donors. (you've been Difucked)
Did the NSA target Microsoft too? - The Washington Post - This e-mail from Britain's Global Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to the National Security Agency suggests, but does not prove, that Microsoft may have been compromised by the same program used to access vast quantities of Google and Yahoo Internet traffic traveling between data centers.
Suspicious of NSA spying, Microsoft moves to encrypt Internet traffic - report — RT USA
Wall Street Journal Columnist Repeatedly Gets His Facts Wrong About NSA Surveillance | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Top-Secret Document Reveals NSA Spied On Porn Habits As Part Of Plan To Discredit 'Radicalizers' (program does back to MLK)
Twitter / CassandraRules: The real victim of the NSA ...
NSA 'collected details of online sexual activity' of Islamist radicals | World news | theguardian.com - Document leaked by Edward Snowden shows agency sought out 'vulnerabilities' such as looking at explicit material online
Ex-U.N. nuclear weapons inspector Scott Ritter charged in child-sex sting - NY Daily News (now we know where they got their information)
NSA planned to shame ‘radicalizers’ by revealing their porn-browsing history: report - NY Daily News - The latest document leaked by Edward Snowden reveals the National Security Agency sought to undermine the reputations of six people, including one U.S. person, who the agency believed incited terrorist activity through social media. Two of the targets could be smeared by targeting the hypocrisy of their public statements vs. their private 'online promiscuity.'

Chomsky v. Gellman on the Stasi | emptywheel - Noam Chomsky and Barton Gellman did a panel at an MIT Big Data conference. In the middle of it, they get into a quasi debate about whether the NSA is like the Stasi (this starts after 20:00).
Here's The Video To Share With Anybody Who Still Buys Into 9/11 Truther Stuff - MIT linguist and peace activist Noam Chomsky has delivered what ought to be the coup de grace to what's left of the 9/11 conspiracy theories.

The Convert | This American Life - n 2006, a new convert showed up at a mosque in Orange County, California, eager to study the Koran and make new friends. But when he started acting odd and saying strange things, those friends got suspicious. To them, he was Farouk al-Aziz. But his real name was Craig Monteilh, and he was working undercover for the FBI.
Arms Trader 2009 | This American Life - The U.S. government spent two years on a sting operation trapping an Indian man named Hemant Lakhani, whom they suspected of being an illegal arms dealer ... The only problem was, nothing in the sting was what it appeared to be. Including the missile.

ACLU Sues CIA for Reports on Its Torture Program | American Civil Liberties Union - to compel the CIA to release two reports about its post-9/11 program of rendition, secret detention, and torture of detainees. This illegal program was devised and authorized by officials at the highest levels of government, and five years after it officially ended, the American public still doesn't have the full story about some of the most devastating rights violations committed in its name.
Judge Halts Sentencing After Feds Admit They Failed To Reveal Use Of NSA Data | Techdirt - from the this-is-why-you-reveal-this-stuff-up-front dept
Definition of a “Radicalizer:” A Sunni Opponent to Unchecked US Power | emptywheel - Former NSA GC Stewart Baker characterizes them as “trying to recruit folks to kill Americans.”
In 2009, NSA Said It Had a “Present Example” of Abuse Similar to Project Minaret | emptywheel

Nearly 40 news outlets accuse Obama administration of limiting access | MCT National News | McClatchy DC (Obama classifies himself as top-super-secret)
Death and the NSA: Motherboard Meets Bruce Schneier | Motherboard

Why Reporters in the U.S. Now Need Protection - Last night, ProPublica founder and executive chairman Paul Steiger received the Burton Benjamin Memorial award from the Committee to Protect Journalists. Here are his remarks.
‘We can’t rest’: Reporters in the U.S. need protection from the aggressive surveillance state | The Raw Story
Attempts to Silence Environmentalists Continue | EcoWatch - A recent report by human rights organization Global Witness documents the murders of more than 700 environmental and indigenous-rights activists over the past decade—more than one killing a week, on average (corporate death-squads)

The White House Is Secretly Hoping People Won't Try to Enroll in Obamacare This Weekend | Motherboard
Inside the Company That Bungled Obamacare (everything is political for Obama)
Krugman, on ObamaCare, Gets the Wrong Worm « naked capitalism
Well, Somebody’s Unprincipled Here - Lawyers, Guns & Money - Shorter Lambert:

The next chapter in postal privatization: Post Offices inside of Staples | Save the Post Office

Pentatonix Performs The A Cappella Version Of 'Little Drummer Boy' You've Been Waiting For

Los Angeles Considering Proposal To Ban Feeding Homeless People In Public | ThinkProgress

Ian Watkins: Ex-girlfriend warned cops FOUR years ago that he was a paedophile after Lostprophets singer made sick confession - Mirror Online - Joanna Majic said the depraved rocker's sexual fantasies became increasingly dark before he told her 'I want to abuse children'
New Mexico woman sues officers for macing her genitals — RT USA
The Side Effect Of Birth Control No One Ever Talks About

Chicago radioactive waste facility shutting down amid safety scandal — RT USA - A radioactive waste disposal facility near a small residential neighborhood outside Chicago was found guilty of multiple, potentially hazardous violations and will reportedly be shut down

Quantum Light Harvesting Hints at Entirely New Form of Computing | MIT Technology Review - Light harvesting in plants and bacteria cannot be properly explained by classical processes or by quantum ones. Now complexity theorists say the answer is a delicate interplay of both, an idea that could transform computation. (quantum plants and vegetable computers)

The Monsters that Lurk in Illuminated Texts « Tim Kane Books

Time To Move To Hong Kong: U.S. Internet Is Stupidly Slow, Report Finds (Obama has always hated the internets)
Creative Commons Issues an Update to its Copyright License Suite | Electronic Frontier Foundation
MillionShort - Imagine a search engine that simply removed the top 1 million most popular web sites from its index. What would you discover?

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Pope Denounces Trickle-Down Economics 'Which Has Never Been Confirmed By The Facts' (Milton Friedman in hell)
US warplanes defy Chinese air defence rules with B-52 flyover of disputed area | World news | The Guardian - B-52 bombers 'not armed' over Senkaku Islands, US says
Arrests over China oil explosion | World news | theguardian.com - Nine detained after Sinopec pipeline leak and blast in Qingdao city killed at least 55 people and injured many more
White House threatens to pull all US troops out of Afghanistan | World news | The Guardian - Relations strained as diplomats clash with Afghan officials • US irritated by Karzai's decision not to sign security pact (just gtfo)
Rebekah Brooks unsure Andy Coulson could stay at No 10, hacking trial hears | UK news | theguardian.com - Brooks said to have told friend of David Cameron that press chief might not survive fallout from phone-hacking scandal

Crypto-Currency Market Capitalizations | Bitcoin Litecoin Peercoin Namecoin Primecoin Novacoin Feathercoin Megacoin ProtoShares WorldCoin and more...

A Glimmer of Sense on Guantánamo - NYTimes.com - The Senate, in a little-noticed but positive move, voted last Tuesday to give President Obama new leeway to move toward closing the prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Exclusive: Torturing Abu Zubaydah and the art of deception | Al Jazeera America - As guinea pig for 'enhanced interrogation,'? Gitmo captive ?had well-developed technique for misleading interrogators

UN advances surveillance resolution reaffirming 'human right to privacy' | World news | theguardian.com - Draft goes ahead despite US and UK concerns over language • Inquiry possible into impact of excessive government spying
Julian Assange lawyer calls on US to make formal decision on prosecution | Media | theguardian.com - Reports that US unlikely to pursue charges over Manning leak • WikiLeaks founder remains holed up in Ecuadorean embassy
WikiLeaks Reacts to Anonymous US Officials Claiming Julian Assange Isn’t Likely to Be Prosecuted | The Dissenter
The Daily Dot - Patriot Act author wants your help keeping NSA out of Patriot Act - It's not often that a congressman behind one of the most controversial bills in decades lets you go online and try to undo it, years later.
Microsoft, suspecting NSA spying, to ramp up efforts to encrypt its Internet traffic - The Washington Post

US Gov't Appears To Have Misled The Supreme Court About How The NSA Spied On Americans | Techdirt - It turns out that might not have been the only misrepresentation from Verrilli -- and this next one may be even bigger, involving misleading the Supreme Court on a loophole that allowed the NSA to spy on tens of thousands of Americans. (comments: "Donald Verrilli was a liar when he worked for the RIAA" ... it all makes sense now))
N.S.A. May Have Hit Internet Companies at a Weak Spot - NYTimes.com - But between the data centers — on Level 3’s fiber-optic cables that connected those massive computer farms — information was unencrypted and an easier target for government intercept efforts
Revealed: How corporate spooks spy on activists - Salon.com - A new report discusses some of the techniques. They can be devious
How the NSA Gave Me a Panic Attack Before Anyone Ever Heard of Snowden | Motherboard - Parents of every student that “liked” an anti-Scientology Facebook page created by a Chicago protester received a letter from a legal office informing them their son or daughter was part of a “terrorist organization.”
Whistleblower Dan Ellsberg reportedly robbed of two suitcases near EFF offices | Privacy SOS

CBS News' Lara Logan Taking Leave Of Absence Over Discredited '60 Minutes' Benghazi Report
Lara Logan's Mystery Man - The discredited ‘60 Minutes’ report on Benghazi has kicked off an intriguing game of Whodunit? (complete bullshit from the beginning and she knew)
CBS News' Lara Logan Taking Leave Of Absence Over Discredited '60 Minutes' Benghazi Report
CAIRO: Questions about ‘60 Minutes’ Benghazi story go beyond Dylan Davies interview; CBS conducting ‘journalistic review’ | Middle East | McClatchy DC
Lara Logan’s Husband Was a Propagandist for the U.S. Military
CBS suspends Lara Logan over faulty Benghazi report | Media | theguardian.com - The review, by CBS standards and practices director Al Ortiz, also found that the reporting team failed to heed a "red flag" admission by a central source, and was hampered by its own blinkered search "from the start" for "a different angle." (than the truth)

Wonkbook: Is Obamacare turning the corner?

Big Day For Hobby Lobby by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - [I]f the Court does take up one of the birth control refusal cases and eventually rules that a corporation has the same religious liberty rights as a person, the longer-term impact on corporate regulations could be sweeping.

US House passes bill charging $5000 to protest drilling (expensive speech now the rule)

Dad arrested after trying to pick kids up from school on foot instead of in a car | Grist - Apparently kids can be released to parents in cars or can take the bus home, but they are not allowed to walk home with their parents.
Get Castrated And We'll Talk, School Board Member Tells Students - “A Colorado school district continues to wrestle with fallout from the comments of a school board member toward transgender students.

Nigella Lawson took cocaine and other drugs every day for years, court told | UK news | The Guardian - Her former husband, Charles Saatchi, after hearing about the allegations of her drug use, described her as "Higella" in an angry email, part of which was read out in court. (so there was more to the story ...)

George Zimmerman in possession of five guns at time of recent arrest | World news | theguardian.com - George Zimmerman had five guns and more than 100 rounds of ammunition with him when deputies arrested him earlier this month on domestic violence charges, according to court documents released Tuesday.

Pirate Bay Founder Ordered to Take Down Russian Pirate Sites | TorrentFreak
Paul Carr talks about why NSFW Corp. failed — but also what it almost got right — Tech News and Analysis
The Daily Dot - Rigging Time's Person of the Year poll? All in a day's twerk

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Fukushima's radioactive water to be dumped into Pacific Ocean | Vancouver Observer (time to evacuate the West Coast)
US and China must act on climate change rhetoric, says German minister | Environment | theguardian.com - Disappointed by lack of progress in Warsaw, Peter Altmaier demands concrete action from bigger industrialised nations
Trees Capture Particulate Matter From Road Exhaust | Chemical & Engineering News - Air Pollution: Young silver birch trees can trap particulates from street traffic, preventing them from landing inside homes
U.S. Methane Study Says Emissions 50 Percent Higher Than EPA Estimates - Much of it is coming from just three states: Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Eschaton: I Learn Nothing - I doubt most of the people bloviating about Iran know any more than I do. Some of them, however, seem to think SMASH BAD GUY is only smart policy option ever.
Battle looms over Iran nuclear deal as Congress pushes back against Obama | World news | theguardian.com - Democratic and Republican opponents rush to discredit deal • Fight to kick off in earnest when Congress returns next week (Rethugs want more wars)
Iran Nuclear Programs Deal - The Long Shadow Of Iran Contra - Esquire - (Whether or not these deals were cut by officials of the Reagan campaign prior to the election -- in other words, whether or not Bill Casey et. al. committed something like treason by undermining American foreign policy in order to win an election -- is still very much an open question. But there were, ahem, precedents.)
Schumer on Iran sanctions: 'Whenever the Arab world, the Palestinians, have risen against us, we have risen to defeat them' ("the royal "we" meaning him and Netanfuckyu)
What Everyone Thinks of the Iranian Nuclear Deal -- Daily Intelligencer (if Boltan and Kristol are against it ...)
No More Mister Nice Blog - Right-wingers aren't grown-ups. They're overgrown children who are heroes of their own political fantasy stories. It's not enough for them to oppose a policy -- they have to persuade themselves that they're the only ones preventing the destruction of civilization as we know it.
Rabbi Goldberg, Can I Come Back Into the Tent? — Crooked Timber

Afghanistan: Reject Proposal to Restore Stoning | Human Rights Watch - Donors Should Withhold Funds if Law Passes - “It is absolutely shocking that 12 years after the fall of the Taliban government, the Karzai administration might bring back stoning as a punishment,” (all those dead people and all that money to bring back the Taliban - mission accomplished!)
Drone art: Death on a canvas - Features - Al Jazeera English - A generation of Pakistani artists focuses on expressing life under daily violence.
Thousands Converge on Fort Benning as SOA-Trained Repression Continues in Honduras | Earth First! Newswire - The 23rd annual rally to close the School of the Americas (now known as the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation”) (Obama's dirty hands)
Japan's PM demands China revoke claim to air zone over disputed islands | World news | theguardian.com - China, Japan and US exchange increasingly testy accusations, as airlines say they will have to notify China of flight plans
"Blood Avocados": The Dark Side of Your Guacamole | Vocativ (Obama hates avacados)

Rebekah Brooks said it was 'easy to listen to voicemails', hacking trial hears | UK news | theguardian.com - Eimear Cook, ex-wife of Colin Montgomerie, accused of lying under oath over statements made about lunch with Brooks

Special Report: The Pentagon's doctored ledgers conceal epic waste | Reuters

Kim Dotcom Links €20,000 Wikileaks Donation to Megaupload Raid | TorrentFreak - In the book Dotcom explains that he donated €20,000 to Wikileaks after the Collateral Murder video came out early 2010. It’s a controversial allegation, but Dotcom believes that it is no coincidence that the prosecutor who investigated Julian Assange was also appointed to the Megaupload case. (Big Content goes after terrorists; Obama is so corrupt)
The copyright industry should brace itself: the Kim Dotcom saga isn't over | David Fisher | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Kim Dotcom has caused carnage in New Zealand politics, and is set to challenge the music industry with his new website. He personifies the danger technology poses to copyright law
The Mystery of the Creepiest Television Hack | Motherboard (Max Headroom)

The Conservatives Are Using Cyberbullying to Normalize Online Surveillance | VICE Canada (this is all necessary to keep you safe)
How NSA Mass Surveillance is Hurting the US Economy | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Spooky Business - spookybusiness.pdf - Corporate Espionage Against Nonprofit Organizations

Spies worry over doomsday cache stashed by ex-NSA contractor Snowden | Reuters - "The worst is yet to come," said one former U.S. official who follows the investigation closely.
Edward Snowden a 'hero' for NSA disclosures, Wikipedia founder says | World news | theguardian.com - Jimmy Wales calls for 'major re-evaluation' of NSA surveillance • 'I think that history will judge Snowden very favourably' (can't say the same for Obama)
NSA Director Offered To Resign After Edward Snowden Leaks: Report - Gen. Keith Alexander ... The Obama administration declined the offer. One former defense official told the newspaper that officials were concerned that Alexander's resignation would give Snowden a win. (and we can't have that)
Why Care About the N.S.A.? - Video - NYTimes.com

Is Bitcoin a Government Conspiracy? | Motherboard (looks like it)
Is Bitcoin about to change the world? | Technology | The Guardian
Majority of Silk Road's Bitcoins may remain unseized | Technology | theguardian.com - Four-fifths of the income received by the Silk Road boss, Dread Pirate Roberts, has not been seized by FBI, research shows
Hey, Alex Winter of Bill & Ted here. Directing a new movie called "Deep Web: The Untold Story of Bitcoin and Silk Road." Ask me anything! : IAmA

Julian Assange unlikely to face U.S. charges over publishing classified documents - The Washington Post - because government lawyers said they could not do so without also prosecuting U.S. news organizations and journalists, according to U.S. officials.
Chelsea Manning on “Giving Thanks” | PopularResistance.Org
In Wake of Devastating DDoS Attack, Chronicle Staff Finds Solace in Works of Internet Anthropologists | The Internet Chronicle
? 11 Brutal Dictators Graduated from This US School - YouTube
NYPD Forced To Produce Muslim Surveillance Records - A federal judge ruled on Friday that targets of the NYPD's surveillance of Muslims can probe the department's files.

They Did It 86 Times To Every Other President Combined. 82 Times To Obama Alone. (Obstructlicans)

New Warning: Morning-After Pill Doesn't Work for Women Over 176 Pounds | Mother Jones - . Weight data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that, at 166 pounds, the average American woman is too heavy to use these pills effectively. (Plan B fails for average American woman over 20)

Tennessee Hearings Demonstrate Absurdities Of Asset Forfeiture - Task force director David Hicks then conceded that because the agents are funded by the money and property they seize from motorists and drug suspects, his cops "know that if the money dries up, then they don't have job."
More Than 600,000 Americans Are Homeless On Any Given Night (our Christian Nation)
Tami Door House Demo 11/24/13 #OpSafeWinter #OpXmas | Facebook - Repeal the Homeless Ban, otherwise known as the "Urban Camping Ban"

Government books $41.3 billion in student loan profits - Figures come as concerns mount about growing loan debt for students, graduates.


Rebirth Eludes Baltimore as Camden Reality Lags Promises  - Bloomberg - Boosters of Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards, built at taxpayer cost of $210 million, promised the baseball stadium would lead an urban renaissance (you know what happened)

Four Adults Charged With Helping Cover Up The Steubenville Rape Case | ThinkProgress - That includes the school district’s superintendent, who is the only one to face felony charges ... The high school’s beloved head coach, who was accused of telling football players that he would protect the two rapists from any repercussions, is not facing any consequences from the grand jury.
Steubenville: four adults charged in Ohio rape case | World news | theguardian.com - School superintendent and three more people charged by grand jury investigating whether other laws were broken in Ohio rape

? "What You Should Know About Drug Prohibition" | LearnLiberty - YouTube
4 'Magic' Phrases to Use if Cops Stop You with Pot | Alternet

Killfile comments on Why did the Nazis pick the swastika as the symbol for their party? - Why was being Aryan such a big deal to the Germans?

Book Review // Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh - Literati Co. - Literati Co.


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Climate justice or a climate treaty—you can’t have both. - Climate justice will turn into a world-historical accounting of all the benefits and harms that all countries have imposed on all others—a futile debate if there ever was one. (not if Limbaugh and the Koch Bros are imprisoned)
World likely to have 11 trillionaires within two generations: Credit Suisse - The Tell - MarketWatch - It’s pretty disconcerting to see over two-thirds of the world’s adults have wealth of less than $10,000, while the wealthiest 0.7% hold 41% of the world’s wealth.

World powers reach nuclear deal with Iran to freeze its nuclear program - The Washington Post (France fails, Netanfuckyu pouts)
Netanyahu: Iran Nuclear Deal A 'Historic Mistake'
Iran nuclear deal: joint plan of action - full document | World news | theguardian.com
Iran nukes: This is exactly the deal that Obama hoped to achieve in Geneva. - It's everything Obama hoped to achieve in Geneva.
Iran’s top officials hail nuclear deal as beginning of new era - The Washington Post
Sidelining the Warmongers by Martin Longman | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - Those who preferred Obama to Clinton because of the distinction in their positions on the authorization to use military force in Iraq now have something concrete to point to, to argue that electing Obama would lead to a more peaceful world than would electing Clinton.
John Cornyn, Texas Senator, Says Iran Deal Is Obamacare Distraction (because Republicans can only do one thing at a time)


Reports Say Angola Outlawed Islam - Africa - News - OnIslam.net - According to several Angolain newspapers, Angola has become the first country in the world to ban Islam and Muslims, taking first measures by destroying mosques in the country.
Executive pay: Salary cap fails at ballot box - swissinfo.ch - Swiss voters have rejected a proposal limiting the salaries of top executives. About two-thirds of voters said no to the Young Socialists' plan.

Exclusive: Inside America's Plan to Kill Online Privacy Rights Everywhere | The Cable
Brazen: Since When Are Your Phone Calls Private, Government Lawyer Asks | Alternet - Americans have "no reasonable expectation" to privacy when it comes to the telephone calls they make, Assistant Attorney General Stuart Delery said at a packed hearing in federal court. (once again, down Obama's rabbit-hole)
A Floor, Not a Ceiling: Supporting the USA FREEDOM Act as a Step Towards Less Surveillance | Electronic Frontier Foundation
ACLU of Northern California files shareholder proposal with AT&T and Verizon on NSA Data Sharing | American Civil Liberties Union

Repeated attacks hijack huge chunks of Internet traffic, researchers warn | Ars Technica - Man-in-the-middle attacks divert data on scale never before seen in the wild.
The New Threat: Targeted Internet Traffic Misdirection - Renesys
NSA hacked 50,000 global networks - Boing Boing
PNNL-Review-TrapWire-Exec-Summ.pdf -

IamA Security Technologist and Author Bruce Schneier AMA! : IAmA
Opinion: 'Stalker economy' here to stay - CNN.com - Google recently announced that it would start including individual users' names and photos in some ads. This means that if you rate some product positively, your friends may see ads for that product with your name and photo attached -- without your knowledge or consent. Meanwhile, Facebook is eliminating a feature that allowed people to retain some portions of their anonymity on its website.
Microsoft video attacks Google's Chrome as surveillance technology - Boing Boing - A leaked internal Microsoft video attacks Google's Chrome Everywhere campaign, drawing pointed attention to Google's program of monetizing personal information, extending Microsoft's "Scroogled" attack ads that characterize Google as a surveillance company.
TACK :: Trust Assertions for Certificate Keys

Department of Transportation Report Estimates 250,000 Drones in US Airspace by 2035 | LeakSource

First U.S. pot stores will open Jan. 1; Central City, Colo., gets first license (and Obama will cry, or drone them)

In rural Kentucky, health-care debate takes back seat as the long-uninsured line up - The Washington Post (but who will they vote for?)
Michelle Obama: Feminists Not Disappointed, But Politico Is | New Republic - behind the scenes, she is quite involved in policy, and functions as the president's liberal conscience. She was heavily involved with pushing the health care bill. (without her "conscience" imagine what health care would look like)

Death of Duquesne adjunct Margaret Mary Vojtko: What really happened to her? - The Battle of Homestead, as it came to be known, was a deadly clash between striking steelworkers and the Pinkerton detectives who were hired to clear the way for strikebreakers (deeper story than first reported; cardiac arrest, not a heart attack)

An Elegant And Concise Breakdown Of Why Drug Prohibition Will Never Work - I think we can all agree that Prohibition was a colossal failure, so why are we continuing the same policy against marijuana and other controlled substances? (it was always about cops and prisons and Republicans)
Cord Cutters And The Death Of TV - Business Insider

Evolution debate again erupts before Texas Board of Education - U.S. News (+comments)
An amazing image of the elusive big-fin squid | Deep Sea News
Something Fishy in the Atlantic Night : Feature Articles

AP- Arizona debacle spotlights child-welfare agencies - A scandal in which 6,000 child-abuse complaints in Arizona were filed away and never investigated illustrated what advocates say is a tragically common problem across the U.S.: Many child-protection agencies have crushing workloads and inadequate oversight. (under the rug)

A Drone Just Crushed Your Best Vacation Photos (VIDEO)
Undercover Investigator Charged With Animal Cruelty for Videotaping Farm Abuse | Earth First! Newswire

Alabama Man Won't Serve Prison Time for Raping 14-Year-Old | Mother Jones - Austin Smith Clem raped a teenager three times. His punishment: supervision and probation.
Guest Post: I Won’t Apologize For Being Assaulted | Put Your Damn Pants On! - Well, fuck you Jorge. Fuck you and your shitty band.

Ultimate n00b guide to Bitcoin client installation and security/cold storage! | The Blog Pirate
Schneier on Security: badBIOS
The badBIOS Analysis Is Wrong. | RootWyrm's Corner
Schneier on Security: The Cryptopocalypse
Bruce Schneier Facts
Sudden Progress on Prime Number Problem Has Mathematicians Buzzing - Wired Science - Maynard has presented an independent proof that pushes the gap down to 600
Walker Digital Litigation: The Bruce Schneier Effect (And Other Miscellaneous Updates) | Gametime IP

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The Landscape Can Protect Our Health -- If We Can Protect The Landscape - "As you impoverish natural systems -- cut trees, remove species -- you reduce the resilience of those systems to respond to these kinds of perturbations,"

Iran and west 'words away' from nuclear deal | World news | The Observer - Foreign ministers inch towards striking deal in Geneva to resolve standoff over Iranian nuclear programme
Hamid Karzai delays signing new US-Afghan military pact | World news | theguardian.com - Afghan president puts negotiations in crisis saying plan for retaining US forces should be signed after presidential elections

House committee rejects provision requiring account of drone casualties | Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee rejected a proposal on Thursday that would have required U.S. spy agencies to make an annual public accounting of the number of casualties caused by U.S. drone attacks on militants overseas. (what civilians?)
Guantanamo Faces Ticking Clock As Time Runs Out On Detention Legislation - The 2001 law is known as the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, or AUMF. It allowed the U.S. military to invade Afghanistan to pursue, detain and punish extremists linked to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The law has been used to justify attacks on militants in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere.
Anonymous US Officials Admit CIA Accidentally Killed a Yemeni Child in a Drone Strike : Just Security (the first child they have ever killed, again)
Reform the New York Times! Media must stop protecting companies tied to Chinese corruption - Salon.com - U.S. corporations are complicit in Chinese corruption. Why are our newspapers so afraid to report the truth
We got high, thousands in Mexico died - Salon.com - America's failed drug policies -- and our insatiable drug appetites -- have helped kill innocent people in Mexico (a lot of blood on Obama's hands)

Noam Chomsky: America is a terrified country - Salon.com - The philosopher on the violence we wage abroad, the income inequality we face at home and where we go from here

Beaten opponent: Toronto mayor Rob Ford's flaws 'there from beginning' | World news | theguardian.com - George Smitherman, who lost the 2010 election, says mayor rode populist wave, attacked his sexuality and 'took dirty shots'
Toronto mayor Rob Ford 'more popular than Barack Obama' - Crack-smoking antics of Rob Ford do not appear to have put off his supporters, poll shows ... up from the 39 per cent approval rating he had before he admitted smoking crack cocaine.

Civil Society Groups Demand Transparency and User Protections in TPP | Electronic Frontier Foundation (Obama loves keeping you in the dark)

Surveillance Goes on Trial - NYTimes.com - skepticism of the government’s claim that the program raised no constitutional concerns.(of course not)
N.S.A. Report Outlined Goals for More Power - NYTimes.com - Officials at the National Security Agency, intent on maintaining its dominance in intelligence collection, pledged last year to push to expand its surveillance powers, according to a top-secret strategy document.
Latest Snowden leak reveals NSA’s goal to continually expand surveillance abilities — RT USA
NSA bulk data collection violates constitutional rights, ACLU argues | World news | theguardian.com - Civil liberties group tells New York court that program breaches first and fourth amendments and NSA is overreaching its powers (NSa: our powers are infinite)
NSA deputy director skeptical on sharing data with FBI and others | World news | theguardian.com - John Inglis appears at University of Pennsylvania to argue legality of bulk surveillance and indicates stance on Feinstein bill (which would vastly expand spying on you)
Government Claims Americans Have No Right To Challenge NSA Phone Surveillance (of course not)
Watchdog demands GCHQ report on NSA's UK data storage | UK news | theguardian.com - Intelligence and security committee chair Sir Malcolm Rifkind seeks explanation of deal that allowed US to 'unmask' Britons - He said the flow of information from the Snowden files was chipping away at public support for the intelligence and security services, which he said could be dangerous.

Lavabit Strikes Back at Feds in Key Internet Privacy Case | Threat Level | Wired.com - Lawyers for secure email provider Lavabit just filed the reply brief in a case that will determine whether an internet company can be compelled to turn over the master encryption keys for its entire system to facilitate court-approved surveillance on a single user.
Forward Secrecy at Twitter | Twitter Blogs

NSA infected 50,000 computer networks with malicious software - nrc.nl
Free Expression, Surveillance, and the Fight Against Impunity | Electronic Frontier Foundation - Journalists, bloggers and others who speak out against the powerful risk terrible repercussions for their work. Around the world, they face physical intimidation, violent attacks, and even murder for speaking out.

White House Pic of the Day of Media Enrages Media - Washington Whispers (usnews.com) - Some journalists interpreted Friday's photo as the White House attempting to sweep the issue under the rug, while others figured it a subliminal "screw you." (or superliminal)

The U.S. Health Care System Is Terrible, In 1 Enraging Chart - As you can see, there is a pretty close relationship between health-care spending and life expectancy. Except for one very, very terrible country. Can you spot it?
Tension and Flaws Before Health Website Crash - NYTimes.com
Obamacare Agency Rushed To Hire Contractor, Documents Reveal - The documents dated in August - less than two months before the opening of online marketplaces established by President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare law - showed the agency in charge had only "recently learned" that building the financial management functions was "beyond (its) currently available resources." (they had six years)
Ted Cruz Readies Second Attempt To Peg Obamacare Repeal To Budget Deal - is plotting how he might exploit the next budget crisis for another try at repealing President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.

The House GOP's Hypocrisy on "Too-Big-To-Fail" | Mother Jones - Republicans in the House worry Dodd-Frank financial reforms won't prevent future bank bailouts. Meanwhile, they're trying to make it easier for banks to get bailouts.
3 Charts Explain Why Democrats Went Nuclear on the Filibuster | Mother Jones - The last straw came when Republicans announced their intention to filibuster all of Obama's nominees to the DC circuit court simply because they didn't want a Democratic president to be able to fill any more vacancies. At that point, even moderate Democrats had finally had enough
New breed of Senate Democrats drove filibuster change - latimes.com - A wing of relative newcomers, mostly elected after 2006, favor bucking tradition and the party's old guard to help President Obama's agenda along.

Tea Party Republicans Backed By Big Corporate Players Following Shutdown - Along with Honeywell Inc and Northrop Grumman , Reuters analyzed PACs at AT&T, General Electric , Deloitte & Touche LLP, New York Life Insurance Co, United Parcel Service Inc and the American Bankers Association.

America still doesn’t know how to talk about rape - Salon.com - The findings show that the National Crime Victimization Survey counted 188,380 sexual assaults in 2010. The same year, the FBI, which measures reported rapes and attempted rapes, counted only 85,593. But at the same time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey counted nearly 1.3 million.

FDA: Anti-smoking drug Chantix linked to more than 500 suicides | Al Jazeera America - Dying to quit smoking?

Females of Reddit: What thoughts commonly go through your head while giving a blowjob? : AskReddit

Schools should replace Catcher in the Rye with Black Swan Green.


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Warsaw climate change talks falter as EU and developing countries clash | Environment | The Guardian - EU chief chastised for expressing frustration with failure to agree timetable on emission cuts and attempts by some to opt out
Which fossil fuel companies are most responsible for climate change? – interactive | Environment | theguardian.com
Just 90 companies caused two-thirds of man-made global warming emissions | Environment | The Guardian - Chevron, Exxon and BP among companies most responsible for climate change since dawn of industrial age, figures show

Unspeakable horrors in a country on the verge of genocide | World news | The Guardian - Militias in the Central African Republic are slitting children's throats, razing villages and throwing young men to the crocodiles. What needs to happen before the world intervenes?
John Kerry flies to Geneva as Iran nuclear deal edges closer | World news | The Guardian - Russian and Chinese foreign ministers join their negotiating teams as sources say draft deal is close to being signed
In Latvia, Supermarket Collapse Leaves At Least 45 Dead
Blackwater founder: my company could have prevented Benghazi deaths | World news | theguardian.com - Erik Prince, who created security firm in 1997, gives Philadelphia audience his views on the NSA, Libya and the American left - Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, the security contractor that became synonymous with counter-terrorism excess after its operatives killed 17 Iraqis and wounded 20 more at a traffic roundabout in Baghdad in 2007.
Undercover soldiers 'killed unarmed civilians in Belfast' (Brit Death Squads)

Drone strike in Hangu – The Express Tribune - The first-ever drone strike in a settled district, a day after an announcement of the prime minister’s adviser on foreign affairs declared the assurance of the United States that it would not carry out any drone strikes temporarily if the Pakistan government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were holding peace talks (Obama is completely out of control)
Where Is the Moral Rectitude When Political Retaliation Drone Strike Hits Settled Area, Misses Target? | emptywheel - But see that bit about the strike being in “Pakistan’s settled district”? One of the many unwritten “rules” of US drone strikes in Pakistan is that they are restricted to the FATA, or Federally Administered Tribal Area, of Pakistan where Pakistani security or military personnel have little to no freedom of movement. In fact, the ability of drones to enter these otherwise forbidden territories is touted as one of their main justifications for use.

untitled - topic8_istanbul_statement_effects_solconfinment.pdf - The Istanbul Statement on the Use and Effects of Solitary Confinement

TPP secrecy in Salt Lake City: Public locked out of trade talks for first time | rabble.ca (Obama's super secret deal to give to the rich and screw you)

Someone Forced World Internet Traffic Through Belarus and Iceland - Arik Hesseldahl - News - AllThingsD

Director of National Intelligence says it has no instructions on detaining and tracking Greenwald, Gellman and Poitras | Muckrock (Of course not)
Internet inventor slams UK, US for 'appalling and foolish' surveillance and censorship — RT News
Sweden's telcos hand over mass spying powers to police, tax authority, customs and other agencies - Boing Boing

House intel bill adds $75 million to NSA budget to stop future Snowdens | Ars Technica - Senate version also adds money to NSA's budget to stop "insider threat."
The hacker hunters - FT.com - An elite battalion of largely twentysomething experts are on the front line of corporate cyber defence
UK Internet Service Providers Are Blocking Streaming Sites | Motherboard
DouglasLucas.com — The Value of the Stratfor Leak
Jeremy Hammond and Anonymous: Hacker with a Cause : The New Yorker - Jeremy Hammond

Study shines light on what makes digital activism effective - Digital activism is usually nonviolent and tends to work best when social media tools are combined with street-level organization, according to new research from the University of Washington.
The Anonymous Tor Network Now Comes in a Box | Motherboard

Stop-And-Frisk Rulings Won't Be Tossed By Appeals Court - A federal appeals court has refused to toss out court rulings finding that New York City carried out its police stop-and-frisk policy in a discriminatory manner. (Bloomfuck's last play)

Expanding Social Security - NYTimes.com - It wasn’t really about the numbers, which never supported the notion that Social Security faced an acute crisis. It was instead a sort of declaration of identity, a way to show that you were an establishment guy, willing to impose pain (on other people, as usual) in the name of fiscal responsibility. (sadists)
Nuclear Fallout: The Real-World Consequences Of Senate Filibuster Reform (Republicans will always lie, cheat, and steal)
Eschaton: Oh Noez - The official Republican/WaPo response seems to be "if you get rid of the filibuster the Republicans will keep successfully appointing right wing nuts to the bench as they have been for decades." ok
The System Is Broken and We Have No Idea How to Fix It | Motherboard

White House Reporters Question Limits On Photo Access At Press Briefing - White House reporters are riled up about restrictions placed on photos of President Obama, and they made no effort to hide it at Thursday's press briefing. (they try so hard to control his image ...)
Media protests Obama administration's limitations on photojournalists | Washington Watch | McClatchy DC (but everything they do makes his image worse)

New Analysis Reveals Extent Of Obamacare 'Rate Shock' - Only a small sliver of the Americans who buy their own health insurance plans and may be seeing them canceled under Obamacare will pay higher premiums, according to an analysis released Thursday.
Single-Payer Advocates: It Hurts To Say I Told You So - The botched implementation of Obamacare has created a bittersweet moment for advocates of a universal, single-payer health care system: They saw this coming, but they can't gloat about it.

Americans think John F. Kennedy was one of our greatest presidents. He wasn’t.
Kennedy Week: JFK as Nuclear Savior and Liberal Icon | The Nation
Kennedy Week: JFK’s Uncertain Path in Vietnam | The Nation
Anniversary of JFK Assassination - The Kennedy Assassination And American Fragility - Esquire (all true, but now they are protecting their coverup)
JFKfacts » White House asked about JFK Facts report on secret JFK files - Last May JFK Facts broke the story that the CIA retains 1,100 secret documents related to the assassination of President Kennedy, including files on seven key personalities in the JFK story.
Oliver Stone: JFK conspiracy deniers are in denial - Mainstream media have never given up telling us how superstitious or illogical the common people are.
JFK 'Magic Bullet Theory' In Spotlight On Anniversary Of President Kennedy's Assassination

Tribune to cut 700 newspaper jobs | Media | theguardian.com - The second-largest US newspaper publisher, the Tribune company, is planning to cut 700 jobs, accounting for about 6% of its total workforce.

Students strike after classmate was tased | KXAN.com - According to reports, Noe de Rivera, 17, fell and hit his head and is now in a coma. School personnel escorted the students outside during the peaceful protest that lasted about 10 minutes.


Hawaii’s Big Island Bans GMO Crops and Biotech Companies | EcoWatch

HPV: Sex, cancer and a virus : Nature News & Comment - Human papillomavirus is causing a new form of head and neck cancer— leaving researchers scrambling to understand risk factors, tests and treatments.
Do antidepressants work? – readers' responses | Society | theguardian.com - We asked more than 3,000 Europeans about their experiences on antidepressants. This is what they said
IceCube Neutrino Observatory Detects Ghostly Particles In 'Major Breakthrough' (VIDEO)


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How Harper became embroiled in the Senate scandal - The Globe and Mail - Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has been consumed by the Senate expenses scandal, which has overshadowed a major trade agreement with Europe, consigned a throne speech to political oblivion and undermined what was supposed to be this weekend’s feel-good national convention in Calgary.
Undersea volcano creates new island 620 miles south of Tokyo | The Verge
London tube to run all night at weekends but 750 jobs to go | UK news | theguardian.com - Unions criticise plans, which involve closure of most ticket offices and move to direct payment via contactless bank cards (what could go wrong?)

The US Is Droning Pakistan's Populated Areas (Again) | Motherboard (Obama said he would decrease/stop drone killings; he was just kidding)
Suspected U.S. Drone Strike In Pakistan Kills 6

Blame Rich, Overeducated Elites as Our Society Frays - Bloomberg

Bob Woodward: Edward Snowden Should Have Come To Me Instead (you are an old, irrelevant hack, Bobbie +jealous much?)
Barton Gellman Hits Back At Bob Woodward For 'Insult' About Snowden Coverage (just shut up and go home)
Bob Woodward Barton Gellman - The Stenographer's Revenge - Esquire - Barton Gellman, who has done some really good work in this century, and who also works for The Washington Post, has had enough of Woodward's superannuated dick-swinging.

Daily Kos: National Security Harm: Real, Imagined or Propaganda - The WaPo poll asked if Snowden harmed national security by "disclosing NSA's intelligence-gathering efforts," rather the asking about what Snowden actually revealed: the NSA's wasteful and illegal conduct - Jesselyn Radack
1155a5NSAandSnowden.pdf - Many View NSA Intrusions as Unjustified ... But More See Damage from Snowden Leaks
Case for wider inquiry into surveillance growing stronger, says Nick Clegg | World news | theguardian.com - Deputy PM says Edward Snowden revelations are 'chipping away at bedrock of public support for work of agencies'

NSA Spying On British - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - This activity is, quite literally, lawless - The classified N.S.A. document, which appears to be a draft and is dated January 2005, states that under specific circumstances, the American intelligence agency may spy on citizens of Britain without that country's consent or knowledge (It also deepens my suspicion that, as a constitutional law professor, the president taught, I dunno, math or something.)

Surveillance is not about protecting us. It’s about control. - Rubbing Alcoholic blog
Free Ross Ulbricht | The Official Defense Site of the Ulbricht Family (DPR)
The Alleged Founder Of the Silk Road Is Staring Down Four New Contract-Killing Charges | Motherboard
US Working Overtime Behind The Scenes To Kill UN Plan To Protect Online Privacy From Snooping | Techdirt

Multiple marijuana businesses being raided by DEA, IRS, Denver cops (Obama said the Feds would lay off; he was just kidding)

I was Virginia's executioner from 1982 to 1999. Any questions for me? | Jerry Givens | Comment is free | theguardian.com - I was responsible for putting 62 inmates to death in Virginia. I regret it deeply and now campaign to end capital punishment
Rape Is Grossly Underreported In The U.S., Study Finds - Rape has been widely underreported in America, according to a new panel study by the National Research Council.

Fox News Chastises People For Giving To The Homeless: 'You're An Enabler' | ThinkProgress
Eschaton: It Was Never About Cutting Costs - "Entitlement Reform" is only awesome if it causes more suffering. Pundits always lump together SocialSecurityAndMedicare because it's only the latter that has been projected to be a real problem. They still want to cut Social Security, and if it turns out the Medicare bill is no big deal, they'll still want to cut benefits. Because other people must suffer.

How Antisec Died — Notes from a Strange World — Medium - Jeremy Hammond, Sabu, and the Intelligence-Industrial Complex
Google’s Schmidt predicts encryption will end censorship in a decade — RT USA (gotta love the green hair)

Illinois gay marriage - chicagotribune.com

Noam Chomsky discusses the slogan "Support Our Troops" - YouTube
Noam Chomsky on right wing Tea Party protests, " People with real grievances" - YouTube (points out Obama founded the Teaparty)
Twitter / conradhackett: News priorities at Al Jazeera, ... - CNN, Fox & MSNBC in one chart

Obama's Slow Learning Curve | RealClearPolitics - What deficiency of Obama’s education and of the education of those who surround him accounts for administration officials not knowing what is perfectly well-known to most ordinary Americans? (one of many examples)
Hullabaloo - The creation and evolution of Obama for America was another symptom of the President's desire to transcend "the politics of division" and become a post-partisan charismatic figure. I leave it to the reader to judge how well that worked. (political geniuses, they are)

This is what happened in the Senate Thursday, and what it means for the future
Why Democrats Partially Nuked the Filibuster -- Daily Intelligencer
Senate Could Go Nuclear As Soon As Today: Sources

Florida in secret talks to accept funding for Medicaid from Affordable Care Act | World news | theguardian.com - Some health professionals believe the amount of money on offer and the fact that the Republican party benefits from campaign contributions by the health insurance industry means that Florida is likely to find a way take the funding provided by the Affordable Care Act.

60 Minutes Benghazi Exec. Producer Jeff Fager Must Be Dismissed | CREDO Mobilize - To: Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation, and Sumner Redstone, majority owner of CBS Corporation
The Race That Broke the Cheney Family - Jason Zengerle - politico Magazine

Jon Stewart Takes Down Rep. Trey Radel For Drug Use Hypocrisy
Whiskey Fire: Jesus Saves... You from Paying Your Taxes - Welcome to the contemptible authoritarianism of your average smug, self-righteous, shit-for-brains, bleeding-heart and brain-hemmoraging conservative fuckface* ... It takes some stones to say "more of them should be thrown into coal mines so they'll learn some self-respect," sure. But our Corner clown has more fetid depths to plumb.
The Simple Path to a Living Wage at Walmart
Macy’s Anti-Union Pamphlet - Lawyers, Guns & Money
The Greatest Internship of All Time - Lawyers, Guns & Money - Salary 0.00 – 0.00 USD

Senator Who Investigated JFK Assassination: 'American Journalism Never Followed Up On That Story' - He recalled that while the committee was investigating the connection between the assassination, the Mafia and plots against Cuban President Fidel Castro, two of the three main figures involved were also killed ... Giancana was killed in his own basement with six bullet holes in his throat with a Chicago police car and an FBI car outside his house,"

Long Before Deeds Case, Virginia Tech Massacre Pointed To Mental Health Service Gaps
Gawker - Today's gossip is tomorrow's news - A new ACLU report estimates that more than 17,000 juveniles in America have been held in solitary confinement, and concludes, unequivocally, "Solitary confinement and isolation are not safe for children." (America tortures children)

Woman in FSU sexual assault case says local police told her to drop claim | World news | theguardian.com - Tallahassee student advised to drop claim against quarterback Jameis Winston or have her life 'made miserable and raked over the coals'

McDonald's to employees: break food into pieces to feel full | Al Jazeera America
Stores use your phone’s wifi signal to track you as you shop | StratRisks

Verily, Nuts Are the Food of the Gods
What Does IQ Really Measure? | Science/AAAS | News - Effort helps makes you smart? Kids who are more highly motivated on IQ tests achieve higher scores.
Superfluid turbulence through the lens of black holes - MIT News Office - Study finds behavior of the turbulent flow of superfluids is opposite that of ordinary fluids.

Storyville: Top Ten Best Short Stories Ever | LitReactor
Top 10 Best Short Stories ever. They will leave a lasting impression. : books

What is the best quote you have ever seen, read, and or heard? : AskReddit

Wikipedia names Texas PR firm over false manipulation of site entries - Online - Media - The Independent
Wikipedia names Texas PR firm over false manipulation of site entries. Free encyclopaedia called in lawyers after 300 'sock puppet' accounts were traced to single firm. : worldnews

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AP: Melted Fukushima fuel is 12 inches from entering ground after eating through concrete, says simulation — Study: Molten core suspected of eroding through concrete foundation — Gov’t Expert: We just can’t be sure until actually seeing inside - Melted Fukushima fuel is 12 inches from entering ground after eating through concrete, says simulation — Study: Molten core suspected of eroding through concrete foundation — Gov’t Expert: We just can’t be sure until actually seeing inside (time to start evacuating West Coast)
Fukushima Fallout Damaged Thyroid Glands of California Babies | Earth First! Newswire - A new study finds that radioactive Iodine from Fukushima has caused a significant increase in hypothyroidism among babies in California, 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean.
Fukushima nuclear disaster is warning to the world, says power company boss | Environment | The Guardian - UK government must learn from Japan's catastrophe as it plans a new generation of plant, nuclear chief claims (already doomed)

Climate Change Fight Getting Off Track After Major Global Setbacks In Japan And Australia, Study Finds
Poor Countries Walk Out Of UN Climate Talks | PopularResistance.Org - Bloc of 132 countries exit Warsaw conference after rich nations refuse to discuss climate change recompense until after 2015

Endless Afghanistan? US-Afghan agreement would keep troops in place and funds flowing, perhaps indefinitely - World News (well played, Hamid)
How Is Hamid Karzai Still Standing? - NYTimes.com

Military expands probe into cyber command amid political wrangling - SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Yonhap) -- Military investigators have raided the offices of about 30 cyber warfare officials to expand a probe into their involvement in an alleged online smear campaign, a source familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The Daily Dot - Teen kissers in Morocco have an unexpected ally in Anonymous - It's a kiss in the country of Morocco. And it's about to become much, much more famous.
Somalia arrests woman over rape allegations - Africa - Al Jazeera English - Woman who says she was raped is held along with journalist who interviewed her, according to a government official.

Finding Snowden | Motherboard - “There were times when I thought it would never happen,” Coleen Rowley, a former FBI agent, said about her recent trip to Moscow. “I’m still amazed.”

US and UK struck secret deal to allow NSA to 'unmask' Britons' personal data | World news | theguardian.com - 2007 deal allows NSA to store previously restricted material • UK citizens not suspected of wrongdoing caught up in dragnet
Documents show Blair government let US spy on Britons - Channel 4 News - Tony Blair's government allowed America to store and analyse the email, mobile phone and internet records of potentially millions of innocent Britons
The NSA overreach poses a serious threat to our economy | Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Genuine NSA reform is a Constitutional and economic necessity. Transparency and privacy are critical for citizens and tech firms
In Germany, legacy of Stasi puts different perspective on NSA spying - The Washington Post
U.S. Army to Track Employees’ with Behavior-based Analytics to Thwart Future Snowdens | StratRisks

OpEdNews - Article: Feeding the Flame of Revolt - I was in federal court here Friday for the sentencing of Jeremy Hammond to 10 years in prison for hacking into the computers of a private security firm that works on behalf of the government
Anonymous Declares Global Cyber War on U.S. Government against Hammond’s Sentence and NSA Spying – HackRead – Latest Cyber Crime – Information Security – Hacking News
The Daily Dot - WikiLeaks: Walmart bid Stratfor to investigate rival CEO’s alleged affair

Al Qaeda in Kentucky: US May Have Let 'Dozens' of Terrorists Into Country as Refugees - ABC News

Woot! TPP looks dead for this year |Teamster Nation - A key U.S. House of Representatives leader said yesterday there isn't enough time left on the calendar to pass a fast one 'fast track' legislation. 'Fast track' is just a euphemism for 'rubber stamp,' and without a rubber stamp, the TPP will not pass.
Data visualization shows US isolation in pushing for brutal Trans-Pacific Partnership - Boing Boing (brutal Obama's brutal secret project)

The Surveillance Industry Index: An Introduction | Privacy International
Protecting your data: survey indicates that with 4 exceptions major companies fail miserably | The Blog Pirate
Privacy’s worst nightmare: company advertises over one billion license plate records — RT USA - Privacy’s worst nightmare: company advertises over one billion license plate records

Eschaton: Bullshit Jobs - About 60% of the population does nothing but shuffle numbers at this point. What they're doing is keeping track of who owns what, right? The actual productive labor in the economy is remarkably little ... we have seen the ballooning not even so much of the “service” sector as of the administrative sector, up to and including the creation of whole new industries like financial services or telemarketing, or the unprecedented expansion of sectors like corporate law, academic and health administration, human resources, and public relations.
In Extracting Deal From JPMorgan, U.S. Aimed for Bottom Line - NYTimes.com - $7 billion of the settlement was tax-deductible.
CHART: These Members of Congress Are Bankrolled by the Fracking Industry | Mother Jones (Dem Landrieu second, the rest Recrooks)

Albuquerque voters reject ban on late-term abortion - CNN.com - a proposal believed to be a first on a city level.
Texas abortion restrictions to stay in place after ruling from supreme court | World news | theguardian.com - A third of state's clinics to stay closed as sharply divided court declines to intervene against Texas's hardline abortion law (fucked over by Scalia and Kennedy)
Supreme Court Abortion Decision - After Yesterday's Supreme Court Decision <em>Roe</em> Looks Doomed - Esquire (the point all along)

WMD Guilt? With Obamacare, The Press Keeps Trying To Minimize Iraq War | Blog | Media Matters for America
It’s “Paul Ryan is a serious wonk” season again! - Salon.com - The Washington Post admires Paul Ryan's very bold plan to fight poverty by replacing food stamps with dreams
Washington Post's Ruth Marcus: Mary Cheney Deserves Equal Rights, But She Should Keep It To Herself | Blog | Media Matters for America
Politico’s Mike Allen, native advertising pioneer (post-ethics journos)
Pat McCrory: We Didn't 'Shorten Early Voting,' We 'Compacted The Calendar' - North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R)
Trey Radel, Busted On Cocaine Charge, Voted For Drug Testing Food Stamp Recipients (another hyporethuglicrit)

AGs Reject Chuck Grassley Effort To Shrink D.C. Circuit Court - A dozen state attorneys general are urging the Senate to reject an effort by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to strip the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals of three of its seats and therefore prevent President Barack Obama from filling vacant judgeships on the court.

Macy's, Barneys & NYPD Are No-Shows At Hearing On Racial Profiling: Gothamist
McDonald's Advice To Underpaid Employees: Sell Your Christmas Presents For Cash | ThinkProgress
Marissa Mayer Pokes Fun At Walmart Protestors - When you're a high-powered executive who makes $6 million per year, perhaps you shouldn't make light of wage-earners' plight ... who is on Walmart's board of directors (Yahoo: do evil)

Boston PD Folds After Doubling-Down; Withdraws Felony Complaint Against PINAC | Photography is Not a Crime: PINAC - Besides their pleas that we stop calling, they also requested that Hardy remove the video from Youtube that led to the felony complaints against us; a 30-second recorded conversation between himself and spokeswoman Angelene Richardson where he was seeking comment on another video that was going viral. (it's a crime to record their customer service line or publish their email)
San Francisco Police Beat a Man for Riding His Bike on the Sidewalk | VICE United States
Accuser: Cops Covered Up Sexual Assault Investigation Into Florida State Quarterback | ThinkProgress - The investigation into whether Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston sexually assaulted a female student in 2012 took a vicious turn Wednesday, when the accuser’s family refuted earlier statements from police that the original investigation was halted because the alleged victim did not want to press charges. (they always lie)


Don’t make fun of renowned Dan Brown - The snobs and critics will have a field day with the US author’s latest work – but I’m not joining in.
Why is everybody laughing at Dan Brown? That's what he wants
Metaphilm ::: Monsters Inc.

English Has a New Preposition, Because Internet - Atlantic Mobile

Cupid Media Hack Exposed 42M Passwords — Krebs on Security - An intrusion at online dating service Cupid Media earlier this year exposed more than 42 million consumer records, including names, email addresses, unencrypted passwords and birthdays, according to information obtained by KrebsOnSecurity. (sat on it for nearly a year, threatened Krebs for telling them)
Cupid Media Hack Exposed 42M Passwords — Krebs on Security (link to comment on good p/ws)
“thereisnofatebutwhat­wemake”—Turbo-charged cracking comes to long passwords | Ars Technica - Cracking really long passwords just got a whole lot faster and easier.

111913
David Suzuki's Fukushima Warning Is Dire And Scary - "bye bye Japan" and the entire west coast of North America should be evacuated.)
UN climate talks in Warsaw: what you need to know | Environment | theguardian.com - The aim is to forge a legally binding global climate treaty in Poland to cut carbon emissions. But it's easier said than done
The Carbon Pollution Profiteers Have Taken Over The Climate Summit | PopularResistance.Org

Post-Haiyan rebuilding could cost £3.6bn, says Philippine minister | World news | theguardian.com - Typhoon relief efforts gathering pace with nearly 25,000 personnel deployed, but remote villages still desperate for aid
Beirut suicide blasts raise tensions in Lebanon as Sunni militants target Iran | World news | The Guardian - Iranian diplomat among at least 23 killed in bombings as role of Tehran and Hezbollah in Syrian war widens sectarian divide
Endless Afghanistan? US-Afghan agreement would keep troops in place and funds flowing, perhaps indefinitely - World News (Obama's forever war)
Nuclear Deal With Iran Comes Closer As Tehran Concedes On Right To Enrich
Sardinia floods kill at least 16 as Italy declares state of emergency on island | World news | theguardian.com - Family of four feared among the dead after cyclone Cleopatra hits island and six months' worth of rain falls within 24 hours
Walled world: How walls are springing up to divide populations everywhere | World news | theguardian.com - Jon Henley: an illusion of security from Berlin to the West Bank

Chinese Gov't To Tighten Internet Controls Even Further - Slashdot
? Anonymous Operation Ukraine - YouTube
Inside the mind of a self-styled jihadi | Al Jazeera America - Abu Zubaydah’s writings reveal emotions and ideas that experts say are typical of men who have taken up Al-Qaeda’s cause

ITAR-TASS: World - Snowden’s father: the worst of the leaks are yet to come - Lon Snowden has announced that upcoming revelations will be much more serious than what’s been published before (dum de dum dum)
ITAR-TASS: World - Chronicles of 2013 NSA leaks

Feds: Even Though We've Been Ordered To Reveal Secret Interpretation Of The PATRIOT Act, We're Not Going To Do That | Techdirt - from the secret-laws! dept (yes, the deep state has laws that are secret)
Judge: “NSA exceeded the scope of authorized acquisition continuously” | Ars Technica - New declassifed documents show legal arguments over bulk metadata collection.
Fisa court order that allowed NSA surveillance is revealed for first time | World news | theguardian.com - Fisa court judge who authorised massive tapping of metadata was hesitant but felt she could not stand in the way (didn't want to get assasinated)
The Daily Dot - Here's the court ruling that let the NSA track your email - The Office of National Intelligence has declassified a secret court ruling that reveals the legal underpinnings of the National Security Agency’s controversial email metadata collection program.

Twitter / MatthewKeysLive: NSA training material claims ... - analysis of bulk metadata helped foil New York subway terror plot
The Biggest Little CIA Shop You’ve Never Heard Of - Newsweek
Twitter / MatthewKeysLive: The NSA stored 2k+ telephone ... - numbers that hadn't gone through the correct reasonable articulable suspicion process

After the WikiLeaks release: what is the TPP? We are EFF, Public Citizen, Open Media, and more -- Ask Us Anything : IAmA
A Conversation With Jeremy Hammond, American Political Prisoner Sentenced to 10 Years | Vivien Lesnik Weisman
When a Victim of Jeremy Hammond Testified | Motherboard - "You ever been pizza bombed? I was pizza bombed several times. You ever been Chinese food bombed?"

The Parallax View: a JFK conspiracy film that gets it right | Film | theguardian.com - John F Kennedy was quite a conservative president. He opposed the March on Washington and did little to promote the cause of civil rights

Elizabeth Warren wants to spend more on Social Security. But she’s not thinking big enough!

Republicans Block Third Nominee To DC Court - A Call To Democrats To Stop Sitting Back On This Business With Judges - Esquire
Key Senate Democrats Flip, Now Ready For Filibuster Reform Via 'Nuclear Option' - The fact that GOP senators were responsible for filibustering all three of Obama's D.C. Circuit nominees, all of whom were qualified and non-controversial, has "galvanized" Democrats to make changes, Boxer said.
Harry Reid: GOP playing with fire on judges - politico.com
How Conservatives Abandoned Judicial Restraint, Took Over The Courts And Radically Transformed America | ThinkProgress

Why Healthcare.gov Sucks? Because They Hired Political Cronies, Not Internet Native Companies To Build It | Techdirt (everything is political for Obama, even when it's totally stupid political)
Healthcare Enrollment Increasing - Healthcare Enrollment Is Now...Surging? - Esquire
Obamacare Hyperventilation to Continue Forever! -- Daily Intelligencer
Obamacare Panic to Enter Even Stupider New Phase - No, Democrats are not abandoning it en masse, and no, it isn't going to be repealed.

Supreme Court Refuses to Block Texas Abortion Law - ABC News (there you go)

Rep. Trey Radel charged with cocaine possession - John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman - POLITICO.com - Rep. Trey Radel, a Florida Republican elected in 2012, will be in court Wednesday on charges that he possessed cocaine.
Black supremacist calling for mass murder of whites still employed by Homeland Security — RT USA - “He’s a gay-bashing, revenge-seeking black nationalist who advocates on his website – War on the Horizon – the mass murder of whites and the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of ‘black-skinned Uncle Tom race traitors,’”

Missouri to execute inmate using drugs from secret supplier | World news | theguardian.com - Missouri is due to execute a multiple murderer just after midnight in which the state will for the first time use a lethal dose of pentobarbital obtained from a secret compounding pharmacy.

Cheating students more likely to want government jobs, study finds - latimes.com
Mystery humans spiced up ancients’ rampant sex lives : Nature News & Comment - Genome analysis suggests interbreeding between modern humans, Neanderthals, Denisovans and a mysterious archaic population - “What it begins to suggest is that we’re looking at a ‘Lord of the Rings’-type world — that there were many hominid populations,”

ESPN’s FiveThirtyEight Announces Managing Editor, Key Editorial Hires « ESPN MediaZone - FiveThirtyEight.com, the definitive website for data-driven journalism, will re-launch in early 2014 in coordination with ESPN. In anticipation of the launch, the editorial team has made a number of key hires to fulfill the vision for the new site, which will be led by Editor-in-Chief Nate Silver ... five distinct content verticals: (verticals)

Listen up, Arne Duncan: Racist defense of Common Core won’t derail coalition to fight corporate school reform which hurts kids - Salon.com - "Education Spring" is on -- and the uprising against testing, cuts and for-profit schools is on the rise (Obama loves his corporate schools, hates teachers)
alicublog: And Then De Blasio Made Out With Sukhreet Gabel And Killed Yankel Rosenbaum. - The good news is the new wave of graffiti will be done by rich British performance artists, so no one can call conservatives racist when they complain.
State Rep. Uses Sledgehammer To Destroy Homeless People's Possessions | ThinkProgress - “If I see shopping carts that I can’t identify, I will destroy them so they can’t be pushed on the streets.” Brower has waged this campaign for two weeks, estimating that he’s smashed about 30 shopping carts in the process.

Liberty University Shooting: Student Killed in Altercation At Women's Dorm - Liberty University is one of 25 universities that allows students faculty and staff with a Virginia concealed carry permit to keep their guns in their car and carry them on campus grounds. (what could go wrong just did)

Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2013 Operating Results and September Sales Results - Yahoo Finance

Twitter Must Do More To Combat Twitter Child Porn

Udacity's Sebastian Thrun, Godfather Of Free Online Education, Changes Course | Fast Company | Business + Innovation - . So why is he pivoting away from MOOCs? "We don't educate people as others wished, or as I wished," Thrun says. (that didn't take long)
Solar to Illuminate the World's First Underground Park | The Lowline - The Lowline is a plan to use innovative solar technology to illuminate an historic trolley terminal on the Lower East Side of New York City.

Bob Dylan "Like A Rolling Stone" - Official Interactive Video!
Bob Dylan interactive video - Like a Rolling Stone : Music (reddit goes nuts)
Bob Dylan's 'Like A Rolling Stone' Released As Groundbreaking Interactive Video | The Official Bob Dylan Site
? Bob Dylan Like a Rolling Stone Live 1966 - YouTube
Bob Dylan Lyrics - Like A Rolling Stone
? Dylan - Pawn Stars.avi - YouTube
? Sonder | The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows - YouTube

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Typhoon Haiyan: fears not all survivors have been reached | World news | theguardian.com - UN concerned aid has not reached remote areas as Philippines president says he has been 'tempted to despair'
U.S.-Afghan Security Pact In Doubt After Hamid Karzai Rejects Provision
Afghan villagers find the bodies of 6 beheaded contractors in restive southern province - The Washington Post

Fukushima Protester Jailed For 21 Days Speaks Out | PopularResistance.Org - Prof. Masaki Shimoji was jailed for 21 days for handing out leaflets criticizing the handling of the Fukushima Disaster

Une mineure mariée de force à son violeur se suicide au Maroc (16 yr old Monaco girl forced to marry her rapist kills herself)

'Syria is not a revolution any more – this is civil war' | World news | The Guardian - Rivalry between rebels and Islamists has replaced the uprising's lofty ideals, leaving veteran commanders despairing
Activists say they have found way round Chinese internet censorship | World news | theguardian.com - Campaigners create 'mirror sites' to circumvent controls after Reuters and Wall Street journal websites are blocked
Analysis: Unpopular at home, Hollande appreciated in Israel | JPost | Israel News - French president has earned Paris a greater degree of respect in Jerusalem than it has enjoyed in years.
Paris police hunt gunman after shootings at newspaper office and bank | World news | theguardian.com - Man with rifle injures staff member at Libération newspaper before heading to Société Génerale bank and Champs-Élysées
Russian plane crash: dozens killed as 737 crashes at Kazan airport | World news | The Guardian - All 50 people on board Boeing 737 from Moscow Domodedovo airport die in explosion on runway at Kazan

? Mayor Rob Ford knocks over Councillor during November 18 motion of debate - YouTube (where will it end?)
Rob Ford, Toronto Mayor Who Smoked Crack, Wants To Be Prime Minister One Day

US Government Says CIA Black Site Prisoners' Memory Of Their Own Torture Is Classified And Cannot Be Revealed | Techdirt (it's come to this - they can classify your mind)

Qatar's accidental vagina stadium is most gratifying | Holly Baxter | Comment is free | The Guardian - The resemblance of the Al-Wakrah World Cup stadium to the female genitalia can only be a good thing – sport and vaginas are not always such public bedfellows
Thousands Protest Rape Culture In New Zealand, Saying It's Become 'A National Health Crisis' | ThinkProgress - The members of the Roast Busters target teenage girls, ply them with alcohol until they’re often close to unconsciousness, gang-rape them, and then upload the evidence to social media sites in an attempt to shame their victims.
Israel has secretly held suspected al-Qaeda weapons expert for over three years, court documents reveal - @Reuters - breakingnews.com
Bloomberg News Suspends Reporter Whose Article on China Was Not Published - NYTimes.com - A reporter for Bloomberg News who worked on an unpublished article about China, which employees for the company said had been killed for political reasons by top Bloomberg editors, was suspended last week by managers.
Goldman Sachs Shorted Greek Debt After It Arranged Those Shady Swaps - Business Insider - Despite its role in creating swaps that may have allowed the Greek government to mask its growing debts, Goldman has no net exposure to a default on Greek debt, a person familiar with the matter says.

Rebekah Brooks was a 'demanding' Sun editor, lawyer tells phone-hacking trial | UK news | theguardian.com - Paper's staff were not given training about issues relating to phone hacking before arrest of NoW royal editor, jury also hears

Bitcoin-powered assassination market targets Obama, Bernanke, and others | The Verge
US regulations are hampering Bitcoin's growth | Jerry Brito | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Many countries are putting out the welcome mat for Bitcoin. If the US doesn't change its approach, Bitcoin will go elsewhere
Bitcoin risks and rewards discussed at Senate hearing on virtual currency | Technology | theguardian.com - US officials to discuss 'potential to promote more efficient global commerce' but acknowledge 'challenges to law enforcement' (hello?)

Reuters Investigates - UNACCOUNTABLE: The Pentagon's bad bookkeeping
Reuters Investigates - UNACCOUNTABLE: The Pentagon's bad bookkeeping
“$8.5 TRILLION In Taxpayer Money Doled Out By Congress To The Pentagon Since 1996 … Has NEVER Been Accounted For” | Zero Hedge (National Debt solved)
Pentagon guilty of billion-dollar accounting fraud, reveals Reuters investigation | The Verge - more than $8 trillion disappearing into a mess of corrupted data, erroneous reports, and unauditable ledgers. (Obama will pardon it)

TPP WikiLeaks: White House claims to support cellphone unlocking, but treaty negotiations say otherwise. (Obama hates you owning the phone you bought +everything is a secret so he can negotiate with special interests)

Twitter / mikko: This is what President of Brazil, ... - Ms. Dilma Roussef said after it was discovered her email was read by the Americans:
Grilling of spy chiefs ‘a total pantomime’ | The Sunday Times - AN UNPRECEDENTED public appearance by UK spy chiefs has been labelled a “total pantomime” after it emerged that they were told of questions in advance.
German reports: US "anti-terror" ops based in Germany | News | DW.DE | 15.11.2013 - Two German media outlets have said US agencies have also run anti-terrorism operations world-wide from bases in Germany. Their joint investigative report asserts that the "secret war" was partly funded by Germany.

Unnamed ‘Senior Law Enforcement Sources’ Claim US Government Wouldn’t Arrest Assange Today | The Dissenter
Assange not under sealed indictment, U.S. officials say - The Washington Post

British Intelligence Operation to Kidnap Snowden? Number One MI-6 Officer Working Undercover in Moscow Embassy | Global Research - the NSA and its FIVE EYES partners are independent of their governments, «an entity unto itself». This entity will stop at nothing to capture Edward Snowden regardless of international law and diplomatic protocols.
Give Snowden Asylum in Germany - NYTimes.com (and the Peace Prize)
Snowden effect: young people now care about privacy - Results of a Harris Poll released this morning show four out of five people have changed the privacy settings of their social media accounts, and most have made changes in the last six months.

Supreme Court blocks challenge to NSA phone tracking — RT USA
Indonesia recalls Canberra ambassador over Yudhoyono phone tapping attempt | World news | theguardian.com - Foreign minister demands explanation after documents reveal Australian agencies targeted phones of president and his wife
Twelve Years Before Edward Snowden, High-Level NSA Whistleblower Warned Congress About Mass Surveillance Against Americans | Global Research - : William Binney
The Sleeper Cell That Wasn’t | Retro Report - Six days after 9/11, the FBI’s raid on a Detroit sleeper cell signaled America’s resolve to fight terrorism. But, despite a celebrated conviction, there was one problem — they’d gotten it wrong.
FBI hacking squad used in domestic investigations, experts say - NBC News.com - nstalling malware and spyware on the computers of suspected terrorists or child pornographers
We are Ben Wizner (ACLU, and legal advisor to Edward Snowden), filmmaker Cullen Hoback (Terms and Conditions May Apply), Tim Karr (Free Press) and Demand Progress. Ask Us Anything about online privacy and surveillance! : IAmA
Bloggingheads.tv - Katherine Maher (Access) and Jillian C. York (Electronic Frontier Foundation, JillianCYork.com)

Jeremy Hammond's Attorney- Closing Argument | We Are Change | We Are Change
Hammond Sentencing: Feeding the Flame of Revolt | PopularResistance.Org

Yahoo Will Follow Google In Encrypting Data Center Traffic, Customer Data Flow By Q1 ’14 | TechCrunch
The Daily Dot - Documents detail the mesh network that Seattle police still haven't turned off
Mass Surveillance Is Big Business: Corporations Are as Good at Spying as Governments | Motherboard
Private firms selling mass surveillance systems around world, documents show | World news | The Guardian - One Dubai-based firm offers DIY system similar to GCHQ's Tempora programme, which taps fibre-optic cables
Boston cops outraged about GPS tracking plans | Privacy SOS (oh the irony)
Official Franklin County, Ohio Website/Portal Hacked and Defaced by Nullroot – HackRead – Latest Cyber Crime – Information Security – Hacking News - Yesterday the official website of Hillside Illinois Police Department and 8 NASA domains were successfully hacked.
Catapult-Launched Bat Drone Wages Electronic War | Danger Room | Wired.com
NSA links to St Petersburg FL Drug Ring | MadCow Morning News
U.S. military may have 10 robots per soldier by 2023 - Computerworld - Military expects to soon be using autonomous robots to carry soldiers' gear and scan for enemy combatants

One JFK conspiracy theory that could be true - CNN.com - 5. "The CIA did it"
Book Club: Was JFK's Assassination Inevitable?

Exclusive: John Kerry Defies the White House on Egypt Policy - The secretary doesn’t agree with Obama’s team, especially Susan Rice, on how to deal with Egypt. Unfortunately for Rice, Kerry is the one on the ground—and he’s doing things his way.

Midwest tornadoes: death toll rises as huge storm system wreaks havoc | World news | The Guardian - At least six deaths confirmed in Illinois as emergency crews rush to communities hit by huge storm system

A Permanent Slump? - NYTimes.com - But what if the world we’ve been living in for the past five years is the new normal? What if depression-like conditions are on track to persist, not for another year or two, but for decades? (Obama/Republicans screwed the future)
What To Do When You're Wrong - NYTimes.com - Barry Ritholtz reminds us that we’ve just passed the third anniversary of the debasement-and-inflation letter — the one in which a who’s who of right-wing econopundits warned that quantitative easing would have dire consequence

How to silence GOP nuts — and stop the Obamacare repeal campaign - Salon.com - One still-plausible scenario could stop attacks on the president's "You can keep it" comment dead in its tracks
Bob Woodward Compares Things To Watergate Even When He's Not Asked To - Bob Woodward took to "Fox News Sunday" to continue his streak of comparing things to Watergate. This time, the subject was Obamacare. (Bobbie one-note)
Beneath the Headlines on HealthCare.gov - The piece out in the Post today is another case of a headline giving a somewhat misleading view not only of the reality of the situation, but even what's contained in the piece itself. (WaPo working overtime to convince us OCare is a failure)
Once A Leader, Oregon Exchange Hasn't Enrolled A Single Person In Obamacare - The state has received about 18,000 paper applications, at 19 pages each, and is scrambling to manually file and clear them

A Marine Was Assaulted. Her Commander Said She Deserved It For Wearing Running Shorts.

DIR-017-13 NDTA Summary final.pdf (2013 National Drug THREAT Assessment)

Good News for People Who Like Bad News About the Cheneys » Balloon Juice - Liz and Mary Cheney, and Heather Poe (Mary’s wife), are having a family feud on Facebook over Liz’s anti-gay comments yesterday on Fox News Sunday. Heather says it best:

Historical photographs get a 'colorized' makeover - in pictures | Art and design | theguardian.com

U.S. House Prepares Early Christmas Gift To Natural Gas Industry | DeSmogBlog

Michigan Police Allegedly Disseminate Video Of Black Men Told To 'Dance Like A Chimp' | ThinkProgress - The Grosse Point Park Public Safety Department is investigating video posted on a local blog purportedly filmed by police officers who told black men to sing and “dance like a chimp.” ... a statement saying has commenced an internal investigation and does “not tolerate unprofessional conduct by its officers.” (no racisim up there)

Meet the Woman Who Wants You to Stop Thinking Sex is For Men - Cosmopolitan

Scientists Discover 10,000-Year-Old Cave Paintings in Brazil | Archaeology | Sci-News.com
Accidental Discovery Dramatically Improves Electrical Conductivity - - iTech Post - Washington State University researchers have achieved a 400-fold increase in the electrical conductivity of a crystal simply by exposing it to light
Carl Sagan Tries To Explain Evolution To An Argumentative Guy - Carl Sagan is one of those rare humans who makes anyone he's arguing with look ham-fisted. The guy talking nonsense about transitional fossils is no exception.

What are some Audiobooks you'd consider better experiences than actually reading the book? : books

Nokia Lumia 1520 review: the best Windows Phone device yet
Nokia Lumia 1520 Review: | BGR
The State of Smartphones in 2013: Part I of the new Ars Ultimate Guide | Ars Technica
Google and Microsoft agree steps to block abuse images
The Daily Dot - Father wants image of slain son's body removed from Google Maps

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Typhoon Haiyan: how the horror unfolded day by day | World news | The Guardian - The strongest storm ever recorded began a week of fear, lawlessness and growing desperation for the Philippines
Mustafa Noah, Libya Deputy Intelligence Chief, Kidnapped At Tripoli Airport
Pervez Musharraf to face trial for treason, says Pakistani minister | World news | theguardian.com - Interior minister says former president will be tried for declaring state of emergency in 2007 and suspending constitution
Leftist militants claim Golden Dawn killings as rally honours 1973 uprising | World news | theguardian.com - As demonstrators commemorate anniversary, anti-establishment leftists vow to move far-rightists to 'the dustbin of history'
Netanyahu steps up attack on prospect of Iran nuclear weapons deal | World news | theguardian.com - Israeli PM calls for sanctions and says he will not allow 'ayatollahs with nuclear weapons' to threaten 'the Jewish people' (said the Jew with H-bombs trying to keep his war alive)
PM rejects call to lower age of consent to 15 - Faculty of Public Health president Prof John Ashton said society had to accept that about a third of all boys and girls were having sex at 14 or 15.

Japan’s New State Secrecy Law Leading to Closer Involvement in US Military Build-Up Against China | Global Research
Two sailors injured as drone strikes US warship on training exercise | World news | theguardian.com - The US navy has said that an aerial target drone malfunctioned and struck a guided missile cruiser during training off southern California, causing two minor injuries. (revolt of the drones)

NSA Asked Linus Torvalds To Install Backdoors Into GNU/Linux - Falkvinge on Infopolicy - When my oldest son [Linus Torvalds] was asked the same question: “Has he been approached by the NSA about backdoors?” he said “No”, but at the same time he nodded. Then he was sort of in the legal free. He had given the right answer, [but] everybody understood that the NSA had approached him.
NSA Asked Linus Torvalds To Install Backdoors Into GNU/Linux : worldnews

David Miranda Is Nobody's Errand Boy - When Glenn Greenwald’s 28-year-old Brazilian partner was detained in London this summer while transporting documents related to the bombshell Edward Snowden story, many assumed he was unfairly roped into a situation he didn’t understand. That couldn’t be further from the truth. (The Third Man)

The Daily Dot - Jeremy Hammond supporters share list of countries the FBI allegedly used him to hack - The full extent of the FBI’s “abuses,” the letter says, may never be known due to a protective order that has been placed on much of the evidence. (how they coverup their crimes)
FBI continues to investigate Hastings for 'controversial reporting' | Al Jazeera America - Al Jazeera obtains declassified documents on deceased Rolling Stone journalist following FOIA lawsuit (Obama hates "controversial reporting")

GCHQ snoops on hotel reservations targeting diplomats – Snowden leaks — RT News
The Logic Behind Mass Spying:  Empire and Cyber Imperialism | MyFDL
AnonGhost Hacks Hillside Illinois Police Department website against NATO Strikes – HackRead – Latest Cyber Crime – Information Security – Hacking News

Louisiana Republican Who Backs Obamacare's Medicaid Provision Wins Seat Over Party Favorite | ThinkProgress - McAllister, a businessman who embraced the expansion of Medicaid available to the state under the Affordable Care Act, defeated a Republican party favorite who called for full Obamacare repeal.
D.C. insurance commissioner fired a day after questioning Obamacare fix - The Washington Post - A day after he questioned President Obama’s decision to unwind a major tenet of the health-care law and said the nation’s capital might not go along, D.C. insurance commissioner William P. White was fired. (Obama hates people who disagree with him)

Giving All Americans a Basic Income Would End Poverty - Business Insider (Obama hates this idea)

The GOP v. The Concept Of Consent, The Latest In An Infinite Series - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Apparently former National Blowjob Inquisitor Ken Starr has finally found an occasion for mercy. I know Starr doesn’t think that students should have First Amendment rights either, but this is going a little far. (Starr, Charles Gibson, others, defend child-molester)
The Bill of Rights Is The First Casualty Of The War On Drugs - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Because according to Kenneth Starr, former righteous independent counsel—now tanned Californian law-school dean—the fate of the drug wars depends upon the unconditional school message that drugs are bad, yet schools cannot enforce that message because smartass kids keep undermining them (2007)

Caught in Unemployment’s Revolving Door - NYTimes.com
Being on the Right Side of the Digital Divide Matters - If you drop out of high school, odds are you'll end up in a dead-end job for life. But the odds get a lot better if you happen to have some computer skills.

A Decade After Massachusetts' Landmark Gay Marriage Ruling, The Gains Are Clear

Explainer: Why the D.A. Didn't Charge the NYC Taxi Driver Who Maimed a Tourist - WNYC (they never do)

Cannabidiol, a Non-Psychoactive Cannabinoid Compound, Inhibits Proliferation and Invasion in U87-MG and T98G Glioma Cells through a Multitarget Effect. [PLoS One. 2013] - PubMed - NCBI

? Gerrymandering Explained - YouTube
Newspaper Corrects 1863 Editorial Calling the Gettyburg Address 'Silly' - Megan Garber - The Atlantic - Nearly 150 years after it panned Lincoln's seminal speech, the Patriot-News is changing its tune. This is how the editorial came to be in the first place.

? Islam, the Quran, and the Five Pillars All Without a Flamewar: Crash Course World History #13 - YouTube
? The Dark Ages...How Dark Were They, Really?: Crash Course World History #14 - YouTube

Forced Google Plus integration on YouTube backfires, petition hits 112,000 | ZDNet
The Daily Dot - Hacker's plan backfires after calling a police raid to his own house - 22-year-old Michael Adams Jr. who, during his time as a computer hacker, had failed to become the target of a "swatting." Taking matters into his own hands, Adams simply called the police himself,
Battery Usage Report - Generate in Windows 8
PowerCfg - The hidden energy and battery tool for Windows you're not using - Scott Hanselman

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Climate change pledges: rich nations face fury over moves to renege | Environment | The Observer
Bashar Assad Gains Ground In Syrian Civil War
Judi Dench urged to back inquiry into stolen baby' scandal | World news | The Observer - "There was no apology nor has redress ever occurred. Incredibly, the Irish state continues to fund its partner in crime, the Catholic church, to hold the birth and care records of over 50,000 children. The state colludes with them to prevent the 'taken children' from discovering their identities," she said. (WLKR: World's Largest Kidnapping Ring)

Young and Educated in Europe, but Desperate for Jobs - NYTimes.com

C.I.A. Collects Global Data on Transfers of Money - NYTimes.com - The Central Intelligence Agency is secretly collecting bulk records of international money transfers handled by companies like Western Union — including transactions into and out of the United States — under the same law that the National Security Agency uses for its huge database of Americans’ phone records, according to current and former government officials.
Justice is reviewing criminal cases that used surveillance evidence gathered under FISA - The Washington Post

Justice is reviewing criminal cases that used surveillance evidence gathered under FISA - The Washington Post - “I certainly don’t agree with what Greenwald has done,” Holder said. “In some ways, he blurs the line between advocate and journalist. But on the basis of what I know now, I’m not sure there is a basis for prosecution of Greenwald.” (speaking of "blurring the lines")

Google's Latest Transparency Report Mocks The Gag Order FISC Puts On Them Over NSA Requests | Techdirt
Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Twitter Have a New Lobbying Target—the NSA | Mother Jones - The NSA won't stop spying on tech companies. Now, they're starting to do something about it.

Victory: Government to Release More NSA Documents and FISA Court Opinions in Response to EFF Lawsuit | Electronic Frontier Foundation - concerning its use of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the provision of law the NSA relies on to collect the call records of millions of Americans
Op-Ed: Utahns should deny water to NSA center | The Salt Lake Tribune - "Concealed within his fortress, the lord of Mordor sees all. His gaze pierces cloud, shadow, earth, and flesh."
Jailed Anonymous hacker Jeremy Hammond: 'My days of hacking are done' | Technology | theguardian.com - Hammond calls his 10-year sentence a 'vengeful, spiteful act' by US authorities eager to put a chill on political hacking (Obama is a cruel person)
No, the Feds Are Not Behind the New Silk Road | Motherboard - If the Feds facilitated the new Silk Road, they'd be breaking their own rules. Plain and simple. (of course, that's never happened before)

FBI Agent Insists He Wasn't First To Leak Info On Foiled Bomb Plot As He Heads To Jail (Obama is always making "examples" of people to deter "threats")

Elizabeth Warren won't save the Democrats in 2016 | Zack Exley | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The Republican theory is much more accessible to people who never took a class in economics: "the government is the problem, get rid of government interference". The Democratic theory requires more fealty to complex models and elite academics. (stupid usually wins)

Violence gone viral: new study plots how crime spreads like a disease | The Verge - study leader Andrew Papachristos, an associate professor of sociology at Yale. Rather, "the vast majority of gun violence, the everyday violence that we see in our streets, is actually passed on person to person, much more like a blood-borne pathogen."

Environmental Activist Reverend Billy Is Possibly Facing Up To One Year In Prison - Forbes - There, the troupe burst into song. That was followed by a short sermon from Reverend Billy about how the bank’s investments were tied to climate change, and the handing out of informational flyers to the clients and employees. (Obama hates all your theatricial performances)
Selenium - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - This is not an acceptable decision from the EPA during a Democratic administration: (Obama hates your environment)
TSA's $1 Billion 'Behavioral Detection' Program Only Slightly More Accurate Than A Coin Flip | Techdirt - All told, nearly a billion dollars have been sunk into the program, with the end result being a scattershot system that the GAO says detects potential threats with an accuracy that is "the same or slightly better than chance."
Washington: Americans’ personal data shared with CIA, IRS, others in security probe | National Security & Defense | McClatchy DC - U.S. agencies collected and shared the personal information of thousands of Americans in an attempt to root out untrustworthy federal workers that ended up scrutinizing people who had no direct ties to the U.S. government and simply had purchased certain books. (Obama hates books, too)

GOP-Tea Party Infighting Bedevils Republican Unity - On the other hand, a new string of tea party victories could ignite a full-blown Republican civil war and embolden anti-establishment champions such as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. (Obama doing everything he can to make it happen)


The Hairpin - Ladies First
The Toast - A willing foe, and sea room.

VSe1BMy.jpg - Global Transportation System
Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!

Princeton University Meningitis Outbreak Prompts CDC To Import Vaccine - This week, Princeton officials confirmed the school's seventh case of meningitis in 2013. A spokesman says trustees will discuss the issue this weekend.

13 Design Trends For 2013
Adobe Password Breach: What You Need to Know - Eventbrite.com Eventbrite Blog
Think NSA Snooping Is Bad? Check Out MPAA Theater Security | Threat Level | Wired.com (Obama hates your Constitutional rights)

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Want to Piss Off the White House? Talk About Climate Change | Mother Jones - the White House's private outrage at former Secretary of Energy Steve Chu's impromptu decision to talk about climate change while visiting an island nation uniquely threatened by it. (very tightly controlled "messaging" - these supposedly poltical geniuses can't see the message)
Japan Shelves Plan to Slash Emissions, Citing Fukushima - NYTimes.com

Typhoon Haiyan survivors lack food and water one week on | World news | theguardian.com - Death toll climbs to 3,261 and large numbers of bodies still lie unburied as Philippines government faces growing criticism
Fox's Heartless Response To The Philippines' Call For Aid After Typhoon | Blog | Media Matters for America
Al-Qaeda-linked rebels apologise after cutting off head of wrong person - Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham militants say sorry for decapitating a fellow extremist rather than enemy
Anger over Israeli mayor who says there are no gays in his town - Moshe Abutbul, the ultra-Orthodox mayor of Beit Shemesh, says no gays live in his town and homosexuality should be a police matter, amid debate in Israel over a proposal to allow same-sex unions
Toronto police arrest hundreds in child abuse raids | World news | theguardian.com - Arrests made in Canada, US, Australia and elsewhere as police seize videos showing sexual acts against young children
Huge child porn ring busted, Toronto police say 348 arrested in Project Spade | CTV News - In Canada: 40 teachers, 9 doctors and nurses, 32 volunteers, 6 law enforcement personnel, 9 faith leaders, 3 foster parents
Denmark surpasses 100 percent wind power – German Energy Transition - Denmark surpasses 100 percent wind power
Turkey’s Erdogan Condemns Coed Dormitories - The Daily Beast - The prime minister and his allies say mixed-gender student housing gives rise to depravity, drugs, prostitution, and ‘terrorism.’
Councils to be given powers to ban peaceful protests that might disturb local residents - UK Politics - UK - The Independent - Councils to be given powers to ban peaceful protests that might disturb local residents (no right of assembly for you)
CIA declassifies Camp David Accords intelligence - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |
CyberGuerrilla soApboX » Ukraine GOV hacked. CUSTOMS of UKRAINE customs.gov.ua MASSIVE Docs leak.

U.S. Air Force asked to help in missing drone search - World - CBC News
Germany halts purchase of armed drones - The Local - Members of the next German government have agreed to postpone the country's purchase of armed drones indefinitely following controversy over their use and cost.

Op-Ed Columnist - 1 Soldier or 20 Schools in Afghanistan? - NYTimes.com - The war in Afghanistan will consume more money this year alone than we spent on the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War — combined. (Obama loves his wars, hates education)

TPP draft: United States reasserts its role as a world’s schoolyard bully — RT Op-Edge
Confirmed: CIA, NSA, IRS collected and shared Americans' personal information — RT USA

FBI warns hacking spree on government agencies is a “widespread problem” | Ars Technica - Hack linked to man who said: "You have no idea how much we can f*ck with the US."
Our Government Has Weaponized the Internet. Here’s How They Did It
NSA Wants To Reveal Its Secrets To Prevent Snowden From Revealing Them First - Slashdot

Feinstein promotes bill to strengthen NSA's hand on warrantless searches | World news | theguardian.com - Fisa Improvements Act, advanced as surveillance reform, would make permanent loophole known as 'backdoor search provision' (DiFucker fucks you)
Cyber-attacks eclipsing terrorism as gravest domestic threat – FBI | World news | theguardian.com - Counter-terrorism chiefs urge Congress to resist altering controversial surveillance programs except 'at the margins' (latest excuse: "the bad guys")
C.I.A. Collects Global Data on Transfers of Money - NYTimes.com - Even lawmakers on the Intelligence Committees have indicated that they are not sure they understand the entire landscape of what the government is doing in terms of bulk collection.
Interview: Telecom Security Expert Philippe Langlois on GCHQ Spying - SPIEGEL ONLINE - British intelligence agency GCHQ has been targeting mobile phone company networks. Telecoms security expert Philippe Langlois explains what they can find this way, and how users can protect themselves from such snooping.

NSA files: New York Times defends the Guardian's Snowden leaks | World news | theguardian.com - NYT: Guardian faces state 'bullying' • Cameron insists Snowden leaks help terrorists

Google chairman: NSA spying on our data centres 'outrageous' | Technology | theguardian.com - Eric Schmidt says company has lodged complaints with NSA, White House and Congress as criticism hardens in Silicon Valley
Former FBI agent sentenced to three years in prison for Associated Press leak | World news | theguardian.com - Resulting story on Yemen led to a federal leaks investigation and the seizure of journalists' phone records in search for the source ... "Clearly, you have betrayed your nation." (by telling the truth)
The NSA should keep spying on foreign leaders and citizens. - They have no right to privacy from U.S. surveillance—and they shouldn’t. (yes, that Posner)

New Report Condemns Role of Doctors, Psychologists and Psychiatrists as Torturers in Bush’s “War on Terror” | Andy Worthington - “Ethics Abandoned: Medical Professionalism and Detainee Abuse in the War on Terror”

FBI Labels PhD Candidate's Research 'A Threat to National Security' (he foia'd the freedom in foia, which is classified; how far down the rabbit-hole Obama is willing to go)

Global Intelligence Files (Stratfor criminal misdeeds)

Jeremy Hammond & the Need to ‘Promote Respect for the Rule of Law’ | The Dissenter (Obama's tough on truth message)

Jeremy Hammond: FBI directed my attacks on foreign government sites | World news | theguardian.com - Anonymous hacktivist told court FBI informant and fellow hacker Sabu supplied him with list of countries vulnerable to cyber-attack
Twitter / ioerror: Targets supplied by #FBI to ... - Jeremy #Hammond:
Targets supplied by FBI to Jeremy Hammond - Pastebin.com
Statement on Jeremy Hammond's Sentencing Verdict - 'I did this because I believe people have a right to know what governments and corporations are doing behind closed doors. I did what I believe is right.'
Jeremy Hammond's Sentencing Statement
? Today's Jeremy Hammond Prison Sentence Is An Obvious Miscarriage Of Justice - YouTube
? Jeremy Hammond's lawyer reacts to full prison sentence - YouTube
Jeremy Hammond's Sentencing Statement - Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison, Jeremy Hammond Uses Allocution to Give Consequential Statement Highlighting Global Criminal Exploits by FBI Handlers (judge's husband connected to Stratfor)
The Daily Dot - Anonymous activist Jeremy Hammond sentenced to 10 years in prison - Hammond's sentence also forbids him from associating with "civil disobedience organizations" for 3 years after his release. (Constitutional rights revoked)
Anonymous hacker Jeremy Hammond sentenced to 10 years for Stratfor leak | Technology | theguardian.com - Hammond calls his sentencing a 'vengeful, spiteful act' by US authorities eager to put a chill on political hacking
The US can lock up hackers, but it can't crush their spirit | Laurie Penny | Comment is free | The Guardian - Jeremy Hammond is just the the latest to be targeted in a global witchhunt against the brightest minds of a generation
Wikileaks releases more Global Intelligence Files; some highlights | Privacy SOS - "Brennan is behind the witch hunts of investigative journalists learning information from inside the beltway sources. Note -- There is specific tasker from the WH to go after anyone printing materials negative to the Obama agenda (oh my.) Even the FBI is shocked. The Wonder Boys must be in meltdown mode..."
Stratfor Email: Brennan Behind 'Witch Hunt' of Journalists Reporting Leaks
Jeremy Hammond: Prisons are for Dangerous People Not Hackers [BLOG] - IBTimes UK
The FBI could have stopped the Stratfor leak at any point – Sue Crabtree - News - World - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events, Expert opinion, podcasts, Video - serious reasons to question the motives of the judge and the entire prosecution, including the FBI which, it has been revealed, not only orchestrated the hack through an FBI informant known by the code name "Sabu", but could have stopped the leak of the files anytime had they wanted.

Russell Brand: we deserve more from our democratic system | Comment is free | The Guardian - Following his appearance on Newsnight, the comedian explains why he believes there are alternatives to our current regime

Court: Homeland Security Must Disclose Internet ‘Kill Switch’ | Washington Free Beacon - DHS protocol governs shutting down wireless networks to prevent bomb detonation

On healthcare, Obama is starting to sound like a misbehaving boyfriend | Ana Marie Cox | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The GOP has popular opinion trending on on its side for the first time in years, and they will run this issue into the ground (good job, political wing of the WH)
Right Ready for Every-Man-for-Himself Care -- Daily Intelligencer
So, About That Whole 'Obama's Katrina' Thing - the promulgation of an "Obama's Katrina" metaphor firmly underscores the basic lack of real stakes involved for all of the people having that conversation.

The U.S. may be hitting its ethanol limit. So EPA wants to relax its biofuels goals.
Milford Pipeline Fire May Burn for 36 Hours | NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth - Entire town evacuated after explosion

Get Mitch - POLITICO Magazine - How the embattled Senate minority leader explains America’s political gridlock.
Hullabaloo - Fix the Debt caught astroturfing
Yoo Have to be Kidding - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Shorter John Yoo: I’m appalled by the executive overreach of Obama’s new ACA regulations. Plainly, Obama should have obtained these ends by arbitrarily detaining and torturing health insurance executives.

Obama Administration Steps Away From Civil Rights Promise, Advocates Allege - pulling back on a civil rights promise to make sure poor and minority students get qualified teachers.
Poll Finds Conservative Americans More Offended By Rainbow Flags Than Confederate Flags (76% of Americans conservative)
George W Bush's new 'crusade': converting Jews to Christianity | Andrew Brown | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Bush is speaking at a fundraiser today for Messianic Jews. It's the same imperial mentality that's ravaged the holy land for ages

Detroit-area man charged with murder in woman's porch death - CNN.com (the black people are scary defense)

WATCH: The Surprising Trait That's MUCH More Important Than IQ | TEDTalks - psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth found that more than IQ or talent or any other factor, the #1 predictor of a person's success is their unflagging commitment to a long-term goal... in other words, their grit
Astonishing Video Captures The Unbreakable Bond Between Twins
Blind man, service dog kicked off US Airways plane; passengers object | 6abc.com

Transgender teen fights to be pictured in yearbook : News : ValleyCentral.com - He wore a tuxedo in his senior portrait photo shoot, like all the other boys at school, but according to the teen, he was told it wouldn’t be published in their yearbook.

“He Took the Time to Chat”: Ken Starr’s Plea for a Child Molester - the famously pious former Clinton prosecutor recently pleaded with a Fairfax County judge to let a confessed child molester go free. Because he’s a family friend. Here’s the letter ... just one of dozens of letters sent by as many Washington, D.C., and New York City power players—including former ABC News anchor Charlie Gibson (and many others)

Brian Holloway's House - Grantland - An NFL player's empty home. A massive teenage party. A tailor-made story of social-media shaming and a former star wronged. Until you dig deeper, that is.

cachemonet.com
Vertical Video Syndrome - A PSA - YouTube (the iDisease)

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Typhoon Haiyan: Philippines aid effort hampered by lawlessness | World news | theguardian.com - Some relief agencies scaling back in worst-hit areas due to desperate actions of Haiyan survivors and raids by bandits
Mexico accused of suppressing freedom of speech over hit documentary | World news | theguardian.com - Director of Presumed Guilty, which exposed miscarriage of justice in Mexico City, awaits rulings on claims for compensation
Pope Francis 'is mafia target after campaigning against corruption' | World news | theguardian.com - Prosecutor says pope's attempt to bring transparency to Vatican is making mobsters agitated
Rob Ford will (ahem) go down in history with this quote

Eurozone economic recovery falters in third quarter | Business | theguardian.com - Fall in French output and Italy's recession drags growth down to 0.1%, snuffing out second-quarter momentum

Edward Snowden is almost broke - Boing Boing

TPP Leak Confirms the Worst: US Negotiators Still Trying to Trade Away Internet Freedoms | Electronic Frontier Foundation (another sooper secrit Obama plan to screw you)

The FBI Doesn't Want You To Know Why It Won't Tell You Its Secrets - The FBI is going long to keep its secret files on animal rights activists a secret: It is fighting public records requests about why it keeps denying public records requests.
Google transparency report curiously opaque, thanks to FBI gag order - CSMonitor.com - Google wants to be seen as a crusader for Internet transparency, and its new report details who is asking for users' information. But the report is incomplete, Google acknowledges.
Finally, Homeland Security Has to Explain Why and When It Can Kill Cell Networks | Motherboard
TSA’s got 94 signs to ID terrorists, but they’re unproven by science | Ars Technica - Government auditor slams $900M spent on unproven program. (expensive theatre)

The Daily Dot - Bitcoin rapidly approaching $500 price tag, $5 billion market cap - As the world wonders why it's doing so well, the peer-to-peer currency is on pace to hit two major milestones in the near future.
How Much Are Bitcoins Really Worth? | Motherboard - At over $400 a bitcoin, the defiant crytopcurrency is bubbling all over again, causing enough buzz that the Senate is having a hearing on virtual currencies. What boils down to some mathematical models and open source code is now worth $4.4 billion.

Boston Police Department Claims Contacting Its Public Affairs Number Is A Criminal Act | Techdirt (the same cops who said you couldn't take their picture now say you can't record their conversations on their conversation line)

Whitey Bulger Dzhokhar Tsarnaev - The Terror in Massachusetts' Court Rooms - Esquire

Obama Healthcare Speech - The Surrender Is Not Abject, So There's That - Esquire - Translation From The Presidential Weaselspeak: OK, keep that lemon of a plan you're so fond of, but please, shut yer gob about it now. Also, pray that you don't need any medical procedure more complicated than a Band Aid for the next year, because that's all you're covered for. But... cheap!
Obamacare Enrollment Numbers Fall Far Short Of Target (Obama hates computers)
Obama to speak on Affordable Care Act – live blog | World news | theguardian.com - President to make hastily announced statement on problems with the rollout of the federal healthcare website. Follow it live

Facebook and Microsoft help fund rightwing lobby network, report finds | World news | theguardian.com - State Policy Network rejects climate change, opposes workers' rights – and is backed by some top US tech and telecoms firms

Majority of red-state Americans believe climate change is real, study shows | Environment | theguardian.com - Study suggests far-reaching acceptance of climate change in traditionally Republican states such as Texas and Oklahoma (as they turn into deserts but sill elect Barton and Inhofe)

Troubled Youth Prison Company Wins Even More Contracts

UA Study: Your Brain Sees Things You Don’t | UANews - our brains perceive objects in everyday life of which we may never be aware. The finding challenges currently accepted models about how the brain processes visual information.

The Most Popular Books of All Time | Visual.ly

Google Books ruling is a huge victory for online innovation
F-Secure Launches A Dropbox For the Dark Web And A VPN That Could Erase Content Borders Everywhere - Forbes
Trolls: Moochers Preying on Makers | Trolling Effects - Hillary Foss is a marketing associate at FindTheBest, which recently received a demand letter.
Twitter takes on Storify with Custom Timelines | Technology | theguardian.com - Social network allows users to curate tweets, stepping on toes of partner previously cited as 'good example' of how to use data (because your 140 characters are true art)
JPMorgan Shows Exactly How To Not Use Twitter

CryptoLocker Ransomware Information Guide and FAQ
CryptoGuard prevents your files from being taken hostage - Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware Software
HitmanPro.Alert CryptoGuard - SurfRight
Hackers Are Now Providing Customer Service Support to Help Victims Pay Ransoms | Motherboard - the hackers behind CryptoLocker recently launched a customer service feature to help victims through the payment process. (because bitcoins)
CryptoLocker Crew Ratchets Up the Ransom — Krebs on Security
Tools for a Safer PC — Krebs on Security

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The Changing Face of America - Photo Gallery

Pope Francis corruption fury: Tie them to a rock and throw them in the sea - Europe - World - The Independent - Pope Francis delivered an impassioned sermon yesterday, during which he quoted a passage from the bible that said some sinners deserve to be tied to a rock and cast into the sea ... because "where there is deceit, the Spirit of God cannot be".

The trouble with democracy | Books | The Guardian - Government shutdowns, petty policy squabbles, voter disaffection – democracy doesn't seem to work very well. But what's the alternative? And can we rely on muddling through? (democracy always hungers for a dictator)

2013 Likely To Be One Of The Hottest Years Ever As Warming Trend Continues, WMO Says
Typhoon Haiyan: eight die in food stampede amid desperate wait for aid | World news | theguardian.com - Thousands storm rice warehouse in the devastated central Philippines while Haiyan relief effort flounders
Are There Limits to Solar Efficiency? | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly

Exclusive: US blocks publication of Chilcot’s report on how Britain went to war with Iraq - UK Politics - UK - The Independent - Washington is playing the lead role in delaying the publication of the long-awaited report into how Britain went to war with Iraq, The Independent has learnt. (history never happened)
The Daily Dot - Outdated copyright law makes memes illegal in Australia
Australia Church child sex inquiry urges sweeping changes - FRANCE 24 - An Australian state inquiry into the handling of child sex cases by the Catholic Church on Wednesday said religious leaders trivialised the problem and recommended concealment of abuse should be a crime
Rob Ford promises a ‘rumble in the jungle’ as city council prepares to vote on motion to get province to remove him | National Post
Booze, drugs, suspected escorts in new Rob Ford docs | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
Shocking new details surface about Rob Ford: booze, cocaine and "even a suspected prostitute" in the mayor's office [updated] | torontolife.com

Gareth Williams, British Spy, Likely Died In Bag By Accident (after pad-locking himself outside from the inside)

David Cameron insists that squeeze on public-sector spending is permanent - UK Politics - UK - The Independent (pomp and pomposity on display, look at all the GOLD))
6 Speeches The Conservatives Don't Want You To See - The Tories have attempted to wipe all of their pre-2010 speeches off the internet. So we’ve dug them out.
The Daily Dot - British Conservative Party scrubs 10 years of public statements from the Web

The edge of the abyss: exposing the NSA's all-seeing machine | The Verge - "I know the capability that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that this agency and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision, so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return." (which is what happened)

Deutsche Telekom Pushes All German Internet Safe from Spying - spiegel online
German Warns of Possible Threat to US Facilities in Spying Scandal - spiegel online
Less Than 20% Of Americans Believe That There's Adequate Oversight Of The NSA | Techdirt
Why Does Anyone Trust the National-Security State? - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic - A lack of transparency and oversight has led to abuses time and again, in every era. (Craptrapper)
Tomgram: Engelhardt, A Surveillance State Scorecard | TomDispatch - Mistaking Omniscience for Omnipotence In a World Without Privacy, There Are No Exemptions for Our Spies
Report: Government Spying Causing Self-Censorship, Privacy Fears Among US Writers « CBS DC
Smooth operators: why phone companies don't fight the NSA | The Verge - Will AT&T and Verizon ever push back against NSA surveillance? Don't bet on it
The Seattle Police Department Disables Its Mesh Network (the New Apparatus Capable of Spying on You) | Slog
The original NSA whistleblower: “Snowden is a patriot” - Salon.com - You likely haven't heard of Perry Fellwock, the first whistle-blower to go to the press about NSA 30 years ago
More NSA transparency would lead to bigger privacy invasion, agency lawyer says | The Verge (even bigger would look like what?)

In Lavabit Appeal, U.S. Doubles Down on Access to Web Crypto Keys | Threat Level | Wired.com
emptywheel - What this boils down to is, essentially, the government thinks the keys to Lavabit’s encryption for their customers belong not just to Lavabit, and their respective customers, but to the United States government itself. Your private information cannot be private in the face of the United States Government. Not just Edward Snowden, but anybody, and everybody, is theirs if they want it. That is the definition of bullshit.
US wants $10,000 from Lavabit owner for dodging order for Snowden's email | The Verge - Levison waited two days, racking up $10,000 in sanctions, then turned over the keys and immediately shut down his company. He's appealing the fine now, arguing that requesting a master set of encryption keys was excessive if the FBI only wanted to monitor one user.

Salvaging Obama - NYTimes.com - Dismissing Clapper, the director of national intelligence, is not a new idea. Fred Kaplan of Slate suggested it in June, after Clapper lied to Congress about the N.S.A.’s data-mining.
The Daily Dot - Senator who wrote bill to help NSA gets way more money than opponent - Unsurprisingly, an analysis of campaign contributions shows that Feinstein gets three times as much money from intelligence contractors.

Over 3,000 US prisoners serving life without parole for non-violent crimes | World news | theguardian.com - ACLU report chronicles thousands of lives ruined by life sentences for crimes such as shoplifting or possession of a crack pipe (prison state America)
Editorial: Justice for Ken Anderson | Dallas Morning News - A 10-day jail sentence seems ridiculously light for former prosecutor Ken Anderson’s role in a man’s wrongful imprisonment for 25 years. As Williamson County’s district attorney, Anderson helped hide exculpatory evidence and engaged in serious prosecutorial misconduct in his effort to win the conviction of Michael Morton for the 1986 murder of Morton’s wife.

Freedom of the Press Foundation - Freedom of the Press Foundation provides you with an easy way to donate to cutting-edge journalism organizations dedicated to transparency and accountability. Donate to specific investigative journalism projects focused on combating excessive government secrecy below. Your donation will be tax-deductible. You can also donate by check. (bypass Paypal's ban on wikileaks)

Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)
WikiLeaks publishes secret draft of Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty | The Verge
How Can the New York Times Endorse an Agreement the Public Can't Read? | Electronic Frontier Foundation - The New York Times' editorial board has made a disappointing endorsement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), even as the actual text of the agreement remains secret. That raises two distressing possibilities: either in an act of extraordinary subservience, the Times has endorsed an agreement that neither the public nor its editors have the ability to read. Or, in an act of extraordinary cowardice, it has obtained a copy of the secret text and hasn't yet fulfilled its duty to the public interest to publish it. (Obama loves his sooper sercits)
Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement | Electronic Frontier Foundation - (TPP) is a secretive, multi-national trade agreement that threatens to extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws across the globe and rewrite international rules on its enforcement.
Trade deal could be bitter medicine - WikiLeaks has exposed details of secret trade negotiations that could leave Australians paying more for drugs and medicines, movies, computer games and software, and be placed under surveillance as part of a US-led crackdown on internet piracy.
Breaking: Pivotal Trans-Pacific Partnership Section Revealed - the Obama administration has been an advocate for transnational corporate interests in the negotiations even though they run counter to the needs and desires of the public.
w Wikileaks publishes the "Internet Chapter" of the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement (SOPA's back) - Boing Boing
MSF responds to leak of Trans-Pacific Partnership text on Wikileaks | msfaccess.org - Médecins Sans Frontières responds to the leaked TPP text:

In Which Ben Wittes Proves Ben Wittes Is NAKED | emptywheel (breath-taking dishonesty of Obama's cops)
In fight over gag orders, US tech industry files complaint over FBI legal tactics — Tech News and Analysis (REDACTED)

CAIRO: Questions about ‘60 Minutes’ Benghazi story go beyond Dylan Davies interview; CBS conducting ‘journalistic review’ | Middle East | McClatchy DC (the whole thing was bullshit)
Gene Lyons 60 Minutes Benghazi - Spies In The House Of Journalism - Esquire - Through that same marriage of corporate cowardice and corporate avarice, the CBS empire decided to give Mary Matalin a toy publishing house. This happened to be the suspension vehicle through which the current hoax was injected into the network's bloodstream until it finally erupted into the pustulating sore that is the current situation. Oh, and Lara Logan should be suspended. Yesterday.

Historic Pro-Choice Bill To Be Introduced In Congress

The 9%: Congress's Approval Rating Hits the Single Digits | TIME.com - Suddenly 10% isn't looking so shabby

A Tiny Revolution: A Funny Little Story About The Media (yeah, Red State sabotage, except for good old KY)
Media Fall For Another Misleading Leak From Issa's Committee | Blog | Media Matters for America - Media fell for another misleading leak from the House Oversight Committee when they hyped allegations that the Obama administration ignored HealthCare.gov security warnings -- though the warnings were for a portion of the site that will not be operational until early 2014.
Obamacare technology chiefs grilled by Congress as political support dwindles | World news | theguardian.com - Democrats join GOP in anger over malfunctioning website as tech chiefs reveal healthcare.gov only operating at half capacity (eat shit, Dems)
Daily Politics Blog - Charles P. Pierce - Political Blogging - Esquire - So Bill Clinton, pretty plainly already in campaign mode, sounds the alarm in favor of the Shoddy Health Insurance Plan Protection Act of 2013, and some Democratic politicians saddle up? Forgive me if I say that I have seen this movie before. (the great triangulator strikes again)

How the Stock Market Is Rigged, According to a Robo-Trading Whistleblower | Motherboard

The Grand Old Tea Party | The Nation - Why today's wacko birds are just like yesterday's wingnuts.

Why Does The GOP Have A Problem With These People?
Cobb GOP chairman concerned about (those) people coming to Braves' games | Jay Bookman | www.ajc.com - Again, that's from the chairman of the Republican Party in the state's wealthiest, most sophisticated GOP stronghold (so they will tax black people to build a stadium that black people can't get to)

Residents Suing to Stop ‘Fortresslike’ Plan for World Trade Center - NYTimes.com - To the question, “How much security apparatus is needed on city streets?” the agencies charged with guarding public safety seem to answer, “As much as we say.” (9/11!)

Richard Cohen in Context - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic - Some people are defending his abysmal column. Their argument is not very good ... Richard Cohen's unfortunate career is the proper context to understand his column today and the wide outrage that's greeted it ("context" is all)
A Tiny Revolution: A Funny Little Story About The Media (old Richard Cohen story +how "The Village" destroyed Gart Hart)

Open carry demonstrations: Is carrying a gun to a protest protected by the First Amendment? - The alarming rise of “open-carry” demonstrations.
Which professions have the most psychopaths? - The Week (CEOs should all be locked up)
Teen night owls likely to perform worse academically, emotionally - Teenagers who go to bed late during the school year are more prone to academic and emotional difficulties in the long run, compared to their earlier-to-bed counterparts, according to a new study from UC Berkeley.

O'Reilly: Transgender-Inclusive Locker Rooms Are Like Hooters Without Chicken Wings | Blog | Media Matters for America - the difference between bringing a 12 year old to Hooters and allowing a "guy who thinks he's a girl" into a women's locker room is that Hooters has chicken wings.
Two Thirds Of Cheaters Would Stay Faithful If It Weren't For Technology, Survey Suggests - The demographic most likely to stray because their partner was snubbing them with their phone use? Women ages 30-50, according to the site.

To Protect Battered Women, You Have to Protect Their Pets - Only three percent of shelters nationwide can accommodate domestic animals, and many people refuse to leave them behind.

Anal Probes And The Drug War: A Look At The Ethical And Legal Issues
Gulag Justice? Alabama Blogger Jailed in Secretive Scandal - WhoWhatWhy - A judge has taken the extraordinary steps of not only sealing the file in the case, but ordering that the blogger’s posts be removed from the Internet.

OpBarberMiddleSchool - Pastebin.com - A deficit of a mere 30 cents was all it took for you to cause a child to be humiliated and left hungry.
Anonymous aims to shut down Utah boarding school after abuse allegations surface | Mail Online - Former students described beatings, bullying and said they were submitted to solitary confinement at Logan River Academy in Logan, Utah
An Ex-Cop's Guide to Not Getting Arrested - Mike Riggs - The Atlantic Cities
Occupy Cal Infiltrated by Police-Sympathetic-Unions; How Lt Pike Recently Got Another $38k Reward for Pepper-Spraying Student Activists

The Day the Earth Smiled (NASA Cassini Saturn Mission Images)
Cassini Solstice Mission: Raw Images
Unmanned Spaceflight.com -> Cassini's ongoing mission and raw images
Nasa release new picture of planet Saturn taken from the Cassini spacecraft | Science & Tech | News | Daily Express
Cassini’s Saturn: Incredible mosaic by Gordon Ugarkovic.
What Cassini Sees
Cassini reveals Saturn's true colours | Science | The Observer
Saturn's mysterious hexagon shows its true colors - PhotoBlog
Numerous haze layers

Which are some of the most thought provoking books you've ever read? : books
? THIS IS WATER YouTube - YouTube
David Foster Wallace - Commencement Speech at Kenyon University

Is Weed Getting Too Good? | Motherboard

#TwoWeeksOfLeaks Day 1: The Dream Scenario | Facebook - Free Cooper Union has received a collection of anonymously leaked confidential documents pertaining to The Cooper Union’s Board of Trustees and the Administration of Jamshed Bharucha.

Over 150 million breached records from Adobe hack have surfaced online | The Verge
Find out if your data was leaked in the Adobe hack | ZDNet

The Daily Dot - 4 videos that show everything wrong with YouTube right now
Viral Journalism and the Valley of Ambiguity
The Daily Dot - Better commenting finally comes to YouTube
Laugh at Google's E-Tattoo All You Want, You'll Be Wearing One Soon | Motherboard
What it’s like being verified on Twitter – Nimrod Kamer – The Kernel
New Voicemail Notification - WhatsApp - Malware
rebus snippets: Asprox Botnet - Phishing Malware As a Service

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Typhoon Haiyan: desperation grows as survivors face fifth day without help | World news | theguardian.com - US, British and Japanese troops head to the Philippines but minimal amounts of aid have reached the worst-hit areas
Typhoon Haiyan: survival, loss and humanity in obliterated city of Tacloban | World news | theguardian.com - Kate Hodal reports from the capital of Leyte province, where survivors are desperate for food, water and medicine
South Florida Faces Ominous Prospects From Rising Waters - NYTimes.com - “We’re going to get four or five or six feet of water, or more, by the end of the century. You have to wake up to the reality of what’s coming.” ... “The business community for the most part is not engaged,”

Israel has initial plans for 24,000 more settler homes | Reuters (Netanfuckyu to your peace plan)
North Korea 'executes 80 people for watching foreign films' - World - News - The Independent (psycho-state)
Spain's solar police to kick in your door - The Local - The latest nail in the coffin for Spain’s solar energy producers is an Energy Law amendment which allows inspectors to enter private properties without a court order. It's a move lawyers believe could set a worrying precedent.

Fukushima residents may never go home, say Japanese officials | Environment | theguardian.com - Admission deals blow to government assurances that radiation near the Daiichi nuclear plant can be brought down to safe levels (one lie after another)
Fukushima Radiation Arrives In Alaska - The Fukushima Crisis Comes To The States - Esquire - Some radiation has arrived in northern Alaska and along the west coast. That's raised concern over contamination of fish and wildlife. More may be heading toward coastal communities like Haines and Skagway ... A tour-bus driver is helping throw together the response to the worst nuclear disaster in 30 years? Was the sous-chef at the local Applebee's busy that day?

News of the World spied on Mail on Sunday, phone-hacking trial told | UK news | The Guardian - Spying operation was said to have been part of effort to pursue story of John Prescott's affair with his diary secretary
NY Times Endorses the TPP's Corporate Coup d'état | Brainwash Update - YouTube (even though it's all a big secret, of course)

Peak Drone? The U.S. Is Buying Fewer Drones and Using Them Less Often.

Author Of The PATRIOT Act Goes To EU Parliament To Admit Congress Failed, And The NSA Is Out Of Control | Techdirt - Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, has come out strongly against the NSA's mass spying, said that James Clapper should be fired and prosecuted, and introduced sweeping new legislation that would significantly curtail the NSA's activities
John Kerry: world leaders have been understanding about NSA leaks | World news | theguardian.com - US secretary of state says foreign governments understand that Barack Obama did not order all phone and internet surveillance (it just kinda happened on its own)
EFF to New York Times: Don't Get Fooled Again by Claims of NSA Spying "Legality" | Electronic Frontier Foundation - Over the weekend, the New York Times' public editor, Margaret Sullivan, published a piece investigating the Times' thirteen month delay in the publication of a bombshell report on the Bush Administration's domestic mass surveillance program back in 2004 and 2005 ... The piece admits that the Times was taken in by claims of "legality" in 2004. It shouldn't get fooled again by government claims of “legality” of mass surveillance.

NSA files: discuss the Snowden revelations with Guardian reporters | World news | theguardian.com - Reporters closely involved in our NSA stories will answer your questions through a Twitter chat from 1-2pm ET (6-7 GMT)

There's Only One Place To Put The Blame For Russian, Chinese Fallout From NSA Spying: On The NSA | Techdirt - from the everything-else-is-a-distraction dept
US spooks play into the hands of Russia, China and others who want control over global digital citizens | John Kampfner | Comment is free | The Guardian - In Beijing I've seen at first hand how authoritarian regimes aim to exploit the NSA's destruction of a utopian internet vision

The road to surveillance is paved with good intentions – and warning signs | Carly Nyst | Global development | theguardian.com - Iris scanning and GPS tracking are increasingly central to the delivery of aid. The consequences could be devastating
Indonesia Anons Take Down Australia Intelligence Websites in Response to Spying Revelations | LeakSource
UK home secretary wants to overturn human rights treaties and make terror suspects stateless - Boing Boing - May believes it cannot be right that a person who has enjoyed the benefits of becoming a UK citizen should keep their passport if they act in a way that is "totally at odds" with British values. ("values")
Three G4S immigration centre officials involved in forgery, says judge | Business | The Guardian - 'Shocking' actions of removal centre staff in asylum seeker's case are referred to Director of Public Prosecutions

Obama Belongs In A Prison Cell. - YouTube
"Why Are So Many Violent Criminals Walking Free?" | LearnLiberty - YouTube
"Why Are So Many Violent Criminals Walking Free?" | LearnLiberty - YouTube - Who are the real victims of the War on Drugs (Obama loves his wars) - Fewer than half of all violent crimes were resolved in 2011, but over 7 million people are serving time in U.S. prisons. The majority of prisoners were arrested on drug charges, and 81 percent of those are in prison for simple possession.

The Last Stand of the JFK Truthers - NationalJournal.com - Dallas plans to memorialize the fallen president on the 50th anniversary of his death, and the conspiracy theorists aren't invited.
John Kerry Declines to Elaborate on JFK Conspiracy Comments - ABC News - In the special, which aired last week, Kerry said that “to this day” he had “serious doubts that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.” (Warren Commission big coverup)

Illustrated Guide to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War | NYC Anarchist Black Cross - This is our guide to political prisoners and prisoners of war we support. Feel free to download, print, and distribute as you see fit.
Can Russell Brand be the Leader Anonymous is Missing? - IBTimes UK - The stand-up comedian Russell Brand was centre of attention at Anonymous' Million Mask March in London this week - could he be the leader the group is clearly in need of? (hierarchy doesn't understand anonymous)
The Daily Dot - A first look at 'The Internet’s Own Boy,' the Aaron Swartz documentary - “This was—and I say it without hesitation—not suicide. It was murder by intimidation, bullying, and torment,”

Analysis: 50K enroll in state-based ObamaCare | TheHill
About 40,000 Americans are said to have signed up for plans on HealthCare.gov - The Washington Post

For 2014, G.O.P.’s Challenges Stem From Within - NYTimes.com - But in the heated battle over the ideological future of the Republican Party, races like this one could alter the complexion of the Republican caucus in the House — and Washington’s ability to govern in President Obama’s final years in office. (more crazies)
Wall Street’s nightmare: President Elizabeth Warren - Ben White and Maggie Haberman - politico.com
Elizabeth Warren challenges Obama to break up 'too-big-to-fail' Wall St banks | World news | theguardian.com - Amid speculation that she might run against Hillary Clinton in 2016, firebrand senator attacks regulators for multiple failings
Alison Lundergan Grimes Tied With Mitch McConnell In Senate Race: Poll
Senate Republicans Block Nina Pillard Nomination To D.C. Circuit Court Of Appeals - Senate Republicans blocked another of President Barack Obama's picks for one of the nation's top courts on Tuesday, the latest skirmish in a nominations battle that has intensified partisan tensions in the chamber. (that Republicans-only court)

New Gallup Poll Finds Overwhelming Voter Support For $9 Minimum Wage

New York Times Departures Heighten Concerns About Staff Retention - One former longtime Times journalist told HuffPost that the paper doesn’t have the cachet or perks it once did to keep top talent.

Does This Photo Vindicate Armed Pro-Gun Protesters In Texas?

Koch brothers sponsor anti-Obamacare cornholing competition | The Raw Story

Eschaton: Conventional Views - Please make Richard Cohen stop. - "not racist" "must repress a gag reflex"
Richard Cohen Writes Yet Another Racist Column - People with conventional views must repress a gag reflex when considering the mayor-elect of New York (you know who makes us throw-up?)
Richard Cohen Defends Column: 'The Word Racist Is Truly Hurtful'
Editor: I Should Have Edited 'That One Sentence' In Cohen's Column 'More Carefully'
Actual Problems In American Journalism - Lawyers, Guns & Money - The publisher of the Post singled out Richard Cohen’s column today as “brilliant.” Of course she did!
WaPo Publisher Calls Cohen Column 'Brilliant' - it's "brilliant" to observe that, "people with conventional views must repress a gag reflex when considering ... a white man married to a black woman [who 'used to be a lesbian'] and with two biracial children..." are "not racist," but "troubled." (Katherine Weymouth, terrible person)
Eschaton: WANKER OF THE DECADE - 8th Runner Up - Richard Cohen.

Gottlieb helps, but NYT still nowhere near the most embarrassing op-ed page in a national paper - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Man is opposed to fair play — He wants it all and he wants it his way - Lawyers, Guns & Money - Scocca has much more on the ridiculous Lori Gottlieb column I briefly discussed earlier today. Among its other problems, it’s the latest manifestation of the conservertarian war on the concept of insurance:
Email Interview With Lori Gottlieb's Ex, "Tim"
Lara Logan 60 Minutes scandal: Washington Post's Paul Farhi reports on her sexy Halloween costume.

CBS Still Ducking The Tough 60 Minutes Questions | Blog | Media Matters for America - Network Refuses To Appoint Outside Review of Benghazi Mess

Chris Christie Casino Bankruptcy - Big Chicken's Very Bad Bet - Esquire - Anyway, the tunnel did not figure in Big Chicken's grand economic design for the state, which involved finding the biggest rathole he could find and shoveling money down into it. As recently as last February, it was unclear if Revel would ever open. But after a $261 million pledge from New Jersey, investors stepped in and revived the abandoned development. (+"Chris Christie - the Richie Incognito of the political world")

Occupy Wall Street activists buy $15m of Americans' personal debt | World news | theguardian.com - Rolling Jubilee spent $400,000 to purchase debt cheaply from banks before 'abolishing' it, freeing individuals from their bills

Traffic jams paralyzing Bay Area - San Jose Mercury News (Cali hits peak highway)

Stop thanking the troops for me: No, they don’t “protect our freedoms!” - Salon.com - They’re protecting our country, they’re protecting the world, and, you know, obviously we wouldn’t have freedom without them.

Lawyer Of Man Who Shot Renisha McBride Calls Actions 'Justified' And 'Reasonable' | ThinkProgress
Hacker group Anonymous targets Logan River Academy | Deseret News - The hacker group Anonymous reportedly has the troubled teen industry on its cyber hit list, zeroing in on the Logan River Academy on Monday in a campaign that asserts abuse of its underage clients. (Big Prison rules)
Anonymous leads calls to #ShutLoganRiver | The Stream - Al Jazeera English - Hacktivist group starts online campaign to shut down a boarding school accused of abusing its students.

School district must pay shuttered charter's bill - Philly.com (grifters win)
America's dumbest idea: creating a multiple-choice test generation | Erika L Sánchez | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Standardized testing means more rote memorization and less time for creativity. Students aren't prepared for college and life (life has more than four choices)

Jenny McCarthy, Anti-Vaccination Movement to Blame for Whooping Cough | New Republic

In Hookups, Inequality Still Reigns - NYTimes.com - women were twice as likely to reach orgasm from intercourse or oral sex in serious relationships as in hookups.

Microsoft's loyalty to Windows and Office blamed for a 'lost' decade, says Vanity Fair | The Verge - Eichenwald details a management system known as "stack ranking," a method that existing and former employees describe as destructive and an innovation stifler. (2012)
Microsoft Site Map (they have a lot of non-fashion dependent products)
Enhancing Windows 8 for multiple monitors - Building Windows 8 - MSDN Blogs

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Australia is on track for its warmest ever year, says study | Environment | theguardian.com - The past 12 months have been 0.22C warmer than any other equivalent period prior to 2013, says Climate Council - more than 100 heat-related records broken in the past 12 months
Typhoon Haiyan: we cannot afford to procrastinate on climate action | Environment | theguardian.com - Anyone who continues to deny the reality that is climate change, I dare them pay a visit to the Philippines right now (lookin' at you, soccermomies)
Typhoon Haiyan: Thousands dead in the Philippines as storm makes landfall - live | World news | theguardian.com - Grave humanitarian crisis unfolds • Victims suffer third day with scarce food and water

Protests as Thailand senators debate amnesty bill | World news | theguardian.com - Thousands rally in Bangkok over bill that could pave way for return of the self-exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra
Sweden closes four prisons as number of inmates plummets | World news | The Guardian - Decline partly put down to strong focus on rehabilitation and more lenient sentences for some offences
Anti-nuclear citizens groups targeted in massive cyber-attack - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun - Anti-nuclear citizens groups around Japan were left reeling from a blizzard of e-mail traffic--more than 2.53 million messages--that had all the hallmarks of a coordinated cyber-attack.

Nixon, Kissinger, and Genocide - Lawyers, Guns & Money : As part of my longstanding argument that people making “Nixon was really a liberal president” arguments are being too clever by at least three quarters, Gary Bass’s new book The Blood Telegram is apparently devastating about Nixon’s role in the genocide that preceded the creation of Bangladesh:
Gary Bass's "The Blood Telegram" Reviewed By Sunil Khilnani | New Republic - In 1971, a Genocide Took Place. Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger Did Nothing. Intentionally. The lost history of one of our lowest moments

White House considers appointing civilian NSA chief amid calls for reform | World news | theguardian.com - Administration also pondering plan to disaggregate embattled agency from new military command created around it
Oil Espionage: How the NSA and GCHQ Spied on OPEC | StratRisks - America’s NSA and Britain’s GCHQ are both spying on the OPEC oil cartel, documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden reveal. The security of the global energy supply is one of the most important issues for the intelligence agencies.
Uncategorized | Scriptonite Daily

If Silk Road Gets Shut Down, It Will Be Back Online in 15 Minutes | Motherboard
If Silk Road Gets Shut Down, It Will Be Back Online in 15 Minutes | Motherboard
USB Devices Used to Infect Russian Nuclear Plant, Carry Malware to Space Station

Barrett Brown Is Bored Out of His Mind in Jail | VICE United States
ACLU booted from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hearing | Boston Herald - The American Civil Liberties Union has been shut out of weighing in on accused Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s claims of hardship behind bars at a hearing tomorrow to address whether the alleged terrorist deserves to be cut some slack while he awaits trial.

Rep. Would Do Anything for Debt, Won’t Do That -- Daily Intelligencer - Oh, so Collins thinks Congress should do "everything in its power" to reduce the gap between revenue and outlay, except increase revenue.

'60 Minutes' Comes Under Intense Criticism For Bungled Benghazi Story (time to fire LL)
‘60 Minutes' Benghazi Apology Leaves Key Questions Unanswered
60 Minutes was on the decline long before the Benghazi story screw up | Michael Wolff | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The media think the 60 Minutes mistake is an earth-shattering deal. In reality, the public is already skeptical of TV news
On the 60 Minutes/Benghazi debacle : Columbia Journalism Review

How the Tea Party’s Apocalyptic Politics Are Destroying the Republican Party - The Daily Beast - Leaders of the Tea Party are willing to wreck the Republican Party, the government, and the economy to prove that Obama is evil and God is on their side. (except kill themselves)
Elizabeth Warren is Hillary Clinton's Nightmare | New Republic - A Democratic Party That Realizes Its Soul Lies With Elizabeth Warren

How Twitter Helped Bring the Va. Attorney General Race to a 17-Vote Margin - ABC News (more Republican voter-fraud)
Joe Scarborough Career - A Gobshite Special Report: Morning Squint - Esquire - Joe Scarborough, the mysteriously well-compensated host of a micro-rated morning talk show asylum for disgraced hacks and television historians, has brought out a new book-like product about which we likely will be hearing far too much on our liberal MSNBC teevee network. (dirt on the old scumbag +Lakoff fail in the comments)

That North Dakota Nazi-Town Guy Is A Little Bit Black, So It Is True That Black People Are The Real Racists (DNA proves racist nazi is 14% black; irony dept.)
Sarah Palin: Levi Johnston Is A 'Deadbeat Dad' (she really said that)
Angry Gavin McInnes Has New Rules For Radicals About How All Liebruls Are Dumb, Not Just The Lady Ones - Thought Catalog Thought Leadering.
Pine Bush, New York, Jews Forcing Normal Kids To Beat Them Up By Being Jewish - After all, it is not the fault of Pine Bush, where nice grown ups just stone cold volunteer to New York Times reporters that all those Jews aren’t wanted there, nor is it the fault of school administrators, who are like, “wouldn’t it be easier if you just moved?” (brilliant writing)

A Romanian Scientist Claims to Have Developed Artificial Blood | Innovations - a research facility located in the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca, of all places
Construction Firm Balfour Beatty Considers Drone Workers | Technology Advice
Solid Concepts unveils first 3D-printed metal gun, a .45 ACP 1911

Teens Are Being Trapped in Abusive 'Drug Rehab Centers' | VICE United States
American companies, torturing teens for profit? You betcha! It's called the Troubled Teen Industry. Want your mind blown? Click here. : troubledteens
Mitt Romney: A Voice of Freedom and Hope? Not for America’s So-Called “Troubled” Youth | WWASP Diaries

Twitter / TheLulzDeptxx: This guy is awesome. ...

EFF and CDT File Brief in Support of Airbnb | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Amazon, U.S. Postal Service Join Forces For Sunday Deliveries
If you want to complain to Google directly about the forced merger of YouTube and Google+, this is the link to the discussion forum in Google Products. : technology
YouTube is a Completely Functional Site Programmed by Competent People : videos
YouTube aims to tame the trolls with changes to its comments section | Technology | theguardian.com - Changes mean video creators will have more power to moderate comments, while making best conversations more prominent for viewers

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Aid efforts begin after typhoon Haiyan kills 10,000 in Philippines: live updates | World news | theguardian.com - 10,000 people are reported dead in the central Philippine province of Leyte
Survivors 'Walk Like Zombies' After Philippine Typhoon Kills Estimated 10,000 - NYTimes.com
Typhoon Haiyan Death Toll Tops 10,000, According To Official Estimates ... "People are walking like zombies looking for food," said Jenny Chu, a medical student in Leyte. "It's like a movie."
In Mexico, Locals In Self-Defense Squads Take Fight To Knights Templar Drug Gang And Win (Clinton/Bush/Obama war on poor people living in other countries)

Thousands protest austerity in Greece ahead of no-confidence vote - Yahoo News UK
'Pope Francis effect' credited with boosting Italian congregations | World news | The Guardian - Researchers say more than half of Catholic priests have reported significant rise in attendance since election of new pontiff

Yemen air strikes kill al-Qaida militants | World news | theguardian.com - Five suspected al-Qaida fighters die in southern stronghold of Abyan during US drone strikes, local officials claim ("suspected" = "dead")
Cost of Detention Operations at Guantánamo Bay $4.8 Billion Since 2002 (Report & Infographic) | LeakSource (cost-cutting Republicans)

Iranians angry and bewildered after French torpedo Geneva nuclear entente | World news | theguardian.com - France should replace US as le grand satan, joke some inside Iran after Paris defies Washington and blocks stopgap deal ... Le Grande Satan ... once again shows the national interests of French people are taken hostage [by Israel]

Yasser Arafat: How did he die? | The Economist - Now a leaked 108-page Swiss report suggesting that Mr Arafat may have been poisoned with Polonium-210, a radioactive substance, could stir Palestinians into demonstrating in numbers rarely seen since their leader’s death at the height of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israeli rule in 2004.
Israel-U.S. Relations Deteriorate Over Iran, Palestinian Peace Process
Boycott Israel Campaign 2012
The Palestinian Genocide By Israel By Professor Francis A. Boyle
4,000 Palestinian children refused polio vaccination by Israel | Al Bawaba
The Daily Dot - Anonymous calls for Israeli boycott with massive Twitter protest
Former envoy George Mitchell shills for Israeli occupation profiteer SodaStream | The Electronic Intifada
Israel and the NSA: Partners in Crime | Antiwar.com Original - It wasn’t the US government breaking into the private communications of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, according to top secret documents unearthed by Edward Snowden and published in Le Monde – it was the Israelis.

The U.S. Secret State and the Internet: “Dirty Secrets” and “Crypto Wars” from “Clipper Chip” to PRISM | Global Research
Guardian faces fresh criticism over Edward Snowden revelations | Media | theguardian.com - Foreign secretary William Hague backs claims by MI5 and MI6 that NSA disclosures have endangered UK's national security ("national security" = "cushy, high-paid cop jobs")
The Daily Dot - Top U.K. intelligence official says spying necessary to stop pedophiles (they were so good at stopping Saville)
GCHQ data snooping has "destroyed trust in British tech" | News | PC Pro - "You would be mad to buy security products in Britain, everyone knows it... [GCHQ’s surveillance] destroys the credibility of Britain’s information security industry."
UK spies continue “quantum insert” attack via LinkedIn, Slashdot pages | Ars Technica
The Daily Dot - How U.K. intelligence exploited LinkedIn to spy on a Belgian telecom - Unlike Facebook or Google, LinkedIn contains few personal details about its users. The incentive for targeting the professional network, then, is almost certainly economic.

The Best Comments From The Worst Video: The Internet Vs. The NSA's Charm Offensive | Techdirt - from the patented-internet-'Preparation-H8'-does-nothing-for-agency-asshurt dept
22 Examples Of NSA Surveillance Creating Chilling Effects | Techdirt (Obama's war on anything resembling the truth)
John McCain: Keith Alexander Should Resign As NSA Head (McCainiac: not for illegal spying, but for hiring Snowden)

BMPoC Hacking Group Hacks and Defaces 21 Brazilian Military Domains – HackRead – Latest Cyber Crime – Information Security – Hacking News - The domains are hacked by Baader Meinhof hacker from BMPoC hacking group who left a deface page along with a message on all hacked military domains. The deface message was expressed in following words:
Muzzling Canadian scientists: Comparing US and Canadian routine scientific secrecy - Boing Boing - Canada's Conservative government has become notorious for muzzling government scientists, requiring them to speak through political minders (often callow twentysomethings with no science background who received government jobs in exchange for their work on election campaigns).
Russell Brand, the Posh Left and the Politics of Class » CounterPunch:
Mass Surveillance and Europe’s Police State | Global Research - A new study says so. It’s titled “Mass Surveillance of Personal Data by EU Member States and its Compatibility with EU Law.” - ”We are witnessing a systematic breach of people’s fundamental rights.”

You Are a Rogue Device by Matt Fikse-Verkerk and Brendan Kiley - Seattle Features - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper - A New Apparatus Capable of Spying on You Has Been Installed Throughout Downtown Seattle. Very Few Citizens Know What It Is, and Officials Don’t Want to Talk About It ... the mesh-network project—one part of a $2.7 million effort, paid for by the Department of Homeland Security

The Business of Predicting the End of the World (risks by city, but only for natural disasters)

Republicans Just Changed The Rules AFTER A Virginia Election To Change The Outcome (not the first time either)

Lindsey Graham Won't Back Down On Benghazi Demands (Linda Butch-Me-Up stamps his feet)

Counter-Polarizing the Social Security Debate by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - The idea has been kicking around think tanks (notably the Economic Policy Institute) and the blogosphere (particularly Atrios, who’s made this a personal crusade) for a while, but now is getting some serious buzz in the Senate: it’s time not to trim but to expand Social Security benefits. (so Obama can bargain even more away with his "responsive but flexible" approach)
The Mutilated Economy - NYTimes.com - Long-term unemployment — the number of people who have been out of work for six months or more — is four times what it was before the recession. (Obama hates jobs)

Is the Tea Party Tide Receding? | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly - Republicans won some and lost some in last night’s off-year elections, but the results were an unmitigated disaster for the Tea Party. (Teafuckers down)

Hullabaloo - This is why I was proud that Blue America supported Barbara Buono for Governor of New Jersey even as Democrats --- despite the fact that it allowed arch conservative Chris Christie to become the phony avatar of bipartisan centrism --- decided to sit out the race. (Obama's Blue Dog strategy wins again)

For Gore Vidal, a Final Plot Twist - NYTimes.com
Gore Vidal Underage Sex Hinted At In NYT Profile

Fallen followers: Investigation finds 10 more dead children of faith healers | KATU Investigators | KATU.com - Portland, Oregon - “That's the way we believe,” he said. “We believe in God and the way God handles the situation, the way we do things." (because Freedom to kill your kids)
The Innocent Man, Part One | Texas Monthly - On August 13, 1986, Michael Morton came home from work to discover that his wife had been brutally murdered in their bed. His nightmare had only begun. (corrupt prosecutors immune, according to Scalia)
40 Armed Gun Advocates Intimidate Mothers Against Gun Violence In A Restaurant Parking Lot | ThinkProgress (only one amendment counts)

Is sex good exercise? | Life and style | The Guardian - Sex took on average 24.7 minutes, with men using up 101 calories and women using 70. Almost everyone in the study found the sex more enjoyable than the treadmill.

Cool Tools – Self Publishing Cool Tools

ryans01 comments on I just don't care about myself.

Facebook Hates Old People
Teenagers say goodbye to Facebook and hello to messenger apps | Technology | The Observer - Gradual exodus of young people towards WhatsApp, WeChat and KakaoTalk is just as their mums and dads get the hang of social networking (FB is so 2009 +messaging apps more personal, companies actually have revenue)
(ultimate comment on "selfies") It's Complicated: Romantic Breakups and Their Aftermath on Facebook - viewcontent.cgi

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"Off the Charts": Deadliest Storm in History Kills 1200, Displaces Millions in Philippines | Informed Comment - we don’t have evidence of others being this deadly with regard to the intensity of the winds. (comments: "To put it bluntly America, your fascination with SUV’s killed a bunch of people in the Philippines.")
Typhoon Haiyan death toll in Philippines estimated at 1,200 | World news | theguardian.com - Red Cross and other humanitarian agencies describe hundreds of bodies floating in waters and on roads amid destruction
Philippines death toll from typhoon Haiyan 'could rocket within 24 hours' | World news | The Guardian - 195mph storm – the strongest ever to hit land – likely to have caused 'catastrophic damage' in isolated island communities
Philippines Typhoon Haiyan: Mounting Casualties In Wake Of Year's Strongest Storm - "It was like a 747 flying just above my roof," he said, describing the sound of the winds. He said his family and some of his neighbors whose houses were destroyed took shelter in his basement.
Super Typhoon Haiyan: A Hint of What's to Come? | Climate Central

CBS to Correct Erroneous Report on Benghazi - NYTimes.com - As it prepared to broadcast a rare on-air correction Sunday for a now-discredited “60 Minutes” report, CBS News acknowledged on Friday that it had suffered a damaging blow to its credibility. Its top executive called the segment “as big a mistake as there has been” in the 45-year-old history of the celebrated news program.

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger to be questioned by MPs over NSA leaks | Media | theguardian.com - Rusbridger to appear before home affairs select committee after claims that revelations were damaging national security - They also asked him to confirm whether anyone at the Guardian had "directed, permitted, facilitated or acquiesced" in the transfer of the files obtained by Snowden to anyone in the US or elsewhere.
Feinstein's NSA bill shows she doesn't have a clue about intelligence reform | Michelle Richardson | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Senator Feinstein's bill is a big step backwards for privacy. In contrast, the USA Freedom Act would stop intelligence abuses (DiFucker at work)
A Fraying of the Public/Private Surveillance Partnership - Atlantic Mobile - The reason is sunlight. The publicity resulting from the Snowden documents has made companies think twice before allowing the NSA access to their users' and customers' data.
Charlemagne: Falling out of love | The Economist - Germany is disheartened by America, its one-time mentor, protector and role model ... So it is not surprising that many Germans are now pleading with Angela Merkel, the chancellor, to grant Mr Snowden asylum (Ofuckup)
The Daily Dot - Syrian Electronic Army makes good on its threat to hack Vice

Jailed activist Barrett Brown's mother given probation for helping son | Technology | theguardian.com - Mother hid laptops from FBI who have since issued 17 charges against Anonymous-linked writer and former spokesman Brown
TwitLonger — When you talk too much for Twitter - There's no better symbol of the unjust persecution of Barrett Brown, than the misguided and needless case against his own mother.

Shopify now allows stores to accept Bitcoin - The Next Web

Several killed in Yemen drone strikes - Middle East - Al Jazeera English - At least five killed in southern Abyan province, while sectarian clashes in north of country claim two more lives.

US loses UNESCO Voting Rights: How Kow-Towing to Israeli Policy Weakens America | Informed Comment
“I Can Hold the Hunger” by Ryan Cooper | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - . But as David Dayen points out, the current cuts are a result of Democrats raiding the Recovery Act’s extra food stamp money to pay for other priorities back in 2010 (itself a result of pointless, self-imposed PAYGO budget rules). (Obama's Republican dark side screwed us all)

Dark Money Groups Are Funded By Dark Money Groups That Fund Dark Money Groups That Fund... - Networks of nonprofits are being created across the country, at the national and state levels, to secretly fund candidate and ballot initiative campaigns, according to tax documents and campaign records
In Calvert County, environmentalists clash with elected board over proposed gas terminal - The Washington Post - Environmentalists say the apparent need for an indirect subsidy casts doubt on the economic rationale for the project. “I don’t believe the industry, and maybe even the county, is confident that this thing is going to make financial sense when all is said and done,” said Diana Dascalu-Joffe, senior general counsel at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

More on VA and the African-American Vote That Saved Terry McAuliffe by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - , McAuliffe would nevertheless have lost this election if the white/minority voter distribution had mirrored that of 2009. It was the increase in the minority vote that put him over the top.
White Anti-Gay Activist Wins Election After Pretending To Be Black | ThinkProgress - An electrician best known for mailing homophobic fliers to thousands of Houston voters attacking the city’s lesbian mayor narrowly won an election to the Houston Community College Board of Trustees after he misled voters into believing that he is African American.

Twitter / JustSikko: so yea fuck your pink ribbons ...

Underground Carbon Dioxide Injections Triggered Earthquakes in Texas in 2009-2011 | Geophysics | Sci-News.com (what could go wrong?)
Is it a comet? Is it asteroid? ‘Freakish’ six-tail space rock discovered by NASA — RT News - Scientists were “literally dumbfounded” as they were trying to find an adequate explanation for out-of-this-world appearance of this “weird and freakish object,” said the lead investigator of the University of California at Los Angeles, David Jewitt, in NASA’s press-release.
When Trans Fats Were Healthy - Olga Khazan - The Atlantic - Through the late 1980s, animal fat substitutes like Crisco and margarine were all the rage, and for a brief moment were even considered a health product ... “The Hebrew Race has been waiting 4,000 years for Crisco!”

Hullabaloo - No accountability for authority (cops always walk)
Good News: Prosecutor Does Time For Misconduct! Bad News: 10 Days When Victim Rotted For 25 Years! (see, justice)

Dear Toronto: You're Being Trolled

Child-Proofing 'Harry Potter' - NYTimes.com (teaching children the value of censorship)

Dolphins coaches asked Incognito to toughen up Martin, sources say - Sun Sentinel

iPad Air Explodes in an Australian Phone Store - An iPad Air has exploded at one Australian phone store. As a result, the local fire department was called and the scene had to be evacuated, according to Mail Online. (the new Tesla)
A look beyond the Twitter IPO finds rot beneath the gloss of recovery | Comment is free | theguardian.com - With a $30bn valuation for an unprofitable company, the economy seems to be improving. This is not the case for all
South Korean Authorities Admit They Are “Behind the Times” with Internet Explorer Laws - A report that came out this week revealed that Internet Explorer remains the dominant browser in South Korea due to local laws that force shopping services to stick to a digital certificate supported by Microsoft’s own app exclusively.
One Image Shows Just How Blatantly Snapchat's King Screwed His Friend - In the annals of frat backstabbing, few things rank as high as Evan "L.A." Spiegel kicking his friend Reggie Brown IV out of Snapchat, a "$4 billion" company. This is Winklevoss-level shit, and new court documents show just how flagrant the treachery was.

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Philippines: 'bodies in the streets', with many feared dead in typhoon Haiyan | World news | theguardian.com - Reports from worst-hit areas suggest the death toll will rise significantly as storm's passing reveals scale of damage
Everything you need to know about “super typhoons” - The U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center deems a typhoon "super" when the wind speed reaches 130 knots, or 150 miles per hour. That's roughly equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane — again, it's a really, really massive storm.
First sign that humanity is slowing its carbon surge - environment - 06 November 2013 - New Scientist
U.S., Israel lose UNESCO voting right in dispute over Palestinians - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz - Loss follows U.S., Israeli failure to pay dues in protest over world governments' decision to make Palestine a UNESCO member in 2011. (Israel is Obama's favorite crazy daddy)
Typhoon Haiyan: three die as category 5 storm hits land | World news | theguardian.com - Category 5 super-typhoon hits the Philippines as experts predict catastrophic damage from strongest storm ever recorded
Letter to John Kerry about freedom of information in Morocco - Reporters Without Borders - Reporters Without Borders has voiced its concerns about freedom of information in Morocco in a letter today to US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is to visit Rabat on 11-12 November as part of the strategic dialogue between the United States and Morocco.
Israel killed Yasser Arafat, claims Palestinian official | World news | theguardian.com - But head of Palestinian inquiry refuses to say Palestinian leader was poisoned by radioactive substance polonium
#opBOYCOTTisrael // Sat Nov. 9, 8pm EST // #FreePalestine - Pastebin.com
Piracy mastermind or mere translator? Somali man on trial over ship hijacking | World news | theguardian.com - Prosecutors accuse Ali Mohamed Ali, 51, of piracy, but critics say US government is over-reaching by bringing charges

Chinese can now buy real estate with Bitcoin
Australian bitcoin user TradeFortress says site hacked, $1 million in virtual currency stolen - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Conversation | Response to Glenn Greenwald
David Miranda challenges his UK detention [UPDATED] : Columbia Journalism Review - n the second day of testimony, government lawyers said they used the correct procedures in detaining Miranda for nine hours and confiscating his electronic devices in order to prevent further dissemination of the raw data provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. They believed they could correctly detain Miranda as a terrorist. (+he wasn't a "respectable journalist)
Governments worldwide buried in the Snowden avalanche | Jack Shafer - “doomsday” copies exist that will be released “if anything happens at all to Edward Snowden,” (+good summary of Obama's strategies for supressing the truth +Bobby Inman: release everything you think Snowden has and move on)

What to do with $250m in digital journalism? (1) | Monday Note
Charity Assets – The New Inquiry - Compare that to the total spending by ProPublica, over five years, of $43 million and the scale of the enterprise becomes clear.

Accounts Differ to F.B.I. and CBS on Benghazi - NYTimes.com

An open letter to the media, by Anonymous - Pastebin.com - (Screen shot of Martha Gill on Twitter: http://imgur.com/OXVJv7j)

2013 global surveillance disclosures

President Obama Doesn't Much Care What Benjamin Netanyahu Thinks Anymore | Mother Jones

Hullabaloo - "Quote-unquote" journalism - After the segment on CBS This Morning in which we saw Lara Logan forced to admit to her egregious Benghazi hoax, here's Norah O'Donnell intervieweing Ben Smith from Buzzfeed: (LL is a real battle-girl)

The Problem with the PPACA — Virtually Speaking
Denial-of-service tool targeting Healthcare.gov site discovered | Ars Technica - Hacktivist software designed to put a strain on struggling Obamacare website. ("hacktivists" = "Repubicans")
Obama Gets Behind Democrats' $10.10 Minimum Wage Proposal - if the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation since its high in the late 1960s, it would now be above $10.
American Health Care’s Good Old Days - NationalJournal.com - With all the talk of Obamacare victims, it might be helpful take a trip back in time to when acne and pregnancy were considered preexisting conditions.
Rules to Require Equal Coverage for Mental Ills - NYTimes.com
The Mutilated Economy - NYTimes.com - Long-term unemployment — the number of people who have been out of work for six months or more — is four times what it was before the recession.

Snow Fall and its ilk: Meant to be read or marveled at? » Nieman Journalism Lab - Khoi Vinh, former design director of NYTimes.com, has a skeptical post up today on The Guardian’s scrolly Snowden explainer and the broader post-Snow Fall rise of blowout article display.
Subtraction.com: The Guardian’s “NSA Files Decoded” and Multimedia Journalism
Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek - Multimedia Feature - NYTimes.com (compare with Decoded)
The Functional Art: An Introduction to Information Graphics and Visualization: The snowfallization of news: Stories still matter

This Week in Review: Twitter’s IPO takes off, and tech giants’ NSA backlash » Nieman Journalism Lab - NSA backlash and Greenwald’s journalistic style
Keller vs. Greenwald: Glenn's take – Reliable Sources - CNN.com Blogs - Former Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald talks to David Folkenflik about his exchange with Bill Keller and his support of "adversarial journalism."
Old testament and new testament journalism » Pressthink - But then new testament journalists started blogging themselves and more recently they have taken to social media with genuine enthusiasm. Today they are not as confident that they have all the answers. They know that their business model is broken. They can see the advantages in personal voice and persuasive power that accrues to the Glenn Greenwalds and other practitioners of the personal franchise model in news. They understand that the people formerly known as the audience want to participate more in the news and that the insiders are less trusted than ever.
Chasing balance in news reporting - Is objectivity still a relevant goal now that bloggers rule the media landscape?
PressThink: The View from Nowhere (2003)

CNBC spins right (and wrong) on the debt and deficit : Columbia Journalism Review - CNBC, that font of misinformation, would like you to know that “Anyone who ran a company with a balance sheet that looked like the U.S. probably wouldn’t have a company anymore.”
Astroturfing The New York Times and Wall Street Journal : Columbia Journalism Review - “Some employers” would more accurately be “one employer,” since the Times only gives us one such example of this happening. And it turns out that anecdote, a New Jersey businessman named Joe Olivo, is seriously problematic.
Rand Paul Hired As Brietbart Columnist - My Profession Steps On A Rake - Esquire - Lara Logan is tap-dancing as fast as she can, but the fact remains that the guy that they hung their story on is turning out to be the Stephen Glass of counter-terrorism.

The Long Reach Of Dead ACORN - Esquire - One of the underappreciated sellouts of your modern Democratic party -- and they are many and varied -- occurred in 2009 when, armed with a freshly elected president and majorities in both houses of the Congress, and acting in the face of artificial outrage ginned up on the right through the use of manufactured evidence produced by a vicious little ratfker, the Democrats boldly used their legislative majorities to cut off congressional funding for ACORN, a longstanding network of neighborhood groups that, among other things, was indispensible in getting people to register to vote. (one of the first signs of Obama's true Republican nature)

How CBS Could Have Avoided The 60 Minutes Benghazi Fiasco | Blog | Media Matters for America - Network Chairman Ignored His Own Standards
Accounts Differ to F.B.I. and CBS on Benghazi - NYTimes.com

Terry McAuliffe's Victory Almost Makes Viriginia a Blue State | New Republic

Yep, Being a Young, American Adult Is a Financial Nightmare - Jordan Weissmann - The Atlantic (you know, the people Jennifer Graham thinks are lazy moochers)

Why Does Rush Limbaugh Hate Single Women So Much? - What is the appeal of Limbaugh's half-baked Ayn Rand "Moochers" rhetoric to a population of poor, older white men with tax troubles?
Canada's Largest City Is Run By a Crack-Smoking Drunk: The GIF Edition | Motherboard

George W. Bush to Raise Money for Group That Converts Jews to Bring About Second Coming of Christ | Mother Jones - The former president follows in the footsteps of Glenn Beck, who addressed the group last year.

Andrew O’Hagan reviews ‘Norman Mailer’ by J. Michael Lennon · LRB 7 November 2013 - ‘Dear Pearl Kazin, I’m still too young and too arrogant to care to write the kind of high-grade horseshit you print in Harper’s Bazaar.’ +punching Marty Peretz in the nose and much more)

Column: The militarization of U.S. police forces - Yahoo News
Police turn routine traffic stops into cavity searches - Yahoo News (rape by cop)
4 On Your Side investigates traffic stop nightmare | KOB.com (cops and docs love anal rape)
The War on (Some Classes of People Who Use Some) Drugs v. the 4th Amendment - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Ken White has the warrant in the case of the New Mexico man who was repeatedly sexually assaulted by police officers and medical personnel in New Mexico. In addition to the criminal behavior by said police and medical personnel, the magistrate also completely failed to do his or her job:
D.C. Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Store Clerk For Making Smart Remark | breakingbrown.com
A

Richie Incognito, Jonathan Martin, and the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal - Grantland
Sports Radio Host Goes On Moronic, Misogynistic Rant - Damon Bruce is a sports radio host on KNBR 1050 is San Francisco. It appears that he is also a fucking nutjob. Yesterday, Bruce spent nearly nine minutes going on a misogynistic tirade about how sick and goddamn tired he is of women ruining sports with their stupid emotions and opinions. It was really something.
"The NFL’s Bully Problem": Sports Columnist Dave Zirin Connects Violence in Sports to Rape Culture | Democracy Now!
NFL Hazing Victim: Incognito Was A "Scumbag" And "Locker-Room Cancer"

New Experiments to Pit Quantum Mechanics Against General Relativity | Simons Foundation

An iPhone Tester Caught in Apple's Supply Chain - Businessweek - “It’s really neat to stand here and see all the Apple logos glowing,” he said of computers on the laps of journalists, analysts, and fans, all poised to send his words into the world. (journos are izombies)

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Philippines hit by 'worst typhoon on record' | World news | theguardian.com - Experts predict catastrophic damage and winds of up to 195 mph, faster than the storm that hit the US in 1969
Iran and west to begin drafting nuclear deal after great leap forward in Geneva | World news | The Guardian - Iran's foreign minister says he believes 'ingredients are there' for historic breakthrough after decade of diplomatic sparring
Saudi nuclear weapons 'on order' from Pakistan - Saudi Arabia has invested in Pakistani nuclear weapons projects, and believes it could obtain atomic bombs at will, a variety of sources have told BBC Newsnight. (meanwhile ...)
EU rules that gay Africans are entitled to asylum - A gay refugee from an African country where people are jailed for being a homosexual does qualify for asylum, the EU rules
Israel levels Catholic Church property in E. Jerusalem amid ‘massive demolition’ plan — RT News - Israel levels Catholic Church property in E. Jerusalem amid ‘massive demolition’ plan (and a giant netanyahufuckyou to you too)
Watch Highly Disturbing Footage of Detainee Abuses in Afghanistan - Video | Rolling Stone - As Afghan soldiers abuse a prisoner, American Special Forces stand idly by
New Zealand police probe ordered over 'teen rape club' - The male teenagers called themselves the Roast Busters and reportedly got young girls drunk, had sex with them, and posted their exploits online. Police initially said they investigated the group for two years, but could not prosecute without a formal complaint. However, it since emerged that a girl had made a formal complaint in 2011. Three other alleged victims had also spoken to the police since 2011
The Daily Dot - New Wikileaks-like site takes aim at the Italian mob

Unmanned Gods of Destruction: How Drone Strikes Kill Civilians And Target Rescuers | Alternet - Drone strikes violate Pakistan's sovereignty and impede peace efforts in the region. (Obama is very good at killing people)

Snowden Persuaded Other NSA Workers To Give Up Passwords, Sources Claim
The Surveillance State Puts U.S. Elections at Risk of Manipulation - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic - Imagine what Edward Snowden could have accomplished if he had a different agenda.
NSA leaks: UK's enemies are 'rubbing their hands with glee', says MI6 chief | World news | theguardian.com - Sir John Sawers makes claim in first ever joint public hearing by heads of UK's three intelligence agencies
MI5 chief says 34 UK terror plots disrupted since 7/7 attacks | UK news | The Guardian - Andrew Parker says agency aware of thousands of people in UK who support or are engaged in violent extremism
NSA and GCHQ mass surveillance is violation of European law, report finds | World news | theguardian.com - Authors of study warn of 'systematic breach of people's fundamental rights' and call for EU parliament to take action
Ex-MI5 and MI6 legal chief says UK should adopt French oversight model | UK news | The Guardian - David Bickford rejected wholesale law changes but says judges better placed than ministers to authorise intelligence operations
Special operations may add propaganda websites | Journal and Courier | jconline.com - The Pentagon may expand its system of propaganda websites aimed at various audiences around the world despite attempts by Congress to kill the program, Special Operations Command documents released Tuesday show.
NSA spy programs show that 'America doesn't trust its allies', French former PM says - World News
Daily chart: Private parts | The Economist

U.S. weighs option to end dual leadership role at NSA, Cyber Command - The Washington Post - The Obama administration is considering ending a controversial policy that since 2010 has placed one military official at the head of both the nation’s largest spy agency and its cyber-operations command, U.S. officials said ... The administration is also discussing whether the NSA should be led by a civilian.
NSA Insists It Needs All The Metadata, While Eric Holder Says He Was 'Concerned' About It Even Before Snowden | Techdirt - Of course, the idea that anyone in the administration was legitimately concerned about the bulk metadata collection is pretty laughable given everything they've done to defend it ... It seems that Holder's statement is much more about the administration seeing the writing on the wall with the USA Freedom Act, and realizing that it now wants to pretend that it's been thinking about cutting back on the bulk metadata collection all along.
EFF Submits Sentencing Support Letter for Jeremy Hammond | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Exclusive: Abu Zubaydah's journey from student to mujahedeen | Al Jazeera America
A document mule in the Internet age | Al Jazeera America - Commentary: How NSA scrutiny is forcing journalists to resort to old-school tactics

EFF Files 22 Firsthand Accounts of How NSA Surveillance Chilled the Right to Association | Electronic Frontier Foundation - Advocacy Organizations Seek Immediate Court Ruling on the Legality of the NSA’s Mass Collection of Telephone Records
All Is Pointless in the Online Front of the War on Drugs | Motherboard - Never mind the obligatory "protect the public" bit. (This is the War on Drugs, or something. What do you expect?) Or that there's no getting around the fact that e-commerce started with drugs and will die with drugs, too
How Can the NSA Spy on Merkel, the Pope, the U.N., and the Rest of Us? - Reason.com

How Can the New York Times Endorse an Agreement the Public Can't Read? | Electronic Frontier Foundation (TPP: TransPacific Partnership: Obama loves his secret shit)
This transatlantic trade deal is a full-frontal assault on democracy | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian - Brussels has kept quiet about a treaty that would let rapacious companies subvert our laws, rights and national sovereignty

Mother of Anonymous-linked writer to be sentenced - SFGate - Karen Lancaster McCutchin is scheduled to be sentenced Friday after pleading guilty in May to obstructing execution of a search warrant related to a federal investigation of her son, Barrett Lancaster Brown.

New York Fed Chief Levels Explosive Charge Against Big Banks - The head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Thursday that some of America’s largest financial institutions appear to lack respect for the law, a potentially explosive charge against an industry already roiling from numerous government investigations into alleged wrongdoing. (that was kind of obvious)

BREAKING: Senate Passes LGBT Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) | ThinkProgress
G.O.P. Weighs Limiting Clout of Right Wing - NYTimes.com
Rand Paul's Column Moves To Breitbart After Plagiarism Stir (into the sewer)

The Twitter IPO Will Cost San Francisco Tens of Millions of Dollars | Motherboard (tax-breaks almost always a bad idea)

Toronto mayor in fresh controversy as video surfaces of drunken rant | World news | theguardian.com
Rob Ford caught in video rant | Toronto Star - Mayor Rob Ford has been caught on a new video staggering around an unknown dining room ranting gibberish and acting wildly.

N. Colorado secession results: 6 of 11 counties vote ‘no’ | KDVR.com - While Democrats mocked the proposal as silly — and it’s worth noting the last instance of secession was West Virginia in 1863

TSA Security Theater Makes Unwilling Co-Star Out Of 3-Year-Old With Rare Medical Condition | Techdirt - . Even children with debilitating medical conditions set off paranoiac ideations and inhumane treatment from the Transportation Security Administration.
Standing your ground? Black woman shot in head seeking help in white neighborhood - Salon.com - McBride was shot in the head and killed when, according to her family, she was seeking help, knocking on doors in a white neighborhood after her car crashed. (seeking help while black)
ACLU suit says anal probes ordered after traffic stop | Al Jazeera America
Campaigners have high hopes for legalisation after marijuana ballot wins | Society | theguardian.com - Colorado votes to levy tax on recreational use while cities in Michigan and Maine vote to decriminalise some possession

Barneys Racist Culture Deeply Ingrained In Store, Insiders Say

New study detects signs of autism in infants by their declining eye contact | Society | theguardian.com - Researchers at Emory's Marcus Autism Center in Atlanta say detection in first months of life increases chances to intervene
F.D.A. Ruling Would All but Eliminate Trans Fats - NYTimes.com
Could a larger black hole absorb a smaller black hole? What would happen? : askscience
? Black Hole Merger Simulation - YouTube

Twitter / YourAnonNews: Just going to put this screenshot ... - @HomeDepot @YourAnonNews I'm struck by the fact that a major corporation just answered to Anonymous.
Office Depot Sends World's Worst DMCA Notice To Reddit | Techdirt - You see, this morning, Office Depot decided to send a DMCA to Reddit. Yes, to Reddit. (collosal FAIL by OD +streisand Effect +written on Staples form +can spell DMCA)
Archive.org's scanning center destroyed by fire - Boing Boing - Rick Prelinger writes, "Early this morning a fire whose origin is still unknown destroyed the book, film and microfilm scanning center located next door to Internet Archive's office in San Francisco's Richmond District."
Ultimate Anonymity, Complete Online Anonymity & Privacy Solutions

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Leaked Document Reveals Plot to Destabilize Venezuelan Goverment: “US Embassy Officials Encouraging Acts of Sabotage” | Global Research


Number Of Military Sexual Assault Victims May Be Higher Than Estimated, New Report Fears | ThinkProgress

Snowden, Manning, and Miranda leaked government secrets. Does that make them traitors and terrorists?
Pelican Bay Prisoners Write UN Special Torture Rapporteur, Juan Méndez | PopularResistance.Org

UK Police Believed David Miranda Was Likely ‘Connected to a Conspiracy’ Between Snowden and Others | The Dissenter

Google engineer accuses NSA and GCHQ of subverting 'judicial process' | Technology | theguardian.com - Anti-hacking expert claims British spy agency is 'even worse' than NSA for tapping private networks between Google's centres
Google+ - Unfortunately we live in a world where all too often, laws are for the little people. Nobody at GCHQ or the NSA will ever stand before a judge and answer for this industrial-scale subversion of the judicial process. In the absence of working law enforcement, we therefore do what internet engineers have always done - build more secure software. The traffic shown in the slides below is now all encrypted and the work the NSA/GCHQ staff did on understanding it, ruined.
Brandon Downey - Google+ - This is the big story in tech today: … - seeing this, well, it's just a little like coming home from War with Sauron, destroying the One Ring, only to discover the NSA is on the front porch of the Shire chopping down the Party Tree and outsourcing all the hobbit farmers with half-orcs and whips.

Statement by Sarah Harrison
Sarah Harrison joins other Edward Snowden files 'exiles' in Berlin | World news | The Guardian - UK journalist's lawyers advise against returning home after working with NSA whistleblower, says statement on WikiLeaks

Whistleblowers & Journalists Support Jeremy Hammond at Sentencing

Tim Berners-Lee: encryption cracking by spy agencies 'appalling and foolish' | World news | The Guardian - Inventor of world wide web calls for debate about 'dysfunctional and unaccountable' oversight of NSA and GCHQ

Good News Drug Users—The Silk Road Is Back | Motherboard
FBI monitored anti-war website in error for six years, documents show | World news | theguardian.com - Monitoring began after antiwar.com editor passed along to the bureau a threat he received against his own website
Obama Secret Service Agent: “It’s Worse Than People Know… and I’m Not Trying to Scare You Either” » WTF RLY REPORT - Obama Secret Service Agent: “It’s Worse Than People Know… and I’m Not Trying to Scare You Either” - We’re in a lot of trouble. The President sees government – and I think it’s because of his lack of experience and maybe community organizing in the past – as this shiny new toy.
Apple lists governments that request the most personal information about its customers | Mail Online - The U.S topped the list ahead of the UK in second place and Spain in third
How Aaron Brown, a Fake Person, Was Created for Real on the Deep Web | Motherboard

The Great Recession may have crushed America’s economic potential (was managed far worse than Katrina, results for many years, Republicans killed the economy to hurt Obama)

Booman Tribune - Searching for Meaning in Today's Elections - Christie is a very socially conservative politician, but he isn't trying to ban blow jobs in New Jersey.

Liberal push to expand Social Security gains steam (Obama will veto)

Jon Stewart: Obama 'Somewhat Dishonest' About Healthcare But Republicans Are 'Lying Like Motherf*ckers'

Eschaton: Journamalism - Quite the accusation to level against your colleagues in the noble 4th estate.
I Can’t Believe Terry McAuliffe Is Going to Be Governor of Virginia | Mother Jones - No experience in office? Check. Sketchy business partners? Check. Media manipulation? Check.
Branding Bill De Blasio: The Message Machine That Made NYC's Next Mayor (Dante's hair went viral)

Let's Face It, Bloomberg's Legacy Is Terrible (created a little fascist police state for billionaires)
Terrible Columnist Richard Cohen Shocked To Learn That Slavery Was Really, Really Bad

The Democrats' Original Food-Stamp Sin - November 1 saw a rollback of food assistance for the neediest Americans. The left shares just as much blame for the cuts as Republicans. (fucked over millions of people)

Koch Brothers Secretly Funding Anti-Choice Movement | Alternet - Tax documents reveal the billionaire conservatives’ real agenda: a full-fledged “war on women.”
Johns Hopkins suspends black lung program after Center-ABC investigation | Center for Public Integrity - Prestigious hospital will review X-ray reading service. (docs bought by Big Coal)

More terrorized drivers report forceful rectal inspections by New Mexico police — RT USA - New Mexico police are in hot water after it was discovered that they forced people to undergo humiliating rectal searches based on the reaction of an unlicensed K-9.
4 On Your Side reveals another traffic stop nightmare | KOB.com - The doctors from the Gila Regional Medical Center have been turned over to the state licensing board. It's possible they could lose the ability to practice medicine. (it was probably all about asset-forfiture)
Cook County prosecutors decide against charging Chicago cop captured on videotape in fatal shooting - Chicago Tribune - Prosecutors say disturbing 2011 video supports officer's version of events (drunk cop shoots unarmed man 16 times)
Today's Drug War Outrage: Man Dies In Jail Cell After Misdemeanor Pot Offense
Brown University to Stop-and-Punish the Anti-Ray Kelly Protestors - Eric Levenson - The Atlantic Wire
New video released in Georgia teen's gym mat death — still no answers - U.S. News - But the new videos released Wednesday — which the sheriff’s office said included video from 35 cameras inside and outside of the gym from Jan. 10 and 11 — is missing time stamps.

The Growing Influence of Young Adult Literature -- New York Magazine - Book jackets of Pride and Prejudice juiced up for the Twilight set.
Swedish cinemas take aim at gender bias with Bechdel test rating | World news | theguardian.com - To get an A rating, a movie must pass the so-called Bechdel test, which means it must have at least two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man.

Marijuana and Alcohol - NYTimes.com - legalization of marijuana for medical purposes has been associated with reductions in heavy drinking, especially among 18- to 29-year-olds, and with an almost 5 percent decrease in beer sales. In addition, the increase in the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 seems to encourage greater marijuana use among people under 21, usage that drops sharply when they reach the legal drinking age.
Marijuana Might Be Affecting Your Skin... And Not In The Ways You Thought
Everyone Calm Down: A Texas-Sized 'Island' Of Toxic Tsunami Debris Is Not Headed For The U.S.

Apple Says It Isn't Interested in Your Data: Here's What Apple Does and Doesn't Know About You | Motherboard

CryptoPrevent | Computer Technician - PC Repair Software |Foolish IT LLC
CryptoLocker File Scan Tool
How To Avoid CryptoLocker Ransomware — Krebs on Security
CryptoLocker - a new ransomware variant | Emsisoft Blog
Cryptolocker Prevention Kit (updated) - Spiceworks
Information regarding the Cryptolocker ransomware Trojan making the rounds | Sophos Blog
CryptoLocker Patrol Script; Are We Encrypted? - Spiceworks

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Congo's M23 rebels call off revolt | World news | theguardian.com - M23 says it will disarm and pursue political solution with Joseph Kabila's government after being driven out of last strongholds
Pussy Riot's Tolokonnikova 'is being punished with move to Siberian prison' | World news | theguardian.com - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova's husband says move to prison 2,000 miles from Moscow follows hunger strike over poor conditions
India's Mars rocket Mangalyaan blasts off | World news | theguardian.com - India aims to follow US, Europe and Russia in having successful Mars mission amid criticism at home about Isro's spending
News of the World 'told police it had hacked Milly Dowler voicemail' | UK news | theguardian.com - Journalist played police officer recording of intercepted message during hunt for missing schoolgirl, phone-hacking trial hears
China discovers that pollution makes it really hard to spy on people - Quartz - 20 million cameras on streets, public parks and even in elevators throughout China

3 Reasons Senkaku/Diaoyu Diplomacy Should Be Secret | Flashpoints | The Diplomat
State Media Boasts of China’s Ability to Nuke US Cities | Flashpoints | The Diplomat (go east, young man)

Agent provocateur: Inside the secret archives of East Germany's secret police - Europe - World - The Independent - Simon Menner spent three years trawling through millions of surveillance images in the archives of the East German secret police.
The Daily Dot - 12333: The 30-year-old order behind NSA spying - 12333 as created by in 1980, by Ronald Reagan. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) explained in an excellent primer on 12333, the order is used to set out guidelines for NSA spying that falls outside of the jurisdiction of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which was created by FISA to govern when and how the agency can spy on Americans.
Political Fail Blog | Rejecting the Myth of the Non-Violent Revolution

Guy Fawkes Day: A Brief History — History in the Headlines
The Daily Dot - In trademark masks, Anonymous makes its presence felt worldwide - “We are Legion,” Anonymous often claims in its public statements. That’s never been more apparent than on Tuesday, when protesters took to the streets for mass demonstrations as part of the Million Mask March.
Protesters gather around the world for Million Mask March | World news | theguardian.com - Demonstrations in more than 400 cities were planned to coincide with Guy Fawkes Day, with Russell Brand at a London protest

Kerry urges Europe: don't let NSA spying concerns thwart trade talks | World news | theguardian.com - Secretary of state tries to salvage trade deal with EU by telling leaders the US will find 'the right balance' on surveillance

Patrick Leahy: NSA ‘can’t keep our secrets’ - Tal Kopan - POLITICO.com - Sen. Patrick Leahy said Monday that the NSA shouldn’t be trusted with Americans’ secrets when it can’t even keep them safe from “a 29-year-old subcontractor.”
The Daily Dot - Is the NSA engaging in economic espionage? - From the start, the leak has presented a particular problem for the U.S. government. Unlike the previous surveillance disclosures, it was difficult for the White House to justify how this corporate spying was a national security concern ... the Economic Espionage Act of 1996, which banned the practice in the country. (above the law Obama)
Twitter / sophie_gadd: Annual reminder of Guy Fawkes ... signature before and after torture
Lavabit's Dark Mail Initiative by Ladar Levison — Kickstarter - The goal is to cleanup and release the source code that was used to power Lavabit as a f/oss project with support for dark mail added.
New Zealand approves email and phone-snooping law | World news | theguardian.com - Legislation forcing telecommunications firms to allow interception equipment to be installed on their networks passes by two votes
New leaks reveal NSA and GCHQ listening posts in Berlin and Cyprus | The Verge
The Frightening New Definition of Terrorism | Sina.is - the disclosure or threat of disclosure is designed to influence a government, and is made for the purpose of promoting a political or ideological cause. This therefore falls within the definition of terrorism

White House rejects clemency for Edward Snowden over NSA leaks | World news | theguardian.com - Obama legacy as president will be that of a failed president. He started as one of the most popular and promising presidents in recent history. He missed his chance to make a real difference for good. He could of had the legacy of a JFK or FDR. Instead he went for the brass ring
The Obama administration may be guilty of war crimes | Jeffrey Bachman | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Reports on US drone strikes suggest White House policy violates international law. If so, they should be held accountable - Barack Obama - Nobel Peace laureate and suspected War Criminal. And people look at you oddly when you say you are disillusioned with politics.

If the GOP Repeals Obamacare, 137 Million Americans Could Get Cancellation Notices | Mother Jones
State-by-State Estimates of the Number of People Eligible for Premium Tax Credits Under the Affordable Care Act | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation - t 29 million people nationally who might look to the new marketplaces.
Median wage falls to lowest level since 1998 | Al Jazeera America - While incomes and jobs stagnate, top earners and corporate profits continue to gain
Dem Senators: We're Doing It Wrong, Let's Expand Social Security - In a town consumed by how quickly and how deeply to cut Social Security, a handful of Democratic senators have a different idea: expand it. (Obummer unhappy with the idea)

We're About to Lose Net Neutrality — And the Internet as We Know It | Wired Opinion | Wired.com - But today, that freedom won’t survive much longer if a federal court — the second most powerful court in the nation behind the Supreme Court, the DC Circuit — is set to strike down the nation’s net neutrality law, a rule adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in 2010 (that special all-Republican court)

Rand Paul May Have Plagiarized In Drug Sentencing Op-Ed - As first reported by BuzzFeed, there are unmistakable similarities between an opinion piece Paul wrote for The Washington Times on drug sentencing in September, and an article written by Dan Stewart of The Week a week earlier. (news: Republicans steal things)

Frank Bruni Hillary Clinton - Personalities Of Cults - Esquire - Actually, I don't disagree with the basic premise of Frank Bruni's column in today's NYT. I hope there is a vigorous challenge to Hillary Clinton's inevitability from what Howard Dean used to call "the Democratic wing of the Democratic party." - Cult fervor? Really? Frank, you sort of lost credibility in using that descriptive when you superglued your lips to the hindquarters of C-Plus Augustus in the 2000 campaign.
Republicans may reconsider national strategy amid batch of local elections | World news | theguardian.com - Lack of big-money support for conservative Republicans a trend across the country in elections from Alabama to Virginia

Toronto mayor Rob Ford admits smoking crack cocaine but refuses to resign | World news | theguardian.com - Ford says 'I would do anything to change the past' but insists at press conference that he will soldier on as Toronto mayor
Rob Ford’s Office Hired a Hacker to Destroy the Crack Tape | VICE United States - In late July, an anonymous source approached VICE with claims that he had been hired by Amin Massoudi, the communications director for troubled Toronto mayor Rob Ford, to hack into a website.

And the SCARIEST book of all time as voted by you is... : books

4 On Your Side investigates traffic stop nightmare | KOB.com
Hospital bills man for rectal search he was forced to undergo by police — RT USA - "If the officers in Hidalgo County and the City of Deming are seeking warrants for anal cavity searches based on how they're standing and the warrant allows doctors at the Gila Hospital of Horrors to go in and do enemas and colonoscopies without consent, then anyone can be seized and that's why the public needs to know about this," Kennedy said.

A Challenge to New Media Moguls Pierre Omidyar and Jeff Bezos - The Daily Beast - The eBay and Amazon founders’ media investments are tremendous news for America’s vulnerable, who are typically ignored by traditional media. But the new ventures must take risks.
Here's The New York Post's Explanation For Its Infamous 'Bag Men' Headline - Clearly, the Post feels that, even though it slapped the picture of two innocent, unknown men on its front page, said the FBI was looking for them and dubbed them "Bag Men," it played no part in helping those readers jump to those conclusions.

Saideman's Semi-Spew: Rejection Ramifications - At Political Science Rumors, a post went up basically telling people that if they got rejected for a job, it is personal.
Rejection is personal « Political Science Rumors - Here's the thing: if this upsets you, or you just reject it all out of hand, you don't belong in academia. (suck it up, wage-slaves)

Richard Dawkins: My honey trap – why doesn't anyone believe in public-spirited concern? | Comment is free | theguardian.com - After I tweeted about a pot of honey not being allowed on a plane, Twitter replied with a puerile display of sniggering frivolity (as well they should)


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Hullabaloo - "It's just not happening" - New Pew Poll on climate change (77% of Redumbs don't believe in AGW: the party of death and destruction)
Trees 'shield vulnerable species from climate change' - Forests with dense canopies create a microclimate that protects a variety of cold-adapted plant species from warming air temperatures, a study has shown. (so cut those liberal fuckers down)

Egypt: Morsi trial adjourned until 8 January | World news | theguardian.com - Trial of defiant Islamist president and 14 others had been interrupted by the defendants chanting 'down with military coup'
Kenya charges four Somali men over Westgate shopping mall attack | World news | theguardian.com - Suspects appear in court charged with 'commission of a terrorist act' in wake of attack on Westgate mall in which 67 people died
China replaces top general in Xinjiang after Beijing attack | World news | theguardian.com - Peng Yong relieved as military commander after Islamic extremists blamed for 28 October attack in Tiananmen Square
Mexico gun battles leave many dead | World news | theguardian.com - Thirteen killed in border city of Matamoros as gunmen clash with Mexican armed forces in region ravaged by drug gangs (Obama loves his wars)
Rebekah Brooks tried to hide evidence as News of the World closed, jury told | UK news | theguardian.com - Ex-News International chief conspired to conceal her notebooks in 'panic' around paper's closure, phone-hacking trial hears
Detention of IFJ Directors reflects state of dreadful media freedom in Sri Lanka - Reporters Without Borders

CIA made doctors torture suspected terrorists after 9/11, taskforce finds | World news | The Guardian - Doctors were asked to torture detainees for intelligence gathering, and unethical practices continue, review concludes - Medical professionals were in effect told that their ethical mantra "first do no harm" did not apply, because they were not treating people who were ill. (but they fixed that fast)
Doctors and nurses enabled torture at overseas US detention facilities | Circa News - A three-year study by a panel of experts found that medical personnel both enabled and participated in interrogations and torture at CIA and military sites. (the "they made me do it" defense)
Report blasts 'unethical' US detainee policy post- 9/11 | Al Jazeera America - Task force says US policy violates medical standards, permitting torture and other abuses
'Let Me Stress How Shocking These NSA Revelations Are': A View From Inside the Defense World - James Fallows - The Atlantic - "At some point it is wise to ascribe adult levels of understanding to the principal actors in this drama, no matter how impenetrable their deeper motives."
New evidence surfaces that NSA and GCHQ tapped into Google and Yahoo private networks | The Verge
Obama Told Aides He's 'Really Good At Killing People,' New Book 'Double Down' Claims - Despite the president's pledge to be more transparent about the drone program, the administration has continued to face criticism for its secrecy on the legal case for the strikes.

The best new thing right now is watching Obama apologists try to differentiate between "killing people" and "ordering people to be killed."

— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) November 4, 2013

@YourAnonNews/Freedom Orgs on Twitter
AP News: White House, lawmakers: no clemency for Snowden - "He should return to the U.S. and face justice," Pfeiffer said, adding when pressed that no offers for clemency were being discussed.
Media Hype Edward Snowden’s Request for ‘Clemency’—but Did He Even Ask for It? | The Nation (White House looking increasinly sleazy)
Inside Guantanamo - 60 Minutes - CBS News - Lesley Stahl gets unprecedented access to the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, facility where the accused 9/11 terrorists will face trial in the biggest war crimes tribunal since Nuremberg.

DOJ Did Not Fulfill Legally Required Disclosure on Section 215 to Congress Until After PATRIOT Reauthorization | emptywheel - In the Guardian’s superb summary of the importance of the NSA leaks, Zoe Lofgren challenges the claims that Congress has received all the documents NSA claims it has gotten (they are still trotting out the "Congress fully informed" lie)

Hullabaloo - Dianne Feinstein is a comedienne - Hayden: Basically, he's saying that everyone in this world is an enemy of the United States on some level and we have a right to treat them that way. (why didn't Snowden turn himself in to DiFucker?)
Senate Committee Votes in Favor of NSA Phone-Records Snooping | Threat Level | Wired.com - Sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California, Criminal)
Revealed: NSA pushed 9/11 as key 'sound bite' to justify surveillance | Al Jazeera America - An internal document recommended that officials use fear of attack when pressed to explain agency's programs
Civil Liberties Board Reviews Surveillance Programs | C-SPAN - The PCLOB, an outgrowth of the 911 Commission, advises the President on policies to protect civil liberties while combating terrorism. (they have been so effective)
Google's Eric Schmidt Says NSA Server Spying Is 'Outrageous' If True (Mr No-Privacy-For-You is upset his business model is threatened)
How the NSA Exposed the Media's Biggest Bias | Motherboard - Greenwald is no doubt proudly and openly promoting a very real bias here—but, to the likely disappointment of the media criticism industry, it is not an easy-to-demonize partisan bias. It is instead a bias against the notion of subservience.
Don’t gerrymander the internet - Index on Censorship | Index on Censorship

Beautiful, interactive feature from The Guardian reviews all the NSA revelations | The Verge (Graun kills NYT's inforgraphics)

Dirty Wars | The Paley Center for Media - You can watch the panel stream live. 8:15 pm ET (5:15 pm PT) (+Netflix)
Reckless and Inspired: An Interview With Jonathan Hastings About His Brother, the Journalist Michael Hastings | Uncouth Reflections - On June 18, 2013 The Question Lady and I learned that a friend of ours had died in Los Angeles in a very peculiar car crash

EconomicPolicyJournal.com: A Bit More on the Wife of Michael Hastings,Who Has Been Shooting Down Conspiracy Theories About the Death of Her Husband (his wife was a speechwriter for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.)

US navy commander accused of giving secrets to businessman in bribery case | World news | theguardian.com - Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz and Leonard Francis moved vessels around Asian ports like chess pieces, prosecutors say

TSA union calls for armed guards at every checkpoint

Hullabaloo - This is America - Chris Mooney has posted an interesting take on that "personality map" that everyone's been talking about. (it's always been about the Confederacy and traitors to America)

Special Investigation: How Insurers Are Hiding Obamacare Benefits From Customers

The Contributor | How the Super-Rich Are Abandoning America - The wealthiest Americans who hate "takers" enjoy $2 trillion in special tax carve outs, more than double the entire annual budget of Social Security.
Americans won't throw the bums out in 2014 | Harry J Enten | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Congress has an epically low approval rating, but history and polling suggest there likely won't be an 'anti-incumbent wave'
Ralph Reed Morning joe - The Morning Whorehouse - Esquire - . (Listening to Mika Brzezinski talk to Mark Halperin about politics was like watching a seal and a goat recite Shakespeare.)
Dylan Scott Affordable Care Act Letters - There Is Gambling Going On Here - Esquire - . Even now, with Glitchghazigate, and the Oh-noes-Obummer-lied scandalpaloooza, still running wild, the health-insurance companies are maneuvering the way they always have.
Special Investigation: How Insurers Are Hiding Obamacare Benefits From Customers
Obamacare "Victim" in Florida Happy She Can Get Real Coverage | New Republic - 'I Would Jump At It' The media labeled her an Obamacare victim. Here's what she really thinks.
Obama Favorability Ratings Struggle In Recent Polls - But after a rough start to Obama's second term, Americans increasingly view the president unfavorably. And perhaps most concerning for the White House: an Associated Press analysis of public polling shows it has become more difficult over time for Obama to fully rebound from dents in his favorability ratings. (making sure his Republican daddies win)

Poverty in America Is Mainstream - NYTimes.com - Even more astounding, if we add in related conditions like welfare use, near-poverty and unemployment, four out of five Americans will encounter one or more of these events.

BREAKING: Supreme Court Dismisses Major Attack On Abortion Rights | ThinkProgress

Why the LAX Shooter Should Be Charged as a Terrorist - The Daily Beast - According to court documents, the alleged LAX shooter was trying to influence government policy with violence. So, why isn’t he being charged with terrorism? (he was a right-wing "patriot" and wasn't brown or Muslim)

Conservative Americans are more terrified of sex than violence | Sarah Jane Stratford | Comment is free | theguardian.com - There's been plenty of outcry in the US over lesbian sex in Blue is the Warmest Colour. Brutality onscreen, however, is fine

Why is puberty starting younger? | Politics | theguardian.com
Sean Penn’s ‘The Human Experiment’ Reveals the Toll of Toxic Chemicals | EcoWatch - Actor Sean Penn is the force behind a new major documentary called The Human Experiment that aims to raise awareness about toxic chemicals in everyday products.
The Milky Way might harbor 20 billion Earth-sized planets | The Verge - Planets the size of Earth are 'a general feature of nature' according to new research

Social Security Paid Out 0.006 Percent of Benefits to Dead People | Beat the Press

Idle millennials are victims of their parents’ success - Opinion - The Boston Globe (Jennifer Graham doesn't understand economics, looks like a hater)
Eschaton: I Believe That Childen Are Our Future - Regarding this unpleasantness, I don't know how as a culture we go from WeLoveOurChildrenYesWeDoSoMuchTheyAreSoPrecious to get off my lawn, 20somethings. I mean, the former eventually turn into the latter.

The 13 Coolest Tattoo Artists In The World

The Psychology of Online Comments : The New Yorker - Maria Konnikova
How the net was tamed: stopping cybercrime from child pornography to the Silk Road | The Verge - The FBI is currently drafting new legislation that would require tech companies to have some way of getting past any encryption in their products
UK government reportedly bans iPads from closed-door meetings | The Verge - for fear a foreign government could hack them to eavesdrop on private conversations.
Strange malware thought to communicate over computer speakers | The Verge

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Obama Said He's 'Really Good At Killing People' - Business Insider (loves his drones and red-mist doubletaps on first-responders)
US Drones Bomb Civilian Rescuers - Business Insider
Teju Cole: A Reader's War : The New Yorker - According to a report in the New York Times, the targets of drone strikes are selected for death at weekly meetings in the White House; no name is added to the list without the President’s approval
DARPA Plans to Arm Drones With Missile-Blasting Lasers | Danger Room | Wired.com
The Pirate Bay plans to host part of its site on GPS controlled drones | BGR (Drone Wars!)

Germany 'should offer Edward Snowden asylum after NSA revelations' | World news | theguardian.com - Writing in Der Spiegel, more than 50 high-profile Germans add to increasing calls for Berlin to welcome NSA whistleblower
White House rejects clemency for Edward Snowden over NSA leaks | World news | theguardian.com - Obama adviser and heads of House and Senate intelligence signal hard line despite European support for whistleblower (the only redemption for the Nobel Committee would be ... +OCop)
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden says US 'treats dissent as defection' | World news | theguardian.com - Former analyst writes letter to German government over response to his 'act of political expression'

PressTV - Additional NSA employees said to be following Snowden's lead ... The Obama administration's "war on whistleblowers" is backfiring, said Radack.

NSA: Australia and US used climate change conference to spy on Indonesia | World news | theguardian.com - Australian agency helped carry out mass surveillance of hosts as Kevin Rudd walked world stage at 2007 Bali conference

Metropolitan police detained David Miranda for promoting 'political' causes | World news | The Observer - Justification for airport detention of partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald alarms human rights groups and Tory MP - a key reason cited by police for holding him under terrorism powers was the belief that he was promoting a "political or ideological cause". (you better not have any "political causes" or "ideas" either)
British Accuse David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald's Partner, Of 'Terrorism'
UK: Snowden reporter's partner involved in 'espionage' and 'terrorism' | Reuters - British authorities claimed the domestic partner of reporter Glenn Greenwald was involved in "terrorism" when he tried to carry documents from former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden through a London airport in August, according to police and intelligence documents.

Ron Wyden: New NSA reform bill authorizes all the activity that was making you angry. (you've just been DiFucked)

No Morsel Too Minuscule for All-Consuming N.S.A. - NYTimes.com
The Daily Dot - New Snowden slide reveals who the NSA's best friends really are (Israel is invisible, as usual)

UK government reaction to NSA leaks eroding freedom, rights groups warn | World news | The Guardian - Coalition of organisations says Cameron's response has damaged UK's reputation for freedom of expression
Will the US State Dept Condemn UK's Attempt to Use 'Terrorism' Laws to Suppress Journalism? | Freedom of the Press Foundation
? Duncan Campbell pekar ut Sverige som samarbetspartner till NSA - YouTube (Sweden is the 6th Eye)
The use and impact of dispersal orders | Joseph Rowntree Foundation - 17 October 2007

A Journalist With a Mission - NYTimes.com - American society will also benefit from Greenwald’s ongoing revelations about out-of-control surveillance. He has testified before the Brazilian Senate, and should be allowed to testify before the U.S. Senate. He says, “I am definitely going back, I refuse to be exiled for a lie.” (Roger Cohen has apparently seen the light)
The secrecy-loving mind of the U.S. journalist - Salon.com - Nov 29, 2011 (Greenwald on Cohen 2 yrs ago)
The White House on Spying - NYTimes.com - The Obama administration said late Monday that it was considering banning eavesdropping on the leaders of American allies.

Congress Could Shut Public Out of Internet-Regulation Treaty Talks | Motherboard

HealthCare.gov: How political fear was pitted against technical needs - The Washington Post - “They were running the biggest start-up in the world, and they didn’t have anyone who had run a start-up, or even run a business,” (Obambi let his political aides run the show into the ground because he was afraid Rethugs would say mean things about him, ha-ha)

U.S. intelligence agencies have their own Twitter. It’s called eChirp. (yeah, they really named it that)

How to serve a warrant: 1972 versus today, by Lt. Harry Thomas | Police State USA

The Daily Dot - 'Most horrible joke in all of creation' spreads on Twitter - A list of the tweets on Tumblr names and shames anyone who passed on the joke without criticism. That post has, in turn, gone viral, receiving more than 90,000 notes. (self-regulation)

The tea party’s assault on workers - Crucially, as Lafer emphasizes, this isn’t about what we colloquially refer to as “conservative values.” Rather than rolling back the state, tea party Republicans are calling for extensive observation and disciplining of unemployed people. (teaparty screwing workers)
Voter ID law snags former House Speaker Jim Wright | Elections & Politics | News from Fo... - Former House Speaker Jim Wright was denied a voter ID card Saturday at a Texas Department of Public Safety office. “Nobody was ugly to us, but they insisted that they wouldn’t give me an ID,” Wright said. (and if can't get one ...)

Three Pages Of Rand Paul's Book Were Plagiarized From Think Tanks - The worst case yet. Paul’s office says the book notes Paul didn’t individually report out each case. (his whole personality is cut-and-pasted)
Jersey Jazzman: Exclusive Interview: @GovChristie to Teacher: "I Am Tired Of You People!" (check the pics, here's a really ugly person)

So, You're Telling Me You Don't Like The Way You Think I Have Sex? 'Cause That's All I'm Hearing.

All Can Be Lost: The Risk of Putting Our Knowledge in the Hands of Machines - Nicholas Carr - The Atlantic - We rely on computers to fly our planes, find our cancers, design our buildings, audit our businesses. That's all well and good. But what happens when the computer fails?
Chinese appliances are shipping with malware-distributing WiFi chips | Apps and Software | Geek.com

Mathematicians of Reddit, what is "beautiful" about mathematics? : AskReddit

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Israel 'furious' with White House for leak on Syria strike | The Times of Israel - Jerusalem considers administration’s confirmation of Israeli air attack on missile stores to be ‘scandalous’; TV analyst warns US risks starting ‘major flare-up’ (you're never supposed to tell the truth about Israel)

Inside China: Nuclear submarines capable of widespread attack on U.S. - Washington Times
Pakistan on high alert after Taliban leader killed by US drone strike | World news | theguardian.com - Government says death of Hakimullah Mehsud has destroyed attempts to hold peace talks with Islamist militants
Honduras' Police Chief Denies Accusations Of Death Squads, Social Cleansing Campaign
Pussy Riot Member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova Goes Missing During Prison Colony Transfer - The Daily Beast - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has disappeared into the gulag transit system between Russia’s penal colonies, and her family is worried that authorities are trying to crush her spirit.
Paul Gambaccini, BBC Host, Arrested On Suspicion Of Sex Offenses
Toxic nuclear waste dumped illegally by the Mafia is blamed for surge in cancers in southern Italy | Mail Online
Word to the west: many Saudi women oppose lifting the driving ban | Ahmed Abdel-Raheem | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Westerners should be wary of trying to impose their version of feminism on Saudi women. It's not always welcome

How a war game brought the world to the brink of nuclear disaster | UK news | The Observer - Former classified documents show how close the Soviet Union came to launching an attack in 1983 (St Ronnie and Able Archer)
Drones: A rare glimpse at sophisticated US spy plane - The Global Hawk is one of the US military's most sophisticated spy planes and the BBC was able to get a rare view of one at Grand Forks Airbase in North Dakota.

Jeremy Scahill: Obama Presidency Marred by Legacy of Drone Program | Mother Jones - Throughout his term in office, President Obama has presided over misguided counterterrorism efforts - The Era of the Dirty War on Terror (Obama's Legacy)

UK: Snowden reporter's partner involved in 'espionage' and 'terrorism' | Reuters
British Accuse David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald's Partner, Of 'Terrorism' - British authorities claimed the domestic partner of reporter Glenn Greenwald was involved in "terrorism" when he tried to carry documents from former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden through a London airport in August, according to police and intelligence documents. (watch out, complacent journos ...)
Edward Snowden: 'Speaking The Truth Is Not A Crime' / ideastream - Northeast Ohio Public Radio, Television and Multiple Media - The NSA leaker told a German lawmaker that he wanted to testify before the U.S. Congress, but he hoped the U.S. would stop treating him like a traitor.

Portrait of the NSA: no detail too small in quest for total surveillance | World news | theguardian.com - The NSA gathers intelligence to keep America safe. But leaked documents reveal the NSA's dark side – and show an agency intent on exploiting the digital revolution to the full
What’s the Relationship Database About? | emptywheel - There seems to be little that justifies that relationship database than the desire to have it, in case, for such time as the government plans to unleash the nuclear bomb of reading every relationship in the country.
DiFi’s Fake FISA Fix: The Roamer Pre-Emergency Exigent Excuse To Be Used on Internet Content | emptywheel (DiFuck)
Senate bill would validate NSA’s harvesting of phone, e-mail records, privacy advocates say - The Washington Post (DiFi's "complete review")
Google, Yahoo et al have the power to fight back against the NSA | Dan Gillmor | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The tech billionaires should create the anti-surveillance, pro-security equivalent of the National Rifle Association

Daily Kos: Chuck Hagel throws gauntlet down.. - Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel fired a shot across the bow today of Nine Red states that have refused to follow directives from the Dept of Defense and issue Military identification cards to the Spouses and children of same sex couples. (their own little Confederate country)

Broken news: struggling to find facts in the Twitter maelstrom | The Verge - The identity and purported death of the shooter, meanwhile, was spread by traditional reporting operating on fast-forward. The LA Times reported erroneous information from a source, and other outlets picked it up. NBC put out a six-word breaking story, and an audience spread it.

Open Warfare by Martin Longman | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - The base of the party wants non-stop confrontation and they are absolutely heedless of the likely political consequences. The more the Establishment pushes back, the lower their numbers go. And, with a 6% approval rating in the latest Public Policy Polling poll, Congress is already in a competition for popularity with the margin of error.
No Cruz-Paul ’16? - Lawyers, Guns & Money (but keep hope alive)
Jay Carney: 'It Would Be Awesome' If Ted Cruz, Rand Paul Run In 2016

Column: Can expanding Social Security solve the retirement crisis? (crazy ideas are spreading, but Obama will squash them)

Food Stamp Cut Reverberates Across Country - National media and federal policymakers haven't paid much attention, but a $5 billion reduction to the food stamp program that took effect Friday has already been reverberating across the country. (starve the mainly red-state moochers)

Banksy's final NYC art piece seized as police evidence | PBS NewsHour

Retired Wingnut Gen. Boykin Says Military Would Like To Kill Obama, But Guesses It’s Not Constitutional Though
Reply to Tennessee prosecutor who doesn't want to be called "the Government" by defendant - Boing Boing - A whiny Assistant District Attorney General of Tennessee asked the judge in the case of Tennessee v Powell to order Mr Powell and his lawyer to stop calling her "the Government." The prosecutor complained that being called "the Government" made him look bad. (how about "the evil empire?)

Not All Pedophiles Have Mental Disorder, American Psychiatric Association Says In New DSM - The former group -- those who want to have sex with children but whose desires are not distressing or harmful to themselves or others -- is no longer classified as having a psychiatric condition in the updated DSM.

ELI5: With many Americans (at least those on Reddit) unsatisfied with both, the GOP and the Democrats, why is there no third party raising to the top? : explainlikeimfive
Extra-Life.org website experienced DDoS attack. : gaming

Mathematicians of Reddit, what is "beautiful" about mathematics? : AskReddit

RIAA, BPI websites infringe copyright - Boing Boing - TorrentFreak took a close look at the sourcecode for the websites run by the RIAA and its UK equivalent, the BPI, and discovered that they'd made a serious breach of copyright on each. (the power is always asymmetrical)

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White House Will Focus on Climate Shifts While Trying to Cut Greenhouse Gases - NYTimes.com
Study: Pacific ocean now warming 15 times faster than in past 10,000 years - The rate of change over the last 60 years is roughly 15 times faster than any other period
The Daily Dot - Anonymous threat leads to partial victory in Canadian fracking protest - At one, according to several witnesses, a police officer yelled, "Crown land belongs to the government not to fucking natives.”
Noam Chomsky slams Canada's shale gas energy plans | Environment | theguardian.com - Exploitation of Canada's tar sands and shale gas will have dire consequences for the environment, says Chomsky - "It is pretty ironic that the so-called 'least advanced' people are the ones taking the lead in trying to protect all of us, while the richest and most powerful among us are the ones who are trying to drive the society to destruction," said Chomsky ... "In the case of the environment there's no one to bail it out."

US claims Israel attacked Russian missile shipment in Syria | World news | theguardian.com - Americans accused of damaging 'trust between allies' by revealing Latakia air strike ... This raises very disturbing questions, and affects trust between allies," said one Israeli official. (that "trust" is a one-way street)

Andy Coulson told news editor to 'do Calum Best's phone', court hears | UK news | The Guardian - Prosecution says former editor of News of the World demanded that his journalists illegally target celebrities
News of the World staff 'hacked Mail on Sunday's phones in bid for scoop' | UK news | theguardian.com - Prosecution tells of 'dog eat dog' frenzy as Rupert Murdoch tabloid tried to beat rivals to story on Lord Prescott's private life

How Ridiculous is Pakistan’s New Civilian Drone Victim Estimate? Terrorist Okra-Picking Grandma! | emptywheel - Remarkably, Pakistan’s government has now indirectly called Nabila’s grandmother, Mamana Bibi, a terrorist.
Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud killed in CIA drone strike | World news | The Guardian - Mehsud killed when missile struck compound in village near capital of North Waziristan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s claim that drones have killed only 67 civilians baffles analysts | Afghanistan & Pakistan | McClatchy DC

Snowden ready to go to Germany under asylum as his letter to Berlin revealed — RT News
Edward Snowden letter to German government in full | World news | theguardian.com - Full text of NSA whistleblower's letter on US surveillance to chancellor Angela Merkel, the German parliament and federal prosecutors, passed on by German politician Hans-Christian Ströebele
German Minister Says He Will Try To Have Edward Snowden Meet With German Officials

NSA files decoded: Edward Snowden's surveillance revelations explained | World news | theguardian.com - What the revelations mean for you.
Snowden leak reveals Europe's role in mass surveillance programs.
NSA Apologists Now Blaming Snowden for NSA’s Own Cyberdefense Failures | emptywheel
The Daily Dot - Proposal would close Germany's digital borders to stop NSA snooping - Germany has joined Brazil in attempting to close its digital borders in response to NSA spying.

The White House on Spying - NYTimes.com - The White House response on Monday to the expanding disclosures of American spying on foreign leaders, their governments and millions of their citizens was a pathetic mix of unsatisfying assurances about reviews under way, platitudes about the need for security in an insecure age, and the odd defense that the president didn’t know that American spies had tapped the German chancellor’s cellphone for 10 years.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s New NSA Bill Will Codify and Extend Mass Surveillance of Americans | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Feinstein’s Fake Fix May Expand Use of the Phone Dragnet | emptywheel
Feinstein Releases Fake NSA Reform Bill, Actually Tries To Legalize Illegal NSA Bulk Data Collection | Techdirt - This bill is a farce, and made even more farcical by the misleading way in which Feinstein has presented it, pretending it bans bulk data collection when it actually legalizes it.
Senate Intelligence Committee Passes Bill That Codifies, Expands NSA Powers (DiFi, the face of evil)
NSA chief Keith Alexander blames diplomats for surveillance requests | World news | theguardian.com - Barbed exchange with former ambassador over spying on foreign leaders likely to deepen rift with Obama administration
GCHQ and European spy agencies worked together on mass surveillance | UK news | The Guardian - Edward Snowden papers unmask close technical cooperation and loose alliance between British, German, French, Spanish and Swedish spy agencies (Sweden is quite the spy-state)
The Daily Dot - The best Guy Fawkes masks in Anonymous history

The Daily Dot - Rebel email providers form alliance to combat NSA surveillance - The companies, Lavabit and Silent Circle, both shut down their services in August, citing privacy concerns brought on by the National Security Agency’s spy programs.

Federal Prosecutors, in a Policy Shift, Cite Warrantless Wiretaps as Evidence - NYTimes.com - The Justice Department for the first time has notified a criminal defendant that evidence being used against him came from a warrantless wiretap, a move that is expected to set up a Supreme Court test of whether such eavesdropping is constitutional. (no steenking warrents)
Fifth Amendment Prohibits Compelled Decryption, New EFF Brief Argues | Electronic Frontier Foundation

American Journalist Facing Up To 105 Years In Prison - CNN iReport - Barrett Brown’s career as a journalist is a bold and colorful one. He has written for publications including Vanity Fair, The Guardian, and The Huffington Post; and he co-authored a well-received book, Flock of Dodos.

The Right to Vote - NationalJournal.com - It is becoming increasingly obvious that the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which eviscerated the Voting Rights Act, is leading to a new era of voter suppression that parallels the pre-1960s era—this time affecting not just African-Americans but also Hispanic-Americans, women, and students, among others. (Republican Supremes: traitors to America)

Circuit Court of Appeals: Contraceptive mandate "trammels" freedom - UPI.com

A War on the Poor - NYTimes.com - John Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio, has done some surprising things lately.
Brad DeLong : Why Are We Doing This?: Fiscal Policy Edition - Deficit spending leads to national default. More debt means rising expectations of inflation, and so the Federal Reserve has to tighten and raise unemployment above the natural rate in order to hit its inflation target once inflation expectations have become de-anchored due to high debt. (Obama and Republicans cooperate to destroy the econonomy)
Eschaton: Doing It All Wrong - Kicking poors is bipartisan. The Republican-controlled House version of the farm bill proposes cutting $39 billion from the program over the next decade; the Democratic-controlled Senate would cut $4 billion over the same period. (more grand bargains to do nothing except screw poor people)
Eschaton: People Is Broke - The unemployment rate has been high for a very long time. I really don't think the powers that be, even the ones who might care, really understand the impact of that. Food stamp benefits are so tiny. Anybody who actually needs them is pretty screwed. Cutting them is monstrous.
IPS – Corporations Rewriting U.S. Labour Laws | Inter Press Service - U.S. state legislators and corporate lobbies have engaged in an unprecedented attack on minimum wages that has lowered U.S. labour standards

Obamacare Enrollment Numbers Low In First Days, Released Documents Reveal
The Obamacare sabotage campaign - Todd S. Purdum - politico.com
The Morning Plum: Americans not ready to give up on Obamacare - The most important finding in the Kaiser poll — which is in some ways the gold standard of health care polling — is that significantly more Americans want the Affordable Care Act kept or expanded than want it repealed and replaced with a GOP alternative or with nothing at all. Here’s the key finding:

LAX Shooting Not A Random Event - There Is Nothing Random About The LAX Shooting - Esquire

Poll: Growing Number of Republicans Dislike GOP - Washington Wire - WSJ - In December, just a month after the GOP experienced a string of election losses, nearly two-thirds of all Republicans held a positive view of their party. Ten months later that share has dropped to less than half.
Harry Reid's Source On Mitt Romney's Taxes Was Jon Huntsman Sr., Book Claims - “I feel very badly that Mitt won’t release his taxes and won’t be fair with the American people,” he said.

Provision Of Texas' New Abortion Restrictions Reinstated By Federal Appeals Court - a decision that means a third of the state's clinics that perform the procedure won't be able to do so starting as soon as Friday.
Abortion Status Quo Shifts by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - The alarming thing is that the Fifth Circuit ruling indicates states will be allowed to drive large trucks through the loophole created by Justice Kennedy in the Carhart v. Gonzales decision (the one that upheld the federal “partial-birth abortion” law) giving lawmakers leeway to restrict abortion opportunities on broadly paternalistic “health of the mother” grounds ... additional restrictions on Father Knows Best grounds dishonestly framed as solicitude for the health and safety of women seeking abortions.
Columbia University Refuses To Say How Many Students Were Punished For Sexual Assaults - Columbia University is not disclosing the number of students found responsible for sexual misconduct and sexual assault, and how they were punished, but the school is being pressured to change its mind.

USA Today Becomes Most Widely-Circulated Daily Newspaper In America - USA Today is now the country's most widely circulated daily newspaper, according to the latest report from the Alliance for Audited Media.

Southern secessionist group lists two TN lawmakers as weekend speakers | The Tennessean | tennessean.com - Niceley, Matheny were set to speak at group's meeting

sehrah comments on Gonna be honest here. Does anyone else feel like vaginas are kind of, like, weird?

Time to Move On? The Case Against Daylight Saving Time - Clocks "fall back" this Sunday, November 3, and people are again asking: Why do we bother with daylight saving time?
Taylor & Francis Online :: Using Technology to Connect in Romantic Relationships: Effects on Attachment, Relationship Satisfaction, and Stability in Emerging Adults - Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy - Volume 12, Issue 4 - Male texting frequency was negatively associated with relationship satisfaction and stability scores for both partners while female texting frequency was positively associated with their own relationship stability scores
Little surprise here: women expected to do more at home – and at work | Heidi Moore | Comment is free | theguardian.com - A new study illuminates how 'favors' are expected of women at work, but they often go unacknowledged, keeping women down (manarchy)
1102: Fastest-Growing - explain xkcd

Comcast is donating heavily to defeat the mayor who is bringing gigabit fiber to Seattle

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Niger migrants found dead in Sahara desert | World news | theguardian.com - Group died of thirst attempting to cross desert on foot to reach Algeria from impoverished, landlocked Niger
Israel releases Palestinian prisoners | World news | theguardian.com - Outcry among Israelis but jubilation in West Bank and Gaza Strip as 26 are freed under terms of peace talks
Japan's hunts threaten some dolphins and whales with extinction, says EIA | Environment | theguardian.com - Japan relying on out-of-date data for hunts of small cetaceans, putting some species of whales, dolphins and porpoises at risk
Scientists show Sars started in bats | World news | theguardian.com - Study uses Australian technique to help governments improve strategies to prevent a recurrence of the 2002 pandemic

Phone hacking jury told Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson had six-year affair | UK news | theguardian.com - Relationship covers much of period editors are said to have been involved in criminal conspiracy to hack phones
Phone-hacking trial: jury hears tape of 'attempt to deceive mobile operator' | UK news | theguardian.com - Prosecution asks whether Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson or others knew about Glenn Mulcaire's £100,000-a-year contract
Phone Hacking Trial: Internal Emails On How To Hack Phones Revealed
UK Approves New Press Regulation System; Newspapers Protest - Britain approved a new system of regulating its press on Wednesday, a move newspapers said was draconian and threatened freedom of speech but which former victims of press excess described as long overdue.

On leaving the Guardian | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Reporting the NSA story hasn't been easy, but it's always been fulfilling. It's what journalism at its crux is about, and we must protect that
Two New Journalists Join the Team – Omidyar Group
GGSideDocs
Omidyar venture adds Froomkin, Segura - joining a crew that consists of Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras
Edward Snowden Has A New Job, Russian Lawyer Says - Lawyer says Snowden to work for Russian internet site

Senate committee passes NSA 'improvement' bill that wouldn't end mass data collection | The Verge - The Senate Intelligence Committee has passed a bill from Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that will ostensibly reform the NSA's surveillance. But the bill, which passed 11-4, is largely aimed at preempting more substantial legislation while making minor changes to the agency's mass collection of American call records ... criminal penalties of up to ten years for people who willfully access unauthorized information (Difi fixed two problems at once)

GOPer: Trust us on that spying thing | MSNBC - When you don’t know the government does it, it’s not illegal. That’s the argument Republican House intelligence committee chair Mike Rogers of Michigan tried to make: "You can’t have your privacy violated if you don’t know your privacy is violated." (and a tree falls in the forest)
NSA files – MPs debate oversight of the intelligence services – live | World news | theguardian.com - Westminster Hall hosts three-hour debate on whether Britain’s security services are sufficiently well supervised in wake of Guardian Snowden revelations
Reports that NSA taps into Google and Yahoo data hubs infuriates tech giants | Technology | The Guardian - Files obtained from Edward Snowden suggest NSA can collect information sent by fibre optic cable between Google and Yahoo data hubs 'at will'
NSA director hints at scaling back some surveillance of foreign leaders | World news | The Guardian - Keith Alexander defends agency for second day and denies report that it has access to Google and Yahoo user information (more lies from the big fat liar)
Spain colluded in NSA spying on its citizens, Spanish newspaper reports | World news | theguardian.com - El Mundo says it has document detailing collaboration between US intelligence agency and foreign countries
NSA surveillance revelations hobble AT&T's attempts at a European expansion | The Verge - . "The public and the regulators have become much more attentive now that we know, and also in part suspect, how far the surveillance goes."
John Kerry Admits NSA Spying Went 'Too Far' - The US Secretary of State says the NSA sometimes operated on "automatic pilot", rather than under full control of the government.
The Daily Dot - NSA: We never spied on the Pope

NSA sketches explain user data: can you do better? | World news | theguardian.com

The Daily Dot - Parody T-shirt creator files First Amendment lawsuit against NSA

Congress Must Not Fast Track TPP to Ratification | Electronic Frontier Foundation - Trans-Pacific Partnership (Obama's supersecret trade agreement)

US budget deficit down to $680B, lowest in 5 years (but Republicans ...)

CHART: 'Winners And Losers From Obamacare'
Obamacare Website Is Full of Security Holes and the Government Knows It - the more security experts look at the program’s website, HealthCare.gov, the more issues they find
Obamacare is a mess, and liberals need to fix it - Salon.com - As policy and P.R., the ACA is in trouble. Democrats need to acknowledge that, and make it work for everyone

Federal court blocks ruling that would have ended stop-and-frisk | The Verge - A federal court has blocked an August ruling that named the NYPD's stop-and-frisk practices as unconstitutional, and removed the presiding judge from the case amid accusations of biased conduct. (they fixed that problem quickly)

Obama And Post-Partisanship - The End Of Obamaism - Esquire - It has not been the best couple of weeks for Barack Obama, now in his second lap around the track as the president of these United States ... Whatever Obamaism really is, it has run its course. The fight now is over what comes next.

Agenda 21 And The Alamo - Taking The Alamo - Esquire - I've said it before. This isn't an ideology. It's a form of animism, with conjuring words and magical symbols. (One of the latter is not, but ought to be, a big old bag of hammers.) Sooner or later, they're going to get around to cutting up goats in the town square. (good point, it's all based in magical thinking and incantations and blood sacrifices)

Banks, Led By Citi, Lobby House (Successfully) To Limit Dodd-Frank On Derivatives - Forbes
Millions on food stamps facing benefits cuts - CBS News

Twitter / kavithadavidson: Now leading HuffPost World ... Rock Boy
What the Fk Is Up in Toronto? - Esquire - Toronto's police chief, Bill Blair, just held a press conference in which he declared that the police have obtained a video of the mayor smoking crack. You could put that video in movie theaters, charge three hundred bucks a ticket, and build a new subway line with the proceeds ... The fact that this has all happened on Halloween only highlights that the Ford story has resembled a badly written cable show throughout its course
Rob Ford Crack - Checking In With Mayor Rob - Esquire - Note to all politicians, living and dead, or some combination of both -- the camera is always on, and the video is always recoverable.

Can you see/ sense insiders outside of you? in Coping Skills & Support Forum

Malaria cases in the US reach a 40-year high, new data shows | The Verge - That figure is still relatively small, at 1,925 reported cases, but it's the highest number of malaria cases in any given year since 1971. And of those cases, five were fatal.
'I'm showing my son mercy' | MSNBC

The devil you know: inside the world of a psychopathic scientist | The Verge

Best Sellers - The New York Times - Mass Paperbacks
Jonathan Safran Foer Lists Park Slope Mansion for $14.5M - Celebrity Real Estate - Curbed NY


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Everything You Should Know About the Pope - Esquire - Here's why, from the new, all-Pope special issue of Esquire Weekly.
A Game of Shark and Minnow - Who Will Win Control of the South China Sea? - NYTimes.com
Phone-hacking jury warned of prejudice risk in trial of Brooks and Coulson | UK news | The Guardian - British justice also on trial, says judge as he tells jurors to ignore comments they may come across in all media

Americans Still Can't Decide Whether Edward Snowden Is A 'Traitor' Or A 'Hero,' Poll Finds - Fifty-one percent of Americans said the NSA leaker was “something of a hero who should be commended for letting the public know that our governments are running electronic surveillance programs that threaten people’s privacy," while 49 percent labeled him “more of a traitor who should be condemned for publicizing security activities and threatening western intelligence operations."

NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden documents say - The Washington Post - By Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani
Eschaton: What's It All About Then - We hoover up everything, and then? - What did the man in charge say? Let's rewind ... "We don't have a domestic spying program," Obama said, describing the NSA efforts as "mechanisms that can track a phone number or an e-mail address that is connected to a terrorist attack ... That information is useful." (that's pretty much the definition of a lie)

James Clapper: Spying On Leaders Not Significant Enough To Tell Congress - It is "unrealistic" for the White House to know about reported United States eavesdropping on foreign leaders, and perfectly reasonable for intelligence officials to have neglected to tell Congress, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper argued Tuesday.
Obama insists he didn't know about US spying on key allies | World news | theguardian.com - President says he merely gave intelligence community 'policy direction' but critics say White House must have been aware (Obama's credibility chasm gets even bigger) ... Obama insists he didn't know he was US president.
The Observer Effect: How Courts Affect National Security Decisions – Air Force General Counsel Blog - courts have much more influence on executive actions in national security matters than most observers understand:
Spain colluded in NSA spying on its citizens, Spanish newspaper reports | World news | theguardian.com - El Mundo says it has obtained document detailing collaboration between US intelligence agency and foreign countries
GlennGreenwald's profile | The Guardian

Baseline Predictions for the next Sixty Odd Years | Ian Welsh - Today I read this article on how the Ocean is dead: how the fish and birds are gone from huge swathes of it. You should read it.

A brief note on why the progressive blog movement failed | Ian Welsh (pragmatism over principle +the stars come out in the comments + “Of course you can vote for the lesser of two evils. You get less evil.” (Noam Chomsky, 2008.))
Matt Stoller: Obama's Consolidation of the Party - Now here's the part that's unclear. Obama has successfully remade the Democratic Party already, and shown that old partisan Washington politics is over if you are a Democrat. Can he do that with Republicans? By stripping power, money and responsibility from outside groups and opponents, Obama is increasing his control of the party apparatus. (2008 pre-election; Obama already dumping grassroot and revealing his corporate true nature)
The Progressive Movement is a PR Front for Rich Democrats » CounterPunch: Paid to Lose
Thinking of Jackasses - Marc Cooper - The Atlantic - The grand delusions of the Democratic Party (2005, Lakoff takedown)
Peter Camejo. The Avocado Declaration - n 2004. It details how a prime function of the Democratic Party is to siphon real protest into itself, where it then renders it inert. 2004. It details how a prime function of the Democratic Party is to siphon real protest into itself, where it then renders it inert.
Late Night: This Wasn’t Just Our Failure | Firedoglake
New Left Review - Gopal Balakrishnan: Speculations on the Stationary State - What is the historical significance of the implosion of neo-liberalism, coming less than twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union?
“The POLITICO Culture” - Salon.com

What Obama Really Meant When He Said 'If You Like Your Plan, You Can Keep It'

Sam Youngman: Mitch McConnell's attack on Matt Bevin signifies larger battle plan | Politics and Government | Kentucky.com - What's different in the 2014 election cycle than last year or even 2010, is that McConnell's NRSC has sought to unify Senate Republicans and take the fight to the fundraising groups instead of trying to appease them.
Eschaton: Grifters vs. Grifters - Aside from a slightly increased willingness by the non-teabaggers to do things like "find way to avoid shutting down government," the whole "Republican civil war" thing just seems to be one tribe of grifters doing battle with another tribe. It isn't about policy, it's about which team gets to run the show and collect all the moneys.

Virginia Polls Show Terry McAuliffe Leading Ken Cucinelli By Either A Little Or A Lot
Joe. My. God.: EW Jackson: God Made The Tea Party - God ignored Virginia lieutenant governor candidate EW Jackson AND his church when they fasted against the election of President Obama. But Sky Daddy snapped to attention after he realized what he'd done and immediately created the Tea Party.

alicublog: THIS HERE'S A ZOO AND THE KEEPER AIN'T YOU/AND I'M SICK OF IT, I'M SICK OF YOU. - The Wall Street Journal is really pissed Bill di Blasio is cruising into the New York mayoralty (they need their authoritarian Republican daddy-figures)

How a Blogger Made Expanding Social Security a Respectable Idea - Thanks to decades of stagnant wages and the Great Recession, more than half of American working-class households are at risk of being unable to sustain their standard of living past retirement. Duncan Black is trying to change that.

Dick Cheney, one-man zombie apocalypse | Ana Marie Cox | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The former VP has returned from the shadows – weirdly, to court the Tea Party for daughter Liz's Senate run. Happy Halloween!

Ray Kelly Heckled Off Stage At Brown University By Protesters (video)
The View Mainstreams Serial Misinformer Betsy McCaughey As A "Health Care Policy Expert" | Blog | Media Matters for America (expert liar mainstreamed by teh View)

I don’t stand with Russell Brand, and neither should you - Salon.com - I love much of what the boisterous comedian says, but this Great Man narrative lets sexism slide and has to go (counter-reaction to Brand's media criticism)
Misanthropic Feminism? | Dissident Voice - Prior to his articulate skewering of capitalism in a recent BBC interview, I knew little of Brand other than he was an actor and ex-husband of Katy Perry. (reaction to counter-reaction)

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Anonymous to Assad: We are inside your databases | GlobalPost
David Smith Dies: Jimmy Savile Driver Facing Sex Charges Found Dead

Why Did America Kill My Mother? Pakistani Drone Victim Comes To Congress For Answer - "All of a sudden things became very dark," Zubair Rehman, 13, remembered. The next thing he knew, his grandmother, Mamana Bibi, was gone. "It was like she was exploded to pieces." (Obama loves blowing up grandmothers)
US drone strike in Somalia kills top al-Shabaab explosives expert | World news | theguardian.com - Killing a further sign of intensifying US campaign against al-Shabaab after attack on Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi

The Daily Dot - Edward Snowden's legal defense fund finally has a website

Glenn Greenwald: U.S. Spying on Allies Shows "Institutional Obsession" with Surveillance | Democracy Now! - And what the Dianne Feinsteins and the John Boehners of the world are doing right this very minute is they know that the public is outraged by these revelations, that they need to be placated symbolically ... So, for the top national security official in the United States to go to the Senate and lie to their faces and deny that the NSA is doing exactly that which our reporting proved that the NSA was in fact doing is plainly a crime, and of course he should be prosecuted, and would be prosecuted if we lived under anything resembling the rule of law, where everybody is held and treated equally under the law, regardless of position or prestige.

The Daily Dot - NSA officials claim Obama knew allied leaders were monitored (of course he knew, and lied about it)
White House OKd spying on allies, U.S. intelligence officials say - latimes.com - NSA and other U.S. intelligence agency staff members are said to be angry at President Obama for denying knowledge of the spying.
Obama May Ban Spying on Heads of Allied States - NYTimes.com (or maybe not)
White House offers tentative support for plans to rein in NSA surveillance | World news | theguardian.com

Exclusive: Obama orders curbs on NSA spying on U.N. headquarters | Reuters - "The United States is not conducting electronic surveillance targeting the United Nations headquarters in New York," (Oliar stopped yesterday, because they might not all be terrorists)

NSA files – US intelligence officials testify in Congress – live coverage | World news | theguardian.com - James Clapper and Keith Alexander to be questioned (and will lie) • James Sensenbrenner introduces USA Freedom Act
NSA: Dianne Feinstein breaks ranks to oppose US spying on allies | World news | The Guardian - Senate intelligence committee chair Dianne Feinstein, who has been a loyal defender of the NSA, demands a 'total' surveillance review (now that her "oversight" has been a complete failure)
One Day after Rolling Out “Comprehensive Review,” Feinstein Proceeds with Mark-Up Anyway | emptywheel - Yesterday, Dianne Feinstein announced, “a total review of all intelligence programs … so that members of the Senate Intelligence Committee are fully informed as to what is actually being carried out by the intelligence community.” Today, her committee will nevertheless conduct a mark-up of her bill to not fix the spying targeted at Americans.

Congressional duo launch NSA overhaul bill and urge 'meaningful reform' | World news | theguardian.com - Patrick Leahy and Jim Sensenbrenner introduce USA Freedom Act to curtail spying and 'restore confidence in our intelligence'
The Daily Dot - Congress introduces USA Freedom Act to limit NSA's domestic phone spying
U.S. Spy Chiefs Face Congress Amid Spying Rift With Europe
NSA chief calls reports about spying in France, Spain and Italy 'completely false' — RT USA
Intelligence officials defend surveillance tactics in Congressional hearing - live | World news | theguardian.com - Clapper: intelligence leaks 'extremely damaging' • Alexander: 'program is audited 100%' (more lies)
NSA spying on Europe gives the US more intelligence, but not better | Peter Galbraith | Comment is free | theguardian.com - European leaders' outrage is synthetic; we're all in this game. But the NSA's data collection power is not necessarily an advantage
White House offers tentative support for plans to rein in NSA surveillance | World news | theguardian.com - Administration says NSA leaks have already prompted changes in intelligence-gathering, including check on UN monitoring

Dana Milbank: What did President Obama know and when did he know it? - The Washington Post - For a smart man, President Obama professes to know very little about a great number of things going on in his administration.
White House OKd spying on allies, U.S. intelligence officials say - latimes.com - NSA and other U.S. intelligence agency staff members are said to be angry at President Obama for denying knowledge of the spying.
Bret Stephens: The Unbearable Lightness of Obama - WSJ.com - The president didn't know the NSA was spying on world leaders, but he's found time for at least 146 rounds of golf.

NSA CSLI Gottsman Response_SealedFINAL | Electronic Frontier Foundation (perjury by NSA)

Political Fail Blog | Anarchism: What It Really Stands For – Anarchy

Russia denies spying on G20 leaders at St Petersburg summit | World news | theguardian.com - President Putin's spokesman says allegations are aimed at diverting attention away from controversy over NSA surveillance

Man buys $27 of bitcoin, forgets about them, finds they're now worth $886k | Technology | theguardian.com

Elizabeth Warren Destroys Financial Crisis Myth - The study Warren was referring to refuted a common conservative argument blaming the Carter-era Community Reinvestment Act for forcing Fannie and Freddie to buy shoddy mortgages in poor neighborhoods. "It was the federal government that pushed the subprime loans … that pushed the Community Reinvestment Act," said Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.)

Obama Administration Refutes NBC News' Obamacare Report - Several White House officials are speaking out against an NBC News report that said up to 75 percent of Americans who currently buy private health insurance will lose their plans under Obamacare.
Here Is What’s Wrong With That Story About Obama Knowing That Your Health Care Policy Would Get Cancelled | ThinkProgress

Who Will Be Lucky Number 10,000 - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Using CDC estimates, the actual number of gun deaths in the US since the Newtown killings is around 28,700. (half a Vietnam every year and la-di-la)

The Myth of the Hardhat Hawk | Jacobin - In the popular imagination, opposition to the Vietnam War was driven largely by the privileged, while supposedly reactionary blue-collar workers supported the war effort. That memory is wrong.

Cheney Insists Iraq War Was Worth It Because Of WMD | ThinkProgress (that could have, you know, potentially, eventually, have been there)

2013 American Values Survey: In Search of Libertarians in America - , less than 1-in-10 (7%) Americans are consistent libertarians, and an additional 15% lean libertarian. At the other end of the spectrum, an equal number of Americans are consistent communalists (7%), and an additional 17% lean communalist. A majority (54%) of Americans have a mixed ideological profile, falling in between libertarian and communalist orientations.

Concern troll is very concerned so maybe you should be too | The Raw Story - Rand Paul fanboy and holder of the Megan McArdle Memorial ‘Seemingly Reasonable If You Aren’t Hung Up On Facts’ Chair at The Atlantic, Conor Friedersdorf is having trouble sleeping at night because he is way stressed out about Dronebama’s legacy and whether it will drone kill the shit out of Hillary Clinton’s chances to be the first woman second Clinton to be elected President.

New York Times offers a glimpse at the homepage of the future » Nieman Journalism Lab - A new nytimes.com is in the works, and the company is previewing a prototype homepage, section front, and new article page.
This Week in Review: Demystifying coding for news, and the AP’s firings under fire » Nieman Journalism Lab
Bumping into the news: New Pew data shows Facebook users find news there, but don’t seek it out » Nieman Journalism Lab
Four takeaways from new owner John Henry’s message to readers of The Boston Globe » Nieman Journalism Lab
On the NSA, the media may tilt right : Columbia Journalism Review - An inquiry finds a pro-surveillance bias in the language (they might bias themselves out of business)
New York Post Will Go To Trial Over Harassment, Wrongful Firing Lawsuit - In a setback for the New York Post, a district judge on Tuesday dismissed an effort to dispatch a lawsuit from a former employee alleging that she was harassed while at the paper and unlawfully fired.

Adbusted | Jacobin

? The Most IMPORTANT Video You'll Ever See - full lecture - AlBartlett.org - YouTube (most people can't understand the exponential function)
Moderate exercise not only treats, but prevents depression | University of Toronto Media Room

Cop tasers handcuffed girl and now she is braindead! - YouTube - This video showing cop tasering handcuffed girl helped clear 267-pound Trooper Daniel Cole of wrongdoing and have released this disturbing dash cam video that captured him tasing a 100 pound, 20 year old handcuffed girl in the back as she fled.

Maine hermit could go free after court hearing | World news | theguardian.com - Christopher Knight, known as the North Pond Hermit, pleaded guilty Monday to 13 counts of burglary and theft and was admitted into a special court program that will allow him to be released from jail and live and work in the community under the supervision of court officials.
There Were 300 OIl Spills in North Dakota, and Nobody Told North Dakotans About Any of Them | Motherboard

A Bear Is Running Through L.A. Right Now Pursued by the LAPD - Like the LAPD would have chased a white bear . . .

Is Google building a hulking floating data center in SF Bay? | Internet & Media - CNET News - It looks like Google has been working on an oversize secret project on San Francisco's Treasure Island. A water-based data center? Could well be.
Forget About Google: MPAA Reveals Places to Score Illicit Torrents | Threat Level | Wired.com

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Jeep crash in China's Tiananmen Square leaves five dead | World news | theguardian.com - Tourists and police among dozens injured as vehicle hits crowd and bursts into flames outside Forbidden City in Beijing - Two reporters from Agence France Presse were detained on the scene "with images deleted from their digital equipment", the newswire reported. A BBC team was also briefly detained, according to a tweet by one of the corporation's reporters.
Iraq bombings kill dozens in Baghdad, Mosul and Tarmiya | World news | theguardian.com - Coordinated attacks claim at least 60 lives, taking the number of people killed across the country since April to more than 5,000
Patna bombings: outlawed Islamist group blamed for fatal blasts | World news | theguardian.com - Suspect told police that Indian Mujahideen told him to carry out bombings that killed seven and wounded 83
Stormageddon: Hurricane-Force Winds Batter Britain (VIDEO/PHOTOS) - Weather forecasters say it is one of the worst storms to hit Britain in years.
The Daily Dot - In El Salvador, 'The Engineer' excavates the remnants of gang violence - MS-13 and the 18th Street gang, two rival criminal organizations that originated in the United States, terrorize the population, leaving the bodies of their victims not only in the streets but hidden throughout the countryside.
Amazon Rainforest is ‘at Higher Risk of Tree Loss’ | Climate Central

News Corp Could Lose $1.6 Billion From Phone Hacking Scandal: Top Exec (but no jail time for Satan)
Phone Hacking Trial Of Rebekah Brooks And Andy Coulson Begins

Family of grandmother killed in US drone strike arrive for Congress visit | World news | theguardian.com - Rafiq ur Rehman discusses his family's journey from Pakistan to Washington DC, where they will seek answers on Capitol Hill
'Wounds of Waziristan': The Story of Drones As Told By the People Who Live Under Them | Motherboard

Syrian Electronic Army takes credit for attack on Obama's Twitter account | Technology | theguardian.com - "Obama doesn't have any ethical issues with spying on the world, so we took it upon ourselves to return the favor," the statement said.

US surveillance may need 'additional constraints', says White House - video | World news | theguardian.com ("numerous terrorist attacks twarted")
Dianne Feinstein: 'I am totally opposed' to NSA surveillance of US allies | World news | The Guardian - Senate intelligence committee chair, who has been a loyal defender of the NSA, demands a 'total' surveillance review - added that both Barack Obama and members of her committee, which is supposed to received classified briefings, had been kept in the dark about operations to target foreign leaders. (so who is the boss? +DiFi flipflops after Snowden made her look like a fool)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein Slams NSA Spying - The senior administration official said Feinstein's statement that the White House is moving to stop spying on U.S. allies "is not accurate." (so there you go)
'We're Really Screwed Now': NSA's Best Friend Just Shivved The Spies | The Cable - "bottom line question is where was the Senate Intelligence Committee when it came to their oversight of these programs? And what were they being told by the NSA, because if they didn't know about this surveillance, that would imply they were being lied to." (you could say that)
NSA review panel to present Obama with dossier on surveillance reforms | World news | The Guardian - Classified document will also detail consequences of domestic and foreign spying revelations as anger mounts abroad

John Brennan and Obama's Transparency Test : The New Yorker : Jane Mayer - It’s hard to see how the Obama Administration can square its talk of transparency with any further cover-up of this ostensibly mammoth, comprehensive, and devastating report on the brutal interrogation and detention practices during those years. (because war crimes and "turning the page" as he likes to say)

NSA surveillance: Merkel's phone may have been monitored 'for over 10 years' | World news | The Observer - As German officials prepare to travel to the US, Der Spiegel cites a previously secret NSA document
Spain summons US ambassador over claim NSA tracked 60m calls a month | World news | theguardian.com - El Mundo newspaper reports having seen NSA document that reveals extent of agency's monitoring of Spanish phone calls
Spain warns US of breakdown in trust after new NSA revelations | World news | theguardian.com - White House struggles to contain diplomatic crisis after claim that NSA harvested 60m Spanish calls
NSA files – '60m Spanish phone calls monitored' as Merkel row continues – live coverage | World news | theguardian.com - Representatives from a Latin American human rights panel have told US diplomats that oversight of America's surveillance programmes is "illusory",
NSA oversight dismissed as 'illusory' as anger intensifies in Europe and beyond | World news | theguardian.com - Condemnation by Latin American panel comes as US fields worsening outrage from Spain and Germany over surveillance
Cover Story: How NSA Spied on Merkel Cell Phone from Berlin Embassy - SPIEGEL ONLINE - According to SPIEGEL research, United States intelligence agencies have not only targeted Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone, but they have also used the American Embassy in Berlin as a listening station. The revelations now pose a serious threat to German-American relations.
Report: White House stopped phone tapping of German Chancellor Merkel - CNN.com (see, they stopped doing something they didn't know about)
Data Suggests Push to Spy on Merkel Dates to ’02 - NYTimes.com

NSA denies discussing Merkel phone surveillance with Obama | World news | The Guardian - Agency says report in German press that president was briefed on monitoring of chancellor's phone is 'not true'
Report: President Obama unaware of spying - Tal Kopan - politico.com
McCain on Spying: What Did Obama Know? - Washington Wire - WSJ - “If the executive did not know, it’s a mistake of both the people doing it not informing their superiors, and their superiors not questioning what was going on,” Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. (stupid, incompetent or ...)

David Cameron: UK Government May 'Act' Against Newspapers Over Snowden Leaks
Is Glenn Greenwald the Future of News? - NYTimes.com - Glenn Greenwald broke what is probably the year’s biggest news story (Bill Keller loses the debate with GG and thinks David Brooks is great)
NATO Chief Says Reports Of NSA Surveillance On Allies 'Not Helpful'
Three degrees of separation: breaking down the NSA's 'hops' surveillance method | World news | theguardian.com
IACHR Hearing on Freedom of Expression and Communications Surveillance by the United States | American Civil Liberties Union - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which is part of the Organization of American States (OAS), held its first-ever hearing on October 28, 2013 on the NSA's mass surveillance and its impact on human rights in the Americas.

New director James Comey wants FBI 'independent of all political forces' | World news | theguardian.com - Barack Obama presides over installation ceremony for former federal prosecutor who stood against Bush-era surveillance (of course, your typical Obama move)

At Least 9,900 People Have Died From Guns In The U.S. Since The Newtown Shooting: Slate (3x 9/11 +all the fake "terror" attacks on America in 10 yrs)
Study: U.S. Hospitals Admit 7,500 Kids A Year With Gunshot Wounds
US Child Gun Deaths Rose 60% in 10 Years - And most came from handguns, finds new study (NRA wants stand your ground for toddlers)

How Sequestration Gets Even Worse Next Year (Obama's brilliant idea to force Republicans to cut Social Security)

Lindsey Graham Threatens To Block Nominations Over Benghazi (drama queen of liberty)
Harry Reid Will Bring ENDA Up For Senate Vote
Here’s how GOP Obamacare hypocrisy backfires - Salon.com - GOP base doesn't understand right wants to turn Medicare, Social Security and more into a very similar program
Republican Party Continues To Struggle One Year After Mitt Romney Loss
Dick Cheney: Military Action In Iran Likely
Marco Rubio: Obama Has Undermined Immigration Reform By Refusing To Defund Obamacare | ThinkProgress
Marco Rubio Backs Away From Own Immigration Bill Becoming Law

Refusing the Medicaid Expansion: Self-Imposed Redistribution from Rich to Poor | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly (stupidity is stupid)

Juan Williams: GOP is deluding itself on spending - The Hill - covering Congress, Politics, Political Campaigns and Capitol Hill | TheHill.com - In Playboy magazine’s current issue, Sen. Bernie Sanders offers an “Emperor Has No Clothes” view of Washington’s current budget talks. "Today one out of four major profitable corporations pays zero in federal income taxes,” said the independent from Vermont.
National Review Online | Print - It is a politics of perpetual intra-Republican denunciation. It focuses its fire on other conservatives as much as on liberals. It takes more satisfaction in a complete loss on supposed principle than in a partial victory, let alone in the mere avoidance of worse outcomes. It has only one tactic — raise the stakes, hope to lower the boom — and treats any prudential disagreement with that tactic as a betrayal.

HHS says Obamacare web problem on Sunday linked to Verizon Terremark - Paige Winfield Cunningham - POLITICO.com - The Obama administration is attributing Sunday outages on HealthCare.gov to technical failures by Verizon Terremark, the company operating the federal data hub. (should have gone with T-Mobile)
Wall Street Journal Enlists Noted Health Policy Expert Suzanne Somers To Critique Obamacare - Business Insider (whut?)

Filibuster Wars To Flare Up As Reid Moves On Top Judges
Incredible: Judge Posner Said He Did Not Recant on Voter ID | Election Law Blog

‘Uncomfortable truth’ in Matthew Shepard’s death | New York Post - Shepard’s tragic and untimely demise may not have been fueled by his sexual orientation, but by drugs. For Shepard had likely agreed to trade methamphetamines for sex. And it killed him.
Andy Lopez, Teen Fatally Shot By Deputy Over Pellet Gun, Draws More Than 1,000 People To Service

Controversial Texas anti-abortion law blocked by federal judge | World news | theguardian.com - Key provision of bill HB2, a requirement for abortion providers to have hospital admit privileges, ruled unconstitutional

These Coders Say They Taught A Computer To Crack CAPTCHA
Why is broadband more expensive in the US? - "We deregulated high-speed internet access 10 years ago and since then we've seen enormous consolidation and monopolies, so left to their own devices, companies that supply internet access will charge high prices, because they face neither competition nor oversight."
Cheapest 150Mbps broadband in big US cities costs 100% more than overseas | Ars Technica - US cellular customers are also paying more and getting less.

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The US should pay its Unesco dues | Nigel Cameron | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The US refuses to pay up because of Palestinian membership in Unesco. It's a horribly misguided approach (Israel always bossing Obama around)

White House under pressure on NSA monitoring of German chancellor | World news | theguardian.com - Administration reported to be distancing itself from agency as press in Germany questions how much Barack Obama knew - The White House was under intense pressure on Sunday to reveal the extent to which President Barack Obama knew about or even authorised US surveillance operations targeting the leaders of allied countries.xs (obviously, he knew nothing, as usual)
Barack Obama 'approved tapping Angela Merkel's phone 3 years ago' - President Barack Obama was told about monitoring of German Chancellor in 2010 and allowed it to continue, says German newspaper (whoops, turns out he knew all along and thought it was peach-keen) The White House declined to comment on the German media reports.
US denies Obama knew of Merkel spying - Yahoo News - But NSA spokeswoman Vanee' Vines, in Washington, flatly denied the claims. (who are you going to believe?)
NSA denies discussing Merkel phone surveillance with Obama | World news | The Guardian - Agency says report in German press that president was briefed on monitoring of chancellor's phone is 'not true' (and you can always believe -them-)

White House official pens op-ed urging 'greater focus' in foreign surveillance | World news | theguardian.com - US inches towards apology for NSA surveillance of foreign allies as anger grows in France and Germany
Twitter / Suanzes: Portada de El Mundo de mañana: ... (Spain is next)
NSA Collected Data On 60 Million Phone Calls In Spain Over Course Of One Month: Report
Fed up with Congress over the NSA or shutdown? 5 tips to get your voice heard | Heather Long | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Take a page out of the Tea Party playbook and don't just get angry, get organised. You can do a lot more than call or tweet
NSA's Gen. Keith Alexander: Stop reporters selling spy documents - politico.com - "I think it’s wrong that that newspaper reporters have all these documents, the 50,000—whatever they have and are selling them and giving them out as if these—you know it just doesn’t make sense" (don't need no steenking First Amendment)
Armed agents seize records of reporter, Washington Times prepares legal action - Washington Times - Maryland state police and federal agents used a search warrant in an unrelated criminal investigation to seize the private reporting files of an award-winning former investigative journalist for The Washington Times who had exposed problems in the Homeland Security Department's Federal Air Marshal Service. (and so Keith's War on Journalism begins)
The Daily Dot - Rep. Justin Amash: Sensenbrenner bill is best chance to limit NSA spying
Mike Rogers Defends NSA Surveillance, Says Public Information Is Misguided ... He suggested that the new revelations were not surprises to European intelligence agencies, but only to the governments for which they work. (just like the US, apparently)
Warrantless surveillance evidence faces court test in 'terrorist' case | World news | theguardian.com - The Justice Department has said it intends to use intercepted emails and telephone calls against Jamshid Muhtorov
NSA 'Stop Watching Us' Protest Draws Thousands In Washington

The Daily Dot - Stop Watching Us rally in D.C. was the biggest anti-NSA event yet
The Vacuum That Created Anonymous, Wikileaks, and the Whistleblower Explosion

Oh Jesus Fucking Christ » Balloon Juice - Think about it, you fucking jackasses at the Wonkblog and you other alleged liberals

After Government Shutdown, Few Discussing Budget Solutions - nfluential Democratic backers go to the mat to protect Social Security and Medicare. Republicans love defense spending, while key GOP groups boast absolute opposition to higher taxes. Voters across the spectrum enjoy public benefits and historically low income tax rates, plus a web of credits, deductions and exemptions. (so cut taxes on rich people and get rid of Social Security)

In Fed and Out, Many Now Think Inflation Helps - NYTimes.com (convential wisdom crumbling)

Public support for GOP continues to collapse | MSNBC - . By a nearly four-to-one margin, Americans believe GOP lawmakers in Congress aren’t concerned with the nation’s best interests. That’s just astounding. (keep it up, dumbfucklicans)
Reagan’s Southern strategy gave rise to the Tea Party - Salon.com - By leveraging race and religion — especially in the South — he set an example for today's bitter politics (he's rotting in hell)

West Virginians, alienated by Washington, angrily reject their Democratic roots | The Washington Post - By some measures, West Virginia relies more on federal money than any other state. (voted for Republicans that destroyed their state with coal mines; hate Obama but all on welfare)
Daily Kos: Pennsylvania welfare secretary 'rethinking' test that blocked 111,000 from food stamps - During the first year of the asset test, 4,000 households lost or were denied benefits because they had too many financial resources, according to DPW figures. But during that same time, 111,000 households were denied benefits because they failed to provide proper documentation for the test. (which was the whole point)

The Daily Dot - Ex-racists tell stories of hate and redemption on Reddit

Senator Jeff Sessions Threatens NEH Budget over Islam & Humanities | New Republic - Senator Outraged that National Endowment for the Humanities Funds Study of Humanities Also, it studies Islam (Jefferson Beauregard)

Op-ed of the day: Tim Kreider in the New York Times, “Slaves of the Internet, Unite!” by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly
Slaves of the Internet, Unite! - NYTimes.com
The boss, not the workload, causes workplace depression | ScienceNordic - It is not a big workload that causes depression at work. An unfair boss and an unfair work environment are what really bring employees down, new study shows.

The New Republic: “Maryville, Missouri is a lawless hellhole.” Agreed!

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Associated Press - Iran hanged 16 "rebels" of an unspecified armed group on Saturday in retaliation for the death of 14 border guards in clashes near the frontier with Pakistan, a semiofficial news agency reported.
The Daily Dot - 'No Woman, No Drive' lampoons Saudi culture with perfect harmony
The Daily Dot - This scathing satire of India's rape culture is going viral

US defends drone strikes as 'necessary and just' in face of UN criticism | World news | theguardian.com - Brazil, China and Venezuela sharply critical of 'illegal' program but US says it has taken steps to introduce new guidelines ("taken steps")
Will Domestic Drone Privacy Bills Fall Short Because of ALEC, Defense Industry Influence?

Spying on Allies Fits President Obama's Standoffish Profile - ABC News (we would say "strangely detached and uninformed")

U.S. Spying On Angela Merkel's Phone May Date Back To 2002: Report - President Barack Obama told the German leader he would have stopped it happening had he known about it. (and he made sure he didn't know anything)
NSA surveillance: more revelations as EU leaders meet in Brussels | World news | theguardian.com - As European leaders met in Brussels on Friday, fresh revelations about NSA snooping continued to emerge, with an Italian magazine focusing attention on the allegedly vast scale of US and British surveillance of telephone and email communications in Italy.
NSA: Brazil and Germany lead calls for UN resolution on internet privacy | World news | theguardian.com - Diplomats from the two countries are heading efforts by coalition of nations to draft resolution in wake of Edward Snowden leaks (world not happy with Oblunder)
Fmr. CIA Agent: It's easy to bug phones
Americans Think Tracking Merkel's Phone Is Unacceptable, But Tracking Other Leaders Might Be OK - According to the new poll, 49 percent of Americans think it's unacceptable for the U.S. to track Merkel's phone calls, while only 25 percent said it's acceptable. (and 26% say "what?")

The “Voluntary” Cooperation that Comes from Coercion of Licensing Agreements? | emptywheel - The Guardian today describes how hard GCHQ worked to prevent its intercepts from being discoverable in trials. It did so for two reasons: to prevent a political firestorm about the extent of the collection ... And to protect the telecoms

Massive Spying Program Exposed - Electronic Frontier Foundation - every single call made by a Verizon customer, regardless of whether they've ever been suspected of a crime.

Head of NSA blasts reporters for 'selling' leaked documents | The Verge - Keith "Fucking Liar" Alexander (about their own criminality: "you can stick your First Amendment where the sun doesn't shine")
NSA Blames ‘Internal Error,’ Not Hackers, For Website Crash - ABC News (they certainly have enough of those)
An exclusive club: The five countries that don't spy on each other | PBS NewsHour (they really believe that)

Internet Anonymizer Tor to Get Anti-Surveillance Tweaks | MIT Technology Review - Fixes are planned for Internet anonymity tool Tor after researchers showed that national intelligence agencies could plausibly unmask users.

Terrorism Case Could Prompt High Court Test Of Surveillance Law - The Justice Department says for the first time that it intends to use information gained from one of the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance programs against an accused terrorist, setting the stage for a likely Supreme Court test of the Obama administration's approach to national security.

'Spy Rocks' Could Be the Military's New Secret Weapon | Danger Room | Wired.com (sensorization of the battlefield, which you're standing on)
The Daily Dot - Fifth-grader pleads guilty for role in Anonymous attack - "It's easy to hack but do not go there too much, they will track you down," the fifth-grader reportedly advised other hackers.
Bitcoins seized in Silk Road raid | Technology | theguardian.com - $28m in digital currency taken by US authorities from Ross William Ulbricht, accused of running online criminal marketplace (asset confiscation)

Group Holds Rally Against Mass Surveillance | C-SPAN - Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) speaks at a rally against the widespread surveillance tactics of the National Security Agency (NSA).
NSA critics rally, ‘Stop watching us’ - The Hill's Blog Briefing Room - Critics of U.S. surveillance activities rallied Saturday in Washington, D.C. in a sign of growing furor over the practice.
A Rally Against Mass Surveillance | Stop Watching Us
Twitter / shokufeyesib: #Obama: you say fight back, I say tough luck.
Twitter / apblake: Pres. Obama brought his spy ... - cam and surveillance drone to the #stopwatchingus rally! Hoorah!
Twitter / ertelt: #stopwatchingus #cgn #Köln ... - Gruppenfoto :).
Twitter / benandjerrys: Rally in #DC today to call ... - for end to mass surveillance by NSA. We're in! http://benjerrys.co/1d37Qib
Twitter / trevortimm: Thomas Drake, vindicated. ...
Twitter / EisMC2: Really @Twitter? Did you REALLY ...

Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media | Technology | The Guardian - Military's 'sock puppet' software creates fake online identities to spread pro-American propaganda ... "online persona management service" that will allow one US serviceman or woman to control up to 10 separate identities based all over the world
Chicago PD on Stopping Incidents Organized Through Social Media Before They Start | Kenneth Lipp

Eric Schlosser on US nuclear weapons: 'People are getting sloppy' | World news | theguardian.com - Author of Command and Control discusses recent incidents involving those responsible for the US nuclear arsenal

Read the newest court ruling that shreds campaign finance limits.

The President's Devotional: What Obama 'Did In Secret' In Newtown (EXCERPT)

Obama's Valerie Jarrett: Often Whispered about, But Never Challenged | National Review Online - Joseph tweeted “I’m a fan of Obama, but his continuing reliance and dependence upon a vacuous cipher like Valerie Jarrett concerns me.” (the "vacuous cipher" said Obama is bored with his job because he is too brilliant for it)
Anonymous Sources In DC Journalism - Who Are The Anonymous Sources In DC Journalism? - Esquire - But more often than not, at least in the DoD/State/White House stories that you read, the anonymous sources you are seeing are not really anonymous at all. All of the reporters know who they are, and they all got the same briefing. Only you have been kept in the dark.

Michelle Obama's Princeton classmate was Obamacare website builder | The Daily Caller (just a coincidence)
This State Is Working Toward The Nation's First Universal Health Care System - As states open insurance marketplaces amid uncertainty about whether they're a solution for health care, Vermont is eyeing a bigger goal, one that more fully embraces a government-funded model.

The antichoice movement believes dead babies are tragic. Then why are they suing to shut down programs which could significantly decrease infant mortality? (because, freedom!)

Ted Cruz In Iowa Claims Shutdown Was Worth It (for all the money he made off it)
Ted Cruz isn't far from the only Tea Party nut. There's plenty more of them | Ana Marie Cox | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The Tea Party has lots of rising stars. They understand that you don't have to win, you just have to spoil the outcome (evil clowns)
Suppressing the Vote - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 10/23/13 - Video Clip | Comedy Central
The Daily Dot - Political candidate steals copyrighted puppy pic for campaign ad

Marty Sullivan figured out how the world’s biggest companies avoided billions in taxes. Here’s how he wants to stop them.

'12 Years a Slave,' and Historians' Problems with Slave Narratives : The New Yorker - Northup’s narrative, “Twelve Years a Slave,” which the director Steve McQueen has brought to life on the big screen, to stunning effect, vividly conveys the realities of life within the peculiar institution. ("sold down the river")

Tennessee judge cited for ordering baby's name changed from Messiah - Yahoo News - by a court panel for an inappropriate religious bias in violation of the state judicial code of conduct. (Christianist judges)

? Haydn killed by cell phone - YouTube
These Proto-GIFs of the 19th Century Put Today's GIFs to Shame - Megan Garber - The Atlantic


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Tsunami advisory issued for Fukushima coast two years after deadly 30-foot waves decimated area, caused nuclear disaster - NY Daily News - A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit the coast of Fukushima on Friday afternoon, sparking a tsunami advisory in the prefecture already blighted two years ago by a deadly 9.0 magnitude quake.
Japan Hit By 7.3-Magnitude Earthquake Off Fukushima Prefecture Coast, Tsunami Advisory Issued
Al Nusra Leader Killed? Syrian State TV Says Head Of Al Qaeda-Linked Rebels Dead In Coastal Province

October 24, 2013 - Chiwetel Ejiofor | The Daily Show With Jon Stewart - Full Episode Video | Comedy Central (drones)

Announcing preview of "The Engineer" - A new WikiLeaks documentary on US gangs in Latin America

Leaked memos reveal GCHQ efforts to keep mass surveillance secret | UK news | The Guardian - Edward Snowden papers show UK spy agency fears legal challenge if scale of surveillance is made public ... Memos contained in the cache disclosed by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden detail the agency's long fight against making intercept evidence admissible as evidence in criminal trials – a policy supported by all three major political parties, but ultimately defeated by the UK's intelligence community (guess who's the boss?)

Obama left increasingly isolated as anger builds among key US allies | World news | theguardian.com - Merkel the latest to rebuke Washington over NSA spying while US relationships in the Middle East are also unravelling (our mass-surveillance, authoritarian Pres isolated)

As Europe erupts over US spying, NSA chief says government must stop media | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - With General Alexander calling for NSA reporting to be halted, US and UK credibility as guardians of press freedom is crushed ... the NSA's director, General Keith Alexander, actually demanded Thursday that the reporting being done by newspapers around the world on this secret surveillance system be halted
Keith Alexander Says The US Gov't Needs To Figure Out A Way To Stop Journalists From Reporting On Snowden Leaks | Techdirt (he's psychotic)

Germany and France Propose Talks With U.S. to Rein In Spying - NYTimes.com - The leaders of Germany and France offered on Friday to hold talks with the United States in an effort come up with mutually acceptable rules for surveillance operations
Officials alert foreign services that Snowden has documents on their cooperation with U.S. - The Washington Post - Officials alert foreign services that Snowden has documents on their cooperation with U.S.
Germany and France warn NSA spying fallout jeopardises fight against terror | World news | theguardian.com - Angela Merkel and François Hollande lead push at EU summit to reshape transatlantic spying and agree new code of conduct
NSA files – Merkel and Hollande call for talks with US by end of year – live | World news | theguardian.com - Cameron attacks 'la di da, airy fairy view' on spies
Exclusive: Germany, Brazil Turn to U.N. to Restrain American Spies | The Cable
Germany wants a German Internet as spying scandal rankles | Reuters

Former spy chief overheard giving off-the-record interview from Acela train | World news | theguardian.com - Fellow passenger tweets details as former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden 'bashes' Obama administration
Rustle League takes credit for downing NSA web site « The Internet Chronicle
Congressional oversight of the NSA is a joke. I should know, I'm in Congress | Alan Grayson | Comment is free | theguardian.com - I've learned far more about government spying on citizens from the media than I have from official intelligence briefings
SocraticDiscourse comments on '300 Americans have the same amount of wealth as their 85 million poorest Americans' - Russel Brand

ACLU: Lavabit 'fatally undermined' by US request for encryption keys | World news | theguardian.com - Rights group files briefing in defence of founder Ladar Levison and says government's demands 'unreasonably burdensome'

Eschaton: What's It All About Then - People who want to cut "entitlements" want to cut entitlements, or at least the amount of them that we get. Many don't even want to cut the spending, they just want to skim as much as possible for their rich friends. It isn't deficit hawkery. It's attempted theft.
Harry Reid No Grand Bargain - Harry Reid's Left Hook - Esquire - "You keep talking about Medicare and Social Security. Get something else in your brain. Stop talking about that. That is not going to happen this time. There is not going to be a grand bargain,"

Dear AV provider: Do you enable NSA spying? Yours, EFF | Ars Technica - Open letter from 25 groups asks AV firms if they cooperate with spy agencies.

Rand Paul Threatens To Hold Up Janet Yellen Nomination To Fed: Report

Hullabaloo - Oh come on ladies. Why are you trying to vote anyway? Hey if women want the right to vote, they should learn how to follow the rules:

Obama's Top Economic Adviser Tells Democrats They'll Have to Swallow Entitlement Cuts - Businessweek
Addicted to the Apocalypse - NYTimes.com - Once upon a time, walking around shouting “The end is nigh” got you labeled a kook, someone not to be taken seriously. These days, however, all the best people go around warning of looming disaster. In fact, you more or less have to subscribe to fantasies of fiscal apocalypse to be considered respectable. (the end is nigh)
Raising The Medicare Age, Revisited - NYTimes.com - Now we learn that it would have been not just cruel and a betrayal of promises, but bone-stupid too. (Obama gearing up for his attack on sanity)
Over 10 Percent Of America's Largest Companies Pay Zero Percent Tax Rates

The Science of Tea Party Wrath | Mother Jones
Viable Opposition: Genes, Fear and Politicians

Meet The 37 House Republicans Who Could Lose Their Jobs For Shutting Down The Government
Is The Tea Party Racist? Ask Some Actual, Out-Of-The Closet Racists

Cannabis Taxes Will Wind up Too Low, Not Too High | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly - A joint is the same sort of item as a teabag: the dried flowers of a plant in a wrapper. A fancy teabag costs a dime at the supermarket; the marijuana in an average joint costs about $4

A Good Men’s Rights Movement Is Hard to Find - The men’s rights people talk about this as a horrible injustice in the world, whereas the PUA’s are like, these evil women are looking for guys with status, so if we can figure out how to fake that successfully we’ll get to have sex with them.”
The Spearhead celebrates Mothers Day by attacking trans* mothers | man boobz
Factchecking a list of "Hateful Quotes From Feminists" | man boobz
Triumph of the Swill: The long list of feminazi quotes misogynists use in an attempt to discredit feminism
Meet The Men's Rights Activist Who Left An Ohio University Student Too Scared To Leave Her House - Ohio University student and sorority sister Rachel Cassidy had to delete all of her social media accounts after she was labeled a “false rape accuser” and flooded by threatening messages.
What Makes a Mother? Suffering - NYTimes.com

As The Drug War Escalates, SWAT Teams Become 'Bullies With Badges And Guns'
Narcotics Cops Illegally Raid, Burglarize Woman's Home: Sources | NBC 10 Philadelphia - Five Philadelphia Police officers are being investigated for allegedly breaking into a woman's home and stealing valuables from inside.

Associated Press

Brett Favre: 'God Only Knows The Toll' That NFL Concussions, Injuries Will Take
Narconon of Georgia surrenders license, avoids prosecution | www.ajc.com
Marijuana Compounds Can Kill Some Cancer Cells: Study

Associate director at Centers for Disease Control: We’ve reached ‘the end of antibiotics, period’ | The Raw Story (we're doomed)
Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria | FRONTLINE | PBS

Internet Plus: Comcast Offers HBO Without Other Cable Channels | Variety
The Daily Dot - The definitive glossary of hacking terminology
The Daily Dot - The word 'hacker' was enough to get this programmer's computer seized - A Federal Court judge in Idaho has ordered a programmer’s computer seized and its contents copied because he described himself as a “hacker.”

102413
Lies and Injustice: Canada’s Ongoing Mistreatment of Omar Khadr | Andy Worthington
Pirates Kidnap U.S. Sailors Off Nigerian Coast

Statement by Edward Snowden | Stop Watching Us
Russians deny US spying allegations in Washington | World news | theguardian.com - Russian embassy says spy claims are 'echoes of cold war' as FBI reportedly investigates cultural exchange boss Yury Zaitsev
MI5, MI6 and GCHQ chiefs to give evidence in public for first time | UK news | theguardian.com - Andrew Parker, Sir John Sawers and Sir Iain Lobban will testify in session broadcast on internet with short time delay

NSA Monitored Phone Calls Of 35 World Leaders: Report
Anger Growing Among Allies on U.S. Spying - NYTimes.com - In July, Ms. Merkel joked with television interviewers asking about the situation, “I know of no case where I was listened to.” ... After a similar furor with France, the call was the second time in 48 hours that the president found himself on the phone with a close European ally to argue that the unceasing revelations of invasive American intelligence gathering should not undermine decades of hard-won trans-Atlantic trust. (Obama is too brilliant for the job +Clapper lies yet again)
Germany summons US ambassador over claim NSA bugged Merkel's phone | World news | theguardian.com - Allegations that US spying has reached highest level of government met with outrage and disappointment in Germany ... Informed sources in Germany said Merkel was livid about the reports that the NSA had bugged her phone and was convinced, on the basis of a German intelligence investigation, that the reports were utterly substantiated ... "Barack Obama is not a Nobel peace prize winner, he is a troublemaker" ... Obama's "half-hearted denial" of the allegations raised more questions than it answered. "Was Merkel's mobile the target of NSA surveillance in the past?
NSA Spying Allegations: Germany Summons U.S. Ambassador To Answer For Wiretapping Claims - "This cannot be justified from any point of view by the fight against international terrorism or by averting danger," he said ... The White House said the U.S. isn't monitoring and won't monitor Merkel's communications — but didn't address what might have happened in the past. (lookin' forward, as usual)
Angela Merkel: NSA spying on allies is not on | World news | theguardian.com - EU summit confronts US surveillance scandal after claims that Merkel mobile was tapped and French calls were intercepted
Twitter / PRISM_NSA: #Obama: "And then I promised Chancellor Angela #Merkel ...

DutchNews.nl - America's NSA tapped 1.8 million Dutch phone numbers in one month

The Daily Dot - Internet Archive releases a treasure trove of NSA TV clips - Move over, Netflix and Hulu. The Internet Archive now lets you sift through the real must-see TV: more than 700 news clips about the National Security Agency.

This Glenn Greenwald Profile Is The Best One Yet
Enemy of the State | Advocate.com - How Glenn Greenwald is taking on the world, and why he'll never stop.

Russell Brand on revolution: “We no longer have the luxury of tradition” - But before we change the world, we need to change the way we think.
Russell Brand May Have Started a Revolution Last Night - "I don't get my authority from this preexisting paradigm which is quite narrow and only serves a few people," Russell responded. "I look elsewhere for alternatives that might be of service to humanity."

Hacker accuses US government of tricking Anonymous into attacking foreign targets — RT USA
The Daily Dot - U.K. military's 'laptop army' considers recruiting convicted hackers

What Kind of Problem is the ACA Rollout for Liberalism? | Next New Deal
Health Care Law Fails to Lower Prices for Rural Areas - NYTimes.com

Al Jazeera America Cuts Deal With Time Warner Cable - Al Jazeera America has made a crucial deal with Time Warner Cable, the network announced on Thursday.

In Discussing Rape Prevention, Don't Shift the Focus From Men - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com
Case Explores Rights of Fetus Versus Mother - NYTimes.com - Alicia Beltran cried with fear and disbelief when county sheriffs surrounded her home on July 18 and took her in handcuffs to a holding cell.

Occupy 'pepper-spray cop' awarded $38k settlement — RT USA
How A Drug Raid Gone Wrong Sparked A Call For Change In The Unlikeliest State In The Nation
Berthoud police officer accused of physically abusing teen daughter - The Denver Post - Jeremy Yachik, 35, is accused of physically abusing a juvenile identified as his teenage daughter on at least four occasions
Woman claims Nassau County police officer molested her in squad car | 7online.com

Post-traumatic mess? Why crisis counselors still don't know if they're helping or hurting | The Verge - It's the go-to method for trauma relief — but nobody knows if psychological first aid actually works - psychological first aid (PFA): developed several years ago, the technique is the primary mode for immediately buffering the traumatic effects of surviving a disaster.

26 Slogans That Frankly Make More Sense Than the Real Ones | Clif Dickens

'To Tweet' and 'Email' Are Now Fit to Print at The New York Times - Eric Levenson - The Atlantic Wire

102313
Radioactive Rainwater Overwhelms Fukushima Nuclear Plant
Human Rights Experts Call For Immediate Action On Fukushima | PopularResistance.Org

Syria deadline for chemical weapons destruction will be met, says OPCW | World news | theguardian.com - Watchdog reports Damascus co-operating with weapons inspectors to destroy poison gas and nerve agent capability
NSW bushfires live - Army blamed for starting largest blaze | World news | theguardian.com - The federal government is taking very seriously reports that Army training sparked the biggest of several bushfires, a day after firefighters averted potential disaster in Blue Mountains and Hunter regions.
The Daily Dot - #OpSyria explains the motivation behind a major new hack
Dexia Bank and Belgian Government Finance Illegal Israeli Settlements in Occupied Palestine | Global Research - UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk rebukes Dexia Bank and Belgian Government
Right-wing LA nonprofit close to Israeli government is behind new Hollywood “peace” group : Indybay
Leader of Poland's Catholic Church under fire over remarks about child sex abuse by priests | Fox News - by appearing to suggest that children are partly to blame for being sexually abused by priests. ("they were asking for it")

Questions over US drone attacks that President Obama needs to resolve | World news | The Guardian - The US cannot brush off charges of unlawful killings, claiming it is merely protecting US interests, without risking revenge attacks
Every Yemen Drone Strike Creates 40 To 60 New Enemies, Former U.S. Official Says (Obomber: apres moi ...)
Obama Administration Has Launched Drone Strikes Against AQAP Suspects Who Could’ve Been Captured | The Dissenter
"Precise" U.S. Drone Strikes Kill Hundreds Of Civilians : Gothamist
Drone Victims Recount Horror of Follow-Up Strikes Launched Against People Rescuing Wounded | The Dissenter
White House defends legality of drone attacks - Americas - Al Jazeera English - US says it "strongly disagrees" with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch about legality of drone attacks.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issue blistering reports on U.S. Drone War.

Merkel's call to Obama: are you bugging my phone? | World news | theguardian.com - Germany sees credible evidence of US monitoring of chancellor as NSA surveillance row intensifies
Merkel spying claim: with allies like these, who needs enemies? | World news | The Guardian - Is the negotiating edge that secret eavesdropping gives the US worth the immense reputational damage it is now suffering? ... With each leak, American soft power haemorrhages, and hard power threatens to seep away with it.
The NSA wiretapped French diplomats in the US
NSA's Italy op exposed: ‘Millions’ of private communications intercepted with govt awareness — RT News

Who Buys the Spies? The Hidden Corporate Cash Behind America’s Out-of-Control National Surveillance State | Alternet - Democratic leaders are full-fledged players in the national surveillance state, right along with Republicans.
Stop Watching Us: The Video - YouTube

On the NSA, the media may tilt right : Columbia Journalism Review - An inquiry finds a pro-surveillance bias in the language
Media Lens - Journalist Or Activist? Smearing Glenn Greenwald

Claim on “Attacks Thwarted” by NSA Spreads Despite Lack of Evidence - ProPublica - The NSA has publicly identified four of the 54 cases ("material support" to guys in Somalia is an attack on Amercia)
Feinstein defends NSA data collection and insists program is 'not surveillance' | World news | theguardian.com - Democratic chair of Senate intelligence committee says in USA Today op-ed that NSA program has helped prevent terrorist plots
OS X Mavericks Fixes Apple Contacts Vulnerability NSA May Have Exploited - "The speculation seems to be that this is one of the ways in which the NSA was able to collect Google address book information," Mayer told HuffPost. "Certainly to the extent the NSA was doing simple keyword searches on the content of unencrypted Web traffic."

Court Rules Probable-Cause Warrant Required for GPS Trackers | Threat Level | Wired.com

$648 Million In Federal Sandy Aid To NYC Still Sits Unused : Gothamist - According to the Wall Street Journal, only a single person—a woman on Staten Island whose damaged house was purchased by the government this month—has received any of the funding.

python sweetness — How to lose $172,222 a second for 45 minutes

Dick Durbin: Top House GOP Leader Told Obama 'I Cannot Even Stand To Look At You' [update: WH Denies]
Dick Durbin Stands By House GOP Quote

GOP And Tea Party Unfavorability At Record Highs: Poll - Sixty-four percent of Americans view the Republican Party unfavorably, and 56 percent view the tea party unfavorably. (Teapublicans more popular than Republicans???)
Affordable Care Act Implementation Hearings - A Few Words About "Glitchgate" - Esquire - There are certain matters to be kept in mind while discussing the "investigations" that the House is about to launch into what I have no doubt will be referred to no later than next Monday as Glitchgate on CNN.

Top White House security official fired over critical tweets | World news | theguardian.com - Jofi Joseph, who was involved in Iranian nuclear talks, used Twitter to insult key members of Obama administration
NSC aide admits Twitter attack on White House - POLITICO.com - Jofi Joseph, 40, was fired from his job on the NSC nuclear nonproliferation team a week ago after a months-long probe into a barrage of tweets that included caustic criticisms of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and top NSC officials, especially Ben Rhodes – whom he accused of dodging questions about Benghazi ... his wife, Carolyn Leddy, a highly regarded staffer on the Republican side of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Who Is Jofi Joseph? All About @NatSecWonk And The Tweets That Got White House Staffer Fired
Top White House security official fired over critical tweets | World news | theguardian.com - Jofi Joseph, who was involved in Iranian nuclear talks, used Twitter to insult key members of Obama administration
Bateman On Writing Anonymously - A Good Rule For Using The Internet In The 21st Century - Esquire - What is not cool is blogging (or in this case tweeting) anonymously from the other side of the coin. Like, say for example, when you are a staff member for the National Security Council. Yeah, that is most definitely not cool.

Why DOJ Deemed Bank Execs Too Big To Jail - Forbes
Pirate Bay co-founder fights hacking case extradition | Technology | theguardian.com - Gottfrid Svartholm Warg formally appeals against deportation from Sweden to Denmark, where he could face six years' jail

Prisoners of Profit - The Huffington Post - Florida's Lax Oversight Enables Systemic Abuse At Private Youth Prisons
Study: Religious People More Likely to Lie for Financial Gain | Alternet - New research suggests people with certain personality traits are more prone to dishonesty

Missouri residents rally in support of Maryville teen sexual abuse victim | World news | theguardian.com - A prosecutor dropped charges against two alleged assailants of then 14-year-old Daisy Coleman, citing victim's noncooperation
Hundreds rally in support of alleged rape victim in Maryville, Missouri | Reuters

The L.A. schools' iPad misadventure is looking a lot more expensive - latimes.com - The story of Los Angeles schools' misbegotten $1-billion program to equip all its students with iPads for students continues to get worse.
Eschaton: Better Cut Teacher Pay - Racist alleged grifters.
DA Accuses Coatesville School District of Delaying Racist Text Investigation | NBC 10 Philadelphia
John Pike, Pepper-Spraying Cop, Gets $38,000 Disability Settlement - The 40-year-old former officer said he suffered depression and anxiety after death threats were sent to him and his family over the Nov. 18, 2011 event. (win!)

Unreliable research: Trouble at the lab | The Economist - Scientists like to think of science as self-correcting. To an alarming degree, it is not ... research on a phenomenon known as “priming”. Priming studies suggest that decisions can be influenced by apparently irrelevant actions or events that took place just before the cusp of choice. They have been a boom area in psychology over the past decade ... “most published research findings are probably false.” (3/4 of primary Cancer studies can't be replicated and nothing happened)
Peerage of Science
Most distant galaxy ever discovered was a prolific star factory | Science | The Guardian - Exceptionally high rate of star formation in the galaxy, formed a mere 700m years after the big bang, has baffled astronomers
Fox News defends global warming false balance by denying the 97% consensus | Dana Nuccitelli | Environment | theguardian.com - Fox News claims bias is balance, exemplifies the five characteristics of scientific denialism (watching Fox decreases trust in reality)
Alfonso the Slobberer and Ivar the Boneless: Worst Nicknames for Medieval Rulers

Sad Aging Beardo Hipster Gavin McInnes Is No Longer Relevant And It Is Definitely Feminism's Fault - happy nice time people
Condé Nast to stop hiring interns | Media | The Guardian - US publisher will cease practice of taking on novices after being taken to court by two former interns over low pay

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China Faces Human Rights Scrutiny As UN Review Approaches

Pollen Study Points to Culprit in Bronze Era Mystery - NYTimes.com - Yet within 150 years, according to experts, the old world lay in ruins ... researchers say it was drought that led to the collapse in the ancient southern Levant.

U.S. broke international law by killing civilians with drones: rights groups | Reuters - Human rights groups on Tuesday accused the United States of breaking international law and perhaps committing war crimes by killing civilians in missile and drone strikes that were intended to hit militants in Pakistan and Yemen.
U.S. Drone Strikes Killed Pakistani Grandmother And Workers, Amnesty International Claims - "People who are clearly no imminent threat to the U.S., are not fighting against the U.S., are being killed. The U.S. has to come clean publicly with the justifications for these killings." (Obama loves killing grandmothers and children, but "they must have been terrorists, we never have killed any civilians")
US strikes in Yemen have killed dozens of civilians, says report | World news | theguardian.com - Human Rights Watch says 57 civilians have been killed in six drone and plane attacks that 'clearly or possibly' violated international law (Obama in prison by 2020)
US drone strikes could be classed as war crimes, says Amnesty International | World news | The Guardian - Joint report with Human Rights Watch judges US attacks in Yemen and Pakistan to have broken international human rights law
CIA drone strikes could encourage use by hostile states, lawyer warns | World news | theguardian.com - Lawyers from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch expand on drone report that says strikes count as war crimes (World Court here we come)
Time for the truth about 'targeted' killings and US drones' civilian victims | Naureen Shah | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The Obama administration is like a reckless hit-and-run driver. Congress must not let John Brennan's CIA get away with murder (yeah, they said "murder")

UN Top Torture Investigator Wants Access to American Prisons | Alternet - UN special rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez wants access to California prisons to look into isolation units.

Dianne Feinstein's Bragging About NSA Surveillance Program May Finally Result In It Being Declared Unconstitutional | Techdirt
Scalia expects NSA program to end up in court - Yahoo News

The US government's secrecy problem just got worse | Al Jazeera America - Commentary: Judge endorses dangerous claim that officials can classify documents usable as '??propaganda'?? (they don't want you to know how bad they would look if you could look)


Snowden Says He Took No Secret Files to Russia - NYTimes.com
Barack Obama calls François Hollande following NSA revelations in France | World news | theguardian.com - White House highlights intelligence review after Le Monde published details from Edward Snowden which suggest the NSA has intercepted French phone traffic on a massive scale ... The White House conceded on Monday that revelations about how its intelligence agencies have intercepted enormous amounts of French phone traffic raised "legitimate questions for our friends and allies". (maybe this was too complicated for his "brilliant mind")
MEPs tighten up draft data privacy rules after Snowden revelations | World news | theguardian.com - New regulatory regime to block transfer of personal data to US corporations comes as French newspaper details US spying methods on French diplomats
NSA files: MPs debate whether Guardian damaged national security | World news | theguardian.com - MP has asked police to investigate Guardian over NSA leaks
The TSA is now searching your personal records before you get to the airport | The Verge
Cryptoseal shuts down consumer VPN service over legal concerns | The Verge - Spurred by the same concerns that led to Lavabit and Silent Mail's shutdowns, the Cryptoseal founders left a statement saying the company was concerned by the courts apparent ability to compel cryptographic keys from otherwise untappable services
AP Chief: US Press Attacks Will 'Comfort Authoritarian Regimes' - Governments that try to force citizens to decide between a free press and national security create a "false choice" that weakens democracy, and journalists must fight increasing government overreach that has had a chilling effect on efforts to hold leaders accountable
Richard Cohen Admits He Was 1000 Percent Wrong About Edward Snowden (his usual track record)

When Will the Government Officially Correct the False Claims It Made to the Supreme Court About NSA Surveillance? | Electronic Frontier Foundation - Unfortunately, the government successfully convinced the Court that the case should be thrown out on procedural grounds. The Court ruled the ACLU’s clients didn’t have “standing.” Essentially, because they had no definitive proof they were being spied on, so couldn’t challenge the law.

The Daily Dot - Apple's Address Book leaves your contacts wide open to the NSA
The Daily Dot - The Feds flipped Silk Road's most notorious heroin dealer

The Daily Dot - Canadians sue their own government over domestic spying - A coalition of Internet and privacy groups represented by the British Columbia Civil Liberties Union filed suit Tuesday against the Communications Security Establishment Canada.

NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake Discusses Meeting Snowden & Most Critical Revelations from Him (So Far) | The Dissenter

US Patriot Act Compared to German Enabling Act - 1933key for Peace Privacy and Protection
Sophie Scholl - The Final Days: True Story of Anti-Nazi Activist, Part 1 - YouTube

Eschaton: Again? - The disappointing jobs report released Friday leaves Federal Reserve officials without a clear-cut signal of an economy on the mend - There has never been any kind of strong signal from the data that recovery was really here, or imminent. >5 years later the unemployment rate is at 7.2%.

Inside The Meeting Where Obama And Reid Vowed Not To Be 'Taken In By These Crazy People' - in the Oval Office on July 9 ... the 2011 debt ceiling compromise that the White House had cut with the GOP, which ultimately gave the country sequestration ... Biden had undercut fiscal cliff negotiations at the end of 2012 ... (Obama found the nose on his face after 6 years)

Eschaton: Henhouse - I suppose it's too way too late to bring this up again, but the bill was called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. "Protection" largely referring to the insurance companies.
Take this, conservatives: Criticism only makes Obamacare stronger! - Salon.com - Ignore most conservatives attacking Healthcare.gov -- but it's a mistake to assume Obama's got it under control
White House Hints At Way Around Obamacare Individual Mandate - "The law is clear that if you do not have access to affordable health insurance then you will not be asked to pay a penalty,
Post-Shutdown Polls Find Americans Angry, GOP Majority Potentially Vulnerable - The GOP, however, takes the bulk of blame for the shutdown In the Post/ABC poll, a 53 percent majority of Americans blame Republicans more for the shutdown, while 29 percent blame Obama more (the same hard-core 27% insane)
Wherefore By Their Untruths Ye Shall Know Them - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - The Tea Partier Maine’s electorate elevated to the governor’s office in of its more dubious judgments has some things to say that are presumably not intended as factual statements: Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) took a page from the Mitt Romney playbook when he told a conservative audience at an event last week that 47 percent of able-bodied people in the state don’t work (dumbest NE Gov)

Here's Why You Shouldn't Compare Obamacare To Katrina Or Iraq, In One Chart

AP Fires Third Employee Over Terry McAuliffe Mistake; Guild ‘Alarmed'
Newspapers On Track To Lose $1 Billion In Ad Sales This Year: Poynter

Prisoners of Profit - The Huffington Post - Private Prison Empire Rises Despite Startling Record Of Juvenile Abuse

New Jersey has same-sex marriage. Here’s a new map of the Northeast | PhillyNow | A blog about Philadelphia news, politics and culture by Philadelphia Weekly (PA looking like a slave state; Corbett hates gays)

Steubenville rape case: Grand jury investigates whether adults knew, failed to report incident
Magnetar Goes Long Ohio Town While Shorting Its Tax Base - Bloomberg - What makes Magnetar’s investment unique so far is its focus, buying one in 11 homes in the Ohio suburb, magnifying its influence over the residents and the town’s finances.

Ronan Farrow Gets Some Pundit Practice In On 'Morning Joe' - Farrow: Dark. Things got dark here.
Why Christopher Hitchens’s Political Writing Will Be Quickly Forgotten - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - I now think this was unfair…to Dowd. I note that Hitchens emitted the following thing:

US CEOs break pay record as top 10 earners take home at least $100m each | Business | theguardian.com - Pay gaps within companies widen as top two earners, led by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, earn billion-dollar paychecks

Fructose: the poison index | Robert Lustig | Comment is free | The Guardian - And yet the scientific data on fructose says it is one of the most egregious components of the western diet, directly contributing to heart disease and diabetes, and associated with cancer and dementia.

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The World's Oceans Will Be Drastically Different by 2100 - weather.com Science Behind Cimate: Oceans
Koch brothers could make $100 billion on Keystone XL pipeline deal | Grist

Volgograd bus bombing kills six | World news | theguardian.com - Suicide blast likely to raise fears of further attacks by Islamist militants as Russia prepares to host Winter Olympics
Iran gives Russia copy of US ScanEagle drone as proof of mass production | World news | The Guardian - US spy drone given to prove Iran's forces have mass produced the drone they claim to have captured a year ago
Japan to Shoot Down Foreign Drones | Flashpoints | The Diplomat - that ignore initial warnings to leave Japanese airspace.

The real reason that 500,000 people died in Iraq - "The only reason we went into Iraq, I tell people now, is we were looking for somebody’s ass to kick. Afghanistan was too easy," the anonymous official said
Former Bush Official: We Went Into Iraq Because 'We Were Looking For Somebody's Ass To Kick': Report
Eschaton: The Worst People In The World - It's quite amazing that someone actually can admit this without subsequently killing himself.

U.S. Military investing heavily for perpetual war in Africa — Phantom Report - U.S. Military investing heavily for perpetual war in Africa
Chevron Drops Key Element in RICO Lawsuit Against Pollution Victims
Money Laundering and The Drug Trade: The Role of the Banks | Global Research

NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake Discusses Meeting Snowden & Most Critical Revelations from Him (So Far) | The Dissenter (transcript also)

Snowden leaks: France summons US envoy over NSA surveillance claims | World news | theguardian.com - Demand follows claims in Le Monde that US agency has been intercepting phone calls of French citizens on 'a massive scale'
The Daily Dot - New Snowden leak: The U.S. spied on French citizens - NSA was able to automatically record French phone calls and SMS messages based on each target’s keywords, communications history, and metadata.
NSA France: U.S. Conducted Large-Scale Spying On French Citizens: Report
Feinstein defends NSA data collection and insists program is 'not surveillance' | World news | theguardian.com - Democratic chair of Senate intelligence committee says in USA Today op-ed that NSA program has helped prevent terrorist plots
Box office disaster: Benedict Cumberbatch's 'The Fifth Estate' bombs | Inside Movies | EW.com
Zombie CISPA bill pushes forward with NSA support - Salon.com - Senators agree to draft a bill, after Keith Alexander says government agency needs the legislation (DiFi so agrees)

Bitcoin price surges to post-crash high | Technology | theguardian.com - Price hits $197, following a jump of $30 in a day, calming fears that the closure of Silk Road would harm the currency

The Daily Dot - Worst virus ever locks your files, demands Bitcoin ransom
CIR launches campaign to capture the power of investigative reporting | The Center for Investigative Reporting
Media Tools – Google

Truthdig - Let’s Get This Class War Started
Worse than Watergate. Supreme Court Campaign Finance Case Could Unleash Unprecedented Political Corruption | Global Research

GOP, Boehner take shutdown hit in new CNN poll - CNN.com - Just over half the public says that it's bad for the country that the GOP controls the House of Representatives, more than six in 10 Americans say that Speaker of the House John Boehner should be replaced.
Majority Of Americans Think It's 'Bad For The Country' That Republicans Control The House
Democrats Have A Shot At Taking Back The House As Republican Popularity Continues To Drop: Poll
Stop enabling the right: The media just makes dysfunction worse - Salon.com - Our politics are a disaster because the media -- and the president -- pretend conservatives are dealing with facts
Just secede already: The obstructionists aren’t going anywhere. Maybe we should - Salon.com - We don't want to live in Ted Cruz's America. He doesn't like ours. Maybe a split really is inevitable — and right - In fact, it’s the same old obstructionist strategy that’s been pursued by traitorous Southerners in government since long before Robert E. Lee’s doomed charge at Gettysburg.
Democrats Have A Shot At Taking Back The House As Republican Popularity Continues To Drop: Poll
ELI5: How did healthcare.gov cost $634,000,000? That seems a bit much. : explainlikeimfive

How Texas’ Voter ID Laws Affect Women - Truthdig - Supporters of these new laws insist that requiring voters to have an ID that matches their birth certificate is a reasonable requirement (married women just lost the right to vote in Texas - Saudi Arabia on the Rio Grande)
Virginia Purges Nearly 40,000 Voters - Ring Of Fire Radio: Robert Kennedy Jr, Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder - The GOP-controlled Virginia Board of Elections purged nearly 40,000 names from the state’s voter rolls. State officials pushed for eliminating tens of thousands of names of residents they believe to be registered in other states

Washington is still stuck in the wrong conversation - Republicans want cuts to social insurance, or say they do, and Democrats want a bit of new tax revenue in return. Every proposed policy under discussion is either pointless or actively harmful.

Ohio Will Expand Medicaid Under Obamacare, Extending Health Coverage To Nearly 300,000 Residents | ThinkProgress
A Television Journalist Loses His Cool And Confronts Someone Responsible For The Shutdown - Just wait till Thomas Roberts loses his cool at 1:34 and says what we've all wanted to ask since the beginning of this shutdown business. - Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on MSNBC. ("we didn't want a shutdown" zombie liar)
Fox News Reportedly Used Fake Commenter Accounts To Rebut Critical Blog Posts | Blog | Media Matters for America - New Book Details An Extensive Campaign By The Networks' PR Staffers
Fox News PR Used Fake Accounts To Push Back At Negative Commenters (Fox has its own sock-puppet army)
Steve Buscemi: 'I hope people remember the shutdown in the next elections' | Film | The Guardian - The Boardwalk Empire star on how the Republicans have held the US hostage and why the pursuit of money is not a worthy goal
The Tea Party, Not Democrats or Republicans, Is the Problem - The Daily Beast - It’s de rigueur to decry ‘partisanship’ as Washington’s ‘real problem.’ Let’s get real—the most destructive force in American politics today is the Tea Party, says Jon Favreau.

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg says Banksy doesn't fit his definition of art | The Verge (Banksy says Bloomberg doesn't fit his definition of a human being)

U.S. surveillance leaks threaten police use of new technologies: official | Reuters - Public disclosures about U.S. government surveillance threaten the ability of police to use powerful new technologies such as drones and mobile license plate readers, a top law enforcement official said on Sunday. (yeah, he really said that)
ACLU Sues to Get Policies and Records on Use of NSA Surveillance in Criminal Cases : Indybay
25 Years Ago: Philadelphia Police Bombs MOVE Headquarters Killing 11, Destroying 65 Homes | Democracy Now!

Maryville Rape Survivor Fights Victim-Blaming: 'This Is Why I Am Not Shutting Up' | ThinkProgress - , Daisy’s mother also suggested that additional girls in Maryville may have been victimized by the same high school football players who raped Daisy.

GW misrepresented admissions and financial aid policy for years - The GW Hatchet - The University admitted publicly for the first time Friday that it puts hundreds of undergraduate applicants on its waitlist each year because they cannot pay GW's tuition. (they lied for years)

David Sedaris: A Big Family, at the Beach : The New Yorker - A big family, at the beach.

Silicon Valley's Ultimate Exit Is a Fantasy of Seceding from the U.S. - This is the Tea Party with better gadgets.
Welcome to Google Island | Gadget Lab | Wired.com
Larry Page Wants Earth To Have A Mad Scientist Island | TechCrunch

Vaccine deniers: inside the dumb, dangerous new fad | The Verge - Why a San Francisco community is disregarding mainstream medicine and putting its children at risk
IBM's Watson is better at diagnosing cancer than human doctors (Wired UK)

The Insidious Power of Not-Quite-Harassment — LadyBits on Medium — Medium - There wasn’t any touching or overt sex talk. But it was still harassment—just harder to talk about
This happened. | monica byrne - The man is Bora Zivkovic, Blogs Editor for Scientific American. There’s no reason for me anymore not to name him publicly, which I’d long wanted to do anyway
Science blogging scandal: Bora Zivkovic and sexual harassment. - Lessons from the latest terrible, sad, fascinating scandal in the science blogging world.
SciAm Apologizes for Deleting Blogger's Post on Being Called a 'Whore'
On Science, Communication, Respect, and Coming Back from Mistakes - Wired Science
Follow-up: On Clarity, Dignity, Apologies and Moving Forward - Wired Science
Apology to DNLee - Biology-Online
Fuck No, Hugo Schwyzer
In which my tolerance for sexism in theatre reaches a breaking point | Songs for the Struggling Artist
Genevieve Valentine - Things You Should Know About the Fallout
Solidarity is For Miley Cyrus: The Racial Implications of her VMA Performance

Google's Quantum AI Lab adds quantum physics to Minecraft | The Verge - qCraft
Top US credit bureau reportedly sold social security numbers to Vietnamese scammer | The Verge
Google launches new anti-DDoS service called 'Project Shield' | The Verge
Microsoft Surface Pro 2 review | The Verge - The body of a tablet, the soul of a laptop
Surface Pro 2 Is a Workhorse PC Like No Other [review]
Microsoft Surface Pro 2 review: a tablet that works best as a laptop
AnandTech | Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Review

102013
Assassination pushes Libya towards civil war two years after Gaddafi death | World news | The Observer - Fighting rages in Benghazi as Tripoli braces for fallout from the kidnapping of prime minister Ali Zaidan (that worked out really, really well)
U.S. Army Hones Antiterror Strategy for Africa, in Kansas - NYTimes.com - Members of the Army’s First Infantry Division have been called on to conduct more than 100 missions in Africa over the next year. (the next Middle East for the military)

Mexico drug lord shot dead by clown assassins - Americas - Al Jazeera English - Gunmen in disguise kill lieutenant of once-powerful Tijuana cartel during family children's party ... the costumes included a wig and a round red nose. (why you should always fear clowns)
Fireball Hits Sky as Train Carrying Crude Oil, Gas Derails | Common Dreams - 13 cars derail near Edmonton, workers continue to fight flames, explosion
Why have young people in Japan stopped having sex? | World news | The Observer - What happens to a country when its young people stop having sex? Japan is finding out… Abigail Haworth investigates

? Elsipogtog: Tensions, anger, and courage 17 October - YouTube

The silence surrounding Omar Khadr | GeorgieBC's Blog - Omar Khadr was a Canadian kid caught in a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002. He was captured by the US and tortured at Bagram and Guantanamo for ten years. Eventually, he signed a plea deal admitting guilt in killing Special Forces Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer during the battle. He continues his legal saga in solitary confinement in Canada.

5 myths used to justify drone assassinations - Salon.com - These rebels with a cause will sadly become the norm as we push and provoke more of the world’s 1.3 billion to 1.4 billion Muslims into the political fringes where American violence begets more violence. (drone-boy: apres-moi le terror deluge)

NSA Hacked Email Account of Mexican President - spiegel ONLINE - The NSA has been systematically eavesdropping on the Mexican government for years. It hacked into the president's public email account and gained deep insight into policymaking and the political system. The news is likely to hurt ties between the US and Mexico. (Oblunder)
Did a U.S. Senator Block Additional Funding for Whistleblower Protection as Payback? | MyFDL - U.S. Senator Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) objected to, and got removed, a provision in the shutdown deal legislation that would have funded the Office of Special Counsel, the nation’s top federal whistelblower defender, at the levels proposed by the White House ... payback for having been inartfully named in a January 2011 OSC report on inappropriate political activities by Bush Administration officials

UK Orders WSJ To Withold Names Of Implicated LIBOR Manipulators After Story Already Hits Wires | Zero Hedge - In what is a staggering example of not only state meddling in the affairs of the "free press", but worse, sheer state idiocy ("remove the internet or else" +Streisand Effect)
Senior officer, NCIS agent are among those arrested in Navy bribery scandal - The Washington Post

Fiscal Crisis Sounds the Charge in G.O.P.’s ‘Civil War’ - NYTimes.com (revenge of the Confederacy)
Eschaton: Can't Tweak Crazy - I get that Serious Journalists dislike Partisan Gridlock and like to propose clever ways to end Wicked Partisanosity. But these Serious Journalists also spent years chin-stroking about how the Tea Baggers represented Heartland Values.

Hullabaloo - It's not like they've been hiding it - Blitzer: But congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die? Crowd: [Yeah! Yeah! Laughs.] (Ron Paul: moochers should just die)
Eschaton: A Species Of Enormous, Mendacious, Disembodied Anuses - Also, too, being complicit in directly causing that suffering just for giggles. People are assholes.

The Worst Ex-Central Banker in the World - NYTimes.com - Steven Pearlstein reads Alan Greenspan’s new book, and discovers that Greenspan believes that he bears no responsibility for all the bad things that happened on his watch — and that the solution to financial crises is, you guessed it, less government.

Who Should Young People Throw Under the Bus: Granny or Billionaire Hedgie Stan Druckenmiller? The column also serves to illustrate how Serious People like Friedman were ready to jump on the deficit cutting bandwagon once the shutdown/debt ceiling drama was put to rest for a bit.
Contrary to "Entitlement Society" Rhetoric, Over Nine-Tenths of Entitlement Benefits Go to Elderly, Disabled, or Working Households — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Left demands: Charge Ted Cruz with sedition | WashingtonExaminer.com
The Daily Dot - Twitter takes Ted Cruz to task over outrageous Obamacare claims - In conclusion, PolitiFact wrote, “We rate his claim False.” (but Limbaugh said it was true)
If We'd Had Jungle Primaries In 2010 And 2012: Less-Crazy Republican Senators But More Of Them?
Yes, conservatives, please oust Mitch McConnell - Salon.com - The right is determined to rid itself of its single most effective legislative weapon. Good!

Bloomberg: Lack of Housing Is a ‘Good Sign’ -- Daily Intelligencer (shows his plan to drive out the middle class and make it billionairopolis is working)
Security tight after Banksy graffiti woes - Yahoo News - "Graffiti does ruin people's property, and it's a sign of decay and loss of control," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said this week. "Some places are for arts, and some aren't."

Carlyle Jumps Into Niche Space - WSJ.com - Private-Equity Firm Adds Trailer Parks to Its Diverse Portfolio

The Daily Dot - Doctors tried to terrorist-proof Dick Cheney's heart device

The Most Educated Countries in the World - 24/7 Wall St. - an estimated 53.5% of Russian adults held a tertiary degree 42%
Brains flush toxic waste in sleep, including Alzheimer’s-linked protein, study of mice finds - The Washington Post

Think Sexism Isn't A Problem Worldwide? Just Check Google

How stores use your phone’s WiFi to track your shopping habits
Contrary to public claims, Apple can read your iMessages | Ars Technica - "Apple's claim that they can't read end-to-end encrypted iMessage[s] is definitely not true," researchers from QuarksLab wrote in a white paper summarizing their findings. "As everyone suspected: yes they can!"
Is Wikipedia for Sale? | Motherboard - Emad Rahim, Dean of the College of Business and Management at Colorado Technical University, recruited Wiki-PR earlier this year. “I have been focusing the last few years in developing my brand as a thought leader in higher education and entrepreneurship,” ("thought leader")
Tohu Bohu: "both of them second-generation Parisians"

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Israeli and Saudi leaders could lose out if Iran deprives the US of its enemy - Middle East News | Latest News Headlines | The Irish Times - Sun, Oct 20, 2013 - Opinion: Previous offer from Tehran was dismissed by Bush’s neocons (who needed Netanyahu's war)
In biggest ceasefire violation in 10 years, Pak troops open fire at 25 locations on international border | NDTV.com
Syria: dozens killed in clashes after suicide attack in Damascus | World news | theguardian.com - Attack by rebel forces on checkpoint in pro-government suburb of Jaramana kills at least 30 people, reports say
Afghanistan Loya Jirga will determine whether US troops remain after 2014 | World news | theguardian.com - Member of convening commission says assembly of tribal elders will start between 19 and 21 November
Westgate attack: soldiers 'take things from shop' during siege - video | World news | theguardian.com
Al-Shabaab suicide bomber attacks restaurant in Somalia | World news | theguardian.com - At least 13 people are killed as attacker blows himself up in a restaurant near a military base in the city of Beledweyne
Pentagon shifting Afghan logistics hub to Romania from Kyrgyzstan | StratRisks

Leaked Document Shows Massive New Tear Gas Shipment Planned for Bahrain | Bahrain Watch - Blog
Azerbaijan Hacker Team Hacks National Security Service of Armenia, Claims to leak Secret Documents – HackRead – Latest Cyber Crime – Information Security – Hacking News
Qatari Domain Registrar Hacked, Government and Military Websites Defaced by Syria Electronic Army – HackRead – Latest Cyber Crime – Information Security – Hacking News
Corporations Using Foreign Tribunals To Attack Domestic Court Rulings | PopularResistance.Org

NSA Files: Decoded – coming soon to the Guardian | World news | theguardian.com - 'Emails, web browsing activity, telephone calls, satellite phone calls: any kind of communication, the NSA wants it.' But what does this mean for you? Our upcoming NSA feature explains all
These GCHQ revelations show we need a parliamentary inquiry into mass surveillance | Tom Watson | Comment is free | The Guardian - The laws we have now were written before something like Tempora was possible. It's not the Guardian that needs investigating, but our system of oversight
? NSA's Unpunished Perjury | Interview with David Seaman - YouTube
My name is US Bandwith, king of kings: | emptywheel - The main reason the software had not been installed at the NSA’s Hawaii facility by the time Snowden took up his assignment there was that it had insufficient bandwidth to comfortably install it and ensure its effective operation, according to one of the officials. (they were downloading too much porno)

CIA and the President: The Warm Embrace of Mutual Incrimination | emptywheel - Andrew Sullivan is newly convinced — but surprised and confused — that President Obama is permitting John Brennan to hold up the release of the Senate Torture Report - Again, I think this is the way Presidential Findings are supposed to work: to implicate the President deeply enough to ensure he’ll protect the CIA for the crimes he asks it to commit.

Docket Inflation at the FISA Court? | emptywheel - We’re running at 10 times the pace we were 4 years ago. (10 times the terrorists! it's working!)

Obama: Washington 'has to change' after shutdown and debt ceiling crisis | World news | theguardian.com - President repeats appeal for co-operation between Republicans and Democrats despite scepticism from the conservative right
Obama’s post-debt limit deal speech, distilled | protein wisdom - “Stop listening to the evil assholes who, with their voices or their pens or their computers or their activism, continue to fight my attempt to fundamentally transform this wretched capitalistic country. (the rightwing nutcase pov, but, irony)

The Tea Party As A Religion « The Dish
Constitutional Conservatism As a Religion by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly
Back Door Secession by Garry Wills | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books - The people behind these efforts are imitating what the Confederate States did even before they formally seceded in 1861. (can't they all just go to Montana, Wyoming and No CO and leave the rest of us alone?)
Today's Budget Brinksmanship Takes Cues From 1879's Ku Klux Klan

Texans Stick With Cruz Despite Defeat in Washington - NYTimes.com
Republicans Still Like Ted Cruz After Shutdown, Rest Of America Has Had Enough
GOP Shutdown Tactics Helped Drive Democrats' Fundraising Record
Ted Cruz Failed To Disclose Ties To Caribbean Holding Company | TIME.com - An old college friendship led to financial entanglement with a Jamaican private equity firm and a British Virgin Islands holding company. Neither was disclosed during his 2012 campaign.

Oregon cuts tally of people lacking health insurance by 10 percent in two weeks | OregonLive.com
It's Time: Return of the Atlas Shrugged Guy - James Fallows - The Atlantic - Chronicles of a man unhappy with his country's path

Are Private Schools Worth It? - Julia Ryan - The Atlantic - A new book argues that public schools are actually academically superior.

Armed gun rights activists rally at the Alamo - Yahoo News - that broke a longstanding tradition of not staging such events at the enduring symbol of Texas independence. (transgressive traditionalism)

NYPD Intent On Bringing Banksy To Justice: Gothamist - the NYPD, which is making his arrest a top priority. (Bloomfuck sics his fascist cops on terrorist vandal; NSA will track him down)

In An Ugly Custody Battle, Woman's Abortion Used As 'Proof' She's Unfit To Raise Kids | ThinkProgress - a New York judge decided to consider her decision to terminate a pregnancy as potential evidence that she’s not fit to care for her two young children.

Has David Birnbaum solved the mystery of existence? | Books | The Guardian
Hormone removes the pleasure of smoking | ScienceNordic

A Wondrous GIF Shows the Most Popular Baby Names for Girls Since 1960 - Rebecca J. Rosen - The Atlantic


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Radioactivity level spikes 6,500 times at Fukushima well — RT News
Blackwater faces new charges in Iraq killings - Americas - Al Jazeera English - Four former guards face new charges in the US for a 2007 shooting in Baghdad's Nisour Square that killed 17 civilians.
Chevron halts east Romania shale gas search after protests | Reuters - * Thousands have rallied across Romania against exploration
Netizen Report: China's online-rumors crackdown claims another user.
The Daily Dot - Anonymous defends Moroccan teenagers' right to kiss in public
Pakistan polio outbreak puts global eradication at risk | Reuters - A Taliban ban on vaccination is exacerbating a serious polio outbreak in Pakistan, threatening to derail dramatic progress made this year towards wiping out the disease worldwide, health officials say. (may recruit Jenny McCarthy)

Twitter / jeremyscahill: . @dirtywars is now available ...
? DIRTY WARS - Official Theatrical Trailer - YouTube
Jeremy Scahill's Dirty Wars: Giving a Voice to the Voiceless | Matthew Hoh

Why Is Obama Preventing The Release Of The Senate Torture Report? « The Dish - the Senate Intelligence Committee’s allegedly devastating report on the torture program run by the Bush-Cheney CIA. (oh, there's your answer)

Drone strikes by US may violate international law, says UN | World news | theguardian.com - Report says CIA attacks led to civilian deaths and casualties and says US protocols are 'hurdle to transparency' ("casualites?" what "casualties")
UN rapporteur Christof Heyns condemns use of drone strikes | World news | theguardian.com - Law professor's study says strikes for 'policing' harm global security and spur proliferation among states and terrorists (Obama is either incredibly stupid, or that was the whole point)

Edward Snowden: US would have buried NSA warnings forever | World news | theguardian.com - Whistleblower says he shared information with media because he could not trust internal reporting mechanisms (which Obama made sure would not work)
Snowden Says He Took No Secret Files to Russia - NYTimes.com - American intelligence officials have expressed grave concern that the files might have fallen into the hands of foreign intelligence services, but Mr. Snowden said he believed that the N.S.A. knew he had not cooperated with the Russians or the Chinese. (and lied anyway, like they always do)
The Daily Dot - Head of NSA's Snowden task force will be next deputy director - Sources have told Reuters that the next deputy director of the NSA will be Richard Ledgett, an NSA executive whose current job is dealing with the fallout from the actions of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden
The Daily Dot - A psychological history of the NSA - To Snowden, the lesson was simple: Somewhere in its six-decade history, the agency had spun out of control. The question is, how did it all go wrong? (spied on Church, among other evil deeds)
Sneaking more than a peek at WikiLeaks - Movies - Boston.com - a Julian Assange by way of Dr. Evil (he was right about the movie)

NSA leaks supremo to become new deputy | World news | theguardian.com - Richard Ledgett, head of 'unauthorised disclosure' taskforce, rumoured to be in line to replace John Inglis in January
Obama nominates drone program proponent to lead DHS — RT USA
dronestagram on Instagram - he drone's-eye view. (what Obama sees in the WH basement before he hits the trigger)

TSA admits "terrorists in America are not plotting against aviation" - Boing Boing - That is to say, there is no identifiable risk to America's skies -- and all of business with shoes and pornoscanners and horrible, abusive incidents involving toddlers, people with mental disabilities, cancer survivors, rape survivors, and the whole business of treating travellers like presumptive terrorists is all to prevent a problem that, to all intents and purposes, doesn't exist.
Stanford researchers discover ‘alarming’ method for phone tracking, fingerprinting through sensor flaws | The Technology Chronicles | an SFGate.com blog - Stanford researchers discover ‘alarming’ method for phone tracking, fingerprinting through sensor flaws
iMessage security flaw? Apple counters hackers' claims.
How the NSA Scandal Is Roiling the Heritage Foundation | The Cable - David Addington, the former legal counsel and chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, and one of the key architects of early NSA surveillance operations, is a vice president at Heritage.

Wall Street Journal reporters muzzled in reporting of hacking scandal | Media | theguardian.com - He implies that one part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp media empire in the United States was not allowed to report freely on another part in Britain.

The U.S. Blows Everyone Else Out Of The Water In 1 Key Way - That one way? We're really, really good at creating really, really rich people -- like, $50 million-plus rich. Just ignore the fact that our 400 wealthiest people are worth more than the entire bottom half of the country combined.

NJ Supreme Court rules same-sex couples can marry beginning Monday - U.S. News - a rebuff to Gov. Chris Christie

The China-Debt Syndrome - NYTimes.com

MoveOn.org Petition Calls For Arrest Of Republican Leaders For Sedition (traitors to America)
MoveOn Petitions - Arrest and Try House GOP Leadership for Sedition (send them to Gitmo)
Businessweek's Ted Cruz Cover Will Haunt Your Dreams
Harry Reid: Ted Cruz is “a laughingstock” - Salon.com - The Senate's majority leader goes off on the Tea Party's favorite senator
Kick the shutdown extortionists out of office! - Salon.com - The left needs a Karl Rove to target the 144 House GOPers and 19 senators of the Default Caucus. Look out, Ted Cruz
GOP’s nightmare come true: Obamacare more popular than ever - Salon.com - A new poll reveals just how spectacularly the shutdown has backfired on the Republican Party

Tea Party Insult Generator | As seen on John Boehner's Facebook Page

Republican Civil War Erupts: Business Groups v. Tea Party - Bloomberg
US shutdown fallout: why the show of bipartisanship is unlikely to last | World news | The Guardian - Republicans are alreading signaling that the brief co-operation of this week is not something Washington should get used to (insane people don't stop being insane without a lot of medication)
Harry Reid On Vitter And His Obamacare Amendment: 'He Just Is Not Playing With A Full Deck' (Republinuts)
Anatomy of a shutdown - John Bresnahan and Manu Raju and Jake Sherman and Carrie Budoff Brown - POLITICO.com - “I got overrun, that’s what happened,” Boehner said.
Barack Obama vs zombies | Felix Salmon - There’s a strain of triumphalism coursing through the blogosphere today, on the grounds that the bonkers wing of the Republican party is going to have achieved exactly none of its own goals, while inflicting upon itself a massive black eye ... The point here is that the zombie army, a/k/a the Tea Party, is a movement, not a person — and it’s an aggressively anti-logical movement, at that
Why Only Republicans Can Save Us From the Tea Party | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly
Conservatives, Get a Grip on Reality! - NationalJournal.com - Those who thought shutting down the government was a winning strategy should have their heads examined.
Donors' frustration with GOP mounts - Maggie Haberman and Anna Palmer - politico.com

Obamacare Website Failure Threatens Health Coverage For Millions Of Americans

Bernie Sanders independent Vermont U.S. senator | Playboy Interview

Kansas Supreme Court Suspends Ex-Attorney General Over Abortion Investigation (took a long time, but ...)
Inside the Fox News lie machine: I fact-checked Sean Hanneity on Obamacare - Salon.com - I re-reported a Fox News segment on Obamacare -- it was appallingly easy to see how it misleads the audience (committed to their lies, even though it costs them money)
Sean Hannity Gets Fact-Checked Hard On Obamacare Claims
Hullabaloo - Lying for nothing - Honestly, if these people are such ideologues that they haven't even checked if they will benefit from the reforms before complaining about them on national television then fuck them. They can pay full market price and help subsidize the rest of us.

Exclusive: Government Program to Control Religious Thought? | Ben Swann Truth In Media

Breaking: Wal-Mart workers on strike, defying firings - Salon.com - In protest of paltry hours and defiance of firings, over 80 Wal-Mart workers in Hialeah, Fla., walk off the job


The Great American Menu: Foods Of The States, Ranked And Mapped (see Cincinnati chili)
10 counter culture novels that will get you high on life

Prisoner Sent to Solitary for Having "Copious Amounts of Anarchist Publications" | VICE United States
Megaupload Raid ‘Destroyed’ (Way) More Than 10,000,000 Legal Files | TorrentFreak - New research from Boston’s Northeastern University shows that with the shutdown of Megaupload, the U.S. Government took down at least 10.75 million legitimate files

10 Psychological Studies That Will Change What You Think You Know About Yourself

Excerpts of secret recording in Maryville case - KansasCity.com - Melinda Coleman on Thursday provided excerpts from what she said was a secret recording of a conversation with Nodaway County Prosecutor Robert L. Rice near the end of May 2012.
Missouri girl in rape case pens op-ed amid mounting national attention | World news | theguardian.com - Daisy Coleman, 16, credits hacking collective Anonymous with giving case new life after charges were shelved in 2012
The Daily Dot - The team behind Anonymous's Maryville campaign speaks

Extracting a Toll From a Patent ‘Troll’ - NYTimes.com - It looks as if “patent trolls” are going to lose a big one.
Hollywood, Take Note: New Website Shows Movie Watchers Can't Get What They Want | Electronic Frontier Foundation (Big Content like Big Banks when it comes to breaking the law with no consequence)
z3ro fucks with no luck - Pastebin.com - It has come to our attention that the Chive community is ripe with douche bags and douchettes who seem to think they are untouchable. We are here to end that delusion. We want the streets of all things Chive to run red with interntet blood.

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Iraq war claimed half a million lives, study finds | Al Jazeera America - Some critics of previously controversial survey methods praise new approach, while others remain skeptical (Cheney very skeptical)
? Fukushima is collapsing - the worst is coming... - YouTube
Anonymous hacks Polish Economy Ministry website - Warsaw Business Journal - Online Portal - wbj.pl
Has the sun set on Golden Dawn? - Whatever the crackdown against Golden Dawn means for Greece, the hope is now rekindled that the EU might be starting to see the rise of the far right as the threat that it is.

New EU rules to curb transfer of data to US after Edward Snowden revelations | World news | theguardian.com - Regulations will make it harder to move European data to third countries, with fines running into billions for failure to comply - s in the first concrete reaction to the Edward Snowden disclosures on US and British mass surveillance of digital communications. (NSA liabile for up to $27 trillion in fines)

Why Pierre Omidyar decided to join forces with Glenn Greenwald for a new venture in news » Pressthink

Why didn't CNN's international arm air its own documentary on Bahrain's Arab Spring repression? | Glenn Greenwald | World news | theguardian.com - A former CNN correspondent defies threats from her former employer to speak out about self-censorship at the network

MPs set to investigate Guardian's involvement in Snowden leaks | UK news | theguardian.com - Keith Vaz says home affairs committee to look at newspaper's activities as part of inquiry into counter-terrorism (newpapers that print the truth are now "terrorists")
Extent of spy agencies' surveillance to be investigated by parliamentary body | UK news | The Guardian - Intelligence inquiry begun after Edward Snowden leaks and Guardian revelations on GCHQ and NSA personal data sharing (circular investigative squads)

Anti-Establishment Journalist Has Spent 400 Days in Jail | Kevin M. Gallagher - Barrett Brown, the founder of Project PM
A New Call to Protect Acts of Journalism | Free Press
The Daily Dot - SecureDrop, Aaron Swartz's secure software for whistleblowers, gets a reboot

NSA Involvement In Drone Program Revealed In Documents
social_movement_subversion.pdf - Eric L. Nelson - Subversion of Social Movements by Adversarial Agents (NSA spooks)

Researchers have identified 25 vulnerabilities that can be used to crash or seize control of facilities' servers
Obama to nominate Jeh Johnson as new Homeland Security secretary | World news | theguardian.com - Anonymous official: Obama to announce Johnson's nomination Friday for the position most recently held by Janet Napolitano

AP: News from The Associated Press - Federal workers back to work after 16-day shutdown

Government Shutdown: Obama Signs Bill To Reopen Government, End Debt Standoff
Conservatives Now Love John Boehner After Dragging Him Into Shutdown Debacle - The right flank instead blamed moderate Republicans, who they said gave Boehner little choice but to go along with the deal
The Biggest Threat To The Economy Is Washington, Experts Say (that would be "Republicans")
Why Elizabeth Warren Is 'NOT Celebrating' The End Of The Government Shutdown - "But the reason we were in this mess in the first place is that a reckless faction in Congress took the government and the economy hostage for no good purpose and to no productive end" Warren wrote in her email.

John McCain stokes Republican anger over Ohio River 'pork' in budget deal | World news | theguardian.com - Senator attacks commitment to spend $2.8bn on infrastructure work in states connected to leaders in Senate and House
Stenographer - C-SPAN Video Library - During House vote a stenographer, seated in House well, goes to microphone on dais, yells, and is removed from the floor.

Republicans Get Horrible, Horrible Press Coverage Over Shutdown
How the GOP Slowly Went Insane - Jon Lovett - The Atlantic - The current moment in politics came about slowly, not suddenly, but it doesn't make it any less of a national emergency.
And so America's skewed democracy lurches on toward its next crisis | Gary Younge | Comment is free | theguardian.com - A last-minute deal to raise the debt ceiling and end the shutdown solves nothing. US politics is stuck in chronic dysfunction

YouTube cop Philip Nace pulled off the street as second video surfaces

South Dakota's cattle cataclysm: why isn't this horror news? | Carrie Mess | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Ranchers in South Dakota lost tens of thousands of cattle from a freak storm. Thanks to the shutdown, no one is paying attention
'Petroleum Coke' from Koch-Owned Tar Sands Now Choking Residents in Chicago | Americans Against the Tea Party

Missouri prosecutor consents to reopen teenage sex assault case | World news | theguardian.com - Prosecutor had faced intense criticism after felony charges stemming from rape of 14-year-old girl were dropped (crowd-sourced justice wins again)
Anonymous Issues Statement Following Bob Rice Press Conference | The Torch
Twitter / Anon2Earth: This man... Yes, this guy - ... (burn)

Copper Inactivates Highly Infectious Norovirus, Find Scientists | Medicine | Sci-News.com - British researchers have discovered that copper and copper alloys can rapidly destroy norovirus – the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide.
Why do we go to sleep? To clean our brains, say US scientists | Science | theguardian.com - Cerebral spinal fluid found to pump around the brain of sleeping mice, flushing out waste products like a biological dishwasher
Skull of Homo erectus throws story of human evolution into disarray | Science | theguardian.com - A haul of fossils found in Georgia suggests that half a dozen species of early human ancestor were actually all Homo erectus


The Daily Dot - Torrent site IsoHunt forced to shut down by $110m settlement with Hollywood - IsoHunt, one of the largest BitTorrent indexers on the Web, will shut down and pay the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) $110 million in damages, reported The Hollywood Reporter.

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Typhoon Wipha wreaks deadly destruction on Japan | World news | theguardian.com - Japanese islanders die and homes damaged in mudslides but typhoon spares Tokyo and Fukushima nuclear plant
With risks multiplying, reporters stay out of Syria - Yahoo News - Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says at least 25 professional journalists and 70 citizen journalists have been killed in the conflict.
Laos crash: 44 dead as plane goes down in Mekong River

Nobel Prize Committee, Meet Your Pals in the Tea Party - NationalJournal.com - So irrational was the Nobel decision that even the committee second-guessed itself; it simultaneously gave a piece of the 2013 award to Yale's Robert Shiller, whose life's work has sought to show that Fama's theory is "one of the most remarkable errors in the history of economic thought." (This is perhaps Stockholm's idea of what Wall Street calls a "hedge.")

Political Fail Blog | The Conquest of Bread, Part I: A System Built to Fail - MSN.com’s Money Central reported that the three richest people in the world possessed more assets than the lowest 48 nations ranked by GDP combined. We live in a world where the poison of free market capitalism is now so systemically distributed that it is rotting the global economy from the inside and nothing short of amputation can provide hope to deliver us from death.

Snowden leaks: David Cameron urges committee to investigate Guardian | World news | theguardian.com - PM says leaks have damaged national security and suggests MPs could 'examine issue and make further recommendations' (like bombing the newpaper)
My Next Adventure in Journalism – Omidyar Group - As part of my learning process, I recently reached out to Glenn Greenwald to find out what journalists like him need to do their jobs well. As it turns out, he and his colleagues Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill, were already on a path to create an online space to support independent journalists. We had a lot of overlap in terms of our ideas, and decided to join forces.
Jeremy Scahill, Laura Poitras Teaming Up With Glenn Greenwald On New Media Venture
Glenn Greenwald announces departure from the Guardian | Media | theguardian.com - Journalist who broke stories about widespread NSA surveillance leaving to pursue 'once-in-a-career journalistic opportunity'
Greenwald on Snowden Leaks: The Worst Is Yet to Come | TIME.com - “The archives are so complex and so deep and so shocking, that I think the most shocking and significant stories are the ones we are still working on, and have yet to publish.”
"Edward Snowden is a Patriot": Ex-NSA CIA, FBI and Justice Whistleblowers Meet Leaker in Moscow | Democracy Now!
Greenwald to publish more revelations, claims threats from US and UK — RT News

James Risen To Take Leak Case To Supreme Court After Appeal Denied
Keith Alexander, John C. Inglis Expected To Depart NSA Soon (cosmetic changes)

Jill Abramson Defends Snowden Stories: 'Very Much In The Public Interest' (Obama so hates journalism)
NSA files – live coverage of all developments and reaction | World news | theguardian.com - “handing an advantage to terrorists” and putting national security at risk.
Clegg: Guardian Snowden leaks 'gifted' terrorists ability to attack - The Guardian has published information from CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden which is of "immense interest" to "people who want to do us harm", the Deputy Prime Minister says
magazine / issue / Laura Poitras filming NSA Utah Data Center construction site | Mousse Contemporary Art Magazine

How the NSA and FBI foil weak oversight | Yochai Benkler | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Unless Congress imposes new limits on state surveillance, it's inevitable agencies will go on abusing our liberties and privacy (law enforcement will always break the law)
Former Labour minister accuses spies of ignoring MPs over surveillance | UK news | The Guardian - Nick Brown says there is 'uncanny' similarity between GCHQ programmes exposed by Edward Snowden and bill's proposals
? Chris Hedges and Robert Scheer Discuss American Fascism by Truthdig
? How the Government Tracks You: NSA Surveillance - YouTube
The Daily Dot - The NSA has your address book
The core Internet institutions abandon the US Government | IGP Blog
Brazil whacks PRISM with secure email plan • The Register - President Tweets desire to protect against 'possible espionage'
Not one byte! German telecom giant plans to rout foreign spooks — RT News
Dianne Feinstein: The NSA's Watchfulness Protects America - WSJ.com - If today's call-records program had been in place in before 9/11, the terrorist attacks likely would have been prevented. (DiFi loves her fascism +repeats discredited "54 attacks" BS)
Microsoft Word - 205045_supp_undefined_B92E5D64-A6A8-11E2-B5F6-0E1B2E1BA5B1.doc - Nolan_Dissertation.PDF - Information Sharing And Collaboration In The United States Intelligence Community: An Ethnographic Study Of The National Counterterrorism Center Bridget Rose Nolan
? Villain State & The Weapons of Massdestruction - Hello Mr. Agentman - YouTube

Press Freedom Index 2013 - Reporters Without Borders (US #32 for 2013; Obama at work)

US authorities accused of intimidating associates of Chechen killed by FBI | World news | theguardian.com - an investigation by the group, including a private postmortem, concluded that Todashev was shot seven times, including once in the back of the head. (another FBI execution; now they are deporting everyone who knew him)

"Totally Self-Inflicted Damage": U.S. on Verge of Default as Pain from 16-Day Shutdown Spreads | Democracy Now!
Winners and losers of the government shutdown

What You Can Get For The Price Of A Shutdown | ThinkProgress

Daily Kos: Karl Rove reveals the world in which sneaky Obama snookered GOP into shutting down the government - Republicans Walked Into Obama's Trap His goal was to discredit the GOP before 2014. The defunders fell for it.
Daily Kos: Crafty legislative genius Ted Cruz won't say if he'd do it all over again

Very Unfavorable Views of Tea Party Have Tripled Since 2010
Poll shows Republicans taking blame for government shutdown - latimes.com
NBC/WSJ poll: Shutdown debate damages GOP - First Read - By a 22-point margin (53 percent to 31 percent), the public blames the Republican Party more for the shutdown than President Barack Obama – a wider margin of blame for the GOP than the party received during the poll during the last shutdown in 1995-96.
Tea Party's Popularity Reaches New Low, Poll Finds - Unfavorable views of the tea party have nearly doubled over the past two years, making the conservative movement more unpopular than ever (down 11% since June)
If Ted Cruz didn’t exist, Democrats would have to invent him
Shutdown: Media Compares GOP to Lunatics | New Republic

Mitch McConnell: Top Priority, Make Obama a One Term President - YouTube
The Conspiracy to Commit Legislative Constipation | Vanity Fair

Where the G.O.P.'s Suicide Caucus Lives : The New Yorker
List of politicians affiliated with the Tea Party movement (the Koch/Satan roster of evil)
Daily Kos: E Pluribus Contentio: The Origins (and Dangers) of the Tea Party Shutdown (Teaparty maps +borderers/hillbillies)
Tea Party Caucus Map - 112th Congress
Tea Party Mapped: How Big Is It and Where Is It based? | PBS NewsHour - 67,000 members in counties across America (that's all it takes to destroy America if you have Koch money behind you)
Regional Differences Have Doomed the Tea Party | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly - Outside the Deep South, Appalachia and interior West, the Tea Party is over ... The agenda of the Deep Southern oligarchy has been consistent for more than three centuries:
32 Republicans Who Caused the Government Shutdown - Svati Kirsten Narula, Ryan Jacobs, and Judith Ohikuare - The Atlantic - Meet the House conservative hardliners. (the worst of the worst)

John Boehner: 'We Just Didn't Win' - Washington -- House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Wednesday that he would not block a bipartisan Senate compromise to reopen the government, paving the way for an end to the two-week government shutdown.
Why Tea Partiers Don't Believe in the Debt-Ceiling Emergency - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic - Their doubts spring from dangerous heuristics and the fact that the establishment has cried wolf so many times in the past.
Republicans Shut Down the Government for Nothing - Molly Ball - The Atlantic (open to apocalpse)
Republicans Shut Down the Government for Nothing - Molly Ball - The Atlantic - After two weeks of closed government and a debt-limit freakout, a deal is on the horizon—and the GOP has little to show for the crisis caused by its demands.
Stop Fretting: The Debt-Ceiling Crisis Is Over! -- Daily Intelligencer
House Dems Sent Boehner a Message: Strike a Deal and Maybe We Can Help Protect Your Speakership | Mother Jones - He said, "I'll get back to you."
Republicans May Be Ready To Take Senate Deal: 'It's All Over' - Whether it's really "over" hinges on the concession of the chamber's most reluctant members.
House Fails On Debt Deal As Conservative Groups Balk - the Heritage Foundation, Red State and FreedomWorks all slammed the GOP proposal as unacceptable.
Senators Restart Talks as Default Looms - NYTimes.com - What could we possibly give to the Republicans that they haven't already stolen? I am not in the mood for more give aways to the autocrats and plutocrats of the wealthiest among us. The debt would be easily solved with higher revenue.
Government Shutdown 2013: Collapse of Boehner Plan Ends Stalemate | New Republic - “let’s briefly pause so Boehner can flail helplessly while the entire world looks on in horror before we officially end this thing” ... the final spasm of a still-fresh corpse, the corpse being the GOP’s legitimacy as a political entity,
Ted Cruz Admits Budget Standoff Was All About Building Fundraising Lists | ThinkProgress (you just paid $24 Bn so tailgunner could raise money)
End-of-Shutdown Reading List - James Fallows - The Atlantic
Why Government Haters Hate Government Shutdowns | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly - Like the subjects in the bird experiment, they wouldn’t lift a finger to save government in general, but they are sorely distressed at the loss of government in particular.

My Skin in the Game: How Ted Cruz and the Right Want to Help Cancer Kill Me, and Maybe You | MichaelMoore.com - The only reason I went to have my life saved is because it cost me zero dollars.

Missouri rape: Daisy's mom says sheriff and prosecutor lied - latimes.com
Maryville rape case: The horrifying details of what happened to Daisy Coleman feel all too familiar.
Anonymous Takes On The Maryville Rape Case (Google censors video, calling it a "scam")
Second alleged Maryville rape victim, Paige Parkhurst, speaks out | Al Jazeera America
Sexual assault and drinking: Teach women the connection. - It’s closely associated with sexual assault. And yet we’re reluctant to tell women to stop doing it.
Maryville rape case: The horrifying details of what happened to Daisy Coleman feel all too familiar.
Anonymous — YouRAPE, we censor! #opMaryville - Like some of you already know, YouTUBE blocked #opMaryville video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFCrZSPw7Uc) on my channel. At 4am (London time) YouTUBE informed me via my channel that the video itself violates the Community Guidelines. Come on YouTUBE, tell me which guideline exactly?

Jenny McCarthy To Lose ‘The View’ Gig? Viewers ‘Tune Out’ When She Opens Her Mouth, Production Insider Reveals | Radar Online - the newest co-host of the ABC morning show’s job is in jeopardy because her big mouth is making viewers tune out. And incredibly, former Playboy Playmate McCarthy, 40, has proven to be even more unpopular with viewers than the polarizing Elisabeth Hasselbeck (which is really saying something)

35,000 websites hacked using an exploit in vBulletin Forum Software - Hackers News Bulletin

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Plummeting morale at Fukushima Daiichi as nuclear cleanup takes its toll | Environment | The Guardian - Yet as the scale of the challenge has become clearer with every new accident and radiation leak, the men working inside the plant are suffering from plummeting morale, health problems and anxiety about the future, according to insiders interviewed by the Guardian ... at the start of a decommissioning operation that is expected to last 40 years (build more nukes!)

Supreme Court To Review Greenhouse Gases Case (Scalia planning to kill the planet)

Yasser Arafat's belongings have traces of polonium-210, say scientists | World news | theguardian.com - Swiss scientists say discovery supports possibility that Palestinian leader was poisoned with radioactive substance ... Yasser Arafat died in a hospital near Paris in 2004 after falling ill while under Israeli military siege in the West Bank (now who could have done that?)

The Daily Dot - Iraq's plan to cut off Internet access foiled by Kurdistan - In other words, the Iraqi government’s attempt to come across as menacingly powerful has left it looking toothless.
xs Afghan mosque bomb kills governor of Logar province | World news | theguardian.com - Arsala Jamal was delivering a speech to mark Eid holiday when explosion killed him and wounded 15 others, police say
Philippines death toll rises after 7.2-magnitude quake | World news | theguardian.com - Scores killed as roads split and buildings collapse after 7.2-magnitude quake hits Bohol province in central Philippines

Glenn Greenwald Leaving The Guardian For 'Momentous' New Venture
Exclusive: Greenwald exits Guardian for new Omidyar media venture | Reuters
Here's Who's Backing Glenn Greenwald's New Website - Two sources familiar with the new venture said the financial backer was Omidyar. It was not immediately clear if he was the only backer or if there were other partners.

New Zealand PRISM law will not exempt Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Yahoo - Hackers News Bulletin (the fifth eye loves spying on their people)
Greek Foreign Ministry Admits Anonymous Hacked Email Systems
Police spying/mass surveillance and urban warfare tactics in Berkeley : Indybay
Snapchat says it's handed over 'about a dozen' unopened messages to law enforcement | The Verge
Yahoo to make SSL encryption the default for Webmail users. Finally. (way too little too late)
OR House Passes Bills Targeting Environmentalists | Earth First! Newswire (terrorists everywhere, even in trees)
U.S. Army Lists Earth First! as Terrorist Threat Alongside Al-Qaeda

The Daily Dot - Here's the documentary WikiLeaks wants you to watch instead of 'The Fifth Estate'
Support new videos about NSA spying | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Al Jazeera Ordered To Unseal Lawsuit Against AT&T - Al Jazeera must unseal its lawsuit against AT&T Inc within five business days after a Delaware judge sided on Monday with news organizations that objected to secrecy in the case.

Aaron Swartz’s last gift to journalism and online privacy finds a new home
Freedom of the Press Foundation Launches SecureDrop, an Open-Source Submission Platform for Whistleblowers | Freedom of the Press Foundation
Meet SecureBox, the NSA-Proof Drop Box for Whistleblowers | TIME.com - A new way for sources to reach journalists, based on technology developed by the late activist and coder Aaron Swartz

Poll: Republicans' Handling Of Shutdown Gets Low Marks From 3 Out Of 4 Americans - Disapproval of the GOP, which has risen steadily since just before the government shutdown began, is now at 74 percent, up 11 points from late September.
The Warren-Cruz Scale - Are You a Liberal or Conservative - Esquire - Our exhaustive research into the New American Center tells us that we're divided into 8 segments, from liberal to conservative. Here's where your leaders stand.

House vote pulled, chaos continues - POLITICO.com - There will be no vote Tuesday, which means Washington will have one day to lift the debt ceiling before the U.S. government reaches its borrowing limit.
House Republicans want to make it harder for Treasury to avoid a debt crisis.
House Republicans Unsure Their Last-Ditch Plan Will Pass As Default Looms
Flirting with default: House GOP offer dead before arrival in Senate – live | World news | theguardian.com - Reid: 'House bill... won't pass the Senate' (Boehner fail, Republicans play with the apocalypse)
House Conservatives Revolt | National Review Online - the approximately 50 Republicans who form the House GOP’s right flank. They’re furious with Senate Republicans for working with Democrats to craft what one leading tea-party congressman calls a “mushy piece of s**t.”
Senators Near Fiscal Deal, but the House Is Uncertain - NYTimes.com

Washington: Videos contradict Medal of Honor recipient’s account of Taliban attack | National Security & Defense | McClatchy DC - But videos shot by Army medevac helicopter crewmen show no Taliban in that vicinity or anywhere else on the floor of the Ganjgal Valley at the time and location of the “swarm.” (support our liars)
Videos Contradict Dakota Meyer Medal Of Honor - And Boom Goes The Dynamite - Esquire - This, alas, is some of what results from the unthinking adulation of the troops. This is a product of the steady militarization of our national political pageant and of our large national spectacles, especially the sporty ones. (the facts hate our troops)

Smaller Cities Propel Amtrak Ridership to a New High | Streetsblog Capitol Hill - It’s been another year of ridership growth for Amtrak, despite the difficulties caused by Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast. In fiscal year 2013, the nation’s intercity rail service saw its 10th ridership increase in 11 years, carrying a record 31.6 million passengers [PDF].

Maryville rape case: The horrifying details of what happened to Daisy Coleman feel all too familiar. - An impressively reported and very upsetting story ran over the weekend in the Kansas City Star by reporter Dugan Arnett.
#OpMaryville Protest - October 22nd - Pastebin.com
Daisy Coleman, Missouri Teen, Claims She's Shunned By Community After Rape Allegations - "Why was a suspect, who confessed to a crime, released with no charges?"
Nodaway Co. Sheriff Responds to Criticism on Handling of 2012 Sex Assault Allegation - stjoechannel.com - In fact, Sheriff White places much of the blame on Melinda Coleman.
Twitter / YourAnonCentral: Tweeted with the permission ...
Skepchick |

Former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges - Eric Levenson - The Atlantic Wire - of felony false imprisonment and two misdemeanor battery counts on Tuesday, but he won't serve any prison time in the plea deal.

Walmart shelves in Springhill, Mansfield, cleared in EBT glitch - KSLA News 12 (apparently most of Walmart shoppers are on welfare)

Rob Brooks: Penis Size May Be Driven By Women (Oh, and It Matters) - The reflex to disbelieve that women can and do discriminate about penis size echoes 150 years in which evolutionists and the public alike have often doubted that female sexual agency has the power to shape the evolution of male trait ... that female choice may well be responsible for the prodigious size of the human male penis.
? Size Matters: Professor Michael Jennions - YouTube

The Daily Dot - Is Hacker News censoring discourse about sexual assault? - Over the weekend, a 25-year-old graphic designer named Justine posted an account of sexual assault to her blog. She details the chain of events that led her to a job in the Ruby programming community and, eventually, to a convention called CodeMash.

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Russia Stabbing Riot: More Than 1,200 People Detained In Moscow

Peru bus crash kills all 51 on board | World news | theguardian.com - Authorities say 14 children among dead after vehicle returning from party plunged 200 metres down ravine
Cristina Fernández out of hospital | World news | theguardian.com - President of Argentina under doctor's orders to rest for a month following surgery to remove blood clot on brain
Trial Opens in Chevron RICO Suit Against Pollution Victims in Ecuador (yes, the victims are being tried for the organized crime of suing Chevron for destroying their land)
Europe Keeps Moving Right

London’s Great Exodus - NYTimes.com - This is what happens when property in your city becomes a global reserve currency. For that is what property in London has become, first and foremost.
The San Francisco Exodus - Gabriel Metcalf - The Atlantic Cities - My friends keep moving to Oakland. Gone from San Francisco for greener pastures and cheaper rents, because it’s just gotten too hard, by which I really mean too expensive. Their move signals that something has gone terribly wrong in this most progressive of American cities. Oakland is the Brooklyn of the Bay Area.

The perfect epitaph for establishment journalism | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - 'If MI5 warns that this is not in the public interest who am I to disbelieve them?', says the former editor of The Independent

NSA Claims It Doesn't Do Online Attacks; That's A Different Organization... Run By The NSA | Techdirt - That task of destructive cyber attack, if ordered, lies with the US military's rapidly expanding Cyber Command. Except, as we've noted more than a few times, US Cyber Command is the NSA. It's run by Keith Alexander, the director of the NSA, and it's housed in the same place as the NSA. For all intents and purposes, US Cyber Command is the NSA, and Alexander has no problem at all swapping hats depending on what's most convenient (hello, Alice!)

The Daily Dot - NSA reauthorized to track your phone calls for another 3 months - Another three months have come and gone, so the National Security Agency has re-upped its authorization to track your phone calls.
The Daily Dot - Did the U.S. use illegally obtained NSA intel to justify a drone strike? - American intelligence officials may have used National Security Administration data of questionable legality to plan a deadly missile strike against a Somali militant leader, according to defense attorneys in a terrorism-funding case who are calling for a new trial
NSA Collecting Millions Of Contact Lists: Report
GCHQ accused of monitoring privileged emails between lawyers and clients | UK news | The Guardian - Allegation relates to eight Libyan nationals and comes in wake of Guardian's revelations about GCHQ and Tempora programme
Top sites (and maybe the NSA) track users with “device fingerprinting” | Ars Technica - May make it easier to follow privacy-minded users on the darknet.
Did The NSA Help With The Silk Road Investigation? - Forbes (why, that would be illegal, wouldn't it?)
MI5 playing into hands of ‘twerps like Assange’ | The Times
UK Intelligence Boss Blames Snowden And Reporters For Giving A 'Gift' To Terrorists | Techdirt - and the UK press dutifully repeated the talking points as fact ("real journalists" at work)
Gabriella Coleman's Favorite News Stories Of The Week | Techdirt
Hacker Tradecraft : Be Prepared: Journalists and Security Researchers - “raise some awareness for the journo’s situation. This will help the researcher to handle the situation a lot better”
Hacker Tradecraft : Media Training is an OPSEC skill - Coaching and preparation for this is usually called “media training”, which is essentially a suite of OPSEC skills.
Twitter / nickdepetrillo: I propose a reputation based ... website ranking tech journalists.

MELROSEandFAIRFAX: BanksyNY's Crazy Horse and Collateral Murder - The accompanying audio released on BankyNY's website is a clip from Wikileaks Collateral Murder video. In the recording, machine guns are heard, and then US soldiers dismissively discussing the dead, which include a dead child.

Poll: Republicans' Handling Of Shutdown Gets Low Marks From 3 Out Of 4 Americans - Nearly three-quarters of Americans disapprove of Republicans' handling of the budget crisis, according to an ABC/Washington Post poll released Monday.

From the Start, Signs of Trouble at Health Portal - NYTimes.com
“Shut It Down and Bring It Back Up When It Works” by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly
Obamacare Struggles Even Worse In States That Resisted It
The Soaring Cost of a Simple Breath - NYTimes.com

The Dixiecrat Solution - NYTimes.com - Not much of an offer, is it? But here’s the kicker: Your neighbor’s relatives, who have been egging him on, are furious that he didn’t also demand that you kill your dog.
Government Shutdown 2013: The Single Most Ridiculous Thing Cruz Said | New Republic - 1) Ted Cruz, prom king of the Tea Party, is a major reason the government is shut down. 2) The memorial is closed because the government is shut down. That's why veterans — and everyone — can't get it.
The default has already begun | Felix Salmon - The vaseline, in other words, already has sand in it

They Waddled Into the Threshing Blades by Martin Longman | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - this battle has always been about taking the Republicans’ hostage-taking strategy away from them. It’s been about killing the precedent that the Republicans can win by acting like kidnappers.
US shutdown: Congress reconvenes after weekend of choppy talks – live | World news | theguardian.com - Stock markets only mildly perturbed (ho-hum)
House Republicans Changed The Rules So A Majority Vote Couldn't Stop The Government Shutdown (they always change the rules)
How Sequestration And The Shutdown Dealt A Body Blow To Scientists (Republican are happy)
Government shutdown: House GOP ponders own short-term debt bill - Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan - politico.com
Shutdown 2013: The Deal that will end it | New Republic - The Inevitable Republican Collapse That Will End the Shutdown The grim, angry, loopy, and predetermined conclusion to Washington's crisis
Spending Dispute Leaves a Senate Deal Elusive - NYTimes.com
Gobshites Seek The Center - What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days? - Esquire - See? There you have it. In 2010, the Tea Party "took office." We have four branches of government: the Executive, the Judiciary, the Legislature, and People Who Listen To Glenn Beck And Buy Gold. I'm telling you, these people look in the mirror and they already see themselves cast in marble. The Reign Of The Morons goes on (+David Gregory's soul is in Satan's hand)
What Republican Suicide Would Look Like | ThinkProgress - A civil war among Republicans is also a civil war among white people, since there is little else in the party these days. This clarifies just how close to the brink the GOP may be.

Indiana Attorney General Sues To Protect Indiana From Tyranny Of Health Insurance Subsidies
After Awesome Rally, Teabaggers Winning Shutdown Showdown, Say Teabaggers - hundreds of dipwads gathered at the World War II memorial to protest it being closed due to a government shutdown that had been demanded, initiated and cheered on by these same dipwads and the febrile-brained poop gibbons they elected to represent them in Congress.
Republicans Using WWII Vets For Political Agenda - The Grave Robbers In Washington - Esquire - Ted Cruz doesn't think the government has a role in making the lives of these veterans easier. Mike Lee thinks the Founders wanted vets to starve. Sarah Palin doesn't think, period, and is proud of it. (see, they shut the government down, then protested government being shut down, with Conferate flags)
Government Shutdown 2013: The Single Most Ridiculous Thing Cruz Said | New Republic - 1) Ted Cruz, prom king of the Tea Party, is a major reason the government is shut down. 2) The memorial is closed because the government is shut down. That's why veterans — and everyone — can't get it.
Ted Cruz Could Force a Debt Default All by Himself - Businessweek
Chuck Todd Tears Into Ted Cruz: 'What Planet Are You Living On?!' (VIDEO) - Chuck Todd excoriated Ted Cruz on Monday's "Morning Joe" after the senator questioned the accuracy of a recent NBC News poll about the government shutdown. (their own little delusional bubble)
livememe.com - Scumbag Ted Cruz


Truth in the Age of Niallism - Matthew O'Brien - The Atlantic - Harvard historian Niall Ferguson still thinks bluster can substitute for facts. (as a "historian" he's a real expert in economics)

Nightmare in Maryville: Teens’ sexual encounter ignites a firestorm against family - KansasCity.com - Yet, two months later, the Nodaway County prosecutor dropped the felony cases against the youths, one the grandson of a longtime area political figure.
Charges Mysteriously Dropped After Girl Raped And Abandoned ‹ I Acknowledge Class Warfare Exists
Nightmare in Maryville, MO: Teens' sexual encounter ignites a firestorm against family : news
Sexual Assault In Maryville: A Timeline | KCUR
#JusticeforDaisy: Anonymous threatens to go after alleged rapists — RT USA (goes viral)
The Daily Dot - This small town can't shelter alleged rapists from the Internet ... But the prosecutor's office decided quickly that it wasn't worth keeping, and dropped the charges. Daisy was thrown off the cheerleading team, however.

Chinese Hegemony in Asia is Unlikely, so AirSea Battle Unnecessarily Provokes the Security Dilemma » Duck of Minerva
Japan’s History Problem | The Editor | The Diplomat


The Daily Dot - Ever rent your NYC apartment on Airbnb? The attorney general wants your info (Schneiderman owned by hotel lobby)

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Celebrating Hitler Day, Oh I mean Columbus Day | Unsettling America - over 95 million, Indigenous peoples throughout the Western hemisphere were enslaved, mutilated and massacred. Go down to your local public school and peruse the American History section and tell me if there has been any formal accountability for this American Holocaust.

?Cyclone Phailin hits 90 lakh people; 23 dead, lakhs of homes damaged - The Times of India (last time it was 10,000)
Cyclone Phailin: 500,000 homes evacuated as storm pounds India | World news | theguardian.com - Mass evacuation of towns and villages on India's eastern coast limits death toll as 135mph winds force huge waves inland
Indian stampede kills dozens of Hindu worshippers | World news | The Guardian - Scores left dead and injured as people crossing bridge to temple in central India clashed with baton-wielding police
China's Black Box For Blockbusters Riles Hollywood Studios - Forbes - “If you ask anyone in China they’ll tell you Future TV is a pirate,” says a U.S. studio executive in Beijing.

46 per cent global wealth owned by richest 1 per cent: Credit Suisse - NDTVProfit.com - Global wealth has risen by 68 per cent over the past 10 years to reach a new all-time high of $241 trillion and the United States accounts for nearly three quarters of the increase

Press charter would be unconstitutional in US, says Society of Editors head | Media | theguardian.com - Bob Satchwell says other countries looking at government's proposed regulation system 'with horror'

New York Times says UK tried to get it to hand over Snowden documents | World news | theguardian.com - Jill Abramson says she was approached by UK embassy officials after announcing collaboration with Guardian over NSA files ... "Prior restraint is pretty much unthinkable to me in this country." (oh, that pesky First Amendment that Brit spies are so glad not to have)
Who should judge whether Snowden's leaked secrets are too sensitive to report? | Nick davies | Comment is free | The Guardian - The Guardian's critics say journalists cannot be trusted to judge what may damage national security. But our track record shows us to be more trustworthy than politicians or spooks

US shutdown: IMF's Christine Lagarde tells America's lawmakers they risk tipping world into recession - Americas - World - The Independent - Stark warning from IMF chief comes as search for deal to extend debt ceiling shifts to Senate (On the Eve of Self-Destruction)
US shutdown threatens global recovery, bankers warn | World news | theguardian.com - International Monetary Fund delegates press US policymakers to agree deal before debt ceiling deadline as talks break down
Washington waits on markets' response as talks on shutdown and debt grind on | World news | theguardian.com - Reid and McConnell to meet again late on Sunday as Senate and House deal proposals fail and debt ceiling deadline nears

Poll Finds GOP Blamed More for Shutdown - WSJ.com - Party Scores Lowest Marks in 20-Plus Years; Mood Also Darkens About the Economic Impact of the Government Standoff
A 'Significant and Consequential' Poll - This type of data creates ripples that will take a long time to resolve and there will be unexpected changes we cannot predict at the moment as a consequence."
G.O.P.’s Hopes to Take Senate Are Dimming - NYTimes.com
House Republicans Say White House Nixed Their Plan To End Shutdown As Focus Shifts To Senate (their "plan" was for Obama to completely surrender)
A Mad Tea Party - NYTimes.com - HOW awful are Ted Cruz and his Cruzettes?
All the children are insane » Balloon Juice - A friend says it all sounds like Hitler’s bunker in 1945. Who will be the first to do a Downfall parody of Hitler learning that the shutdown did not work for Republicans?
It’s Not Only Mothers and Children - NYTimes.com - For impoverished Americans, the biggest obstacle to health insurance remains the refusal of 26 mostly Republican-led states to expand their Medicaid programs as called for under the health reform law. As a result, up to an estimated eight million people will get no help at all

Peter Baker, Meat Grinder for Bush | emptywheel - In the NYT, Peter Baker presents his version of George Bush’s decision not to pardon Scooter Libby as the best pitch for his new book, Days of Fire, Bush and Cheney in the White House.

'She's Got Really Hot Breasts, Man!' Lonegan Aide Bashes Booker With X-Rated Rant (they are all insane)
Open Thread: Just When You Think They Can’t Get Any Lower… » Balloon Juice


What is the most unexplained photo that exists, thats real? : AskReddit
ASMR. Massages for your brain! - Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a physical sensation characterized by a pleasurable tingling that typically begins in the head and scalp, and often moves down the spine and through the limbs.

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? HOME - YouTube

Nobel peace prize won by chemical weapons watchdog for work in Syria | World news | The Guardian - OPCW's award recognises watchdog's ongoing efforts in Syria as well as 16 years of previous work

Indians flee east coast as cyclone Phailin makes landfall | World news | The Observer - Half a million people estimated to be seeking shelter or heading inland as widespread destruction and disruption is forecast - London-based agency Tropical Storm Risk classes the storm in category five – the highest such rating.

At least two dozen killed after boat capsizes near Lampedusa | World news | The Guardian - Fresh tragedy occurs in the same waters where last week more than 300 migrants travelling from north Africa lost their lives
Libya's prime minister has failed, says Muslim Brotherhood leader | World news | theguardian.com - Mohammed Sawan says parliament is searching for an alternative to PM Ali Zidan who was kidnapped by militia (un/intended consequences?)
Controversy over Taliban arrest overshadows Kerry Afghanistan talks | World news | theguardian.com - A spokesman for Karzai, told the Washington Post Mehsud had been taken by the US from a government convoy in the east of the country. The spokesman said: "The Americans forcibly removed him and took him to Bagram." (Obama's kidnapping program ramps up with the usual effects)

Letters detail punitive tactics used on Guantánamo hunger strikers | World news | The Observer - Newly declassified papers say hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay was 'broken' by a deliberate campaign to crush detainees' spirits (otherwise known as that unprintable word, "torture")
US fires nuclear arms chief for misbehaviour - Americas - Al Jazeera English - Air force insists Major-General Michael Carey's actions were not linked to the 450 long-range missiles he commanded.

In Russia, 110 people own 35% of wealth, report says - latimes.com (Putin has created a very rich oligarchy)

Edward Snowden says NSA surveillance programmes 'hurt our country' | World news | theguardian.com - Video clips posted to WikiLeaks website show former NSA analyst speaking for the first time since July asylum plea
Edward Snowden speaks about NSA programmes at Sam Adams award presentation in Moscow - YouTube
N.S.A. Director Gives Firm and Broad Defense of Surveillance Efforts - NYTimes.com - Gen. Keith B. Alexander, shown at a Senate hearing this month, said there was a misunderstanding of what the N.S.A. collects. (just a little "misunderstanding" of my lies)

Lawyers say NSA eavesdropping on U.S. citizen may have led to strike | Reuters - Questions about whether the data may have been collected illegally could fuel fresh controversy over NSA spying on U.S. citizens and residents and the way data it collects is used. Defense lawyers assert there may be legal grounds for a new trial for four men convicted in the case. (drone-boy in the WH basement with illegal wiretaps)

The Daily Dot - The post–Silk Road Bitcoin crash is over - Bitcoin has long been criticized for its dependence on illegal markets. But the stability shown here proves there’s more to the currency than that.

Watch MEDIASTAN - For the first time ever, audiences get a behind-the-scenes insight into the world’s first truly global media event: "Operation Cablerun" : the 2011 operation during which WikiLeaks ran hundreds of thousands of secret US government cables to media outlets around the world.
Mediastan (download torrent) - TPB

Leaked Stratfor Powerpoint Shows Corporation’s Fear Of Activist Campaigns | PopularResistance.Org ("radicals" are the enemy of the state)
Occupy Austin | Occupy Wall Street » Surveillance Eye Documentary
Breaking: Judge Posner Admits He Was Wrong in Crawford Voter ID Case | Election Law Blog - we…. weren’t really given strong indications that requiring additional voter identification would actually disfranchise people entitled to vote. (a fine legal mind at work)

Twitter / JoeMomasNuts: Why The Worldwide ... - #MarchAgainstMonsanto!?? Because they bought out the US government!!

Democrats Are Winning -- Must Be Time To Cave, Say Democrats
It’s all on Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell - Manu Raju and Burgess Everett - POLITICO.com - After Senate Democratic leaders rejected a proposal Saturday by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to end the budget impasse ... When asked if he is confident he could reach a deal with McConnell, Reid told politico: “No.”
Senators seek to end US government shutdown and avoid default | World news | theguardian.com - Majority leader Harry Reid hopes for deal with Mitch McConnell 'in next 48 hours' after Obama rejects six-week debt ceiling extension offered by House Republicans
Ted Cruz Lives On Another Planet Where His Fight Against Obamacare Is Working - Business Insider (will his delusional bubble burst, or what?)
Hullabaloo - I assume Lord Saletan makes a very good living: (you have to not have any information to be this stupid)
? Can't Pay the Mortgage? Obama says "You're just a Deadbeat" - YouTube - Can't Pay the Mortgage? Obama says "You're just a Deadbeat"
Peter King On Ted Cruz: 'No One Has Done More' To Strengthen Obamacare (VIDEO) - Because since he started this maniacal crusade of his, the fact is over the last 10 days support for Obamacare has gone up 7 percent in the country.
Flash! Ted Cruz Insane! - Esquire - the annual "Values Voters" hoedown is going on right now in our nation's capital? This annual snake-handling, Bible-banging flea circus is one of our most glorious acts of organized unintentional political comedy, which is probably why Tailgunner Ted Cruz was the headliner, and, boy howdy, did he not disappoint.
Ben Carson: Obamacare Is Worst Thing To Happen In America 'Since Slavery' - Neurosurgeon Ben Carson said Obamacare is the worst thing to happen to America "since slavery" while speaking at the 2013 Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. - served as the director of pediatric surgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center for 39 years.

Gay rights in the US, state by state | World news | theguardian.com (Republican-dominated states have guns and that's about it)
Fifteen years after Matthew Shepard's murder, Wyoming remains anti-gay | World news | theguardian.com (no civil rights except shooting someone in the face)
The Surprising Republican Civil War That Erupted Over Nelson Mandela and Apartheid - Over in the House, Representative Dick Cheney (R–Wyo.) joined the minority in opposing the Anti-Apartheid Act. In earlier battles over South Africa, Cheney had denounced Nelson Mandela as a terrorist and argued against his release. (history)
List of U.S. states by educational attainment (context)

TIL the CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure makes nearly $700K a year, about 25% more than other non-profits of comparible size, while only spending about 20% of its yearly funds on research for a cure for breast cancer. : todayilearned
Phoenix TSA makes breast cancer survivors remove their prostheses - Boing Boing (could be plastique)
What Could Justify Using a Taser on an 8-Year-Old Girl? | American Civil Liberties Union - The haunting question is why law enforcement officers used such aggressive force. It’s difficult to think of a situation in which it would be appropriate to use a Taser on a child—but it seems quite clear that this is not one of them. (cops love shooting people, even little kids)
Bullies with a badge - But their breathtaking contempt for the men they stopped hit its nadir when Nace snarled to one of them, "We don't want you here, anyway. All you do is weaken the f---ing country."

How Evan Smith Became Vivienne Ming: An Incredible Story Of Self-Discovery

Escape from LA: why is the US pathetically unprepared for an earthquake? | The Verge
CERN cloud experiment sheds doubt on climate-skeptic theory | The Verge - ionic radiation of the type found in cosmic rays has only a "negligible influence" on aerosol formation
Research provides new insight into how the Earth's core was formed | The Verge - The research shows that the core could have been formed through a process called percolation, which involves molten iron trickling through the solid silicate layer of the Earth to reach the center.
Scientists Identify Protein Linking Exercise to Brain Health : News : University Herald

The Daily Dot - Your name now appears in Facebook searches, whether you like it or not - It’s official: your Facebook privacy is now opt-in ... And all you can do about it is to make sure you control privacy settings for every individual thing you do on Facebook.

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We could see 7°C (12°F) warming, and mass extinction, by 2100 (Republicans)
How Disaster-Hungry Pop Culture Ignored the Biggest Disaster of All | Motherboard - Ungar says the public's failure to consider climate change was related to the absence of readily available cultural metaphors (like Kenyan socialism)
Cyclone Phailin Threatens Tens Of Thousands In Eastern India

Nobel peace prize won by chemical weapons watchdog for work in Syria | World news | theguardian.com - OPCW's award recognises watchdog's ongoing efforts in Syria as well as 16 years of previous work
Gulf countries consider medical checks to bar transgender expats | World news | theguardian.com - Kuwait proposal aimed at preventing transgender migrant workers from entering six-member Gulf Co-operation Council countries criticised as 'immoral'
Japanese hospital fire leaves many dead and injured | World news | theguardian.com - Patients and hospital staff killed after blaze at four-storey orthopedic hospital in Fukuoka, southern Japan

Laptops Snowden took to Hong Kong, Russia were a 'diversion' | Reuters - The four laptop computers that former U.S. spy contractor Edward Snowden carried with him to Hong Kong and Moscow were a "diversion" and contained no secrets, according to an ex-CIA official who met with Snowden in Russia this week. (he should really get a MacArthur Genius award) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his close collaborator Sarah Harrison, a British journalism student who has been helping Snowden, played a major role in arranging for the meeting, McGovern said.

The rise of the reader: journalism in the age of the open web | Katharine Viner | Comment is free | theguardian.com - You might have thought such devastating revelations would have brought glory to the journalist who exposed them, especially among the journalistic community. But instead it brought fury, with Greenwald classed, by other journalists, as somehow undesirable.
Why would Canada spy on Brazil mining and energy officials? - Politics - CBC News - Department of Mining and Energy is tasked with auctioning rights to develop Libra Oil Field

The Daily Dot - Patriot Act author introduces bill to block NSA's use of the Patriot Act - Now that it’s 2013, can you imagine how embarrassing it must feel to have authored the Patriot Act a dozen years earlier?
Patriot Act author prepares bill to put NSA bulk collection 'out of business' | World news | theguardian.com - Bipartisan bill pulls together existing efforts to dramatically reform the NSA in the wake of Snowden disclosures
NSA reforms threatened by 'business-as-usual brigade', Ron Wyden warns | World news | theguardian.com - Oregon senator and vocal critic of NSA says senior intelligence officials will try to make sure any change is merely 'skin deep'

Hillary Clinton: we need to talk sensibly about spying | World news | The Guardian - Former US secretary of state greets debate as British shadow home secretary calls for oversight of intelligence

Committee to Protect Journalists issues scathing report on Obama administration | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Obama's anti-press measures 'are the most aggressive I've seen since the Nixon administration' - "It's a huge impediment to reporting, and so chilling isn't quite strong enough, it's more like freezing the whole process into a standstill."
The double danger of the NSA's 'collect it all' policy on surveillance | Rachel Levinson-Waldman | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Security agencies now sweep up such a giant haystack of data, infringing innocent citizens' rights, that they can't find the needles
NSA chief offers to store phone metadata at neutral site — RT USA (oh sure dept)

Spy Agency Sought U.S. Call Records Before 9/11, Lawyers Say - Bloomberg - By Andrew Harris - June 30, 2006

The Daily Dot - Government shutdown won't delay lawsuit over NSA phone spying - “All deadlines shall remain as previously set,” the judge wrote in a brief, one-page ruling.
Skype under investigation in Luxembourg over link to NSA | Technology | theguardian.com - Ten years ago, the calling service had a reputation as a tool for evading surveillance but now it is under scrutiny for covertly passing data to government agencies - The Microsoft-owned internet chat company could potentially face criminal and administrative sanctions, including a ban on passing users' communications covertly to the US signals intelliigence agency.

Lavabit’s appeal: We’re actually not required to wiretap our own users | Ars Technica - The government wanted Snowden. But what about Lavabit's other 400,000 customers? (they wanted to destroy his and related privacy-oriented businesses)

Attention!!!! I just made bail as a BUYER :( : SilkRoad (working their way down the chain to make "examples")

A Sacrifice Betrayed | Jane Horton

GOP Death Watch: The Final Days of the Republican Party | New Republic - The Last Days of the GOP
Obama Should Have Accepted the Boehner Plan | New Republic - The Boehner Plan Was the Best Thing to Happen to Obama In Months.
Will the Kamikaze Caucus Doom the GOP? - NationalJournal.com - When Congress devolves into perpetual conflict, each party's more militant voices gain influence at the expense of its deal-makers.

Obama, Congressional Republicans Exploring How To End Government Shutdown
Government Shutdown A Bigger Downer As It Goes On
JPMorgan Chase Sells Off All Short-Term U.S. Government Debt
Republican Debt Ceiling Offer Tests Fractured House Caucus - leave government funding unresolved so they could keep up the fight against Obamacare.
House GOP Offers Debt Limit Hike, End To Shutdown In Package With Spending Cuts: Report - curbs in benefit programs that Obama himself has backed. (of course he did)

Shutdown Salmonella Outbreak Continues. CDC Food Safety Chief: 'We Have a Blind Spot.' - Wired Science - The CDC has been able to bring back a few personnel to work on this — but only a few. Meanwhile, the Salmonella causing the outbreak has been shown to be multiple strains, several of which are resistant to multiple families of antibiotics.

GOP’s white-on-white war: Shutdown ruptures party’s all-white coalition - Salon.com - If Republicans pivot from ending Obamacare to Social Security, they'll turn a losing shutdown fight into a massacre
Fox's Doocy Slams Government Program Beneficiaries, But Says Medicare Is OK For Stossel Because He "Earned It" | Video | Media Matters for America - Hasselbeck: "The Motivation To Go Get A Job Is Almost Non-Existent" (moochers)

On Knowing What You Don't Know - NYTimes.com - Brad DeLong catches Niall Ferguson making another whoopsie. And while chasing NF isn’t worth the effort for its own sake, I think there is a broader lesson here: namely, the importance of knowing what you don’t know. (which is a big part of the conservative problem)
Brad DeLong : Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot Wall Street Journal Bang-Query-Bang-Query Niall Ferguson Smackdown: Is This Some Strange Berkeley Acid Trip I Am on? Weblogging - Niall Ferguson: The Shutdown Is a Sideshow. Debt Is the Threat (was using Megan McArdle's calculator)
Brad DeLong : This Will Not Do at All… - Niall Ferguson further shredding his credibility with his peers. He really needs to stop. ("Murdochian propaganda")
Niall Ferguson Doubles Down On Krugman Crusade
Niall Ferguson’s Latest Gay Bashing is the Least of His Problems | New Economic Perspectives - It is always a disaster when devotees of theoclassical economists speak their minds in front of what they think are friendly audiences
Brad DeLong : Graphs and Charts I Liked in the Second Half of September 2013

REPORT: Once Again, Sunday Morning Talk Shows Are White, Male, And Conservative | Research | Media Matters for America

Ohio Medicaid Expansion Gets Big Push From GOP Governor: Report - Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) will circumvent the majority-Republican legislature in his state to advance an expansion of Medicaid benefits to 275,000 people under President Barack Obama's health care reform law,
Ted Cruz Calls Birth Control 'Abortifacients' - on Friday repeated the misguided conservative talking point that the birth control coverage rule included in Obamacare forces employers to cover abortion-inducing pills. (peddling their afactual BS)

Boy, 15, kills himself after ‘facing expulsion and being put on sex offender registry’ for STREAKING at high school football game | Engineering Evil - A popular 15-year-old student has committed suicide after he reportedly faced expulsion and being placed on the sex offenders’ register simply for streaking at a high school football game. ("the law" loves to bully people)
Undercover Police, Just About Everywhere - NYTimes.com - It may not have occurred to people that New York City needed to deploy an undercover detective to spy on Occupy Sandy, a relief operation run by activists that delivered food and supplies to parts of the city ruined by the hurricane. (Bloomberg's little fascist state)
Los Angeles Police Dogs Only Bit Blacks And Latinos In The First Six Months Of 2013 | ThinkProgress (trained)

The 29 Stages Of A Twitterstorm
Google to put user photos, comments in online ad endorsements - The Washington Post

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? Revenge? Libyan PM seized from hotel in response to US raid - YouTube - Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, who was earlier seized, is in "good health and will be treated well as a Libyan citizen", and is being kept at the country's anti-crime department (response to Obama's kiddnapping; they never think it through)
Libyan prime minister Ali Zeidan calls for calm after kidnapping | World news | theguardian.com - Zeidan says Libyans need wisdom after brief but dramatic ordeal that saw him taken from his hotel room by armed men
The Soft Science of Kuwait's Plan to Use "Gaydar" to Ban Gays | Motherboard
Saudi advisory body rejects bid to raise women driving ban - Yahoo News

ZCommunications | Chomsky to RT: All Superpowers Feel Exceptional, Inflate Security Myth For ‘Frightened Population’ by Noam Chomsky | ZNet Article (Israel and no-moral-center Obama control foreign policy)

Potential government shutdown: How would the U.S. media report on it if it were happening to another country?
Obama and G.O.P. Fail to Agree on Debt Limit Plan - NYTimes.com - If the Obama administration will not negotiate over entitlement programs like Medicare now, “when will they negotiate?” asked Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah. (conservative mullah from separatist region)

This is the sort of document I wouldn’t post under... | unfuckwithable.ca

Edward Snowden: first photo appears since Russian asylum granted | World news | The Guardian - Image showing NSA whistleblower meeting former US government officials appears hours after father arrives in Moscow
? Snowden's father interview after arrival in Moscow (full video) - YouTube

'What the Guardian is doing is important for democracy' | World news | The Guardian - On Thursday the Daily Mail described the Guardian as 'The paper that helps Britain's enemies'. We showed that article to many of the world's leading editors. This is what they said
Spies and journalism: when worlds collide | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian - The raging global discussion about the proper limits of surveillance of the past few months will become harder to ignore
Guardian's NSA revelations: spies to go under spotlight | World news | The Guardian - Deputy PM Nick Clegg says public accountability and trust to be examined in review of surveillance powers
Clegg and Cameron weigh in on Snowden | Storytracker | PoliticsHome - David Cameron had defended the reputation of the intelligence services, as Nick Clegg joined in the criticism of the Guardian for publishing detailed information on intelligence-gathering practices.

NSA head says Congress needs to pass cybersecurity bills to let him stop attacks | The Verge
Patriot Act author prepares bill to put NSA bulk collection 'out of business' | World news | theguardian.com - Bipartisan bill pulls together existing efforts to dramatically reform the NSA in the wake of Snowden disclosures
The USA Freedom Act: a look at the key points of the draft bill | World news | theguardian.com - Republican Jim Sensenbrenner prepares to publish legislation and says it's time 'to put their metadata program out of business'

EFF Resigns from Global Network Initiative | Electronic Frontier Foundation - Citing Concerns Over NSA’s Impact on Corporate Members, EFF Leaves Industry Group
GE and AT&T Partner to Make Trains and Turbines Cellular-Capaple - Ina Fried - Mobile - AllThingsD

How the FBI Manipulates Grand Juries to Intimidate Political Dissidents and Radicals | Alternet

Industrial Espionage in Brazil: Exposing the Underbelly of Canadian Support for Mining Companies | Global Research
London Police Order Registrars To Shut Down A Bunch Of Websites Without Any Legal Basis; Threaten Registrars If They Don't Comply | Techdirt - In other words, they are ordering us to take down competing websites, with no legal basis, hijacking the traffic, and redirecting it to competing commercial services, all of which are based out of (guess where?) London, UK. (big content gets its own cop dept)
NSA wants even greater powers … to defend Wall Street - Salon.com - The villainous nexus of surveillance, politics and banking rears its head again in the NSA chief's public comments (who do they serve?)
How The NSA Deploys Malware: An In-Depth Look at the New Revelations | Electronic Frontier Foundation
GoDaddy Revokes Lavabit's Security Certificate After Reading About How The Feds Got It | Techdirt

Daily Kos: What the NSA is doing with all our data
What the Government Does with Americans' Data | Brennan Center for Justice - The report, which surveys across five intelligence agencies, finds that non-terrorism related data can be kept for up to 75 years or more
How the FBI Manipulates Grand Juries to Intimidate Political Dissidents and Radicals | Alternet - Grand juries have seen a resurgence as the FBI cracks down on radical communities.

8 Ways Iceland WikiLeaks Cables Expose the Dark Depths of American Empire | Alternet - A Chelsea Manning-leaked cable showed how Iceland asked the U.S. to stop European "bullying," just the first of a deluge of revelations detailing how America throws around its weight.
Julian Assange asked Benedict Cumberbatch to quit Wikileaks film | Media | The Guardian - WikiLeaks founder wrote to the actor telling him The Fifth Estate was 'toxic' and based on a distorted version of the truth - "Instead of the exciting true story, we get a film about a bland German IT worker who wasn't even there and a fabricated fight over redactions with the old newspapers and the state department saving the day. The result is a geriatric snoozefest that only the US government could love."

Press regulation: Leveson distances himself from royal charter | Media | The Guardian - Judge hopes his recommendations are not lost in a political row over setting up an industry watchdog

Obama's efforts to control leaks 'the most aggressive since Nixon', report finds | World news | theguardian.com - Administration's tactics, which include using Espionage Act to pursue leakers, have had chilling effect on accountability – study - "This is the most closed, control-freak administration I've ever covered." (Obama=Nixon on NSA steroids)
The Obama Administration and the Press - Reports - Committee to Protect Journalists - Leak investigations and surveillance in post-9/11 America (why does he do shit like this? or any of his other shit positions?)

Pentagon unit held 'phony' ceremonies for MIAs, using planes that can't fly - Investigations (the charade of support our troops from top to bottom)

OK Pipeline Explosion Sparks Fire, Evacuations | Earth First! Newswire - Residents within two miles of the blast were ordered to evacuate.

Mt. Laurel vet who set himself on fire had served during Vietnam War | Courier-Post | courierpostonline.com - The Mount Laurel veteran who died by setting himself on fire in Washington, D.C., Friday served his country during the Vietnam War, officials say.

Obamacare site hits reset button on passwords as contractors scramble | Ars Technica - Three years wasn't enough time to get this massive IT effort past the finish line.

China warns US to 'stop manufacturing crises' and raise debt ceiling - China criticises "mind-boggling political infighting" over issue of raising America's $16.7 trillion debt ceiling
Republican Party's Rating Plummets To 'Record Low' - Just 28 percent of Americans have a favorable impression of the Republican Party, down 10 percentage points from last month, according to a Gallup poll. The polling firm called it a "record low," noting that "this is the lowest favorable rating measured for either party since Gallup began asking this question in 1992." (once again, the totally insane 27%)
Poll: Republicans 'Badly Damaged' By Shutdown Battle
Michelle Bachman Is A Special Breed Of Idiot
Today In Washed-Up Contrarianism - Lawyers, Guns & Money (Michael Kinsley has become a self-parody)

Jack Lew Warns That A Default Could Cause 'Irrevocable Damage' (Republicans: "La-De-La")

New Jersey judge pushes ahead with gay marriage in spite of state objections | World news | theguardian.com - Judge Mary Jacobson refuses Chris Christie's administration a stay on this month's issuance of same-sex marriage licenses

Eschaton: Flossing Your Teeth - Gotta fix the internet here. Front page of nyt.com. - The state has become a laboratory for a political strategy designed to discourage prevent poor women from getting safe and legal abortions without flagrantly violating Supreme Court precedent.   My additions in bold. (NYT shaping what used to be the truth)

5 Ways Monsanto Wants to Profit Off Climate Change | Mother Jones - The agriculture giant has a variety solutions for mitigating and adapting to global warming.

Cops Are Now Less Cautious Than Soldiers In Iraq » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

School Stops 14-Year-Old Autistic Student From Questioning Treatment Citing Privacy Issues - Schools - Northport, NY Patch

Unpaid and sexually harassed: The latest intern injustice - Salon.com - A troubling ruling declares that unpaid workers can't be discriminated against (which, of course, means they can)

New study on lesbian handholding has plenty to say about straight grips too. - “Our results suggest that handholding position does not reflect a dominance or power differential between partners, at least within a female-female relationship,”

Sarah Lacy's defense of Twitter: An outstanding example of the form. - the editor and founder of PandoDaily

Astronomers shoot first in 'Star Wars'-style timelapse | The Verge
IamA guy who went from 430 pounds to 170 pounds in approximately 11 months through starvation. AMA! : IAmA
The Bully Waging War Against Bullies - The Daily Beast - James McGibney was thrust into the media spotlight after he brought down Internet bully Hunter Moore. Has he become what he once reviled? Lizzie Crocker reports.

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Karzai: NATO Caused Lot of Suffering and Death, Yet Afghanistan Is Not Secure | emptywheel - Karzai: NATO Caused Lot of Suffering and Death, Yet Afghanistan Is Not Secure (fed up with US death squads killing civilians)
US to cut military and economic aid to Egypt in shift of policy after 'coup' | World news | theguardian.com - Obama administration set to suspend military and economic assistance to Egyptian government in protest at Morsi ousting
Iranian foreign minister blames critics of US thaw for giving him back pain | World news | theguardian.com - Mohammad Javad Zarif says he was treated in hospital after being 'misquoted' by hardline newspaper
Mexican police seize 18 kidnap suspects in Acapulco – most are fellow officers | World news | theguardian.com - Anonymous tip leads to seizure of gang of federal officers thought to be involved with seven murders and four kidnappings
Saudi King Abdullah's female advisers ask him to let women drive | World news | theguardian.com - Members of Shura Council, which makes recommendations to the monarch, challenge conservative Islamic establishment
6 Fukushima workers exposed to radiation after pipe incident — RT News - after one of them mistakenly removed a pipe connected to a contaminated water treatment system. It’s the second incident at Fukushima in three days.

What Kind of Intelligence Does the HIG Expect to Get from Anas al-Libi? | emptywheel
The FBI’s Official “CAIR Has Cooties Guidance Directive [Redacted]“ | emptywheel - But then I read this report — on the FBI’s Interactions with the Council on American-Islamic Relations — and I got literally sick to my stomach.
Review of FBI Interactions with the Council on American-Islamic Relations - e0707r.pdf (redacted, redacted and redacted)

MI5 chief: GCHQ surveillance plays vital role in fight against terrorism | UK news | The Guardian - Sir Andrew Parker mounts strident defence of UK intelligence and denies MI5 seeks 'all-pervasive security apparatus' (liars)
MI5 chief's criticism of Snowden and the Guardian is hardly unexpected | UK news | theguardian.com - Sir Andrew Parker's position is understandable given what he does, but it isn't the only view – even within intelligence circles
Inside Canada's top-secret billion-dollar spy palace - Politics - CBC News - New intelligence headquarters has soaring atriums, grand staircases and filtered drinking fountains (they treat themselves very, very well)
Canadian spies met with energy firms, documents reveal | Environment | theguardian.com - Government agency that allegedly spied on Brazil had secret meetings with energy companies (it's all about economic spying)
A Chat with the Makers of Don't Snoop Me Bro, a New Fool-Proof Encryption Tool | Motherboard

NYPD agent arrested for biker beating spied on Occupy activists — RT USA

State Obamacare Markets Attract Tens Of Thousands Of Customers (and this is the entire Republican platform)
Suicide of the Right | New York Post - One thing we know for sure is that it’s not an equal fight, this fight between a man who received 65 million votes nationwide and a man who received 246,000 votes in one congressional district in Ohio.
George Will Compares Obamacare To Fugitive Slave Act, Segregation (which gave good healthcare to slaves)

Shutdown Setback: Republicans Are Bailing on ‘Clean’ CR - The Daily Beast - The most viable solution to the shutdown crisis—a ‘clean’ budget in the House—is losing what little Republican support it had. David Freedlander on why everyone’s jumping ship.
Government Shutdown, Debt Limit Battles Continue Amid Hints Of Short-Term Truce
Government Shutdown Blamed On Republicans: Poll - Overall, 62 percent mainly blamed Republicans for the shutdown. About half said Obama or the Democrats in Congress bear much responsibility.
Many in G.O.P. Offer Theory - Default Wouldn’t Be That Bad - NYTimes.com (the fantasy-based community of idiots)
Chuck Todd End Of Shutdown Article - A Child's Garden Of Politics - Esquire - Step right up, my man Chuck Todd. And friends.

Recession Looms If Treasury Uses Tools to Prevent a Default - Bloomberg
Heritage Action Bails On Debt Ceiling Fight - Michael Needham, CEO of the powerful group Heritage Action, said that he opposed conditioning a crucial vote to increase the government's borrowing authority on the group's main goal: defunding Obamacare.
? Keiser on shutdown: America one giant hedge fund & world's greatest soap opera - YouTube
Return Of The Supercommittee - Avengers, Assemble! - Esquire - And now, this. The institutions of self-government have been sabotaged by a collection of vandals and so, now, it's time to give Bob Rubin or someone another chance to mingle the financial services industry with the operations of government because that always has worked out so well for the rest of us.
? [252] War Machine Churns Despite Shutdown, Participatory Economics: Alternative to Capitalism? - YouTube

Another Thing That Won't Matter - Esquire - the Republican party at the moment to be as popular as scabies and the mange - the Republican Party is now viewed favorably by 28% of Americans, down from 38% in September. This is the lowest favorable rating measured for either party since Gallup began asking this question in 1992...More than six in 10 Americans (62%) now view the GOP unfavorably, a record high.
Beware of Gerrymandering Denialists! - The point isn't that gerrymandering gave us this Congress; it's that it was designed to keep this Congress and to protect (mostly) Republicans from harm if they screw up terribly.

The Brainwashing of My Dad - documentary by Jen Senko — Kickstarter - The truth behind the right-wing media machine that changed a father - and the nation

Waterboarding Is A Big Joke At Cheney Roast - A sentimental evening at the Plaza for Cheney, Rumsfeld, Mukasey, and Lieberman. “Really tasteless,” says a guest.

Liberal comment trolling polarizes conservatives (but not vice versa), study says - inflammatory liberal blog comments do more to enrage and polarize conservatives than inflammatory conservative comments do to enrage and polarize liberals ... previous research has shown that incivility does appear to be more common in conservative than liberal media (assholes offended by being treated as asshole)

Summers After Government Saw Wealth Surge to $17 Million - Bloomberg - Summers also collected more than $2.7 million in speaking fees, including from companies such as Citigroup and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) that later received taxpayer funds in the economic bailout, according to his disclosure forms.

Five Texans Sick from Fast-Spreading Salmonella | NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth - Strain resistant to antibiotics
There's a Major Foodborne Illness Outbreak and the Government's Shut Down - Wired Science (don't need no steenking government scientists)

Nashville landlords battle homelessness by renting to felons for $50 a month | The Raw Story
School Official Arrested For Allegedly Helping Cover Up The Steubenville Rape Case | ThinkProgress - Rhinaman worked as the director of technology at Steubenville High School.

We spend billions a year maintaining phone lines (almost) nobody depends on. Should we get rid of them? - A back-of-the-envelope estimate by a Georgetown University researcher suggests that telecom companies may be spending as much as $13.5 billion a year maintaining their old phone networks.

7NEWS - Life after death? Science may be getting closer to an answer. - Story - the relationship between mind consciousness and the brain in patients who undergo cardiac arrest - When you die the information inside the microtubules -- your soul -- doesn’t disappear. Instead, it is absorbed into the universe.

One button to silence all distractions: the latest in 'conscious computing' | News | theguardian.com - MyFocus, a single button that promises to block all your incoming messages – and real-world distractions, too (turn your spouse on mute)

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Libyan al-Qaida suspect's detention-at-sea raises Geneva convention concerns | World news | theguardian.com - Legality of Abu Anas al-Liby's detainment could be thrown into question as Obama administration weighs suspect's fate (no steenking Geneva Convention, either) With every passing day that the US holds its newest terror suspect in the brig of the USS San Antonio, the Obama administration dives deeper into the extra-legal murk that characterized its predecessor. (Fleischer: Bush's fourth term)
US raids: long fumbling arm | Comment is free | The Guardian - Washington's ability to micromanage the Middle East is diminished. But its ability to compound the chaos may not be - the seizure of Abu Anas al-Libi - Tripoli will pay a price for this (sowing more jihad from radicals; drone-boy has never shown much talent for strategy)
White House defends al-Qaida capture in Libya as US ponders legal options | World news | theguardian.com - Abu Anas al-Liby waits to learn if he will be tried in federal court that indicted him in 2000 or face a military commission
US raids on terror suspects present test for Obama: to capture or to kill? | World news | theguardian.com - Administration could be moving away from 'targeted killing' policy – and also looking to try terror suspects in civilian courts
Libyan PM: al-Qaida raid will not hurt country's relations with US | World news | theguardian.com - Prime Minister Ali Zeidan's comments were his first since US special forces abducted Abu Anas al-Liby from a Tripoli street (other opinions differ)
Hamid Karzai blasts US and Nato over attacks as security talks drag on | World news | theguardian.com - Afghan president says foreign military coalition is demanding the right to 'continue to attack our people and our villages'
Israel's West Bank control 'costing Palestinian economy billions' | World news | theguardian.com - World Bank says allowing Palestinians to use the 61% of the West Bank under full Israeli control would boost the economy
WhatsApp hacked by Palestinian protesters, site defaced | CNET UK

Cambodia’s Unseen Horrors by Richard Bernstein | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books - Notoriously, they also left behind black and white head shots of every one of the fourteen thousand people who were admitted to Tuol Sleng Prison in Phnom Penh, officially known as S-21, who were then tortured and executed. (Kissinger)

CIA Halts Public Access to Open Source Service - Secrecy News - For more than half a century, the public has been able to access a wealth of information collected by U.S. intelligence from unclassified, open sources around the world. At the end of this year, the Central Intelligence Agency will terminate that access. (everything is now a secret)

Lavabit vs. the FBI: the fight for the soul of American software | The Verge - "They're kidnapping your reputation and using it for their own purposes." (you can't tell anybody you aren't you but them)

Fact: the NSA gets negligible intel from Americans' metadata. So end collection | Yochai Benkler | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Defenders of the NSA's bulk data collection program argue its necessity. But the evidence it makes us safer is vanishingly small (first they scare you, then they give you "peace of mind")
The Daily Dot - How the NSA identifies Tor users in 6 easy steps
How Can NSA Protect Our Power Grid from Cyberattack When It Can’t Keep Its Own Power On? | emptywheel - And the electrical problems plaguing NSA’s new UT data center — described as lightening in a box that has caused $100,000 of damage each of the 10 times it has happened — do seem to stem from poorly supervised contractors. (NSA "fixed" the problem with a fix that didn't fix it)
Four UK men arrested over Silk Road links - Four men have been arrested in the UK over their role in illegal online marketplace Silk Road.
Police have started busting alleged top Silk Road drug dealers | The Verge
GI Files - - Pershing Square's Bill Ackman says at Delivering Alpha conference he's placed wager that profits if Hong Kong drops peg to U.S. dollar.
NEC to Participate in Biometrics Exhibition and Conference 2013 - Financial and Business News - MENAFN - NeoFace Reveal - NeoFace Reveal is a software application which allows for capture of "latent face images," characterized by a poor quality or angle of captured facial images either from photographs or crime scene videos.

America's police are looking more and more like the military | Michael Shank and Elizabeth Beavers | Comment is free | theguardian.com - A Defense Department program transfers military-grade weapons and vehicles to local law enforcement. It's the last thing we need - when local police forces carry assault weapons and patrol America's main streets with tanks and drones, the lines blur between the military and law enforcement. (you are the enemy)

Shutdown Causes Biggest Drop In Economic Confidence Since Lehman
Republican Debt-Ceiling ‘Truthers’ Are Risking Financial Disaster - The Daily Beast - It’s tempting to say Republicans can believe what they want. The problem is that their fantasies could destroy our economy.

The US debt ceiling crisis explained | Heidi Moore | Business | theguardian.com - If Congress and the White House cannot reach a deal by 17 October, the US will default on its debt. What would this mean?
IMF cuts global growth forecasts amid fears for world trade - as it happened | Business | theguardian.com - IMF cuts global growth forecasts amid fears for world trade - as it happened (Republifucks already fucking world economy)
Obama issues fresh debt limit warning to Republicans as stalemate drags on | World news | theguardian.com - President shoots down new suggestions among Republicans that US could prioritise payments to avoid lasting damage

Obama Extortion Democracy Press Conference - The Presidential Finally Speaks His Mind - Esquire - "We can't make extortion routine as part of our democracy...Democracy doesn't function this way. And this is not just for me; it's also for my successors in office. Whatever party they're from, they shouldn't have to pay a ransom either for Congress doing its basic job. We've got to put a stop to it....We're not going to pay a ransom for America to pay its bills."

Jill Abramson Defends NYT Leak Story: Government Said We'd Have 'Blood On Our Hands' - According to Politico, Abramson told Auletta that Sullivan was "wrong," adding that government officials had told Times editors that the paper would have "blood on our hands" if it published more information. (which turned out to be total bullshit, but Jill went along)

Obama to nominate Janet Yellen as head of US Federal Reserve | Business | theguardian.com - US president will nominate Janet Yellen as Ben Bernanke's successor at US central bank

Debt Ceiling: Senate Republicans Flirt With Default - "There is no reason for us to default," said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). "A responsible administration, a responsible president, wouldn't try and scare the markets. He would be calming markets. The treasury secretary should be calming markets, saying, 'Guys, we have more than enough tax revenue coming in.' There's no reason for the U.S. to default on its debt at all." (la-de-la)
The Government Shutdown Trickle-Down: 50 Effects Of The Budget Standstill
There's a Major Foodborne Illness Outbreak and the Government's Shut Down - Wired Science - his evening, the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the US Department of Agriculture announced that “an estimated 278 illnesses … reported in 18 states” have been caused by chicken contaminated with Salmonella Heidelberg and possibly produced by the firm Foster Farms.

Truly Amazing - I had no idea this was happening. Kansas and Arizona are rolling out a two-class voting system or what they're calling 'two-tiering'. Premium allows you to vote in all elections, the freeware version allows you only to vote in federal elections. It's the latest in the voter suppression game.

Princeton University President Legacy Applicants - Business Insider



The Daily Dot - The battle to destroy Wikipedia's biggest sockpuppet army - They hired a company called Wiki-PR to make pages for them.
The Daily Dot - Are plastic surgeons nip/tucking ads into high-profile Wikipedia articles?
The Daily Dot - A beginner's guide to 4chan
Wired 2013: Jake Davis, AKA Topiary, on trolling and online disinhibition (Wired UK)

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Afghanistan War Anniversary Marks 12 Years Of Conflict - The war in Afghanistan officially began 12 years today.

Libya demands explanation for 'kidnapping' of citizen by US forces | World news | The Guardian - Demand comes hours after separate failed US military raid on terrorist target in Somalia (Obama is the boss of your country, and Israel is the boss of him)
U.S. Said to Hold Qaeda Suspect on Navy Ship - NYTimes.com
Defense Department tight-lipped over aspects of Libya and Somalia raids | World news | theguardian.com - Hagel praises military but effects of government shutdown felt as employee furloughs make information scarce
Binyamin Netanyahu: occupation is not cause of conflict | World news | theguardian.com - Hardline speech fuels suspicion PM is unwilling to agree to dismantle settlements and withdraw from West Bank (Netanfuckyu)
Egypt: dozens of protesters killed as rival factions tear Cairo apart | World news | The Guardian - Opposing rallies to commemorate Egypt's participation in 1973 Yom Kippur war flare into day of violence across the country
Egyptian soldiers killed in Ismailiya and Sinai attacks
Japan asks for world's help on Fukushima leaks | Al Jazeera America - 'My country needs your knowledge and expertise,' prime minister Abe says (30 months later)
Fukushima worker accidentally switches off cooling pumps, backup kicks in - World News (there you go)
Concern for health of Greenpeace activists detained in Russia | Environment | The Guardian - Some activists and two journalists held in solitary confinement while others are being kept in extremely cold cells while awaiting piracy charges (Putin threw them in the freezer)
The Daily Dot - Moroccan teens arrested over kissing photo on Facebook - They were arrested after they posted a photo of their “crime,” committed outside their high school and taken by a 15-year-old friend, on Facebook. Technically, the crime was “violating public decency.”
Indie ISPs fight back after Big Telecom block Canadians from accessing affordable services | rabble.ca (what they'd like to do here)

Brazil summons Canadian ambassador over spying allegations | CTV News - The Embassy of Brazil in Ottawa confirms that Brazil’s Foreign Affairs Minister summoned Canada’s Ambassador over spying allegations. The meeting took place Monday morning in Brasilia, the day after a TV news report alleging spying operations targetted at Brazil's mining and energy industry.

Obama administration decides NSA spying is ‘essential,’ but oversight of NSA is not

In Obama’s war on leaks, reporters fight back - The Washington Post - Many reporters covering national security and government policy in Washington these days are taking precautions to keep their sources from becoming casualties in the Obama administration’s war on leaks. They and their remaining government sources often avoid telephone conversations and e-mail exchanges, arranging furtive one-on-one meetings instead. A few news organizations have even set up separate computer networks and safe rooms for journalists trained in encryption and other ways to thwart surveillance.
NSA inundated by FOIA requests after Snowden leaks | Muckrock - Agency's FOIA caseload is up more than 1,054 percent
The Daily Dot - FISA court to declassify more documents on NSA's phone snooping program - the Obama administration must declassify further legal opinions on “the unauthorized disclosure of in June 2013 of a [Patriot Act] Section 215 [surveillance] order.”
What the Three Largest NSA Lawsuits Are Fighting For | Motherboard (above the law)

Tech Titans Poised for Showdown With Justice Department Over NSA | TIME.com - The Justice Department argues that greater NSA data-request transparency would harm national security (everything "harms" national security)
6 Years Later, Are the Internet Companies Trying to Expose Telecoms Stealing Their Data, Again? | emptywheel (you are the government's "adversaries")

Prism and Tempora: the cabinet was told nothing of the surveillance state's excesses | Chris Huhne | Comment is free | The Guardian - Was the Home Office deliberately misleading ministers by asking for powers that we now know GCHQ already had? (liars lie)
Cabinet was told nothing about GCHQ spying programmes, says Chris Huhne | UK news | The Guardian - Ex-minister says he was in 'utter ignorance' of Prism and Tempora and calls for tighter oversight of security services - Huhne also questioned whether the Home Office had deliberately misled parliament (sorta like Congress)
Jonathan Freedland: The Wilson plot was our Watergate | Comment is free | The Guardian - Wilson was the victim of a protracted, illegal campaign of destabilisation by a rogue element in the security services. (that would never happen in America)

The Whistleblower's Guide to the Orwellian Galaxy: How to Leak to the Press | Wired Opinion | Wired.com
Want to Evade NSA Spying? Don't Connect to the Internet | Wired Opinion | Wired.com
Clean Your System and Free Disk Space | BleachBit

Want to Evade NSA Spying? Don't Connect to the Internet | Wired Opinion | Wired.com
How A Telecom Helped The Government Spy On Me | Techdirt - from the telcos-enabling-surveillance dept (Obama ramped up Bush's war on jounalism)
FBI struggles to seize 600,000 Bitcoins from alleged Silk Road founder | Technology | theguardian.com - Having seized 26,000 Bitcoins belonging to site users, authorities battle to control Ross Ulbricht's personal wallet
How the NSA might use Hotmail or Yahoo cookies to identify Tor users | Ars Technica - "Quantum cookie" attacks are plausible but only in highly limited cases.
Don't Snoop Me Bro Tunnel | Indiegogo - Own the key to your privacy online.

FBI Next Generation Identification Video Presentations | Public Intelligence
Snitch Alert: Jennifer Kolar in Seattle | Seattle Free Press - Jen Kolar was one of the super-snitches of the green scare cases, for years she saved evidence against old friends, lovers, and comrades in order to have something to trade should she ever be caught for the arsons she participated in. Why? Because Jen had become wealthy, abandoned her politics, and joined a yacht club. In exchange for her cooperation she received a reduced sentence and was sent to a low security prison where she was allowed to work with dogs.

Obama’s Rendition Operation in Libya: It’s Like President George W. Bush Got a Fourth Term | The Dissenter - Fleischer was not only saying this to remind people that Obama was once opposed to these policies but to also openly celebrate the fact that Obama is employing them

White House: Obama Will Never Negotiate On The Debt Limit Again (that lasted 12 seconds, see below)
Obama: We're Willing To Fund Government With Republican Priorities (see above)

Some Senate Republicans Ready To Raise The Debt Ceiling (cracks in the crazywall?)

Government shutdown: What's closed, what's open? - CNN.com (Military, NSA and not much else)
A U.S. Default Seen as Catastrophe Dwarfing Lehman’s Fall - Businessweek (Republicans giggle)
Eschaton: As The World Burns - Too many of our rulers are completely unconcerned with the consequences of their actions. It's about them, their fee fees, their power, their dudebro backslapping. They'll blow up the world for shits and giggles.
Senate Dems to call GOP’s bluff on debt limit

China warns US over debt ceiling as deadlock hits markets - as it happened | Business | theguardian.com - Chinese finance minister: US must act fast • US Treasury secretary: Congress is 'playing with fire' ("Congress"=Republifucks)
US government shutdown: our experts predict how it ends | Panel | World news | theguardian.com
Bob Schieffer Challenges John Cornyn On Obamacare - "Senator, isn’t there something wrong when you say "I won’t fund the government unless I can attach my personal wish list to the legislation every time we vote?
Far-Right Republicans Could Hit A Tipping Point As Support Falters - “It appears that we’ve got a bunch of crazies running around — one from Texas and some from other places,” Al Hoffman Jr., former finance chairman for the Republican National Committee, told the Post.
Meese is a Pig: Ed Meese Now Wants to Kill Obamacare | New Republic - Edwin Meese III is back in the news: According to a report in Sunday's New York Times, the Reagan-era attorney general convened a group of right-wing leaders last winter to plan a campaign to kill Obamacare—by shutting down the government, if necessary. The apparent end-of-the-fiscal-year train wreck, according to Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Mike McIntire's story, was planned months ago.
Governing by Blackmail - NYTimes.com - Today, we have a similar situation, except that it’s a band of extremist House Republicans who are deliberately sabotaging America’s economy and damaging our national security — all in hopes of gaining leverage on unrelated issues.

Pox on One of Their Houses - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Noted lefty nutcase Ben Wittes: To put the matter simply, the current Republican insistence on attaching conditions to a continuing resolution to keep government open is nothing more or less than the elevation of domestic disputes over Obamacare and fiscal matters above the security of the country as a whole and above the physical safety of its population. It is as reckless as it would have been for Democrats to shut down the government over the Bush tax cuts. And it is no less apt to raise questions about the seriousness of those who would do it.
Brad DeLong : This Will Not Do at All… - Niall Ferguson: Niall Ferguson: The Shutdown Is a Sideshow. Debt Is the Threat: (noted hack and liar)
Niall Ferguson: A Well-Rounded Hack - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Brad DeLong has some fun with Niall Ferguson’s latest round of dishonest arguments in favor of austerity.
Today Among the Malevolent Fredos - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Meet Mr. Ted Yoho (R-Floriduh) - "I think, personally, it would bring stability to the world markets,” since they would be assured that the United States had moved decisively to curb its debt." Right. And if the American banking system collapsed things would get really stable.

Shutdown Week Two - The Great Sucker Play - Esquire - All weekend, the conservative pivot on the shutdown-debt-ceiling-spittlepalooza was consistent and obvious. This is now no longer entirely about the beastly tyranny of Obamacare. Oh, no. This is now about federal spending and about the deficit. Never mind that the deficit is dropping, and that the Democrats are now pleading to return to a level of federal spending below that which even Paul Ryan recommende

Frensel comments on Newspeak Alert: The (national) debt is not a burden......It is a profit center. - The debt scare is completely fucking retarded. There is no other way to put it. If you look at the numbers, and you look at the theory, and you look at the real world examples, there is absolutely no way that you can come to the conclusion that our level of debt is problematic enough to REMOTELY be worth attention when compared to the social and environmental problems that we face.

No, Really, Blame John Roberts on Medicaid - The Supreme Court left a loophole in this summer's decision that is directly to blame for the millions who will start the year without health insurance.
Government shutdown leaves domestic violence victims stranded - Salon.com - Service providers across the country prepare for the worst as the shutdown threatens to cut off funding entirely

America’s Last Principled Judge (TM) Speaks! - Lawyers, Guns & Money (Scalia, as anyone familiar with an of his recent high-profile oral arguments knows, gets his his news solely from right-wings sources and considers the Washington Post left-wing propaganda.) (doesn't believe in Amendments over eight)
In Conversation With Antonin Scalia -- New York Magazine - On the eve of a new Supreme Court session, the firebrand justice discusses gay rights and media echo chambers, Seinfeld and the Devil
? Four Days In Chicago - Official Trailer - YouTube - The Chicago Tribune tells us the city's school closure is largest U.S. history. There's no money in the budget for schools or teachers, says Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and yet he spent $27 million to militarize Chicago to protect this NATO Summit from anti-war protestors
Rick Scott Acknowledges Flaws In 2012 Voter Purge, But Says Next One Will Be Better

How the Mail got it wrong, again – on the jealous God of Deuteronomy | Giles Fraser | Comment is free | theguardian.com - the Richard Dawkins play book. Here, for instance, is the great man in full flow: "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."

Skepchick | - Good news, ladies! Your days of being raped are over, thanks to the advice of one Phil Mason, aka “Thunderf00t,” a YouTube vlogger who hates feminism and loves awesome analogies involving animals

The War on Drugs Is Over. Drugs Won. - Esquire - Now is the time to ask why (Obama keeps it going)

60 Minutes Report Denounced For Disability Misinformation | Blog | Media Matters for America
60 Minutes Disability Report Denounced - The Lie Never Dies - Esquire - This American Life? Oh, Ira.-- to believe that we are beset by greedy poors who are gaming the good citizens. It is not easy to be poor in this country. That should be something our elite media takes as a given.
The Era of Big Government Is Over And Marcus Stephens Is Dead - April 2000 - Esquire

Under Threat of Lawsuit FDA to Withdraw Approvals of Arsenic in Animal Feed – EcoWatch: Cutting Edge Environmental News Service - Arsenic is added to poultry feed for the purposes of inducing faster weight gain on less feed, and creating the perceived appearance of a healthy color in meat from chickens, turkeys and hogs.
The Methiest States In The U.S. (INFOGRAPHIC) - The midwestern states tend to see the most incidents involving meth labs, and Missouri outranks all others with 1,825 busts and seizures in 2012

Study: Narcissism Breeds Belief in One’s Own Creativity - British researchers report narcissists are more likely than most to engage in creative activities ... . If your opinion of yourself is unusually high, there's a good chance you long to share your brilliance with the rest of the world.

10 of the Best ‘Twilight Zone’ Episodes – Flavorwire

Lumia 1020 beats the iPhone 5s and Galaxy S4 by a mile in our blind camera comparison

The Daily Dot - Facebook censors ACLU screed about censoring boobs - Maybe it's just censored boobs all the way down. Facebook blocked the American Civil Liberties Union because of its blog post condemning censorship of a statue of a naked woman. Then, for good measure, it banned the ACLU from posting for 24 hours.
The Daily Dot - 'The Boy Kings' author Kate Losse accuses Dave Eggers of plagiarizing her life - “P.S. BYE Dave Eggers. I see you, sitting there with your copying ass, copying me. Signed, ‘Mae Holland,’”
The Daily Dot - What took Facebook so long to remove this shockingly violent page? - Facebook took more than a month to remove a fan page that reportedly posted photos of abused children, severed heads, raped teenage girls, and dead bodies
New York subpoenas Airbnb for data on all local hosts | The Verge - Eric Schneiderman (hotel lobby has him in its pocket)

? Guns 'N Roses - Sweet Child o' Mine - Guzheng Cover - YouTube

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Kerry On Libya, Somalia Raids: Terrorists 'Can Run, But They Can't Hide'
Al-Shabaab target may explain US secrecy over failed Somali raid | Simon Tisdall | Comment is free | theguardian.com - It would be seen as a serious setback if Westgate mall plotter Ahmed Adbi Godane was the intended prize in Barawe (the invincible Seal Team Six "forced to withdraw") Obama himself will have personally given the go-ahead for both raids. His orders were reportedly to capture, if possible, rather than kill. (yeah, sure)
Terror in Westgate mall: the full story of the attacks that devastated Kenya | World news | The Guardian (the "full" story without the 3 days of Kenyan Army looting the whole place)
Four people arrested in Iran accused of trying to sabotage nuclear site | World news | theguardian.com - Iranian nuclear chief says 'saboteurs' were caught red-handed and are being questioned

Russia to monitor 'all communications' at Winter Olympics in Sochi | World news | The Guardian - Investigation uncovers FSB surveillance system – branded 'Prism on steroids' – to listen to all athletes and visitors

Intelligence chief says the US attacks encryption because the bad guys use it | The Verge - "These are the tools our adversaries use to communicate and coordinate attacks against the United States." (more idiocy from Claptraper)
Journalists Detail Major Chilling Effect, Denounce White House War On Leaks In New Report - A forthcoming report by the former editor of the Washington Post details the widespread chilling effect that the Obama administration's war on leaks and leakers has had on investigative and national security journalists. (Obama's war on truth and journalism uses anti-terrorist tools)

Bitcoin Address 1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GNn4xqX (FBI's stolen account gets spammed by micropayments)

Colbert King: The tea party resurrects the spirit of the Old Confederacy - The Washington Post - Today there is a New Confederacy, an insurgent political force that has captured the Republican Party and is taking up where the Old Confederacy left off in its efforts to bring down the federal government. (Teaparty=traitors; the South rose again, in all it's ugly, racist, insanity)
Who is the Tea Party Caucus in the House? – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs (the traitor caucus)

John Boehner: 'The Path We're On' Leads To Default (Republicans love destroying the world)
Jonathan Chait on the Government Shutdown -- New York Magazine - Washington couldn’t have gone dark without a radicalized Republican Party. Or maybe it was destined to all along ... Presidential systems veered ultimately toward collapse everywhere they were tried, as legislators and executives vied for supremacy. There was only one notable exception: the United States of America. (America is over; Ted Cruz is your El Presidente)
Let Me Explain How Extortion Works, Republicans -- Daily Intelligencer
Frankenstein Goes to Congress - NYTimes.com - But here’s my long-term theory. Over the past few years, Republicans have terrified their most fervent followers about Obamacare in order to disguise the fact that they no longer knew what to say about their old bête noir, entitlements. Now they can’t turn the temperature down ... It’s not easy leading a political movement that believes the federal government is at the core of all our problems while depending heavily on the votes of citizens who get both their retirement money and health care from the federal government. (no cognitive dissonance, because no cognition)
Why have the Republicans gone into meltdown mode over the ACA? Yet another theory by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - the G.O.P. is behaving very much as if the future doesn’t figure into its calculations at all.
The government shutdown and the Republican war on Obamacare: it’s the racism, stupid by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - How about this: all but one state in the Deep South have refused the free money from the feds to expand Medicaid.
This Madness Will Never End - So long as there's a Democrat in the White House, the fever will never break.
Daily Meme: Politics is Dumb. And Stupid.

Pentagon spent $5.5bn only hours before govt shutdown — RT USA - on an arsenal of items ordered at the last minute by Uncle Sam.
A Federal Budget Crisis Months in the Planning - NYTimes.com - Shortly after President Obama started his second term, a loose-knit coalition of conservative activists led by former Attorney General Edwin Meese (the rats live in their holes) cutting off financing for the entire federal government.
GOP In Grave Danger Of Losing House In 2014, PPP Polls Show - Shutting down the government may end up costing Republicans control of the House of Representatives.

Social democracy offers many outstanding benefits. Shutting down sexist, predatory jerks is one of them. by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - The takeaway is that Danish women are not as nearly so economically dependent on men as American women are, and that this results in far more egalitarian relationships and gender roles.
Cockblocked by Redistribution: A Pick-up Artist in Denmark | Dissent Magazine - Pick-up artists believe that all women are the same: submissive, choosier than men when picking sexual partners, entranced by shiny objects ... What’s blocking the pussy flow in Denmark? The country’s excellent social welfare services. Really.

Trust Act Signed In California To Limit Deportation Program - California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a bill on Saturday limiting the state's cooperation with federal immigration authorities, a rebuke of a major Obama administration enforcement policy that has led to record deportations from the state. (Obama, fucker-in-Chief)

No More Mister Nice Blog: The Punishers Want To Run The Country or We Are All Tipped Waitstaff Now - TL?DR?--Shorter: Republicans are the dissatisfied and angry diners at the table of life. (Republican sadism)
The Daily Dot - Internet users demand politicians abide by fictional 28th Amendment

Why the Bad Rap on Generic Drugs? - NYTimes.com - “It’s some bizarre thing that’s in the deepest part of their psyche,” said Dr. William Shrank, the study’s lead author. “They have all the pieces of information to make the right decision, but there’s something that’s holding them back.” (they love to pay more for the same thing because thinking is too hard)

Mormon women seek access to church's traditionally men-only gathering | World news | theguardian.com - Ordain Women group says it expects several hundred women from around the country to gather outside the conference in Utah (the Patriarchy)

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Pray - Public prayer before a football game is clearly unconstitutional. So why do schools keep doing it?

Cheating Study Reveals People Change Their Voice When Speaking To Lovers - people speak in a way that is more pleasant and sexy when speaking to someone with whom they are romantically involved. (your research dollars at work)

Finland and Nokia: An affair to remember | Ars Technica - The company that built a country has lost its aura and relinquished the controls.

Adobe source code breach; it’s bad, real bad — Tech News and Analysis - If the perpetrators are truly evil-doers, their theft of Adobe source code could mean bad things for the company and its customers, security experts said. The theft of source code for Adobe Acrobat, Cold Fusion and other products ... (and your credit card)
A Nirvanix Post Mortem - Why There's No Replacement For Due Diligence - Forbes - A couple of weeks ago the industry was stunned when cloud storage provider Nirvanix sent an email customers advising them that the company would be shutting down in a fortnight

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U.S. Says Navy SEAL Team Stages Raid on Somali Militants - NYTimes.com ("can't confirm" they killed their target; Al Shabab 1 - Zero Dark 30 0)
U.S. Raids Strike Terrorist Targets in 2 African Nations - NYTimes.com - The militant, born Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai and known by his nom de guerre, Abu Anas el-Liby, had a $5 million bounty on his head and his capture in broad daylight ended a 15-year manhunt.
Italy boat sinking: hundreds of migrants still missing off Lampedusa | World news | theguardian.com - Coastguard says 111 bodies have been recovered so far, but further 200 people still missing as Italy holds day of mourning
Somalia coast raid targets 'high-profile' militant linked to mall killings | World news | The Observer - Raid carried out as Kenya's military confirms the names of four al-Shabaab fighters implicated in Westgate mall attack
Rob Ford shrugs off questions about friend’s arrest as news of air surveillance of mayor by police emerges | Toronto Star - Austin, Texas —Mayor Rob Ford refused on his official trip to Texas to answer questions about the nature of his relationship with a friend arrested Tuesday on drug charges, insisting on talking only about transit and the music industry he came here to promote. (LOL Toronto)
Tax havens: Super-rich 'hiding' at least $21tn - A global super-rich elite had at least $21 trillion (£13tn) hidden in secret tax havens by the end of 2010, according to a major study.
US surpasses Russia as world's top oil and natural gas producer | Business | theguardian.com - New drilling techniques extract oil and gas from US shale rock formations, putting the country's output at 25m barrels per day

South Dakota blanketed by several feet of snow as storms hit Great Plains | World news | theguardian.com - In the span of 24 hours, the scenic Black Hills in South Dakota were coated in up to three and a half feet (1.1 meters) of wet, heavy snow.

NSA Link Removed by Guardian
NSA Spying | Electronic Frontier Foundation

NSA chief's admission of misleading numbers adds to Obama administration blunders - Washington Times - Pressed by the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at an oversight hearing, Gen. Keith B. Alexander admitted that the number of terrorist plots foiled by the NSA’s huge database of every phone call made in or to America was only one or perhaps two — far smaller than the 54 originally claimed by the administration. ("hundreds" ... "54" ..."13" ... "well, maybe one or two" +list of Obama lies)

Greenwald: ‘The objective of the NSA is literally the elimination of global privacy’ — RT USA - “The general revelation that the objective of the NSA is literally the elimination of global privacy: ensuring that every form of human electronic communication - not just those of The Terrorists™ - is collected, stored, analyzed and monitored,” he said.

EFF Gives Expert Testimony on NSA Spying in Challenge to British Surveillance Program | Electronic Frontier Foundation - The British and US governments both need to be held accountable for the practices of the NSA and GCHQ, and this case is a vital step in that work and a complement to our cases in the US.
NSA Tracked US Cell Phone Locations For Two Years, Senator Says More Is Still Secret | Electronic Frontier Foundation - Wyden remarked to the New York Times after the hearing that the NSA is still not telling the whole story: “once again, the intelligence leadership has decided to leave most of the real story secret—even when the truth would not compromise national security.”
Everything you need to know about the NSA and Tor in one FAQ
The Daily Dot - NSA attempted to de-anonymize Tor, with little success - One slide that has inspired real glee in Tor users around the world is titled “Tor Stinks.” It says "We will never be able to de-anonymize all Tor users all the time. With manual analysis we can de-anonymize a very small fraction of Tor users."
Twitter / EFF: Hey, NSA, we've updated your ... - Tor graphic. Can you spot the differences?

GCHQ: EU surveillance hearing is told of huge cyber-attack on Belgian firm | UK news | The Guardian - Belgacom boss says no company or country could have withstood cyber-attack of this size and sophistication - the German magazine Der Spiegel reported that the Belgacom systems had been infiltrated by GCHQ in what was codenamed Operation Socialist. (they love their codenames) the GCHQ chief would not appear since intelligence and national security were none of the EU's business. (so fuck off)

Security Expert: “We Have To Assume That The NSA Has EVERYONE Who Uses Electronic Communications Under CONSTANT Surveillance” | Washington's Blog - Security expert Bruce Schneier confirms what we’ve been saying for years … don’t get too distracted by the details, because the government is spying on everything:
Schneier on Security: NSA Storing Internet Data, Social Networking Data, on Pretty Much Everybody - NSA Storing Internet Data, Social Networking Data, on Pretty Much Everybody ... out of the 4.9 million Americans with access to classified information, 480,000 private contractors in the US had the "top-secret" security clearance issued to Snowden.
NSA tracks Google ads to find Tor users | Security & Privacy - CNET News - The National Security Agency uses a bit of jiu-jitsu to turn the structure of Web ad networks against people who run Tor to remain anonymous.

The Snowden files: why the British public should be worried about GCHQ | World news | The Guardian - When the Guardian offered John Lanchester access to the GCHQ files, the journalist and novelist was initially unconvinced. But what the papers told him was alarming: that Britain is sliding towards an entirely new kind of surveillance society - And yet nobody, at least in Britain, seems to care. In the UK there has been an extraordinary disconnect between the scale and seriousness of what Snowden has revealed, and the scale and seriousness of the response ... in Britain we are more focused on wrongs. (because no rights) (excellent article, another good idea from the Gruan)

Sarah Harrison | Rixstep Heroes Banquet - Her courage is contagious.
California governor signs law expanding protections for journalists | Reuters - to give journalists in the state five days' notice before government agencies serve subpoenas on their records held by third parties, such as phone companies and internet service providers.
Verizon on privacy: Do it yourself | BGR - “Verizon’s total failure to stand up to government on any front, their sale of location data to anyone and everyone, and their fighting tooth and nail against consumer privacy protections of any kind aren’t exactly what one might call helpful,” DSLReports noted.
Stratfor Hacker: FBI Entrapment Shaped My Case - Security - - He now faces up to 10 years in jail, and the prospect of paying up to $2.5 million in restitution to Stratfor.
DOJ Hasn't Actually Found Silk Road Founder's Bitcoin Yet | Techdirt
Syrian Hacker Hacks Avast Anti-Virus Serbia Website, Demands Free Syria – HackRead – Latest Cyber Crime – Information Security – Hacking News
The FBI's Plan For The Millions Worth Of Bitcoins Seized From Silk Road - Forbes
Biometric data could help create sustainable cities of a smart nature | Guardian Sustainable Business | Guardian Professional - Using information to track individuals' behaviour and interactions in cities could be used to redesign systems from healthcare to transport (the left hand of the Guardian)
Zero Knowledge for Cloud Storage: A Proposed Internet Privacy Mandate
Perfect Forward Secrecy can block the NSA from secure web pages, but no one uses it | Computerworld Blogs
The Daily Dot - Post-Snowden, the online privacy industry is booming
TunnelBear
VPN Service: Download Hotspot Shield Free & Elite VPN Client

U.S Senator Dianne Feinstein's Husband Selling Post Offices to Friends – Censored Notebook - DiFi and the Blumpire (DiFi, 80+ an ethical swamp)

The intransigence of Democrats, from Obama on down to red-state senators, has surprised the GOP. - You can’t say, OK, you get half of Obamacare—this isn’t a Solomonic decision,” McDermott said. “So we sit here until they figure out they fuckin’ lost.”
Pentagon orders 'most' of 400,000 furloughed employees back to work | World news | theguardian.com - Defense Department does not provide details regarding which employees, among whom are NSA workers, will return

Sense Of Unease Growing Around The World As U.S. Government Looks Befuddled (dazed and confused)
Government doors closed, but workers may get paid
How The Government Shutdown Will End: 'The Market Is Just Going to Smash Us'
Government Shutdown: Democrats Actually Hated The 'Clean' Funding Plan - Lost in all the rhetoric is that Democrats faced serious backlash from their base for cutting that deal. (always "compromising" with the uncompromisable)
Government Shutdown Blame? Poll Fingers Republicans And Democrats - 25 percent of Americans think the two sides are equally responsible for the government shutdown, while 36 percent place more blame on Republicans in Congress and 33 percent place more blame on President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress.
Yes, the White House Is ‘Winning’ -- Daily Intelligencer - Republicans are looking to make a budget deal now because they want to escape the political nightmare they’ve created for themselves.

How Ted Cruz is coordinating the (incoherent) conservative shutdown strategy - Salon.com - How a small group of hard-liners, activists and conservative media people ended up running the entire GOP - Still: Never underestimate the ability of Democrats to lose a standoff with a bunch of deluded nuts. Democrats don’t have a Cruz, they have an Obama, who is always more than willing to attempt to give the deluded nuts at least some of what they claim to demand. Eventually, maybe, they will take him up on the offer.
The Dirty Truth About Boehner’s ‘Clean’ Continuing Resolution | Center for American Progress

White House and DC police tight-lipped over handling of fatal car chase | World news | theguardian.com - Obama administration refused to comment on police's response to the car chase which left Miriam Carey dead - Police were hailed as "heroic" after thwarting the car chase. Congress afforded the officers a standing ovation as members lined up to praise their dedication and bravery. But it was unclear why police had shot the woman dead.

Washington Post Uses Euphemisms in News Story to Advance Its Agenda for Cutting Social Security | Beat the Press - The "cost-saving adjustments" to Social Security in normal English are known as "cuts." When a worker gets their pay reduced by 10 percent, it would usually be referred to as a pay "cut," not a "cost-saving adjustment" to the worker's salary. (well, "they" are saving money, aren't they?)


Undue Burden - Lawyers, Guns & Money : According to the (Nebraska) Supreme Court ruling, Bataillon had asked the girl if she understood that “when you have the abortion it’s going to kill the child inside you.” Parental involvement laws: based on the premise that a young woman lacks the maturity to choose to have an abortion but therefore must have the maturity and financial and family resources to be an effective parent.


When scientists attack : Columbia Journalism Review (financial interests at work on your science)
US scientists boycott Nasa conference over China ban | Science | theguardian.com - Nasa is facing an extraordinary backlash from US researchers after it emerged that the space agency has banned Chinese scientists, including those working at US institutions, from a conference on grounds of national security.
Rise and shine: the daily routines of history's most creative minds | Science | The Guardian - Benjamin Franklin spent his mornings naked. Patricia Highsmith ate only bacon and eggs. Marcel Proust breakfasted on opium and croissants. The path to greatness is paved with a thousand tiny rituals (and a fair bit of substance abuse) – but six key rules emerge



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Fukushima Leak: Cause Revealed To Be Overflowing Tank - Another day, another radioactive-water spill. The operator of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant says at least 430 liters (110 gallons) spilled when workers overfilled a storage tank without a gauge that could have warned them of the danger. (of course)
Fukushima Update | Former Japanese PM Koizumi Calls for End to Nuclear Power - “I’m calling for zero nuclear power,” he said in a speech in Nagoya.
Italy boat sinking: hundreds of migrants still missing off Lampedusa | World news | theguardian.com - Coastguard says 111 bodies have been recovered so far, but further 200 people still missing as Italy holds day of mourning
Clashes break out in Egyptian cities during pro-Mursi marches | Reuters - Clashes broke out in Cairo and several other Egyptian cities on Friday during protest marches staged by supporters of deposed President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, security sources and state media said.
Swiss to vote on 2,500 franc basic income for every adult | Reuters

Many Voices, One Fight: Building the Movement to End Obama's Game of Drones (this will be a big part of his "legacy")

China’s Paid Trolls: Meet the 50-Cent Party - The Chinese government hires people to distort or deflect conversations on the web. Ai Weiwei persuades an “online commentator” to tell all.
PAID INTERNET TROLLS « The Burning Platform - Trust no one. Believe no one. Verify everything you see or hear. Think critically. Don’t be one of the sheep.

The NSA debate is as much about journalism as surveillance | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - A 14-minute interview on BBC highlights the debate over the proper relationship between journalists and government - In late June, the economist Dean Baker astutely observed that our NSA reporting was "doing as much to expose corrupt journalism as to expose government spying."
Glenn Greenwald Faces Off With 'Newsnight' Interviewer In Hostile Clash (VIDEO) - Glenn Greenwald faced off against BBC journalist Kirsty Wark in a deeply hostile interview on Thursday night's edition of "Newsnight." (BBC = Fox News)
? Glenn Greenwald trashes GCHQ/NSA apologists Kirsty Wark, Pauline Neville-Jones (03Oct13) - YouTube (21 mintues in, GG trashes them all with facts, but to no avail; Wark is a total tool +what a twat Pauline is)
Twitter / KirstyWark: We'll be talking to @ggreenwald ... "watching kirsty bring a breadstick to a gun fight with greenwald is car crash tv"
The BBC’s 16 questions to Glenn Greenwald » Pressthink - Hey, that was a tough interview! No, not really.

Principles of Journalism | Pew Research Center's Journalism Project - 1. Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth
Media Freedom - Council of Europe - At the heart of democracy
International Principles of Professional Ethics in Journalism | ethicnet
NUJ code of conduct - National Union of Journalists - The NUJ's code of conduct has set out the main principles of UK and Irish journalism since 1936. The code is part of the rules of our union.
2001-2011: A decade of civil liberties’ erosion in America (the Bush/Obama War on Journalism)
Speak For Yourself: A Meditation on the Marketplace of Ideas | - Can free expression truly be free in a marketplace of ideas?

The Woman Who Knows the NSA’s Secrets - Newsweek - Long before Edward Snowden leaked documents showing that the government was collecting every American’s phone records, Marcy Wheeler knew something fishy was going on. She was one of just a handful of people who in 2009 suspected that the government was using the USA Patriot Act to collect Americans’ personal records in bulk. On June 5, 2013, Snowden proved her right.

NSA and GCHQ target Tor network that protects anonymity of web users | World news | theguardian.com - Top-secret documents detail repeated efforts to crack Tor • US-funded tool relied upon by dissidents and activists
'Peeling back the layers of Tor with EgotisticalGiraffe' – read the document | World news | theguardian.com - Selected extracts show how NSA uses a technique with codename EgotisticalGiraffe to attack Tor users through vulnerable software on their computers - EgotisticalGiraffe (they always give themselves away with their codewords)
Secret NSA documents show campaign against Tor encrypted network - The Washington Post - With a tool called MJOLNIR (their 14 yr-old mentality)
NSA report on the Tor encrypted network - The Washington Post
Tor anonymizer network among NSA’s targets, Snowden leaks reveal — RT USA
Attacking Tor: how the NSA targets users' online anonymity | World news | theguardian.com - Secret servers and a privileged position on the internet's backbone used to identify users and attack target computers
Tor: 'The king of high-secure, low-latency anonymity' | World news | theguardian.com - Extracts from top-secret NSA document acknowledge the fundamental security of the Tor protection tool and say 'there are no contenders to the throne in waiting' (Obama's police state: show us your papers)
'Tor Stinks' presentation – read the full document | World news | theguardian.com - Top-secret presentation says 'We will never be able to de-anonymize all Tor users all the time' but 'with manual analysis we can de-anonymize a very small fraction of Tor users'
Why the NSA's attacks on the internet must be made public | Bruce Schneier | Comment is free | theguardian.com - By reporting on the agency's actions, the vulnerabilities in our computer systems can be fixed. It's the only way to force change - the NSA is impersonating Google servers to users; a German story on how the NSA is hacking into smartphones; and a Guardian story from two weeks ago on how the NSA is deliberately weakening common security algorithms, protocols, and products.
Attacking Tor: how the NSA targets users' online anonymity | World news | theguardian.com - Secret servers and a privileged position on the internet's backbone used to identify users and attack target computers (Schneier)
Twitter / stuartmillar159: My favourite bit of NSA artwork ... - from today's Tor documents (be sure to put your mask on +"very naught people use TOR" -- NSA)
I Con the Record Admits All This Spying Also Serves Counterintelligence | emptywheel - James Clapper has a statement up at I Con the Record trying to dismiss any concerns that the US is using the same kind of technologies as China uses against its people to crack Tor ... But because it makes clear that NSA requires no foreign nexus to target Tor communications.

Here Are The Secret Details Gitmo Warden Claimed Could Be Used By Al-Qaeda to Attack Prison | Freedom of the Press Foundation (theatre of the absurd: AQ will swim over from Warziristan and attack Gitmo)

Darknet for Beginners: Nightweb, I2P, Tor over Meshnet, and More
Tails - Privacy for anyone anywhere - Tails is a live operating system, that you can start on almost any computer from a DVD or a USB stick. It aims at preserving your privacy and anonymity, and helps you to:
DE(E)SU - Liberté Linux

Anonymous Indictment Raises Serious Question: Is It Really A CFAA Violation To DDoS A Website? | Techdirt

Twitter / jamesrbuk: Always really motivating when ... (Applebaum vs James Ball on Guardian story)

Feds shut down Silk Road, arrest alleged admin Dread Pirate Roberts | Ars Technica - Drug marketplace czar also accused of murder-for-hire plot.
BitTorrent Is Building a Server-Free, Secure Messaging Client

NSA: A Civil-Liberties Doomsday Device | The American Conservative (Dreher, for the conservative viewpoint)
Neocons Are Back—But Not in the GOP | The American Conservative - As hawks flock to Obama's side over Syria, their hold on Republicans is slipping.
Lack of Dragnet Surveillance Isn’t Why Intelligence Agencies Missed 9/11 | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly (DiFi spreading bullshit, she forgot all about "Bin Ladin determined to strike US")

? The Rolling Stones - Get Off of My Cloud (1967) - YouTube

"Capital Shield 2014": Military Defense Support of Civil Authorities exercise coincides with US Capitol incident | HongPong.com
? Raw DC Police Car Slams Into Barriers At Capitol Hill !! - YouTube
Capitol Chase suspect was a mom with post-partum depression. : news

Hopes raised for US-Iran talks but opposition in Congress threatens any deal | World news | The Guardian - Experts say talks could be undermined by reluctance to relax sanctions despite signs that Obama is ready to offer olive branch (they depend on blood)

House Democrats Unveil Discharge Petition To Force End To Shutdown
Darkness in Washington: Why Boehner Can't Defy the Suicide Caucus : The New Yorker - a faction of congressional Republicans, many, if not most, in the South, representing ideologically extreme, heavily white districts that were drawn by Republican-controlled state legislatures after the 2010 elections so as to keep those seats Republican in perpetuum, have their party in a chokehold—and with it, at the moment, the federal government.

Government Shutdown Stretches Into Fourth Day
Harry Reid: John Boehner's 'A Coward' - “He’s a coward,” Reid said, according to Politico. “He’s a coward!”
John Boehner Blamed For Shutdown In New 'Temper Tantrum' Ad To Air During Sunday Football
GOP Donors Revolt Against Republican-Led Government Shutdown - The Daily Beast - It’s not just Democrats who are angry at the Tea Party-led shutdown. Republican donors are furious their party has managed to ‘grab defeat from the jaws of victory’ on Obamacare—and some are withholding funds
Poll: Americans not happy about shutdown; more blame GOP
Nancy Pelosi: Republicans 'Can't Negotiate With Themselves' - "it's very hard to negotiate with the Republicans when they can't negotiate with themselves."
Senate Republican 'Lynch Mob' Rails Against Ted Cruz
Fox's Varney On Furloughed Federal Employees: "I Want To Punish These People" | Blog | Media Matters for America - Fox Business host Stuart Varney believes that the ongoing government shutdown, while presenting no real threat to the economy, offers an opportunity to "punish" federal workers for "living on our backs."

Why we won’t mint the coin, why we can’t just pay off bonds, and other scary debt-ceiling facts

Fast and Furious: Judge Amy Berman Jackson lets Congress know what she thinks of the shutdown. - In other words, the matter was sufficiently urgent that furloughed DOJ lawyers should be forced to volunteer their services to work on the case without pay. In an order yesterday, Judge Jackson made pretty clear what she thought of that argument - In other words: You break it, you bought it. Case closed.

Economic Confidence Plummets as Gov't Shutdown Begins - Americans' confidence in the U.S. economy has dropped sharply as the partial government shutdown caused by Congress' inability to pass a spending bill has become reality.
Dumbest extortion attempt ever: Republican scheme’s perverse logic - Salon.com - GOP's demands are putting the economy and American presidency on the line -- and now they can't back away from them
Opinion: GOP House can't claim to speak for America - CNN.com - Blackmail, extortion, hostage-taking and brinksmanship are the tools of terrorists, not legislators.
Destroying the Destroyer by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - 71% think Obama is “destroying the country.” Wow. (Teapartiers intent on destroying the country)
An Old Witch Tells the President What to Do | hecatedemeter - But, sadly, other than a health-care law that seriously disappoints his base (which would have preferred a clean, single-payer program), and having caught Osama bin Laden (whom George Bush never found), Mr. Obama can claim few important achievements beyond his election ... For most of his presidency, he’s shown a disappointing tendency to engage in a practice that lawyers call “negotiating against” himself. He stakes out a position — generally one that’s already far to the right of what his followers want — and then, without obtaining any concessions in return, simply volunteers to move closer to the Rapeublican position

Mitch McConnell Campaign Finance Position Targeted In Ad Campaign - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) support for looser campaign finance laws is coming under fire in a large advertising campaign in his home state as he prepares to argue in the Supreme Court to eliminate all limits on campaign contributions.
Donald Segretti Tribute - The Triumph Of The Ratfuckers - Esquire - Let us raise a morning glass to Donald Segretti, the ratfucker.
d r i f t g l a s s: Don Segretti 4.0, A Teabagger Nation

Keystone Pipeline Sneaks Up On Us - Life Has Its Disappointments - Esquire - I'm intrigued by this piece about former Obama campaign staffers who -- among other things -- are getting themselves tossed into the hoosegow for protesting what they perceive as the administration's eventually going in the tank for our old friend, the Keystone XL pipeline

Tom Corbett, Pennsylvania GOP Governor, Compares Gay Marriage To Incest - Republican Gov. Tom Corbett compared the marriage of same-sex couples to the marriage of a brother and sister during an appearance on a Friday morning TV news show. (another clown governor)
Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community - Dan Savage may need to come up with a definition for "corbett" that is as disgusting as his definition of "santorum," because our esteemed governor has gone full-little-Ricky.

1 In 3 Black Males Will Go To Prison In Their Lifetime, Report Warns - One in every three black males born today can expect to go to prison at some point in their life, compared with one in every six Latino males, and one in every 17 white males, if current incarceration trends continue.

New shape-shifting metals discovered - Called a "martensite", the crystal has two different arrangements of atoms, switching seamlessly between them.

'Before' And 'After' Makeup Photos Spark Debate On Reddit

Encrypted credit card numbers, names and other user data stolen
IPO may force Twitter to drop character limit: Analyst - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) - Twitter will almost certainly increase its trademark 140-character limit to accommodate advertising once it goes public, a United States-based financial analyst says.
'I'm the original voice of Siri' - CNN.com (Apple stole her voice, of course)

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Uneasy stalemate: Syria caught in deadlock as war of attrition drags on | World news | The Guardian - While a ceasefire seems a distant prospect, the tide may have turned politically in favour of the Assad regime
Second breach at Fukushima nuclear plant leaks toxic water into sea | Environment | theguardian.com - Highly contaminated water overflows into Pacific Ocean in second leak in two months at Daiichi site (meanwhile, in Japan, nothing has changed)
Italy boat wreck: scores of migrants die as boat sinks off Lampedusa | World news | theguardian.com - Children among dead as boat thought to have been carrying as many as 500 migrants sinks
Deadly hornets kill 42 people in China, injure over 1,500 - CNN.com
Iranian cyber warfare commander shot dead in suspected assassination - Five Iranian nuclear scientists and the head of the country’s ballistic missile programme have been killed since 2007. The regime has accused Israel’s external intelligence agency, the Mossad, of carrying out these assassinations. (Netanfuckyu)
Iran Men Can Marry Adopted Daughters As Young As 13 - Iran has just legalized pedophilia by passing a law that allows men to marry their adopted daughters at the age of 13.

SOFA Unlikely Due to Karzai’s Objection to Death Squads | emptywheel - As usual, the reference to “special operations forces and the CIA” means the death squads that the US organizes in Afghanistan (sometimes under the guise of Afghan Local Police) that carry out brutal night raids described as “counter-terrorism” operations. (because they can)

GCHQ faces legal challenge in European court over online privacy | UK news | theguardian.com - Campaigners accuse British spy agency of breaching privacy of millions in UK and Europe via online surveillance - "We are asking the court to declare that unrestrained surveillance of much of Europe's internet communications by the UK government, and the outdated regulatory system that has permitted this, breach our rights to privacy." (Snowden Effect)
The US Surveillance Dragnet Extends to Foreign Bank Data, Too | Motherboard - “If you're supposedly chasing terrorists, tracking down individuals is too much trouble; just sweep everybody's information and you'll find terrorists somewhere in there. That's the theory behind FATCA—it's much easier to sweep up everybody's financial information and find the bad guys somewhere in there.”

Massive Obama Administration Leaks on Covert CIA Program Training Syrian Rebels | emptywheel

EFF: The Fourth Amendment Is Not Top Secret | emptywheel - For example, this passage, according to the agency, was appropriately “classified at the TOP SECRET level” and withheld from the Opinion: The Fourth Amendment provides: (yes, they really did classify the Fourth Amendment as Top Secret)

Edward Snowden should be put on kill list, joke US intelligence chiefs | World news | theguardian.com - Former NSA and CIA chief and chair of House intelligence committee in jovial mood at 2013 Cybersecurity Summit (ha-ha)
Edward Snowden's E-Mail Provider Defied FBI Demands to Turn Over Crypto Keys, Documents Show | Threat Level | Wired.com
Lavabit founder defied FBI order to hand over encryption keys | World news | theguardian.com - Unsealed documents show Ladar Levison, now subject of government gag order, refused requests to 'defeat its own system' (peak into Obama's Orwellian tactics)
Lavabit Used Unreadable Fonts to Delay an Order for Access to Snowden's Email - Abby Ohlheiser - The Atlantic Wire - The FBI, it turns out, was interested in collecting as much as possible on a single user of his service. That person is without a doubt Edward Snowden, although his name has been redacted from all of the court documents released today. While Levison has complied with orders concerning specific users in the past, the Snowden request was different. The FBI's demands only escalated as Levision began to fight the orders. (they always do that) he sent the government a printed-out version of the encryption keys, in 4-point font. He took care to choose a font that was nearly impossible to scan, too.
Redacted Pleadings Exhibits 1 23 - Lavabit Pleadings
New evidence reveals FBI demands companies secretly turn over crypto keys, allowing them to simultaneously wiretap all customers worldwide, and threatens to jail them if they violate the gag order : worldnews (and donations links)

Glenn Greenwald, Journalist Who Reported on NSA Surveillance Leaks, to Address Islamic Event | CNS News - will be the keynote speaker at an annual Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) banquet next month. (and you know what that means - cbs at work)
Privacy and surveillance: Jacob Applebaum, Caspar Bowden and more | World news | theguardian.com - All-day conference in Lausanne, Switzerland will discuss topic of privacy and surveillance in the light of the Snowden disclosures highlighted by the Guardian - and we're on the spot to liveblog it
? Jacob Appelbaum Testimony @ LIBE Committee Inquiry on Electronic Mass Surveillance of EU Citizens - YouTube
An Unacceptable Headline Atop a Questionable Article - NYTimes.com - It’s hard to know where to start with the lead article in Monday’s Times. In it, anonymous government sources – described in the vaguest possible way (for example, “one United States official”) – are unquestioningly allowed to play their favorite press-bashing hand, featuring the national security card.
Twitter / ioerror: The distance that the Guardian ... - The distance that the Guardian tries to put between themselves and @ggreenwald is shameful: (Applebaum thinks Guardian mistreating Glenn)
JamesBall's Leveson Journalism - MarthaMitchellEffect

David Kris Outlines the Internet Dragnet Elephant | emptywheel - What I’m going to be pushing the IC to do is rather than have a trunk come out here and leg come out there and a tail come out there, let’s just put the whole elephant out there so people know exactly what they’re looking at. — the massive metadata dragnet — the Administration is still hiding under the bed.
James Clapper Proves Inadequate Oversight by Refusing to Answer EO 12333 Questions | emptywheel - And yet they claimed there was adequate oversight over those programs.
David Kris: I’m Not Saying CIA Shoots Drones, Assassinates Americans, and Influences Media, But … | emptywheel - Taken actions to to influence US political processes, public opinion, policies, or media (George Tenet, in his memoir and other documents, implied the CIA was back in the journalist-as-cover business, though who knows whether that’s what Kris is avoiding comment on?)

NSA director admits to misleading public on terror plots - Salon.com - The administration has been amping up stats about foiled plots to bolster support for mass surveillance - “These weren’t all plots, and they weren’t all foiled,” Leahy said, asking Alexander, “Would you agree with that, yes or no?” “Yes,” replied Alexander. (keepin' you safe with fake plots to make themselves look good)
The Scandal of Lying about “Thwarted” “Plots” Started 4 Years Ago | emptywheel - First, note that even while Leahy got Alexander to back off his “54 plots” claim, the General still tried to insist Section 215 had been critical in two plots, not just one.

The NSA is Making Us All Less Safe | Electronic Frontier Foundation - As security expert Bruce Schneier explained, “It’s sheer folly to believe that only the NSA can exploit the vulnerabilities they create.”

Next Edward Snowden Is Out There So Internet Companies Cannot Be Allowed to Report Surveillance Requests | The Dissenter - The government argues that, although the companies would not release information on “individual targets,” they do not understand by disclosing information they would “risk revealing the government’s collection capabilities as they presently exist and will develop in the future.
FISA Court in action: USA to Google, Facebook, Microsoft: No, you can’t tell users we’re spying on them – HackRead – Latest Cyber Crime – Information Security – Hacking News (because our "enemies" might figure out we're spying on them)

The Daily Dot - What the Silk Road bust means for Bitcoin
Silk Road collected 9.5 million bitcoin—and only 11.75 million exist – Quartz
Ross William Ulbricht, Maryland indictment: The alleged Silk Road mastermind teaches us all how not to hire a hit man.
The Daily Dot - This is not the end of the Deep Web - Many Silk Road vendors have also migrated over to Sheep Marketplace, yet another Deep Web storefront that specializes in illegal substances.

Adobe says attack exposed customer financial info | 6abc.com
Adobe Flash, The Spy in Your Computer – Part 1 - We Live Security

The Loss of U.S. Pre-eminence - NYTimes.com - By Simon Johnson

Presstitutes Rush To Justify DC Cops Opening Fire On Unarmed Mother And Child - informationliberation

Would President Hillary Clinton be a hawk or dove on national security? | Nancy Kassop | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Clinton once claimed she could handle 3am emergencies better than Obama, but her record is muddled on security issues

Wall Street Takes Sweet Time Freaking Out About Debt Ceiling
Warren Buffett On Debt Ceiling Debate: 'We'll Go Right Up To The Point Of Extreme Idiocy'
Mint the Damn Coin Already | Slog - At the risk of coming off as a second-rate Atrios, it is time for President Obama to mint the damn coin already.
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day - "We're not going to be disrespected, We have to get something out of this. And I don't know what that even is." -- Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) (thanks, insane dimbulb)
Eschaton: What's It All About Then - Sure it's about repealing Obamacare because they've convinced their base that it's worse than a thousand Hitlers. Sure they always want to find ways to give more money to rich people. But in this particular context they have no idea what they're doing.

The Daily Dot - Was New York's Obamacare rollout hit with a DDoS attack? - "Since its launch, nystateofhealth.ny.gov has gotten approximately 10 million web visits, far more than was anticipated, causing login problems for users" (Obamacare goes viral, Republicans weep)

Millions of Poor Are Left Uncovered by Health Law - NYTimes.com - Because they live in states largely controlled by Republicans that have declined to participate in a vast expansion of Medicaid, the medical insurance program for the poor, they are among the eight million Americans who are impoverished, uninsured and ineligible for help. (Republican-controlled genocide states)
Where Poor and Uninsured Americans Live - Interactive Map - NYTimes.com - The 26 Republican-dominated states not participating in an expansion of Medicaid are home to a disproportionate share of the nation’s poorest uninsured residents. Eight million will be stranded without insurance. (way to screw yourselves, southern idiots)
Why U.S. Health Care Is Obscenely Expensive, In 12 Charts (taxpayers still pay for nothing)
Obamacare vs. Canada: Five key differences - The Globe and Mail
No Investigation of Deadly Tennessee Bus Crash Thanks to Government Shutdown » RYOT News - In the latest casualty of the government shutdown, the National Transportation Safety Board won’t be sending anyone to investigate a Tennessee bus crash that left eight people dead and 14 others injured. All because the NTSB’s highway investigators have been furloughed.
Transparency shutdown: which FOIA offices are on ice? | Muckrock - Army, CIA, EPA, FDA and more turn off their faxes and lock down inboxes

Analyst Claps Back At Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager Bill Ackman - In his quarterly investor letter, Ackman described D.A. Davidson analyst Timothy Ramey as “perennially bullish” on Herbalife and said that investors think he’s “speaking on behalf of the Company.” Ramey today said in a note that Ackman has capitulated and is at higher risk of losing his entire $1 billion short bet.

The GOP assault on women's health began with the 1976 Hyde amendment | Jill Filipovic | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Democrats should stop making deals with conservatives that erode women's health and rights, especially for poor women

Hobby Lobby Boycotts Jewish Hanukkah And Passover - The national craft store owned by conservative billionaire Steve Green seemingly refuses to carry merchandise related to Hanukkah because of Green’s “Christian values,” and some Jews are taking offense. (no Jews, gays, blacks, atheists, Muslims, etc)
Grandfather Writes Letter To His Daughter After She Kicks Out His Gay Grandson - So while we are in the business of disowning children, I think I'll take this moment to say goodbye to you. I now have a fabulous (as the gay [sic] put it) grandson to raise..."

TSA Might Allow You to Board Plane with Your Marijuana | Legal News | Lawyers.com
Judge orders monitor to keep Arizona sheriff from racial profiling - U.S. News - A U.S. federal judge on Wednesday ordered a monitor be appointed to oversee the work of hard-line Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio to ensure that his officers no longer use racial profiling, especially of Latinos, when cracking down on illegal immigration.
Terminally ill Angola 3 member Herman Wallace released from prison | NOLA.com - In the last 41 years, Herman Wallace has been incarcerated for a robbery he did commit, indicted for a murder a court ruled he didn't and diagnosed with a cancer that will end his life.

Mars once covered in giant supervolcanoes, scientists find | Science | theguardian.com - Findings raise questions about conditions on the planet and whether or not it could have harboured microbial life

Jonathan Franzen falls foul of twitterati after scorning social media | Books | theguardian.com - She added later: "Most of the authors on Twitter have a book out far more frequently than those who spend loads of time grouching about it."

World War II in Europe: Every Day - YouTube

Piracy Isn’t Killing The Entertainment Industry, Scholars Show | TorrentFreak - The scholars call on the Government to look at more objective data when deciding on future copyright enforcement policies.
The Daily Dot - Now 10 years old, 4chan is the most important site you never visit
The Daily Dot - 4chan's 10 most important contributions to society
The Daily Dot - Is Reddit the reason 4chan raids are failing? - Netizens have attributed the high failure rate to a lack of leadership, poor planning, and an unclear definition of success. Yet a closer look at each of these pranks reveals one common threat: Reddit.
/k/ - The LURKMORE Wiki - weapons
W3C green-lights adding DRM to the Web's standards, says it's OK for your browser to say "I can't let you do that, Dave" - Boing Boing - now that it's kosher to contemplate locking up browsers against their owners, we'll see every kind of control-freakery come out of the woodwork

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U.S. Expels 3 Venezuelan Diplomats - The department said it rejected allegations of U.S. government involvement in any conspiracy to destabilize the Venezuelan government. (liars will lie)
Syria: massacre reports emerge from Assad's Alawite heartland | World news | theguardian.com - Alawites are fleeing their homes, recounting gruesome tales of executions and other atrocities
Gunmen attack Russian embassy in Libya's capital Tripoli | World news | theguardian.com - Bishar told the Guardian that the woman had also shot and stabbed the victim's mother, then used the dead man's blood to write Death to Rats in English on the wall of his home
Silvio Berlusconi makes humiliating climbdown in Italian parliament | World news | The Guardian - Prime minister Enrico Letta wins confidence vote after retreat by Il Cavaliere in face of MPs' rebellion
Jellyfish force nuclear plant shutdown in Sweden - World - CBC News - Tonnes of jellyfish clog pipes that bring in cool water to the plant's turbines (next up: radioactive jellyfish!)

The Limits Of Intelligence Gathering: Kenyan Govt. Warned A Year Before Attack That Terrorists Were Targeting Westgate Mall | Techdirt

N.S.A. Experiment Traced U.S. Cellphone Locations - NYTimes.com
NSA chief admits agency tracked US cellphone locations in secret tests | World news | theguardian.com - Keith Alexander insists pilot programs were not used for analysis but that tracking location data 'may be a future requirement' (lies and they lying liars)
CIA Also Scolded By Court For 'Twisting The Factual Record' And Withholding Documents | Techdirt - In a recent decision, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell denounced several of the CIA’s legal arguments. At one point, she accused the CIA of a “shameless twisting of the factual record.” Other assertions by the agency, she called “dead wrong” and “implausible.”
How a Purse Snatching Led to the Legal Justification for NSA Domestic Spying | Threat Level | Wired.com
70% of intelligence staff out in government shutdown | Al Jazeera America - Director of national intelligence says CIA, NSA, Defense Intelligence Agency are affected

Say No to Internet Censorship | OpenMedia.org
FBI claims largest Bitcoin seizure after arrest of alleged Silk Road founder | Technology | theguardian.com - Silk Road used Bitcoins to let users pay for drugs - but now police have arrested Ross William Ulbricht, who they say is 'Dread Pirate Roberts', the owner and operator of secret online marketplace
The Daily Dot - How the FBI tracked down Dread Pirate Roberts
Lavabit founder raises $20,000 to fund court battle | Technology | theguardian.com - New details emerge of court case against Ladar Levinson, founder of secure email service used by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden, as he hits halfway target to funding defence
Edward Snowden's E-Mail Provider Defied FBI Demands to Turn Over Crypto Keys, Documents Show | Threat Level | Wired.com - Levison and his lawyer are both bound by a gag order preventing them from discussing the details of the case, or identifying who the government’s target is. The case is now under appeal. (they fined him $5,000/day)
The iPhone's Fingerprint Scanner Has Shady Government Ties, Anonymous Says | Motherboard
New Encrypted Email Services Coming From Kim Dotcom's Mega And Newzbin | Techdirt
Former DHS Chief Privacy Officer Recounts How She Was Regularly Called A 'Terrorist' By The Intelligence Community | Techdirt - Furthermore, she was told that they would make her testify after the next terrorist attack, claiming it would be her fault, for daring to protect Americans' privacy.

California governor signs law defying cooperation with NDAA indefinite detention — RT USA - California’s new law not only targets the NDAA provisions, but also any future federal law that grants officials open-ended detention powers.
Lawyers ask officials to lift Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's 'overly harsh' conditions | World news | theguardian.com - Alleged Boston bomber's lawyers say 'total isolation' since August is unfounded and impairing their ability to defend him (their own little Gitmo)
Majority of US executions come from just 2% of counties, report finds | World news | theguardian.com - That the death penalty is administered in a fair and equitable fashion within the federal system is belied by the vastly divergent facts on the ground - Just four of its 254 counties – Harris, Dallas, Tarrant and Bexar – account for almost half of the 492 executions Texas has carried out since 1976
Small helicopter drone crash lands on New York city street | 7online.com - A small helicopter drone flying high above buildings on the East side of Manhattan crash landed just feet away from a businessman during the Monday evening rush hour.
Mayor Bloomberg Uses Private Email To Avoid FOI Requests; Has No Plans To Retain Archive Of Office, NYPD Emails | Techdirt

Obamacare's Websites Are Still Broken | Motherboard
Obamacare Could Save Some Of The Poorest Americans $1,429 Per Year: Study
The truth is, Americans love Obamacare - latimes.com - Among the many delusions guiding the Republican campaign against the Affordable Care Act, surely the most consistent is the idea that the public detests the law and is clamoring for repeal. Here's the truth: The American public loves Obamacare, with as many as 88% in favor, according to one survey.

Why Are So Many People in a Blind Rage These Days? | Mother Jones - the crazier a Republican member of Congress is, the less they have to worry about political consequences from their craziness
Rick Perry Calls Implementation Of Obamacare A 'Criminal Act'
What Happens to Conservatism When the Obamacare War Is Over? - Over the last four years, Obamacare swallowed conservatism whole. Where will they go now?

The Republican Party Cannot Stand By And Let Obamacare Destroy This Country vs. Help Me | The Onion
Americans Think GOP's Top Priority Is Troublemaking - NationalJournal.com - The United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll finds few people see job creation as either party's priority.
Meet Butch Matthews, A Republican Who Came To Love Obamacare After Realizing It Will Save Him $13,000 | ThinkProgress

Why the Shutdown Is Leading to Debt Default -- Daily Intelligencer

US government shutdown: Obama 'exasperated' with GOP tactics – live | World news | theguardian.com - Obama warns of gridlock: 'This time it's different' • Reid invokes Iraq war to decry Republican strategy
Wall Street ends lower on worries of prolonged shutdown - Yahoo Finance (Republican war on the economy)
Government Shutdown Shows No Signs Of Ending As Congress Remains In Stalemate
Why Boehner doesn’t just ditch the hard right - : So there are 30 to 40 true hardliners. But there’s another group of maybe 50 to 60 members who are very much pressured by the hardliners. So he may have the votes on paper. But he'd create chaos.
An ‘orderly shutdown’: Set your out-of-office e-mail, and don’t forget to water the plants - The Washington Post (WaPo: no big deal)
Holy S#!t, The Washington Post Published A Shutdown Editorial That Doesn't Suck Canal Water! - when The Washington Post "urged both sides to compromise on revenue and spending in the interest of long-term fiscal soundness" on the occasion of the debt ceiling, this was a terrible mistake, because President Barack Obama decided that he'd give that a try, and it resulted in normalizing the idea that the debt ceiling should be used, in this manner, to broker deals.

Grover Norquist on Ted Cruz: ‘He pushed House Republicans into traffic and wandered away’
Hannity Encourages GOP To Shutter Government For Two Months | Blog | Media Matters for America - Fox Host Ignores The Devastating Harm A Protracted Shutdown Would Cause
Viva Ole! by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - Today’s must-read is Shane Goldmacher’s National Journal piece on the “DeMint Diaspora,” the network of pols and staffers in Congress that owe their jobs or their high positions to the extremist from Secession Country who now runs the Heritage Foundation and played a huge role in the “defunding Obamacare” crusade that got us into our current national fix.
Reid: 'Why Would We Want To' Help One Kid With Cancer? | Washington Free Beacon - REID: Why would we want to do that? I have 1,100 people at Nellis Air Force base that are sitting home. They have a few problems of their own. This is — to have someone of your intelligence to suggest such a thing maybe means you’re irresponsible and reckless – BASH: I’m just asking a question. (Dana Bash)

CEOs All At Sea - NYTimes.com - the reality is that we have a basically moderate Democratic party confronting a radical Republican party that doesn’t play by any of the normal rules. If you insist on thinking of Ted Cruz and Elizabeth Warren as somehow symmetrical figures, you’re already so out of touch with political reality that there’s no way you’re going to have useful influence.
Public Policy Polling Examines The Republicans - These Are The People Who Control Our Government - Esquire - Reagan: "Fascism was really the basis for the New Deal."

Yet Another Study Proves The War On Drugs Is Failing - In North America, the price of cannabis dropped by 86 percent between 1990 and 2007, while seizures increased nearly threefold. (Obama's failed war on mostly black and brown people)

Life in the Red: the Future of College Graduates by Daniel Luzer | College Guide | The Washington Monthly - According to a new report by American Student Assistance debt plays a very important role in Americans lives. Some 66 percent of college graduates now have student loan debt. The average debt is about $27,000.
Diane Ravitch Texas Monthly Interview - Diane Ravitch Recants With A Vengeance - Esquire - First of all, I have a lot of trouble with the word "reform" being attached to what's happening right now. That's why I call it the privatization movement. So if the privatization movement continues unchecked, then yes, it will destroy public education.
Which Helps Kids More: iPads or Eyeglasses? | Mother Jones - But what they need has nothing to do with mobile devices or educational apps. It's a technology nearly 800 years old: eyeglasses. (and how does that help Appl's stock price?)

Study finds red light cameras cause accidents - WatchdogWire - Florida - red light cameras (RLC) increase the number of accidents at intersections by 28%.

Hydraulic analogy
Why is Kelvin an SI base unit? : askscience

Exclusive: Mia Farrow and Eight of Her Children Speak Out on Their Lives, Frank Sinatra, and the Scandals They’ve Endured | Vanity Fair

Stephen Elop’s $25M conspiracies debunked. How, why and when Nokia CEO received his equity grants. Pt2 | Unwired View

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Binyamin Netanyahu at the UN: this year, a voice in the wilderness | Anshel Pfeffer | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Israel's western allies are cautiously optimistic about Iran's new diplomacy. But Bibi believes Tehran is bent on destroying Israel (war is his reason for being)
Israel hits back over threat of Iran-US rapprochement | World news | The Guardian - Binyamin Netanyahu tells UN Hassan Rouhani is a wolf in sheep's clothing in blistering attack on Tehran
Wide Asleep in America: George Stephanopoulos Thinks Iran is Enriching Weapons-Grade Uranium...But It's Not.

Sudan is finally building up to its own Arab spring | Nesrine Malik | Comment is free | theguardian.com - With clashes in the centre of Khartoum and a rapidly rising death toll, inertia has turned to anger at Omar al-Bashir's regime
Mexico: 73 kidnap victims rescued | World news | theguardian.com - Victims from various countries believed to have been held for ransom for up to four months
Excommunicated Australian priest: I did not give Communion to a dog | National Catholic Reporter

We're Glenn Greenwald and Janine Gibson of the Guardian US, and we’ve been breaking stories on the NSA Files since June. AUA! : IAmA

Anonymous claims link between iPhone 5S TouchID and US gov biometric database | ITProPortal.com
From the Canyon Edge: Fingerprints are Usernames, not Passwords - I'm bringing this up again to highlight the work released last week by The Chaos Computer Club, which has demonstrated how truly insecure Apple's TouchID is.

Ilija Trojanow, German Writer, Banned From US For Criticizing NSA
Yemen Expert Calls Premise Of NY Times Leak Story 'Laughable' | Michael Calderone - That evening, a Yemen expert described the premise of the Times story -- that an August leak regarding an Al Qaeda plot undermined U.S. intelligence-gathering -- as "laughable."
WASHINGTON: Did leaks alert al Qaida leaders they were being monitored? | Middle East | McClatchy DC
McClatchy Editor Questions 'Odd' New York Times Story On Al Qaeda Leak - Bloomberg columnist Jeffrey Goldberg tweeted that the Times story “pretty much accuses McClatchy journalists of helping al Qaeda.”
A CEO who resisted NSA spying is out of prison. And he feels ‘vindicated’ by Snowden leaks. - Prosecutors claim Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio was guilty of insider trading, and that his prosecution had nothing to do with his refusal to allow spying on his customers without the permission of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. (they will always use their illegal spying to destroy people)
Former NSA chief: western intelligence agencies must be more transparent | World news | The Guardian - General Michael Hayden, who also headed CIA, admits US and UK agencies have become too secretive for their own good

Dick Cheney Canada - The Hard Life Of Dick Cheney - Esquire - Famous face-shooting war criminal Dick Cheney has to be very careful where he takes himself and his borrowed heart these days. A fella can't be too careful, doncha know?

US shutdown: gunslinging and standoffs straight out of Hollywood | World news | theguardian.com - Democrat sheriff Barack Obama and his Republican foes have been on the brink many times in the past three years, but the last 48 hours were as bizarre as they were unpredictable

NY Daily News' Shutdown Cover Is Incredible (PHOTO) - OK everyone. Let's go home. Nothing will top this New York Daily News front page about the government shutdown.

A Quick One-Sentence Reminder of What This Is All About | Mother Jones - The Republican Party is bending its entire will, staking its very soul, fighting to its last breath, in service of a crusade to.... Make sure that the working poor don't have access to affordable health care. I just thought I'd mention that in plain language, since it seems to get lost in the fog fairly often. But that's it. That's what's happening. They have been driven mad by the thought that rich people will see their taxes go up slightly in order to help non-rich people get decent access to medical care. That's a pretty stirring animating principle, no?

Why This Is Not Just 'Washington Breakdown,' in 3 Graphs (and 1 Story) - James Fallows - The Atlantic - Tea Party members say they are expressing the public's will. Gee, if only there were some way to judge popular sentiment in a democracy.
Democrats And Sequester - Can't Win For Losing - Esquire - let's remember that the status quo ante of this whole affair is still a resounding Democratic defeat. By which we mean, The Sequester which, you may recall, was the last emissary of truce sent by this White House that came back missing its head.
Are Republicans So Frantic to Stop Obamacare Because They Fear It Will Work? | Vanity Fair - What is it about Obamacare that compels seemingly intelligent people to explode in bubbling spasms of stupid? Are they misinformed? Unable to see past the rage-fueled partisan sweat dripping into their eyes? Or just plain dishonest?

The Shutdown and Political (Mis)Calculation: Some Numbers - Lawyers, Guns & Money : We all suspected it, and now we have some empirical support for our suspicions: the Republicans are severely hurting themselves in holding the Senate and the President hostage in order to overturn a law nearly four years old, one upheld by the Supreme Court about 15 months ago:
The One Mathematical Truth » Balloon Juice - According to a CNN/ORC poll, 68% of Americans think shutting down the government for even a few days is a bad idea, while 27% think it’s a good idea. - the crazification factor (it's always the same 27%)

Ways to punish Congress for a shutdown - The Washington Post - What would happen if the burger guy stopped flipping burgers? If the truck driver stopped driving trucks? If the teacher stopped teaching? That’s right. They’d lose their jobs.
Hullabaloo - They did it for them. They liked it. It made them feel alive.

In Congress, a not-so-brief case of delusion over government shutdown - The Washington Post
US Government Shutdown MEGATHREAD : AskReddit
US.gov - including NASA et al - quits the internet. Is the UN running it now? • The Register - 'Due to a lapse in funding, the US federal government has shut down'
Bill Kristol Thinks GOP Plan For Congressional Staffers To Foot Entire Insurance Bill Is Great | Blog | Media Matters for America
Devin Nunes Calls GOP Colleagues 'Lemmings With Suicide Vests' As Shutdown Looms
Confused Libertarian Demands Strongman -- Daily Intelligencer - The day is young, but the least intelligent thing said about the shutdown — and we're including man-on-the-street interviews — has to be this column by Reason’s Nick Gillespie blaming President Obama.
Obama Shutdown Speech - Fighting On Two Fronts - Esquire - The president has two forces working against him in the current exercise in public vandalism playing itself out in Washington. First is the vandals themselves. The other is with the courtier press, which insists that the best way to deal with public vandalism is for the president to offer them a fresh can of spray paint as a gesture of good will.
Democrats Divulge Emails With Boehner Staff as Shutdown Fight Gets Personal (Updated) | The World's Greatest Deliberative Body
Drones Are Flying, Despite U.S. Shutdown - NYTimes.com
What Happens When The Government Shuts Down 94 Percent of the EPA | Mother Jones
National Parks Will Close To The Public But Stay Open To Drilling If The Government Shuts Down | ThinkProgress

Daily Kos: Better Dead and Red: How the GOP blocked health care for red state Americans

The Nullification Party « The Dish - The GOP does not regard the president as merely wrong – but as illegitimate. Not misguided – illegitimate. This is not about ending Obamacare as such (although that is a preliminary scalp); it is about nullifying this presidency, the way the GOP attempted to nullify the last Democratic presidency by impeachment ... This time, the elephant must go down. And if possible, it must be so wounded it does not get up for a long time to come

Scott Brown New Hampshire Race - McDreamy Strikes Out - Esquire - Up here, former world-historical-figure Scott Brown is said to be considering spending a couple of years guaranteeing that he gets beaten like a tin drum by another girl -- namely, New Hampshire senator Jeanne Shaheen.


McGill student uses 'Bohemian Rhapsody' to explain string theory, Queen guitarist takes note CBC Music

Foto Milano, in via Mercanti è spuntato un sottomarino - 1 di 10 - Milano - Repubblica.it
I'm not a submarine expert but something is not right here : WTF

Beach Blanket Boredom | The Raw Story - Boring story short: I quit quitting.
The Return Of The Bogg: The Boggening - Esquire

What will eventually cause Reddit to lose its popularity? : AskReddit
Apogee: The one-man online game publisher of 1987 | Polygon

093013
Kenyan mall attack: 39 still missing, says Red Cross | World news | theguardian.com - Minister says it is possible people are reporting the missing to the Red Cross and not to the police
Kenya False Flag? Washington Had Advanced Knowledge, Intelligence Agents in Westgate Mall Prior to Attack | Global Research - [Right, the US either *let it happen* -- or *made it happen* -- to 'justify' illegal NSA spying and drone strikes in Africa to steal the oil.]
Heard the one about the Saudi cleric who said driving damages ovaries? | Naomi McAuliffe | Comment is free | theguardian.com - 'If they are to treat women like children then the international community should humiliate authoritarian governments in return.'
Gaps in Graduates' Skills Confound Morocco - NYTimes.com - Morocco spends about a quarter of its state budget on education, a high proportion by any standards. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the average in developed industrial nations is about 13 percent. Yet the results have not saved the country from some serious soul searching (Islamists switched to Arabic, which no one understands)

Power and money: Wealthy politicians | The Economist - The 50 richest members of America's Congress are worth $1.6 billion in all. In China, the wealthiest 50 delegates to the National People's Congress, the rubber-stamp parliament, control $94.7 billion.
How different cultures handle credit cards (Europe doesn't like credit cards, preferring debit cards, paypal and bank transfers)

Qaeda Plot Leak Has Undermined U.S. Intelligence - NYTimes.com - the impact of a leaked terrorist plot by Al Qaeda in August has caused more immediate damage to American counterterrorism efforts than the thousands of classified documents disclosed by Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor ... The New York Times agreed to withhold the identities of the Qaeda leaders after senior American intelligence officials said the information could jeopardize their operations. (because, Yemen!)

? Statement of Edward Snowden to the EPinquiry as read by Jessely Radack by pmmcc

Glenn Greenwald will host Reddit AMA to answer your questions about the NSA | The Verge

NSA stores metadata of millions of web users for up to a year, secret files show | World news | theguardian.com - Vast amounts of data kept in repository codenamed Marina • Data retained regardless of whether person is NSA target • Material used to build 'pattern-of-life' profiles of individuals ... But the NSA did not address any of these questions in its response, providing instead a statement focusing on its foreign intelligence activities. (which was not the point, of course)
A Guardian guide to metadata | Technology | theguardian.com
Ex-Microsoft privacy adviser: I don't trust company after NSA revelations | World news | theguardian.com - Caspar Bowden says he was unaware of Prism data-sharing program when he worked at software firm
NSA mines Facebook for connections, including Americans' profiles : worldnews
Plebe69 comments on NEW SNOWDEN LEAK: NSA gathers bank codes, insurance information, Facebook profiles, passenger manifests, voter registration rolls, GPS location and more...
NSA stores all collectable browsing data for 365 days, new leak reveals | The Verge

Apple, Google, Microsoft, and others back NSA and FBI transparency bills | The Verge

To make journalism harder, slower, less secure » Pressthink - That’s what the surveillance state is trying to do. It has the means, the will and the latitude to go after journalism the way it went after terrorism. Only a more activist press, working together, stands a chance of resisting this.
The Heart of the Matter: David Miranda and the Preclusion of Privacy - The National Surveillance State doesn't want anyone to be able to communicate without the authorities being able to monitor that communication. Think that's too strong a statement? If so, you're not paying attention.

UK building cyber army reserve to sharpen online strikes and defense | The Verge
NSA May Not Be Collecting Your Location Data From Telco Dragnet... Because It Gets It From Your GPS | Techdirt
Biometric Creep: Anonymous Investigates iPhone 5s and the Ugly Leviathan Stalker State on Vimeo

Open-Access Champion Michael Eisen "Sets Free" NASA's Paywalled Mars Rover Research | Mother Jones

Dow Jones and Nasdaq down sharply as US government shutdown looms | World news | theguardian.com - 140 point loss on the Dow Jones as markets open, a dip analysts think could worsen if partial shutdown occurs (hedge this!)

Obama Should Ignore the Debt Ceiling - NYTimes.com - Our Outlaw President?

Live updates: The shutdown showdown - “It’s absurd that so many folks will have to go without pay, yet the folks causing the problem will feel no pain at all,” Barrow said in a statement. “If Congress doesn’t do its job, they shouldn’t be paid — it’s as simple as that. We should be accountable to the people who sent us here, and this is the least we can do to show that.”
Government Shutdown Will Be Much Worse for Republicans Than 1996 | New Republic - Countdown to Shutdown Think 1996 was bad for the GOP? This time will be much, much worse

Why I Am Cancelling My Documentary on Hillary Clinton | Charles Ferguson - And then he proceeded to tell me the most amazing lies I've heard in quite a while. (Bill Clinton) After approaching well over a hundred people, only two persons who had ever dealt with Mrs. Clinton would agree to an on-camera interview, and I suspected that even they would back out.

Interns Resist Working Free - NYTimes.com - A backlash against unpaid internships in America, manifested in a spate of lawsuits this year, is now spreading to Europe, where the issue of exploitation hit headlines in August with the death of the German intern Moritz Erhardt, 21, after allegedly working at Merrill Lynch’s London office for 72 hours without sleep.

Psychotherapy’s Image Problem - NYTimes.com - In the United States, from 1998 to 2007, the number of patients in outpatient mental health facilities receiving psychotherapy alone fell by 34 percent, while the number receiving medication alone increased by 23 percent. for patients with the most common conditions, like depression and anxiety, empirically supported psychotherapies that is, those shown to be safe and effective in randomized controlled trials (even psychodynamic therapy works, as long as it's shorter than 20 sessions)
I’ll Have What She’s Thinking - NYTimes.com - spontaneous orgasm ... But sex researchers have found that the novel type of autoerotism shows up mainly in women. (duh)

No Comments - NYTimes.com - In my view, the worst places to visit aren’t the comment jungles of 4chan or YouTube, but the overly manicured comment lawns of some newspapers. Papers have mistakenly treated comments as the digital equivalents of letters to the editor.
Four Ways to Improve the Culture of Commenting - NYTimes.com
Disruptions: Gawker Wants to Encourage More Voices Online, but With Less Yelling - NYTimes.com
QUEEN BATHURST: Banned From Gawker For Asking Them To Pay For The Rob Ford Tape Themselves, Even As A Loan
Deadliest Klatsch: Nick Denton Gives Gawker’s Drive-By Peanut Gallery a Promotion | The New York Observer
Why We're Shutting Off Our Comments | Popular Science - Starting today, PopularScience.com will no longer accept comments on new articles. Here's why.
For the sake of science : Columbia Journalism Review - PopSci’s ‘scientific’ justification for shutting down comments conveys the research poorly
Popular Science: "Why We're Shutting Off Our Comments." The popular science news site uses science to determine that comment sections can be bad for science. : science

Watch out, Wall Street: report says tech is now NYC's second-largest sector | The Verge - Industry leaders hope to replicate the same economic effect in other cities

The Onion Was Right (subreddit)
10 Secret Trig Functions Your Math Teachers Never Taught You | Roots of Unity, Scientific American Blog Network
(2006) Eighty Percent Of Al-Qaeda No. 2s Now Dead : theonionwasright
ELI5: How can paparazzi stalk celebrities and harass them legally? : explainlikeimfive

092913
Experts set threshold for climate-change calamity | McClatchy - The world's leading climate scientists have for the first time established a limit on the amount of greenhouse gases that can be released before the Earth reaches a tipping point and predicted that it will be surpassed within decades unless swift action is taken to curb the current pace of emissions.

Netanyahu plays hawk to Rouhani's dove with anti-Iran rhetoric | World news | theguardian.com - Israeli PM angered at thawing relations between Washington and Tehran but observers say he is out of step with allies (the game is getting away from him)
Could Congress jeopardize the Iran detente? by Samuel Knight | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - But Netanyahu, overseer of a secret nuclear program - the only nuclear armed head of state in the Middle East - will tell the White House on Monday, according to AFP, that “Iran’s nuclear programme must be dismantled and not merely supervised” - a absurdly high threshold, in line with the Senators’ position that the U.S. should not allow Iran nuclear weapons “capability.”

Kenyan authorities had been warned about threat to buildings 'day before attacks' | World news | The Observer - Intelligence agents are said to have been in Westgate mall just hours before killings, as criticism over government grows
Pakistan: deadly bomb blast kills dozens in Peshawar | World news | theguardian.com - Thirty-one people killed and scores wounded in explosion in north-western frontier city week after church bombing
Pakistan hit by second major earthquake in a week | World news | theguardian.com - At least 15 people killed after second quake in region where 515 people died on Tuesday
Nigeria College Shooting: Dozens Of Students Shot Dead In Their Sleep - Suspected Islamic extremists attacked an agricultural college in the dead of night, gunning down dozens of students as they slept in dormitories and torching classrooms
Canadians on hunger strike in Egyptian jail claim they were beaten | World news | theguardian.com - John Greyson and Tarek Loubani 'stripped, slapped and accused of being foreign mercenaries' at notorious Tora prison
Dexter Filkins: Qassem Suleimani, the Middle East’s Most Powerful Operative : The New Yorker - Qassem Suleimani is the Iranian operative who has been reshaping the Middle East. Now he’s directing Assad’s war in Syria.
More than 20,000 Indian websites hacked and defaced by Pakistani Hackers. ~ Techworm
Scientific research: Looks good on paper | The Economist - A flawed system for judging research is leading to academic fraud - joke that SCI stands for “Stupid Chinese Idea”. (industrial-scale academic fraud in China)
Sonar mapping for oil killed Madagascar whales: study - FRANCE 24 - A noisy technology that blasts sounds below water to map the ocean for oil is being blamed for 100 melon headed whale deaths off Madagascar, experts said Thursday.


Glenn Greenwald working on new NSA revelations - CBS News - Two American journalists known for their investigations of the United States' government said Saturday they've teamed up to report on the National Security Agency's role in what they described as a U.S. assassination program.
Glenn Greenwald working on new NSA revelations - U.S. Assassination Program : news
News from The Associated Press - Two American journalists known for their investigations of the United States' government said Saturday they've teamed up to report on the National Security Agency's role in what one called a "U.S. assassination program." (with Jeremy Scahill - Obama's targeted murders will come out)
NSA Internet Spying Sparks Race to Create Offshore Havens for Data Privacy - WSJ.com - Firms Tout 'Email Made in Germany' as More Secure; Brazil Wants Its Own Servers - Fueled by the controversy, countries are seeking to use data-privacy laws as a competitive advantage—a way to boost domestic companies that long have sought an edge over Google, Microsoft Corp. (NSA, undermining American business at every opportunity)
On Data Havens, Resilience and the Death of the Nation State - nterview with hacker and activist Eleanor Saitta from last year: Finance, is composed of one part politics, one part extortion and violence, and one part coordination
FBI FOIA Anarchist Plane-Spotting Pittsburgh G-20 (your spy dollars at work)
John McAfee reveals details on gadget to thwart NSA - San Jose Mercury News
John McAfee reveals details on gadget to thwart NSA. And if the U.S. government bans its sale, "I'll sell it in England, Japan, the Third World. This is coming and cannot be stopped." : worldnews

Children and Guns - The Hidden Toll - NYTimes.com - The rifle association’s lobbying arm recently posted on its Web site a claim that adult criminals who mishandle firearms — as opposed to law-abiding gun owners — are responsible for most fatal accidents involving children. But The Times’s review found that a vast majority of cases revolved around children’s access to firearms, with the shooting either self-inflicted or done by another child. When children are killed in unintentional shootings, medical examiners and coroners classify many as homicides, or even suicides. (NRA arming kids so they can kill each other)
Daily Kos: GunFAIL XXXVI - Unfortunately, the standout stats of the week fell disproportionately on the kids. Twelve were accidentally shot this week, including four three-year-olds, three five-year-olds, and kids aged eight, 10, 11, 14 and 16.
Gun Report - Joe Nocera's Blog - NYTimes.com - In 2011, more than 1,700 women were murdered by men in America, and more than half of those murders were committed with firearms (the guys were just standing their ground)

Ex-soldier 'Rambo' charged in plot to kill federal agent | World news | theguardian.com - Indictment described Joseph Hunter, 48, as a contract killer and leader of a trio of former soldiers trained as snipers

Republicans vote to postpone Barack Obama's healthcare plans | World news | theguardian.com - Harry Reid says Senate will reject GOP attempt to delay health reforms – setting stage for federal government shutdown
House Budget Vote Passes In Favor Of New Obamacare Deal-Breaker, Shutdown Looms - Undeterred, House Republicans pressed ahead with their latest attempt to squeeze a concession from the White House in exchange for letting the government open for business normally on Tuesday. "Obamacare is based on a limitless government, bureaucratic arrogance and a disregard of a will of the people," said Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind.
Kevin McCarthy: Obamacare Will Be Tackled In Next Funding Bill If Senate Rejects This One
House GOP: Never Waste A Crisis By Neglecting to Punish Women! - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Another predictable demand has been added to the GOP’s ransom note: House Republicans have added a measure aimed at limiting contraceptive coverage to the spending bill coming up for a vote Saturday night, a spokesman for Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kansas, told CNN - And don’t call it a “conscience clause.” It’s a “denial of healthcare people are legally entitled to” clause and an “imposing one’s religious beliefs on others” clause.
House Republicans Target Contraception In Last-Minute Spending Bill - House Republicans included a so-called "conscience clause" in the government funding bill in a plan they approved early Sunday.
Ted Cruz Has Major Goof In Chess Tweet - Cruz, the junior Republican senator from Texas, as noted on Twitter by Business Insider's Joseph Weisenthal, had both on the wrong squares. (and there you have it)
Bill Clinton: GOP 'Begging For America To Fail' - "I've never seen a time-- can you remember a time in your lifetime when a major political party was just sitting around, begging for America to fail?"
Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community - The thing I am still worried about is that Boehner won't be able to figure out how to get this done. It's basically a suicide mission, as I can't imagine him surviving in a leadership position if he passes a Democratic-majority debt limit bill. But it doesn't appear he has any other choice. The White House just isn't buying his threats. They know his masters expect a deal, and soon. (2011, mutatis mutandum)

The JP Morgan apologists of CNBC | Felix Salmon - I don’t know which producer at CNBC had the genius idea of asking Alex Pareene on to discuss Jamie Dimon with Dimon’s biggest cheerleaders, but the result was truly great television
SEC Wins Big Fine From JPMorgan but Execs Skate Free - ProPublica (Obama always lets the bankers walk)
George Will Shoots at the Fed and Misses, Big Time | Beat the Press - George Will is apparently still obsessed with inflation and very disappointed that the Fed's policy of quantitative easing has not led to hyperinflation thus far. This led him to write a seriously confused column condemning the Fed and its Chairman Ben Bernanke. (George Fucking Will, famous economist)

Population: the easy part - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - In sum: population growth rates and global fertility rates are declining far more rapidly than anyone would have predicted a generation ago, for reasons that are largely well understood. The trends that contribute to this are happy trends in their own right for just about any sane non-misogynist (greenhouse gasses much bigger problem)
Population Growth Forecast From the U.N. May Be Too High - NYTimes.com

Neville Chamberlain was right to cede Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler: Seventy-five years ago, the British prime signed the Munich Pact. - The maligned British prime minister did what we would want any responsible leader to do. (Slate doing what Slate does)

Roman Polanski and the sin of simplification | Victoria Coren Mitchell | Comment is free | The Observer - Samantha Geimer, the girl in the Roman Polanski rape case, has published what might be the most important and valuable book of the century so far. (exaggerate much?)

What Catch-22s have you encountered in real life? : AskReddit

Over 7,000 Free Audio Books: Librivox and its New Look! | Internet Archive Blogs
LibriVox | free public domain audiobooks

The copyright cartel's plot to indoctrinate California kindergartens | Dan Gillmor | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Sharing is the essence of digital creativity, but its enemies want to brainwash grade-schoolers with their commercial interests
Apple isn't dead yet – iPhone 5S and iOS7 have a secret weapon | Technology | The Observer - The Guardian's bias toward Apple has now become farcical and has lost all objectivity in any rational technical reporting. I can only assume that the Guardian's group pension plan is heavily invested in APPL stock.

092813
Golden Dawn leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos arrested | World news | theguardian.com - Greek anti-terror police hold leader and senior members of far-right party on charges of forming a criminal organisation
Mumbai building collapse kills dozens | World news | theguardian.com - Rescue teams find 29 bodies but say some survivors are still trapped in rubble of five-story apartment block
Hassan Rouhani greeted with cheers and protests on return to Iran | World news | theguardian.com - Iranian president gets mixed reception on return home following UN trip and historic phonecall with US president
The Logic Behind Assad’s Use of Chemical Weapons | Political Violence @ a Glance - Assad is playing a strategic game with at least three players
Jeffrey Lewis • Cruise Missile Proliferation
Taiwan’s Navy Shoots Down a Simulated Chinese Drone | Flashpoints | The Diplomat
Suspected Agitators to Face Detention at Next Year’?s G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia | Earth First! Newswire - MEMBERS of the public could be locked up for three days during G20 if they are even suspected of planning to disrupt the event in Brisbane next year.


FBI targeted Snowden's email provider Lavabit a day after his identity went public | The Verge (fuckers will always fuck with you)
N.S.A. Project Uses Databases to Study Social Ties of Citizens - NYTimes.com - Since 2010, the National Security Agency has been exploiting its huge collections of data to create sophisticated graphs of some Americans’ social connections that can identify their associates, their locations at certain times, their traveling companions and other personal information, according to newly disclosed documents and interviews with officials. (Risen/Poitras)

625 wolves left in Montana, over 6000 permits to hunt them issued


House Republicans Clueless On How To Avert Government Shutdown (they only know how to destroy)
GOP Congressman Compares Republicans Fighting Obamacare To 9/11 Heros
Obama chides Republicans as shutdown looms - The Washington Post - a deadlocked Congress entered the final weekend of the fiscal year with no clear ideas of how to avoid furloughs for more than 800,000 federal workers. Millions more could be left without paychecks. (terrorists)
GOP to add ‘conscience clause’ to spending bill – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs - House Republicans have added a measure aimed at limiting contraceptive coverage to the spending bill coming up for a vote Saturday night, a spokesman for Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kansas, told CNN. (their do-all bill to avoid passing any of their own legislation, even net neutrality is in there)

Voting Laws Under Heavy Scrutiny In GOP-Led Southern States
This Week in Poverty: Five Things You Might Have Missed on 'Poverty Day' | The Nation (Republican necromongers)

Some ‘Dodgy Doctorates’ hurt more than others - s. However, as the Elizabeth O’Bagy scandal of a couple of weeks ago showed, the academy and the wonkosphere are closely connected.

How is it possible Osmium has the highest density of all naturally occurring elements, yet it only sits at number 76 on the periodic table? : askscience

Five myths about Jesus - The Washington Post

An Open Letter to David Gilmour | The Belle Jar - Thank you for being privileged enough, culturally tone-deaf enough, and even just plain stupid enough to say that you don’t love women writers enough to teach their works in your class.

Reconsidering the War on Steroids - The Daily Beast - After a successful bout of testosterone therapy, Jonathan Miller now argues that professional sports should abandon a hypocritical and wholly ineffective testing program.
Brain scans of porn addicts: what's wrong with this picture? | Norman Doidge | Comment is free | The Guardian - Scan images show that watching online 'adult' sites can alter our grey matter, which may lead to a change in sexual tastes

The Rise and fall of the Symbian Empire | The Verge Forums (OPK for the lose!)
Symbian, The Secret History: Dark Star • The Register
Symbian's Secret History: The battle for the company's soul • The Register - How Nokia took charge, and never let go
Symbian’s Secret History: Davies on what went right (and wrong) • The Register

When Google Brainstorms, Online World Shudders - Yahoo Finance - Is Google about to do to online privacy what body scanners did to airline travelers?
Yahoo in recycled email privacy row - Yahoo email addresses reassigned to a new owner are receiving personal emails intended for the previous owner.

092713
IPCC climate report: human impact is 'unequivocal' | Environment | theguardian.com - UN secretary-general urges global response to clear message from scientists that climate change is human-induced
IPCC climate report: humans 'dominant cause' of warming
The First-Ever Bulk Freighter To Pass Through The Arctic Was Carrying Coal | ThinkProgress
In Fragmented Forests, Rapid Mammal Extinctions - NYTimes.com (Republicans screwing all life on the planet)
What Leading Scientists Want You to Know About Today's Frightening Climate Report - Richard Schiffman - The Atlantic - "We have five minutes before midnight." (climate clock is ticking)
U.N. Climate Panel Endorses Ceiling on Global Emissions - NYTimes.com
Global warming likely to breach 2C threshold, climate scientists conclude | Environment | The Guardian - But debate over details slows progress on key IPCC report as conference deadline looms

Obama Announces That He Spoke With Iranian President Hassan Rouhani By Phone - in what was the first communication between the leaders of the two countries since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
Kenya shopping mall attack: Nairobi hostages were tortured before they were killed, says police doctor - Africa - World - The Independent - Rumours of rapes, disfigurement and beheadings are rife in Kenya’s capital
Tikkun Daily Blog » Blog Archive » Israeli Soldiers Throw Sound Grenades at EU Diplomats Bringing Aid to Displaced Palestinian Families - A Reuters reporter saw soldiers throw sound grenades at a group of diplomats, aid workers and locals in the occupied West Bank, and yank a French diplomat out of the truck before driving away with its contents. (the attitude is pervasive)
The 'white widow', like the black, looms larger in the imagination than in fact | Marina Hyde | Comment is free | The Guardian - Samantha Lewthwaite is 'world's most wanted' despite any hard evidence. How Clouseau-like we must seem to al-Shabaab
Secret MI6 plot to help Col Gaddafi escape Libya revealed | StratRisks - MI6 drew up top-secret plans to allow Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to flee to another African country which was not subject to international law, a new book to be serialised in tomorrow’s Daily Telegraph discloses.

US intelligence chiefs urge Congress to preserve surveillance programs | World news | theguardian.com - Officials refuse to say in Senate testimony whether cell site data had ever been used to pinpoint an individual's location
Sen. Ron Wyden: NSA 'repeatedly deceived the American people' | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - About the Snowden disclosures, the Oregon Democrat told the NSA chief: 'the truth always manages to come out'
Seymour Hersh on Obama, NSA and the 'pathetic' American media | Media | theguardian.com - Pulitzer Prize winner explains how to fix journalism, saying press should 'fire 90% of editors and promote ones you can't control' ... or the death of Osama bin Laden. "Nothing's been done about that story, it's one big lie, not one word of it is true," ... Edward Snowden "changed the whole nature of the debate" about surveillance
Wiretapping laws apply to Google intercepting emails, federal judge says - The Hill's Hillicon Valley - Google’s practice of intercepting users’ emails is subject to state and federal wiretapping laws, a federal judge in San Jose, CA. ruled Thursday.
The No-Fly List: Where the FBI Goes Fishing for Informants | American Civil Liberties Union - Over the last three years, the FBI has dramatically expanded its No-Fly List of suspected terrorists, including blacklisting innocent Americans who present no threat to security.
The NSA Refuses To Deny That It Collected The Location Data Of US Phone Calls | TechCrunch
Microsoft Received 37,196 Gov Requests For Data Impacting 66,539 Accounts In First Half Of 2013 | TechCrunch (at least 66,000 American terrorists)

Dianne Feinstein Accidentally Confirms That NSA Tapped The Internet Backbone | Techdirt - Dianne Feinstein more or less admitted that they get emails via "upstream" collection methods. (says "background" for "backbone" - clearly too complicated for her)

NSA employee spied on nine women without detection, internal memo shows | World news | theguardian.com - Twelve cases of unauthorised surveillance documented in letter from NSA's inspector general to senator Chuck Grassley - it raises the possibility that there are many more cases that go undetected. In a quarter of the cases, the NSA only found out about the misconduct after the employee confessed. (DiFi not concerned)
The Daily Dot - 7 short, declassified tales of NSA agents spying on their lovers

Have a Nice Day, N.S.A. - NYTimes.com - Other people have gone so far as to send nonsensical e-mails just to confuse N.S.A. agents. For example: first use some key words to attract their surveillance filters, like “chemical brothers,” “chocolate bombs” or “stop holding my heart hostage, my emotions are like a blasting of fundamentalist explosion” (one of my personal favorites, inspired by an online sentence-generator designed to confound the N.S.A.).
Hello, NSA

FBI has been using drones since 2006, watchdog agency says - latimes.com
Multi-million dollar domestic drone program lacks sufficient privacy safeguards, report finds — RT USA

Valerie Plame Is the Master of Her Own Universe - NYTimes.com ("Blowback")

Elizabeth Warren: 'We Face A Clear Danger' In Campaign Finance Supreme Court Case - WASHINGTON -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) warned Thursday that a coming Supreme Court case that could ultimately eliminate certain campaign contribution limits is a "clear danger" that threatens to expand the influence of large and wealthy corporations on elections.

Recovery hype: American capitalism's weapon of mass distraction | Richard Wolff | Comment is free | theguardian.com - You don't have to be a Marxist to see how the 1% tries to fool us that we too are sharing in their renewed wealth. But it helps
Expand Social Security | Democracy For America - Every time Congress bickers over the federal budget or raising the debt ceiling, Republicans (and some weak Democrats) tell us that we need "take on entitlement spending" and cut the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits that Americans earn with every paycheck
Walmart Can't Stand Bloomberg Coverage Of Walmart

Judge legalizes same-sex marriage in New Jersey; Christie vows to appeal | NJ.com

‘No one is going to be left behind:’ An interview with the District’s Obamacare head (smart people are building working systems to reduce costs and save lives; Republicans go insane)

Pfeiffer: WH is not ‘negotiating with people with a bomb strapped to their chest’ – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs - Pfeiffer: WH is not ‘negotiating with people with a bomb strapped to their chest’
Republicans have `a bomb strapped to their chest’
Debt-Ceiling Showdown: The Fight of Obama’s Life -- Daily Intelligencer
A Republican Ransom Note - NYTimes.com - On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew sent the House a very serious warning that, for the first time, the United States would be unable to pay its bills beginning on Oct. 17 if the debt ceiling is not lifted.
Why I am rooting for a government shutdown - Opinion - The Boston Globe - 2. We’d quickly find out which party Americans support.

Your False-Equivalence Guide to the Days Ahead - James Fallows - The Atlantic
Government Shutdown Coverage Discounts Unprecedented Extremism | Dan Froomkin

Government shutdown: The Treasury can't pick and choose who gets paid.
Congress Could Cause Another Financial Crisis In Two Weeks
Ted Cruz Tells House Conservatives To Oppose John Boehner - Ted Cruz is not content to drive Senate strategy on the budget and debt ceiling showdown. The Texas Republican senator is working with House Republicans to undermine Speaker John B Government Shutdown 2013: Boehner Can't Stop GOP Temper Tantrum | New Republic
How To Think About Obamacare « The Dish - This is not about Obamacare. It is not even about politics. It is about a form of revolt against the very country they live in. (traitors to America)
It’s Not Easy to Deal With Inept and Crazy Hostage Takers (see comments: Don’t count on it. Today’s Republican Party is not on speaking terms with reality.

Government Shutdown Not A Good Idea - A Stupid Argument Made By Smart People - Esquire - There is arising among the members of our elite press a feeling that the Democrats and the dwindling number of smart people in Congress should let the Republicans burn down the country because the consequences of said arson will be so severe that the Republicans will awaken in a Cormac McCarthy wasteland of abject Fail and come to their senses, causing them to dig up Dwight Eisenhower, prop him up in Mitch McConnell's office, and apologize to him for the next 20 years. (which ain't going to happen)

Colorado Flood Relief Delayed Over Possible Gov Shutdown - Down In The Flood - Esquire - It looks like the Flight Of The Morons in DC is going to complicate matters for the poor folks still clearing the mud off their lives from the flooding in Colorado.

Former Senator Alan Simpson Explains: Lynne Cheney Is A Filthy Liar - When will Alan Simpson apologize for making Lynne Cheney make up lies to cover her lies? How about never? Is never good for you?
Bloomberg Threatens To Stop Press Conferences If Nosy Reporters Don't Stop Asking Unwanted Questions: Gothamist - For a man who has publicly toyed with the idea of buying one of most influential newspapers in the country, Bloomberg's tolerance for reporters and their meddlesome questions has withered to total nonexistence, imploding in on itself like a neutron star of impatience.

Skepchick | - Entangled Bank Provides More Evidence Men Not Funny
Skepchick | - Counterpoint: Men Can Be Funny

Drunken Women: 1795 print catalogs eight kinds of drunken ladies

The Gospel According to Bill O’Reilly - The Daily Beast - Jesus was killed because of taxes. That’s more or less the message of Bill O’Reilly’s new book. Professor Candida Moss on what else the Fox host gets wrong—and what he leaves out.

Republicans consider “blocking net neutrality” among debt ceiling demands | Ars Technica - killing net neutrality regulation in the United States has been a bee in Republicans’ bonnets for some time now. (because teapartiers want to pay more for their internet)

Meet the contenders: Shootout: Sony Xperia Z1 vs Nokia Lumia 1020 vs LG G2 vs Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom: Connect

092613
Climate Change Devastating Ocean Fisherman: 'Sometimes We'll Catch 5,000 Pounds Of Jellyfish' | ThinkProgress
Hurricane season: extreme weather in the US – in pictures | World news | theguardian.com

U.S. Sees Direct Threat in Attack at Kenya Mall - NYTimes.com - , the Somali Islamist group that has claimed responsibility for the Nairobi massacre and recruited numerous Americans to fight and die — sometimes as suicide bombers — for its cause. ("numerous" = 8 or 10)
Pakistan earthquake death toll rises as rescuers struggle to help injured | World news | theguardian.com - Provincial official puts death toll from magnitude 7.7 quake in Awaran district in Baluchistan at 210, with 375 people injured
Qatar World Cup construction 'will leave 4,000 migrant workers dead' | Global development | theguardian.com - International Trade Union Confederation claims about 12 labourers will die each week unless action is taken
Chinese general's son jailed for gang-rape of woman in Beijing hotel | World news | theguardian.com - Li Tianyi gets 10 years after refusing to repent or compensate victim in case that turned spotlight on China's wealthy elite
Hornet attacks kill dozens in China | World news | theguardian.com - Victims described being chased for hundreds of metres by the creatures and stung as many as 200 times.

Osborne Takes Legal Action Over EU Bonus Cap - George Osborne is to take legal action against Brussels over the European Union's proposed move to cap the bonuses of thousands of British-based bankers. (and the rich get ... richer!)
US economic growth slows as GDP estimate disappoints economists | Business | theguardian.com - Latest GDP figures of just 2.5% growth come as weekly jobless claims fell to lows unseen since 2007 (and the poor get ... starved)
Looting Pension Funds - There Was A Crooked Country - Esquire - the story is basically the same -- simply, that there is no pile of money anywhere in the country, no matter how large or small, and no matter how vital to the people who were depending upon it, to which the grifters in the financial-services "industry" do not feel entitled as fuel for their unquenchable greed.
Looting the Pension Funds: How Wall Street Robs Public Workers | Politics News | Rolling Stone - All across America, Wall Street is grabbing money meant for public workers
Exposed: Enron billionaire’s diabolical plot to loot worker pensions - Salon.com - How an Enron billionaire, Wall Street and a major "nonpartisan" foundation are quietly robbing American workers

Why we spy on Brazil - Carlos Alberto Montaner - MiamiHerald.com - The ambassador and I are old friends. “May I identify you by name?” I asked. “No,” he answered. “It would create a huge problem for me. But you may transcribe our conversation.” I shall do so here. (economic spying of behalf of corps; +"socialism" which America hates)

Judge slaps CIA for withholding routine documents | McClatchy - In a recent decision, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell denounced several of the CIA’s legal arguments. At one point, she accused the CIA of a “shameless twisting of the factual record.” Other assertions by the agency, she called “dead wrong” and “implausible.” - “It’s laughable that the Agency thought that the training and guidance materials its FOIA analysts use when deciding how to comply with the law are so secret that nobody can know them,
US intelligence chiefs lobby to prevent Congress curbing surveillance powers | World news | theguardian.com - NSA director and director of national intelligence to appear before Senate committee a day after senators propose reform bill
Senators Announce Bill That Ends NSA Phone Records Collection : The Two-Way : NPR
NSA spied on Indian embassy and UN mission, Edward Snowden files reveal | World news | theguardian.com - Documents released by US whistleblower show extent and aggression of datamining exercises targeting its diplomatic ally
Declassified NSA files show agency spied on Muhammad Ali and MLK | World news | theguardian.com - Operation Minaret set up in 1960s to monitor anti-Vietnam critics, branded 'disreputable if not outright illegal' by NSA itself
We are members of the StopWatching.Us coalition. Ask Access, ACLU, BORDC, Demand Progress, EFF, Fight for the Future, Free Press, and Restore the Fourth anything about the Rally Against Mass Surveillance in DC on October 26th. : IAmA
Blowing the Whistle on Big Brother - Hammer Museum - Bruce Fein and former senior NSA official Thomas Drake offer their perspectives
The Unsung Hero of the NSA Revelations » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names - Sarah Harrison.

NSA surveillance: agency wants to collect all Americans' phone records – live | World news | theguardian.com - • 'The public has a misperception,' senator Feinstein says (thanks, grandma +wants Snowden's head on a pike) "Then Clapper says that "Plots foiled may not be the only metric." There's a "peace of mind metric," he says" (the "fear metric") Senators Feinstein and Collins step in to prevent Wyden from asking any follow up questions of NSA panel. not even pretend oversight now...
Senate Intel. Hosts Hearing on FISA Changes | C-SPAN
Meet The New Comprehensive NSA Reform Package That Could Actually Pass | TechCrunch
Intelligence agencies want 'all the phone records,' defend surveillance programs — RT USA

How Google could have made the Web secure and failed -- again | Common Sense Tech - CNET News - Google confirms it made a change to better protect the privacy of how people search. However, it left loopholes and once again failed to seize an opportunity to encourage all sites to go secure.
Google Hangouts/GTalk glitch sends chats to wrong recipients | ZDNet - Be careful what you say over Google's instant messenger, as they may be sent to the wrong person. Google has acknowledged an issue and is looking into it.
16-Year-Old Arrested in the UK for Involvement in DDOS Attack on Spamhaus
Databases Breached: LexisNexis, Altegrity And Dun & Bradstreet Corp Report Cyber Attacks
What the heck is going on with NIST’s cryptographic standard, SHA-3? | Center for Democracy & Technology

? John Stockwell - CIA's War on Humans - YouTube (CIA has killed 12-15 million people since 1947)

The Real North Korean Nuke Threat | Flashpoints | The Diplomat - Over the past week, several news outlets have reported a new Eric Schlosser book that describes the loss of a 4 megaton nuclear bomb near Goldboro, North Carolina in 1961.

Eschaton: Private Contractors - We created a surveillance state, and then took away the state part. What could go wrong?
Exclusive: Hundreds of U.S. security clearances seen falsified - Yahoo News

Obama stands firm on healthcare in face of escalating Republican stand-off | World news | theguardian.com - GOP outlines demands for host of political concessions amid twin threats over US debt ceiling and Affordable Care Act
Ted Cruz: the GOP's self-made monster | Michel Cohen | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The Texas senator's theatrics over defunding Obamacare will cement grassroots adoration but tear apart the Republican party
Mark Levin: "Obamacare Is A Cancer" And "A Top-Down, Iron-Fisted, Soviet-Style Program" | Video | Media Matters for America
What Will You Pay For Obamacare? Depends On Where You Live (map) (go, Wyoming!)
Louisiana Rated Worst State For Women

Government Shutdown 2013: House GOP Considers Options (Republicans = terrorists)
Hullabaloo - Right wing populism in full effect (no racism here ...)
House Republicans Argued Unsucessfully To Include Abortion Provision In Debt Ceiling Bill: Report (they always tried slavery and limiting voting to billionaires)

Fox Calls Janet Yellen "A Shoo-In" For Fed Chair Because She's A Woman | Blog | Media Matters for America - . Rather than discussing Yellen's qualifications as an economist, her history of accurate econometric predictions, or her broad base of support among economists, conservative media instead focus their attention on Yellen's gender.

Ground Gives Way, and a Louisiana Town Struggles to Find Its Footing - NYTimes.com
Poll: Opposition To Fracking Rises Sharply In 2013

Montana Teacher Who Got 30 Days' Jail Time After Raping His Student Will Be Released Today | ThinkProgress
Librarian Fired for Actually Getting Kid to Read - Eric Levenson - The Atlantic Wire - Lita Casey was dismissed on Monday after working for 28 years at the Hudson Falls Free Library in upstate New York. Her offense? Defending a nine-year-old child whose voracious reading appetite and abundant (and free!) library books makes him read too much.

"For Their Own Protection": Children in Long-Term Solitary Confinement - Reason.com

SAT Scores Always Go Down by Daniel Luzer | College Guide | The Washington Monthly - That’s just how the standardized test works.

Bill Gates: Control-Alt-Delete 'was a mistake' | Microsoft - CNET News - Microsoft's co-founder claims that an IBM keyboard designer created the function and wouldn't allow a single button to access the login screen.

092513
The Pope Says The World Worships A "God Called Money" - Business Insider

50.000 march on Golden Dawn headquarters in Athens | ROAR Magazine
Westgate mall attack: international teams join investigation | World news | theguardian.com - Agents from US, Britain and other countries assist local teams as Kenyan government puts death toll at 72 - Al-Shabaab, the Somali-based, al-Qaida-linked group behind the attack, claimed the government had carried out a "demolition" of the building, burying 137 hostages.
Kenya mall attack: dozens more bodies believed buried under rubble | World news | The Guardian - Intelligence source tells Guardian that one attacker remains engaged in conflict with security forces
Revealed: Qatar's World Cup 'slaves' | Global development | The Guardian - Exclusive: Abuse and exploitation of migrant workers preparing emirate for 2022
Racist attacks in Greece: interactive map | World news | theguardian.com - The interactive map below is constantly updated to show the frequency and severity of attacks. It does this by pulling together reports from individuals, witnesses and the media going back to May 2011.

UK detention of Reprieve activist consistent with NSA's view of drone opponents as 'threats' and 'adversaries' | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - A top secret NSA document provides context for yesterday's abusive detention of Baraa Shiban (Obama's totalitarian streak)
Concerns in Pakistan that USAID Officials Are CIA Spies -- News from Antiwar.com - In the Wake of Raymond Davis, Suspicion Abounds

NSA reform bill to trim back US surveillance unveiled in Congress | World news | theguardian.com - Ron Wyden says Snowden disclosures have 'caused a sea change' and announces most comprehensive package so far

Spilling the NSA’s Secrets: Guardian Editor Alan Rusbridger on the Inside Story of Snowden Leaks | Democracy Now! (good overview of the process esp intimidation by US/UK govs)
To reform the NSA, fire officials who lie | James Goodale | Comment is free | theguardian.com - I saw this at first hand over the Pentagon Papers case: the NSA has a culture of lying. That should be Obama's first concern (well, that's a little difficult, because ...)
Senate Intelligence Committee Open Hearings: A Platform for Liars | emptywheel
Dropbox joins tech giants in quest to publish government user data requests | World news | theguardian.com - Dropbox filed a brief with the Fisa court requesting permission to publish the number of requests made by the US government

Twitter / froomkin: Keith Alexander: Take away ... - surveillance powers & "wait until you get some of those things that happened in Nairobi"
Attorneys for shuttered email service Lavabit ask court to unseal case files — RT USA - the matter is being presided over by Judge Claude M. Hilton, the same justice who signed a warrant earlier this year ordering the arrest of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.
FreePress.net | Demand That Attorney General Holder Stop the Harassment of Journalists - Government officials have detained journalist and filmmaker Laura Poitras more than 40 times at U.S. borders. They’ve interrogated her, seized her laptops and cameras for weeks at a time and denied her access to a lawyer.2

? Keiser Report: Global Financial Holocaust (E461) - YouTube
How I hacked SIM cards with a single text - and the networks DON'T CARE • The Register - US and Euro telcos won't act until crims do, white hat sniffs
Alexander Reed Kelly: Truthdigger of the Week: Greg Palast - Truthdigger of the Week - Truthdig
Lawyer: Manning's gender issues being assessed

Chair of Senate Intelligence Committee says CISPA sister bill in the works — RT USA - The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA, could soon appear again on Capitol Hill. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) says she’s prepared a draft bill that will complement the House-penned CISPA that was approved earlier this year.
Beyond Savage Politics and Dystopian Nightmares

Question: What Do David Barron and Jay Bybee Have in Common? | emptywheel - Answer: They were both nominated for a lifetime appellate court seat even as the Executive continued hiding their controversial OLC opinions. - Several hours ago, Barack Obama nominated David Barron, author of the notorious OLC memos authorizing the assassination of an American citizen with the kind of “due process” the Executive Branch gives, by itself, in secret, to serve on the First Circuit. (and there you have it)

Guantánamo detainee files complaint about UK security services | World news | theguardian.com - In submission to UK's most secret court, Shaker Aamer alleges his release has been blocked due to 'defamatory statements'

Omar Khadr: War Criminal, Child Soldier... or Neither? | VICE Canada - Omar Khadr made his first appearance in a Canadian court on Monday. After an 11-year journey from Bagram to Guantánamo to Canada's Millhaven Institution, the Toronto-born man is now in Edmonton's federal prison. He was 15 when he was captured and tortured at Bagram. He turned 27 last Thursday.

Jack Lew To Congress: Debt Limit Will Be Reached On Oct. 17

Obamacare Premiums Report Shows Low Prices For Uninsured With Wide Variation
Poll: Republican Party Mostly Wants To Help The Rich (lower/middle class white guys keep screwing themselves)
John McCain Rips Ted Cruz's Anti-Obamacare Speech, Criticizes Nazi Comparison (VIDEO) - The speech, which was not techinally a filibuster because it did not delay any votes, was labeled an "extended oratory" by McCain, who spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday. McCain said he took issue with some of the content of Cruz's speech, including a Nazi comparison.

Ted Cruz, Obamacare circus performer | Gary Younge | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Ted Cruz's filibuster to prevent the implementation of Obamacare with the threat of shutting down the government has all the hallmarks of the "noble defeat" of southern Democrats from the mid-sixties onward. He is not so much opposing healthcare reform as protesting its inevitability. (McCarthy or Wallace, or both?)
Subsidizing Farmers But Not the Poor Still Evil -- Daily Intelligencer
Texas again has highest uninsured rate in nation | San Marcos Mercury (Texas is a mess)

Hullabaloo - Mama Cheney's not happy. And when Mama Cheney's not happy ...
Is Newt Fronting for a Dubious PAC? | Mother Jones - The new co-host of CNN's "Crossfire" is raising money for a political action committee run by pals and past aides that takes in millions and hands out crumbs to candidates. (way to avoid conflicts of interest, CNN +grifters will grift)
Obama's reckoning to come on November 19! - Last Wednesday, the great usurper, Barack Hussein Obama, after having been indicted by an Ocala, Florida citizens' grand jury, was convicted by a people's court of defrauding the American people and Floridians by proffering them with a fake birth certificate.

Nearly One In 10 U.S. Watersheds Is 'Stressed'; Demand For Water Outpacing Supply: CIRES Study

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand gains support for army sexual assault reform | World news | theguardian.com - Three generals back New York senator's attempt to change how military prosecutes instances of rape and assault in its ranks

US law lets minors delete online history - Americas - Al Jazeera English - A first-of-its-kind law in the state of California will allow children to delete digital posts, including photos, from websites.

092413
Hassan Rouhani tells UN: Iran poses no threat to the world | World news | theguardian.com - Iranian president adresses UN general assembly and says the world is 'tired of war' and US should not threaten force in Syria (Israel is not tired)
Nairobi mall siege over, declares Kenyan president | World news | theguardian.com - Uhuru Kenyatta defiant after siege and announces three days of mourning for 67 killed in al-Shabaab attack on Westgate mall
Samantha Lewthwaite: 'the white widow' linked to Nairobi attack | World news | theguardian.com - Witnesses talk of British woman leading Kenya massacre but UK officials urge caution over apparent involvement of 7/7 bomber's wife
Egypt court bans all Muslim Brotherhood activities nationwide — RT News
UK border authorities 'are intimidating human rights workers' | UK news | The Guardian - Detention of Yemeni activist puts end to any doubt that UK is abusing its terrorism powers, says Cori Crider of Reprieve
The Pussy Riot prison diaries: Letter reveals horrors faced by punk-band protester at Russian penal colony - Europe - World - The Independent - As Nadezhda Tolokonnikova goes on hunger strike, questions are being asked about the brutal conditions that she is having to endure

Canadian Natural told to drain Alberta lake due to oil sands leak | Reuters - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd has been ordered to drain a lake on the site of its northern Alberta oil sands project so that contamination on the lake's bottom, from a leak that has been spilling tar-like bitumen for months, can be cleaned up.
75,000 Commit to Civil Disobedience if Obama Cuts Deal on KXL | Common Dreams - Leading green groups warn president against deal-making with Canadians on tar sands pipeline
Fracking and Flooding in Colorado: The More We Know the Worse It Gets – EcoWatch: Cutting Edge Environmental News Service - The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) reported three new spills today from damaged oil and gas wells caused by the torrential rains and subsequent flooding that continues to batter the state of Colorado.
Russia Opens Piracy Investigation Over Greenpeace Arctic Oil Protest, Plans to Prosecute | Earth First! Newswire

Pakistani drone victims' lawyer accuses US of blocking his visit to Congress | World news | theguardian.com - Shahzad Akbar says visa hold-up means he cannot take his clients to Capitol Hill to testify on CIA drone strikes in Pakistan
Empty F-16 jet tested by Boeing and US Air Force - Boeing has revealed that it has retrofitted retired fighter jets to turn them into drones.
Cheney rips Obama over Iran drone capture - Cheney criticized Obama for merely asking Iran to return the drone, telling Erin Burnett of CNN last night that he should have ordered a airstrike to destroy the U.S. spy plane. (within Iran, back in 2011)

Dilma Blasts U.S. Spies as International Crooks | The Cable - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff delivered a sizzling rebuke of America's expansive electronic spying operation on Tuesday, telling a gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly that American eavesdropping constitutes "a breach of international law and an affront to" Brazil's sovereignty.
Brazilian president Rousseff: US surveillance a 'breach of international law' | World news | The Guardian - Dilma Rousseff's scathing speech to UN general assembly the most serious diplomatic fallout over revelations of US spying
BR_en.pdf - Statement By H. E. Dilma Rousseff, President Of The Federative Republic Of Brazil, At The Opening Of The General Debate Of The 68th Session Of The United Nations General Assembly

Thirteen Principles Against Unchecked Surveillance Launched at United Nations | Electronic Frontier Foundation - Privacy Advocates Call Upon UN Member States to End Mass Internet Spying Worldwide

A Day In The Life Of Edward Snowden: Under Guard, Secret Address, Learning Russian, And Heavily Disguised | Zero Hedge

NSA surveillance goes beyond Orwell's imagination – Alan Rusbridger | World news | theguardian.com - Guardian editor says depth of NSA surveillance programs greatly exceed anything the 1984 author could have imagined - Rusbridger said the Guardian and its partners at the New York Times and ProPublica were working through the material. "It's a slow and patient business. If I were the president, I would welcome that.
Stephen Fry joins demand to end NSA and GCHQ mass surveillance | World news | The Guardian - Whistleblower Edward Snowden's revelations lead to petition signed by free speech groups and high-profile writers
Is Windows 8 a Trojan horse for the NSA? The German Government thinks so - Techworld.com - Leaked documents lay bare TPM 2.0 worries
How a Crypto 'Backdoor' Pitted the Tech World Against the NSA | Threat Level | Wired.com - “On the Possibility of a Back Door in the NIST SP800-90 Dual Ec Prng.”

DOJ's Wiretapping of AP Results in Lengthy Prison Term for Source | Common Dreams - Though outrage followed disclosure of FBI practice, conviction went ahead
Calabrese and Harwood, Privacy Down the Drain | MyFDL
The end of kindness: weev and the cult of the angry young man | The Verge

U.S. Files Opposition Brief to Weev's Appeal » Tor Ekeland, PC: Tor Ekeland, PC
I suggested that my daughter read Animal Farm. A few days later I found this on my desk. | Peace . Gold . Liberty

Americans' Belief That Gov't Is Too Powerful at Record Level - Record number of Republicans say the federal government has too much power

The McGill Daily » Anarchism and Hope - Local anarchists shine light on misrepresented philosophy
Disney: Climate Activists Aren't Cyber-Terrorists! | CREDO Mobilize - Stop co-opting our name and logo in their depiction of a shadowy cyber-terror group on the new television series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Who rules Disney? - cabledrum - The connections of Disney's board of directors

[Harper's Index] | Harper's Magazine - From the October 2013 issue


Twitter / YourAnonNews: Meet the 4 Colorado republicanswho voted against #Sandy aid, but now want aid for #COflood.
Bank of America ordered to pay $2.2 million to 1,000 black job seekers it discriminated against - NY Daily News - An investigation by the Labor Department found that Bank of America's Charlotte office had used "unfair and inconsistent selection criteria" in order to deny African Americans work.
Going Postal | Feature | Oakland, Berkeley & Bay Area News & Arts Coverage - The husband of US Senator Dianne Feinstein has been selling post offices to his friends, cheap.



'Real Housewife' Melissa Gorga's New Book Advocates Marital Rape - Love Italian Style


Microsoft's New Tablet Sounds Great. So Why the Hate? | Mother Jones
iOS 7: users destroy iPhones after fake waterproof advert - A spoof advert suggesting Apple's new iOS 7 operating system made handsets waterproof appears to have fooled some users into destroying their iPhones. (4chan)
The Daily Dot - Wikipedia faces revolt over VisualEditor

092313
Israel sceptical about easing of pressure on Iran to halt nuclear programme | World news | theguardian.com - Jerusalem says Hassan Rouhani's conciliatory remarks are not enough: Iran must remove all enriched uranium from the country (wingers in Israel panicking; Netanyahu is your daddy)
Obama offers support to Kenya as FBI investigates American involvement | World news | theguardian.com - US president pledges security help amid rumours American al-Shabaab recruits took part in Westgate shopping mall attack
Kenya Westgate mall siege: authorities battle to regain control – live updates | World news | theguardian.com - Kenyan government says most hostages now freed
Kenya Westgate atrocity is al-Shabaab's way of escalating Somali conflict | World news | theguardian.com - If the Nairobi shopping centre attack leads to more intervention in the Horn of Africa, Ahmed Abdi Godane will be happy
Kenya Westgate Mall Massacre - The Horror In Nairobi Continues - Esquire - We didn't lose our innocence on September 11. We lost our immunity. We should not pretend otherwise.
Landslides kill 20 in Philippine provinces weakened by typhoon Usagi | World news | theguardian.com - Authorities look for missing people after torrential monsoon rains hit north-west Philippines already affected by super-typhoon
Muslim Brotherhood banned by Egyptian court | World news | theguardian.com - Court rules that Islamist party's assets should be confiscated as crackdown on supporters of Mohamed Morsi escalates
Senior Greek police chiefs replaced over links to far right Golden Dawn party - Europe - World - The Independent

Qassem Suleimani New Yorker Piece - The Limitless Bungling Of George W. Bush And Company - Esquire
Dexter Filkins: Qassem Suleimani, the Middle East’s Most Powerful Operative : The New Yorker - Qassem Suleimani is the Iranian operative who has been reshaping the Middle East. Now he’s directing Assad’s war in Syria.
Donald Sachtleben, Ex-FBI Agent, To Plead Guilty In AP Leak Case - A former FBI agent arrested in 2012 on child pornography charges has admitted to being the source of a disclosure to the Associated Press about a foiled al Qaeda plot, Justice Department officials said Monday.
Ex-FBI agent faces prison for leaking to reporter | Reuters - A former FBI agent agreed on Monday to plead guilty and likely go to prison for telling a reporter about a U.S. operation to disrupt a bomb plot, becoming the latest government employee to face criminal charges for leaking official secrets.

Court Curbs CIA Use of a FOIA Exemption - Secrecy News
Wanta: Top Secret National Security Directive 166 | Veterans Today - The Document that “Licenses” Al Qaeda as an American Operation
Anonymous in Context: The Politics and Power behind the Mask
This hacker might seem shady, but throwing him in jail is bad for everyone - Weev's real name is Andrew Auernheimer. He's a security researcher and Internet provocateur who is facing felony hacking charges. (whistleblew on an AT&T security hole, got thrown in jail)
12 Ways the FBI Has Radically Expanded and Abused Its Powers Since 9/11
U.N. to Review NSA Privacy Violations Among Other U.S. Rights Abuses | American Civil Liberties Union
Post-PRISM, Google Confirms Quietly Moving To Make All Searches Secure, Except For Ad Clicks

Obama's 'independent' NSA review board staffed with administration insiders — RT USA

Here Are The Anti-LGBT Media Figures Speaking At This Year's Values Voters Summit | Blog | Media Matters for America (Republican "values" = no sex and the rich get all the money)

Congress Side Deals - The Blog's First Law Of Economics, Revisited - Esquire - There's nothing that leads me to believe that the president has abandoned his desire for a Grand Bargain, even if the political context within which one might be reached, has catapulted itself beyond the izonkosphere . (neologism by CP)
Shutdown countdown: What the next eight days could bring - The Washington Post
Cruz announces plan B for defunding Obamacare: ‘Shut down the military’ | The Raw Story
How to End the Obamacare Debate - NationalJournal.com - With the GOP opposition showing no signs of abating, the Obama administration has to start showing that the health care law is working. (because it's not the media's job to point out lies)
Free to Be Hungry - NYTimes.com - Even some conservative pundits worry that the war on food stamps, especially combined with the vote to increase farm subsidies, is bad for the G.O.P., because it makes Republicans look like meanspirited class warriors. Indeed it does. And that’s because they are.
Pennsylvania Church Volunteers Barred From Feeding Homeless In Public Parking Lot | ThinkProgress (first, take away their food stamps; then stop anyone trying to give them food so they won't die)

Go-Nowhere Generation: Why Young People Are Stuck - Business Insider

The Bloom Is Off the Rose by Martin Longman | Political Animal - On the one hand, Javier Hernandez’s piece on Bill de Blasio in the New York Times appears to be factual. On the other hand, it reads like a real hatchet job (he's a "socialist" or something; bankers and NYT are panicking)
A Mayoral Hopeful Now, de Blasio Was Once a Young Leftist - NYTimes.com
Reagan Administration Sandinistas - The First Draft Of History Needs Work - Esquire - I don't know what effect, if any, this kind of journalism will have on the race to become the next mayor of New York. But as an account of the circumstances that may have led the favorite in that race to become active in the causes described, it is next to useless.

OWS’s Rolling Jubilee Has Yet to Explain What They’ve Done With $590,000 Despite Promises of “Full Transparency” « naked capitalism

New York crackdown on fake online reviews sees 19 companies fined | World news | theguardian.com - Attorney general set up a fake yoghurt shop in Brooklyn to ensnare fake online review companies, fined a total of $350,000

In search of her father’s girlhood - Salon.com - To her, the thing that really made him a man was the fact that he wanted to wear women’s clothes, because only men do weird shit like that.
Escape from Hasidism - Salon.com - Deborah Feldman talks to Salon about her journey from hyper-repressed Jewish enclave to feminist single motherhood

Fear memories can be overcome during sleep, researchers say - The Washington Post

Area Man’s Intelligence Probably Just Too Intimidating For Most Women | The Onion


092213
Climate change: IPCC issues stark warning over global warming | Environment | The Observer - Call to 'stop dithering about fossil fuel cuts' as expert panel warns entire globe is affected
New Video: There is No Pause in Global Warming | Climate Denial Crock of the Week
Did Climate Change Worsen the Colorado Floods? | Mother Jones - While attributing a single disaster to climate change remains challenging, scientists say we should expect more extreme rainfall events like this one in the future ... biblical proportions ... this was a greater than 1-in-1000 year rainfall event.
Pacific Ocean takes perilous turn | Sea Change: Ocean acidification | The Seattle Times

Naming the Dead’ project will name and number people killed by drone airstrikes to challenge CIA claims of no civilian deaths | The Raw Story (even those babies were terrorists)

Al-Qaida-linked Islamists, security forces locked in standoff at Kenya mall - World Israel News | Haaretz - Kenya president says force have 'as good a chance as we can hope for' to neutralize attackers; Israeli forces reportedly join effort to end deadly siege at Kenya mall, though not clear in what capacity; death toll rises to 59, at least 30 hostages still behind held.
The Return of Terror: Lessons of the Nairobi Shopping Mall Siege - The Daily Beast - The Nairobi shopping mall siege holds lessons for America, but who will listen? Christopher Dickey on how terrorists can command the world’s attention with small, vicious attacks.
Angela Merkel secures third election win | World news | The Guardian - German chancellor on course to overtake Margaret Thatcher as longest-serving female leader after historic victory
78 killed in deadliest attack on Christians in Pakistan - The Times of India
Pakistan Church Bombing Kills Over 60 People - deadliest-ever attack on the country's Christian minority
Merkel on track to clear absolute majority in German elections - World Israel News | Haaretz - Polls cannot determine whether Merkel ally - Free Democrat Party - will make it into parliament, if they fail Merkel will almost certainly have to enter coalition talks with the Social Democrats.
Greek Golden Dawn member arrested over murder of leftwing hip-hop artist | World news | theguardian.com - Police raid offices of far-right party after fatal stabbing of musician and anti-fascist activist Pavlos Fyssas
Greece's birthrate falls as austerity measures hit healthcare | World news | theguardian.com - Hospitals report 10% reduction in births in past four years as ministers say families cannot afford to have children

Russia Says U.S. Using Syria Chemical Weapons Deal To Seek U.N. Resolution Threatening Force Against Assad Government

NSA Caught Illegally Spying on Americans and Keith Alexander’s Answer Is a Group Hug | emptywheel
Bolivian president to sue US govt for crimes against humanity — RT News - Bolivian President Evo Morales will file a lawsuit against the US government for crimes against humanity. He has decried the US for its intimidation tactics and fear-mongering after the Venezuelan presidential jet was blocked from entering US airspace.
Snowden leaks help NSA critics in government surveillance lawsuits - The Hill's Hillicon Valley - For years, the government has successfully suppressed lawsuits by civil liberties groups challenging the constitutionality of its surveillance programs.
Close ties between White House, NSA spying review - But with just weeks remaining before its first deadline to report back to the White House, the review panel has effectively been operating as an arm of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the NSA and all other U.S. spy efforts. (Obama has no credibility)
Wyden/Udall: If Intelligence Community Is Dumb Rather than Malicious, Why Should We Trust Them? | emptywheel - f the assertion that ineptitude and not malice was the cause of these ongoing violations is taken at face value, it is perfectly reasonable for Congress and the American people to question whether a program that no one fully understood was an effective defense of American security at all.
Open door: The readers' editor on… the Guardian's coverage of government surveillance | Comment is free | The Guardian - Readers have raised concerns about these stories, based on tens of thousands of secret documents disclosed by Edward Snowden, but few are critical of the decision to publish
NSA Spying: European Parliamentarians Call for SWIFT Suspension - spiegel online
SPIEGEL Exclusive: NSA Spies on International Bank Transactions - spiegel ONLINE - The United States' NSA intelligence agency is interested in international payments processed by companies including Visa, SPIEGEL has learned. It has even set up its own financial database to track money flows through a "tailored access operations" division.
How the NSA Spies on International Bank Transactions - spiegel ONLINE
NSA cryptanalyst: We, too, are Americans | ZDNet - An NSA mathematician, seeking to help shape the ongoing debate about the agency's foreign surveillance activities, has contributed this column to ZDNet Government. The author, Roger Barkan, also appeared in last year's National Geographic Channel special about the National Security Agency.
Hullabaloo - What good is all that Homeland Security money doing, again?
The NSA's Spying Powers: Reading the Statute | Digital Media Law Project - Say I'm the NSA and I want to legally justify a court order giving me access to private emails of Occupy activists (so I can join in the FBI and DHS surveillance of peaceful protesters, for example). It's a domestic political movement, so that sounds as if it should be pretty hard, right? Let's see...

Lawrence Wilkerson, Former Colin Powell Aide, Blasts McCain, Graham: 'Bordering On Being Traitors' - Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are "bordering on being traitors," according to former Bush official Larry Wilkerson (puppets of Israel)

Eschaton: Joseph Heller Covered This - Major Major’s father was a sober God-fearing man whose idea of a good joke was to lie about his age. He was a longlimbed farmer, a God-fearing, freedom-loving, law-abiding rugged individualist who held that federal aid to anyone but farmers was creeping socialism. (pure, prescient, genius)

Three Strikes And You're, Well, Still Playing The Same Game - NYTimes.com - Steve Benen notes that Republicans have been completely wrong about the U.S. economy three times in the past two decades — about Clinton, Bush, and Obama — but haven’t changed their doctrine a bit.
Budget Brinksmanship is Baaack! « naked capitalism - Here we go again. Washington, and to a lesser degree, Mr. Market are all a twitter over the display of macho in the latest round of the Team Dem versus Team Republican professional wrestling bout budget battle ... The fact is that Obama really wants his Grand Bargain. All of this high drama is necessary for him to pretend to his base that he was forced to do what he’s been trying to do for years: sacrifice old people since he perversely believes that “reforming” Social Security and Medicare will get him brownie points in the presidential legacy ledger.
Hullabaloo - Oh Lord, this is just what we need. A spike in deficit fever ...
This Is Not A Crisis - NYTimes.com

Shakesville: I Got Your Compassionate Conservatism Right Here - They think people are entitled to guns and bootstraps, and that's about it.
The food stamps program - It doesn’t make sense to go after food stamps, and you can read the recent GOP push here as a sign of weakness, namely that they, beyond upholding the sequester, are unwilling to tackle the more important and more wasteful targets, including Medicare and also defense spending, not to mention farm subsidies.
Daily Kos: Right-wing Christians in Congress forget Jesus' rule of feeding the hungry (more like hands of Satan)

Pelosi says 'the cupboard is bare' - POLITICO.com - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says that while deficit reduction is a laudable goal, there are precious few spending cuts left to negotiate in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.
Trucker Group Citing Government 'Corruption' Calls To 'Shut Down America' With 3-Day Strike - In addition, a "Ride for the Constitution" event page calls truckers to gather in Washington, D.C., in an effort to "Restore the Constitution, Defund Obamacare, Lower Fuel Prices." (working-class teaparty white guys aren't going to drive their trucks, because, freedom)
Van Hollen: Same Republicans attacking ObamaCare used it to balance budget - The Hill's (immune to hypocrisy)
McCaskill: GOP should stop throwing 'tantrums' - POLITICO.com - "I don't think in America we should throw tantrums when we lose elections and threaten to shut down the government and refuse to pay the bills,"

American gun use is out of control. Shouldn't the world intervene? | Henry Porter | Comment is free | The Observer - The death toll from firearms in the US suggests that the country is gripped by civil war - The annual toll from firearms in the US is running at 32,000 deaths and climbing, even though the general crime rate is on a downward path (it is 40% lower than in 1980). If this perennial slaughter doesn't qualify for intercession by the UN and all relevant NGOs, it is hard to know what does.
Wayne LaPierre On Navy Yard Shootings: 'Wasn't Enough Good Guys With Guns' "When the good guys with guns got there, it stopped." (otherwise known as "the police")

D.C. officials’ choice allowed student tests to show gains - The Washington Post - But the math gains officials reported were the result of a quiet decision to score the tests in a way that yielded higher scores even though D.C. students got far fewer math questions correct than in the year before. (they always cheat and point to their "successes")
CASD in crisis after racially-charged text messages surface - More disturbingly, the sources said the school board was made aware of the text messages and was prepared to allow Como and Donato to remain in their positions until the transcripts were leaked to the Chester County District Attorney's Office, prompting a criminal investigation. (Obama will probably go after the whistleblower)

CDC Threat Report: 'We Will Soon Be in a Post-Antibiotic Era' - Wired Science - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has just published a first-of-its-kind assessment of the threat the country faces from antibiotic-resistant organisms, ranking them by the number of illnesses and deaths they cause each year and outlining urgent steps that need to be taken to roll back the trend.
'Rotating moon' filmed by Nasa - video | Science | theguardian.com
One Of The Biggest Con Jobs In Advertising History, Part 2 - The Sugar Association — up until the mid-1970s — aggressively advertised sugar as a healthy weight loss and diet aid.

Late Night Open Thread » Balloon Juice - The healthy financials hid a sad truth about the economy: Darden had been able to reduce labor costs because workers, desperate for jobs, didn’t have the leverage to ask for better pay.
Observations From A Tipless Restaurant, Part 1: Overview | Jay Porter - his is the first of a multi-part series detailing what I learned from operating our farm-to-table flagship restaurant, the Linkery, as a “no-tipping” restaurant that instead charged a fixed percentage for service, from 2006 to 2013.
How To Make A Reuben Sandwich And Embrace Entropy

The Insufferable Movie Snob: What the heck is "Pre-Code"? - “Pre-Code” is the period in American sound films from about 1929 to mid-1934 when films were censored after they were completed by the studios.

Hackers claim first iPhone 5s fingerprint reader bypass; bounty founder awaiting verification | ZDNet - "A fingerprint of the phone user, photographed from a glass surface, was enough to create a fake finger that could unlock an iPhone 5s secured with Touch ID."
Daily Kos: California starts regulating political blogging. Why?

092113
Japan dismissed US warnings to contain radioactive water at Fukushima — RT News - Japanese authorities ignored US calls to contain contaminated water at the stricken Fukushima power plant in 2008, officials told media. The revelation comes as the Japanese battle to stem radioactive water leaks flooding into the sea from the facility. TEPCO chose to disregard the idea because the potential cost of constructing the barrier would have had an impact on investor confidence. (go, capitalism!)
Fukushima Forever | Charles Perrow - Recent disclosures of tons of radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima reactors spilling into the ocean are just the latest evidence of the continuing incompetence of the Japanese utility, TEPCO.

Netanyahu scoffs at Iranian overtures, setting stage for showdown with US - World - The Boston Globe - Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, moved quickly to block even tentative steps by Iran and the United States to ease tensions and move toward negotiations to end the nuclear crisis, signaling what is likely to be a sustained campaign by Israel to head off any deal. (Globe buried this immediately; Israel is your boss)
Gun attack on Kenyan shopping centre kills at least 22 | World news | theguardian.com - Witnesses say gunmen told Muslims to leave Nairobi's Westgate centre and shot people they believed were non-Muslims
Baghdad car bombing kills more than 50 at funeral in Sadr City – police | World news | theguardian.com - Police and medical sources say bomb detonated in Shia area on same day as lethal attack on Baiji police compound
Crashed Mexico police helicopter discovered as floods rescue continues | World news | theguardian.com - Government spokesmen says three to five passengers dead as 68 people remain missing after La Pintada landslide
George Clooney's satellite spies reveal secrets of Sudan's bloody army | World news | The Observer - Actor and activist funds a hi-tech project that is tracking troops and warning civilians of attacks
Confused senator attempts to publish column in Communist newspaper from distant past - Salon.com - John McCain embarrasses himself in the Russian press by submitting an editorial to an online conspiracy site (Volcano John is stuck in the past)

Peer Steinbrück accuses Angela Merkel of negligence over NSA revelations | World news | theguardian.com - Social Democrat candidate joins writers and intellectuals expressing concern over PM's failure to 'protect German citizens'
Major US security company warns over NSA link to encryption formula | World news | theguardian.com - RSA, the security arm of EMC, sends email to customers over default random number generator which uses weak formula

Spy Files 3 - Today, Wednesday 4 September 2013 at 1600 UTC, WikiLeaks released 'Spy Files #3' – 249 documents from 92 global intelligence contractors. These documents reveal how, as the intelligence world has privatised, US, EU and developing world intelligence agencies have rushed into spending millions on next-generation mass surveillance technology to target communities, groups and whole populations.

FBI calls half of populace with 9/11 doubts potential terrorists - The FBI is instructing local police departments and "communities against terrorism" to consider anyone who harbors "conspiracy theories" about 9/11 to be a potential terrorist, in a circular released to local police departments. (almost half of all Americans belong to terrorist sleeper cells)
New Poll Finds Most Americans Open to Alternative 9/11 Theories – Rethink911.org | Sign the International Petition for a new 9/11 investigation
» Why Government Should Be The First Suspect In Any Terror Attack Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind! - History tells us that false flag is a favored form of statecraft
Terrorist Plots, Helped Along by the F.B.I. - NYTimes.com (who are the real terrorists?)

A Retweet Can Send You to Jail, A Like is Free Speech - On The Media
My Detainment Story or: How I learned to Stop Feeling Safe in my own country and Hate Border Patrol - On The Media (Obama's Constitution-free zone staffed with thugs)

State 'lockup quota' among nation's highest | Shreveporttimes | shreveporttimes.com - A national survey has found that Louisiana guarantees private prisons operating in the state that they will have at least 96 percent occupancy, and if they don’t house that many inmates, the state pays them that much, anyway. (prison-state America, for profit!)

The final triumph of welfare reform - Salon.com - Republicans voted to gut SNAP not long after they voted to preserve agriculture subsidies, and indeed to spend more on farmers than bleeding-heart liberal President Barack Obama wants to. Crop subsidies overwhelmingly benefit rich (and white) people. SNAP, not so much. These are the sorts of positions that make “they hate poor people” sound not particularly hyperbolic
(ND-ALL) Congressman Kevin Cramer To People Who Can't Find Jobs or Aren't Able To Work: Don't Eat (moochers!)
Hullabaloo - So the GOP House of Representatives voted to cut food stamps today. Food stamps. And keep in mind that this is happening at a time of more than 7% (official) unemployment, something that used to be considered a crisis but is not so normal that we are assuming that the millions of people who are using food stamps are scam artists who just refuse to get a job. It's sick and it's cruel.
Writing a Neutral Story About Something So Heartless As the Food Stamp Vote Is Not Good Journalism | Dan Froomkin - The New York Times editorial board this morning said the vote "can be seen only as an act of supreme indifference." But that's not the way the paper's own reporters covered it. Like those at essentially every other mainstream news organization, they wrote it straight. They focused on procedure. They quoted both sides. And they called it a day.
Republican Lawmakers Are Playing Politics With Human Lives, in Four Pictures | The Nation
This Time, the House G.O.P. Really Has Gone Nuts by Max Ehrenfreund | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - Republicans aren't even offering to negotiate.
Elections used to have consequences - The Maddow Blog - We've all heard the "elections have consequences" adage many times, but let's be clear about what we're witnessing in 2013: Republicans are very clearly telling the country, "No, actually, elections don't have consequences. We're still going to do as we please."

House Bill Introduced To Exempt Fundamentalists From Laws They Don’t Like | Truth Wins Out - It’s the same old story. Anti-gay fundamentalists continue to erroneously think that they are the only “real Americans,” and that the rest of us are simply guests who should follow their rules. They have zero respect for the way the United States actually works. (Christian Supremecy Act)
The Gun Scare - Lawyers, Guns & Money : David Guth, a journalism professor (suspending for a tweet criticizing the NRA)

Ravitch v. Rhee - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Rhee’s book seems to be an exercise in pure narcissism. She is perfect, everyone who opposes her is not just wrong but has evil, nefarious motives and must be personally impugned (an attitude and style of argument that I find particularly distasteful).
Are Blacks Names ‘Weird,’ or Are You Just Racist? - The Daily Beast - . “Seriously, I will take your ‘questions’ about ‘weird’ black names seriously when you make fun of Reince Priebus and Rand Paul,” followed by “White people giving their kids names like Saxby Chambliss and Tagg Romney is a clear sign of cultural pathology.”

Stephen King: on alcoholism and returning to the Shining | Books | The Guardian - King has been sober for decades, ever since his family staged an intervention in the late 1980s.


"We Post Nothing About Our Daughter Online" - On The Media
Nokia Lumia 1020 review: View from the top - GSMArena.com

092013
Republicans block science laureate vote over climate change stance fear | World news | theguardian.com - Conservative lobbyist told Congress members the new science ambassador would echo Obama on greenhouse gas regulations
Obama Takes On Coal With First-Ever Carbon Limits
Arctic on course for ice-free summer 'within decades', scientists say | Environment | theguardian.com - National Snow and Ice Data Center says expanse of ice in Arctic on 13 September was sixth-lowest of all time

An Interview With Pope Francis - NYTimes.com - If one has the answers to all the questions — that is the proof that God is not with him. It means that he is a false prophet using religion for himself.

Syria And The Beltway Media Crackup | Blog | Media Matters for America - Has the chattering class made itself perfectly clear? Obama's ability to strike a deal with the Russian government to convince a Middle Eastern dictator to begin handing over his arsenal of chemical weapons represents an unmitigated disaster for the White House and it's "a terrible setback for America." Why? Because the process was all wrong.
Ham and Iron: America's Middle East Policies in Action - As I've said many times before, anyone who wants trenchant insights into the realities of the Middle East -- including its ever-fraught interactions with the Potomac Imperium -- should be reading "the Angry Arab," As'ad AbuKhalil. Just today, AbuKhalil provides two telling examples of the Imperium's arrogance, indifference and -- in the case of John Kerry -- murderous ignorance in its ham-handed and iron-fisted attempts to bend the region and its peoples to the Domination Agenda of our American elites.

Yemen violence: 30 killed in twin attack on military | World news | theguardian.com - Officials believe members of al-Qaida behind bomb attacks on military camp in Shabwa province
Nigerian village attack by extremists in army fatigues leaves 140 dead | World news | theguardian.com - Army soldiers had to retreat from 'superior firepower' in worrying development for military, as Boko Haram suspected
Peer Steinbrück accuses Angela Merkel of negligence over NSA revelations | World news | theguardian.com - Social Democrat candidate joins writers and intellectuals expressing concern over PM's failure to 'protect German citizens'
White House hints at historic Obama meeting with Iranian president | World news | theguardian.com - Obama administration praises 'welcome rhetoric' over nuclear weapons and says meeting is possible next week in New York

U.S. Denies Trying to Bar Venezuelan President From Airspace - NYTimes.com - In the latest diplomatic dispute between the United States and Venezuela, American officials late Thursday gave permission for President Nicolás Maduro to fly over Puerto Rico on his way to a state visit in China and denied angry accusations from Venezuelan officials that the United States had tried to bar Mr. Maduro from its airspace.

Senate Revises Media Shield Law for the Better, But It’s Still Imperfect | Electronic Frontier Foundation - The amended bill, which is now clear to go for a full vote in the Senate, avoids defining who is a “journalist.” Moreover, it would allow judges the discretion to apply the protection to any person who, in the interest of justice, should be considered a practicing journalist. (DiFi is crying; the bad news: judiciary gets to decide who is protected)

Should the NSA be dismantled? An interview with whistle-blower Thomas Drake - Vocativ
Twitter / kgosztola: Laura Poitras & Glenn Greenwald receiving standing ovation at EFF's Pioneer Awards (couldn't attend because Obama would throw them in the dungeon) .
Whistleblowers and the Crypto-Anarchist Underground: An Interview with Andy Greenberg | Motherboard
British Spy Agency GCHQ Hacked Belgian Telecoms Firm - spiegel online
Justice Dept. watchdog never probed judges' NSA concerns - In response to a FOIA request from USA TODAY, the Justice Department said its ethics office never looked into complaints from two federal judges that they had been misled about NSA surveillance. (USA Today story Obama tried to squash)
The Daily Dot - The legacy of imprisoned investigative journalist Barrett Brown
Contractor that vetted Snowden says it ran background check for Navy Yard shooter - The Washington Post - USIS, the Falls Church government contractor that handled the background check for National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, said Thursday that it also vetted Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis for his ­secret-level clearance in 2007.
Zuckerberg: US spy revelations hurt Web trust | Mail Online - Revelations about the US government's secret surveillance programs has had a big impact on 'trust metrics' of Internet companies like Facebook, the social network chief Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday. (almost ironic)
Brazil's controversial plan to extricate the internet from US control | World news | theguardian.com - President Rousseff expected to bring the conversation about the continued role of US-based supernetworks to the UN this month
NSA chiefs defend agency's conduct in letter to families of employees | World news | theguardian.com - "It has been discouraging to see how our Agency frequently has been portrayed in the news as more of a rogue element than a national treasure.
The Daily Dot - An illustrated guide to avoiding the NSA online

Deliberately flawed? RSA Security tells customers to drop NSA-related encryption algorithm

How to tell your mother and bosses why they should protest surveillance.

USAF nearly detonated atomic bomb over North Carolina – secret document | World news | theguardian.com - Exclusive: Journalist uses Freedom of Information Act to disclose 1961 accident in which one switch averted catastrophe

Flooding and Fracking in Colorado: Double Disaster | Politics News | Rolling Stone - Serious flooding threatens the state's 50,000 controversial oil and gas wells

Druckenmiller: Fed shifting money to rich from poor
Fox Business Analyst On Income Inequality: Poor People "Eat A Bunch Of Turkey" At Thanksgiving And "Run To The Mall"

House Republicans set course for shutdown with anti-Obamacare bill | World news | theguardian.com - Speaker John Boehner heralds measure to continue funding government certain to be rejected by Democratic Senate
House Democrats: Tea Party Has Officially Overthrown GOP Leaders
Mark Warner Rants Against Congress' Absurd, Divorced-From-Reality Economics (video)
The GOP: Marginally Organized Sociopathy - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Republicans: We Were Too Nice to the Hungry -- Daily Intelligencer
GOP Extortionists: We Are Not Extortionists -- Daily Intelligencer
The attack on food stamps doesn't reflect changes in the program. It reflects changes in the Republican Party and mainstream conservative ideology. | New Republic
Majority of Americans say banks, large corporations benefitted most from U.S. economic policies | Pew Research Center
This Map Will Show You The Staggering Growth In Income Inequality Over The Past 40 Years

Fox News Food Stamp Special - The Heavy Price Of Chuck Todd's Ignorance - Esquire - According to Chuck's notion of what his job is, when conservative politicians latch onto a phony Fox News story in order to make policy, it is the job of the Democrats -- or, perhaps, of the SNAP recipients themselves, who have, as we know, virtually unlimited access to the airwaves -- to correct the arrant bullshit.

Black University of Alabama students join traditionally white sororities | World news | theguardian.com - Halle Lindsay and Cami McCant announce moves on Twitter after paper reveals racial segregation in greek organisations (because there isn't any racial problem)

Chicago Park Shooting: 13 People Shot On Basketball Court

Academics join CUNY David Petraeus protests as NYPD arrests six students | World news | theguardian.com - YouTube video appears to show demonstrator against appointment of general and CIA chief being punched repeatedly

The truth IS out there: British scientists claim to have found proof of alien life - Science - News - The Independent - The scientists sent a balloon 27km into the stratosphere, which came back carrying small biological organisms which they believe can only have originated from space. "The earth is an open system with biology raining down on it as we speak.
Use Only as Directed - ProPublica - During the last decade, more than 1,500 Americans died after accidentally taking too much of a drug renowned for its safety: acetaminophen, one of the nation’s most popular pain relievers.

Covert Operations of the U.S. National Security Agency (psycho-electronic attacks)
IBM Research: Neurosynaptic chips

Facebook 'likes' are protected free speech. I'll give a thumbs up to that | Dan Gillmor | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Facebook's "Like" button got some key support as an expression of speech when an appellate court overturned a perverse lower court ruling that had ruled clicking a button wasn't the same as saying something out loud. (yeah, like "typing" and wearing a sign isn't either)
Killer app: why do anonymous Q&A networks keep leading to suicides? | The Verge

091913
Russia urges UN climate report to include geoengineering | Environment | The Guardian - The Russian government is asking for 'planet hacking' to be included in the climate science report, leaked documents show
Nature editorial: ‘The IPCC’s mega-assessments are out of date by the time they hit the streets’; ‘Some fear that the IPCC is putting too much weight on a series of studies suggesting that the climate may be less sensitive to greenhouse gases than previously thought’ | Climate Depot

Syria's war more complex than ever as both sides face internal divisions | World news | The Guardian - Fighting at a stalemate with jihadists taking over from moderate opposition while Hezbollah and foreign Shia fighters join Assad
Syrian government says civil war has reached stalemate | World news | The Guardian - : Deputy PM says neither side is strong enough to win and government will call for ceasefire at Geneva talks
Syria will give its chemical weapons away, Bashar al-Assad tells Fox News | World news | theguardian.com - Country would give the deadly substances to whatever nation was willing to take them, leader of regime says (Israel)
Rouhani: Iran will never seek to build nuclear weapons | World news | theguardian.com - In interview with NBC, new president insists his country has no intention of developing weapons of mass destruction
Greek prime minister calls for calm after murder of leftwing musician | World news | theguardian.com - Antonis Samaras says differences must not be settled with violence after Golden Dawn member is accused over killing
Future of Japan depends on stopping Fukushima leaks, PM tells workers | World news | theguardian.com - Shinzo Abe visits stricken site amid rising doubts about plant operator's ability to conduct cleanup operation alone ("doubts")
Mexico in grip of hurricane disaster | World news | theguardian.com - The toll from devastating twin storms climbed to 80 on Wednesday as isolated areas of Mexico reported deaths and damage to the outside world. Mexican officials said another 58 people were missing in a massive landslide in the mountains north of Acapulco.

Pope Bluntly Faults Church’s Focus on Gays and Abortion - NYTimes.com

Judge orders Guantanamo procedures unsealed - POLITICO.com - Independent journalist Jason Leopold asked Lamberth to unseal the entirety of the declaration from the commander of the Guantanamo prison, Army Col. John Bogdan, after government lawyers filed it in litigation with detainees lawyers about new search procedures.

New York Times Editors, Columnists Met With Obama During Syria Push - Rosenthal and the Times editorial board went to the White House for an off-the-record meeting with the president.But that wasn’t the last time Obama met with Times editorial board members. On Aug. 29, the president again sat down for an off-the-record discussion with Rosenthal and some members of the editorial board, according to sources familiar with the meeting. Times opinion columnists David Brooks, Gail Collins and Ross Douthat also attended, but editors for the paper's news pages did not. (that explains a lot; they even took Douthat along)
Rick Stengel Is at Least the 24th Journalist to Work for the Obama Administration - Elspeth Reeve - The Atlantic Wire - Time managing editor Rick Stengel (pictured above) is leaving journalism to go work for the State Department, making him at least the 15th 21st 23rd 24th reporter to go to work for the Obama administration (Obama has that revolving door thing down)
Exclusive...Bush’s Law: Eric Lichtblau on Exposing the NSA’s Warrantless Wiretapping Program and How the White House Pressured the New York Times to Kill the Story | Democracy Now! - Bush’s Law: Eric Lichtblau on Exposing the NSA’s Warrantless Wiretapping Program and How the White House Pressured the New York Times to Kill the Story (and hand the election to Bush)

The Ten Most Disturbing Things You Should Know About the FBI Since 9/11 | American Civil Liberties Union
ACLU: Papers Show Domestic Spying Goes Too Far
New FBI Director James Comey Expects Bureau's Post-9/11 Transformation To Continue
The Story Of Joseph Nacchio And The NSA - Business Insider - Nacchio alleged that the government stopped offering the company lucrative contracts after Qwest refused to cooperate with a National Security Agency surveillance program in February 2001.

? Obama on Investigating Bush Crimes: "Need to Look Forward" - YouTube (Obama's famous quote saying we will never learn anything and nothing will change)

William Arkin's "American Coup" - Secrecy News - In its endless pursuit of national security, the United States has compromised core Constitutional values including civilian control of the military and states’ rights, writes William M. Arkin in his new book “American Coup” (Little, Brown, 2013).

Testimony Reveals Shocking Level of Pentagon Computer Errors Affecting 9/11 Legal Defense | Daphne Eviatar - Pentagon computer problems led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of defense team files, the disappearance of innumerable defense counsel e-mail messages, and the search of defense data, communications and internet usage by government officials who were neither authorized to see defense materials nor required to protect defense privileges. (they lost/erased the backups due to a "glitch")


Ideas at the House: Panel - The War on Whistleblowers and Their Publishers - YouTube - Alexa O'Brien and Australian commentator Robert Manne are joined by video conference with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Guardian Journalist Glenn Greenwald and Chelsea Manning's Lawyer David Coombs on stage at the Sydney Opera House (see Glenn at 41 minutes)
Guardian discussion | The war on whistleblowers and journalism (transcript of The Ware on whistleblowers from evenharpier, scroll down)
The Snowden Affair NSA Leaks - YouTube - A moderated discussion with Pulitzer Prize winner, Bart Gellman '82, who broke the story of the NSA's PRISM surveillance program and other exclusives from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden


Pentagon Papers’ James C. Goodale: The Outrageous NSA Opinion - The Daily Beast - The secret surveillence court has weighed in on the NSA—but its decision, unfortunately, is more political than legal, writes Pentagon Papers lawyer James C. Goodale.
DOJ Refuses to Explain How Executive Gets Away with Serial Lies to the FISA Court | emptywheel
usa-today-doj.pdf (DOJ attempts to censor USA Today)

The war on whistleblowers and journalism | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Discussing press freedoms with Julian Assange, David Coombs, Alexa O'Brien and others
Anonymity, Privacy, and Security Online | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project
The US needs to take the hint from Dilma Rousseff's snub | Mark Weisbrot | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The Brazilian president's cancelled visit, over NSA spying, ought to jolt the US out of its arrogant disrespect for Latin America - Dilma Rousseff: 'Do I look happy, Mr Obama?
NSA purchased zero-day exploits from French security firm Vupen | ZDNet - The National Security Agency bought hacking tools from a security firm, based on documents unearthed by a FOI request.
NSA contracted with notorious French spy-tech company VUPEN - Boing Boing
FOIA Our Competitors, Please - On The Media
Bristol Cryptography Blog: Open Letter From UK Security Researchers
NSA Sends Letter to Its ‘Extended’ Family to Reassure Them That They Will ‘Weather’ This ‘Storm’ | The Dissenter (we'll see)

Verizon executive says tech firms 'grandstanding' over NSA: report | Reuters - A senior executive for Verizon Communications Inc has accused U.S. technology companies of "grandstanding" in public comments about their forced cooperation with U.S. spy agencies, according to a report by technology news website ZDNet.com.

If Your Shrink Is A Bot, How Do You Respond? : Shots - Health News : NPR (bot technology used by NSA)
Institute for Creative Technologies
Fake silly comment generator

Edward Snowden has started a global debate. So why the silence in Britain? | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | The Guardian - We're subject to huge unwarranted surveillance – but Westminster's useful idiots are more likely to sanction than criticise it
Brazil's Wild Plan to Purge America From Its Internet - Brazil is not very happy about all these NSA revelations. As home to Latin America's biggest economy, the country understandably hates the idea that the United States is listening to its phone calls and reading its emails. In fact, Brazil hates it so much that it wants to disconnect itself from the U.S. internet altogether.
Linus Torvalds Talks Linux Development at LinuxCon - Torvalds was also asked if he had ever been approached by the U.S. government to insert a backdoor into Linux. Torvalds responded "no" while shaking his head "yes," as the audience broke into spontaneous laughter.
Angered By The NSA, But Confused By Acronyms, Brazilian Hacker Defaces NASA Websites | Techdirt

The Myths We Soldiers Tell Ourselves (and the Harm These Myths Do) - MilitaryReview_20131031_art010.pdf - A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else. Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

Dianne Feinstein Sheld Laws - Dianne Feinstein Defines "Journalist" - Esquire - Jesus H. Christ on a 4000-euro claimer, I leave the country for a week and Dianne Fking Feinstein gets to redefine my profession? - This is a law to protect secrets. This is a law that redefines the exercise of a constitutional right as a privilege "protected" by the government. (80 yr old wife of defense contractor)

Colorado House Republicans Unanimously Support Flood Relief, Unanimously Opposed Sandy Aid | ThinkProgress (but these are white people)

Ted Cruz, Liberal Hero, May Have Just Bailed Washington Out Of The Shutdown Crisis - "Cruz is the leader of a secret cabal of leftists that are seeking control of the conservative movement,"
House GOP doubles down on bad hand - Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan - politico.com
New test could expose GOP’s pack of charlatans - Salon.com - Do Cruz, Paul and co. really want to shut the government down over Obamacare? Their farce may soon be revealed
Ted Cruz Obamacare Voting - Republicans Have Turned On Ted Cruz - Esquire - Uh-oh, without even knowing how he did it, because that is what happens when you wander through the monkeyhouse blindfolded, Tea Party fave-rave Tailgunner Ted Cruz has gotten himself crossways with his fellow nutballs in the House because he has declined to produce magic sparkle ponies from out of his arse.
House To Vote On Stopgap Measure Linked To Obamacare Defunding
Chuck Todd: It's Not Media's Job To Correct GOP's Obamacare Falsehoods (video)
We Shall Overwhelm - A new book explores when and why America’s rich protest. s how the modern Tea Party grew from decades of efforts by American oligarchs to de-tax themselves.
House Votes To Cut Food Stamps By $40 Billion (Republicans: starve, moochers!)

CUNY Student Group: Six Students Violently Arrested Protesting Petraeus Await Charges | The Dissenter

JP Morgan fined $920m and admits wrongdoing over 'London Whale' | Business | theguardian.com - US's biggest bank to pay penalties to US and UK regulators for 'unsound practices' relating to $6.2bn losses last year
SEC narrowly votes to require firms to disclose CEO pay ratios - The Washington Post - The panel’s two Republican commissioners — Daniel Gallagher and Michael Piwowar — voted against the proposal, siding with business groups that cast the initiative as a costly burden that is of little use to shareholders
Middle-Class Decline Mirrors The Fall Of Unions In One Chart

One Disturbing Reason For Our Exploding Prison Population (INFOGRAPHIC)

GOP’s secret anti-choice plot: The shady crackdown on abortion doctors - Salon.com - Oppressive laws to bar abortions are well known. But now there's a quiet scheme to limit who can provide them

How For-Profit Colleges Stay In Business Despite Terrible Track Record - Over the past decade, Corinthian's schools have remained fully accredited, enabling the publicly traded company to tap federal student aid coffers for nearly $10 billion, or more than 80 percent of its total revenues

95-Year-Old Man In Nursing Home Resists Going To Hospital . . . Police Arrive And Shoot and Kill Him With Stun Gun And Bean Bag Rounds | Jonathan Turley

World map of The Penis Size Worldwide (country) by Country - TargetMap

Facebook users are committing 'virtual identity suicide' and quitting the site in droves over privacy and addiction fears | Mail Online - Report suggests Facebook recently lost active users in the U.S and UK The majority of people quitting the site blamed concerns over privacy Other reasons included fear of addiction, and shallow conversations

091813
Obama climate plan gets first airing in Congress | Environment | theguardian.com - At House of Representatives hearing, EPA asserted its authority to move forward without new laws from Congress
Arctic sea ice shrinks to sixth-lowest extent on record | Environment | The Guardian - Sea ice recovers from record low of 2012 but long-term trend continues towards an ice-free Arctic during the summer months

Russia to provide evidence 'implicating Syrian rebels in chemical attacks' | World news | theguardian.com - Sergei Lavrov says he will give evidence to United Nations security council, and describes UN report as biased
The Norwegian prison where inmates are treated like people | Society | The Guardian - On Bastoy prison island in Norway, the prisoners, some of whom are murderers and rapists, live in conditions that critics brand 'cushy' and 'luxurious'. Yet it has by far the lowest reoffending rate in Europe

Guardian Story on Israel and N.S.A. Is Not 'Surprising' Enough to Cover - NYTimes.com - I disagree, however, with Mr. Baquet’s conclusion on this one. I find it to be a significant development and something that Times readers should not have to chase around the Web to find out about. They should be able to read it in The Times. (no mention of loyalty to Israel but read the comments)
Margaret Sullivan Criticizes New York Times Over NSA, Israel Story - Margaret Sullivan, the New York Times' public editor, criticized the newspaper on Monday over its decision not to cover the Guardian's story about the NSA's relationship with Israel.
NY Times Doesn't Think That NSA Sharing Raw Communications With Israel Is Newsworthy | Techdirt
Sullivan: NYT should've covered Israel, NSA - politico.com
'NYT' Cuts References to AIPAC in Syria Debate | The Nation
NYTimes Public Editor: "Guardian Story on Israel and N.S.A. Is Not ‘Surprising’ Enough to Cover" : news - Surpise: New York Times founder/owner is the Jewish Ochs-Sulzberger family - In 2006, ABC News reported that Baquet killed a story about NSA wiretaps of Americans.[4]

Phone companies remain silent over legality of NSA data collection | World news | theguardian.com - Leading phone firms refuse to say why they have not challenged Fisa court order that compels them to hand over customers' data (even that is a secret)
Newly Released Secret Surveillance Court Ruling Confirms Sweeping Legal Standard For Collecting Phone Data | ThinkProgress - Because known and unknown international terrorist organizations are using telephone communications
DHS Inspector General Unable to Identify Total Number of Excessive Force Allegations Against Border Patrol | The Dissenter
Will Eric Holder guarantee NSA reporters' first amendment rights? | John Cusack | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The US attorney general vows not to prosecute journalists, but his criminalisation of whistleblowers undermines that assurance (when pigs fly)
Activist Post: “Free Flow of Information Act” Targets Independent Journalism - According to the text of an amendment sponsored by Senators Diane Feinstein and Dick Durbin to the proposed “Free Flow of Information Act” (PDF) that passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 12, only salaried journalists will be given the free press protections guaranteed to all US citizens by the Constitution. ("free flow" = "highly restricted"
LinkedIn joins other companies in asking secret court to let it disclose FISA data - 9/18/2013 9:31:58 AM | Newser - On Wednesday, LinkedIn joined four other companies that have similar cases pending before the FISA Court. The other four are Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook.

Colorado flooding: Yes, it’s climate change - Salon.com - The historic deluge shows how new weather patterns unbalance a region's ecosystem
Industry puppets spew obscene lies while people drown - Salon.com - As Colorado endures a slow-motion disaster, so-called "regulators" are in total denial -- while lives are at stake
Help, we’re drowning!: Please pay attention to our disaster - Salon.com - Here in the horrible Colorado flood, people are dead and homes destroyed. But the scary part is everyone's reaction (Miley Cyrus more important)
Does A Fracking Disaster Lurk Under Colorado's Floodwaters?

There Have Been More Mass Shootings Since Newtown Than You've Heard About (infographic)
High gun ownership makes countries less safe, US study finds | World news | theguardian.com - American journal expedites publication of study in wake of navy yard shooting that debunks belief guns make a nation safer
US Mass Shootings, 1982-2012: Data From Mother Jones' Investigation | Mother Jones - The full data set from our in-depth investigation into mass shootings. Plus: additional cases from 2013.

Nameless And Shameless: Masked DEA Agents Raid Innocent Women, Refuse To Reveal Their Identities (power-tripping fascist thugs keep their identities a secret)

John Boehner Pits Obamacare Against Shutdown, A Choice Dubbed Anarchy By Harry Reid - They do not want government to work on any level."
Obama, Republicans, and the Crisis of Legitimacy -- Daily Intelligencer
Wonkbook: The Republican Party’s problem, in two sentences - It would be a disaster for the party to shut down the government over Obamacare. But it's good for every individual Republican politician to support shutting down the government over Obamacare.
Spending, Obamacare, and the Fiscal Standoff: Shutdown Likely | New Republic - FISCALOPALYPSE

Politifact Hackery Classics - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Farley’s rating? “Half-true.” Facts he disputes? None, because he can’t. But he talked to someone at the Cato Institute and a couple others who dispute his interpretation of the facts without disputing the facts, which somehow makes the facts less factual. As always, the core problem with PolitiFact is that it doesn’t seem to understand what “facts” are.
Politifact: Just as Useless in Virginia as it is in Florida - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Fuck You. I'm Gen Y, and I Don't Feel Special or Entitled, Just Poor. - Fuck You. I'm Gen Y, and I Don't Feel Special or Entitled, Just Poor.

Saving My Appendix - The doctor was adamant. "This is America, not Sweden," he told me. "We operate."

Florida Police Jail Man For Protesting Red Light Cameras - BlackListedNews.com - Police in Apopka, Florida arrested a man on Saturday morning for distributing a petition that would put the issue of ending red light camera use to a public vote. (cops override democracy)

Diane Ravitch: Testing and vouchers hurt our schools. Here’s what works - Salon.com - Education reformers have it all wrong, Diane Ravitch tells Salon, and keep pushing policies that make schools worse
Seattle Teacher Under Fire for Teaching Kids About Racism and Discrimination - The battle at Seattle’s Center School raises the question: How should schools teach students about tolerance and discrimination?

Empathy for military robots could affect outcomes on the battlefield | PBS NewsHour
Sex shocker! Men and women aren’t that different - Salon.com - If we were as sexually dimorphic as the blanket octopus, men would be 0.8% the size of a female, or about the size of a walnut. If we were green spoonworms, the average human male would be less than an inch tall. He would live his entire life on his five-foot three-inch human mate – unless she accidentally ate him. Luckily, he could then live out a full life inside her digestive tract.
Attention Deodorant Users: New Studies Link Aluminum To Breast Cancer | Collective-Evolution
SUSY 2013 Conference: Video Archive - The Amplituhedron
Evangelicals largely believe prayer can cure mental illness, survey finds | World news | theguardian.com - Findings about evangelical Christian beliefs in the US come alongside push by evangelical leaders for increased awareness

Samantha Geimer on Roman Polanski: 'We email a little bit' | Film | The Guardian

? Baby Chimp, Tigers, and Wolf playing - YouTube
Flying eagle point of view - YouTube

Windows Phone 8 gets key US government security certification - The Next Web
Judge Fines Copyright Troll Lawyer for Harassing Tactic Used Nationwide | Electronic Frontier Foundation

091713
They Have Made A Desert, And Called It Reform - NYTimes.com - What we have to realize here, however, is that at this point it’s not just a matter of ideology: egos and careers are at stake. The evidence suggests that Europe’s austerians did a terrible thing, ruining the lives of millions. They will never admit it; they will seize on anything that gives them an out.

NYTimes Finally Finds Concern Over Impunity for War Crimes, But Only Assad’s War Crimes | emptywheel
Typhoon Man-yi forces TEPCO to release tainted rainwater into Pacific Ocean - The Japan Daily Press (meanwhile, in Fukushima)

Tomgram: Engelhardt, How to Build a National Security Blowback Machine | TomDispatch
Brazilian president postpones Washington visit over NSA spying | World news | theguardian.com - The announcement is at least a temporary setback to bilateral relations, which appeared to have been improving since Rousseff came to power. The Brazilian president was the only foreign leader this year to be invited to a state dinner at the White House and business executives planned to use the visit to sign deals on oil exploration and fighter jet sales.
Brazil, Argentina team up for joint cyber-defence mechanism - The Hindu (woman power)
Edward Snowden 'living incognito in Russia' | World news | theguardian.com - Whistleblower's lawyer says he has security protection but can travel freely and plays down prospect of US bid to capture him
Fisa court: no telecoms company has ever challenged phone records orders | Law | theguardian.com - Judge says requests for mass customer data have not been challenged 'despite the mechanism for doing so' - The disclosure is the third major court disclosure about bulk surveillance in a week. On Friday, the Fisa court – citing the public interest in surveillance generated by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden – ordered the government to review for potential declassification post-2011 court opinions related to the phone records database.
ACLU to Jim Comey: Welcome. Now Fix This. | emptywheel - FBI will soon have the equivalent of 20 pieces of intelligence on every American — and they share this broadly
The Man In Charge Of The NSA Modeled His Office After The Bridge Of The Starship Enterprise | Zero Hedge

Ireland Bank Tapes Leaked - The Snowden Effect: Ireland Edition - Esquire - Over here, the Irish Independent is having god's own fun with some tapes that were leaked to it. The tapes are of the executives of the Anglo-Irish bank, meeting to discuss precisely a) how profoundly they were cheating the customers, and b) how profoundly they were lying to the government in order that they might be bailed out because their schemes to cheat the customers pretty much had blown up the bank. The tapes are nothing short of amazing.

U.S. Science Laureate Bill Hits Roadblock | Science/AAAS | News - Hart said the bill would give President Barack Obama the opportunity to appoint someone “who will share his view that science should serve political ends, on such issues as climate change and regulation of greenhouse gases.” He also called the bill “a needless addition to the long list of presidential appointments.” (Science has a Democratic party bias)

US gun-crime map: interactive | News | theguardian.com - Which US states have the most homicides in which firearms were used? Where has gun crime fallen?

U.S. to Include Home Care Workers in Wage and Overtime Law - NYTimes.com

A Broken Health Care System is What Drives the National Debt | FDL Action (and Republicans are waging total war to keep it broken)

Credibility struggles - Lawyers, Guns & Money : It turns out that Elizabeth O’Bagy was never even accepted into the Georgetown graduate program from which she claimed to have already acquired a Ph.D.:

The Dutch Accent: Elmore Leonard's Talk : The New Yorker - . Character is language in action.
Janet Malcolm: Eileen Fisher and the Art of Understatement : The New Yorker

Interrogating Claims about Natural Sexual Behavior: More on Deep Thinking Hebephile | Context and Variation, Scientific American Blog Network - Let’s first be clear on definitions: hebephilia is the sexual preference for pubescent children. Not teenagers, but pubescent children. In industrial and post-industrial populations, that means a sexual preference for ten to twelve year olds
Hebephilia, the “measurable penile response”, and psychological damage in children | Neurotic Physiology
Enough With the 'Slut Gene' Already: Behaviors Ain't Traits - Wired Science

091613
Iraq: 53 die in a day as wave of violence continues | World news | theguardian.com - Amid worst violence since 2008, many fear country is returning to same level of killing that drove it to brink of civil war
Al-Qaida leader issues jihad guidelines | World news | The Guardian - Ayman al-Zawahri urges restraint in attacking other Muslim sects and starting wars in countries that jihadis might find a safe base
Egyptian authorities recapture Islamist-held town | World news | theguardian.com - Morsi supporters had held Delga since his overthrow in July and unleashed a campaign of terror against Christian minority

Syria crisis: UN inspectors submit chemical weapons report - live updates | World news | theguardian.com - Ban says US-Russia deal provides for use of force • Turkey says it shot down Syrian helicopter
UN Inspectors On Syria: 'Clear And Convincing Evidence' Chemical Weapons Were Used On Large Scale
Eschaton: The Wisdom Of The Center - Yes we're responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, but we've been proved fucking right!!!! ... We must support more wars with immense costs and nonexistent benefits!!! The bipartisan consensus demands it!!!
Al Jazeera America's Syria Coverage Similar To Competitors: Pew

Judge Rules Against Release of Video of Guantanamo Prisoner’s Interrogations, Could Be Used as Propaganda | The Dissenter - A federal judge ruled last week that the United States government did not have to release images or videos of interrogations of a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, who a convening authority for military commissions previously conceded had been tortured. ("propaganda" = "the truth")

The Banality of Systemic Evil - NYTimes.com - In broad terms, commentators in the mainstream and corporate media have tended to assume that all of these actors needed to be brought to justice, while independent players on the Internet and elsewhere have been much more supportive (time for the olds to go and stop making the world a bad place)

Twitter / timberners_lee: To link is a right without ... - which democracy rots
Government Standards Agency “Strongly” Suggests Dropping its Own Encryption Standard - ProPublica - In its statement Tuesday, NIST acknowledged that the NSA participates in creating cryptography standards “because of its recognized expertise” and because NIST is required by law to consult with the spy agency.
Former NSA and CIA director says terrorists love using Gmail (WaPo edits his speech to make him not seem so stupid: "online service" instead of "internet service provider" see below)
Twitter / MatthewKeysLive: Former NSA boss defends online spying, demonstrates he doesn't understand what internet is

LA's Glendale school district district pays firm $40,500 to snoop students' social media accounts | Mail Online - Critics say the screening is essentially 'stalking' and violates students' right to free speech (spy-state America from the top to the bottom)
MPAA’s Court Ordered Piracy Filter Censors Many Legitimate Files | TorrentFreak - Aside from Hollywood blockbusters, the broad filter also censors thousands of Creative Commons and public domain files. Needless to say, not all content creators are happy at being inadvertently censored.
Is Apple's iPhone Fingerprint Scanner hackable? - Hackers News Bulletin

Human Airlift Rescue The Largest Since Hurricane Katrina « CBS Denver

Obama Government Shutdown And Health Care - And Then The President Will Abdicate And We'll All Have Pie - Esquire - I used to think that Republican ideas were insane, but that the people who held them were shrewd enough to milk the suckers for political advantage and then pull the rug out from under the Crazee in the nick of time. That is no longer the case. They're just completely nuts.

Larry Summers' Withdrawal From Fed Race Is Good News For Wall Street And The Economy - But Wall Street made it clear early and often that it never wanted Summers to be the Fed Chairman, for more than one reason.
California raises minimum wage to $10 an hour | The Raw Story

US super-rich hit new wealth record five years after financial crisis | Business | The Guardian - Forbes magazine says the 400 wealthiest Americans are worth a record $2.2tn, up from $1.7tn in 2012

Barbara Buono Gaining On Chris Christie-- By A Lot | Crooks and Liars (Obama and NJ Dems will still campaign for Chrisie)
Hullabaloo - Sure, just let Chris Christie have free rein. What could go wrong? - Furthermore, judging by that polling, it's at least partially President Obama's fault that Christie got such a bump (certainly the second visit was pretty gratuitous) and you'd think for the sake of the Party he'd make some effort to mitigate it. I won't even talk about the foolishness of the New Jersey Democratic Party that can't be bothered.

Harry Reid Rebuffed Obama's First Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Pick: Report - . The trade publication Transmission Hub reported Friday (via National Journal) that Obama originally picked John Norris, who is already a FERC commissioner, to serve as the new chair. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) thought Norris was too "pro-coal," according to the paper. (typical Obama move)

Police Made One Marijuana Arrest Every 42 Seconds in 2012 - US News and World Report - FBI data: American police made a total of 12,196,959 arrests last year (Obama, again)

10 Arrests in 87 Mins: The Anatomy of NYPD's Protest Dispersal Process (Bloomberg's storm troopers attack non-violent protestors)

They’re Taking Over! by Tim Flannery | The New York Review of Books - Stung! On Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean (they love Republican supported climate change)
How to Fall in Love With Math - NYTimes.com

Today’s #Slatepitch: Gender Injustice Is Over! - Lawyers, Guns & Money (The End of Men)
The Myth of Male Decline - NYTimes.com
'The End of Men' Author Mansplains | New Republic
Patriarchy is Dead if You're a Rich White Lady
39 Things We’ll Miss About Patriarchy, Which Is Dead - The Cut

Fox News host: new Miss America, Nina Davuluri, doesn’t ‘represent American values’ | The Raw Story - It should go without saying that Davuluri, a Syracuse native of Indian descent, is neither Muslim nor an Arab. But according to Fox News Radio host Todd Starnes, the American-born Davuluri doesn’t “represent American values,” unlike the blonde-haired, blue-eyed contestant from Kansas, Theresa Vail.

Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy | Wait But Why - It is just disgusting that now you have these old conservatives that ruined the economy for Gen Y, calling us a bunch of entitled children because we would like a job and perhaps a small raise every few years.

Break the internet | Dazed Digital

091513
Syria minister hails Russia over chemical weapons 'victory' | World news | theguardian.com - Ali Haidar pays tribute to Russian diplomacy in first comment from Damascus over deal to disarm Syria of chemical weapons
Geneva deal on Syria is welcome step but deeper divisions remain | World news | theguardian.com - The fundamental sticking point of whether President Assad will have to go for conflict to end is still a thorny issue
John Kerry Warns Syria: 'Threat Of Force Is Real' If Chemical Weapons Deal Not Followed
Eschaton: New Rule - Any pundit who advocates war for supposed humanitarian reasons must be able to point to 5 recent occasions when they advocated for achieving humanitarian goals using non-killing methods. Otherwise, STFU.
Mike Rogers: Syria Deal Is A 'Big Win' For Vladimir Putin - "Think about where he is and what he wanted out of Syria. He got everything he wanted, including taking away the president's advantage of a guaranteed or at least a credible military strike." (keyword: "credible")
Five myths about cruise missiles - The Washington Post
Securing Syria's Weapons May Require US Troops | Military.com
Domenico Quirico: My 150-day ordeal as a hostage of Syria's rebels | World news | The Observer - The Italian journalist was taken prisoner by an anti-Assad revolutionary brigade. The horror that followed led him to rename the country 'the land of evil'
Syria and the return of the liberal hawks by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - While I am very happy the U.S. did not launch a military strike, that we came so close, and that the Obama administration’s handling of the situation was both so seriously politically objectionable and often, so comically incompetent, is deeply dismaying.
Nicholas Kristof knows better: A shameful addition to the Syria hawk club - Salon.com - The New York Times columnist's logic on Syria makes no sense at all, especially considering his previous reporting (and see comments: "Yes, he’s still a community organizer. It’s just that now, the community he is so effectively organizing is the world.")

Pacific Ocean takes perilous turn | Sea Change: Ocean acidification | The Seattle Times - Ocean acidification, the lesser-known twin of climate change, threatens to scramble marine life on a scale almost too big to fathom. (21st Century: killed by Corps and Republicans)
Bjorn Lomborg: Don’t blame climate change for extreme weather - The Washington Post - Bjørn Lomborg, Published: September 13 (Lomborg, adjust business professor and climate non-expert; add WaPo to the list of corporate deniers publishing his propaganda last seen in the WSJ +WaPo commentors incredibly stupid)
Lomborg-errors

Spiegel Exclusive: NSA Spies on International Bank Transactions - The United States' NSA intelligence agency is interested in international payments processed by companies including Visa, SPIEGEL has learned. It has even set up its own financial database to track money flows through a "tailored access operations" division. (Obama has all your credit cards and knows what you bought; maybe the NYT will report this one, maybe not)
The FISA court will release more opinions because of Snowden
Snowden Leak Prompted "Considerable Public Interest," Says FISA Court - Secrecy News

Inside the mind of NSA chief Gen Keith Alexander | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - A lavish Star Trek room he had built as part of his 'Information Dominance Center' is endlessly revealing
The Cowboy of the NSA - By Shane Harris | Foreign Policy - Inside Gen. Keith Alexander's all-out, barely-legal drive to build the ultimate spy machine. (Information Dominance Center)

The Strange Case of Barrett Brown - On The Media - Barrett Brown is a journalist and activist who has been in jail for a year awaiting trial on a number of charges - chief among them copying and pasting a link to leaked documents into an IRC chat room.
When Posting a Link is a Crime | This Can't Be Happening! - Mobile - Barrett Brown: The Link was the "Crime" (Obama would like to get rid of that whole a href thing)

This Week in Review: Encryption and censorship, and broadening the story of journalistic change » Nieman Journalism Lab
Russell Brand and the GQ awards: 'It's amazing how absurd it seems' | Culture | The Guardian - "the role elite institutions play in reinforcing their legitimacy and how they maintain control of public discourse." (GG)


News: Boulder Flood - Boulder Daily Camera - President Barack Obama has signed a disaster declaration and ordered federal aid for flood ravaged Colorado (rains of "biblical proportions")
Colorado Floods 2013: Rescuers Warn Some Against Remaining In Towns Isolated By Flooding

Larry Summers Withdraws His Name From Fed Chair Job - "I have reluctantly concluded that any possible confirmation process for me would be acrimonious and would not serve the interest of the Federal Reserve, the Administration or, ultimately, the interests of the nation's ongoing economic recovery," Summers said in the letter.
These Three Democrats Could Torpedo Larry Summers's Nomination | New Republic - three Banking Committee Democrats would oppose Summers: Sherrod Brown, Jeff Merkley and Elizabeth Warren (Summers opposed Warren as head of Consumer Protection; that worked out really, really well)
3 Democrats Say They Will Oppose Summers for Fed - NYTimes.com - Senator Jon Tester, Democrat of Montana and a member of the Banking Committee, said on Friday that he would vote against sending Mr. Summers’s nomination to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. Two of Mr. Tester’s fellow Democrats on the committee, Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, have also signaled through their aides that they would vote no.

DealBook's sympathy for the SEC : Columbia Journalism Review - The New York Times’s DealBook once again publishes a story about how the valiant crimefighters at the SEC who really, really wanted to prosecute wrongdoers for the financial crisis but found themselves thwarted by the higher standards of “justice.”
Big U.S. banks keeping door open to another financial crisis - latimes.com - Big banks have watered down rules aimed at keeping them from fobbing bad loans off on investors and ensured loopholes in transparency rules. 'Fundamentally not that much has changed,' an analyst says. (Obama's lips permanently glued to their asses)
Foreclosure nightmare: Family's home sold, but it wasn't for sale | abc7.com (Obama hates private property, should all belong to banks)
Echidne Of The Snakes - Incomes are now as concentrated as they were in the years preceding the Great Depression! The top 1% of earners took in 19.3% of all household income in 2012*, the largest percentage since the Twenties, and 95% of all income gains since 2009 went to them. (but moochers!)

Obama Vows No Debt Ceiling Negotiations - Obama told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that he would not cooperate with House Speaker John Boehner's demand for budget cuts in exchange for House Republicans' allowing the government to continue paying its obligations.
Tim Huelskamp Explains Why 42nd House Vote To Repeal Obamacare Will Be Better Than The Previous 41 - "We've had 42 different swings at the bat. Forty-two different exhibition games. But we've never actually had a regular season."

Debates of the Great Recession Are Over, Hooray -- Daily Intelligencer (Republicans won)

Sorry, the patriarchy isn’t dead - Salon.com - Congress is only 18.3% women -- and that's just one of the many ways sexism is alive and well
Whiskey Fire: Strictly Comedy - Robert Stacy McRape is, therefore, a quite sincere rape apologist.

Scientists Finally Conclude Nonhuman Animals Are Conscious Beings | Psychology Today - It's difficult to believe that those who have shared their homes with companion animals didn't already know this.
Cambridge Declaration On Consciousness (pdf) (but are humans really conscious?)
Let’s Not Panic Over E-Cigarettes | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly

Minnesota Archbishop John Nienstedt Claims Satan Behind Gay Marriage, Condoms And Porn (video)

United States was once a ‘hair’s breadth’ from detonating nuclear bomb over North Carolina | The Raw Story - According to Eric Schlosser in his follow-up to Fast Food Nation, Command and Control, days after the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961, the American military came with in a “hair’s breadth” of detonating a nuclear explosion over North Carolina.

‘Net neutrality’ debate may decide future of Netflix | The Raw Story

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Deal Reached to Destroy Chemical Arms in Syria - NYTimes.com
John Kerry: U.S., Russia Reach Deal On Syrian Chemical Weapons
Lawfare › Syria Weapons Inspections: Iraq Redux? (Saddam didn't hand over WMDs he didn't have, so bomb Syria)
A plain blog about politics: Point One on Obama's Presidency and Syria - Of all of those, there's one permutation that absolutely, no question about it, would destroy the rest of Barack Obama's presidency is: a disastrous war. Ask Lyndon Johnson or George W. Bush. Or Harry Truman. Unending, seemingly pointless wars are the one sure way to ruin a presidency.
Inside AIPAC's Syria Blitz - Shalom Yerushalmi, a senior political columnist at Maariv, another Israeli newspaper, was more critical, writing the same day as the Haaretz editorial that AIPAC is "harming Israeli interests," and that Israel should tell AIPAC to "stay out of this." And the Jerusalem Post warned that lobbying on Syria by U.S.-based groups with strong ties to Israel should "not be predicated in any way on whether the [military] action against Syria is 'good' or 'bad' for Israel." (Jewish Neocons love America doing their wars)
5 biggest ways the media misled America this month - Salon.com - We just had one of our nation's most important foreign policy debates in years -- and the media made us dumber
In case you were wondering: AIPAC is not Israel - Opinion Israel News | Haaretz - Only the American people are sovereign to make decisions of war and peace regarding their country’s army; Israeli decision-makers should give up any pretense of intervening.
Israel and AIPAC clash on Syria strike - Features - Al Jazeera English - Dismissing threat from Syria, many Israelis would rather keep Iran in the international community's cross hairs.

Fisa judge: Snowden's NSA disclosures triggered important spying debate | World news | The Guardian - Dennis Saylor orders government to review rules on surveillance and says further declassification would protect court's integrity
FISA judge: Snowden leaks triggered important debate - Salon.com - Federal judge orders government review for declassification orders enabling hoarding of communications data
NSA gets data from Germany’s domestic security agency - reports — RT News - Germany’ Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution regularly hands over classified data to the NSA (Orwell couldn't have named it better)
Viable Opposition: Making a Mockery of Open Government in America (Obama's "transparency")
Time magazine misses Snowden wave - All of those stories appeared in the Washington Post. But hold on: Starting in 2010, Gellman has been a contributing editor at-large for Time magazine. Why didn’t Time get in on all of this fun?
IETF floats draft PRISM-proof security considerations - The draft highlights security concerns as a result of government sponsored PRISM-like projects and the security controls that may be put into place to mitigate the risks of interception capabilities.
Manning Chose Documents for Release as Selectively as Snowden - If reporters like Sanchez would take a few minutes out to review the court record, they'd realize that Bradley Manning was very selective in choosing the documents that he released to Wikileaks
The Irony of Booz Vice Chair Mike McConnell’s Timing | emptywheel - Among other things, this rough outline suggests this wasn’t so much a “discovery” of violations, it was an attempt to hide what at least some people knew were systematic and gross violations of the Section 215 program, just before Obama came in and replaced some of the top players.
Google’s Payoff from DOD: 20 Cheap Fuel Flights to Tortola | emptywheel - Spying is the nature of society in the same way as special perks for those who help in it, after all.
Eschaton: Boys With Toys - Really don't need to know much more than that. NSA director modeled war room after Star Trek's Enterprise (with a lot of your money, because they are so cool on the Bridge)

? 'The Lives of Others' trailer - YouTube

Conservatives Step Up Push To Undercut GOP On Obamacare | TPMDC - The conservative opposition to Obamacare has become unappeasable and it’s tearing the GOP apart. (fighting the War of Confederate Treason in Congress)

The jerks got away with it! 5 years after economic collapse, they’re still smiling - Salon.com - Five years ago this week, titans of finance wrecked the American economy. Here's why they're still happy as ever

Mann and Ornstein: “Brighter future for politics and policy requires a different Republican Party” - Salon.com - The Republicans have become a party beholden to zealots -- with little respect for science, facts or compromise

Chart of the Day: Public Ignorance About Medicare is Really, Really High | Mother Jones - It turns out that a majority of Americans believe that retirees get about as much from Medicare as they pay in during their lifetimes. Or maybe even less. What this shows, once again, is the power of right-wing ideas in American discourse. After years of misleading the public about death panels and waste and taxes, the public pretty much believes it. (especially old white guys with quadruple by-passes and scooters)
NPR Announces It Wants To Cut Staff By 10 Percent - The radio network has around 800 employees, meaning that it is seeking to let about 80 people go. The Washington Post called the move one of the "largest reductions in the organization's history."

Gun Violence Study Links State Levels Of Gun Ownership And Homicide - "for each percentage point increase in gun ownership, the firearm homicide rate increased by 0.9 percent."

David Vitter Demands Senate Democrats Go Probe Themselves For Reminding Us Of That Time He Used To Screw Hookers

Pat Robertson loses battle to keep terrible things he says off the Internet - Salon.com - The Internet rejoices as YouTube affirms the right to share videos of the hateful things Robertson says

A Matter of Degrees by Anne Kim | The Washington Monthly - In the future world of “credentialing,” do you still need college?
Class Is Seen Dividing Harvard Business School - NYTimes.com - Is class a more divisive issue at Harvard Business School than gender?
Harvard Business School Case Study - Gender Equity - NYTimes.com - Year after year, women who had arrived with the same test scores and grades as men fell behind. Attracting and retaining female professors was a losing battle; from 2006 to 2007, a third of the female junior faculty left.
…from the folks who gave us W « The Reality-Based Community - The HBS endowment is about $2 billion: how much would be enough so they can start using it for something besides transferring everyone’s wealth into a financial sector populated with unspeakably selfish, shallow, jerks?


blog.reddit -- what's new on reddit: Off the Beaten Path: Smaller subreddits Worth a Visit

091313
? BANCO SABADELL - Som Sabadell flashmob - YouTube

Colorado Flood: Thousands More Evacuated, Several Unaccounted For; National Guard Moves In

US and Russia offer revived hope of Syria peace talks | World news | theguardian.com - Pair say wider talks aimed at ending Syrian civil war could take place – but only if they reach agreement on chemical weapons
Christiane Amanpour Angrily Calls For Intervention In Syria (VIDEO)
The Rise of the Antiwar Libertarians - The Daily Beast - Rand Paul and Justin Amash have principles that trump party politics. That’s exactly why they are the best hope to stop an American war on Syria.
Vladimir Putin Writes His NYT Op-Ed For Free, Gets Mega-Traffic (11% of Times traffic, and makes Bob Menendez sick)
Israel also facing questions about chemical weapons - latimes.com

Delhi gang rape: Four sentenced to death
Is Israel too Jewish? An unorthodox solution - Opinion Israel News | Haaretz - In the free marketplace of Diaspora Jewish life, Orthodoxy and liberal Judaism are both flourishing. But in Israel, the exclusive control of a rigid state Orthodoxy alienates Israelis from their Jewish identities.

Ben O'Driscoll, Former Sun Editor, Charged For Allegedly Bribing Public Officials (Morlock)

Time to tame the NSA behemoth trampling our rights | Yochai Benkler | Comment is free | theguardian.com - From leaks and Fisa court papers, it's clear the NSA is a bloated spying bureaucracy out of control. It can't be reformed by insiders
How We Got From 9/11 to Massive NSA Spying on Americans: A Timeline | Mother Jones - Total Information Awareness, PRISM, encryption back doors, a "black budget" of billions, and everything in between.
Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2013 - R42738.pdf (America's bloody history)

Brazil's Rousseff targets internet companies after NSA spying | Reuters
PressTV - NSA penetrated by Israel, and who else? “Israeli spies have damaged the United States more than the intelligence agents of all other countries on earth combined... They are the gravest threat to our national security.” - Admiral Bobby Inman, Former Deputy Director of the CIA

Why ‘This Town’ Loves Going to War | The American Conservative - The politics of war and peace are a gold mine for Washington's power players.
The War Party No Longer? Neoconservative Influence on Republicans Declining | Connecting the Dots, What Matters Today | BillMoyers.com (the unmentioned elephant in the room is Israel, represented by Kristol)
If Obama goes Back to Congress on Syria, they must save America by voting No (van Buren) | Informed Comment (great review of past 12 yrs of foreign policy blunders: stupidity in tragic action)

Government Releases NSA Surveillance Docs and Previously Secret FISA Court Opinions In Response to EFF Lawsuit | Electronic Frontier Foundation - We've posted links to each document below. While the government also posted many of the documents here, our copies are completely searchable. (of course they wouldn't make them searchable, fuckers)
Documents: FBI Spyware Has Been Snaring Extortionists, Hackers for Years | Threat Level | Wired.com

Report: NSA Mimics Google to Monitor "Target" Web Users | Mother Jones - "Man in the middle" attacks would let the spy agency gather data without breaking encryption.
What Do the Latest NSA Leaks Mean for Bitcoin? | Motherboard
CloudFlare CEO: ‘Insane’ NSA gag order is costing U.S. tech firms customers
Secret Court Orders Government To Review NSA Ruling For Release | TPM LiveWire - The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) on Friday ordered the government to review for public release the court's opinions on the meaning and scope of Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Section 215 is the legal basis for the National Security Agency program that collects phone records from telecom companies.
FBI admits what we all suspected: It compromised Freedom Hosting’s Tor servers | Ars Technica
FBI Admits It Controlled Tor Servers Behind Mass Malware Attack | Threat Level | Wired.com
How NSA’s cyber sabotage puts us all at risk | American Civil Liberties Union

Israel denies spying on Americans after Snowden leak | JPost | Israel News - Classified document leaked by former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden points finger at Israel.
Report: Israel receives intelligence from US containing private information on US citizens | JPost | Israel News - Report: Israel receives intelligence from US containing private information on US citizens
Congress will rein in NSA's domestic snooping, predicts top U.S. intel official - Washington Times
NSA shares raw data on Americans with Israeli spy agency - Washington Times
PressTV - NSA 'conspires with Israel' against Americans' interests
Snowden-leaked file: NSA routinely shares Americans' data with Israel - UPI.com
NSA reportedly sharing data about U.S. citizens with Israel | The Japan Times
NSA feeds raw intelligence data to Israel - World Socialist Web Site - The pretense that Israeli intelligence stumbling across such material would “destroy” it without so much as a peek is ludicrous, and everyone involved in preparing the agreement knows it.

US sees Israel, tight Mideast ally, as spy threat - The CIA considers Israel its No. 1 counterintelligence threat in the agency's Near East Division, the group that oversees spying across the Middle East, according to current and former officials. (7/28/12) (so the logical thing to do is give them everything +Israel ranked below Libya in willness to help America fight terrorism +wtf?)

Überwachungsskandal: Israel bekommt ungefilterte Daten der NSA | ZEIT ONLINE - Ausgespähte E-Mails, Telefonanrufe und Internetdaten werden laut "Guardian" an den Geheimdienst in Tel Aviv übermittelt. Darunter: Auch Daten von US-Bürgern.
Clapper: Snowden case brings healthy debate; more disclosures to come - latimes.com - James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said Thursday that Edward Snowden's disclosures of secret surveillance programs at home and abroad have generated a useful public debate on the trade-offs between privacy and national security. ("and we'll kill the little fucker if we get our hands on him")
Glenn Greenwald and the Value of Journalism | Jonathan Weiler
Crimes of the Surveillance State: A Victim’s Story | Global Research - How a brilliant Vermont mathematician became an early target of government harassment

The Israeli “art student” mystery - Salon.com - For almost two years, hundreds of young Israelis falsely claiming to be art students haunted federal offices -- in particular, the DEA. No one knows why -- and no one seems to want to find out.
Video: Israel Is Spying In And On The U.S.? Part 1 - These items have since been removed from the FOX News web site (Fox report on massive Israeli spying taken down by Abe Foxman so you won't know about it)
David Miliband: 'Compelling evidence' Israel was behind misuse of UK passports in Hamas hit | Politics | theguardian.com - Foreign secretary confirms Britain has demanded withdrawal of Israeli diplomat following 'intolerable' use of identity papers
New Revelations on NSA Surveillance | Brennan Center for Justice (2009: DiFi promised to "hold hearings")

Ex-NSA official on Snowden and the U.S. spy leviathan | Video | Reuters.com - Thomas Drake, who was prosecuted for allegedly disclosing National Security Agency secrets years before Edward Snowden surfaced, says the U.S. government has an “industrial-scale” surveillance system that “the Stasi in East Germany would have drooled over.”
Is War Now "Inevitable" | Zero Hedge - In a moment of surprising clarity, Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid pointed out what is largely taboo in the financial industry - the truth. "Looking back, real GDP growth in the US through the latter half of the 2000s and the 2010s has been at the lowest levels since the cyclically scarred decades of the Great Depression and the First World War."
Rick Stengel to leave 'Time' for U.S. State Department | Capital New York (see what they did there)
How Do Americans Get Their News in 2013? | Visual.ly (Facebook, of course)

Ohio man who hacked police websites in Utah sent to prison | The Salt Lake Tribune - John Anthony Borell III, who was associated with a group of hacker activists known as "Anonymous," also will be required to pay restitution of $226,736. The sentence also resolves charges brought against Borell in California, Missouri and New York.
Matthew Paul DeHart, Self-Described Anonymous Member, Says Child Porn Charges Are Government Ruse - the U.S. government is pursuing sham charges against him so that it can recover a sensitive national security document he accessed, according to Canadian court records
The Daily Dot - Is Dropbox reading your documents? - On Thursday, a post appeared on the security blog WNCInfosec claiming that private text files uploaded to Dropbox were being read without users’ permission.
Google knows nearly every Wi-Fi password in the world | Computerworld Blogs

Report: FBI Still Investigating Journalist Michael Hastings | Occupy America
Protests of David Petraeus's lectures to continue, say CUNY students | World news | theguardian.com - Coalition of student groups at CUNY say protest 'is to let the administration know that war criminals cannot be hired' (opinion shift?)

A generational gap in American patriotism | Pew Research Center - Just 32% of Millennials believe the U.S. is the greatest country in the world. That number progressively increases among the Gen X (48%), Boomer (50%) and Silent generations (64%). Millennials were also the most likely generation to say America is not the greatest country in the world (11%).

Colorado officials order further evacuations as flash floods worsen | World news | theguardian.com - Alerts prompted Thursday by rapidly rising creek levels after mudslides and overflowing at the mouth of Boulder Canyon
Homeless people turned away from Boulder flood shelter - Boulder Daily Camera - Red Cross: Decision was against policy, won't happen again

Not One Top Wall Street Executive Has Been Convicted Of Criminal Charges Related To 2008 Crisis (B Barry Banz keepin' 'em safe)
Obama To Nominate Larry Summers As Federal Reserve Chairman As Early As Next Week: Report (he's polishing his shit resume)
The Totally Unfair And Bitterly Uneven 'Recovery,' In 12 Charts - Wall Street, the wealthy and the powerful have done amazingly well since the crisis ended. Little of that has trickled down to everybody else, in what has been the most uneven recovery in at least several decades.
Government Helps Rich Much More Than Everyone Else, Americans Say

Paul Krugman Blogs About Why He Doesn't Tweet
Death By Tweet - NYTimes.com - I don’t think I have any demons like that, but who knows? And if I do make uncomfortable discoveries about myself, I’d like to do it in private, thank you.
Not Quite Noahpinion: In the Future Everyone Will Be Fired After Fifteen Minutes
Pax Dickinson: Defending racist, sexist, and homophobic tweets as "satire" is not actually funny.

Media shield law moves forward - Under the committee's compromise, those covered would include someone who has had an employment relationship with a journalism organization for one year within the past 20 years, or three months within the past five years. Also covered are people with "a substantial track record of freelancing" in the past five years and student journalists (Chuckie and DiFi work out a "compromise" to exclude bloggers and other dirty hippies)
Freedom of Speech or Freedom of the Press? - Nothing in this amendment establishes the press as having any peculiar freedoms not already recognised as inherent in 'the people', nor as a class of jobbers separated from the people by any peculiar characteristic of their employment, vocation, or privileges.

House Republican Anarchy Update -- Daily Intelligencer
Let’s honor Larry Summers’ disastrous record: Name him Fed chair today! - Salon.com - Let's celebrate the anniversary of the financial crisis by rewarding one of the people responsible for it
Eschaton: When It Mattered - Larry Summers, then the president’s chief economic adviser, also expressed doubts in private meetings, she said. “He was not supportive of this.”

Taxpayers Shoulder Bulk Of Gun Violence Health Care Costs: Study - About 80 percent of the cost of treating victims of gun violence in 2010 was borne in part by taxpayers
Pastor Who Claimed He Raped Teenage Boys to Keep Them "Sexually Pure" Will Not Serve Jail Time | Alternet - Iowa's "rape the gay away" pastor gets his sentence reduced and visitation rights with his children. Iowa pastor and youth counselor Brent Girouex, who claimed with a straight face that he was trying to "cure" teenage boys of their "homosexual urges" by having sex with them, has had his sentence reduced from 17 years in prison to sex offender treatment and probation

The Death of Gun Control - Molly Ball - The Atlantic - Why the recall of two Colorado legislators is a major setback for gun-safety advocates nationally - Gun-control proponents, buoyed by donations from New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, outspent their opponents five to one. But the NRA turned the money against the lawmakers, painting them as pawns of fancy-pants out-of-state liberal interests. And the NRA won. (insanity won)

The Rise of the New New Left - The Daily Beast - Bill de Blasio’s win in New York’s Democratic primary isn’t a local story. It’s part of a vast shift that could upend three decades of American political thinking. (Quinn = Clinton and why Obama is a Reaganite and Warren could win)
Egalitarian politics: Policies needed. The New Anti-Inequality Politics Has Similar Policies To The Old Neoliberal Selloutry
Beinart’s Dagwood by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly
Ends and Means by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly (on Beinart's New New Left)
Things The GOP Will Not Allow - The Things They Will Not Allow - Esquire - Tout les Tubes is somewhat abuzz about Peter Beinart's long essay about the future of the Democratic party and the struggle for its soul. (Charlie takes Beinart's position)
JSTOR: American Sociological Review, Vol. 54, No. 3 (Jun., 1989), pp. 359-381

99% Invisible on NPR's broadcast clock, the diagram that rules public radio.
Voyager 1 leaves solar system | Science | The Guardian - Nasa scientists say they believe the spacecraft has now reached interstellar space, beyond the influence of the sun
Voyager 1 captures first-ever sounds of interstellar space - NBC News.com

Twitter / Fairy_Gmother: I love this. (Lost Wormhole)
Engagement Photo Done In The Style Of 'Awkward Family Photos' Is Pure Gold
Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick Obituary Paints Ugly Picture Of Deceased Mother Of 8
This Brutal Obituary Is a Reminder to Be Good to Your Children
Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick Obit: Patrick Reddick Speaks Out About Abusive Mother - "Everything in there was completely true," he told The Associated Press on Thursday, describing her as a "wicked, wicked witch."
Men Taking Up Too Much Space on the Train

Burned out: tech money is harshing Burning Man's anti-capitalist vibe | The Verge - Burned out: tech money is harshing Burning Man's anti-capitalist vibe

091213
Pope Francis on Atheists - Pope's New Leaf - Esquire

The Falling Man - Tom Junod - 9/11 Suicide Photograph - Esquire - Do you remember this photograph? In the United States, people have taken pains to banish it from the record of September 11, 2001. The story behind it, though, and the search for the man pictured in it, are our most intimate connection to the horror of that day.

How Joseph Stalin Invented 'American Exceptionalism' - Terrence McCoy - The Atlantic - The phrase is often attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville, but the real author was the Soviet dictator -- and it wasn't a compliment.

"Make the Economy Scream": Secret Documents Show Nixon, Kissinger Role Backing 1973 Chile Coup | Democracy Now! - "Make the Economy Scream": Secret Documents Show Nixon, Kissinger Role Backing 1973 Chile Coup
Kerry, Kissinger and the Other Sept. 11 | Democracy Now!

U.S. Lacks Comprehensive Anti-Corruption Strategy In Afghanistan, Despite Sending Billions In Aid - U.S. Lacks Comprehensive Anti-Corruption Strategy In Afghanistan, Despite Sending Billions In Aid
Kenya aquifers discovered in dry Turkana region - A huge water source has been discovered in the arid Turkana region of northern Kenya which could supply the country for 70 years, the government says.
Commentary: German Court Made Right Call on Gym Class Burqini Ruling - SPIEGEL ONLINE - l. It cannot be demanded that a school's curriculum "blocks out the social reality" just because some students find it offensive for religious reasons.
Bavarian Candidate Trawls for Sex Slaves - SPIEGEL ONLINE - It seems New York mayoral candidates don't have a monopoly on pervy pre-election flame-outs, as one Bavarian politician is proving this week.

John Kerry cautiously optimistic over Syria chemical weapons surrender offer | World news | theguardian.com - Secretary of state begins Geneva talks with Russian counterpart and says: 'We do believe there is a way to get this done'
Iraq Hawks Abandon War In Syria Debate, Despite Better Evidence
Commentary: Putin Sees Syria as Fight Against Islamist Extremism - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Russian President Vladimir Putin is clearly enjoying his role as a key player in the Syrian conflict. But Moscow also has a very real concern: If Islamist extremism prevails in Syria, there could be serious consequences for Russia.

CIA begins weapons delivery to Syrian rebels - The Washington Post

Key Event for the International Arms Trade: WMD For Sale at the London’s Arms Fair

? Help Kickstart World War III! - YouTube

Data: Americans Rejecting Mainstream Media for British Newspaper - The fastest growing “newspaper” in America is based in Manchester, England. The Internet analytics firm Compete.com found that the number of visitors to the website of The Guardian grew by 1111.75% in August and an astounding 671,389.51% over the past year, signifying the desire for Americans to find real information about what’s going on.

Shield Law Moves Forward, Defines Journalism So That It Leaves Out Wikileaks & Random Bloggers | Techdirt (also, foreign journalists and dirty hippies)

MPAA Gets Its Wish: Court Basically Says It Can File Bogus DMCA Takedowns Without Concern For Fair Use | Techdirt (legal system totally rigged for corps)

Snowden's latest leak: NSA shares unfiltered intelligence with Israel - latimes.com
Snowden Documents Reveal NSA Gave Israeli Spies Raw Emails, Texts, Calls of Innocent Americans | Democracy Now!
Government Announces Steps to Restore Confidence on Encryption Standards - NYTimes.com
NSA says it ‘finessed’ Canada, seizing control of global crypto - Blog Central, Jesse Brown, Uncategorized - Macleans.ca

Reporter Barton Gellman Explains Why It's Extremely Unlikely The Russians Or Chinese Have Snowden's Documents | Techdirt (read his intentions)
Reporter Had To Decide If Snowden Leaks Were 'The Real Thing' : NPR

NSA and Israel | Zero Hedge - It’s bad enough that people are being monitored; it’s bad enough that we have no privacy at all. But it’s even worse that the data is shared with others somewhere else in the world for their own benefit and far worse still that the powers-that-be have lied through their shiny white teeth to the people of the US and to the rest of the world.
Information Sharing with Israel Raises Questions about Efficacy of NSA’s Minimization Procedures | emptywheel
How the NSA Spies on Smartphones Including the BlackBerry - Spiegel Online

Wikileaks: Stratfor Spied on Occupy Wallstreet Movements | HEAVY
Wikileaks Release Emails From Strator, Intelligence Company | HEAVY
Did the FBI Lean On Microsoft for Access to Its Encryption Software? - The NSA is reportedly not the only government agency asking tech companies for help in cracking technology to access user data. Sources say the FBI has a history of requesting digital backdoors, which are generally understood as a hidden vulnerability in a program that would, in theory, let the agency peek into suspects' computers and communications.
Yet Another NSA Violation - Revelations about the shadowy agency strike again.
Lavabit's Owner Appeals Secret Surveillance Order That Led Him to Shutter Site | Threat Level | Wired.com - The owner of the encrypted email company Lavabit has formally appealed the secret surveillance order that led him to defiantly shutter the site last month. But the details of the case were immediately placed under seal in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, records show. (that's right, he can't even say that)
Obama's NSA surveillance review panel did not discuss changes, attendees say | World news | theguardian.com - Pair say meeting was dominated by tech firms' interests and session did not broach the topic of changes to data collection
FLYING PIG: The NSA Is Running Man In The Middle Attacks Imitating Google's Servers | Techdirt

Trsst: a distributed secure blog platform for the open web by Michael Powers — Kickstarter
The Daily Dot - How a parody T-shirt beat the NSA
Twitter / JameelJaffer: Seems the only info actually ... - being "minimized" is the info #NSA shares with the American public. NSA is really good at minimizing that.
6 Whopping Government Misstatements About NSA Spying | Threat Level | Wired.com (DiFi, Pelosi, Obama and Crapper)
Zuckerberg: US government 'blew it' on NSA surveillance | Technology | theguardian.com - Facebook CEO joins Yahoo's Marissa Mayer in saying the US did 'bad job' of balancing people's privacy and duty to protect
Johns Hopkins and the Case of the Missing NSA Blog Post - ProPublica

Koch Brothers’ Freedom Partners Revealed | TPMMuckraker (quarter billion in black money)
The Inside Story Of How A Fake PhD Hijacked The Syria Debate | ThinkProgress - Dr. Elizabeth O’Bagy, Syria expert

Half of American births are covered by Medicaid. Guess who’s to blame?

Orcinus: Reviving Orcinus

Henry Farrell for Democracy Journal: The Tech Intellectuals - The good, bad, and ugly among our new breed of cyber-critics, and the economic imperatives that drive them.
Brad DeLong : Would Tom Slee Be a Good Counterbalance to *Free to Choose* When Next I Teach "Principles of Economics"?: Monday Question Weblogging
Amazon.com: Herbert Gintis' review of Free to Choose: A Personal Statement

CNN Mainstreams Gun Extremist Larry Pratt | Blog | Media Matters for America - CNN hosted Gun Owners of America Executive Director Larry Pratt -- who has suggested the government may have been behind a recent mass shooting -- to discuss the status of the national gun debate following the recall of two Colorado state senators over their support for stronger gun laws.

No Child Left Untableted - NYTimes.com (Murdock's plan to replace teachers with iPads)

Everyday Sadists Take Pleasure In Others’ Pain - Association for Psychological Science - sadism is a distinct aspect of personality that joins with three others — psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism — to form a “Dark Tetrad” of personality traits.
A Far-Flung Possibility for the Origin of Life - NYTimes.com - “We’re All Martians, Scientist Claims,” The Telegraph wrote on Aug. 28. Similar articles showed up in newspapers and on Web sites around the world.
No More Night? The Meaning of the Loss of Darkness - Wired Science - In terms of the physical effects, there’s been a real explosion of research in the last 10 or 15 years on the subject of artificial light at night. Its effects on the human body fall into three areas: One, it affects our sleep. Sleep disorders are now tied to many major diseases. Secondly, it disrupts our circadian clock — the internal 24-hour rhythms that coordinate biological processes in our body, and are tuned to natural cycles of light and dark. Finally it impedes production of the hormone melatonin.
Texas creationists: Textbook reviewers want more religion in their science.


Infographic: A Massive Chart of Every Superhero's Powers Ever | Wired Design | Wired.com
Infographics: The Colors Mentioned Most in 10 Famous Books | Wired Design | Wired.com
23 Things Every Woman Should Stop Doing

Facebook news feed turns 7: Why it’s the most influential feature on the Internet. - Slate Magazine (news feed cause it connected your connections' connections to you)
Vodafone Hacker Accesses 2 Million Customers’ Banking Data (1) - Businessweek

091113
? The War On Democracy (Full) - YouTube
Twitter / jala_leb: Noam Chomsky on the first 9/11 ...
The Pinochet File: How U.S. Politicians, Banks and Corporations Aided Chilean Coup, Dictatorship | Democracy Now!
Justice for Charles Horman – and the truth about the US and Chile's coup | Joyce Horman | Comment is free | theguardian.com - My journalist husband was murdered because he knew too much about Pinochet's US backers. Accountability is 40 years overdue - Forty years ago, during Chile's bloody coup of 11 September 1973, my husband, Charles Horman, stepped into a car driven by "Captain" Ray Davis, the head of the US military group in Chile,
Chile, September 11, 1973: The Ingredients of a Military Coup | Global Research
Chile's 9/11 - Remembering 9/11 - Esquire

Obama Is Presiding Over the Biggest Rogue State in the World, Trampling Every Law It Demands That Others Uphold | Alternet - Eighty-three times the US has exercised its veto. On 42 of these occasions it has done so to prevent Israel's treatment of the Palestinians being censured. On the last occasion, 130 nations supported the resolution but Barack Obama spiked it.
10 Ways America Has Come to Resemble a Banana Republic | Alternet - What will it take for America to reverse its dramatic decline?

Homeland Confusion - NYTimes.com - Nine years after the 9/11 Commission made its case, our country is still not as safe as it could and should be. Though the vast majority of our recommendations have been followed, at least in part, Congress has not acted on one of our major proposals: to streamline the way it oversees homeland security. (nope, still not safe)

Inside a Guantanamo Bay Prison Tour - Molly Crabapple Returns to Guantanamo Bay | VICE United Kingdom (one of many indelible stains on Obama's so-called "legacy")

American 'spy' hits back at Iranian captors | World news | theguardian.com - Ex-marine Amir Hekmati claims TV confession was forced and he is being held hostage, according to letter smuggled out of jail
Prisoner X: Israel to pay $1m to Ben Zygier’s family | World news | theguardian.com - Family of Australian-born Mossad agent who died in jail in 2010 while facing treason charges, is offered settlement
Yemeni child bride, eight, 'dies on wedding night' | Global development | theguardian.com - "On the wedding night and after intercourse, she suffered from bleeding and uterine rupture which caused her death," Othman said. "They took her to a clinic but the medics couldn't save her life."
Ten worst places for child marriage | World Vision - Fear compels parents to marry off their daughters in areas of conflict or disaster, says a new World Vision report.
Growing numbers boycott undercover police investigation | undercover with paul lewis and rob evans | UK news | theguardian.com - More people shun the internal police inquiry into undercover spies and call for a public inquiry - the many allegations surrounding the Special Demonstration Squad, the covert unit that spied on political campaigners for 40 years.

Insight: Japan ponders Fukushima options, but Tepco too big to fail | Reuters - Fukushima nuclear plant operator Tepco Electric's response to the world's worst atomic disaster in a quarter century has been called ad hoc and more concerned with cost than safety, but 30 months later, the utility is still in charge.

? Jon Stewart Gleefully Mocks Obama, Kerry for 'Bumble-F*cking' Their Way In and Out of Syria - YouTube

A Plea for Caution From Russia - NYTimes.com - By VLADIMIR V. PUTIN
On This 9/11, Enough With the Fearmongering | TIME.com - The panic-inducing posturing of American and Syrian leaders has taken on an increasingly farcical tone
Russia’s ‘carrier-killer’ Moskva enters Mediterranean — RT News
Syria crisis: Obama leans to diplomacy on chemical weapons impasse | World news | theguardian.com - In a televised address, president cites Russian-backed disarmament plan as reason for postponing military action
Obama's Speech Vows To Explore Russian Offer On Syria
Syrian chemical weapons: Russia hands disarmament plan to US | World news | The Guardian - John Kerry and Sergey Lavrov to discuss proposal at two days of talks in Geneva
Israel stockpiled chemical weapons decades ago – CIA document — RT News
The Daily Dot - Hacktivist groups relaunch a massive anti-Israel 9/11 cyberattack
AIPAC’s Huge Blunder: What If It Loses Syria Vote? | Alternet - AIPAC is taking an incredible risk by making an unprecedented full court press to get the bomb Syria resolution.
Yahoo CEO Mayer: we faced jail if we revealed NSA surveillance secrets | Technology | theguardian.com - Mayer hits back at critics who say tech companies have not been open enough about government requests for users' data ... "Releasing classified information is treason and you are incarcerated," she said. (and we classify fucking everything)

The Daily Dot - Homeland Security abused anti-terrorism powers to target Chelsea Manning supporter

Federal Courts Still Scaremongering About RECAP and Spooky "Open Source" Software | Electronic Frontier Foundation (then they make it too expensive to find out what they are doing)

14 official NASA domains hacked by BMPoC, left with messages against NSA spying and War on Syria. – HackRead – Latest Cyber Crime – Information Security – Hacking News
Targeted Individuals Canada: Mike Frost - Retired intelligence officer Mike Frost worked at Canada's CSE, their equivalent of the NSA.

NSA shares raw intelligence including Americans' data with Israel | World news | theguardian.com - Secret deal places no legal limits on use of data by Israelis • Only official US government communications protected • Agency insists it complies with rules governing privacy - senior NSA official points out that Israel aggressively spies on the US. (Obama approved this in 2009, right after his election)
NSA and Israeli intelligence: memorandum of understanding – full document | World news | theguardian.com - Top-secret document shows how intelligence being shared with Israel would not be filtered in advance by NSA analysts to remove US communications

Edward Snowden nominated for EU rights prize - the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize.

NSA Illegally Gorged on U.S. Phone Records for Three Years | Threat Level | Wired.com
How Many People Are Included in Contact Chaining with 27,090 Numbers? | emptywheel - One of the most stunning revelations from ODNI’s conference call with Officials Who Can’t Be Quoted Because They Might Be Lying is that only 11% of the numbers the NSA was comparing daily business record collections against should have been included. ("people who can't be named because they might be lying")
Shorter NSA: That We Discovered We Had No Fucking Clue How We Use Our Spying Is Proof Oversight Works | emptywheel - Update: Here is the Wyden/Udall statement. It strongly suggests that the other thing the government lied about — as referenced in John Bates’ October 3, 2011 opinion — was the Internet dragnet.
Will the US Share Intelligence with Israel’s New Left Wing Intelligence Initiative? | emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler had this story two years ago ...)
The Polemicist: "Just One More Detail":American Surveillance And The Unanswered Question of Israel (6/24/13: guess we're getting some answers - long history of Israeli spying in US)
NSA surveillance: The rest of the Snowden files should be destroyed. - Slate Magazine - The leaks have done a lot of good. But a lot more damage could be done. (Slate Contrarianism)
FISA Judge ‘Lost Confidence,’ Almost Shut Down NSA Surveillance In 2009

The NSA's next move: silencing university professors? | Jay Rosen | Comment is free | theguardian.com - And another thing: America's system of research universities is the best in the world. No one argues with that. It's one of biggest advantages this nation has. If it becomes captive to government and handmaiden to the surveillance state, that would be an economic and cultural crime of monstrous proportions. What happened to Matthew Green's blog post yesterday is no small matter.
Johns Hopkins dean apologises for ordering NSA-related blog removed | World news | theguardian.com - 'Inadequate information' led a dean to take down a professor's post, an act that caused a row over academic freedoms - A Johns Hopkins University dean has apologised and insisted he is "supportive of academic freedom" after ordering a cryptography professor to take down a blog post which criticised the National Security Agency. ("for your own good")

The Rich Get Richer Through the Recovery - NYTimes.com (Obama rigged the game for them)

Our Town by Michael Tomasky | The New York Review of Books

Kerry Consults Kissinger on Getting to Yes With Russians - Businessweek (article doesn't mention "on the fortieth anniversary of one of Kissinger's War Crimes, no accident)
Controversial Syria Researcher Fired Over Doctorate Claim - Elizabeth O’Bagy’s ties to the Syrian opposition had become an issue. Think Tank founder says she had “no problem” with O’Bagy’s affiliation.
Syria Researcher Elizabeth O'Bagy Fired - Lost In Credibility Gulch - Esquire - O'Bagy and her op-ed drew scrutiny last week when the Wall Street Journal failed to disclose O'Bagy's ties to an advocacy group

Trayvon Martin medical examiner claims prosecutors intentionally lost case | The Raw Story - Bao’s attorney told WFTV that the medical examiner was wrongfully terminated last week by the county. According to the former assistant coroner, his autopsy results showed that it was impossible for Martin to have been on top of George Zimmerman when the gunman pulled the trigger.

Varieties of Political Collapse - Lawyers, Guns & Money : For connoisseurs of political failure, the New York City Democratic primaries were an elegant buffet (" To use one of my mother’s ancient jokes: she has a personality so negative that when she walks into a room people say “Who left?”")
New York City Mayor - Democratic Primary Map (Quinn got the 16%)
How the white guy won on identity politics in New York — MSNBC ... And Susan Sarandon said last month that she was picking de Blasio over Quinn because “As a woman, you can’t just vote your vagina.”
Quinn Smiles Gamely, but Primary Wasn’t Supposed to Be This Hard - NYTimes.com
De Blasio, I guess: The Pareene Endorsements™ - Salon.com - A New York City primary election voters' guide for the only moderately informed
Brazen Voting Fraud Alleged Among Ultra-Orthodox In Williamsburg: Gothamist - "Who's going to prosecute them?" asks our concerned source in the ultra-Orthodox community. "Morality is not the thing that guides them... Soon the government won't even be able to control them. They have their own judges, they have their own police, they do whatever they want."
Michael Bloomberg legacy rejected: The New York City mayor lost in New York and Colorado Tuesday night. - Slate Magazine - Two elections defeat gun control, stop-and-frisk, and everything else Michael Bloomberg likes. The New York election was a repudiation of Mayor Bloomberg. The Colorado election is worse—a defeat for Bloomberg the Icon.
Eschaton: The End Of Bloomberg Liberalism - Hopefully the $250,000/year household crowd stops whining about their taxes and starts realizing that their economic interests are much more aligned with the botched and the bungled than with Bloomberg's Russian billionaires.

Colorado Recall Results: Democratic State Senators Defeated In Major Victory For NRA - The first recall election in Colorado's history on Tuesday marked a stunning victory for the National Rifle Association and gun rights activists, with the ouster of two Democrats -- Senate President John Morse (Colorado Springs) and state Sen. Angela Giron (Pueblo). The two lawmakers were the target of separate recall fights over their support for stricter gun laws earlier this year.

Eschaton: Keep Lighting Money On Fire - Christie knows how to pick them. The Bergen County Improvement Authority is seeking state approval to float as much as $800 million in bonds on behalf of Triple Five, the private developer behind the American Dream project in the Meadowlands. Taxpayers won't be on the hook, they promise, because freedom. Or something.
$800 million bonding plan would help developers restart American Dream project : page all - NorthJersey.com (your money is theirs to spend)

Richard Dawkins defends “mild pedophilia,” says it does not cause “lasting harm” - Salon.com - The biologist and author described the sexual abuse that occurred among his former classmates as "mild touching up"
RDFRS: The world according to Richard Dawkins | The Times - The scientist and Selfish Gene author talks to Giles Whittell about his new memoir, his childhood abuse – and what it’s like for an atheist to be labelled a fundamentalist

? The Official ReThink911 Video - YouTube
Danny Lewin, the first victim on 9/11 and an architect of the Internet. - Slate Magazine (everyone else sat in their seats)

Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath? - NYTimes.com - A recent estimate by the neuroscientist Kent Kiehl placed the national cost of psychopathy at $460 billion a year — roughly 10 times the cost of depression (it's a lot more than that) (“callous-unemotional” children)
Can Emotional Intelligence Be Taught? - NYTimes.com
Middle-Aged Men Can Blame Estrogen, Too - NYTimes.com
Myths Surround Breakfast and Weight - NYTimes.com - But new research shows that despite the conventional weight-loss wisdom, the idea that eating breakfast helps you lose weight stems largely from misconstrued studies.
Rice Diet Program Shuts Down North Carolina Home After 70 Years - High-protein, low-carb plans like the Paleo Diet tend to do better at increasing the full-stomach feeling, reducing appetite and causing weight loss, said Cordain, also a Colorado State University health and exercise science professor. "Hence the tenets of the Rice Diet are inconsistent with the best science of the 21st century,"

Business Insider's CTO Is Your New Tech Bro Nightmare (Pax Dickinson)
Pax Dickinson: Thought Crime, Public Shaming and Thick Liberty in the Internet Age | Popehat
Yes, Pax Dickinson, “low-grade sexism” is misogyny - Salon.com - Fired Business Insider CTO Pax Dickinson says his tweets weren't misogynistic, just sexist. That makes no sense

Coming to an ATM near you: Bitcoin to make Canadian debut — RT Business

091013
Syria Accepts Russian Proposal To Surrender Chemical Weapons, Foreign Minister Says
Diplomatic clown show or 11th-dimensional chess? - You decide ... snarkiness aside, if Kerry’s bumbling over the past couple of days has forestalled more unnecessary carnage, that’s all to the good.
Twitter / KellyO: .@PressSec Carney say Obama ... (ex-supporters not happy)
IC On The Record • Review Group on Global Signals Intelligence... (Obama's fake spying review asks for your input)
Are Syria and Pakistan Pieces of the Puzzle for Assembling a Mega Gas Pipeline to China? | Global Research
Twitter / Fawkxy: 1 of these guys spies on his ...
Why didn’t the U.S. invade Israel when it used chemical weapons on Palestinians? ‹ I Acknowledge Apartheid Exists
John Kerry Costs U.S. Defense Industry $400 Billion | The Onion (so true)

A Timeline of Net Neutrality (corps will win)

NSA violations led judge to consider viability of surveillance program | World news | theguardian.com - Declassified documents from 2009 suggest NSA officials gave misleading statements to court and reveal judge placed a siginifcant restriction the bulk records program (Keith Alexander is a liar and Obama doesn't care)
NSA Has Apparently Targeted SWIFT Network, Petrobras, and the French Diplomatic Network | Mother Jones (all terrorists in Obama's eyes)
Johns Hopkins and the Case of the Missing NSA Blog Post - ProPublica - Citing concerns about linking to classified material, Johns Hopkins University asked a professor this morning to remove a blog post discussing last week’s revelations about the NSA’s efforts to break encryption. The post had linked to government documents published by ProPublica, the Guardian, and the New York Times. (also terrorist organizations)
NSA, GCHQ, Declare Civil War on Their Own People | emptywheel (inevitable when the military runs your spy-state)

Government Releases NSA Surveillance Docs and Previously Secret FISA Court Opinions In Response to EFF Lawsuit | Electronic Frontier Foundation - First, intelligence officials said they were releasing this information in response to the presidential directive on transparency surrounding the NSA. That statement is misleading. They are releasing this information because a court ordered them to as part of EFF's Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, filed almost two years ago on the tenth anniversary of the Patriot Act.
Obama Administration Dishonestly Wants Public to Believe It Voluntarily Declassified Secret NSA Documents | The Dissenter - What is being revealed in the released documents is a result of the diligent work of legal teams at the ACLU and EFF. It is a result of the whistleblowing of Edward Snowden and the climate for reform and further transparency, which his disclosures have created. It is not because Obama believes the public deserves to know more about how the national security state operates, even though more information should be released regularly because there are clear abuses happening on a regular basis. (they spin everything, even their clear defeats, and Obama is at the center)
Declassified court documents highlight NSA violations in data collection for surveillance - The Washington Post - The National Security Agency for almost three years searched a massive database of Americans’ phone call records attempting to identify potential terrorists in violation of court-approved privacy rules, and the problem went unfixed because no one at the agency had a full technical understanding of how its system worked, according to new documents and senior government officials.

US Fires New Salvo in War on Journalists - Ron Miller - Internet Evolution - You may not yet realize it, but there is war on journalists being waged in the United States. Exhibit A is the case of freelance journalist Barrett Brown, who is currently on trial in North Texas for the horrible crime of linking to a document the US government didn't like people seeing, among other charges.
Journalist Barrett Brown faces prison for posting hyperlink - Internet - Committee to Protect Journalists

Shifting Shadow, Stormbrew, Flying Pig: New Snowden documents show NSA deemed Google networks a "target." - But a new trove of freshly leaked secret documents suggests that the agency also uses its powerful spying apparatus to infiltrate and monitor multinational companies. (Crapper at work)
Documents Shed Light on Border Laptop Searches | American Civil Liberties Union - The documents, obtained by our client David House as a result of his lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, demonstrate how the government is abusing its border search authority to evade constitutional restrictions on its surveillance powers.
Surveillance At Border Crossings - Pure Big Brotherism - Esquire - How many ways are there around the Fourth Amendment? Well, there seem to be new ones almost by the day.
Journalist Agitator Faces Prison - Hunting Witches - Esquire - So this guy is facing a century's worth of federal institutional dining, not because he stole the data, but because he posted links to the data. This, I fear, is what we legal scholars call a bullshit prosecution, and I don't care who tells me what, and how much of a dickhead this guy actually is, this is happening because he got crossways with the FBI, and nobody ever will convince me otherwise.
NIST says it did not ‘deliberately weaken’ encryption standards to help NSA undermine Internet security | End the Lie – Independent News
Jake Davis | ask.fm/DoubleJake - VPN provider ratted me out. FBI informant provided the evidence.

FBI continues to investigate Hastings for 'controversial reporting' | Al Jazeera America - Al Jazeera obtains declassified documents on deceased Rolling Stone journalist following FOIA lawsuit (the truth is always "controversial" for your police-state)

A Climate Alarm, Too Muted for Some - NYTimes.com ("some" = the people who would like to keep living on the planet)

Richest one percent take home record share of US income in 2012 | Al Jazeera America - New analysis of IRS data finds that income gap has widened to its highest levels in a century (game over; the plutocrats won)
Pay Gap Between 1 Percent And Everybody Else Reaches Record
The 1 percent’s Ivy League loophole - Salon.com - Not only do children of rich alumni get admission preferences, now they can get taxpayers to help them, too! (of course they do)

US could default on its debt obligations by mid-October, thinktank warns | Business | theguardian.com - Bipartisan Policy Center says default could come unless Washington agrees new legislation to raise borrowing limit (Republicans destroying America)

A new book argues that hormonal birth control is sexist and dangerous. Don’t believe it.
All four men found guilty in Delhi gang-rape trial | World news | theguardian.com
Nearly quarter of men in Asia-Pacific admit to committing rape | Society | The Guardian Nearly 70% of all the men surveyed reported suffering no legal consequences for their actions, with that figure as high as 96.5% in Sri Lanka.
Switzerland Legal Prostitution Age Raised To 18 From 16 - Lawmakers in Switzerland, where prostitution is legal, have agreed to outlaw it by anyone under 18 years old.
Woman guilty of murdering adopted girl who starved and froze to death | World news | theguardian.com - whom she was raising according to the dictates of a strict religious handbook for parents. The parents kept the family isolated from non-relatives, home-schooled them and followed a harsh child-rearing regimen described in the Christian parenting book To Train Up a Child

Mars One: The psychology of isolation, confinement and 24-hour Big Brother | Chris Chambers | Science | theguardian.com - Those sent to live and die on the red planet face untold risk of mental illness

Reuters Investigates - The Child Exchange - When a Liberian girl proves too much for her parents, they advertise her online and give her to a couple they’ve never met. Days later, she goes missing.

A list of fantastic PreK-12 banned books, organized by reading level : books ("interracial marriage" not allowed)

Skepchick |
There Are Four Lights » Blog Archive » The Credibility of Skepchicks: Tablegate

‘Batman’ resuscitates cat he saved from burning building | The Raw Story

Georgian woman cuts off web access to whole of Armenia | World news | The Guardian
Business Insider Tech Bro Fired -- Daily Intelligencer
Business Insider’s Sexist CTO Has Resigned, But He’s Still Everything That’s Wrong With Tech | Betabeat | The Lowdown on High Tech - Everybody listen up, this Executive Man is talking.
TitStare Is an Eloquent Testament to Silicon Valley at Its Most Empty-Headed | Betabeat | The Lowdown on High Tech - If it weren't for the offensiveness, TitStare would be totally forgettable.
Frankly, TitStare was quite funny. In despite of being tits-related, i can't see... | Hacker News (nerds can be very dense and sexist)
To my daughter's high school programming teacher | USENIX (disgusting)
Pretty Cool Guy | Know Your Meme

090913
Egypt announces full-scale assault on Sinai militants | World news | theguardian.com - Israel welcomes 'impressive' counter-terrorism campaign against insurgency that was sparked by Morsi's overthrow
Hugh Roberts reviews ‘The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life’ by Roger Owen, ‘Adaptable Autocrats’ by Joshua Stacher, ‘Raging against the Machine’ by Holger Albrecht and ‘Soldiers, Spies and Statesmen’ by Hazem Kandil · LRB 12 September 2013 (if you really want to know what's going on in Egypt: the illusion of revolution)
Bride, 8, dies of injuries on wedding night in Yemen | GulfNews.com - Manama: Kuwaitis have called for stringent action against a family in Yemen after their eight-year-old daughter died of internal injuries on the first night of her arranged marriage to a man more than five times her age.
PetroChina says report of more probes “inaccurate”; shares jump in afternoon | South China Morning Post
Norway's anti-immigration party likely to enter government this week | World news | theguardian.com - Survivors of the Utøya island massacre in 2011, perpetrated by an anti-immigration extremist, are concerned this will lead to a rise in social hostility

Benghazi US consulate attack: The unanswered questions - video | World news | theguardian.com - One year after the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi in which US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other embassy staff were killed, correspondent Chris Stephen examines the American version of events at the consulate on 11 September 2012 and pieces together what really happened that night

White House: U.S. Lacks 'Irrefutable, Beyond-A-Reasonable-Doubt Evidence' On Syria Chemical Weapons Attack (which is a really great reason to start a war; what the fuck is wrong with 0bama)
Russia calls on Syria to hand over chemical weapons | World news | theguardian.com - Assad regime urged to put weapons under international control • Gambit follows Kerry's 'end-of-week' offer to avert strikes
Kerry speaking rhetorically over Syria turning in weapons: State Department | Reuters - Kerry told a news briefing on Monday that Assad could avoid a military strike by turning over all his chemical weapons within a week but added that Assad was not about to do that.
Russia To Push Syria To Put Chemical Weapons Under International Control
Pentagon Preparing for 3 Days of Attacks on Syria, Expanded Target List, Longer Bombardment | LeakSource
Will President Obama Wear His Nobel Peace Prize Medal When He Bombs Syria? » CounterPunch
Tens of Thousands March Worldwide Against U.S. War on Syria
John Kerry: Syria Crisis Could Be Resolved If Bashar Assad Handed Over Chemical Weapons Stock (we'll trade them for Obama's spy-machine)
Kerry Gaffes; The Russians Blink « The Dish
Assad: U.S. 'Should Expect Every Action' If It Strikes Syria
Syria Senate Debates - Syria Day One: Let The Debates Begin - Esquire - The debate opened in the context of two other events. The first was a preposterous speech given by Susan Rice to the New America Foundation in which the distance between Susan Rice in 2013 and Condoleezza Rice in 2002 vanished entirely. (our strangely ahistorical Pres)

CNN poll: Public against Syria strike resolution - CNN.com - even though eight in 10 Americans believe that Bashar al-Assad's regime gassed its own people, a strong majority doesn't want Congress to pass a resolution authorizing a military strike against it.
The party of hawks turns dovish on Syria - Alex Isenstadt and James Hohmann - Politico.com - Of all the unexpected turns in the Syria debate, one stands out most: The GOP, the party of a muscular national defense, has gone the way of the dove. (all Obama had to do was keep his mouth shut)
John McCain: John Kerry ‘unbelievably unhelpful’ - Tal Kopan - Politico.com - “Kerry says #Syria strike would be “unbelievably small” - that is unbelievably unhelpful,” McCain (R-Ariz.) tweeted Monday.

The Great Gas Game over Syria
John Kerry Syria Gibberish - Today In The March To Semi-War - Esquire - OK, now I am confused more than ever, and more than ever convinced that, because I am so confused, we should not be making war in Syria until our own government stops talking in authentic frontier gibberish.
This is getting ridiculous - Lawyers, Guns & Money : And also familiar. From the Guardian’s live blog of Susan Rice’s comments this afternoon: Rice is starting to sound downright Cheney-esque. She says Assad gassing east Ghouta could “threaten our soldiers in the region and even potentially our citizens at home.”
How Not to Win Over Congress | National Review Online - Sending Susan Rice, on the Benghazi anniversary, to argue for Syria is one of many missteps.
Opinion: Why President Obama’s Syria speech won’t matter - George C. Edwards III - Politico.com - . It’s not because, as you’ll hear often in the days ahead, he’s a pale shadow of great presidents of yore; it’s just the way American politics really works.
GOP’s massive new lie: The truth about Obama’s second term - Salon.com - It's factually and morally wrong to say his agenda is doomed if war vote loses. Here's why they're doing it
Final Tally: Americans Were 12 Times More Interested in Miley Cyrus Than Syria - The Cut
A starter guide to reverse the Powell Memo
Gaius Publius, Dave Johnson, Stuart Zechman w/ Jay Ackroyd 09/05 by Jay Ackroyd | Politics Podcasts - How might clear majorities of people prevail given that all the electeds (mostly) are against us?

Judges call for reopening of inquiry into 1961 death of UN chief | World news | theguardian.com - Commission appeals to US to declassify NSA radio intercepts of warplanes in area where Dag Hammarskjöld's plane crashed - It says that significant new evidence has emerged and that the possibility that Hammarskjöld's plane was shot down should be taken seriously ... radio intercepts of warplanes over the area, which are still categorised as top secret, 52 years after Hammarskjöld's death. (US military coup on UN)
Experts solve 50-year-old mystery behind UN chief’s plane crash | Toronto Star
The Witness
Dag Hammarskjölds final days
Remembering Sergio Vieira de Mello Ten Years After the Attack on the UN in Baghdad | Carolina Larriera
Sergio Vieira de Mello
Bernard Porter reviews ‘Empire of Secrets’ by Calder Walton · LRB 21 March 2013 - It’s pretty obvious why British governments have been anxious to keep the history of their secret service secret for so long. In the case of decolonisation, which is the subject of Calder Walton’s book, revelations about dirty tricks even after fifty years might do irreparable damage to the myth carefully cultivated at the time
Q: Is Putin Really Planning To Bomb Saudi Arabia? - (A: In 2008, Cheney Really Did Plan To Bomb Russia) This false framing almost allowed Bush Administration neocons to drag America into a war with nuclear-armed Russia

Eschaton: What's It All About Then - In a way I find the Syria and NSA things to be similar. Either the people in charge are idiots who only know how to do one thing (war, collect data, respectively), or it's all more horribly evil than we imagine. (probably that)

Glenn Greenwald offered Brazilian protection from U.S. - Salon.com - Greenwald tells Salon he intends to visit the U.S. soon -- but says the risk of prosecution against him is real
The Daily Dot - NSA chief abruptly cancels cybersecurity keynote speech - General Keith Alexander apparently got pretty busy right after the world discovered that the National Security Agency, which he heads, has back doors built into much of the Internet's encryption.
The Cowboy of the NSA - By Shane Harris | Foreign Policy - Inside Gen. Keith Alexander's all-out, barely-legal drive to build the ultimate spy machine.
German Helicopter Searched For NSA Listening Post In Frankfurt - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Under orders from Germany's domestic intelligence agency, a federal police helicopter conducted a flyover of the US Consulate in Frankfurt, the government in Berlin has confirmed. Officials were apparently searching for surveillance equipment. quoted an unnamed government official stating that Germany wanted to send a message to the Americans that it would not tolerate eavesdropping technologies on German soil. "The message to the American friends was meant to be: Stop. Germany strikes back!"
Necessary and Proportionate — Weird Future — Medium - In Which Civil Society is Caught Between a Cop and a Spy

Crucial Unanswered Questions about the NSA's BULLRUN Program | Electronic Frontier Foundation - Does the NSA hold the private SSL encryption keys of major communication service providers like Facebook, Google, and Microsoft? ...
Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo Petition FISA Court for Greater Transparency Re: National Security Requests | LeakSource

Firsthand account of NSA sabotage of Internet security standards - Boing Boing - John Gilmore
[Cryptography] Opening Discussion: Speculation on "BULLRUN"
How to foil NSA sabotage: use a dead man's switch | Technology | theguardian.com ("the NSA hasn't told me to shut up ... yet)

How the NSA Spies on Smartphones Including the BlackBerry - SPIEGEL ONLINE - The US intelligence agency NSA has been taking advantage of the smartphone boom. It has developed the ability to hack into iPhones, android devices and even the BlackBerry, previously believed to be particularly secure.
NSA slides reveal: iPhone users are all ZOMBIES • The Register
google_fisc_motion_sep9_2013.pdf
Jake Davis, aka LulzSec's 'Topiary', on how the group formed - and broke up | Technology | theguardian.com - Shetlander who ran Twitter account and was involved with notorious hacking group responds to questions on Ask.fm about history of LulzSec, the missing Bitcoins - and his plans
A Few Thoughts on Cryptographic Engineering: On the NSA - Let me tell you the story of my tiny brush with the biggest crypto story of the year. All of this is a long way of saying that I was totally unprepared for today's bombshell revelations describing the NSA's efforts to defeat encryption. Not only does the worst possible hypothetical I discussed appear to be true, but it's true on a scale I couldn't even imagine. I'm no longer the crank. I wasn't even close to cranky enough.
Hillary Clinton Criticized By GOP Super PAC Ahead Of National Security Speech - In a research document titled "Clinton Can't Be Trusted On Privacy," the group claims that Clinton's planned remarks at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center "will not be driven by concerns over either national security or privacy, but rather by politics." (but you can really trust the Rethugs)

The Daily Dot - The absurd social media accounts of Syrian Electronic Army - The Syrian Electronic Army is the most intriguing anonymous hacking organization since, well, Anonymous.
Syrian Electronic Army – Search Results – HackRead – Latest Cyber Crime – Information Security – Hacking News - Syrian Electronic Army, known as pro Bashar Ul Assad group has been labeled as a terrorist organization by U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and now listed on their website in most wanted list. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has officially placed the SEA on an advisory list following a series of cyber attacks on government and media giants. The FBI calls the SEA a "pro-regime hacker ...

A Journalist-Agitator Facing Prison Over a Link - NYTimes.com - Barrett Brown makes for a pretty complicated victim. A Dallas-based journalist obsessed with the government’s ties to private security firms, Mr. Brown has been in jail for a year, facing charges that carry a combined penalty of more than 100 years in prison.
Why Thank You Federal Prosecutor, that Was Soooo Thoughtful! | The Alphaville Herald - You see, the gag order is *not* to protect the prosecution from media scrutiny of its actions in this case. Au contraire! You see, really, they want the gag order to protect Barrett from the bad things that people might say and think about him. As the prosecutor says: (down the rabbit-hole with Obummer's DOJ)
Hacktivist Journo Barrett Brown And Lawyers Gagged

Antonin Scalia: Capitalism Requires 'Traditional Christian Virtues' To Succeed (which is why the Jews are so good at it)
What The Media Left Out: Pro-Fracking Report Was Funded By Gas Industry | Blog | Media Matters for America
A New Divestment Focus on Campus: Fossil Fuels - NYTimes.com - Chloe Maxmin is part of Divest Harvard, which encourages colleges to reconsider investments. (which is the only time the Times mentions her name in the article devolted to industry hacks)

“It’s Not the Saints Who Can Bring Us the Sinners”: Sex Offender Outed as $90,000 Snitch in Pacific Northwest Activist Scene | Earth First! Newswire - Convicted for sexual assault again no more than four years later, Childs was just 25, and he had three felony sexual assault convictions in the span of just over six years. The next time we see Childs is just ten years later, and he is working for the FBI.

The Ultimate Conservertarian Post - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Roy finds a definitive passive-aggressive yet insane post from Glenn Reynolds:

Mark Thompson's career in the balance over BBC payoffs | Media | theguardian.com - The former director general of the BBC and now chief executive of the New York Times is on shaky ground - Thompson is less than a year into the job and is, according to insiders, already in a vulnerable position, with reports of friction between him and editorial staff over the direction he is taking the paper.
BBC payoffs saga grossly unedifying, says Margaret Hodge | Media | theguardian.com - MP who chairs public accounts committee tells corporation bosses that management structure is 'broke'

Gray Calls for Moratorium on Tax Lien Sales - Housing Complex - “The Mayor found out about [the Office of the Chief Financial Officer's] policy on tax-lien sales by reading about it in the Post article yesterday, and he was shocked and outraged by the revelations,"

The Wonk Gap - NYTimes.com - Mr. Barrasso was inadvertently illustrating the widening “wonk gap” — the G.O.P.’s near-complete lack of expertise on anything substantive. (party of uninformed idiots)

Port Authority sold rights to World Trade Center name for $10 in 1986 - NorthJersey.com - But in a quiet deal nearly 30 years ago, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey sold off the rights to the iconic buildings’ name to a non-profit organization established by one of its powerful executives. The price was $10 (ever the same)

George Zimmerman questioned after alleged gun threat against wife | News - Home - According to Lake Mary Police Chief Steve Bracknell, Shellie Zimmerman called 911 claiming George Zimmerman had a gun and was making threats. (she should have stood her ground)

BREAKING: Study Links Roundup 'Weedkiller' To Overgrowth of Deadly - BREAKING: Study Links Roundup 'Weedkiller' To Overgrowth of Deadly Fungal Toxins

Meet The Maryland Republicans Who Want To Secede | ThinkProgress - A group of voters from a sparsely populated region in Maryland want to form their own state, and they are threatening to secede from Maryland in order to do so ... the Western Maryland Initiative (WMI), is dissatisfied with the fact that, in a democracy, people with minority views are frequently outvoted by people with more common views. (popular move these days, esp. in the Confederacy) although, unlike D.C., if Western Maryland were to secede from Maryland it would still receive two entire U.S. Senators and a representative in the House. (except for the part about Obama bombing the shit out them)

Karen Lorre Has 11 Orgasms In One Day Thanks To 'Orgasmic Meditation'

Appeals court judges voice skepticism of FCC net-neutrality rules - The Hill's Hillicon Valley - A federal court appears ready to side with Verizon and strike down at least part of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) net-neutrality regulations ... , two of the three judges on a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals (the court that doesn't believe in the executive branch)
Microsoft holding Surface 2 event on September 23rd in New York City | The Verge

090813

Afghan officials say Nato air strike killed nine civilians | World news | theguardian.com - Nato says 10 militants died in strike in Kunar province but it has no reports of civilian deaths (US military have never, ever killed a civilian)
Two Deadly Attacks in Afghanistan - NYTimes.com - KABUL — Underscoring the continued threat to civilians in Afghanistan, a drone strike in an eastern province killed up to 16 people, Afghan officials said Sunday ... Afghan officials said the drone was targeting four insurgents who were picked up along the road by a truck with civilians riding in it, though reports differed on the number of passengers. Women and children were among the dead, the officials said. (yesterday, they were all "insurgents" even the babies)
Ireland Is Dying: Outmigration, Age, and Educational Attainment - Why so many people—an average of 10 every hour—are fleeing the Emerald Isle.

The origins of the financial crisis: Crash course | The Economist - The effects of the financial crisis are still being felt, five years on. This article, the first of a series of five on the lessons of the upheaval, looks at its causes

Assad tells Charlie Rose no evidence he is responsible for Syria chemical attack | World news | theguardian.com - Syrian president gives interview to PBS reporter but refuses to confirm or deny possession of chemical weapons
Syria Chemical Attack Possibly Carried Out Without Assad Permission, German Newspaper Reports
Syria Chemical Attack Evidence Leaves Doubts In Public Opinion
Syria crisis: Kerry says videos make the case for intervention - live updates | World news | theguardian.com
“If you think back to 1980,” Bacevich tells Donahue, “and just sort of tick off the number of military enterprises that we have been engaged in that part of the world, large and small, you know, Beirut, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia — and on and on, and ask yourself, ‘What have we got? (100% failure rate)
U.S. Military Is Losing Patience With Civilian Rule, General Warns
Britain sent poison chemicals to Assad: Proof that UK delivered Sarin agent to Syrian regime | Mail Online - British companies delivered sodium flouride to Syrian firm from 2004-2010
“National Security” versus “Food Insecurity”: One in Seven Hungry in America as Obama Prepares for Syrian War | Global Research
Twitter / joshuafoust:
Collapse of American Influence Recalls Dis-Integration of Soviet Union, Fall of France - The New York Sun - Not since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, and prior to that the fall of France in 1940, has there been so swift an erosion of the world influence of a Great Power as we are witnessing with the United States.
The Sovereign Double-Standard – The New Inquiry (much too long for Obama to read, let alone understand)
BBC - Blogs - Adam Curtis - The Baby And The Baath Water (long history of disasterous American "interventions")
Teju Cole’s 9 questions about Britain you were too embarrassed to ask

Obama administration had restrictions on NSA reversed in 2011 - The Washington Post - The Obama administration secretly won permission from a surveillance court in 2011 to reverse restrictions on the National Security Agency’s use of intercepted phone calls and e-mails, permitting the agency to search deliberately for Americans’ communications in its massive databases, according to interviews with government officials and recently declassified material. (Obama could give a shit about your steenking "privacy")
Wikileaks reveals a private network of over 92 companies engaged in full spectrum global espionage | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News
NSA's Decade-Long Plan to Undermine Encryption Includes Backdoors, Stolen Keys, Manipulating Standards | Threat Level | Wired.com
Thousands protest NSA spying in Germany - Europe - Al Jazeera English - Protesters march in Berlin against internet surveillance by intelligence agencies, chanting "freedom instead of fear".
Perhaps I'm out of step and Britons just don't think privacy is important | Henry Porter | Comment is free | The Observer - we are much less free than we supposed and that unrestricted surveillance will become a menace to us all. That should be a vital concern for journalists, even at the BBC. (too complicated, we knew it already, Snowden's a traitor, Greenwald an asshole)
U.S. government spied on Brazil's Petrobras oil firm: Globo TV | Reuters (Obama: we never do economic spying)
Govt. violates privacy safeguards to secretly monitor Internet traffic - The Hindu
Researchers develop digital snooping alarm - Scientists reported recently that they had taken a step toward bringing improved security to computer networks, developing an encryption technique that will extend protection to a small group of computer users.

The Daily Dot - The FBI's summer reading list - A media gag was recently ordered by a federal judge in the federal case against journalist Barrett Brown. (as evidence of his terroristic criminal acts, the FBI submits ... journalism!)

Enemies Within By Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman - Business Insider

Mark Leibovich on ‘the people who think they run your country’
It’s the Economy, Mate by Max Ehrenfreund | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - Australia's election challenges conventional wisdom on the importance of the economy to voters.

The Drug War And Mass Incarceration By The Numbers - Over four decades, the group says, American taxpayers have dished out $1 trillion on the drug war. What all that money has helped produce -- aside from unchanged drug addiction rates -- is the world's highest incarceration rate. According to the Sentencing Project, 2.2 million Americans are in prison or jail.

The 1 percent played Tea Party for suckers - Salon.com

Iowa to allow the blind to carry guns in public | The Raw Story (because freedom)

Disaster Data and Representations of Superstorm Sandy | Superstorm Research Lab

Left with nothing | The Washington Post - an investor who foreclosed on his $197,000 house and sold it. He and many others homeowners like him were ... All because he didn’t pay a $134 property tax bill.

Competitiveness and the Problem of Grading | Theory Games (on the curve)
The Theory Is Too Damn Thin | Inside Higher Ed - But for heaven’s sake, don’t postulate from some Hayekian theology and call it reportage. (Dylan Matthews spews made-up shit)
The Daily Dot - Headmaster expels, calls cops on student for 'anarchist' blog - A British headmaster has become so upset with a student's blog, he had him expelled. Then, for good measure, he called the police. And the college that the student hoped to attend next year.
The Daily Dot - They thought they were getting a job interview, but they got this instead

ATodd – When Harvard Met Sally: N-gram Analysis of the New York Times Weddings Section | News Genius

Sunday Reading – The New Inquiry
Hamlet and the secrets of decision-making - FT.com

Riptide - An oral history of the epic collision between journalism and digital technology, from 1980 to the present

The Great Language Game

The Social Life of Genes: Shaping Your Molecular Composition

Jews Without Israel | Corey Robin
i-HLS homeland security Israel industry at a glance - An estimated 600 Israeli companies are active in the security sector, broken down as follows: 35% Technologies, 35% Products, 20% IT & Software, 10% Services
Resist Israel's unjust system, don't operate within it | The Electronic Intifada

Pick of the week: Big Pharma’s African genocide - Salon.com - A devastating new film explores the lies, greed and indifference that killed millions in Africa
On the Edge of Poverty, at the Center of a Debate on Food Stamps - NYTimes.com - Representative Stephen Fincher — Dyersburg, about 75 miles north of Memphis, provides an eye-opening view into Washington’s food stamp debate. Mr. Fincher, who was elected in 2010 on a Tea Party wave and collected nearly $3.5 million in farm subsidies from the government from 1999 to 2012, recently voted for a farm bill that omitted food stamps.
Philly’s Pissed & Philly Stands Up- Collected Materials | In the Middle of a Whirlwind - This collection of resources and writing deals with the subject of sexual assault
The student debt bubble isn’t bursting - Salon.com - While banks pull out of student loan business, the government is still making bank on student debtors

The Importance of Kissing Beyond the Beginning (millenials discover "kissing")
Study: Men Have Stronger Sex Impulses, Can't Resist Temptation - New research suggests men and women have a similar ability to resist temptation, but men’s resistance fails more often because they experience stronger sex impulses.
How Many Calories Does Sex Really Burn? - The New England Journal’s rather more sober assessment? An average guy, supposing he weighs about 150 pounds, burns closer to 3.5 calories per minute having sex.
What Fifty Shades of Grey Says About Attitudes Toward Sexual Violence - An analysis of Fifty Shades of Grey finds the novel perpetuates the notion that intimidation and emotional abuse are acceptable in intimate relationships.
What Is It Going to Take to Get You Into the New Female Condom?

Burning Man is the New Capitalism » Cyborgology

Lego robot that strips DRM off Kindle books - Boing Boing - unlike those DRM-circumvention tools, this setup does not violate the law.

090713
Syria: The Administration’s Attribution Failure | emptywheel - Reuters confirms something that I have long suggested: the government doesn’t know who ordered the CW attack in Syria on August 21. (why did Obama not just sit back and wait for a couple of weeks for the situation to become clearer? Why did he have to create massive opposition? What did he expect?)

AIPAC to deploy hundreds of lobbyists to push for Syria action - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News Broadcast | Haaretz - Pro-Israel lobby says 250 activists will meet with their senators and representatives in Washington in a bid to win support Congressional support for military action in Syria.
Kerry Fails to Sway European Skeptics on Syria Strike - Bloomberg
Obama Faces High-Stakes Week On Syria
Syria Chemical Weapons Footage Shown By Obama Administration To Senators: CNN (graphic videos)
European urge US to await UN report on Syria
Syrian Anarchist Challenges the Rebel/Regime Binary View of Resistance
Xi Jinping: Syria Crisis Can't be Resolved with Military Strike - Chinese President Xi Jinping told his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on Friday that the crisis in Syria should not be resolved through a military strike and urged him to consider a political solution, state news agency Xinhua said.
Direct link between Assad and gas attack elusive for U.S. | Reuters - With the United States threatening to attack Syria, U.S. and allied intelligence services are still trying to work out who ordered the poison gas attack on rebel-held neighborhoods near Damascus. (Obama had made up his mind before it happened)
12 U.S. Intelligence Officials Tell Obama It Wasn’t Assad | Washington's Blog
? John McCain ATTACKED In Town Hall Meeting: 'I'd Have You Arrested For Treason!' - YouTube (angry grampy)

Drought Helped Spark Syria's Civil War -- Is it One of Many Climate Wars to Come? | Connecting the Dots, Q&A, What Matters Today | BillMoyers.com

- McClatchy cartoons for the week of 9/1/13

Tokyo will host Olympic Games in 2020 - CNN.com ("new fourth-place Uranium medals")
Swedish Police Open Investigation into Seizure of War Crime Evidence - Swedish police have opened a formal preliminary investigation into the seizure of WikiLeaks property on 27 September 2010, which contained evidence of a war crime. Julian Assange filed a criminal complaint at Arlanda police on 3 September 2013 via his lawyer Per E. Samuelson.
Tomgram: Nick Turse, AFRICOM's Gigantic "Small Footprint" | TomDispatch - The Startling Size, Scope, and Growth of U.S. Military Operations on the African Continent

NSA encryption story, Latin American fallout and US/UK attacks on press freedoms | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The implications of the prior week's reporting of NSA stories continue to grow - NSA encryption story, Latin American fallout and US/UK attacks on press freedoms | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - That NSA denial I just excerpted above has already been disproven by several reports (see, for instance, the letter published in this article, or the last document published here), but after Sunday, I think it will prove to be perhaps the NSA's most misleading statement yet. (they don't know how not to lie +"if you don't think you've got nothing to worry about.")
Lula: “O presidente dos Estados Unidos deveria pedir desculpas ao mundo” | Instituto Lula
Fantástico - Veja os documentos ultrassecretos que comprovam espionagem a Dilma
NBC News: Obama on how NSA surveillance affects Sweden - During a press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, President Obama responds to a reporter’s question about United States’ NSA surveillance program and whether it affects the relationship between the U.S. and Sweden. (more lies from 0bama)
Brazil tries to elude NSA with new cables, satellite | Reuters - - Can any government escape the prying eyes of the U.S. National Security Agency? Brazil is going to try.
Journalists: if the public's using broken crypto, name the algorithms. Don't leave us vulnerable in the name of protecting sources & methods
Privacy Scandal: NSA Can Spy on Smart Phone Data - Spiegel has learned from internal NSA documents that the US intelligence agency has the capability of tapping user data from the iPhone, devices using Android as well as BlackBerry, a system previously believed to be highly secure. (Merkel looks unhappy)
Doubts raised about independence of White House panel on NSA privacy | McClatchy (if you define "independence" as security and WH insiders, it's all about denial and delay)
Legislation Seeks to Bar N.S.A. Tactic in Encryption - NYTimes.com - “We pay them to spy,” Mr. Holt said. “But if in the process they degrade the security of the encryption we all use, it’s a net national disservice.” - Surveillance State Repeal Act (great name)
Declassifying FISC's Sec. 702 Opinion Did Not Make Me Forget About FISC's Sec. 215 Opinion - Jennifer Hoelzer

Dear NSA, Thanks for Making Us All Insecure - Businessweek - One must possess a Panglossian view on things to assume that Edward Snowden was the first person out of the many thousands in his position to make away with such material. He brought it to the public, and without that move there’s a good chance you wouldn’t have even known he took it. So who else has it? Bet you have no idea. So well done; you’ve probably put your own citizens at risk. (National Insecurity Agency)
Latest Snowden revelation: NSA sabotaged electronic locks - latimes.com
Google encrypts data amid backlash against NSA spying - The Washington Post (but won't affect NSA's ability to spy on you)
FBI Drive for Encryption Backdoors Is Déjà Vu for Security Experts | Threat Level | Wired.com - The FBI now wants to require all encrypted communications systems to have back doors for surveillance, according to a New York Times report, and to the nation’s top crypto experts it sounds like a battle they’ve fought before. (2010, ever the same)

? Code Cracking: NSA spent billions to foil safeguards of web privacy - YouTube
Majority of Tor crypto keys could be broken by NSA, researcher says | Ars Technica - "Everyone seems to agree that if anything, the NSA can break 1024 RSA/DH keys," Graham wrote in a blog post published Friday. "Assuming no 'breakthroughs,' the NSA can spend $1 billion on custom chips that can break such a key in a few hours. We know the NSA builds custom chips, they've got fairly public deals with IBM foundries to build chips."
Errata Security: Tor is still DHE 1024 (NSA crackable)
How to Use your USB Flash Drive (USB Token) to Log into your PC under Ubuntu/Linux Mint
Telepolis - How NSA access was built into Windows (1999)

New York Times and terrorism: When lapdogs roar - Salon.com - The inside story of how the New York Times published a Bush-era terror exposé is a fascinating media case study (yeah, but no mention of Keller witholding spying story until after Bush was reelected)
Manipulated by power: What is wrong with the New York Times? - Salon.com - The government is manipulating facts. There's no credible evidence on Syria. Why is the Times pretending otherwise?

“Full Spectrum Dominance: Totalitarian Democracy in the New World Order” | Global Research (2009)
Barrett Brown: America's Least Likely Political Prisoner | Culture News | Rolling Stone - But no one can figure out what law he broke. "Barrett was an investigative journalist who was merely doing his professional duty," says Christophe Deloire of Reporters Without Borders. "The sentence that he is facing is absurd and dangerous." Should he be found guilty of all the charges the federal government is bringing against him – 17 counts, ranging from obstruction of justice to threatening a federal officer to identity fraud – he'll face more than 100 years in prison.
Ex-FBI lawyer linked to surveillance abuses poised for federal judge post | World news | theguardian.com - Valerie Caproni, up for judgeship in important terrorism court, likely to come under fresh scepticism in wake of NSA revelations
FreePressman

pas au-delà: Parrhesia
Parrhesia - " It implies not only freedom of speech, but the obligation to speak the truth for the common good, even at personal risk.

Obama on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President | Justin Frank | Politics News | Rolling Stone (as he was orphaned, he abandoned the people who voted for him +his mother lied about his drunken, philandering, father, so we have myth and advertising instead of truth)
A Psychoanalyst Puts Obama on the Couch | Julian Brookes | Politics News | Rolling Stone
President Obama Suffers from Obsessive Bipartisan Disorder - The Daily Beast - Dr. Justin Frank puts Obama on the couch to understand why he’s always giving in to Republican demands and trying to conciliate rather than standing his ground. His verdict: the president suffers from OBD (spent four years chasing his drunken, rejecting, abusive Republican daddies)
Obama On The Couch: Inside the Mind of the President | Psych Central

Why Janet Yellen, Not Larry Summers, Should Lead the Fed - NYTimes.com - Joseph Stiglitz
Brad DeLong : I Really Do Not Think the New York Times Editorial Board Understands the World We Live in...

Labor Day 2050: Global Warming And The Coming Collapse Of Labor Productivity | ThinkProgress (aside from drowning the coastal cities, fragmenting Louisiana in a bunch of islands, Texas will have 4 months of > 100 degreee days)

George W. Bush Award Draws Protest Plans At University Of Denver - The original announcement from the school said Bush would get the Improving the Human Condition Award. (improving them right into their graves and bankruptcy)

The mayor has harsh words for Bill de Blasio, rebuts the charge that he’s in the tank for the wealthy, questions just how poor the poor really are, and considers (for the first time) what he might like named after him. (yeah, the billionaire stop-and-frisk racist said that)
Eschaton: Don't Let The Door - Things that are racist: having a family and not hiding them in the closet if one of them is a blah person - Mr. Bloomberg said that he considered it racist of Mr. de Blasio to promote his mixed-race family. - Things that aren't racist: Racially profiling young black men so that the cops can harass them constantly for no good reason.
Michael Bloomberg Blasts Bill De Blasio Over 'Racist' Campaign

3,600 apply for 122 new Arlington apartments - The Washington Post - In a display of the demand for affordable housing in Northern Virginia, more than 3,600 people have applied for a chance to rent one of 122 new affordable apartments still under construction along Arlington County’s Columbia Pike.

Dana Perino Is 'Tired Of Atheists'; Fox News Host Says 'They Don't Have To Live Here' (Video) - Freedom of belief doesn't appear to be important to Fox News host Dana Perino, who suggested that if atheists don't like having "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, well, "they don't have to live here."

EPA Quietly Withdraws Two Proposed Chemical Safety Rules - WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency this week quietly withdrew two draft rules dealing with the regulation of chemicals. The potential rules were in limbo at the Office of Management for several years.

Alimony for Your Eggs - NYTimes.com - Perhaps it would be simplest for a couple to address their procreation expectations on the front end of marriage, in a prenuptial agreement. A couple could agree on money for egg freezing if children didn’t materialize by a certain year.

Texas truck customizer advertises with image of abducted, hog-tied woman | The Raw Story - “I wasn’t expecting the reactions that we got,” said Hornet Signs owner Brad Kolb. “Nor was it anything we condone or anything else, but it was just something more or less that we just had to put out there and see who notices it.” (Texas logic)
School dress codes: Miniskirt madness - latimes.com - When one student eventually chose to wear a shirt emblazoned with the text of the 1st Amendment, neither the school nor the courts approved it.

Cancer vaccine begins Phase I clinical trials | Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - - A cross-disciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and clinicians announced today that they have begun a Phase I clinical trial of an implantable vaccine to treat melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer.
New connection between stacked solar cells can handle energy of 70,000 suns

IMDb: Every Netflix TV Series Sorted by IMDB Ranking - a list by Pacey7

090613
Errors Cast Doubt on Japan’s Cleanup of Nuclear Accident Site - NYTimes.com (will they ever tell the truth?)
Brazilian govt. issues arrest orders for owners of Anonymous Brazil's Facebook pages - Hackers News Bulletin - In July, Anonymous hackers announced The Biggest protest in Brazil against the govt. corruption, they scheduled the protest for September 7 (tomorrow) and before one day of the protest Brazilian government issues an order to arrest members of Anonymous pages in Brazil and masked protesters will be sent to the jail.

President Obama Calls for Conscience Vote On Syria, Even If Public Opposed - ABC News (wrap you head around that)
Obama assembles fragile alliance blaming Assad for chemical attacks | World news | The Guardian - 11 G20 countries sign statement calling for 'strong response' to chemical weapons, but Putin says most oppose military action
John Kerry: Obama Can Bomb Assad Even If Congress Votes No
Obama: I'm Bypassing the 'Hocus Pocus' of the United Nations | The Weekly Standard
G20 shows that world no longer trusts Obama: Walkom | Toronto Star - America’s allies used to give the U.S. the benefit of the doubt. Now, even Canada is skeptical. (shrinking 0bama, this will be his "legacy")
McCain: ‘There Would Be An Impeachment’ Of Obama If He Put Boots On Ground « CBS DC (but Angry Grampy wants to invade)
Rep. Alan Grayson: Syria Intelligence Manipulated - Washington Whispers (usnews.com) - Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., who is aggressively lobbying against a military strike on Syria, says the Obama administration has manipulated intelligence to push its case for U.S. involvement in the country's two-year civil war.
A terrorism expert’s Twitter rant about how we get Syrian rebels all wrong
Obama Syria Press Conference In Saint Petersburg - Today In The March To Semi-War - Esquire - The performance at the press conference today was the worst of Barack Obama's career. Nothing comes close. Attribute it to jet-lag, or to the exhaustion that finally may be overtaking the man after five years of dealing with the monkey-house opposition he was handed but, on the single deadliest issue a president can face, he looked very much like a man who was tired of his job.
Report: US strike on Syria to be 'significantly larger than expected' | JPost | Israel News - US is planning an aerial strike in addition to a salvo of Tomahawk missiles from Navy destroyers; New York Times: Obama ordered expansion of list of targets following reports Assad moved troops, equipment.
AIPAC to go all-out on Syria - Manu Raju - POLITICO.com - The powerful pro-Israel lobby AIPAC is planning to launch a major lobbying campaign to push wayward lawmakers to back the resolution authorizing U.S. strikes against Syria, sources said Thursday.
Obama To Speak On Syria Tuesday - ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — President Barack Obama says he will address the nation about Syria on Tuesday as he seeks public and congressional authority for military action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Iran Plans Attack If U.S. Strikes Syria, Intercepted Order Says - WASHINGTON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The United States has intercepted an order from an Iranian official instructing militants in Iraq to attack U.S. interests in Baghdad in the event the Obama administration launches a military strike in Syria, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Jill Abramson On NSA Story: 'Our Default Position Is To Inform The Public' - Abramson told Sullivan that, though the American government asked that it not publish its story, the decision to ignore that request was "not a particularly anguished one." She added, "Our default position is to inform the public."
Pentagon Is Ordered to Expand Potential Targets in Syria With a Focus on Forces - NYTimes.com
Striking Syria Is Completely Illegal | TIME.com - The fundamental rule of international law is that states cannot attack other states, even for humanitarian reasons
Does the President Have the Power to Protect US Allies? | Flashpoints | The Diplomat
John Kerry Gets No Apology From Putin In Search For Allies On Syria - Russian President Vladimir Putin had called Kerry a liar, accusing him of deliberately ignoring the role of al-Qaeda militants in the Syrian opposition. In fact, Kerry has acknowledged repeatedly that al-Qaeda and its allies are a factor in Syria -- and potentially a fast-growing one.
Poll: Majority Of Americans Approve Of Sending Congress To Syria | The Onion
U.S. Drone Strike Kills 6 in Pakistan, Fueling Anger - NYTimes.com (drone-boy in the basement of the WH)
Syria crisis: al-Qaeda seizes village that still speaks the ancient language of Christ - It is one of only three places in the world where Western Aramaic, a dialect of the language spoken by Christ, is still used.
Wall Street Journal Op-Ed Draws Scrutiny Over Writer's Ties To Syrian Rebel Advocacy Group - NEW YORK -- A Wall Street Journal op-ed cited this week by both Secretary of State John Kerry and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has drawn scrutiny for not disclosing writer Elizabeth O'Bagy's ties to a Syrian rebel advocacy group. (the Kagans are behind it)
The Bush Burden - NYTimes.com - His legacy is paralysis, hypocrisy and uncertainty practiced in varying degrees by those who want to learn from history and those who deny it. Let’s grant some validity to the waffling, though none of it is coming from the architects of the worst global fiasco in a generation.
U.S. military planners don’t support war with Syria - The Washington Post - Our serving professionals make the point that killing more Syrians won’t deter Iranian resolve to confront us. The Iranians have already gotten the message.

National Whistleblowers Center

N.S.A. Able to Foil Basic Safeguards of Privacy on Web - NYTimes.com - The agency has circumvented or cracked much of the encryption, or digital scrambling, that guards global commerce and banking systems, protects sensitive data like trade secrets and medical records, and automatically secures the e-mails, Web searches, Internet chats and phone calls of Americans and others around the world, the documents show ... Paul Kocher, a leading cryptographer who helped design the SSL protocol, recalled how the N.S.A. lost the heated national debate in the 1990s about inserting into all encryption a government back door called the Clipper Chip. “And they went and did it anyway, without telling anyone,”
Leaks Show NSA is Working to Undermine Encrypted Communications, Here's How You Can Fight Back | Electronic Frontier Foundation - In one of the most significant leaks to date regarding National Security Agency (NSA) spying, the New York Times, the Guardian, and ProPublica reported today that the NSA has gone to extraordinary lengths to secretly undermine our secure communications infrastructure,
NSA: classification guide for cryptanalysis | World news | theguardian.com - Guide reveals that NSA 'obtains cryptographic details of commercial cryptographic information security systems through industry relationships'

NSA Files (Raw Documents + Whistleblower Edward Snowden Interview) | LeakSource
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (2 yrs in prison for not giving up your encryption key)

The NSA's Secret Campaign to Crack, Undermine Internet Encryption - ProPublica
Feds Beg NY Times, Pro Publica Not To Reveal That They've Inserted Backdoors Into Internet Encryption | Techdirt - Pro Publica points out that this country is founded on a fundamental belief that you can't just "trust" the government, and yet the government is asking us to do exactly that here, as they prove time and time again not to be credible or worthy of trust.
Microsoft and Yahoo voice alarm over NSA's assault on internet encryption | World news | theguardian.com - Tech companies say they were unaware of top secret programs but warn they present 'substantial potential for abuse'
NSA decryption revelations 'provide roadmap' to adversaries, US warns | World news | theguardian.com - "not news", but nonetheless provided a "road map … to our adversaries". (Crapper)
NSA has 'cracked much online encryption' - CNN.com - Computer security expert Mikko Hypponen believes the revelation is the most important leak to date from Snowden.

Schneier on Security: The NSA Is Breaking Most Encryption on the Internet - The new Snowden revelations are explosive. Basically, the NSA is able to decrypt most of the Internet. They're doing it primarily by cheating, not by mathematics ... Remember this: The math is good, but math has no agency. Code has agency, and the code has been subverted.
The NSA Is Mostly Not Breaking Encryption, They’re “Cheating” by Ryan Cooper | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly
Schneier: The US Government Has Betrayed the Internet, We Need To Take It Back - Slashdot
The NSA Is Breaking Most Encryption on the Internet : netsec
How Advanced Is the NSA's Cryptanalysis—And Can We Resist It?
Continuations : Disagreeing with Bruce Schneier: More Crypto is Not the Answer (Schneier agrees with him)
How Advanced Is the NSA's Cryptanalysis—And Can We Resist It? - Of that, 4 percent—or $440 million—goes to 'Research and Technology.' That's an enormous amount of money; probably more than everyone else on the planet spends on cryptography research put together.
ImperialViolet - Sudden Death Entropy Failures

Government Attempts To Suppress NSA Reporting Haven't Worked So Well
NSA Media Coverage Skyrockets In The Wake Of Snowden Leaks
DJ_NSAinfographic_v14.pdf - Uses News Tags To Chart The Nsa’s Public Storyline Since 2000
FAQ: What You Need to Know About the NSA’s Surveillance Programs - ProPublica
Feds Beg NY Times, Pro Publica Not To Reveal That They've Inserted Backdoors Into Internet Encryption | Techdirt
Toshiba has invented a quantum cryptography network that even the NSA can’t hack - Quartz

SlashGeek · How to be completely Anonymous online - SlashGeek
The NSA’s work to make crypto worse and better | Ars Technica - Leaked documents say that the NSA has compromised encryption specs. It wasn't always this way.
The Daily Dot - Unsettling details of FinFisher espionage software leak to the Web - FinFisher, made by the U.K.-based Gamma Group, is being investigated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for breaking a dozen human rights rules, and has been accused of providing the Mexican government with software to spy on its own people.
UK censorwall bans VPNs - Boing Boing - UK mobile providers, including O2 and its reseller GiffGaff, are blocking commercial VPN providers that help to secure sensitive communications from criminals, hackers and government spies

The Snowden Effect And The End Of Privacy - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - So, now we discover, thanks to Edward Snowden, International Man Of Luggage, that the all-too-human, somewhat error-prone heroes at the National Security Agency pretty much have blown up any concept of privacy on the Intertoobz, probably because of what a dick Glenn Greenwald is.
Hullabaloo - "This is the nuclear winter of data security" (digby notes that Froomkin has gone hyperbolic)
Encryption: The Sky *IS* Falliing | Discourse.net - The latest revelations about the NSA’s ability to undermine most encryption used online dwarf anything we have learned previously. What is worse, the NSA has worked to insert weaknesses into products — backdoors. - This is the secret that likely explains why the Obama and Cameron administrations were willing to do almost anything to try to get Snowden, the reporters he leaked to, and the anyone who touched their data. (Obama's completely out of control war on Americans)
Yahoo! Transparency - Overview

interfluidity » Tradeoffs - The stupidest framing of the controversy over ubiquitous surveillance is that it reflects a trade-off between “security” and “privacy”. We are putting in jeopardy values much, much more important than “privacy”. The value we are trading away, under the surveillance programs as presently constituted, are quality of governance. This is not a debate about privacy. It is a debate about corruption. (and boy, is Obama corrupted) - I will out and say this. I think our President’s “evolutions” on questions of civil liberties and surveillance are largely the result of blackmail.
Snowden Disclosures Finally Hit 12 on a Scale of 1 to 10 | Mother Jones - For what it's worth, this is about the point where I get off the Snowden train. (center-right Kevin Drum needs his security state)

European Central Bank Chief Tamps Down Optimism - NYTimes.com - “These shoots are still very, very green.”
Years of Tragic Waste - NYTimes.com - Obviously, the Obama people are less wrong than the Republicans. But, by any objective standard, U.S. economic policy since Lehman has been an astonishing, horrifying failure. (you know who to blame)


Abu Ghraib Torture Victims Ordered To Pay U.S. Contractor's Legal Fees - A federal judge on Wednesday ordered four Iraqis who were imprisoned at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison to pay nearly $14,000 in legal fees to defense contractor CACI, an Arlington, Va.-based company that supplied interrogators to the U.S. government during the Iraq War.

Tropical storm Gabrielle fizzles: Why has hurricane season been so calm? (+video) - CSMonitor.com - Tropical storm Gabrielle was the seventh Atlantic tropical cyclone this season, but no hurricanes have yet formed, which is unusual. Another 10 hurricane-free days would set a record. (Fat Al failing at his job)
Storming the Breach: A Guide to the 2013 Hurricane Season | Hurricane Party - Ready New York?

Ignore the headlines. This was a very bad jobs report.
Let’s face it: The US job market is dead in the water and not getting better | AEIdeas
No, Porn Didn't Cause This Month's Weak Jobs Report - Business Insider
16 Major Firms May Have Received Early Data From Thomson Reuters | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone - Rolling Stone has since learned that a whistleblower complaint has been filed to the SEC identifying 16 of the world's biggest banks and hedge funds as the allegedly even-earlier recipients of this key economic data. The complaint alleges that this select group of customers received the data anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour ahead of the rest of the markets.

Bad Bet: Why Republicans Can't Win With Whites Alone - NationalJournal.com - Obama lost key groups of white voters by the largest margins since the 1980s, but that doesn't mean Republicans can rely on whites to retake the White House.
alicublog: THE LIBERTARIAN RACKET IN A NUTSHELL. - Clearly the Fourth Amendment is spoiled for them if they catch black people using it.
Mitt Romney Bubble Still Intact - BuzzFeed's McKay Coppins has a wonderfully viral-distribution-ready piece of political analysis today: "Was Mitt Romney Right About Everything?"
Liz Cheney Uses Syria to (Try to) Salvage Her Campaign Train Wreck - The Daily Beast - In her role as hard-ass conservative pundit, the pro-Gitmo, pro-waterboarding Liz has long been second to none in advocating liberal use of the U.S. military. But as a Senate candidate, especially one looking to woo Tea Party types, her situation is somewhat more ticklish.
Fox News: Where Republicans Go To Escape Journalists | Blog | Media Matters for America - He said the campaign would rather sit the candidate down for an interview with Fox News than take questions from his press corps. At Fox, he said, the candidate could safely explain himself without being pressed by a crowd of news-starved reporters.

Mission Congo: how Pat Robertson raised millions on the back of a non-existent aid project | Film | theguardian.com - The televangelist claimed Operation Blessing was giving vital aid in response to the 1994 Rwandan crisis. A documentary opening at the Toronto film festival paints a less flattering picture

As Doubts Over Detective Grew, Prosecutors Also Made Missteps - NYTimes.com ("missteps" = lies)

Ancient Egypt Timeline Suggests Civilization Developed Faster Than Previously Thought
Abydos: Egyptian Tombs & Cult of Osiris | LiveScience

When Your (Brown) Body is a (White) Wonderland | tressiemc
Solidarity is For Miley Cyrus: The Racial Implications of her VMA Performance

Thomas Pynchon’s Bleeding Edge, reviewed. - Slate Magazine - From the remarkable Thomas Pynchon, a novel of the dot-com era and the end of history.
Is 'The Fox' the 'Gangnam Style' of 2013? - The Week - Norwegian duo Ylvis' extraordinarily strange animal-noises music video has all the makings of a viral hit

With privacy battle brewing, Facebook won't update policy right away - latimes.com
Intel Unveils Optical Technology to Kill Copper Cables and Make Data Centers Run Faster | MIT Technology Review - Silicon chips with optical technology allow a new form of superfast data connection.

090513
House Greets Syria War Resolution With Intense Skepticism; Vote Could Go Down
Congress may vote ‘No’ on Syria attack — RT USA (0bama considers using cruise-missles on House)
Is an Attack on Syria Justified? - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com
We're Going to War Because We Just Can't Stop Ourselves -- By Stephen Walt | Stephen M. Walt
The US still Wants to be the Sole Superpower; but it Can't (Engelhardt) | Informed Comment - Tom Englehart - Such a world should be fantastical enough for the wildest sort of dystopian fiction, for perhaps a novel titled 2014. What, after all, are we to make of a planet with a single superpower that lacks genuine enemies of any significance and that, to all appearances, has nonetheless been fighting a permanent global war with… well, itself — and appears to be losing? (1984 and The United States of Fear)
The Fundamental Weakness of the Case for Attacking Syria - Lawyers, Guns & Money - The case for attacking Syria fails on multiple levels. The best-case scenario is pretty much that a limited amount of destruction is inflicted on Syria pointlessly. Congress should say no.
Eschaton: Shorter Nick Kristof - 1) bomb 2) ??? 3) ???
Senate Hearing on Syrian War Hints at Obama's True Intentions | New Republic
Intercepted call bolsters Syrian chemical-weapons charge, Germans say | McClatchy (Germans pick up on something the US, UK and France didn't mention)
Ed Markey's Curious Vote Explained - Esquire - I think Markey's pretty close to what a lot of Americans are thinking about this whole thing: namely, that it's a perfect time to apply that ancient -- and sadly underused -- political principle defined as Fuck If I Know What To Do.

? 'Yes We Can...Kill People': Anti-war activists protest as Obama visits Sweden - YouTube
Twitter / anoncdn: This says it ALL!!! ...

Hullabaloo - Oxymoron 'o the day: Humanitarian War
Special report: We all thought Libya had moved on – it has, but into lawlessness and ruin - Africa - World - The Independent - As world attention focused on the coup in Egypt and the poison gas attack in Syria over the past two months, Libya has plunged unnoticed into its worst political and economic crisis since the defeat of Gaddafi two years ago.
Libya and Its Contexts | Jacobin - Liberal interventionists thought they had this one. Their doctrine had seemingly triumphed in Libya. (then the next shiny war came along)
? Syria War Propagandists Debunked | Weapons of Mass Distraction - YouTube
Carl Bernstein - How Americas Most Powerful News Media Worked Hand in Glove with the Central Intelligence Agency and Why the Church Committee Covered It Up (historical context)

Report: US cracked most online encryption - Americas - Al Jazeera English - NSA has secretly developed ability to crack internet communication, according to new Snowden documents.
US and UK spy agencies defeat privacy and security on the internet | World news | theguardian.com - NSA and GCHQ unlock encryption used to protect emails, banking and medical records • $250m-a-year US program works covertly with tech companies to insert weaknesses into products - US and British intelligence agencies have successfully cracked much of the online encryption relied upon by hundreds of millions of people to protect the privacy of their personal data, online transactions and emails
NSA Winning Internet Security War, Reports Show
The US government has betrayed the internet. We need to take it back | Bruce Schneier | Comment is free | The Guardian - The NSA has undermined a fundamental social contract. We engineers built the internet – and now we have to fix it
How to remain secure against NSA surveillance | Bruce Schneier | World news | theguardian.com - The NSA has huge capabilities – and if it wants in to your computer, it's in. With that in mind, here are five ways to stay safe
crypt-guide2.pdf What the NSA doesn't want you to know, all laid out in a nice table.
After a series of digital attacks on news organizations by the Syrian Electronic Army hacker group, members of hacktivist collective Anonymous may have struck back by swiping SEA data and publishing personal information of purported SEA members. But the SEA, which supports Syrian President Bashar Assad, denies that it has ever been hacked and says the data revealed does not belong to its members.
Tor Is Less Anonymous Than You Think | Motherboard
The "lawful interception" fig leaf obscures real state of surveillance | Privacy SOS

Here’s What Happened at Barrett Brown’s Gag Hearing | VICE United States - Judge Sam Lindsay ruled in favor of the prosecution's motion and a gag order immediately went into effect. In the eyes of the court, the prosecution had successfully argued that any extrajudicial statements made by the defendant, his attorneys, or the Government, to members of the press could unfairly impact Barrett Brown's opportunity for a fair trial. (whole judiciary in the bag)
US stops jailed activist Barrett Brown from discussing leaks prosecution | World news | theguardian.com - Federal court order prohibits Brown from talking to the media in what critics say is latest in crackdown on investigative journalism

? Message to the NSA - YouTube
Hundreds of Pages of NSA Spying Documents to be Released As Result of EFF Lawsuit | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Mailpile - taking e-mail back | Indiegogo - The bad news is, PayPal have frozen our PayPal account. This means roughly $45,000 of the $135,000 we have raised so far are in a state of limbo and we don't know when we will get access to the money
UPDATE: Mark (Migs) of the NATO 5 to Spend Six Months in Solitary for Anarchism | nato5support - Mark “Migs” Neiweem of the NATO 5 has been in solitary confinement for nearly two months. Why? For being in possession of Anarchist symbols (including the Anarchist Black Cross logo) and Anarchist literature. Please call or write in today to demand these politically-motivated disciplinary actions be reversed.
In Which I Defend Fox News - Esquire (criminalizing journalism)

Obamacare Obstructionists Are Ironically Doing A Great Job Raising Awareness Of Exchange Navigators

NOAA: Warming-Driven Sea Level Rise To Make Sandy-Type Storm Surges The Norm On East Coast | ThinkProgress - “the 600-mile stretch of coastline from North Carolina to Massachusetts is experiencing [SLR] rates that are nearly three to four times higher than the global average, a trend that may continue during the coming decades.” (the Republican Party is a WMD)
New analyses find evidence of human-caused climate change in half of the 12 extreme weather and climate events analyzed from 2012

The Everlasting Irrationality of Oklahoma : Lawyers, Guns & Money - The Oklahoma legislature is awesome: The Republican-led House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to exclude the issue of safety in schools from consideration as part of a special legislative session. The decision came three months after two historic twisters hit the state, including one that killed seven students in a Moore elementary school that did not have a shelter.
Oklahoma Lawmaker Wants Voters to Decide on School Tornado Shelters - NYTimes.com
Tulsa school sends girl home because ‘dreadlocks’ and ‘afros’ are too distracting | The Raw Story - A father in Oklahoma said this week that he was forced to pull his daughter out of classes after the charter school she was attending sent her home for having the wrong hairstyle. (OK)
New batch of fliers target Portland neighbors on food stamps - KFVS12
MSU Relieves Prof. Who Went On GOP Rant: 'They Have Already Raped This Country' | TPM LiveWire - A professor at Michigan State University has been relieved of his teaching duties after making anti-Republican comments in front of a college class, the Detroit News reported Thursday.
Welfare Drug Test Veto Overridden By North Carolina GOP, Gov Fights Back - The North Carolina GOP is having a big fight over making poor people pee in cups.
Barry Smitherman, Texas Attorney General Candidate, Says State Could Be 'Independent Nation'

Confirmed: Fracking practices to blame for Ohio earthquakes - NBC News.com - Wastewater from the controversial practice of fracking appears to be linked to all the earthquakes in a town in Ohio that had no known past quakes, research now reveals.

Hullabaloo - E.E. “Buzzy” Geduld, who runs the hedge fund Cougar Capital LLC in the city and is a trustee of Manhattan’s Dalton School, where annual tuition tops $40,000, said de Blasio’s plan “is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard” and “not a smart thing to do.”[...]

Underwater volcano is Earth's biggest : Nature News & Comment - It also shows that Earth can produce volcanoes on par with Olympus Mons on Mars, which, at 625 kilometres across, was until now the biggest volcano known in the Solar System.
More Than Two-Thirds Of Men Want To Die Before Their Wives, Study Says - A survey of 1,005 adults conducted by "60 Minutes" and "Vanity Fair" found that 70 percent of men would want their wives to outlive them. For the ladies' part, only 62 percent of women said they would want to die before their husbands.

Saint Mary's frosh chant on underage sex sparks school review - Nova Scotia - CBC News - Smith said it's particularly disturbing since the video was recorded months after the high-profile case of Nova Scotia teen Rehtaeh Parsons made headlines around the world. Parsons died after an attempt to take her own life. Her family said the teen was the victim of a sexual assault.

090413
Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin set for collision over Syria at G20 summit | World news | The Guardian - Russian president signals he will take action if America strikes at Assad as US counterpart admits relations have hit a wall
Syrian intervention: the Russian people are sceptics, not barbarians | Natalia Antonova | Comment is free | theguardian.com - It is wariness of Syrian rebels, not callousness towards the dead, that drives any Russian opposition towards intervention
Russia releases key findings on chemical attack near Aleppo indicating similarity with rebel-made weapons — RT News - Probes from Khan al-Assal show chemicals used in the March 19 attack did not belong to standard Syrian army ammunition, and that the shell carrying the substance was similar to those made by a rebel fighter group, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated. (aluminum tubes)
Obama seeks global backing on Syria: 'I didn't set a red line. The world did' | World news | theguardian.com - President plays down personal role in response to chemical weapons attack amid uphill battle to win over politicians at home
Syria chemical attack: the intelligence dossiers | World news | theguardian.com
Another Set of Questions About Syria - Atlantic Mobile
? Errol Morris's New Documentary on Donald Rumsfeld (Sneak Peek) - YouTube
John McCain: Congressional Vote Against Military Action In Syria Would Be 'Catastrophic' (invade)
John McCain Syria - Not Only That But You Can Get Off His Lawn - Esquire - To the surprise of approximately nobody, Senator Angry Grampy is upset that he is not going to get his Great Big Boom Boom, and threatened to go over the side.
Putin Talks Syria, 'Doesn't Exclude' Supporting UN Resolution Despite Warnings
Robert Menendez Syria Hearings - This Did Not Begin Well - Esquire - We would be (yes) sending "...a message to the Ayatollah that Americans are not serious about their march to nuclear weapons." Moreover, if we do not blow the daylights out of the Syrian airports, we would "embolden Kim Jong Un" to go to war against South Korea. "Our national security is at stake," Menendez concluded. We're going to make war in Syria to keep Kim Jong Un in a box? Jesus, just stop it. Make an honest case.
Eschaton: "Our Standing In The World" - According to an NPR report I just listened to, that's what it's all about. Can we just sext Syria some dick pix?
Let's Not Give the White House a Blank Check in Syria - Unless we want to have a repeat of Iraq, Congress would be wise to make sure they don't give the Obama administration everything it's asking for in Syria.
Would Bombing Syria Deter the Use of Chemical Weapons? | Mother Jones
Bye-bye, neocons: Your fantasy has finally died - Salon.com - As the nation debates Syrian gas attacks, here's how to hash out America’s new, proper role in the world

Japan earmarks £300m+ for Fukushima cleanup | Environment | The Guardian - Tokyo unveils measures to decontaminate toxic water at nuclear power plant as Tepco struggles to prevent leaks into Pacific
Power cut leaves most of Venezuela without electricity - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blamed the opposition for "sabotage" to power transmission lines.
Seoul parliament votes for arrest of leftist lawmaker - DAWN.COM - Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn told lawmakers that in May Lee — believing war with the North was imminent — told his secretive leftist group to prepare for attacks on South Korea's communication lines and railways.

Russia Will Not Hand Snowden Over to US – Putin | Russia | RIA Novosti - “The United States refused to sign such a treaty with us. And they do not extradite our criminals… who have tortured people, trafficked people, whose hands are covered in blood,” Putin said, giving no further detail.
UN: Press should not be 'intimidated into silence' over state secrets | Media | theguardian.com - Representatives criticise UK government following detention of David Miranda, and call for public debate over NSA surveillance
NSA Laughs at PCs, Prefers Hacking Routers and Switches | Threat Level | Wired.com
Spy Files: New WikiLeaks docs expose secretive, unruly surveillance industry — RT News
Hemisphere Project: an ACLU lawyer on the troubling database used to ID burner phones.
Twitter / trutherbot: #Syria (corps want war)
Russia Issues International Travel Advisory to Its Hackers | Threat Level | Wired.com - Yesterday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a public notice advising “citizens to refrain from traveling abroad, especially to countries that have signed agreements with the U.S. on mutual extradition, if there is reasonable suspicion that U.S. law enforcement agencies” have a case pending against them.

BB_gagbrief.pdf (Barrett Brown gag order)
Barrett Brown gag order would silence the truth about spy-industrial complex | Death and Taxes - Today, the US court system is attacking journalism and the very essence of the First Amendment.

The Daily Dot - This browser extension could save you from the Syrian Electronic Army - IDSpace is a browser extension that provides “a single user interface and user experience for user authentication, whilst supporting a range of existing identity management technologies.”
The Terrifying Search Engine That Finds Internet-Connected Cameras, Traffic Lights, Medical Devices, Baby Monitors And Power Plants - Forbes
SHODAN - Computer Search Engine
300,000 attempts tracked from UK Parliament to access porn, that would be popups says spokeswoman - Hackers News Bulletin - 300,000 attempts tracked from UK Parliament to access porn, that would be popups says spokeswoman
Mystery drone seen hovering over Virginia warehouse fire - Washington Times - Alexandria fire officials said the drone didn’t belong to them.
No way to prevent FinFisher from getting into hands of repressive governments — RT Op-Edge
Assange requests investigation into US actions against WikiLeaks — RT News

Who has more info: Guantánamo lawyers or Hollywood? - Guantánamo - MiamiHerald.com - Defense lawyers at the Guantánamo war court are turning the adage that art imitates life on its head with a legal motion that argues the makers of Zero Dark Thirty know more about what the CIA did to an accused Sept. 11 conspirator than the defendant’s lawyers do. (the travesty called "military justice")

Former Senior White House Official On Larry Summers Nomination: 'It Really Does Need To Be Stopped' - is worried that his brusque manner would make him unable to govern the Federal Open Market Committee ("brusque" = asshole)

How Fragile Is the New Democratic Coalition? - NYTimes.com (datpoint: for all of Obama’s union endorsements, metros with larger shares of blue-collar workers in manufacturing, transportation, and construction voted for Romney (with a correlation of .46) and against Obama (-.45) - demographics of stupidity)
S0022381608080493 542..555 - AbramCulWarMythVSFIORINA.pdf - Abramowitz and Saunders: Is Polarization of Myth (no)

What's Killing Poor White Women? - For most Americans, life expectancy continues to rise—but not for uneducated white women. They have lost five years, and no one knows why.

'Under God' part of Pledge of Allegiance under review in Massachusetts - CNN.com

Massive storm churned up water from Saturn's depths, finds Nasa's Cassini (Wired UK)
The new equation for estimating alien life across the universe | Stuart Clark | Science | theguardian.com - How many other inhabited planets are there? It's a question that fascinates scientists and lay people alike. A new equation may help weigh up the possibility
Sleep 'boosts brain cell numbers' - Scientists believe they have discovered a new reason why we need to sleep - it replenishes a type of brain cell.



HDMI 2.0 officially announced: 18Gbps bandwidth, 60fps 4K, 32 channel audio

090313
Obama hints at broader strategy to topple Assad in effort to win over Republicans | World news | The Guardian - President suggests strikes could lead to longer-term mission as tough White House rhetoric begins to win over Republicans (here we go)
American 'Boots on the Ground' in Syria? John Kerry's Facepalm Moment - Garance Franke-Ruta - The Atlantic - The secretary of state said troops could be deployed to Syria if the situation "imploded" -- then quickly walked the statement back. (but they are obviously preparing for that)
France, the Unexpected New Hawk - Emma-Kate Symons - The Atlantic - The threats had only ‘‘reinforced France’s determination,” said Hollande in remarks that sounded positively Sarkozyesque.
French Intel On Syria Attack Describes 'Massive Use Of Chemical Agents' - A French intelligence report on Monday alleged that the Syrian regime launched an attack on Aug. 21 that involved a "massive use of chemical agents" and could carry out similar strikes in the future.
Israel Holds Missile Test In Mediterranean Sea - Israel and the U.S. conducted a joint missile test over the Mediterranean on Tuesday, an apparent display of military prowess as the Obama administration seeks congressional support for strikes against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Israel claims joint US missile launch in Mediterranean for 'target practice' — RT News
John Boehner Backs Obama's Call For Military Action In Syria
Bret Stephens: The Robert Taft Republicans Return - WSJ.com - Isolationism has never served the interests of America, or the GOP.

The Case for War: Since When is Médecins Sans Frontières a Secret Intelligence Source? | emptywheel

To some, US case for Syrian gas attack, strike has too many holes | McClatchy
Your Labor Day Syria Reader, Part 2: William Polk - James Fallows - The Atlantic
Hullabaloo - If you want to understand what's happening in Syria ... Syria has been convulsed by civil war since climate change came to Syria with a vengeance. Drought devastated the country from 2006 to 2011.
Echidne Of The Snakes: On Striking Syria. Questions. - irst, climate change and the relationship between resources (too few) and people (too many) are part of the picture. (+Who are the insurgents?)
Former Iranian President Slams Syria for Gassing own People: Sign of deep Divisions in Tehran | Informed Comment - Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani has roiled Iranian politics by admitting that the Syrian government gassed its own people at Ghuta in the eastern suburbs of Damascus.
Up to Speed: Five Things You Need to Know on Syria - The Daily Beast - Yes, Obama has asked Congress to approve a military strike on Syria. But what’s really going on? Christopher Dickey explains, from the factions involved to the U.S. objective and the real game changer.
Syria | Brookings Institution

Former Iranian President Slams Syria for Gassing own People: Sign of deep Divisions in Tehran | Informed Comment
Iran's Piece Of The Syria Puzzle - Because It's All Really About Iran - Esquire - Therefore, thanks to the invaluable Juan Cole, it's interesting to note that this whole Syria tangle is screwing them up a little, too, in no small part because the Iranians themselves have more than a little recent experience with poison gas.
Obama And How We Go To War - Today In The March To Semi-War - Esquire - Hence, when the president announced that he was bringing Congress in on the decision to make war in Syria, a very loud howl arose from the Action Now! crowd that obeying even that most minimal of constitutional niceties -- and I say "niceties" because the Constitution requires that the power to make war in all cases resides in the Congress -- weakened not only his office, but the country itself, as though the United States had lost some kind of military advantage because its president is less free to act than is Bashar al-Assad.
The Road To War With Iran Runs Through Syria by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - So you will begin to hear Republican voices essentially arguing that letting Obama hit Syria today is a necessary sacrifice in order to preserve the ability of a future Republican president to hit Iran tomorrow.

Obama Meets With Lindsey Graham and John McCain - Today In The March To Semi-War - Esquire - The president had Senator Angry Grampy and Senator Huckleberry, the presiding geopolitical thinkers in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body, over today to discuss Syria, and to give them the opportunity to stand on the White House lawn afterwards and call him a dithering dilettante whom they will support if he stops his dithering and his dilettanting and give them the Great Big Boom Boom in Syria that they want.
Syria Turns into a Political Story - And the Washington media breathe a sigh of relief.
The World’s Most Pernicious Analogy Strikes Again - Lawyers, Guns & Money : And in this particular case the analogy goes beyond stupidity to being self-refuting — if Assad poses a threat comparable to Hitler in 1938, why only “limited” “surgical” airstrikes? Really, let’s leave these dumb analogies to fourth-tier winger bloggers, please.
Turkey's Mixed Messages on Syria - Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and Jonathan Schanzer - The Atlantic - Ankara once encouraged intervention in the crisis. Why did it stop?
Why Obama's Plan to Strike Syria Makes No Strategic Sense - James Joyner - The Atlantic - Even a humanitarian operation demands a logical premise and a well-designed goal. The administration's proposal has neither.
US forces 'used chemical weapons' during assault on city of Fallujah - Middle East - World - The Independent - Powerful new evidence emerged yesterday that the United States dropped massive quantities of white phosphorus on the Iraqi city of Fallujah during the attack on the city in November 2004, killing insurgents and civilians with the appalling burns that are the signature of this weapon. (0bama should drone himself)
Steve Coll: How Should Obama Respond to Syria? : The New Yorker - The international community? Fuck them! The international community and those who listen to them!”
Syrian refugee numbers pass 2 million - interactive | World news | theguardian.com
The Daily Dot - Anonymous takes aim at Assad and the SEA

Romanians take to the streets to protest gold mine | The Stream - Al Jazeera English - A government-supported deal worth billions would build Europe's largest open-pit mine if approved.
Mexico police seek killer vigilante 'Diana: the hunter of bus drivers' | World news | theguardian.com - Blonde assassin allegedly shot two men dead in separate incidents, claiming to be 'instrument of vengeance for women'
Facebook Photos Seem To Show Violent Life Of Suriname’s Ruling Family | TPMDC (gangstas)

Tor Gets Boost From Anonymous Browsing Uptick After PRISM - But the spike from 600,000 daily users to 1.2 million didn't immediately follow PRISM, which came to light in early June. Instead, Tor usage started spiking in mid-August after several other services that provide anonymity to users were shaken by post-PRISM backlash.
AT&T gives DEA 26 years of phone call records to wage war on drugs | Ars Technica - Any carrier using an AT&T switch covered in program that goes beyond NSA's.
Dilma quer fechar empresa que colaborar com espionagem - Brasil - Notícia - VEJA.com
Top-secret U.S. intelligence files show new levels of distrust of Pakistan - The Washington Post - The $52.6 billion U.S. intelligence arsenal is aimed mainly at unambiguous adversaries, including al-Qaeda, North Korea and Iran. But top-secret budget documents reveal an equally intense focus on one purported ally: Pakistan.
Activist Post: Twitter and privacy: 1-in-5 tweets divulge user location - But that's only part of the footprint Twitter users leave, and even users who have not opted-in for location tagging may be inadvertently revealing where they are, the study shows.

The U.S. Government Is Suing Barrett Brown's Intelligence Research Site | Motherboard - ProjectPM is an online compendium where Barrett and his fellow researchers share information they've been gathering about the intelligence industry in the United States (0bama and his dogs of hell)
Journalist Barrett Brown faces prison for posting hyperlink - Internet - Committee to Protect Journalists
Court Will Decide Whether American Journalist Is Silenced | Free Barrett Brown - the government has engaged in draconian, vindictive and frivolous measures, including the intimidation of family members with legal threats, a motion to seize funds intended for private legal representation, and a subpoena served for a research/news-gathering website.
Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange: our new heroes | Slavoj Žižek | Comment is free | The Guardian - As the NSA revelations have shown, whistleblowing is now an essential art. It is our means of keeping 'public reason' alive

Congress Hours Worked Poll - Recess Is Over, But Did They Earn That Break? - Esquire - The 112th Congress -- which beat out the 104th Congress for the fewest bills passed last year -- cleared 28 bills before the August recess last year. The 113th passed only 22.

A Push To Bridge The Gap Between Soldiers And Citizens | Here & Now - “As Americans forfeit personal direct responsibility for contributing to the country’s defense — abandoning the tradition of the citizen soldier — then the state gains ownership of the military,” Bacevich told Here & Now. “The army becomes Washington’s army, not our army. And Washington has demonstrated a penchant for using the army recklessly.”

Obamacare Provokes 21 States Into Banning Abortion Coverage By Private Health Insurers - The result is that women in 23 states won't be able to go to an Obamacare insurance exchange and buy a health plan that includes coverage of abortion, except under extreme circumstances.

The Problem With Bill McKibben and John Kerry » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names - Ah, so the Obama administration announced yet another delay in the Keystone XL pipeline review. And what a brilliant decision is this non-decision

Richard Cohen and Betsy Karasik minimize rape in the pages of the Washington Post. - If you've been reading the Washington Post the past few days, you might conclude that sexual abuse is the inevitable result of girls being girls.
Emails show general warned against reversing Wilkerson verdict - News - Stripes (military rapist set free, of course)

NY case puts N-word use among blacks on trial - SFGate - In a case that gave a legal airing to the debate over use of the N-word among blacks, a federal jury has rejected a black manager's argument that it was a term of love and endearment when he aimed it at black employee.
School District Ends Policy Of Forcing Students To Kneel Down For Dismissal « CBS Los Angeles - School district officials in San Bernardino County say they will discontinue a policy that required elementary school students to kneel down before being dismissed to class.

With New York Times Influence, Bloomberg Headline Weirdness Fading - Zachary M. Seward - The Atlantic - “The headlines usually make sense once you’ve read the article.” Yeah, right. - DSM's Flirt With Red Hot Mamas Cuts Investor Love for Plastics (Grey Ladyification means no more fun)
BookDigits | A Smarter Way to Explore Books

Do all numbers have fucking infinite properties? I apologize in advance if this isn't the right sub : fuckingphilosophy
aight, what be foucauldian? : fuckingphilosophy

Men’s self esteem may suffer when their female partner succeeds, study suggests - Health - Boston.com - New research, in fact, suggests that, for some men, self esteem slides a little when their female romantic partner succeeds in academic or social settings. In a series of experiments involving nearly 900 volunteers, couples were asked to describe a time when their partner succeeded or were informed that their partner scored very high on problem-solving or social intelligence tests.

Myths Over Miami - Page 1 - News - Miami - Miami New Times - Captured on South Beach, Satan later escaped. His demons and the horrible Bloody Mary are now killing people. God has fled. Avenging angels hide out in the Everglades. And other tales from children in Dade's homeless shelters.

No adverse effects in volunteers following Phase I clinical trial of Sumagen AIDS vaccine - No adverse effects in volunteers following Phase I clinical trial of Sumagen AIDS vaccine- Western University
Psychedelics: The next frontier in drug legalization

DaGoodBoy comments on Married men of reddit, are you still (sexually) attracted to your wife?
Facebook's new face recognition policy astonishes German privacy regulator | PCWorld - "It is astonishing to find the facial recognition again in the new proposed privacy policy that Facebook published yesterday. We therefore have directly tried to contact officials from Facebook to find out if there is really a change in their data protection policy or if it is just a mistake of translation," Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Johannes Caspar said in an email on Friday.
Microsoft To Acquire Nokia's Mobile Phone Business For $7.2 Billion - Two years after hitching its fate to Microsoft's Windows Phone software, Nokia collapsed into the arms of the U.S. software giant on Tuesday, agreeing to sell its main handset business for 5.44 billion euros ($7.2 billion). (Finland has a major sad)

090213
Climate science alarming, irrefutable: Kerry - Yahoo! News - The 15 PIF nations include islands states such as Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Marshalls, where many atolls are barely a metre (three feet) above sea level and risk being engulfed by rising waters. (Republicans stick fingers in their ears, cry hoax)

Latest Radioactive Leak at Fukushima: How Is It Different? - Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) has discovered that 300 tons (nearly 72,000 gallons) of highly radioactive water has leaked from a holding tank into the ground over the past month.
Fukushima's Radioactive Plume Could Reach U.S. Waters By 2014
Fukushima Leaks: More Tank Leaks Found At Crippled Japanese Nuclear Plant
Fukushima: Japan promises swift action on nuclear cleanup | Environment | theguardian.com - Prime minister Shinzo Abe makes pledge amid growing concern at scale and complexity of operation (like they've been "promising" for two years)

Connecting Syria's allies and enemies - Interactive - Al Jazeera English - An interactive look at the political and military positions for and against military intervention in Syria.
Syria crisis: Obama to meet McCain over military action - live updates | World news | theguardian.com - Russia says evidence 'absolutely unconvincing'
China Urges U.S. Against Unilateral Syria Response
Syria crisis: MPs 'right to reject military action' - BBC poll - Almost three-quarters of people believe MPs were right to reject UK military action in Syria, a poll commissioned by the BBC has suggested.
What if Congress says no to President Obama on Syria? - chicagotribune.com - What if Congress says no to a Syria attack?
Syria Conflict: Opposition Leader Haytham Al-Manna Criticises Plans For US Military Intervention As 'Satanic' - The NCC's Manna, a veteran human-rights activist whose brother was killed by the Assad regime, said US ordnance won't "make the distinction between military and civilian targets. I saw what happened in Iraq..and all the [previous] American interventions."
Lawfare › The Administration’s Proposed Syria AUMF Is Very Broad [update on Ground Troops]
Congress 'Evenly Divided' On Obama's Next Move In Syria
The west's threat to attack Syria is an idiotic gesture | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | theguardian.com - A sceptical public recognises the futility of launching a missile strike that will not topple Bashar al-Assad
USS Nimitz aircraft carrier group rerouted to help US strike on Syria, if needed - report — RT News
Analysis: Putin sees chance to turn tables on Obama at G20 | Reuters - Less than three months after Vladimir Putin was cast as a pariah over Syria at the last big meeting of world leaders, the Russian president has glimpsed a chance to turn the tables on Barack Obama.
Guide to the Syrian opposition

The history of chemical weapons: The shadow of Ypres | The Economist - How a whole class of weaponry came to be seen as indecent
How Chemical Weapons Became Taboo | Foreign Affairs
Opinio Juris Opinio Juris »

Syria sought WMD material in Switzerland | The Raw Story - Syria made multiple attempts to buy equipment in Switzerland that could have been used to make weapons of mass destruction, but officials blocked the sales, Swiss authorities said Monday.
Reliable Sources Tackles Corporate Media's War Bias | Crooks and Liars - Anyone who paid even a little bit of attention to the media frenzy ahead of Iraq saw it again this past week. Granted, some of it was sparked by the White House and Department of State, but the media did not really approach it critically at all. (disgusting)
As Syria Falls, Russia Rises…on Twitter | Texifter, LLC. Blog
The Best Of The Internet's Reaction To Obama's Plans To Bomb Syria - The memes are running 10-1 against, Mr. President.
Why Professors Don't Make Good Presidents -- and Why Congress Should Support Obama on Syria Anyway | Shadow Government - Just in the last two weeks we've seen Obama take both sides of multiple issues, including whether the United States will continue staying out of the Syrian conflict or will intervene; whether an attack needs to take place imminently or not; whether an attack needs U.N. Security Council endorsement or not; whether an attack needs the support of allied nations or not; whether an attack needs congressional support or not; whether American credibility is at stake in Syria or not, and so on.
Making the Case and Accepting the Verdict by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - Having misstepped by threatening imminent military action against the Assad government in Syria without making a compelling public case or building the requisite domestic or international support, the president took the difficult but welcome step back over the weekend that I had hoped for without, well, a lot of hope that it would actually happen
Eschaton: The Foreign Policy Community - I have no idea what will - or, frankly should - happen going forward, but it seems that Obama has pissed off the foreign policy community of think tankers, journalists, and, of course, the military industrial complexers who think they run the world (and mostly do). That's probably a good thing.
Joe Lieberman Syria - Just Shut Up - Esquire - Let us be clear. There is no blazing, murderous maw into which Joe Lieberman would not be willing to feed someone else's child. There is no fiery death from above that he is not willing to inflict upon children in a distant land. The man could care less about the dead. He'd feed on them himself, if he could. (night of the living putz)
US Marines Website Hacked By Syrian Electronic Army | TPM LiveWire
Woman violently arrested for playing banjo in wrong place at Syria war protest in Philly | The Raw Story (vetern)
Crash Course: A Guide To 30 Years Of U.S. Military Strikes Against Other Nations
Daily Kos: And away we go
Noam Chomsky Weighs In On Syria Strike - A U.S.-led attack on Syria without United Nations support would be a war crime regardless of congressional approval, Noam Chomsky, the antiwar activist and author, said in response to President Barack Obama's announcement that he would seek Hill approval.

Afghanistan: suicide bombers close Nato supply route | World news | theguardian.com - Attack on US base near the border with Pakistan further disrupts Nato supply lines to Afghanistan ($3 trillion later)
Hamas slams Egyptian plan to create buffer zone with Gaza | JPost | Israel News - Egyptians protest after homes demolished to create buffer zone; Hamas official says Egyptian move could "solidify the blockade."
Reporters Without Borders Decries Deaths, Attacks On Journalists In Egypt
Nigeria's child brides: 'I thought being in labour would never end' | Global development | theguardian.com - Though child marriage is prohibited under Nigerian law, a toxic blend of routine and religion continues to ruin young lives

The Daily Dot - Wikipedia decides Chelsea Manning will remain 'Bradley' for now - While the English-language version of Wikipedia opted not to use Manning's new name, at least seven other editions of Wikipedia—including Swedish, Dutch, Persian, Danish, and Finnish—have adopted "Chelsea Manning" as the article title. (Wales is an idiot)

Russia warns citizens against visiting countries that extradite to the US — RT Russian politics
Drug Agents Use Vast Phone Trove, Eclipsing N.S.A.’s - NYTimes.com - For at least six years, law enforcement officials working on a counternarcotics program have had routine access, using subpoenas, to an enormous AT&T database that contains the records of decades of Americans’ phone calls — parallel to but covering a far longer time than the National Security Agency’s hotly disputed collection of phone call logs. The Hemisphere Project - Hemisphere covers every call that passes through an AT&T switch — not just those made by AT&T customers — and includes calls dating back 26 years (0bama's huge domestic spying program started by Reagan +not shy about their code names, are they?)
How “cell tower dumps” caught the High Country Bandits—and why it matters | Ars Technica (they know where you are, all the time)
The Daily Dot - AT&T has a record of everywhere you've carried your phone
NSA Spied On Brazil, Mexico Leaders, Glenn Greenwald Says - The National Security Agency's spy program targeted the communications of the Brazilian and Mexican presidents, and in the case of Mexico's leader accessed the content of emails before he was elected, the U.S. journalist who obtained secret documents from NSA leaker Edward Snowden said Sunday. (more "terrorists")
Brazil Angered Over Report N.S.A. Spied on President - NYTimes.com

Twitter / RCdeWinter: He was right. (prescient Jefferson)

Press Release: WikiLeaks Launches Criminal Investigation ahead of Wednesday’s Obama Visit to Sweden - WikiLeaks will file a criminal complaint in Sweden, ahead of the arrival of the US delegation. The complaint concerns the likely unlawful seizure of WikiLeaks property on 27 September 2010, following its publication of thousands of classified US intelligence documents on the war in Afghanistan. WikiLeaks’ publisher Julian Assange said: "Swedish authorities have the opportunity to demonstrate that no one, including state officials, is above the law."
WikiLeaks Criminal Complaint Claims U.S. Seized Leaked Garani Bombing Video - Forbes - accuses the U.S. government of taking a suitcase containing three of Assange’s laptops, which he had checked during a September 2010 flight from Stockholm to Berlin. Those laptops’ encrypted hard drives, Assange claims, included the Garani massacre video, as well as evidence of U.S. surveillance of Assange and a fellow activist in Germany and privileged communications between Assange and his lawyer.

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XXXIII - And once again, our count includes a 4-year-old girl accidentally shot by her 6-year-old brother.

Love for Labor Lost - NYTimes.com - It wasn’t always about the hot dogs. Originally, believe it or not, Labor Day actually had something to do with showing respect for labor.
It may be Labor Day weekend, but union power is waning | Harry J Enten | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Union membership is decreasing in America and so is the political influence of unions in elections
The Right’s Race to the Bottom Illustrated by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - I guess having served their purpose in the Cold War, unions are supposed to shuffle off to the dustbin of history like communism itself. But even putting aside the obvious devolution of GOP rhetoric on labor, Haley’s happy celebration of the maximum exploitation of her own people is remarkable.
90 Percent Of Employers Tie Workers' Pay To Company Performance - Caterpillar Inc has put workers on notice that its short-term incentive plan, the centerpiece of a performance-based, profit-sharing program, will make its smallest payout since the recession when the payments go out next March.
Nearly All Employed Americans Do Work-Related Tasks During Their Personal Time

Republican Activists Cheered By State Successes - Here's what fired up Washington-weary GOP stalwarts at a weekend conference of conservatives in this perennial swing state: pension overhauls in Wisconsin, tax cuts in Indiana and labor losses in Michigan.
what will happen when the Christian right takes over… | stuff that matters

Academy rape trial shows what accusers endure in military | Nation & World | The Seattle Times - At a time the military is under attack for how it handles sexual violence in its ranks, the proceedings at the Washington Navy Yard offer a case study on why women in uniform are so reluctant to report sexual assaults.
Male conductors are better for orchestras, says Vasily Petrenko | Music | The Guardian - Musicians distracted by 'cute girl on a podium', says conductor of National Youth Orchestra and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic



Thrill Seekers Less Adventurous Than A Generation Ago - Science News - redOrbit - Young men are less adventurous than they were a generation ago, primarily because they are less motivated and in worse physical condition than their fathers, researchers from the University of St. Andrews claim in a new study.
Study: Young men are less adventurous than they were a generation ago, primarily because they are less motivated and in worse physical condition than their fathers : science (younger generations and their boomer dads)
Sex differences in sensation-seeking: a meta-analysis : Scientific Reports : Nature Publishing Group

Scientific Evidence of popular health supplements


The Daily Dot - New Jersey makes it illegal for companies to demand employee social media info
randomblahblah comments on YSK that most of the frontpage of reddit is submitted by repost bots and 'power users'.
bryanwithY comments on What's your favourite non-fluff subreddit?
Levels of the World Wide Web - Imgur
::Welcome | Flutter Wireless - Arduino with 1km+ range via Kickstarter

090113
Fukushima radiation levels '18 times higher' than thought - It now says readings taken near the leaking tank on Saturday showed radiation was high enough to prove lethal within four hours of exposure. - The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) had originally said the radiation emitted by the leaking water was around 100 millisieverts an hour. However, the company said the equipment used to make that recording could only read measurements of up to 100 millisieverts. (yes, you read that right)
Eschaton: Fukushima - Obviously there's coverage, like the coverage that the radiation levels are 18 times what was measured previously because the fucking machines they were using previously could only measure up to 1/18 of the actual radiation levels... But, you know, you'd think that kind of thing would warrant Miley Cyrus level coverage.

M of A - Why Kerry's "Know" Speech Is Fundamentally Wrong - Kerry may think something or believe something but, despite him using the word 35 times, he does not know s... (hit)
Senate Democrats Drafting New Language For Authorization Of Military Force In Syria: Report
US politicians sceptical over proposed Syria strikes after classified briefing | World news | theguardian.com - Members of Congress who attended presentation of evidence in Capitol basement leave divided on nature of US response
Syrians in Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack by Dale Gavlak and Yahya Ababneh -- Antiwar.com (ignored)
Saudi Arabia Backs Syria Strikes, Boosting White House Case
President Pulls Lawmakers Into Box He Made - NYTimes.com
Obama's history-defying decision to seek Congressional approval on Syria - Yahoo! News
Tripping on His Own Red Line? - NYTimes.com - Then he offered his one caveat. “A red line for us,” he said, “is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized.”
France, following US and UK, applies brakes on Syrian war rhetoric — RT News
Britain sold nerve gas chemicals to Syria 10 months after war began - Daily Record - FURIOUS politicians have demanded Prime Minister David Cameron explain why chemical export licences were granted to firms last January – 10 months after the Syrian uprising began. (corpratocracies at work)
Obama goes to Congress on Syria as his International Support Collapses | Informed Comment
A Surgical Strike Of Another Kind | TPM Editors Blog - Whatever concerns you may have about President Obama ceding too much power to Congress, you have to admit that if he wanted to ignite a civil war between the isolationist and interventionist wings of the Republican Party, he could hardly have picked a better way to do it.
Netanyahu: Israel Ready For 'Any Possible Scenario' With Syria
The AUMF Crescent | emptywheel - The President would have authorization to use military force in an unbroken band of land from Israel’s border east to nuclear-armed Pakistan, with both the counter-Saudi Shia block and Sunni al Qaeda related terrorists included within the AUMFs. This, to fight a war that Israel and the Gulf states have allied (if you can call it that) to fight. (strange bedfellows)
John Kerry’s credibility problem by Samuel Knight | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - y. A working paper commissioned by the United Nations in 2002, for example, concluded that depleted uranium - allegedly the cause of widespread birth defects and illness in Iraq - should be considered among “weapons of mass destruction…with indiscriminate effect, or of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering” and, therefore, banned by the Geneva convention and other treaties. (it's ok when we do it)
Media Cheerleads For Another War: Blasts Obama For Not Rushing Into Syria | ThinkProgress - But for many in the media, the debate is not whether the United States should take military action, but rather why it hasn’t already begun its campaign. (they will make more money)
Obama, Congress and Syria | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The president is celebrated for seeking a vote on his latest war even as his aides make clear it has no binding effect (typical 0bama move)

Morsi To Be Tried For Inciting Violence
Egypt Deports Al-Jazeera English Language TV Crew
Syria Death Toll: More than 110,000 Dead In Conflict, NGO Says (how's that surgey-thing working out for you?)
UN: Over 800 People Killed In Iraq In August
Istanbul Protests: Police Block Gezi Park As Peace Demonstrations Erupt - "United States, killers, stay out of Syria," shouted protesters, who are firmly opposed to Ankara's support for proposed US-led air strikes against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

Three militants dead in suspected US drone strike in Pakistan | World news | theguardian.com - Two also wounded in Mussaki village in North Waziristan as Pakistan's foreign ministry condemn strikes as 'unilateral' (drone-boy at work in the WH basement bombing other countries, all legal under the AUMF)

The NSA hacks other countries by buying millions of dollars’ worth of computer vulnerabilities - This year alone, the NSA secretly spent more than $25 million to procure “‘software vulnerabilities’ from private malware vendors,” according to a wide-ranging report on the NSA’s offensive work by the Post’s Barton Gellman and Ellen Nakashima ... Zero-days are particularly effective weapons that can sell for up to hundreds of thousands of dollars each.
NSA hacked Al-Jazeera and Russia’s Aeroflot – report — RT News (terrorists!)
Microsoft pledges to move forward with NSA surveillance lawsuit - latimes.com

Cuts to wildfire projects have harmed Yosemite fire recovery, critics say | World news | theguardian.com - Tree-thinning projects approved by US forest service but never funded by Congress may have slowed fire's progress (Republicans like to burn things down)

The conservative crackup: How the Republican Party lost its mind - Salon.com - But the Republican electorate is now almost as purified as the Republican Party. Not only is it unlikely to support Democratic candidates, it’s virtually certain to punish any Republican politician who works with Democrats. The electoral logic of bipartisanship has collapsed for most Republicans; they have very little to gain, and much to lose, if they practice it. And so they don’t.

Gov. McDonnell described as aware of gifts from Virginia businessman - The Washington Post (grifters grift)

Obama is all about 'universal rights' - except for Muslims | Uzma Kolsy | Comment is free | theguardian.com - It's time the president acknowledges that systematized discrimination against Muslims is real and thriving

Sundays With The Christianists: American History Textbooks For Homeschoolers In A House Divided - . And where our other textbook, the 11th/12-grade United States History for Christian Schools (Bob Jones University Press), identified the central issue of the war as the question of whether “states that voluntarily joined the Union by ratifying the Constitution [could] voluntarily leave the Union,” Land I Love takes a broader view: (dumbification of Christian youth)

Diabetes best fought with fruit not juice, says study | Society | theguardian.com - The scientists, from the UK, Singapore, and US, found that certain fruits, including blueberries, grapes (and raisins), apples and pears were particularly protective.
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition - Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets - Recent work over the last decade or so has provided evidence of the therapeutic potential of ketogenic diets in many pathological conditions, such as diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, acne, neurological diseases, cancer and the amelioration of respiratory and cardiovascular disease risk factors.
Abraham Maslow and the pyramid that beguiled business (Einstein and Maslow "self-actualized" but nobody else)



alicublog: SEE YOU IN THE NORTON ANTHOLOGY. - I should mention, now that he's gone ahead and pulled the trigger, that Tbogg has for years been one of my favorite writers -- and I needn't qualify that with "in the blogosphere," which is like calling someone the smartest guy on a National Review cruise
The Month Liberal Blogging Died - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Dan Nexon joins TBogg and David Roberts in announcing their departure from blogging in August.
Vaguely Organised Musings on the Value of Blogging for the Academy and Academics - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Post-publication peer review: How it (sometimes) really works — The Monkey Cage
Part 1: Using an ISSN for Your Blog: Is It Really Worth It? | ThisIsInspired Magazine

Anti-patent-troll ads launch on radio and in print in 15 states | Ars Technica - Tech companies join retailers, restaurants, and grocers to get Congress' attention.

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Obama Says U.S. Should Take Action In Syria, Will Seek Congress' Authorization For Use Of Force
Graham: Response in Syria 'going to make things worse' - The Hill's DEFCON Hill - Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said late Friday that President Obama has "mishandled [Syria] as badly as he could" and warned that the U.S. response there "is going to make things worse." (wants to invade)
Experts Fear That U.S. Plan to Strike Syria Overlooks Risks - NYTimes.com - “Our biggest problem is ignorance; we’re pretty ignorant about Syria,” said Ryan C. Crocker, a former ambassador to Syria and Lebanon
In News Coverage and Editorials on Syria, How Much Skepticism in The Times? - NYTimes.com - Mr. Baquet told me that the specter of Iraq is not something that has come up explicitly for discussion in meetings he has held among editors and reporters on the Syria coverage. The press’s coverage of Iraq always lurks in the background. But it was a long, long time ago.” (several hundred years, at least) )
Barack Obama is proving an embarrassing amateur on the world stage compared to George W. Bush – Telegraph Blogs (isn't very good at much of anything except giving speeches) It is a truly embarrassing state of affairs when Paris, at best a fair weather friend, is your only partner. John Kerry tried to put a brave face on it at his press conference today, by referring to France “as our oldest ally,” but the fact remains that his administration is looking painfully isolated.
U.S. Had Intel on Chemical Strike Before It Was Launched | The Cable - American intelligence agencies had indications three days beforehand that the Syrian regime was poised to launch a lethal chemical attack that killed more than a thousand people and has set the stage for a possible U.S. military strike on Syria.
Russia's Vladimir Putin challenges US on Syria claims - Russian President Vladimir Putin has challenged the US to present to the UN evidence that Syria attacked rebels with chemical weapons near Damascus.
Putin says US should present Syria chemical weapons evidence to UN Security Council
White House peeved at Pentagon leaks - politico.com - But a number of leaks have been decidedly unauthorized -- and, according to Obama administration sources, likely emanating from a Pentagon bureaucracy less enthusiastic about the prospect of an attack than, say, the State Department, National Security Council or Obama himself. (Pentagon whistle-blowing 0bama)
Syria is set to become a fractured state like the former Yugoslavia | Thomas H Henriksen | Comment is free | theguardian.com - A US strike on Syria is as much about beating back al-Qaida affiliates as it is about Bashar al-Assad
A Guide to the Citizen Journalists Feeding Us News From Syria | New Republic
Some see Syria as edge for Obama in fiscal showdown (Video) - The Hill's On The Money - They said the Syria crisis could boost calls by President Obama and defense hawks to reverse the automatic spending cuts to the Pentagon known as sequestration.
F.B.I. Sharpens Scrutiny of Syrians in U.S. - NYTimes.com (+cyberattacks!)

In Afghanistan, resurgent Taliban takes toll; more than 100 die in attacks in the past week - The Washington Post (3 tillion dollars later)
Egypt's Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie 'suffers heart attack' in jail | World news | theguardian.com - Badie, whose condition is said to be stable, was among many Muslim Brotherhood leaders arrested in recent crackdown
Mohammed Basindawa Assassination Attempt: Yemeni Prime Minister Escapes After Gunmen Open Fire On Motorcade
For Some Afghans, Cost of Doing Business Includes U.S. Lawyers - NYTimes.com - KABUL, Afghanistan — Dollar for dollar, Mahmood Karzai may well hold the title for getting the least value out of his pricey American lawyers. Mr. Karzai, a brother of President Hamid Karzai, paid one of them $100,000, and all he got was a single meeting and one follow up e-mail — and then the lawyer died.

U.S. spy agencies mounted 231 offensive cyber-operations in 2011, documents show - The Washington Post - That disclosure, in a classified intelligence budget provided by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, provides new evidence that the Obama administration’s growing ranks of cyberwarriors infiltrate and disrupt foreign computer networks. (Obama loves waging war) Budget documents say the $652 million project has placed “covert implants,” sophisticated malware transmitted from far away, in computers, routers and firewalls on tens of thousands of machines every year, with plans to expand those numbers into the millions.
Microsoft and Google to sue over US surveillance requests | Law | The Guardian - Technology firms want to be allowed to publish information about US government requests under the Fisa legislation
Washington Post report details how often security agencies break into other networks
NSA Spied on Al Jazeera Communications: Snowden Document - spiegel online (they were "terrorists" with their reporting)
Germany should lead on disarming our global surveillance system | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Despite its privacy laws, Germany is the most spied-on country in Europe. The Pirate party is committed to turning this around
Internet Surveillance and Boomerang Routing: A Call for Canadian Network Sovereignty by Jonathan A. Obar, Andrew Clement :: SSRN (Canada sends it's internet traffic to US so NSA can spy on it and then send it back)
The ACLU wages a long-shot legal battle against NSA surveillance | The Verge

Scary Thought on Labor Day Weekend: Obama's Economic Team Think They Are Doing a Good Job | Beat the Press - President Obama's economic team think they are doing a great job, hence the desire to bring back former teammate Larry Summers as Fed chair. This is terrifying because the economy this Labor Day is described by a set of statistics that can only be described as horrible.

Judge refuses to toss climate scientist Mann’s defamation lawsuit - The Hill's E2-Wire - A superior court judge has denied the National Review’s motion to reconsider her prior refusal to dismiss prominent climate scientist Michael Mann’s defamation lawsuit against the conservative magazine and website. CEI’s post also compared Mann to convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky, calling Mann “the Jerry Sandusky of climate science” by alleging he “molested and tortured data.”

Police Groups Furiously Protest Eric Holder's Marijuana Policy Announcement - WASHINGTON -- A broad coalition of law enforcement officers who have spent the past three decades waging an increasingly militarized drug war that has failed to reduce drug use doesn't want to give up the fight.

Some Republicans are nuts, but the party leaders are not | Harry J Enten | Comment is free | theguardian.com - There are extreme Republicans, but the leadership is not about to allow the party to go the way of the Whigs (see chart: Rethugs now the party of Goldwater)
Politically, Our Next Big Thing - NYTimes.com - There are no major Congressional elections this fall, except that one lone Senate special election in New Jersey, where Cory Booker is facing The Person Running Against Cory Booker.
G.O.P. Senators Fail to Head Off Primary Challenges by Tea Party Rivals - NYTimes.com
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball » Virginia Governor: A Favorite Emerges - As the calendar turns to September, the nation’s marquee race in 2013 is coming into focus: Terry McAuliffe (D) now has an edge over Ken Cuccinelli (R) in the Virginia gubernatorial race, and we’re changing our rating in the contest from toss-up to LEANS DEMOCRATIC.
Ken Cuccinelli’s Involvement With Hardline Misogynists | The Raw Story
Ken Cuccinelli’s family law stance won him support of fathers’ rights movement - The Washington Post
Cornel West Attacks Al Sharpton: ‘Bonafide House Negro of the Obama Plantation’ | Mediaite - West and Tavis Smiley both lamented that black leadership has become “so sold-out” so as not to have the courage to be a “bull in the china shop,” break rank, and talk about “racism, poverty, and militarism” at an otherwise “bought-out” event.
IRS Scandal Didn't Happen To The Tea Party; It Was Invented By The Tea Party | Crooks and Liars - Yesterday the Wall Street Journal published an amazingly dishonest profile of Jenny Beth Martin, head of the national Tea Party Patriots organization. The gist of the 2000-word article was this: If the IRS hadn't 'victimized' the Tea Party, they would have died on the vine, but now they're revived. Praise the Lord and pass the donation plate!

A laurel to The Dallas Morning News : Columbia Journalism Review - Months after West blast, a report highlights what we don’t know about chemical safety
After West disaster, News study finds U.S. chemical safety data wrong about 90 percent | Dallasnews.com - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News

Gender pay gap: The familiar line that “women make 77 cents to every man’s dollar” simply isn’t accurate. - Slate Magazine - You know that “women make 77 cents to every man’s dollar” line you’ve heard a hundred times? It’s not true. Then, when you restrict the comparison to men and women working 40 hours a week, the gap narrows to 87 percent (or maybe 91%)

Penn president Gutmann's pay tops $2 million - The University of Pennsylvania sharply increased the compensation package for its president, Amy Gutmann, from $1.46 million in 2010-11 to more than $2 million in 2011-12 - a pay boost of 43 percent, according to the university's latest tax filing.

Journey into a Libertarian Future: Part VI – Certainty « naked capitalism (Libertards)

This Week in Review: Journalism and the surveillance state, and ESPN’s conflict of interest » Nieman Journalism Lab
What’s New in Digital Scholarship: Reporters ignoring technology, the continuing power of print, and booze on Facebook » Nieman Journalism Lab
The newsonomics of big and little, from NBC News and GlobalPost to Thunderdome » Nieman Journalism Lab
The difference between a tablespoon and an ocean: An academic blog finds a home at The Washington Post » Nieman Journalism Lab - The Monkey Cage, run by political scientists, is joining up with the capital’s daily. The Post gets high-quality content, the bloggers get an audience, and hopefully, everybody gets paid.
If you use WordPress, you too can have tweetable sentences like in that New York Times SNL story » Nieman Journalism Lab
Clarion call : Columbia Journalism Review - The future of the alternative press can be found in its past
On civil rights coverage, a look back : Columbia Journalism Review - Some newspapers have apologized for ignoring black voices before and during the civil rights era. More papers should.

Sex between students and teachers should not be a crime - The Washington Post - I’ve been a 14-year-old girl, and so have all of my female friends. When it comes to having sex on the brain, teenage boys got nothin’ on us. When I was growing up in the 1960s and ’70s, the sexual boundaries between teachers and students were much fuzzier. Throughout high school, college and law school, I knew students who had sexual relations with teachers
#WaPoPitch: G. Todd Baugh Was Right! - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Karasik goes on to argue that the statutory rape of students by teachers should be treated the same way as sexual relations between teachers and students who are both adults — i.e. as a firable offense but not a criminal one. The argument gets more and more bizarre from there:
Montana, Massachusetts rape cases: When judges can’t get even the easy cases right, we’re in trouble. - Slate Magazine - When courts can’t get even the easy cases right, we’re in big trouble.
The Myth of the Teenage Temptress: Or Why A Young Girl Can Not Consent to Sex With An Adult Man | xoJane - A Senior High teacher convicted of raping a 14-year-old student who later committed suicide was sentenced to spend just 30 days in jail, partly because the victim seemed "older than her chronological age." (+Massachusetts is one of 31 states in which rapists are allowed to sue for child custody and visitation)

Accidental Rapist - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic - There's a piece up at our site right now by David Goldberg on his struggles with pedophilia. We pick up the story after Goldberg has been busted for watching child-porn: (comments are interesting, see ltf, justchaz and peg; TNC gets obtuse)
What Can Be Done About Pedophilia? - Alice Dreger - The Atlantic - Academics on the most common questions, and where we stand with "treatment" (for instance, they can't go to therapy because of mandatory reporting)
On Marrying a Survivor of Childhood Sexual Abuse - Shonna Milliken Humphrey - The Atlantic - Dealing with misinformation, feeling powerless, and slowly getting better together
Hebephilia as Mental Disorder? | IPCE
A New Way to Be Mad - Carl Elliott - The Atlantic

Kym Worthy and the fight to investigate Detroit's 11,000 forgotten rapes | Society | The Guardian - A rape kit is a sexual assault kit used to take and preserve forensic evidence through DNA swabs following an allegation of rape. Spada had stumbled across approximately 11,000 of these kits lying in random order, uncatalogued, unattended and uninvestigated.
Finally, Congress shows interest in USA Swimming sex abuse scandal - The Hill's Congress Blog - It appears that the worst sex abuse scandal in the history of American sports is finally getting the attention it has demanded for decades. And Congress is taking notice. USA Swimming literally joined forces with Catholic Church lobbyists to defeat the bill.

The Weekend Interview with Craig Zucker: What Happens When a Man Takes on the Feds - WSJ.com - Buckyballs was the hottest office game on the market. Then regulators banned it. Now the government wants to ruin the CEO who fought back.

Caffeine May Contribute to Healthy Liver, Researchers Suggest | Medicine | Sci-News.com - Increased caffeine intake may reduce fatty liver in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, according to a group of researchers led by Dr Paul Yen from the Duke University Medical Center.
Poverty impairs cognitive function - Poverty consumes so much mental energy that those in poor circumstances have little remaining brainpower to concentrate on other areas of life, new research finds. As a result, those with few resources are more likely to make bad decisions that perpetuate their financial woes.
Bloggingheads.tv - The Mind Report podcasts

New Zealand just abolished software patents. Here’s why we should, too. - New Zealand just abolished software patents. Here’s why we should, too.

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Map of religion in the Middle East | The Gulf blog
The Economist explains: What is the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims? | The Economist
Sunnis and Shiites

U.S.: Syrian Chemical Attack Killed 1,429, Including 426 Children | TPM LiveWire
US set for Syria strikes after Kerry says evidence of chemical attack is 'clear' | World news | theguardian.com
David Cameron accused Ed Miliband of 'siding with Russia' over Syria | Politics | The Guardian - Labour sources reveal PM had acrimonious phone call with opposition leader a day before crucial failed vote on intervention
John Kerry Makes Case For Syria Strike, But Questions Linger
The Witnesses - By David Kenner | Foreign Policy - "The chemical attacks, on the first day of the massacre, claimed the lives of many media activists in Zamalka coordination because they inhaled the chemical toxic gases," Murad Abu Bilal, the sole survivor, told Zaitouneh in an interview uploaded to -- what else -- YouTube. "[T]hey went out to shoot and collect information about the chemical attack, but none of them came back."
'Shut Up, He Explained': More on Syria - James Fallows - The Atlantic - "Credibility is a fraud," and other reader views.
Let's Avoid the Fog of War - The benefits of a U.S. military strike against Syria don't outweigh the costs.
Will Congress Continue to Refuse Its War Powers Responsibilities? - An explainer on how Congress has slowly abdicated its war powers to the executive branch, and why this is a very bad thing
John Kerry Syria Speech - It's On - Esquire - So I wondered what Maher Arar thought today when George W. Bush, under whose policies Arar was tortured by the regime of Bashar al-Assad crawled out from under the landfill of moral disgrace under which he and his presidency have been buried to say that, he "was not a fan" of Assad. You were quite the fan of Mr. Assad when he was doing your torturing for you. Just shut up, you sad little child. Just shut up and go away. Maher Arar should arrange to spit on you.
Government 'may sanction chemical incapacitant use on rioters', scientists fear - Crime - UK - The Independent - Leading neuroscientists believe that the UK Government may be about to sanction the development of chemical incapacitants for British police that would be banned in warfare under an international treaty on chemical weapons. (Obama will cruise-missile them)
The Daily Dot - Anonymous planning protest against New Zealand surveillance bill


UK took three weeks to act over data at New York Times, says Guardian | World news | The Guardian - Alan Rusbridger hits back at Downing Street's claims in high court that it 'urgently' needed access to leaked GCHQ files
Guardian Agrees To Let Government Keep Looking Through David Miranda Documents - LONDON — The Guardian newspaper and Britain's government have agreed to allow the authorities to keep sifting through documents seized from the partner of one of the paper's journalists until a full hearing on the issue in October.
Reporting the NSA spying revelations: Q&A with Guardian editors | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger and Guardian US editor Janine Gibson answer questions about the NSA revelations at 10amET/3pmBST

President Obama's NSA review panel isn't the change we need | The Verge - On Tuesday, President Barack Obama officially announced the five men in charge of reviewing the secretive and powerful US intelligence apparatus: Richard A. Clarke, Michael Morell, Cass Sunstein, Geoffrey Stone, and Peter Swire.
US should re-evaluate surveillance laws, ex-NSA chief acknowledges | World news | theguardian.com - Bobby Ray Inman defends the NSA's bulk surveillance but says the nature of communications has changed – and that the US must revisit laws in the private sector as well
The Black Budget | emptywheel
Microsoft, Google, as Unimpressed as I Am with I Con’s New Data Release Promise | emptywheel
Administration Continues to Disappoint on Transparency Around NSA Surveillance | Center for Democracy & Technology

UK asked N.Y. Times to destroy Snowden material | Reuters - , was greeted by Abramson with silence
CIA is largest US spy agency, according to black budget leaked by Edward Snowden - The Washington Post
Snowden Effect Black Budget - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - I'm sorry for all the people who don't invite Glenn Greenwald to dinner, but this is actual whistleblowing ... The agency was transformed from a spy service struggling to emerge from the Cold War into a paramilitary force.

Schneier on Security: How Many Leakers Came Before Snowden? - Given that, why should anyone believe that Snowden is the first person to walk out the NSA's door with multiple gigabytes of classified documents? He might be the first to release documents to the public, but it's a reasonable assumption that the previous leakers were working for Russa, or China, or elsewhere.
An Illustration of How the NSA Misleads the Public Without Technically Lying | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Eschaton: Laundry - It's really hard to tell a story that massive, secret surveillance of everybody is motivated by the need to defend the US from terrorist attacks. The threat's too small--the signal/noise ratio too low and, besides, the groups are small enough to operate outside the surveillance net. It's a classic HUMINT operation.
Is the intelligence community running America? - Is the upper echelon of the American intelligence community running the country? I know that’s an explosive idea, and easily dismissed as being so far out of the mainstream that it’s got no stream at all. (they are sure running 0bama)
The Impending Senate Vote on Confirming Nominees - James Fallows - The Atlantic - The Deep State is a hybrid of national security and law enforcement agencies, key nodes of the judiciary (like FISC, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Southern District of Manhattan); cleared contractors, Silicon Valley (whose cooperation is critical), and Wall Street.
The Definitive NSA Parody Site Is Actually Informative - Forbes
NSA Utah Data Center - Serving Our Nation's Intelligence Community
The NSA has its own team of elite hackers
Why’d Ya Have to Do It Evil Genius? » Balloon Juice (just noting commenters have not evolved at all with the story)

Julian Assange told: stop using embassy to make fun of politicians | Media | theguardian.com - Ecuador's Rafael Correa sends letter to WikiLeaks founder asking him to desist ridiculing Australian political figures

Judge Says Search Warrants for E-mails Must Be 'Limited' - NYTimes.com
Exclusive: How An Army Computer Security Flaw Got Swept Under The Rug - Tech companies offer thousands of dollars for reported bugs. The military hands out nondisclosure agreements - Retaliation against internal whistle-blowers is a fact of military life. Between October 2012 and April 2013, the Department of Defense’s inspector general’s office received 695 complaints about “whistleblower reprisal, restriction of service members from contacting an IG or member of Congress, procedurally improper mental health referrals and senior official misconduct.” Those are only the cases which were reported.

Victory! Federal Court Recognizes Constitutional Rights of Americans on the No-Fly List | American Civil Liberties Union - A federal court took a critically important step late yesterday towards placing a check on the government's secretive No-Fly List. In a 38-page ruling in Latif v. Holder, the ACLU's challenge to the No-Fly List, U.S. District Court Judge Anna Brown recognized that the Constitution applies when the government bans Americans from the skies.
Federal court will hear constitutional challenge to ‘No Fly List’ — RT USA
Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Disclosure of White House Visitor Logs (it's all top-secrit)

Aniruddha Sherbow’s Alleged Ties, Threats To Rep. Tulsi Gabbard | TPMMuckraker - “I smell a skunk,” Tulsi Gabbard wrote, according to the magazine. “It’s clear to me that you’re acting as a conduit for The Honolulu Weekly and other homosexual extremist supporters of Ed Case.” ... Gabbard’s spokeswoman, Heather Fluit, did not respond to a question from TPM Thursday about whether the congresswoman identifies as either a Hare Krishna or a follower of Butler. (Dem Congresswoman is anti-gay ISKCON)


Paul Krugman: Stimulus Was 'Too Little,' And Now It's Almost All Gone (thanks to Larry "Fail Upward" Summers)
Too Little, Gone Too Soon - NYTimes.com
Robert Reich: McDonald's And Walmart Can Afford $15 An Hour Wages (video)

The Most Efficient Healthcare Systems In The World (INFOGRAPHICS) - It's remarkable how low America places in healthcare efficiency: among the 48 countries included in the Bloomberg study, the U.S. ranks 46th, outpacing just Serbia and Brazil. Once that sinks in, try this one on for size: the U.S. ranks worse than China, Algeria, and Iran. (but #1 in wars and surveillance!)

Why It's Easier To Buy An Assault Weapon Than To Vote, In One Graphic | ThinkProgress

Painkiller addictions worst drug epidemic in US history | Al Jazeera America - Fatal overdoses have reached epidemic levels, exceeding those from heroin and cocaine combined, according to the CDC
These States Are Most Likely To Legalize Pot Next

The antimatter factory: inside the project that could power fusion and annihilation lasers | The Verge
Scientists find a chasm longer than the Grand Canyon under Greenland's ice sheet | The Verge

Whiskey Fire: Unaccountable Rich Spooky Corporations: Making Everything Worse for Everybody - Oh those adorable rich creepy assholes. What won't they ruin!
The Hidden History of New York City’s Central Library Plan | The Nation - Why did one of the world’s greatest libraries adopt a $300 million transformation without any real public debate? And what was the role of Booz Allen Hamilton—the gargantuan consulting firm whose tentacles reach into the defense, energy, transportation and financial service sectors—which was hired by the NYPL in 2007 to formulate what became known inside the trustee meetings as “the strategy”? (it's all top-secrit; also, see Cooper Union)

The Daily Dot - Reddit's r/news bans RT.com for alleged spamming
Twitter rolls out 'report abuse' button for individual tweets: Will you use it? | Technology | theguardian.com - Twitter has introduced an in-tweet "report abuse" button. Will you use it? What are other alternatives and suggestions to help stamp out threads of violence online? Comment here
Twitter's top lawyer and free speech advocate leaves the company | The Verge
Bitcoin-friendly Internet Credit Union suddenly dumps accounts, citing 'regulatory issues' | The Verge
Dark Patterns: inside the interfaces designed to trick you | The Verge (yeah, they do it on purpose)
special report: Homeless In Silicon Valley - Business Insider

082913
Renaming Storms After Climate Change Deniers - Best. Idea. Ever. - Esquire - Or, to make it simple, we could call all of them Inhofes. Inhofe I, Inhofe 2: Electric Boogaloo, Inhofe III: The Inhofying.
As Rim Fire Rages, California GOPer Repeats Claim: Wildfires Aren't Connected To Global Warming - Earlier this month, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) told a town hall that global warming "is a total fraud" perpetuated by people who "want to create global government to control all of our lives." Climate change, he said, has nothing to do with the wildfires that are currently ravaging his home state.
Keystone XL's Climate Impact Would Be Enormous, According to Enviros
People Don’t Fear Climate Change Enough
Looking Back at Katrina: 8 Years Later - SKYE on AOL - Direct damages have been estimated at about $108 billion, but the overall cost of rebuilding raises estimates as high as $150 billion. Katrina greatly topped the estimated $50 billion in damages caused by superstorm Sandy during its East Coast rampage in 2012, according to the National Hurricane Center.

MPs vote down military intervention in Syria: Politics live blog
Stephen Harper: Canada has no plans to join Syria military mission | Canada | News | Toronto Sun
So, What’s It Going To Be? | The Onion - By Bashar al-Assad
On Rhetoric and Regime Change: This Is How I End Up Sucked In - democracyarsenal.org
Obama administration to press case on Syria but support for strikes wavers | World news | theguardian.com - Congressional leaders to be briefed on chemical weapons evidence as White House resists comparisons with Iraq war (no oil)
US says Syria air strikes would be 'discrete and limited' – live updates | World news | theguardian.com - US 'appreciates' strong words from UK, White House says • Doubts circulate about case tying Assad to chemical weapons
America Could Launch Military Strikes Against Syria Without Waiting For Britain - Business Insider - However US officials said on Thursday Mr Obama would not be constrained by waiting for a British parliamentary vote or by trying to forge a consensus at the United Nations where an "intransigent" Russia has made clear it would veto any resolution to use force.

U.S. Syria Conflict: Intelligence On Chemical Weapons Is No 'Slam Dunk,' Officials Say
Bashar Assad: 'Syria Will Defend Itself'
Syria: UK intelligence blames Assad regime for chemical attacks | World news | theguardian.com - No 10 publishes assessment as MPs are put on notice they may have to return to Commons for weekend vote on military action
UK report on chemical attack in Syria adds nothing to informed speculation | World news | theguardian.com - A striking lack of scientific evidence leads the Joint Intelligence Committee to fall back on well-worn assertions (aluminum tubes!)
UK: Syria Strike Legal Conditions Clearly Met
Syria Chemical Weapons UN: Ban Ki-moon Pleads For More Time To Conduct Probe
Syria 2013: Polls Say Republicans Most Supportive | New Republic - Tea Party and the GOP Base Are Out of Step on Syria - To date, every survey about a hypothetical strike on Syria after chemical weapons use shows Republicans more supportive than the general public, than Democrats, and with a majority of Republicans on board.

White House On Syria Response: If 'Legal Justification Is Required.. We'll Produce One' (but it will be classified, so you can't read it)
Obama Refused to Send Gas Masks to Syrian Opposition for Over a Year - The Daily Beast (makes you wonder)

Syrian Army Moves Scud Missiles From Damascus As Western Strike Looms
Russia Sends Warships To Mediterranean Amid Syria Tension
U.S. Intelligence Committees On Syria: We Haven't Been Properly Consulted - One of the officials said the administration's discussions with critical lawmakers, including Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein and her House counterpart, Mike Rogers, had been limited to "very brief status updates."
Donald Rumsfeld: Obama Administration Has Not Justified Syria Intervention (he should know)
Alan Grayson On Syria Strike: 'Nobody Wants This Except The Military-Industrial Complex' (= Obama)
“We’re going to take out 7 countries in 5 years: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan & Iran..” | Global Research - Video Interview with General Wesley Clark
Lawrence Wilkerson On Syria Intelligence: 'It Seems Like The Same Thing Again'

Eleven or More Alternatives to Missiles or Inaction in #Syria As we celebrate - Pastebin.com
How U.S. Strikes on Syria Help Al Qaeda - The Daily Beast - The most successful rebel group in Syria is a militant jihadist group. Barak Barfi on how it came out on top. (Obama has agreed to provide AQ with their own air force)
Cost to US of Iraq and Afghan wars could hit $6 trillion - The cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could reach as high as $6 trillion dollars – or $75,000 for every household in America – a new study from Harvard University has found. (Republicans at war, so we have to cut "entitlements")
New Chemical Weapons In Syria - The Newest Problem In Syria - Esquire - I think "it's complicated" is one of the worst historical contexts for making war in a place that I've ever heard, especially given the events of the past decade and the whole Syria thing is starting to get insanely complicated.
Activist Post: U.S. Web Attacks Skyrocket Ahead of Mid East Action: 81% Above Normal

13 quotes from George Orwell's 1984 that resonate more than ever

Twitter / AnonChingShih: Meanwhile the sea is boiling ... - on the coast of Japan from the runaway cores at Fukushima. THE FUCKING SEA IS BOILING!!!
2tb-east_13082701-e.pdf - Detailed Analysis Results in the Port of Fukushima Daiichi NPS, around Discharge Channel and Bank Protection (1/3) Underground Water Obtained at Bank Protection
Four Al-Jazeera journalists arrested in Cairo | Media | The Guardian - Qatar-based news network says it is victim of campaign after Mubasher Misr affiliate was raided and staff detained
Italian court insists Berlusconi devised tax fraud | World news | The Guardian
Saudi Arabia Passes Domestic Abuse Ban For First Time
Kenya Bus Crash Kills 41, Red Cross Says - Police said more than two dozen others were injured. Police officer Samuel Kimaru said the bus veered off the road around 2 a.m. and landed on its roof.
Nigerian police arrest man after CNN interview scam | World news | The Guardian - A 36-year-old man posed as a reporter for the US network channel to interview Nigerian officials in exchange for money (Nigerian scammers scamming Nigerian scammers)
Angela Merkel: Greece 'Should Not Have Been Admitted' Into The Euro Zone

‘Black budget’ summary details U.S. spy network’s successes, failures and objectives - The Washington Post - The $52.6 billion “black budget” for fiscal 2013, obtained by The Washington Post from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, maps a bureaucratic and operational landscape that has never been subject to public scrutiny. Although the government has annually released its overall level of intelligence spending since 2007, it has not divulged how it uses those funds or how it performs against the goals set by the president and Congress. (" courtesy of Edward Snowden, who increasingly appears to have known more about the federal government than the president."
spy-budget-fy13.pdf
US intelligence spending has doubled since 9/11, top secret budget reveals | World news | theguardian.com - CIA takes biggest share of $52.6bn intelligence spending in secret 'black budget' that also details gaps in US knowledge
New Snowden Leak Reports 'Groundbreaking' NSA Crypto-Cracking | Threat Level | Wired.com - The Post’s article doesn’t detail the “groundbreaking cryptanalytic capabilities” Clapper mentions, and there’s no elaboration in the portion of the document published by the paper. But the document shows that 21 percent of the intelligence budget — around $11 billion — is dedicated to the Consolidated Cryptologic Program that staffs 35,000 employees in the NSA and the armed forces.
Tell The White House You Oppose The FBI’s Secret New Internet Surveillance Law - Electronic Frontier Foundation - The new version of CALEA would force companies to provide a secret backdoor to your digital communications.
James Clapper To Release Surveillance Document Figures Annually - The nation's top intelligence official said Thursday that he'll now release figures every year on how many new top secret court orders and national security letters are issued and how many people are targeted because of them.
The Daily Dot - Syrian Electronic Army threatens Vice for identifying its alleged leader
Who Built the Syrian Electronic Army? — Krebs on Security
Experts: Syrian Cyber Attacks are “Entry-Level S#!t” » RYOT News

Edward Snowden Impersonated NSA Officials: Report - "Every day, they are learning how brilliant [Snowden] was,” an anonymous former intelligence official told NBC. "This is why you don’t hire brilliant people for jobs like this. You hire smart people. Brilliant people get you in trouble.” (just a high-school education kid, doesn't even know what a "server" is; libtards' heads explode)
To hunt Osama bin Laden, satellites watched over Abbottabad, Pakistan, and Navy SEALs - The Washington Post - The new disclosures about the hunt for bin Laden are contained in classified documents that detail this year’s “black budget” for U.S. intelligence agencies, including the NSA and CIA. The documents, provided to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden

Nasdaq internal report singles out rival NYSE as cause of three-hour crash | Business | theguardian.com - Review of 'unprecedented events' that led to last week's crash points finger at rival but critics eye flaws in Nasdaq's own system

Gun Bill in Missouri Would Test Limits in Nullifying U.S. Law - NYTimes.com - Unless a handful of wavering Democrats change their minds, the Republican-controlled Missouri legislature is expected to enact a statute next month nullifying all federal gun laws in the state and making it a crime for federal agents to enforce them here. A Missourian arrested under federal firearm statutes would even be able to sue the arresting officer.
Will Constitutional Conservatives Defy the Constitution? by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - In the last few years we’ve gotten used to a renaissance in secessionist and nullification rhetoric on the Right. But there is nothing quite like the current saga in Missouri, where the Republican-controlled state legislature may be on the brink of overriding a (Democratic) gubernatorial veto of legislation that not only purports to nullify federal gun laws but to make their enforcement a criminal offense. but it won’t do much for the reputation of constitutional conservatives if they ride this crazy train to the Sea of Madness, where the furies howl. ("Teaparty is the resurrection of the Confederacy" -JJ - will 0bama invade?)
The Flare-Up of a Preexisting Condition by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - These folk have survived far greater calamities than that over and over again, and they live in a mental realm where their beloved country is perpetually on or over the brink into fatal, satanic error, and many millions (perhaps even a majority) of their fellow citizens are forever acting unconsciously if not consciously as agents of treason and evil. (the tumor went malignant with Goldwater, metastisized with Reagan)

Obama's New Gun Control Steps - Release The Houndz! - Esquire - Wait. This was a "government practice"? Where? Mogadishu? And it allowed a quarter-million military weapons back into the country, some of which ended up "on the street." What precisely was the original purpose of this "government practice"? What public good was it supposed to serve because, frankly, to the untrained observer, it seems to be batshit insane.
Kansas Likely To Press Ahead With Gun-Law Ban Ban
Justice Department won't sue Colorado and Washington over marijuana laws | Society | theguardian.com - States will be able to create systems for regulation of cannabis sales but administration reserving right to sue at later date (and use drones on dispensaries)

Pennsylvania governor: gay couples barred from marriage 'like 12-year-olds' | World news | theguardian.com - Attorneys for Republican governor file lawsuit saying marriage licences issued to same-sex couples in the state are invalid (turtles!)
Clinton’s line was true: The sad facts about assault weapons and voting - Salon.com - Are there really places in America where it's easier to buy an AR-15 than vote for president? Here are the details (Refucks at work)
Bush Library Rewrite Website Presents Democratic Version Of President's Legacy - The failure to recognize the consequences of Bush’s policy decisions is why today’s congressional Republicans are even more ambitious than Bush ever was in pursuing the policies that served as the catalyst for the crises from which we are still recovering. (lookin' forward!)
Lanny Davis Wins Money From Dictator | New Republic (worst of the worsest)
Today We Celebrate Five Years Of Laughing Our Asses Off At Sarah Palin, But We Will Probably Quit By Noon Also - today is the five-year anniversary of the day John McCain got all mavericky and picked Sarah Palin’s well-jogged ass off a Google image page of lady GOPers to be his co-loser in the 2008 presidential election!
Poll: McAuliffe Leads Unpopular Cuccinelli By 7 | TPM LiveWire
Wendy Davis raises $470,000 from outside Texas following her nationally viewed filibuster | Trail Blazers Blog

On the Death of Dreams - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic - If we are honest with ourselves we will see a president who believes in particular black morality, but eschews particular black policy ... It is heartbreaking to see this. But it is also clarifying. (Obama sees black people like a white person, not surprisingly)

Work Them To Death For No Good Reason - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Some of you probably caught this last week, but the death of this intern is extremely disturbing:
Superman-Batman movie will film in Michigan; $35M in incentives OK'd by state | Detroit Free Press | freep.com (tax dollars for rich people, always)

‘Bachmannistan’ Writer: Bachmann’s Supporters Deserved an Explanation - The Daily Beast - So how exactly did Michele Bachmann’s 2012 presidential campaign go from winning in Ames to crashing in the Iowa caucuses—and embroiled in ethics investigations? Ex-aide Peter Waldron says he has the answers.
Anderson Cooper Rips Pat Robertson For Insane AIDS Theory (Video) - On Robertson's "700 Club," the TV evangelist said that gay individuals who have AIDS in San Francisco spread the disease by shaking hands with people while wearing rings that can break skin.
‘Cause the Bible Tells Me So » Balloon Juice - Tom posted about the church in Texas that had a measles outbreak. Here’s a little update: Copeland Senior, pictured above with his wife Gloria, preaches the prosperity gospel, and has been the target of an IRS investigation over use of the two private jets he flies out of Kenneth Copeland Airport near Fort Worth, Texas.

Academy Fight Song | Thomas Frank | The Baffler - The charmingly naive American student is in fact a cash cow, and everyone has got a scheme for slicing off a porterhouse or two. (just emulating the medical industry)
Student Loan Debt: Focus on Public Colleges by Daniel Luzer | College Guide | The Washington Monthly - If the question is: ”Which colleges leave individual students with the biggest debt loads?” the answer is easy: private colleges. (but public colleges are the real problem)

NFL Concussion Settlement: League, Players Reach Tentative $765M Deal In Concussion-Related Lawsuits (you know, the brain-damage they said never happened)
Aaron Hernandez: Patriots Tight End Violent Evolution | Rolling Stone

Bald Eagle Crashes Into Window as Crowd Chants 'USA! USA!' - The eagle was unharmed, but many of the students could be heard screaming at the sight of America's national animal wiping out in metaphorical fashion. The bird had apparently become disoriented from the crowd's patriotic hollering. In other words, get led astray by the mindless repetition of an arrogant conviction until you eventually crash into an invisible construct.
Let Me Explain Why Miley Cyrus’ VMA Performance Was Our Top Story This Morning | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
Louis CK's daughter tells an anti-joke. : funny
who didn't let the gorilla into the ballet? on Vimeo - who didn't let the gorilla into the ballet?
Louis CK on Leno 2012.06.25 - Video (forward to 7:10)
? Anthony Jeselnik on Jim norton down and dirty on HBO - YouTube
Reddit, what is the most unintentionally profound thing you've heard? : AskReddit

Amazon executive Larry Kirshbaum accused of sexual assault | Books | theguardian.com - Publisher accused of two alleged assaults on his former lover and colleague, according to papers filed in NY Supreme Court (looks a little like Filner)
Federal Agents Swarming Burning Man - Business Insider - "Last year we had an undercover agent dressed up as catwoman," Brock says. "They will do whatever they do to ... ferret out what they are considering criminal activity."

Neutron stars in the computer cloud - The combined computing power of 200,000 private PCs helps astronomers take an inventory of the Milky Way. The Einstein@Home project connects home and office PCs of volunteers from around the world to a global supercomputer

California students rally to kill school district’s unconstitutional social media policy - High school students have helped bring about a repeal of a California district’s stifling new social media policy, which threatened to strip students of extracurricular activities for engaging in online activities, even in their free time.
Life on the Fringes of Cyberculture: An Interview with Gareth Branwyn
Hugo Barra Leaves Google - Business Insider - AllThingsD broke the news of Barra leaving. The publication also said the departure followed a relationship Barra had with a co-worker at Google — a co-worker whom Google founder Sergey Brin, who recently separated from his wife, is now dating.
Snapchat names, aliases and phone numbers obtainable via Android and iOS APIs, say researchers | ZDNet (all your selfies are belong to us)
It’s 2013. We’re all being spied on. Why do security software websites not use HTTPS? | micah.f.lee
HTTPS Everywhere | Electronic Frontier Foundation
It’s 2013. We’re all being spied on. Why do security software websites not use HTTPS? "People say that using HTTPS is a performance hit. Locking your car door is also a performance hit, and so is putting on clothes in the morning. Security and privacy is worth a performance hit" : technology
One Key to Rule Them All: Threats Against Service Provider Private Encryption Keys | Electronic Frontier Foundation

082813
Climate Name Change (great idea: Typoon Limbaugh)

Syria chemical weapons response poses major test for Obama - latimes.com - Obama, who before taking office vowed to end the foreign policies of Bush, is now wrestling with some of the same moral and legal realities. - "They are looking at what is just enough to mean something, just enough to be more than symbolic,"
Syria: US sees 'no avenue forward' to 'meaningful action' by UN – live | World news | theguardian.com - US appears ready to act without UN imprimatur • State department cites 'continued Russian opposition'
5 Questions to Ask Before Bombing Syria | Flashpoints | The Diplomat
New poll: Syria intervention even less popular than Congress
McCain scolds White House for 'crazy' leaks on Syria air strikes - The Hill's Video
Qatar's Agenda in Syria
5 things you should know about Syria's military | Navy Times | navytimes.com
Readers on Syria: Stay Out - James Fallows - The Atlantic - A different red line President Obama could draw.

The U.S., Britain and Israel have Used Chemical Weapons within the Last 10 Years | Global Research
Baghdad bomb attacks leave scores dead | World news | theguardian.com - Blasts targeting Shia Muslim areas of Iraqi capital raise fears of return to civil war fuelled by ethnic and sectarian differences
Iran considers lawsuit against US over 1953 coup | World news | theguardian.com - Parliament gives preliminary approval to bill calling for creation of committee to study issue before legal action is launched
Japan formally raises Fukushima water leak to INES Level 3 incident | Reuters - Japan's nuclear regulator said on Wednesday it has officially raised the severity rating of the latest radioactive water leak at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to Level 3 on an international scale for radiological releases.
New Zealand bans software patents | ZDNet - Passage of new patent law marks end of years of debate and lobbying.

The Daily Dot - Hackers stun banks with Trojan heists—and they're still on the run
Is This 19-Year-Old the Leader of the Syrian Electronic Army? | Motherboard
Anatomy of a hack: How the SEA took down the NYT and Twitter — Tech News and Analysis
ZeroBin - #IHaveADrone Tweetstorm Package:
Oakland's Surveillance Contractor Has a History of Fraud | News | Oakland, Berkeley, Bay Area & California | East Bay Express

NSA surveillance program violates the constitution, ACLU says | World news | theguardian.com - In a detailed court motion filed Monday as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the NSA, ACLU says program has 'chilling effect'
Fidel Castro denies Russian claim that Cuba snubbed Edward Snowden | World news | theguardian.com - Former president responds to reports in Kommersant newspaper that Cuba bowed to US pressure over NSA leaks
Allegations that NSA tool can neutralize common online security — RT USA - Information has surfaced regarding surveillance software allegedly in use by the NSA that is able to neutralize SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, and HTTPS, that being one of the internet’s most common ways to encrypt private information.
The Daily Dot - The parody shirt the NSA doesn't want you to wear
FBI interrogated man after comment about American "Police State" on Facebook | Police State USA
Twitter / reclaimuc: UC releases new logo to welcome ... new President Janet Napolitano

The Daily Dot - No password is safe from the new breed of cracking software - Chances are you need to change your password. No matter how long it is.

Medicaid expansion passes after heated politicking; 470,000 more Michiganders to get coverage | Detroit Free Press | freep.com - It took two votes and eight hours of mostly closed-door politicking and vote wrangling, but the state Senate approved a plan late Tuesday to expand Medicaid health care coverage to 470,000 low-income Michiganders.
Michigan Takes Free Federal Money Bailout - The Michigan Semi-Miracle - Esquire - Well, it appears that Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan and the Republicans in his pet legislature, they of the Peronist Emergency Manager schemes, are conventional politicians, after all, unable to resist the obvious temptation of...TOTALLY FREE MONEY! Two cheers for that, I guess.

NYPD Secretly Designated Entire Mosques As Terrorism Organizations - Designating an entire mosque as a terrorism enterprise means that anyone who attends prayer services there is a potential subject of an investigation and fair game for surveillance. (video)

Taxpayer Dollars Paid A Third Of Richest Corporate CEOs: Report - More than one-third of the nation's highest-paid CEOs from the past two decades led companies that were subsidized by American taxpayers, according to a report released Wednesday by the Institute for Policy Studies, a liberal think tank. (moochers, should be drug-tested)
Welfare Drug Testing Catches Only 12 Users In Utah
Dana Milbank: Embracing misinformation on Obama - The Washington Post - This is a preposterous notion. Everybody knows Barack Obama couldn’t have been responsible for the Katrina response because he was in Indonesia in 2005, learning about his Muslim faith in a madrassa. He had moved to Indonesia directly from his home country of Kenya, stopping in the United States just long enough to fake the moon landing. (Republicans: party of nutballs and stupids)

MLK’s speech attracted FBI’s intense attention - The Washington Post
The Dark Side of "I Have a Dream": The FBI's War on Martin Luther King | Mother Jones - MLK's historic speech represented a high point in US history—and intensified J. Edgar Hoover's ugly covert crusade against the civil rights leader.
Murray Kempton on The March on Washington, 1963 | New Republic
Obama and the Promised Land by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - Well, the president just finished his speech at the 50th anniversary commemoration of the March on Washington. Here’s a rushed transcript. And here’s the video:
Jesse Jackson to Politico: Tea Party Is 'The Resurrection of the Confederacy'; Thrush Labels Obama a 'Prophet' | NewsBusters (wingnuts go nuts)
Martin Luther King vs. Today’s Conservatives
What Dr. King Didn’t Say by Moshe Z. Marvit | The Washington Monthly - Misremembering the March on Washington.

White House Not Yet Vetting Janet Yellen For Fed Chair: Report (it was always a done deal)
The Obama Administration Really Doesn’t Like Diane Ravitch by Daniel Luzer | College Guide | The Washington Monthly - Diane Ravitch says that poverty is basically the whole problem. And she’s got a point (and not a "team player")
For The First Time Ever, Combined GDP Of Poor Countries Exceeds That Of Rich Ones (chart)

Report: Frackers cheating Pa. landowners and gov't out of billions - Thousands are receiving far less money than they were promised by energy companies to drill their properties. Some are being paid virtually nothing.
Large earthquakes hit notorious Irish Sea fracking zone > National News > News | Click Green - The largest earthquakes since 1843 have been confirmed by the British Geological Survey in the same area of the Irish Sea that suffered tremors directly linked to shale gas fracking.

Meet the Town That's Being Swallowed by a Sinkhole | Mother Jones - Bayou Corne, Louisiana
America's 10 Deadliest Jobs - Forbes
'Money reduces trust' in small groups, study shows

Conservatives Are Finally Admitting What Voter Suppression Laws Are All About | Mother Jones - At this point, the jig is up. Everyone knows what these laws are about, and there's hardly any use in pretending anymore. In fact, the only real goal of the voter suppression crowd now is to provide a plausible legal argument that what they're doing isn't intentionally racist.
The Name of War - NYTimes.com - The War of the Rebellion:
Limbaugh: Feminism Rooted In "Sexual Perversion" | Video | Media Matters for America
Teacher gets month in jail for raping student who later kills herself - CNN.com - Hanlon said she was particularly upset that the sentencing judge, G. Todd Baugh, said her daughter "seemed older than her chronological age" and was "as much in control of the situation" as the teacher.
G. Todd Baugh Petition: Judge Who Gave Stacey Rambold 30 Days For Rape Of Student Urged To Resign

How And Why To Keep A “Commonplace Book” | Thought Catalog
Omnishambles among new words added to Oxford Dictionaries online | Books | The Guardian - Other entries include selfie, phablet and a host of other terms from the digital world - read on for Fomo (fear of missing out)

'Scientism' wars: there's an elephant in the room, and its name is Sam Harris | News | theguardian.com - Is science really overstepping its bounds? In at least one high-profile case, the answer is clearly yes
The New Atlantis » The Folly of Scientism
Science is not the Enemy of the Humanities | New Republic - An impassioned plea to neglected novelists, embattled professors, and tenure-less historians By Steven Pinker
The Science Delusion by Curtis White, reviewed. - Slate Magazine - Curtis White argues that science isn’t the only way of looking at the world.
I Myself Am A Scientismist | Slate Star Codex
Steven Poole takes issue with linguist Steven Pinker's language | Books | The Guardian - Writers sometimes feel that the terms of a debate are unhelpful, though not many then cheerily announce they are just going to redefine a burdensome word
Haters are gonna hate: Dispositional attitude study confirms it.
Researchers take on crucial question: Are haters gonna hate?
Why Did Almost All Societies Believe that Women Were Inferior to Men?
How did elements heavier than iron form given that iron is the end-game for star fusion? : askscience

Falling Down [1993] Hamburger Scene - YouTube

How Not To Publicize Your Research by Seth Masket | College Guide | The Washington Monthly - To sum up, the authors had an interesting finding and ended up selling it badly in print and social media. I have no idea if this hurts the paper’s chances of publication in the long run. The authors are essentially arguing that, for political candidates, any publicity is good publicity. We’ll see if that holds for academic papers.
The Daily Dot - Why Etsy's brave new economy is crumbling

082713
White House: possible action on Syria 'not about regime change' – live | World news | theguardian.com - 'The goal here is to make clear that this is unacceptable'
Architect of Syria War Plan Doubts Surgical Strikes Will Work | The Cable
Making War In Syria - Esquire - We aren't sending troops. We're going to be sending cruise missiles and dropping bombs because that is how you make war without going to war and, if you make war without going to war, then it's a lot easier to pretend back home that you're not at war. Again.
“Experts” Who Are Always Wrong About Everything Want to Bomb Syria - Lawyers, Guns & Money
The Fog of the Syrian Civil War
Eschaton: Morning Thread - Here's Juan Cole: "Either way, the people of Homs and other contested cities will likely go on suffering the regime’s indiscriminate assaults, and it is unlikely that a few Tomahawk strikes will affect the course of the war." So what's the point?
Exclusive: Intercepted Calls Prove Syrian Army Used Nerve Gas, U.S. Spies Say | The Cable

Mexico offers rewards for news of drug-war casualties | World news | The Guardian - Government seeks information on 14 missing people; more than 26,000 were reported missing between 2006 and 2012 ("collateral damage" in the Bush/Obama war on some drugs)
Afghanistan aid workers among 12 dead in civilian killings | World news | The Guardian - Insurgents kidnap and kill five Afghan International Rescue Committee employees and a public servant in Herat province
Painting of Vladimir Putin in women's underwear seized by Russian police | World news | theguardian.com - Russian police seized a painting of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev in women's underwear from a gallery in St Petersburg, saying the satirical display had broken unspecified laws. president in tight-fitting slip brushing Dmitry Medvedev's hair

Legal Showdown: 6 Experts Destroy Obama's Drone Policy | Robert Greenwald - President Obama and his administration refuses to engage with those of us who question the legal use of drones in Pakistan and throughout other regions of the world. (all of his legal "opinions" are top-seecrit)
Guantanamo Warden Details Fears About Prison Attack in New Document | Freedom of the Press Foundation - The warden of the Guantanamo Bay prison continues to make extraordinary claims about potential threats to the detention facility from enemies “foreign” and “domestic” if he is compelled to reveal information in a June 3 sworn declaration he signed about the rationale behind a genital search policy prisoners are subjected to. (that make no sense)

Exclusive Glenn Greenwald Interview: "I Won't Be Kept Out of My Country for Doing Journalism!"
Glenn Greenwald: I'll Travel To US, But 'There Is Definitely A Risk' - I am working with lawyers. I absolutely intend that I will come back to my country when I choose, but I am not going to pretend that I think there is zero risk. There is definitely a risk, and it is less trivial than it was 3 days ago."
Snowden Effect And Iran Contra - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - It seems that several respectable media outlets are sensing that the NSA revelations that came about thanks to the efforts of Edward Snowden, International Man Of Luggage, represent a bigger story than whether or not Glenn Greenwald is somebody you'd like to take to prom.
As with Manning Leak, Snowden Leak Reveals DOD Doesn’t Protect Security | emptywheel - MSNBC has an update to the continuing saga of “Omigod the NSA has inadequate security.” It explains why the “thin client” system the NSA had (one source calls it 2003 technology) made it so easy for Edward Snowden to take what he wanted.
How Snowden did it - Investigations - When Edward Snowden stole the crown jewels of the National Security Agency, he didn’t need to use any sophisticated devices or software or go around any computer firewall.
Facebook report: governments asked for data on 38,000 users this year | Technology | theguardian.com - First report of its kind reveals more than half of government requests for user data in first half of 2013 came from the US (16,000 American terrorists)
Feds Back Away From Forced Decryption ... For Now | Threat Level | Wired.com - Federal prosecutors have formally dropped demands that a child-porn suspect give up his encryption keys in a closely watched case, but experts warn the issue of forced decryption is very much alive and is likely to encompass a larger swath of Americans as crypto adoption becomes mainstream.
Here’s how phone metadata can reveal your affairs, abortions, and other secrets
How might the feds have snooped on Lavabit? | Ars Technica - Founder no longer thinks his encrypted e-mail service can withstand secret court orders.
Update on Lavabit | emptywheel
The Daily Dot - Reddit's Alexis Ohanian shoots down rumors he consulted for intelligence firm - Controversy erupted today on Reddit after an email exchange between the company’s co-founder, Alexis Ohanian and the intelligence contractor Stratfor emerged on WikiLeaks.
dangerpeanut comments on What is a "dirty little (or big) secret" about an industry that you have worked in, that people outside the industry really ought to know? - Example: Indian company with a server got the interest of the FBI at (INSERT COMPANY HERE). What happened? They took the drives and imaged them. While the server was offline, the chosen excuse was that their RAID array became degraded and staff were waiting on the rebuild to finish.

Obama administration asks court to force NYT reporter to reveal source | Law | theguardian.com - Previous ruling said reporters have no privilege to safeguard confidentiality leaving Risen to reveal his source or go to jail - The Obama administration is trying to dissuade federal judges from giving the New York Times reporter James Risen one last chance to avoid having to disclose his source in a criminal trial over the alleged leaking of US state secrets. (authoritarian Obama hates reporters)
To make journalism harder, slower, less secure » Pressthink - That’s what the surveillance state is trying to do. It has the means, the will and the latitude to go after journalism the way it went after terrorism. Only a more activist press, working together, stands a chance of resisting this. (Jay Rosen gets very shrill)
The Heart of the Matter: David Miranda and the Preclusion of Privacy - The authorities want you to understand they can do it to you, too. Whether they’ve miscalculated depends on how well they’ve gauged the passivity of the public.
The Heart of the Matter: David Miranda and the Preclusion of Privacy, Part 2
The Heart of the Matter: The Greatest Trick the Devil Ever Pulled
Curses! The birth of the bleep and modern American censorship | The Verge

Twitter Hijacked, website effected By Syrian Electronic Army.
Twitter / MatthewKeysLive: Twitter releases statement ...
New York Times website down after suspected hacking

How the NYPD Turned Itself Into a Little CIA (Bloomberg's fascist police-state)

Obama source predicts Summers will be named Fed chief soon
Another day, another sign that Larry Summers will get the Fed job - “a source from Team Obama told CNBC that Larry Summers will likely be named chairman of the Federal Reserve in a few weeks though he is ‘still being vetted’ so it might take a little longer.”

Nothing Changing After Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion - Why Nothing Ever Changes - Esquire - Think about that for a moment. Texas, which we all can agree is a pretty big place, doesn't have a state fire code, probably because freedom!
Port Arthur, Texas: American Sacrifice Zone | OnEarth Magazine - After decades of neglect, residents of the Gulf Coast’s most toxic public housing complex are preparing to get out. But in a city given over to oil refineries, is anywhere really safe?
Eschaton: Gambling Our Way To Prosperity - All those good jobs. Atlantic City, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey's newest casino ended contributions to its employees' 401(k) accounts Friday as part of ongoing cost-cutting moves. It was not immediately clear how many employees would be affected by the Revel Casino Hotel's decision.

Drug Sentencing Poll Finds Most Oppose Mandatory Minimums
Police Officer Indicted In Arrest Of Robert Stolarik, New York Times Photographer - The police had a different account, saying that Stolarik "inadvertently" hit an officer in the face with his camera and "violently" resisted arrest. They arrested and charged him with obstructing government administration and resisting arrest. ("violently resisting" = "standing 20 feet away" +Bloomfuck's cops)

Anti-abortion legislation is putting clinics out of business: 54 clinics have closed since 2010.
Fox News expert: ‘Women have the breasts’ so health care should cost more than men | The Raw Story
'Revenge Porn' Could Be Criminal Offense in California - NYTimes.com

Remember that English pedophile who had sex “forced upon him” by his underage victim? - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Pedophile’s ‘lenient’ sentence reviewed after prosecutor argued the underage victim was the real predator | The Raw Story
Courthouse News Service - A federal judge awarded $3 million to the parents of an 18-year-old honor student shot and killed by a plainclothes DEA agent in a parking lot.

The Daily Dot - A state-by-state breakdown of our nation's porn addiction
Pornhub Average Visit Duration and Top 3 Search Terms by State : dataisbeautiful
\ Another Superb Hire By Fox News - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Shorter Howie Kurtz: [fap, fap, fap, fap, fap, fap, fap] “Hey, who the hell opened the door? I need to complete my piece on how scandalous it is when relatives of vaguely famous people post not-very-revealing but still HAWT pictures on the Friendster or whatever the kids are calling it these days.”


082613
Syria crisis: US signals intent to take action against Assad regime | World news | The Guardian - UN inspection begins as John Kerry says it is 'undeniable' that government was behind 'obscene' chemical weapon attack
Syria: US secretary of state John Kerry to address alleged chemical attack - live | World news | theguardian.com - UN inspectors take samples from attack site • Inspectors unable to visit six key sites, doctor says
Samantha Power on the Duty to Intervene - Bloomberg
New Rule » Balloon Juice - Anyone referencing “surgical” airstrikes should be forced to undergo re-education at Trump University. (here we go again)
Muslim Brotherhood's bid to scapegoat Christians failing, say Egyptians | Fox News
The Snake That Eats Itself - By Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson | Foreign Policy - Why coups beget coups beget coups.
Exclusive: CIA Files Prove America Helped Saddam as He Gassed Iran - By Shane Harris and Matthew M. Aid | Foreign Policy - The U.S. knew Hussein was launching some of the worst chemical attacks in history -- and still gave him a hand.
A report card for U.S. policy in the Mideast - latimes.com - How Washington is doing on such issues as winding down military involvement, fighting terrorism and reducing our dependence on its oil.
Japan's Women to the Rescue - NYTimes.com

Denial-of-Service Attack Shut Down Chinese Internet on Sunday Morning - China Real Time Report - WSJ - Part of the Chinese Internet went down early Sunday morning in what the government is calling the largest denial-of-service attack it has ever faced. (hmmm ... )
Cache Query Load Injection on Google Israel Founded by Mauritania Attacker, Team AnonGhost. ~ Techworm
Want to take down a Web site? This service will do it for just $10.
FBI Hacked By Anonymous North India - Pastebin.com

Greece 'may need 10bn euros more' in aid - Stournaras - Greece may need a third bailout but would not accept new austerity measures, the Greek finance minister has said. (which are why it needs another bailout)

Secret NSA Documents Show How the US Spies on Europe and the UN - spiegel online - President Obama promised that NSA surveillance activities were aimed exclusively at preventing terrorist attacks. But secret documents from the intelligence agency show that the Americans spy on Europe, the UN and other countries. (oh, he lied, again, and again)
The Daily Dot - Snowden's new leak: NSA spied on the United Nations
Laura Poitras Chips at the Terrorism Lie | emptywheel - Nevertheless, the President stood up publicly and claimed that the NSA does not “have an interest in doing anything other than … prevent[ing] a terrorist attack.” That is a false statement. (otherwise known as a big, fat, lie +"his asinine dishwashing metaphor.")
NSA spied on UN officials after cracking encryption on UN teleconferencing system

Laura Poitras on British Attacks on Press Freedom and the NSA Affair - spiegel online - The detention of David Miranda -- partner of the Guardian journalist involved in the NSA revelations -- and the destruction of hard drives in the British newspaper's basement reveal one thing: Governments do not want their citizens to be informed when it comes to the topic of surveillance ... Included on those drives were documents detailing GCHQ’s massive domestic spying program called “Tempora.”
NSA leaks: David Cameron's response is intimidation, says world press body | Media | theguardian.com - World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers tells the UK government its actions could threaten press freedom
Are the Brits Trying to Protect British Telecom? | emptywheel - Included on those drives were documents detailing GCHQ’s massive domestic spying program called “Tempora.”

Edward Snowden got stuck in Moscow 'after Cuba blocked entry' | World news | theguardian.com - NSA whistleblower prevented from boarding flight from Russia after US put pressure on Havana, Russian newspaper claims
Report: Snowden Reached Out To Russian Authorities While Still In Hong Kong - A Russian newspaper report suggests a far greater level of collusion between Snowden, WikiLeaks, and Russia than previously admitted. ("collusion")
‘I’d tap that!’: NSA Pick Up Lines campaign creates Twitter storm — RT News

Twitter spy on you via TwitterBot, shadows every click you make - Hackers News Bulletin
How to Keep the NSA Out of Your Computer | Mother Jones - Sick of government spying, corporate monitoring, and overpriced ISPs? There's a cure for that. (well, not really: meshnets)
A directory of direct links to delete your account from web services.
Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media | Technology | The Guardian - Military's 'sock puppet' software creates fake online identities to spread pro-American propaganda - Ntrepid (2011)

ProPublica Partners With Guardian On Edward Snowden Leaks - The news comes on the heels of BuzzFeed's exclusive report that the Guardian partnered with the New York Times after the UK paper was subjected to intense pressure and scrutiny from British authorities.

NSA Documents Released to the Public Since June 2013 | American Civil Liberties Union
NSA Legislation Since the Leaks Began | American Civil Liberties Union
NSA Surveillance Lawsuit Tracker
God save the Guardian – Un libro in più - Blog - Repubblica.it
War on Leaks Is Pitting Journalist vs. Journalist - NYTimes.com (Gregory, Grunwald and Toobz, Keller)
Open Secret About Google’s Surveillance Case No Longer Secret - Digits - WSJ - Many references to an unnamed company are redacted in the 10-page document. But a sentence before a large blocked-out section on page 8 says that, after the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers reported Prism’s existence, “the public’s already healthy interest in Google’s receipt of, and response to, national security legal process skyrocketed.” (idiots)

Transgender 101 by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - The very worst mainstream media outlet, though, was the Daily Beast, which published this hateful, transphobic, rape-victim-blaming piece of garbage. Since when did the Daily Beast see fit to start publishing articles so sleazy that even the Daily Caller would be ashamed to be associated with them?

US to hit debt ceiling in mid-October, Treasury secretary warns House GOP | Business | theguardian.com - Letter from Jack Lew says failure to act would do 'irreparable harm' and sets stage for further brinkmanship on Capitol Hill (exactly what Repubicans want)

Peak Water in the American West – Significant Figures by Peter Gleick

Justice Ginsburg grants NYT interview; slams court as “one of the most activist” in history by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly

Judge Jonathan Walker Went Into Hiding Amid Hit Threat | TPMMuckraker
T.K. Owens, Ex-Senate Candidate, Allegedly Tried To Hire Hit Man | TPM LiveWire - The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Friday that a former U.S. Senate candidate was arrested for attempting to hire a hit man to kill his uncle, WHJL reported.
Ex-US Attorney Calls James O'Keefe 'A Nasty Little Cowardly Spud' | TPM LiveWire
With Ensign Decision, Court Hands CREW Fourth Victory Against DOJ | CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - Ludicrously, DOJ claimed Sen. Ensign’s privacy interests were so great the agency needed to protect even the mere fact of the investigation, notwithstanding Sen. Ensign’s public comments about the criminal case and the significant media coverage. (all a big seecret)
TV channel or cult?: Fox News’ paranoid P.R. machine - Salon.com - Paranoid culture of secrecy includes a political campaign-style P.R. apparatus that plants smears against critics

Nasdaq crash triggers fear of data meltdown | Technology | The Guardian - Digital infrastructure exceeding limits of human control, industry experts warn
Sears Crucial Appliance Sales Erode - WSJ.com - Sales Fall as Retailer Repositions to Compete With Online Giants Amazon and eBay
Pinching Pensions to Keep Wall Street Fat and Happy | Op-Eds & Columns - We see this attitude on display currently in the Detroit bankruptcy proceedings. It is even more clearly on display in efforts by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to default on the city’s pension obligations.
Laura Ingraham Celebrates March On Washington 50th Anniversary With Gunshots And Race-Baiting | Blog | Media Matters for America
The weakest generation? - Washington Post (born after 1955, no draft when they were 18)

Al Jazeera America: Think NPR with pictures (and a little baggage) : Columbia Journalism Review - On week one, the network looked solid. Nothing to gasp at. But what constitutes success in the long run for AJAM?

Has the NYPD’s Demographics Unit Stopped Any Terror Plots? -- New York Magazine - After 9/11, the NYPD built in effect its own CIA—and its Demographics Unit delved deeper into the lives of citizens than did the NSA.
Are You On The NYPD’s List Of ‘Demographic Americans’? Are You Brown? Then Yes!
Newark Police Department Limits Cooperation With Federal Immigration Agency - WNYC (Obama's deportation machine)

The Sagebrush Rebellion Continues - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Western states and ideological conservatives continue their multi-decade ban against the federal government’s control over public land, demanding the government get out of their ability to do whatever they want to the land while still expecting subsidies for those acivities both direct and indirect

Nice Time! Let’s All Watch This Former U.S. Attorney Yelling At James O’Keefe!
Donald Trump’s ‘University’ Kind Of Scammy, Believe It Or Not

How To Invent A Misleading Statistic | Blog | Media Matters for America - The Washington Post's David A. Fahrenthold hyped the size of the federal government out of context, presenting an excellent example of how to construct a misleading statistic.
Tea Party Now Covering News for Washington Post -- Daily Intelligencer
It’s All Very Simple by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - . Indeed, the piece read sort of like a Tea Party submission to a Point-Counter-Point debate from My Weekly Reader, or something right from the playbook of Dr. Dumb-Down, Bobby Jindal.
Brad DeLong : Budget Journamalism from the Washington Post (Brendan Nyhan Gets Baited-and-Switched) - I have a hard time understanding why anyone pays for the Post today. I find it difficult to conceive how it can last a decade. (from 2007, gettin' there)

Anti-Abortion Laws Take Dramatic Toll On Clinics Nationwide
Measles Outbreak Traces To Vaccine-Refusing Megachurch - Forbes - whose leader, Kenneth Copeland, reportedly has warned followers away from vaccines, advocating for faith healing and pushing the debunked notion that vaccines cause autism. (call The View)

ESPN-Frontline deal was destined to implode : Columbia Journalism Review - They’re in different businesses, after all

Laser fusion experiment yields record energy at Lawrence Livermore's National Ignition Facility
De-Extinction Experts See Benefits In Resurrecting Extinct Animals, But Critics Abound - Most species are going extinct in tropical forests, Pimm said. Saving a species through de-extinction when humans are burning forests and destroying native communities is a joke, he said.
How to Charge $546 for Six Liters of Saltwater - NYTimes.com - Some of the patients’ bills would later include markups of 100 to 200 times the manufacturer’s price, not counting separate charges for “IV administration.” And on other bills, a bundled charge for “IV therapy” was almost 1,000 times the official cost of the solution.
Schizophrenics of Reddit, when and how did you find out about your illness? Was it gradual? How did it evolve? : AskReddit

College Rankings That Aren’t Ridiculous
Washington Monthly | College Guide 2013

Study finds wealth gives rise to a sense of entitlement and narcissistic behaviors | The Raw Story - “there is something about wealth that gives rise to a sense of entitlement, a sense that one deserves more good things in life than others, which in turn gives rise to an increased or inflated sense of self-importance, vanity, grandiosity, and omnipotence (narcissism).” (you forgot sociopathy and murder)
Those struggling $300,000-a-year households in the WSJ : Columbia Journalism Review - A terribly boring story, spiced up by the minor discomforts of the rich
The Misery of Being Merely Upper Middle Class: The Haves Demand Sympathy For Not Being Have-Mores | Observer - Surely no one could be so tone-deaf and oblivious to the difficulties faced by the working and middle classes that they would think a novel about the plight of a couple pulling in $200,000 a year would be compelling?
Breaking Bad Recap: Performance of a Lifetime -- Vulture
Mad magazine’s New Yorker cover parody is amazing - Salon.com

xkcd: Questions
Questions : xkcd

Why it matters that you can't own an electronic copy of the Oxford English Dictionary - Boing Boing
Bitcoin lobbyists meet US authorities amid growing scrutiny of digital currency | Technology | theguardian.com - Bitcoin Foundation says meeting was set up to 'help regulators and policymakers better understand the Bitcoin protocol'
What is a free PC program everyone should have? : AskReddit

082513
Syria Chemical Inspections By United Nations 'Too Late To Be Credible,' U.S. Official Says
As Syria war escalates, Americans cool to U.S. intervention: Reuters/Ipsos poll | Reuters - About 60 percent of Americans surveyed said the United States should not intervene in Syria's civil war, while just 9 percent thought President Barack Obama should act.
Key U.S. lawmakers: Expect strike in Syria – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs
Egypt Widens Crackdown and Meaning of ‘Islamist’ - NYTimes.com
Israel's Most Liberal City Introduces Racially Segregated Kindergartens - The Daily Beast (failed racist state at work)

Lawyers Say Gitmo Computer Problems Make Defending 9/11 Accused Impossible | Daphne Eviatar - Files have been lost, computer searches monitored and e-mails "disappeared into the ether" at Guantanamo Bay since January, say lawyers for the five co-defendants in the 9/11 case.
No, thanks: Stop saying “support the troops” - Salon.com - Compulsory patriotism does nothing for soldiers who risk their lives -- but props up those who profit from war (it was always phoney "support")

U.S. spy agency edges into the light after Snowden revelations | Reuters - "The amount of knowledge that people now have about what NSA does means that we can't simply pretend it doesn't exist. That's where Snowden changed things," said James Lewis, a senior fellow, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. (Reuters deleted the part about bugging the U.N., read the comments)
U.S. spy agency bugged U.N. headquarters - Germany's Spiegel | Reuters - Citing secret U.S. documents obtained by fugitive former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, Der Spiegel said the files showed how the United States systematically spied on other states and institutions. (original article)
U.S. spy agency bugged U.N. headquarters: Germany's Spiegel : worldnews
NSA hacked into encrypted UN communications, leaked documents show — Tech News and Analysis
LOVEINT — Crooked Timber
N.S.A Scandal and High-Tech Espionage on Brazil | Nikolas Kozloff - According to journalist Glen Greenwald, N.S.A. intercepts of Brazilian transmissions, including phone calls and internet communications, have been massive. Indeed, within the wider Americas region, N.S.A. snooping on the South American nation is second only to the U.S. in terms of overall scope.
This Week in Review: Censorship in the U.K., and Al Jazeera America’s promise and problems » Nieman Journalism Lab
The FBI Director Finally Makes Mention Of LulzSec & Sabu | Operation Slingshot
International confidence in US economy ‘crumbling’ after Snowden leaks — RT Op-Edge - And this is really about money, markets and manipulations. It’s not about security. It’s not to do with anything that the White House says. Remember, the White House is a puppet of Wall Street, Booz Allen, the hedge funds and the financial interests of the corrupt bankers.
THE SILENT POWER OF THE N.S.A. - NYTimes.com - No laws define the limits of the N.S.A.'s power. No Congressional committee subjects the agency's budget to a systematic, informed and skeptical review. With unknown billions of Federal dollars ... (1983)
eL4x6xe.jpg : Cover, Mad Magazine)

The Daily Dot - Manning's gender transition is not a joke
CNN Panelist Says Chelsea Manning Can "Practice" Being A Woman In Prison - lawyer Richard Herman
Appealing To An Unrepentant Mass Murderer: Pardon Bradley Manning | danbojangles - Army PFC Bradley Manning revealed that our Armed Services have engaged in actions which amount to war crimes. These war crimes have been, and continue to be, committed with impunity, and, as evidenced by the verdict in Manning’s trial, with zero prospect of accountability.

Wildfire containment efforts complicated by 'crown fire' | World news | theguardian.com - Biggest blaze in state history spreads across forest canopy in Yosemite national park as firefighters struggle to divert flames

The March on Washington’s unfinished agenda - The Washington Post

Court Is ‘One of Most Activist,’ Ginsburg Says, Vowing to Stay - NYTimes.com - WASHINGTON — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 80, vowed in an interview to stay on the Supreme Court as long as her health and intellect remained strong, saying she was fully engaged in her work as the leader of the liberal opposition on what she called “one of the most activist courts in history.”

Mark Leibovich on Glitz and Greed in Washington | Moyers & Company | BillMoyers.com

Ted Cruz 'Not Convinced' Obama Wouldn't Defund Obamacare (video)

Scott Brown Addresses 2016 Speculation On 'Fox News Sunday': We'll 'See What Happens'

Brad DeLong : Wall Street Journal and Max Boot Behaving Badly Weblogging
What David Sirota Gets Wrong About Martin Luther King |

Donald Trump sued for $40m over allegedly bogus university | World news | theguardian.com - New York's attorney-general has sued Donald Trump for $40 million, saying the real estate mogul helped run a phoney "Trump University" that promised to make students rich but instead steered them into expensive and mostly useless seminars, and even failed to deliver promised apprenticeships. (scam! profit!)

Could the 'triple whammy' technique that beat HIV/Aids win battle against cancer? | Science | The Observer - New gene treatments that attack tumours on multiple fronts can prolong life – but also show cancer cells are more complex than scientists had thought
PLOS ONE: An Evaluation of the Left-Brain vs. Right-Brain Hypothesis with Resting State Functional Connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Lateralization of brain connections appears to be a local rather than global property of brain networks, and our data are not consistent with a whole-brain phenotype of greater “left-brained” or greater “right-brained” network strength across individuals. Small increases in lateralization with age were seen, but no differences in gender were observed.
What are some statistics I really didn't want to know? : AskReddit

alicublog: SEE YOU IN THE NORTON ANTHOLOGY. - I should mention, now that he's gone ahead and pulled the trigger, that Tbogg has for years been one of my favorite writers -- and I needn't qualify that with "in the blogosphere," which is like calling someone the smartest guy on a National Review cruise.
The Blog World Gets a Whole Lot Blah'er | Vanity Fair - And so, like Jerry Lewis at the exhausted end of a telethon, a telethon that has lasted years, TBogg takes that long walk into the wings under a fading spotlight, trailing laughter and tears, but mostly laughter, and mostly at the expense of the rightwing nutarazzi, for whom Sarah Palin is Snow Queen.
A Gaggle of Geese, A Scrotum of Teabaggers – A Treasury Of Shit I Wrote | TBogg

Dear Arianna: Anonymity has value, and doing away with it won’t solve your commenting problem — Tech News and Analysis
Exegesis: How early adapters, innovative publishers, legacy media companies and more are pushing toward the annotated web » Nieman Journalism Lab

082413
Quote of the Day « The Reality-Based Community - Then, from His place of ambush, God leapt out. –Rainer Maria Rilke

Syrian hospitals treated thousands for poison gas symptoms, says charity | World news | theguardian.com - Médecins sans Frontières says symptoms indicate mass exposure to neurotoxic agent, as Syrian state TV claims chemical weapons found in rebel tunnels
Aid Group: 355 Dead in Syrian Attack, Showed ‘Neurotoxic Symptoms’
Al-Qaida branch blames Hezbollah for Lebanese bombings | World news | theguardian.com - Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb threatens retribution against Shia group over deadly attack in Tripoli
Nigerian Islamists accused of cutting throats of 44 villagers | World news | theguardian.com - Official says attackers gouged out eyes of some survivors of raid on Dumba village
US arrests man 'with uranium for Iran in shoes' - Yahoo! News
Anti-fracking activists are "blinkered totalitarians", Sir Bernard Ingham says - Anti-fracking activists are "blinkered totalitarians" who expect people to live in "yurts, tepees and wigwams", Sir Bernard Ingham has said (they even think they should have water to drink)
Balcombe protests: Policing anti-fracking demo cost £2.3m
France cannot take any more taxes, government admits - France's Socialist government has admitted that the country cannot cope with any further tax rises and promised no more hikes just days ahead of the country's largest ever tax bill.

David Miranda's detention is a threat to press freedom, say European editors | World news | The Observer - Newspapers urge prime minister to restore Britain's reputation for free press after holding of Guardian journalist's partner - The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has said it has given the force a seven-day ultimatum to reveal its findings into outstanding complaints about the use of the tactic following its "continued refusal" to investigate.
UK deputy PM demands legal check on arrest of reporter's partner | Reuters - Says was not consulted beforehand on detention plans - Nick Clegg said on Saturday he was not consulted before the detention of David Miranda, the partner of American journalist Glenn Greenwald, who led coverage of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's leaks about U.S. and British electronic spying.
UK terror law watchdog promises rapid report on David Miranda detention | UK news | The Guardian - David Anderson promises 'snapshot report' • QC asks to speak to officials who advised home secretary
New York Times Partnering With Guardian On Snowden Reporting
Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald Challenge Independent Story
Edward Snowden: UK Government Leaked To Independent - Business Insider

Bloomberg report: NSA employees have deliberately "abused" their power.
NSA analysts 'wilfully violated' surveillance systems, agency admits | World news | theguardian.com - NSA acknowledges that one analyst used agency tools to track former spouse but insists it has 'zero tolerance' for abuses (will Obama stop lying?)
NSA Admits: Okay, Okay, There Have Been A Bunch Of Intentional Abuses, Including Spying On Love Interests | Techdirt - from the and-we're-just-now-telling-congress dept
NSA abuses include Stalking ex-Girlfriends | Informed Comment - The NSA only admitted this abuse to the Senate Intelligence committee a few days ago ... . Notorious authoritarians like Mike Rogers (R-MI), head of the House Intelligence Committee, have used this ploy. Rogers wouldn’t know a civil liberty if he tripped over it. (DiFi looking like a complete fool/tool)
NSA employees spied on their lovers using eavesdropping programme

Cass Sunstein - "Conspiracy Theories" and government infiltration (1/5 of Obama's "independent" review; you really couldn't make this shit up)

Snowden suspected of covering his digital trail, making it hard for NSA to know what he stole - The Washington Post - the National Security Agency have been frustrated by Snowden’s sophisticated efforts to cover his digital trail by deleting or bypassing electronic logs, government officials told The Associated Press. ("just a low-level high-school grad, doesn't even know what a server is")
XKeyscore: NSA targets Internet users who search for "suspicious stuff." ("impeach Obama" "encrypt my email")
Facial Scanning Is Making Gains in Surveillance - NYTimes.com - The federal government is making progress on developing a surveillance system that would pair computers with video cameras to scan crowds and automatically identify people by their faces
Dick, Liz Cheney Criticize Obama On National Security | TPM LiveWire - “The biggest threat facing us are terrorists armed with something more dangerous than plane tickets and box cutters,” Cheney told the sold-out crowd in Steamboat Springs, Colo., as quoted by the Steamboat Pilot & Today.
Eschaton: Tribes - Over the years I've come to the conclusion that most "national security" journalists - you know, people who cover the pentagon, state, surveillance state agencies - identify strongly with their sources and the viewpoints of those agencies.
The Google/Yahoo Problem: Fruit of the Poison MCT? | emptywheel - OK, this will be my last post (at least today) to attempt to understand why some Internet providers incurred so many costs associated with the response to the FISA Court’s October 3, 2011 decision that the government had improperly collected US person data as part of Multiple Communication Transactions.
Google and the NSA: Who’s holding the ‘shit-bag’ now? | The Stringer - by Julian Assange - The Chairman of Google’s girlfriend was being used as a back channel for Hillary Clinton. This is illustrative. It shows that at this level of US society, as in other corporate states, it is all musical chairs.
TwittStorm - @GGREENWALD

History Will Pardon Bradley Manning, Even If Obama Doesn't : The New Yorker - Sometimes things that are fully expected still have the capacity to shock. That’s certainly the case with the news that the former Army private Bradley Manning has been sentenced to thirty-five years in military prison for leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks.

Ignoring Qualms, Some Republicans Nurture Dreams of Impeaching Obama - NYTimes.com
NIH Director On Sequestration: 'God Help Us If We Get A Worldwide Pandemic' (one of many ways the Republicans are fucking over the country)

A theory of the importance of Very Serious People in the Democratic Party — The Monkey Cage - Paul Krugman’s pet insult – “Very Serious Person” – is more important to understanding America’s policy failures than most people realize, and goes well beyond economic illiteracy. More than anything, without understanding VSPness (henceforth “vispy”) – one can never comprehend how the Democratic Party screwed up so much in the past five years. . . .
The Socialists Who Made the March on Washington - The story of the radicals behind—and in front of—the demonstration that changed America
Barbara Jordan - In 1994 and until her death in 1996, Jordan chaired the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, which advocated increased restriction of immigration, called for all U.S. residents to carry a national identity card and increased penalties on employers that violated U.S. immigration regulations. Then-President Clinton endorsed the Jordan Commission's proposals (VSPs from the 90's)

FBI tracked King's every move - CNN.com - The bureau convened a meeting of department heads to "explore how best to carry on our investigation [of King] to produce the desired results without embarrassment to the Bureau," which included "a complete analysis of the avenues of approach aimed at neutralizing King as an effective Negro leader."
Obama, Surveillance, and the Legacy of the March on Washington : The New Yorker

San Diego mayor and all-round creepy dude Bob Filner resigns by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - How come this guy got thrown out of office, but, not so long ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger, facing similar charges, coasted into the California governor’s office with few problems? After all, in October 2003, the Los Angeles Times, to its credit, published a scathing story featuring interviews with six women who claimed Schwarzenegger had sexually assaulted them:
Sex and Networking at Academic Conferences by Erik Voeten | College Guide | The Washington Monthly - USC professor Brian Rathburn tried to provide some helpful advice for young academics navigating the scene but packaged this in “the worst metaphor ever,” as Dan Drezner
Sexual Harassment in Political Science and International Studies » Duck of Minerva
Yale Student Says Man Who Attempted Sexual Assault Punished With 1-Day Suspension

In Paper War, Flood of Liens Is the Weapon - NYTimes.com - a tactic that, with the spread of an anti-government ideology known as the “sovereign citizen” movement, is being employed more frequently as a way to retaliate against perceived injustices. Over the next three years, the couple, Thomas and Lisa Eilertson, filed more than $250 billion in liens, demands for compensatory damages and other claims against more than a dozen people, including the sheriff, county attorneys, the Hennepin County registrar of titles and other court officials.

Yosemite Fire 2013: State Of Emergency Declared For San Francisco By Gov. Jerry Brown

Sarah Palin right about Barack Obama’s ‘hopey-changey’ stuff? You betcha, says Noam Chomsky | National Post
Now, THIS is how you troll » Balloon Juice (libtards can't even spell his name)

The Authoritarian ~ by Robert Altmeyer | Peak Prosperity - But we shall begin with a second kind of authoritarian: someone who, because of his personality, submits by leaps and bows to his authorities.

Don't Let The Government Get Its Hands On Obamacare! - NYTimes.com - This goes along with all the polling evidence, which says that people like the actual provisions of the Affordable Care Act, but have no idea that those provisions are in fact the substance of that terrible, tyrannical “Obamacare” program they keep hearing about. (Kentucky is pretty representative)
Rep. Dave Joyce On Unfilled Jobs: Businesses Can't Find Enough 'Sober,' 'Drug-Free' Workers - R-Ohio) argued that part of the problem is that there are millions of jobs that remain vacant each month. (Republican-killed economy has nothing to do with it)
Christopher Lane shooting: Fox News commentator Janet Morana blames abortion. - This week's "stupidest thing said on Fox News" is especially pathetic

How New York ‘Times’ CEO Mark Thompson Is Ushering in a New Era in the Newsroom -- New York Magazine - An unusual Times executive— for unusual times.
Jill Abramson 'Isolated' At New York Times, Clashing With Mark Thompson: Report

Out of Enclaves, a Pressure to Accommodate Traditions - NYTimes.com - Hasidic Jews' preference for segregating the sexes on buses is just one practice raising conflicts with New York City.

Nelson, Ga. Won’t Force Gun Ownership | TPMMuckraker - The ordinance, known as the Family Protection Ordinance, passed on April 1. It required all heads of household residing within the city limits to own a firearm and ammunition — the only exceptions being those who “suffer from a physical or mental disability,” “paupers,” felons, or those who “conscientiously oppose maintaining firearms as a result of beliefs or religious doctrine.”

In Completely Unforeseeable Coincidence, Anti-Vaccine Church Hit By Measles Outbreak (Jenny McCarthy and the View at work)
Mind-altering drug could offer life free of heroin - life - 22 August 2013 - New Scientist - ibogaine – a psychoactive substance derived from the rainforest shrub Tabernanthe iboga.
Erebeon comments on Top 250 Documentaries of all time, sorted by popularity
The Flavor Connection [Interactive]: Scientific American - Scientists link common flavor compounds across the world's favorite ingredients

35 Classy Slang Terms for Naughty Bits from the Past 600 Years | Mental Floss - Venerable monosyllable (1796)
CheekyMunky comments on LPT: Parents of 7 to 16 year olds can make their children behave in public by threatening to sing loudly


082313
Climate Panel Cites Near Certainty on Warming - NYTimes.com

DOJ wants Bush, senior cabinet members exempt from Iraq War trial — RT USA - The United States Department of Justice has requested that former President George W. Bush and the highest figures in his administration receive full exemption from being tried for the Iraq War, which the DoJ says was in line with international law. (no point looking backwards, there's nothing there to see, move along)
Here's What the White House's "Secret" Plan to Close Guantanamo Looks Like | Freedom of the Press Foundation ("close" = keep open as long as possible)

Two explosions hit Tripoli, Lebanon's second city | World news | theguardian.com - At least 42 dead and hundreds injured after apparently coordinated blasts in northern city
Syrian Government Forces Used Chemical Weapons, Initial U.S. And Allied Intelligence Agencies Assess
U.S. preps for possible cruise missile attack on Syrian gov't forces - CBS News
Obama calls alleged Syria chemical attack a 'big event of grave concern' | World news | theguardian.com - President's remarks marked an escalation of rhetoric on Syria and follow a whirlwind round of diplomatic talks headed by Kerry
How Russia Neutered Obama's Chemical Weapons Response | The Cable
Eschaton: The Options Range From Blowing Things Up To Blowing Things Up - Which always works well.

The Daily Dot - U.S. urges citizens in Iceland to avoid Manning protests - The U.S. Embassy in Reykjavik, Iceland, issued a strange emergency warning Thursday: be careful if you're American and travelling downtown, near its official office. There might be protesters. Chelsea Manning protesters. (shows how out of touch they are)

What Should You Read on Cyber Security? » Duck of Minerva
The Daily Dot - NSA data may have been used to target Kim Dotcom - The New Zealand police who took down Mega founder Kim Dotcom had some key intelligence on his online activity, provided by a foreign government's spy powers.

Justin Amash to Reintroduce Defunding Bill, May Have Votes – ICON
How NSA Overreach May Backfire Even On Agency’s Own Terms | American Civil Liberties Union - Fung points out that what quirks of the international telecommunications system give to the NSA, can also be taken away. He charts how the NSA scandals are prompting companies and nations around the world to start looking at how they can keep their data outside of U.S. shores.
A Guide To The Latest Flurry Of NSA Revelations | TPMMuckraker
NSA’s Inspector General Appears to Be Disappearing 299 Deliberate Violations a Year | emptywheel

NSA paid millions to cover Prism compliance costs for tech companies | World news | theguardian.com - Top-secret files show first evidence of financial relationship • Prism companies include Google and Yahoo, says NSA
NSA said to have paid 'millions' to cover costs for tech giants in PRISM program | ZDNet - The tech giants implicated in the PRISM hubbub have repeatedly denied offering access, but new documents reveal the NSA footed the bill for compliance costs.

NSA analysts deliberately broke rules to spy on Americans, agency reveals | World news | theguardian.com - Inspector general's admission undermines fresh insistences from president that breaches of privacy rules were inadvertent (as soon as he says something, it's proven to be a lie)
Lawmakers Probing Intentional Abuses of Power by NSA Analysts - Bloomberg - “I am reviewing each of these incidents in detail,” Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat and chairman of the Senate intelligence panel, said in a statement (that's reassuring, just like her previous "statements" on spying)
NSA Officers Sometimes Spy on Love Interests - Washington Wire - WSJ (LIVEINT)
Surveillance and the state: this way the debate goes on | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian - Thanks to Edward Snowden, the world now has a debate about the dramatic change in the contract between state and citizen
EU Weakened Data Protection Laws ahead of Prism Spy Program - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Top European officials are demanding more information about the controversial US Internet surveillance program known as Prism. But new information has revealed that the EU weakened privacy regulations in early 2012 following intense US lobbying. (6/13/13)

The Nature of the State |
They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45 by Milton Mayer, an excerpt - But Then It Was Too Late
Do not freeze...: Ricardo Flores Magon on the public order

UK government given Tuesday deadline over David Miranda data | World news | The Guardian - Judges ask government to provide detailed evidence about why it wants right to trawl data seized using terror laws
Snowden: UK government now leaking documents about itself | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The NSA whistleblower says: 'I have never spoken with, worked with, or provided any journalistic materials to the Independent'
Exclusive: UK’s secret Mid-East internet surveillance base is revealed in Edward Snowden leaks - UK Politics - UK - The Independent - Data-gathering operation is part of a £1bn web project still being assembled by GCHQ
Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald Challenge Independent Story
"It appears that the UK government is...intentionally leaking harmful information to The Independent and attributing it to others" : worldnews
The Real, Terrifying Reason Why British Authorities Detained David Miranda - Bruce Schneier - The Atlantic - The scariest explanation of all? That the NSA and GCHQ are just showing they don't want to be messed with.

How Obama has abused the Patriot Act - Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner - As I have said numerous times, I did not know the administration was using the Patriot Act for bulk collection, and neither did a majority of my colleagues. Regardless, the suggestion that the administration can violate the law because Congress failed to object is outrageous. But let them be on notice: I am objecting right now.

Guardian partners with New York Times over Snowden GCHQ files | UK news | The Guardian
Guardian, New York Times Team Up on Snowden Docs -- Daily Intelligencer - Guardian to Borrow New York Times’ First Amendment Rights for NSA Leaks
New York Times And Guardian Will Publish More Snowden Revelations - “A climate of intense pressure.” - Abramson declined, in a brief telephone interview from Boston, to “comment on any of that,” and stressed that she would not discuss the subject on her mobile telephone because “my cell phone is not a secure line.” (it's come to that)
The Snowden Effect With Jeffrey Toobin - The Snowden Effect With Guest Star Jeffrey Toobin - Esquire - The current state of play seems to be centered on the new family fun game, How Much Of A Dick Is Glenn Greenwald Anyway? I decline to play. It is a stupid, wasteful exercise because, frankly, the vessel doesn't matter to me. The information that it carries is the only thing that matters. What has Edward Snowden, International Man Of Luggage, revealed that isn't true? (+the twitchbot Toobz)
Jeffrey Toobin Preaches on Sanctity of Government Secrets Despite Once Stealing Classified Documents | The Dissenter - Toobin’s campaign against Snowden and in defense of the government’s right to protect sensitive national security secrets is incredibly hypocritical, given his past history.
Just because you are mean doesn’t make you wrong: A defense of Glenn Greenwald | The Raw Story
Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community - Small Things Can Kill Your Credibility (another "liberal" blog can't see the big picture, nitpicks on GG)
The Truth Continues to Trickle Out on the Greenwald Family Reality Show | The Daily Banter (more disinfo to distract you from Obama's shredding of the Constitution)
Snowden leaks: the real take-home - Charlie's Diary
Edward Snowden Was No Coward To Flee U.S., Pentagon Papers Lawyer Says - In a Friday interview on "The Agenda" on SiriusXM Progress, Daniel Sheehan said that Snowden wouldn’t receive a fair trial if he returned to the U.S.

The Daily Dot - Sentencing delayed again for Sabu, LulzSec leader turned FBI informant
Twitter / ChannelZeroYT: FBI got hacked. Seems like ...

9/11 Lawyer to Challenge Secret Guantanamo Camp - NYTimes.com - A defense lawyer who gained rare access to an ultra-secret section of the Guantanamo Bay prison said Sunday that the camp does not meet international standards under the Geneva Conventions, an allegation denied by the chief prosecutor for the U.S. military's war crimes tribunal. (part of Obama's "legacy")
Guantanamo’s Alleged Fifty Shades Love Is a Joke -- Daily Intelligencer - Lying to the world about the Guantanamo inmates being huge Fifty Shades of Grey fans is one of the least disturbing things to happen at the prison, but it still isn't cool.
World-famous Gulag classic prohibited by Guantanamo authorities — RT News - Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago has been banned by Guantanamo Bay authorities. Shaker Aamer, a UK citizen incarcerated at the camp since 2002, has been refused a copy of the novel, as stated by Reprieve, the British prisoners’ rights group. (the irony is excruciating, the hypocisy off the map)

[Report] | Life as a Terrorist, by William T. Vollmann | Harper's Magazine - Uncovering my FBI file
Hullabaloo - Stop living in the past. J. Edgar Hoover is dead. - The celebrated writer William Vollmann has revealed that the FBI once thought he might be the Unabomber, the anthrax mailer and a terrorist training with the Afghan mujahideen. - To just "trust" them, when they have a track record like what we see above is completely daft.

Daily Beast Publishes Piece Suggesting Prison Is Pretty Great For Transgender People | Blog | Media Matters for America
Bradley Manning Is Not a Woman | National Review Online - Pronouns and delusions do not trump biology. (more from the haters)

Steubenville Hacker Says Amazon Fired Him Because He's Part Of Anonymous - The man who claimed responsibility for the leaks that drew national attention to the Steubenville rape case now says Amazon.com recently fired him because of his association with the loosely-affiliated network of “hacktivists” known as Anonymous.

Michael Hastings' Dangerous Mind: Journalistic Star Was Loved, Feared and Haunted - Page 1 - News - Los Angeles - LA Weekly - One night in June, he came to Thigpen's apartment after midnight and urgently asked to borrow her Volvo.
? Michael Hastings and The War on Journalism - YouTube

A New Media Shield Law Would Only Shield Corporate Media | VICE United States (expected: no dirty bloggers allowed)

Las Vegas police say 'sovereign citizen' plot is stopped - latimes.com - Federal authorities regard sovereign citizen extremists as domestic terrorists
Sovereign Citizen Movement Plot Las Vegas - The Sovereign Citizen Movement Is No Joke - Esquire - It's entirely possible that this whole thing was just a matter of a couple of sociopaths who found a reason for their crazy out on the political fringes. But we should pause for a moment and consider why there was a rationale out there on the political fringes for these people to make their own.
Scientology Flack Arrested in Plot to Kill Cop

Mapped: Every Protest on the Planet Since 1979 - By J. Dana Stuster | Foreign Policy
Mapping where English is not the language at home - The Washington Post
And now our 51st state: North Colorado - The Maddow Blog - North Colorado would include about 333,000 people, hiving off six percent of old Colorado's population. (yeah, but they would have two Senators)
This map shows what the United States would look like if life were fair
f7a0e83b.jpg (map of aircraft carriers)

This Age of Bubbles - NYTimes.com - So, another BRIC hits the wall - In short, the main lesson of this age of bubbles — a lesson that India, Brazil, and others are learning once again — is that when the financial industry is set loose to do its thing, it lurches from crisis to crisis. (thank you Larry Summers)

Groundwater Contamination May End the Gas-Fracking Boom: Scientific American - Well water in Pennsylvania homes within a mile of fracking sites is found to be high in methane (but Obama's "study" said there were no problems)

Council Overrides Mayor's Vetoes On NYPD Oversight, Bloomberg Vows To Sue: Gothamist - The City Council overrode Mayor Bloomberg's vetoes this afternoon, affirming the passage of two laws that would strengthen existing profiling bans, allow citizens to meaningfully challenge discriminatory police practices, and install an Inspector General to broadly review NYPD policy and make recommendations.
Please fire Maureen Dowd … or get her a fact-checker - Salon.com - The Times columnist hijacks the NYC mayor race, makes another screw-up that would get a less famous reporter axed

Is the US Government the Managing Committee of the Pirate Banks? | Informed Comment - Greg Palast at Vice exposes the way that Larry Summers, Tim Geithner and others in the Treasury Department conspired with JP Morgan and other pirate investment banks not only to destroy Glass-Steagall in the US but throughout the world, removing the difference between commercial banks. and investment banks.
This one photo from 1998 includes everybody involved in the Fed chair decision - The Democratic economic policy elite has been remarkably stable over the last two decades, involving a surprisingly small number of people. And the decision over who will be the world’s most powerful economic policymaker this time next year is being made among people who have long histories together.
Median Household Income Dropped 4 Percent Since The End Of The Great Recession: Report
US house sales fall by 13.4% casts shadow over economic recovery | Business | theguardian.com - Government says sales down to annual rate of 394,000 and revises down its estimates for home sales in June
NASDAQ Shutdown Is Third Major Glitch In A Week, And Wall Street Doesn't Seem To Care
Hard Times, for Some - NYTimes.com - The chart illustrates the marked shift over the past three decades in the distribution of national income in the United States from labor (in the form of wages, salaries and fringe benefits) to capital (in the form of interest, capital gains and other returns on investment).

War On Undocumented Immigrants Threatens To Swell U.S. Prison Population (making the prison industry very happy)
South Carolina approves plan to exile its homeless - UPI.com - Homeless people in Columbia, South Carolina will have to choose between leaving the downtown area or getting arrested.

Everything you need to know about Obama’s higher ed plan
Churches should be taxed: Then everyone can speak.

Some Newly Uncovered Nixon Comments on the Subjects of Jews and Black People - Elspeth Reeve - The Atlantic Wire - "They put the Jewish interest above America's interest and it's about goddamn time that the Jew in America realizes he's an American first and a Jew second."

? CES 2008 Keynote Video - Bill Gates' Last Day at Microsoft - YouTube

082213
World leaders call for action as UN says alleged chemical attacks in Syria are a 'serious escalation' - Middle East - World - The Independent - Leaders are now beginning to react as Turkish Foreign Minister warns "all red lines" have been crossed in Syria
France warns Syria of forceful response over chemical weapon claims | World news | theguardian.com - Calls for UN investigative team to be allowed immediate access to site of attack but French foreign minister rules out ground troops
Rockets fired from Lebanon hit northern Israel - Middle East - World - The Independent - Despite two of the rockets landing in an open field there are believed to be no casualties
Fukushima warning: danger level at nuclear plant jumps to 'serious' | Environment | The Guardian - Japan's nuclear agency dramatically raises status after saying a day earlier that radioactive water leak was only an 'anomaly'
Fukushima leak is 'much worse than we were led to believe' - He says water is leaking out all over the site and there are no accurate figures for radiation levels. (they just keep on lying)
Rebekah Brooks trial over phone-hacking charges delayed | UK news | theguardian.com - Former News International chief executive, Andy Coulson and six others will appear in court at end of October
'We won't be blackmailed': Italy’s fragile coalition government close to collapse as centre-left prime minister Enrico Letta warns People of Freedom party that he won't buckle over Silvio Berlusconi - Europe - World - The Independent
Washington Post Besieged By Anti-Muslim Brotherhood Protesters
Twitter / Max_Fisher: Wash Post lobby on lockdown ... with giant pro-Sissi/anti-Morsi protest out front.

The Confidential Memo at the Heart of the Global Financial Crisis | VICE United Kingdom - When a little birdie dropped the End Game memo through my window, its content was so explosive, so sick and plain evil, I just couldn't believe it ... The Treasury official playing the bankers’ secret End Game was Larry Summers

White House Picks Panel to Review NSA Programs - ABC News - The recent acting head of the CIA, Michael Morell, will be among what President Obama called a “high-level group of outside experts” scrutinizing the controversial programs. (and Cass Sunstein for the cherry on the cake)
Review of US surveillance programs to be led by panel of intelligence insiders | World news | theguardian.com - List of apparent panel members prompts criticism among privacy advocates after Obama promised 'independent' review (by hand-picked insiders, signature Obama move)
Obama signs NDAA 2013 without objecting to indefinite detention of Americans — RT USA (from January)
Secret Court Rebuked N.S.A. on Surveillance - NYTimes.com - Judge Bates recounted. He cited a 2009 ruling that concluded that the requirement had been “so frequently and systematically violated that it can fairly be said that this critical element of the overall ... regime has never functioned effectively.” (aonther Obama designed-to-fail)
Snowden Effect And Government Spin - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - The Invaluable Charlie Savage has another interesting bit of tid from inside the FISA Court today -- namely, that the court once got vexed and ratty with the NSA over something the NSA was doing. And, as always, it is important to remember that none of this would be happening without the efforts of Edward Snowden, International Man Of Luggage.
Twitter / trevortimm: This footnote from the ... - just-declassified FISA court ruling on unconstitutional NSA surveillance is extraordinary:
The FISA Court Knew the NSA Lied Repeatedly About Its Spying, Approved Its Searches Anyway | Motherboard
The Daily Dot - Activists forced courts to declassify NSA docs, even if U.S. won't admit it - What the ODNI doesn't mention in any of its releases, however, was that it was compelled to do so through legal action started by Internet freedom advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
Judge: NSA “systematically violated” its own privacy requirements | Ars Technica - Unsealed docs show NSA collected tens of thousands of "non-target" communications.
Windows 8+TPM: Germany Warns of 'Loss of Control' - Open Enterprise - it's the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) that could cause trouble according to the newspaper: (of course they would call it that)

Orders To Destroy Guardian Hard Drives Came Directly From PM David Cameron | Techdirt
David Miranda wins High Court injunction on seized data - but with 'national security' exemption - Home News - UK - The Independent - Lawyers win order to stop Government and police 'inspecting, copying or sharing' seized data - except for 'purpose of protecting national security' (which is always their excuse, so big loophole)
David Miranda wins partial court victory over data seized by police | World news | theguardian.com - Court restricts authorities 'inspecting, copying or sharing' data • Met launches criminal inquiry after analysing data
Yvette Cooper says 'big question' hangs over David Miranda's detention - video | World news | theguardian.com - whether it was appropriate to use terrorism laws to detain David Miranda at Heathrow when other legal avenues were available, and about whether the government would co-operate fully with the independent reviewer's assessment of the incident
David Miranda's lawyer says client treated 'in most egregious manner' at Heathrow - video | World news | theguardian.com - during his nine-hour detention at Heathrow. Gwendolen Morgan says in 2011, only 4% of the 64,000 people detained under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 were detained for more than an hour, and that she has seen 'no evidence to suggest that it was anything other than an abuse' of the power
As in Russia, the terror threat has become the excuse to curtail our rights | John Kampfner | Comment is free | The Guardian - Our surveillance culture was conceived to keep us safe, but is now widely abused. And the checks and balances don't work
The detention of David Miranda was an unlawful use of the Terrorism Act | Charles Falconer | Comment is free | The Guardian - Theresa May can try to justify the use of schedule 7, but officials knew Miranda was no terrorist and they held him anyway
As a Democrat, I am disgusted with President Obama | Jeff Jarvis | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Is this really the legacy you want for yourself: the chief executive who trampled rights, destroyed privacy, heightened secrecy, ruined trust, and worst of all, did not defend but instead detoured around so many of the fundamental principles on which this country is founded?
Lavabit founder: 'My own tax dollars are being used to spy on me' | World news | theguardian.com - Since shuttering his email service, which was used by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, Ladar Levison has been stuck in a Kafkaesque legal battle – and that's about all he can say (sucked down Obama's rabbit-hole)
Nice comment on the above article
LL: "I can't talk about that"
A Moron's Guide to Alan Rusbridger | VICE United Kingdom
The Daily Dot - Ed Snowden talks to his dad online, against lawyer's advice

emptywheel - Not least, the phone dragnet database, which — after all — includes the records of 310 million people even while only 12 people’s data has proved useful in thwarting terrorist plots. (in Somalia) (impenetrable swamp of lies and stupidity)

Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers Whistleblower, Sees Bradley Manning's Conviction As The Beginning Of Police State
Schneier on Security: Management Issues in Terrorist Organizations - "We had some very heinous and counterproductive activities being carried out that the leadership didn't punish because they had to maintain the hearts and minds within the organization," he said....
AIUK : Bradley Manning: severity of possible sentence stands in 'stunning contrast' to Abu Ghraib impunity - ‘While Manning could face more than a century behind bars, numerous high-level officials … have been let off scot-free’ - Widney Brown
8 Real Spies And Actual Bad Guys Who Got Shorter Sentences Than Bradley Manning
How Will Chelsea Manning Be Treated in Prison? - The Daily Beast - Who knows how the former Bradley Manning will fare at Fort Leavenworth? When I was locked up, I didn’t see transgender inmates treated badly. Some were royalty. (DB supports prison rape)

Exclusive: Anonymous Calls Bulls#%t on FBI's Claims of Victory » RYOT News
Hacks continue in spite of FBI claims of "dismantlement" of Anonymous | GlobalPost - The FBI is claiming to have dismantled the hacker organization Anonymous. But shortly after an official's statements were published in the press, Anons dumped large amounts of data that appears to have been stolen from FBI servers.
NSA domestic spying: Mathematicians should speak out. - Slate Magazine

FBI suspected William Vollmann was the Unabomber - The celebrated writer William Vollmann has revealed that the FBI once thought he might be the Unabomber, the anthrax mailer and a terrorist training with the Afghan mujahideen. Vollmann gives him the codename “Ratfink” — turned him in to the authorities as a possible Unabomber suspect because of the content of his fiction
Writer William T. Vollmann Uncovers His FBI File : NPR - David Greene talks to author Willam T. Vollmann about this latest article in Harpers Magazine. In it, Vollmann details his discovery, following a Freedom of Information Act request, that the FBI was watching him, and that he was suspected of being a domestic terrorist.
FBI Suspected William Vollmann A Terrorist - The Strangest Story Of The Day - Esquire - But, don't worry. As we are regularly assured by the street-smart liberals at The Daily Banter, as to the all-too-human guardians of our secrets, mistakes will be made but so are they all, all honorable men.

SWAT Cop Says American Neighborhoods Are 'Battlefields,' Claims Cops Face Same Dangers As Soldiers In Afghanistan
Police taser man to get him off a roof, choke & drag him face-down across a staircase, killing him | Police State USA

War On Drugs Failure Gives Way To Treatment In States, Cities (your authoritarian Pres at work, preventing sane policy)
Pardon Rates Remain Low - NYTimes.com - In all his 4,000 words on America’s “broken” legal system — and particularly on its outlandishly harsh and ineffective sentencing laws — there was not one mention of executive clemency.
Unions To White House On Obamacare, Taft-Hartley Plans: 'You Made The Problem, You Fix It'
House Republicans May Use Debt Ceiling As Leverage In Fight Against Obamacare

White House: Obama not ready to back legalized marijuana - The Hill's Blog Briefing Room (condemning millions of chronic pain suffers to a lifetime of pain)
That's Why They Call It Dope - Esquire - What does he have to lose now? Seriously. Even Sanjay Gupta's on board.

Nasdaq shutdown renews fears over stock market stability | Business | The Guardian - Glitch at Nasdaq results in unprecedented shutdown and halts trading amid calls grow for greater regulation of markets
No Clarity From Fed on Stimulus, Upsetting Wall Street - NYTimes.com - By pumping $85 billion a month into the economy through the bond purchases, the Fed has helped push up prices for many kinds of assets, especially stocks. The indications that the infusions might soon come to an end has generated increased volatility both on Wall Street and in stock exchanges around the world.


Filner To Resign by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - So for residents of San Diego, it seems the long municipal nightmare will soon be over: The silver lining of this whole mess will be another burst of realization that sexual harassment is not a thing of the past, and also that it has become perilous for those who treat it as a perk of high office or just of being The Boss.

America’s Best-Bang-for-the-Buck Colleges by Rachel Fishman and Robert Kelchen | The Washington Monthly



Apple reportedly blows off cable companies, talks directly with HBO, ESPN for iTV service - Yahoo! News

iMessage Is Down For Many, Along With Other iCloud Services From Apple

082113
/ Syrian 'Poison Gas' Attack By Government Forces Claimed By Opposition
The Daily Dot - Alleged Syrian chemical attack captured in graphic YouTube videos
Hosni Mubarak Release: Court Orders Former Egyptian President To Be Freed
Furious Buddhists Are Making Life Hell for Sri Lanka's Muslims | VICE Canada
Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Escalates To Worst Level In 2 Years
Japan's nuclear crisis deepens, China expresses 'shock'
New Zealand Spying Law Passes Allowing Surveillance Of Citizens - The push to change the law came after it emerged last year that the GCSB illegally spied on Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom before armed police raided his Auckland mansion as part of a US-led probe into online piracy. (so they passed a law making it legal)
Shooting of Australian Christopher Lane sparks calls for U.S. boycott - CNN.com - "People thinking of going to the USA for business or tourists trips should think carefully about it given the statistical fact you are 15 times more likely to be shot dead in the USA than in Australia per capita per million people."
Chilling 911 call details final moments of Melbourne baseballer Chris Lane's life | News.com.au

Vietnam and Historical Forgetting | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly (US has a long history of doing terrible things)

EFF Victory Results in Release of Secret Court Opinion Finding NSA Surveillance Unconstitutional | Electronic Frontier Foundation - Update: In response to EFF's FOIA lawsuit, the government has released the 2011 FISA court opinion ruling some NSA surveillance unconstitutional.
October 3, 2011 FISC Opinion Holding NSA Surveillance Unconstitutional | Electronic Frontier Foundation
IC ON THE RECORD - The highest priority of the Intelligence Community is to work within the constraints of law to collect, analyze and understand information related to potential threats to our national security. (what the EFF forced them to do, Obama is so transparent you can see right through him)

NSA gathered thousands of Americans’ e-mails before court struck down program - The Washington Post - “For the first time, the government has now advised the court that the volume and nature of the information it has been collecting is fundamentally different from what the court had been led to believe,” Judge John D. Bates, then the surveillance court’s chief judge, wrote in his Oct. 3, 2011 opinion. “disclosed a substantial misrepresentation regarding the scope of a major collection program” three times in less than three years. (yeah, Obama lied to them too)
NSA’s “Presumption of Regularity” | emptywheel - Yet in spite of the fact that this opinion lists three substantial misrepresentations the NSA had made in recent history and caught the NSA in bad math, here’s how it decided it could trust the government’s assurances that it didn’t use this abusive communication to target non-targeted people.
NSA Collected Thousands Of Emails, Other Communications By Americans With No Terror Ties
NSA used PRISM to collect more than 200 million internet communications a year as of 2011 | The Verge
Newest Spy Court Pick Is a Democrat but Not a Liberal - NYTimes.com
Olympic Fact-Checking of the NSA | emptywheel - One of the disclosures from yesterday’s WSJ blockbuster that shocked a lot of people was that the NSA and FBI collected all the email and phone communications from Salt Lake City around the time of the 2002 Olympics. (and they killed Qwest over it: so much is buried under mountains of lies)
FISA? I Hardly Knew Her! - Esquire - Look. Roberts is not going to appoint anyone -- Democrat or Republican -- who's going to rock the boat on the FISA court, where so are they all, all honorable men. So he searched around and found the most surveillance-friendly Democrat he could find and, presto! Bipartisanship! The Beltway must be plotzing.
Twitter / trevortimm: This footnote from the ... - This footnote from the just-declassified FISA court ruling on unconstitutional NSA surveillance is extraordinary: pic.twitter.com/r06gSU7KLD

Britons Question Whether Detention of Reporter’s Partner Was Terror-Related - NYTimes.com - Demands grew on Monday for the British government to explain why it had used antiterrorism powers to detain the partner of a journalist who has written about surveillance programs based on leaks by the former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden. - “The next time they try to tell you that the secrecy and attempts to silence legitimate debate are ‘in the public interest,’ do not forget what they did to David Miranda, because they can do it to you, too.”

Inside David Miranda's detention
Guardian told to destroy NSA files for national security, says Clegg | World news | theguardian.com - Clegg's spokesman confirms that Sir Jeremy Heywood made request on instructions of David Cameron
Guardian told to destroy NSA files for national security, says Clegg | World news | theguardian.com - Clegg's spokesman confirms that Sir Jeremy Heywood made request on instructions of David Cameron
NSA Can Tap Three-Fourths Of Domestic U.S. Internet Traffic, Wall Street Journal Reports
US doesn't know what Snowden took, sources say - Investigations - the NSA has a poor audit capability, which is frustrating efforts to complete a damage assessment. (because they didn't want to "audit" their law-breaking)
'Sending a message': what the US and UK are attempting to do | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - State-loyal journalists seem to believe in a duty to politely submit to bullying tactics from political officials
So the innocent have nothing to fear? After David Miranda we now know where this leads | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | The Guardian - The destructive power of state snooping is on display for all to see. The press must not yield to this intimidation
Conspiracy to commit journalism » Pressthink - “If sunlight coalitions are to succeed, they won’t succeed by outwitting surveillance. Not better technology, but greater legitimacy is their edge.”
Could David Miranda be a “terrorist”? | Head of Legal - So there’s no doubt: the purpose of Schedule 7 is clear. I fully agree with David Allen Green that the questioning and detention of David Miranda was unlawful unless carried out for the purpose of determining whether he appeared to be concerned in “terrorism” within the meaning of the Act.
David Miranda lawyers’ letter to the Home Office | World news | theguardian.com
Hullabaloo - First they came for the hard drives ...
The UK government's investigations of the Guardian and David Miranda are troubling : Columbia Journalism Review - Governments harassing journalists in the name of national security isn’t new — but it is dangerous

Amazon Received $600 Million CIA Computer Cloud Contract: Surveillance Shopping?
United States Patent: 8160877 - Hierarchical real-time speaker recognition for biometric VoIP verification and targeting

Hullabaloo - They really want to get to your private information - This has nothing to do with keeping the babies safe and everything to do with a government that has decided that the 4th Amendment is getting in its way and that an expectation of privacy is an anachronism that only a bunch of irrelevant cranks or criminals care about.

Bradley Manning Did Not Hurt the United States | Freedom of the Press Foundation (the truth always hurts those in power)
CCR Condemns Manning Sentence, Whistleblower Should Have Never Been Prosecuted | Center for Constitutional Rights
Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison – live updates | World news | theguardian.com
Breaking: Bradley Manning Sentence - HuffPost Live
Bradley Manning Uncovered U.S. Torture, Abuse, Soldiers Laughing As They Killed Innocent Civilians
Bradley Manning Headed To Prison, While Those Who Presided Over Torture Go Free (American "justice")

FBI Agent: We've Dismantled The Leaders Of Anonymous

Immigration Reformers, Wake the F’ Up! | TPM Editors Blog - reform is likely dead in this Congress. It’s incredibly important for the country as well as for millions of undocumented immigrants whose lives will be directly affected.
Elizabeth Warren Presses Eric Holder On Mortgage Settlement

More Louisiana Republicans Blame President Obama For Hurricane Katrina Response Than Bush | ThinkProgress (Senator Obama, actually)
Forgetting the relevant Katrina detail, eight years later - The Maddow Blog
“I’m not a terrorist: I’m eight years old, and that’s my science project” - Salon.com - We're looking for truthers, terrorists and conspiracies everywhere. Our paranoia says more about us than reality

NYC’s frisking twins beg: Please let us profile! - Salon.com - Michael Bloomberg and Ray Kelly appeal to their base of national elites, to salvage their legacies and reputations
Bloomberg as the anti-News Corp. : Columbia Journalism Review - The external review into how Bloomberg News staffers used and misused confidential client data available on Bloomberg LP terminals in their reporting turned up few if any surprises and effectively puts the mini-scandal to bed. (unlike his police dept.)

Another sex harassment accusation for San Diego Mayor Bob Filner - CNN.com - Businesswoman Dianne York told CNN that Filner put his hands on her buttocks during a photo opportunity that followed a meeting three months ago. York said there were witnesses to what happened. She said both her advisers and Filner's were in the room at the time.

Exclusive: Results of Congressional ‘Fishing Expedition’ Show Abortion Is Already Highly Regulated, Overwhelmingly Safe

Obama Does Not Support Changes To Medical Marijuana Laws 'At This Point,' White House Says (hasn't "evolved" very much, will stil raid dispensaries)

How The NRA Built A Massive Secret Database Of Gun Owners - While the National Rifle Association publicly fights against a national gun registry, the organization has gone to incredible lengths to compile information on “tens of millions” of gun owners — without their consent.

The Continuing Adventures Of Annie Dookhan - True Tales Of The War On Drugs - Esquire - Up here in the Commonwealth (God save it!), we've been keeping a close eye on the curious case of Annie Dookhan, Drug Avenger.

Gut feelings: the future of psychiatry may be inside your stomach | The Verge
Teleportation just got easier—but not for you, unfortunately - These two most recent experiments show deterministic quantum teleportation in two different systems so that the process is no longer probabilistic. Instead it can, in principle, work every time a photon is ready to be teleported.

Maureen Dowd Misquote Gave Quinn an Opening -- Daily Intelligencer
Maureen Dowd Says Misquote Was Due To 'Noisy' Coffee Shop | TPM LiveWire

Harold Meyerson: For retailers, low wages aren’t working out - The Washington Post - This Wal-Mart low-prices, low-wages thing isn’t working out so well — even for Wal-Mart. The United States leads the industrial world in the percentage of its jobs that are low-wage. Fully 25 percent of the workforce makes less than two-thirds of the nation’s median wage (eating your children)

Huffington: Trolls uglier than ever, so we’re cutting off anonymous comments - Innovation - Boston.com - The days of anonymous commenting on The Huffington Post are numbered. Founder Arianna Huffington said in a question-and-answer session with reporters in Boston Wednesday that the online news site plans to require users to comment on stories under their real names, beginning next month. (you will have to fax Arianna a copy of your BC)
Can Huffington stop the trolls by requiring real names? - Innovation - Boston.com
Not OK, Cupid: dating site email security gaffe leaves your account wide open | The Verge

082013
Egypt's cruellest week | World news | The Guardian - Since troops moved in on the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt has erupted in violence. It has been grim to witness, says Patrick Kingsley. But worse must surely follow
Here's What The Egyptian Military Has Been Buying With Your Tax Dollars
Fukushima Tank Leaks 300 Tons Of 'Highly Radioactive' Water At Nuclear Plant
The Perpetual Drone War in Yemen
The Birth of a Police State | Trebuchet Magazine - UK government is about to pass legislation which will make any behaviour perceived to potentially ’cause a nuisance or annoyance’ a criminal offence.
China: Satisfaction with Country's Direction - Indicators Database | Pew Global Attitudes Project

Rupert Murdoch's Muslim Tweet Provokes Backlash

White House: US government wouldn't force reporters to destroy computers | World news | theguardian.com - Official says it would be 'very difficult to imagine a scenario' where newspapers would be ordered to surrender leaked secrets
NSA files: why the Guardian in London destroyed hard drives of leaked files | World news | theguardian.com - A threat of legal action by the government that could have stopped reporting on the files leaked by Edward Snowden led to a symbolic act at the Guardian's offices in London
David Miranda detention - latest developments and reaction | Politics | theguardian.com - Home Office defends David Miranda's detention • Alan Rusbridger's interviews - Summary
Miranda had 'highly sensitive stolen information', Home Office suggests | World news | theguardian.com - Home Office claims nine-hour detention of Guardian journalist's partner was justified to protect public from threat of terrorism (they know they are lying)
David Cameron had advance warning of Miranda detention, No 10 confirms | World news | theguardian.com - Prime minister drawn into controversy surrounding treatment of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald's partner
? BBC Radio 4 - World at One, 20/08/2013, Alan Rusbridger on Edward Snowden and David Miranda
US Official Admits That UK Detention Of Glenn Greenwald's Partner Was 'To Send A Message' | Techdirt - from the illegal-and-obnoxious dept
David Miranda detention: a betrayal of trust and principle | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian - This subverted the benefit of the doubt that liberal democracies ask for when they arm themselves against terrorism
Glenn Greenwald: detaining my partner was a failed attempt at intimidation | Comment is free | The Guardian - The detention of my partner, David Miranda, by UK authorities will have the opposite effect of the one intended

David Miranda's lawyers threaten legal action over 'unlawful' detention | World news | theguardian.com - Partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald seeks return of equipment seized during nine-hour interrogation at Heathrow
Police: David Miranda Detention 'Necessary And Proportionate'
David Miranda Set To Take Legal Action Against UK Over Detention
Detention Of Glenn Greenwald's Partner Leads To Political Fight

Journalists, Terror laws, and The Guardian | JOMEC @ Cardiff University - What may have started as a clumsy piece of intimidation could have far wider consequences.
Miranda detention is a "defining point" - Index on Censorship | Index on Censorship - It's time for US and UK leaders to tear down the security apparatus that threatens free speech
Miranda, Greenwald and Snowden: The Guardian is overplaying its hand – Telegraph Blogs (absurd, especially from a newspaper)
Zelo Street: Don’t Menshn The Invention - has waded the former Tory MP now representing the distant constituency of Manhattan Upmarket, Louise Mensch. And you must pay attention to her, because, well, it’s written, that’s why. And she’s been on telly recently.
Nine hours in the life of David Miranda | Jack of Kent - But in any case, and in summary: if the questioning, detention, and search of Miranda was for a purpose other than to determine if he was a terrorist, then it was unlawful.
White House Had Advance Notice on Heathrow Detention of Guardian Reporter Greenwald's Partner - Washington Wire - WSJ (in the sense that Obama ordered it)
David Miranda detention: schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act explained | World news | The Guardian - The one good thing to emerge from Miranda's case is public debate over the use of a potent piece of legislation
David Miranda was not given any reason for detention, say lawyers | World news | theguardian.com - Law firm hired by the Guardian says Glenn Greenwald's partner was denied interpreter and was not even allowed a pen
YOU'VE HAD YOUR FUN | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Who is winning the information war: security services or the new disruptive journalists? | Charlie Beckett
Guardian bombshells in an escalating battle against journalism : Columbia Journalism Review - Greenwald partner’s detention, prior-restraint threats, and smashed hard drives - This is police-state stuff. We need to know the American government’s role in these events—and its stance on them—sooner rather than later.
"They'll Be Laughing in Moscow and Beijing." A Former British Defence Minister Writes... by Tom Watson - Snowden was a brave man to take on the military industrial complex over at least two continents, but it took a particular kind of journalist to chop and dice his stolen PowerPoint files into the global story of the year. Step forward Glenn Greenwald: a pugnacious campaigner who has managed to find a living humiliating the world's security services.
Guy Who Wrote Legal Memos Defending US Torture Defends NSA Because It Takes Too Long To Obey The Constitution | Techdirt - John Yoo, of course,
Snowden Effect And Jeffrey Toobin - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - There is one thing for which we can thank Edward Snowden, International Man Of Luggage. His revelations clearly have delineated, once and for all, the parameters of liberalism's inner authoritarian. (Jeffrey "Toobs" Toobin disgraces himself again)

Are Manning and Snowden patriots? That depends on what we do next. - The Washington Post - Andrew J. Bacevich - Yet in Washington such setbacks, however costly or catastrophic, make little impression. The national security state has a formidable capacity to absorb, forget and carry on as if nothing untoward had transpired. The already forgotten Iraq war provides only the latest example.
The Deep State, the Permanent Campaign, and the Frayed Fabric of American Democracy - James Fallows - The Atlantic

More NSA Spying Fallout: Groklaw Shutting Down | Techdirt - The power of a surveillance state to spin out of control has wide-reaching consequences. It's difficult to see how anyone can claim it's worth the costs.
Groklaw - Forced Exposure ~pj - So this is the last Groklaw article. I won't turn on comments. Thank you for all you've done. I will never forget you and our work together. I hope you'll remember me too. I'm sorry I can't overcome these feelings, but I yam what I yam, and I tried, but I can't.
BOLD - Internet Privacy - Introduction - Welcome to the archived Berkman Center for Internet & Society BOLD site for "Privacy in Cyberspace" which was offered in the Spring of 2002.

Obama administration asks Supreme Court to allow warrantless cellphone searches

Why the White House is uneasy with picking Janet Yellen as Fed chair - Essentially, the reservations among Obama advisers over Yellen have more to do with what sort of Fed chair they want — what leadership style and intellectual emphasis — than any particular weaknesses that the current vice chairman may have.
Pat Roberts Backs Janet Yellen For Fed Chair: 'I Wouldn't Want Larry Summers To Mow My Yard'

Detroit police adopt ‘stop-and-frisk’ — RT USA
Stop-and-Frisk City: Does Michael Bloomberg Really Care About Kids' Safety? | Politics News | Rolling Stone - Critics say the New York mayor has slashed social services and encouraged police practices that target the city's most vulnerable youth (he cares about rich people, duh)

US Department of Interior criticises State over Keystone XL impact report | Environment | theguardian.com - Letter calls draft environmental impact statement on controversial transnational oil-sands project 'inaccurate' (meaning full of industry lies)

HOT Lanes Are Even More Popular When They're Expensive - Eric Jaffe - The Atlantic Cities

College students say no to costly textbooks - College students and some of their professors are pushing back against ever-escalating textbook prices that have jumped 82% in the past decade.

LSD and other psychedelics not linked with mental health problems - Large population study with more than 20,000 psychedelic users ... The researchers found that lifetime use of psilocybin or mescaline and past year use of LSD were associated with lower rates of serious psychological distress. Lifetime use of LSD was also significantly associated with a lower rate of outpatient mental health treatment and psychiatric medicine prescription.
Blue Moon 2013: Rare Full Moon Visible In Night Sky This Month

Amazon Lost $120K a Minute During Outage - Cause isn't certain

081913
UN Climate Change Report Draft Warns Of 3 Foot Sea Level Rise By 2100 - "However, the projections they provide are still overly conservative, with an upper limit of roughly one meter by 2100, when there is published work that suggests the possibility of as much as two meters (six feet) sea level rise by 2100," he added. (Repubicans are drowning your grandchildren)

Egyptian police killed in Sinai ambush at Rafah - At least 24 Egyptian policemen have been killed in an attack by suspected militants in the Sinai peninsula.
Israel Maintains Ties With Egyptian Army (overrules Obama on cutting military aid)
Saudis want U.S. to back Egypt crackdown - Sunday evening roundup by Samuel Knight | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly (SA, Israel and Egyptian military: axis of evil)
After $300 Billion In U.S. Aid To The Middle East, Still No Stability
Hague war crimes ruling threatens to undermine future prosecutions | Law | The Guardian - Legal experts say proof that accused 'specifically directed' atrocities now required after tribunal acquits Serbian commanders
Romanian and Bulgarian migration estimates are 'unfounded', says report | UK news | The Observer - Migration Matters says arrivals will probably peak at about 20,000 rather than 300,000 as claimed - "Our belief is that the anti-immigration lobby have cried wolf once too often,"
Dear Earth Family: Tonight NZ Stands Up Against Our Own Nsa: The #Gcsb And We Ne - Pastebin.com
PM to journalist: Is this a question, buddy? - TV News Video | TVNZ - John Key appeared to lose patience with a journalist at a media conference today.

Robert Seldon Lady To Ask For Pardon From Italy Over 'Extraordinary Rendition' Program - Former CIA Milan station chief Robert Seldon Lady is to ask Italy's president to pardon him for kidnapping an Egyptian Muslim cleric under the U.S. "extraordinary rendition" programme, his lawyer was quoted as saying on Monday. (that whole torture thing was no big deal)

CIA Admits It Was Behind Iran's Coup - By Malcolm Byrne | Foreign Policy - The agency finally owns up to its role in the 1953 operation. (lied for 60 years)
CIA Behind Iran Coup - Sixty Years On - Esquire - Further proof that we should trust the secret machinations of our spooks because they've only ever had our best interests at heart and this probably saved millions of lives, if they only could have told us how. ("honorable men" at work)

The NSA Searches Ten Times as Much of the Internet as It Said It Does - Philip Bump - The Atlantic Wire
Have There Been Significant Phone Dragnet Violations Since 2009? | emptywheel

David Miranda, schedule 7 and the danger that all reporters now face | Alan Rusbridger | Comment is free | The Guardian - As the events in a Heathrow transit lounge – and the Guardian offices – have shown, the threat to journalism is real and growing - "You've had your fun. Now we want the stuff back." "You've had your debate. There's no need to write any more." And so one of the more bizarre moments in the Guardian's long history occurred – with two GCHQ security experts overseeing the destruction of hard drives in the Guardian's basement just to make sure there was nothing in the mangled bits of metal which could possibly be of any interest to passing Chinese agents. "We can call off the black helicopters," joked one as we swept up the remains of a MacBook Pro.

Guardian Editor: U.K. 'Security Experts' Entered Offices And Destroyed Hard Drives
Snowden Wars Episode V: The Surveillance State Strikes Back | Mother Jones - On the other hand, Snowden himself is bottled up in Russia. Julian Assange is trapped like a rat in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Wikileaks has been crippled by concerted international sanctions. Bradley Manning will spend the rest of his life in jail. And even the thickest-skinned journalists will think twice before tackling sensitive subjects now that they know their spouses, family, and friends are considered fair game for harassment by any sufficiently annoyed security agency. If even the president of Bolivia can't escape harassment, what chance do you have?
Glenn Greenwald Gives British Government A Right Jolly Rogering, Will Probably Never Shut Up About It

‘More aggressive’: Greenwald vows to publish more secrets after UK detains partner — RT News - "I have many more documents to report on, including ones about the UK, where I'll now focus more. I will be more aggressive, not less, in reporting," said Greenwald, speaking in Portuguese to reporters at Rio de Janeiro's international airport, Reuters reported.
David Miranda: 'They said I would be put in jail if I didn't cooperate' | World news | The Guardian - Partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald gives his first interview on nine-hour interrogation at Heathrow airport
Glenn Greenwald's partner detained at Heathrow - reaction | Politics | theguardian.com - Rolling coverage of the reaction to the detention of David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald's partner, at Heathrow under terrorist legislation - Glenn Greenwald's partner detained at Heathrow - reaction | Politics | theguardian.com - Earnest admits that the White House was given a "heads up" over Miranda's detention yesterday. "We had an indication it was likely to occur but it's not something we requested," he says.

US denies ordering airport detention - The US government has said it was not involved in the decision to detain the partner of a journalist who published information from US whistleblower Edward Snowden. ("ordering" is the lie word)
Glenn Greenwald 'Not Worried At All' About Britain Getting Info From His Partner's Seized Electronics - Forbes
Detention Of Glenn Greenwald's Partner Leads To Political Fight
NYT article on 9-hr UK detention of @ggreenwald partner under Terrorism Act updated w/ Brazil foreign ministry stmnt : charlie_savage
Terrorism law watchdog calls for explanation of Miranda detention | World news | theguardian.com - David Anderson QC becomes latest figure to question treatment of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald's partner
Is Glenn Greenwald's journalism now viewed as a 'terrorist' occupation? | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | theguardian.com - David Miranda's detention shows that being the partner of the man who interviewed the NSA whistleblower is enough to see you treated like a terrorist - The innocent have nothing to fear? They do if they embarrass America and happen to visit British soil. The only land of the free today in this matter is Brazil.
Why Was Glenn Greenwald's Partner Detained? - NYTimes.com - The real question is, who ordered the detention, and how they can be called to account? (follow the money straight to the top)
Detainment of Glenn Greenwald's partner an abuse of U.K. Terrorism Act - latimes.com
Nine-hour detention of Glenn Greenwald's partner calls anti-terrorism law into question | The Verge
Snowden Effect Goes Crazy Over Weekend - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - And, finally, in a truly terrifying turn, security officials in the UK detained the partner of Glenn Greenwald for the offense, apparently, of being the partner of Glenn Greenwald. Worse, he was detained under an "anti-terrorism" statute. They just love their "anti-terrorism" statutes in the UK.

David Miranda detention a 'breach of law' - Julian Assange
Lawfare › The NSA, the Washington Post, and the Administration - This is not the stuff of Frank Church. (from the legal "no big dealers")
Abuse of Power - Lawyers, Guns & Money (LGM commenters, even three months later, pretty clueless, esp "Dana Houle")

How Edward Snowden led journalist and film-maker to reveal NSA secrets | World news | The Guardian - Whistleblower drew Glenn Greenwald and film-maker Laura Poitras together to expose surveillance programmes
How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets - NYTimes.com
Behind the Cover Story: Peter Maass on How He Got the Very Secret Laura Poitras to Open Up - NYTimes.com
Laura Poitras: NYT magazine profile Glenn Greenwald's silent—put powerful—NSA reporting partner.
In the (K)now » Blog Archive » Glenn Greenwald: scholar, journalist, media critic extraordinaire (with video)
? The problems with the use of anonymous sources in the UK media - YouTube
? Hedges v Obama | Interview with NDAA Plaintiff Chris Hedges - YouTube (the one they declared "no standing" so get lost)

Government: Bradley Manning Betrayed His Country & Deserves No Mercy from Court of Law | The Dissenter

Bloomberg on Stop-and-Frisk: ‘If I Had a Son...’ -- Daily Intelligencer
Modern Vote Suppression Better Than Jim Crow -- Daily Intelligencer

82% Say U.S. Not Winning War on Drugs - Rasmussen Reports™ ("winning" was never the point)

Sequestration 2013 Cuts to Medical Research Are Real | New Republic - Well, just in the past few days there've been several dings in that happy complacency as more and more people—including at least one esteemed conservative—become aware of sequestration's real and unexaggerated consequences. (Republican traitors fucking over America)

Richard M. Daley, the Bernie Madoff of Big City Mayors | Beat the Press - It is probably also worth noting that Emanual has claimed that the city's schools were a disaster when he came into office. The schools had been under Daley's direct control for most of his 22 years in office.
Lawmakers Backed By Chamber Of Commerce Spending Stall Business Lobby's Legislative Priorities - Over the past 4 1/2 years, the Chamber of Commerce has lost most of its important legislative battles.

Federal Drug Agency Denies Marijuana Is Less Toxic Than Alcohol - The National Institute on Drug Abuse released an eyebrow-raising statement to PolitiFact on Monday, denying that marijuana is less toxic than alcohol. Center for Health Statistics reported 41,682 alcohol-related deaths in 2010. The center had no reports listing marijuana as a cause of death. (see, exactly the same)
Not All Industrial Food Is Evil - NYTimes.com

Right Brain, Left Brain? Scientists Debunk Popular Theory - we just don't see patterns where the whole left-brain network is more connected or the whole right-brain network is more connected in some people

Brian Beutler Writes About Being Shot | TPM LiveWire - Salon political writer and former TPM reporter Brian Beutler powerfully recounted his own personal story about getting shot by a black man wearing a hoodie in an article published Monday that dressed down the practice of racial profiling.

#FF Polling
Windows 8 banned by world’s top benchmarking and overclocking site | ExtremeTech (for benchmarking)

081813
Egypt condemns EU threats to halt aid amid mounting death toll | World news | The Guardian - Minister insists crisis is Egypt's internal affair as 38 Muslim Brotherhood prisoners reported killed
Flickr: Mosa'aberising's Photostream (your tax dollars at work in Egypt)
Post-coup violence in Egypt: Live Updates — RT News
AP News: Egypt: Islamists hit Christian churches
How American Hopes for a Deal in Egypt Were Undercut - NYTimes.com - As Mr. Obama acknowledged in a statement on Thursday, the American response turns not only on humanitarian values but also on national interests. A country consumed by civil strife may no longer function as a stabilizing ally in a volatile region.
Egypt braces for more unrest as Muslim Brotherhood calls for fresh protests | World news | theguardian.com - Military-backed government signals that crackdown will continue amid defiant campaign to rebuff international criticism
US has lost all credibility in the Middle East says John McCain | World news | theguardian.com - Influential foreign policy voice said US president's failure to follow through on threat to cut off aid to Egypt was 'poor' reaction (our shadow Pres, as they say in UK)
Egyptian Government Slams Foreign Press As Journalists Come Under Assault
Iran Has 18,000 Centrifuges For Uranium Enrichment, Outgoing Nuclear Chief Claims - The number is higher by a third than publicly known.
Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Fires Director Of Islamic TV Channel Tarek Al-Suwaidan - He wrote Sunday on his Twitter account that he sacked Tarek Al-Suwaidan "for admitting he belongs to the Brotherhood terrorist movement."
WOW! The Crazy Story Of How A Skyscraper Became A 45-Story Slum. (Caracas)

What if the president lied to us? - Salon.com - So many of President Obama's statements about NSA have been wrong. But he's too smart not to understand the truth - So sure, I guess it’s possible Obama has merely been “wrong” but has not been lying. But the implications of that would be just as bad — albeit in a different way — as if he were deliberately lying. It would mean that he is making sweeping and wildly inaccurate statements without bothering to find out if they are actually true.
Peter King: Rand Paul lying about NSA surveillance - politico.com

Britain Detains Partner of Reporter Tied to Leaks - NYTimes.com - The partner of Glenn Greenwald, the journalist for The Guardian who has been publishing information leaked by the former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden, was detained for nine hours by the British authorities under a counterterrorism law while on a stop in London’s Heathrow Airport during a trip from Germany to Brazil, Mr. Greenwald said Sunday. “The only thing they were interested in was N.S.A. documents and what I was doing with Laura Poitras. It’s a total abuse of the law.” (Obama is a total asshole and Glenn better not get on a airplane)
Glenn Greenwald's partner detained at Heathrow airport for nine hours | World news | The Guardian - David Miranda, partner of Guardian interviewer of whistleblower Edward Snowden, questioned under Terrorism Act - He said: "It's almost impossible, even without full knowledge of the case, to conclude that Glenn Greenwald's partner was a terrorist suspect.
Twitter / YourAnonNews: MT @_cypherpunks_: @Guardian ... Sums up the British state's collapse in lawlessness:
Glenn Greenwald's Partner Detained At UK Airport Under Terrorism Act - Greenwald has become a target himself. Republican congressman Peter King, for instance, called for his prosecution. Former NSA chief Michael Hayden said he was a "co-conspirator" with Snowden.
Detaining my partner: a failed attempt at intimidation | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The detention of my partner, David Miranda, by UK authorities will have the opposite effect of the one intended - he asked the lawyer to convey that defiance to me. I already share it, as I'm certain US and UK authorities will soon see. (you will soon feel my wrath)
Cameron Proves Greenwald Right « The Dish - More to the point, although David was released, his entire digital library was confiscated – including his laptop and phone. So any journalist passing through London’s Heathrow has now been warned: do not take any documents with you. Britain is now a police state when it comes to journalists, just like Russia is.
Revenge tactics: UK detains Greenwald’s partner under Terrorism Act, confiscates electronics — RT News
Amnesty International | UK: Detention of Guardian employee at Heathrow unlawful and unwarranted
So any journalist passing through London’s Heathrow has now been warned: do not take any documents with you. Britain is now a police state when it comes to journalists, just like Russia is.
Are You Living in a Constitution Free Zone? | American Civil Liberties Union
U.S. filmmaker repeatedly detained at border - Salon.com - Laura Poitras makes award-winning controversial films, and is targeted by the U.S. government as a result (from April, pre-Snowden)

NSA, DEA, IRS Lie About Fact That Americans Are Routinely Spied On By Our Government: Time For A Special Prosecutor - Forbes
The White House credibility deficit | Jeff Jarvis | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The NSA leaks ended the power of Obama officials to ration access. No self-respecting journalist believes what they say ... That is the punchline of the Snowden affair: when we can't trust what government tells us, we come to trust those whom government doesn't trust. Thus, we no longer necessarily care what the official line is and who delivers it. And when that happens, access – the currency of the Beltway – becomes worthless. Ah, the irony. (nice legacy you got there, Oliar +comments pretty negative)
Watch Top U.S. Intelligence Officials Repeatedly Deny NSA Spying On Americans Over The Last Year (Videos) - Forbes - As the NSA’s surveillance scandal widens, I thought it would be worthwhile to look back at a few of the recorded moments over 2012 and 2013 when top NSA officials publicly denied–often with carefully hedged words–participating in the kind of snooping on Americans that has since become nearly undeniable. (lies, lies, and more lies)
Rand Paul: NSA Spying 'Unconstitutional,' Can't Be Saved By More Oversight - " "Our founding fathers, when they wrote the Fourth Amendment, said a single warrant goes toward a specific individual and what you want to look for. ... The constitution doesn't allow for a single warrant to get a billion phone records. ... They basically, I believe, are looking at all of the cell phone calls in America every day."

Communication Security - help.riseup.net - Riseup's primer on surveillance and security.


Twitter / YourAnonNews: RT @_nasdaf_: Mike Grunwald's ...
Michael Grunwald, Time Magazine Reporter, Sends Out Shocking Tweet About Julian Assange: @ggreenwald For those asking, @MikeGrunwald's now-deleted tweet: "I can't wait to write a defense of the drone strike that takes out Julian Assange" (Time supports assassination of people they don't like)
Michael Grunwald, Time Magazine Reporter, Sends Out Shocking Tweet About Julian Assange (HuffPo commenters divided on killing Assange)
Assange: Taxation Is Slavery - Lawyers, Guns & Money (hard to see why they hate him, he is so much like them)

? "We're building a domestic army" -Marine Corps Colonel speaks out - YouTube - "We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded." - President Obama, Colorado, July 2, 2008
Before Death, Michael Hastings Was Investigating CIA Director John Brennan
San Diego 6 - UPDATED: CIA Director Brennan Confirmed as Reporter Michael Hastings Next Target - This week Elise Jordan, wife of famed journalist Michael Hastings, who recently died under suspicious circumstances, corroborated this reporter's sources that CIA Director, John Brennan was Hastings next exposé project (CNN clip).

NAACP Head Calls Out NYPD for 'Spine-Chilling' Defense of Stop-and-Frisk | Common Dreams

The U.S. Has The Worst Income Inequality In The Developed World, Thanks To Wall Street: Study - The U.S. Has The Worst Income Inequality In The Developed World, Thanks To Wall Street: Study
JPMorgan Hit By U.S. Bribery Probe Into Chinese Hiring: Report (Obama will pardon them, again and again)
This 1 Chart Shows Why Social Security Is So Important

Hundreds Evacuate From Idaho Wildfires | Firefighter Nation - Fast-growing fires burn over 310 square miles in south-central Idaho

Ray Kelly: ‘Stop-and-Frisk’ Ruling Risks Reversing Downward Trend of Violent Crime in NYC - ABC News - “What we’re doing – and what we’re trying to do — is save lives,” Kelly told ABC’s Pierre Thomas. (keeping very rich people "safe")

For Ideological Primary Debate Moderation - Lawyers, Guns & Money : I’m with Drum and Waldman — whatever their reasons for doing so, moving all of the Republican primary debates to Fox is probably a good thing. This point of Paul’s is especially important:
Daily Kos: GOP senator howls about the 'environmental jihad' - Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson may not be up for re-election until 2016, but he is not letting a League of Conservation Voters ad against him go without a bout of whining—and fundraising:

Corruption in the Pipeline: A Timeline of Keystone XL Misinformation | NationofChange

Sheryl Sandberg's Nonprofit To Start Paid Internship Program After Controversy (optics on their slave-labor project weren't so hot)

Should Bob Filner Resign? 81 Percent Of San Diego Says Yes, According To New Poll
San Diego campaigners move to oust embattled mayor Bob Filner | World news | theguardian.com - 16 women have accused mayor of harassment, but he is preparing to return to work following brief period of counselling

Penn State reaches settlement with Sandusky victim in first case | World news | theguardian.com - Victim 5's abuse claim is the first of 26 to be finalized and was considered pivotal in reaching settlement with others

Has Carl June Found a Key to Fighting Cancer? | Philadelphia magazine
Daily Kos: Two thirds of global solar PV has been installed in the last 2.5 years!
Strange, Pulsating Star Found - weather.com - The newfound pulsar, named PSR J1745-2900, belongs to a rare kind of pulsars known as magnetars, which only make up about 1 out of every 500 pulsars found to date. Magnetars possess extremely powerful magnetic fields, ones about 1,000 times stronger than the magnetic fields of ordinary neutron stars, or 100 trillion times the Earth's magnetic field.

Homeless Couple Shot By Sheriff Deputies Awarded $4.1 Million (video) - The couple was awarded $4.1 million when a judge ruled their civil rights were violated. The deputies involved were cleared of any wrongdoing in an internal investigation. ("internal investigations" always do that)


081713
Egypt turmoil live blog | World news | theguardian.com - Following Friday's violence, early indications suggest that supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the security forces are set for another day of violent confrontation across Egypt
Egypt: scores killed in 'day of rage' | World news | The Guardian - At least 60 reportedly killed amid fierce streeting fighting in Cairo and elsewhere as Morsi supporters protest against massacre
Egypt: resentment towards Brotherhood fuels crackdown support | World news | The Guardian - State media portrays Islamist movement as 'terrorists' fomenting sectarian divisions with support of western-led conspiracy (that would be secret-Muslim Obama)
Egypt Turmoil Continues As Government Considers Brotherhood Ban
Egypt Considers Legally Disbanding Muslim Brotherhood, Cabinet Spokesman Says

Ties With Egypt Army Constrain Washington - NYTimes.com - which offers near-automatic approval for military overflights, to resupply the war effort in Afghanistan or to carry out counterterrorism operations in the Middle East, Southwest Asia or the Horn of Africa ... “Both sides have a strong interest in preserving it and will work to that end,” Mr. Springborg said. “The Egyptian military will take steps to clothe the military’s behind-the-scene rule with suitable civilian trappings, making it possible for the U.S. and others to deal with it.”

Egypt crisis: Cairo mosque 'cleared' after siege
The New Axis of Evil: Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Pentagon Are Backing Egypt's Bloody Crackdown | Alternet - The Egyptian crisis is the latest battleground for regional and global powers seeking to push their own agendas.
Morally Depraved Obama Fails in Response to Egyptian Massacre | emptywheel - It would appear that Egypt can kill all of its own civilians it wants with the weapons and money we provide as long as they don’t also kill any Israelis.
Mohammed Al-Zawahiri Arrested: Brother Of Al-Qaeda Chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri Reportedly Detained In Egypt
Al Jazeera promises 'in-depth news' with new US cable network launching August 20th | The Verge

News International could face corporate charges over phone hacking | Media | theguardian.com - Metropolitan police investigation has interviewed 'very senior figures' from organisation now known as News UK

Udall, Wyden Issue Statement on Reports of Compliance Violations Made Under NSA Collection Programs | Mark Udall | U.S. Senator for Colorado
NSA revelations of privacy breaches 'the tip of the iceberg' – Senate duo | World news | theguardian.com - Leading critics of NSA Ron Wyden and Mark Udall say 'public deserves to know more about violations of secret court orders' - "We have previously said that the violations of these laws and rules were more serious than had been acknowledged, and we believe Americans should know that this confirmation is just the tip of a larger iceberg." (DiFi, tech-expert and corrupt Dem, says no big deal)
Feds Threaten To Arrest Lavabit Founder For Shutting Down His Service | Techdirt - The saga of Lavabit founder Ladar Levison is getting even more ridiculous, as he explains that the government has threatened him with criminal charges for his decision to shut down the business, rather than agree to some mysterious court order. The feds are apparently arguing that the act of shutting down the business, itself, was a violation of the order: It sounds like the feds were asking for a full on backdoor on the system (further down Obama's rabbit-hole: we are all indentured servants for his spy machine plantation)
Encrypted email service Lavabit raises $100K for legal defense fund | The Verge
Top 3 Lavabit alternatives
How to trap a whistleblower - Salon.com - Tell them that going through "proper channels" will provide meaningful redress to their concerns, not injure them
The Daily Dot - Court that oversees NSA spy programs has no ability to investigate violations
Mike Rogers’ Excuses for Withholding Dragnet Notice Get Stupider | emptywheel - At this point, the House Intelligence Committee is not even trying to deny that. The only question remaining is whether Rogers provided no notice on his own, with the consent of the committee, or at the behest of the Administration that gave them the letter in the first place.

Poll: NSA Oversight Is Inadequate, Most Americans Say
Prosecute James Clapper, Voters In Five State Polls Say (put the lie-crapper in the clapper)

Did NSA and JSOC Team Up to Game Obama and Monaco on Yemen Terror Alert? | emptywheel - NBC published a fascinating article yesterday that provided new and interesting details on the events surrounding the escalation of drone strikes in Yemen that took place in response to the “intercepted conference call” that wasn’t a conference call. (military now using pre-cogs to identify "future terrorists" and kill them +"targeting packages")
Angela Merkel launches re-election bid amid cacophony of spying scandal | World news | theguardian.com - German voter outrage over revelations from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden remains unknown quantity in September poll
NSA “Nothing to see here, people” types thoroughly embarrassed again by Samuel Knight | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - Remember when Jeffrey Toobin ho-hummed over Edward Snowden’s disclosures, and called him a “grandiose narcissist”? (Toobs spectacularly wrong) And earlier today, Virginia Republican and NSA critic Morgan Griffith said a recent House vote to starve funding for the agency’s fishing expedition surveillance would have passed instead of being narrowly defeated, had the Washington Post’s most recent revelation come to light ex ante facto. (Post sat on the story until the damage was done)
NSA establishes $60 million data analytics lab at NC State | McClatchy

Wikileaks - Please mirror: WikiLeaks insurance... | Facebook - 2,284,366 like this (400GB of insurance against Obama's gestapo)
Wikileaks just released three "insurance" torrents via their Facebook page, one includes a whopping 349 gigabytes of data. : worldnews
Finally, America’s Greatest Supporters of Civil Liberties Get the Praise They Deserve - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Shorter Verbatim Julian Assange: “The libertarian aspect of the Republican Party is presently the only useful political voice really in the U.S. Congress…[I] am a big admirer of Ron Paul and Rand Paul for their very principled positions in the U.S. Congress on a number of issues.”

Manning judge shares rationale for verdicts - Salon.com - Military judge Denise Lind details reasons for her guilty verdicts on the defense's request

Washington, Colorado Still Waiting For Federal Response On Marijuana Legalization (Obama incapable of retreating on his swat-team raids)

Rush Limbaugh’s looming presidential debate disaster - Salon.com - With Republicans seemingly hand-picking their debate moderators, they may be in for an unanticipated nightmare
Radicalized primary electorate is costing GOP
Va. first lady bought stock in Star Scientific - The Washington Post - Maureen McDonnell, the first lady of Virginia, twice purchased thousands of shares of stock in Star Scientific, a spokesman for McDonnell’s legal team confirmed Friday night. The stock was bought and held in the same time frame that she and Gov. Robert F. McDonnell were taking steps to promote the dietary supplement company.
alicublog: APOCALYPSE NOW.

Six Charts that Explain Why Our Prison System Is So Insane
Obama Golfs With Larry David - The president and the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star played nine holes at Farm Neck Golf Club with businessman Glen Hutchins and trade ambassador Ron Kirk, according to White House pool reports. (there's the whole problem)
GOP Congressman Gets Fact Checked By His Own Constituents On Obamacare: 'Stop Lying!' | ThinkProgress (old white people waking up?)
Home » DewFeed (Texas politics with cats!)

NYC Mayor: Public Housing Residents Should Be Fingerprinted as Crime-Fighting Measure | NBC New York - NYCHA residents make up 5 percent of NYC's population, but 20 percent of crime takes place in public housing, the mayor said (Bloomfuck escalates his racial profiling)
Bloomberg’s Public Housing Fingerprinting Idea Stuns, Infuriates Residents « CBS New York - Spokesman: Mayor To Propose Biometric Security -- An Electronic Sensor
Next Time I'm Mayor Of NYC, I Hope I Don't Get Shamed As Badly As 'The Daily Show' Shamed This Guy

Elisa Chan reveals homophobic views in secret recording - San Antonio Express-News (bigot in San Antonio)
Ingraham: A Lot Of Recent Immigrants "Have Wreaked Havoc Upon Communities" | Video | Media Matters for America - Ingraham: "A Lot Of The People Coming To The Country Are Working For Drug Cartels"

The College-Loan Scandal: Matt Taibbi on the Ripping Off of Young America | Politics News | Rolling Stone - The federal government has made it easier than ever to borrow money for higher education - saddling a generation with crushing debts and inflating a bubble that could bring down the economy (win-win)
The baby and the bathwater, MOOC edition by Samuel Knight | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - While he points out that anyone should be wary of MOOCs if for no other reason than snake oil salesmen like Larry Summers are hailing them as the way of the future, the criticism is far more substantial than “and by their friends, you shall know them.”
Education in Iceland

A Texan tragedy: ample oil, no water | Environment | theguardian.com - Fracking boom sucks away precious water from beneath the ground, leaving cattle dead, farms bone-dry and people thirsty


Writing - for health and happiness? - "Try to get involved in life, in events and actions where you're not able to think about it as much."
Martin Manley suicide website: a sports writer's troubling template for social-media suicide notes.
Paris Hilton, Leo DiCaprio, Sultan of Brunei: crazy stories about the stupendously wealthy. - Slate Magazine - Georgia and Patterson Inman, 15-year-old twins, are the only living heirs to the $1 billion Duke tobacco fortune. They are also emotional wrecks who have barely survived a hellacious childhood.
Arranged marriage in America: My parents moved here from India, raised me American, and then they chose my husband. - Slate Magazine - When I told my family I couldn't fall in love with a stranger, they told me Indians don’t have to fall like “poor, helpless Americans.” “We choose,” they said triumphantly, as if their notion of choice would make me feel free. “We’re not at the mercy of falling and feeling. We choose to love.”
UK police examining recently received information on deaths of Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed - The Washington Post - LONDON — British police say they are examining newly received information relating to the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, and that officers are assessing the information’s “relevance and credibility.”

Marissa Mayer is in Vogue, is very successful - Salon.com - Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is in the September issue of Vogue. She looks really great lounging on very stylish lawn furniture, and wearing dresses that are maybe made out of swan feathers. (how they live)
Twitter terrorizes al-Qaeda: Hashtag flooded with satirical ‘jihad advice’ - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page
Cross a border, lose your ebooks - Boing Boing
5-minute outage costs Google $545,000 in revenue | VentureBeat - It appears to have affected all of Google’s services, including the Google.com homepage, YouTube, Google Drive, and Gmail.
How Apple's profits stack up against Google and Microsoft | The Verge

081613
Reluctance to suspend Egyptian aid exposes White House rudderlessness | World news | The Guardian - Obama again refused to use America's massive aid leverage over Egypt – part of the president's 'least painful step' approach
Egypt unrest: what sparked the military crackdown on Brotherhood camps: Guardian Q & A : theguardian.com
Egypt Protests: Islamists Call For 'Friday Of Anger' (LIVE UPDATES)
The One Chart That Shows the Importance of Egypt's Massacre - Olga Khazan - The Atlantic - Yesterday was one of the deadliest single-day instances of police-on-protester violence since Tiananmen Square.
The Massacre in Cairo Isn't 'Egypt's Tiananmen Square' - Matt Schiavenza - The Atlantic - "If this happened in China, then it'd be called a huge human rights violation and China would be sanctioned. Now that it happened in Egypt, it's a hiccup on way to democracy. WTF?"
Israeli official warned over offensive Facebook postings | World news | theguardian.com - Daniel Seaman, in charge of promoting Israel's image online, ordered to stop posting 'unacceptable' comments - In response to a Church of Scotland report that argued that Jews do not have a divine right to the land, he wrote: "Why do they think we give a flying F*** what you have to say?" (as long as you're cutting of aid to Egypt ...)
Women who fear being forced to marry abroad told to hide spoon in underwear | World news | The Guardian - Charity advises women and young girls to set off airport metal detectors to give them more time to seek help from authorities - No one knows for sure how many Britons are forced into marriage each year. Estimates range from 1,500 to 5,000. More than a third of those affected are thought to be aged under 16.
India's unfair obsession with lighter skin | World news | The Guardian - The Dark is Beautiful campaign hopes to halt India's huge appetite for skin whitening products, and has a new champion in film star Nandita Das
Europe’s marijuana capital isn’t Amsterdam | GlobalPost - An outlaw Albanian village has built a fortune from the cultivation of cannabis worth as much as half the country’s GDP, and it’s off-limits to the police.

7 graphs that prove America is overrated | GlobalPost (#1 in spying on its own citizens)
International Olympic Committee Civil Rights - The IOC Wants None Of Those Pesky Civil Rights At The Olympics - Esquire

Exclusive: Edward Snowden Says Media Being Misled 'About My Situation' - National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden wants to set the record straight after individuals associated with his father have, in his words, "misled" journalists into “printing false claims about my situation.” - Mattie Fein told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that Lon Snowden’s legal team doesn’t trust Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald (WSJ ...)
Edward Snowden: My father and his legal team do not speak for me - CNN.com
ACLU Coordinating Ed Snowden's Defense | Techdirt - While much in the press is focusing on the supposed squabble between Ed Snowden, his father and his father's lawyer, Glenn Greenwald points out the actual important news hidden as a random aside in some of the news reports: the ACLU is now coordinating Ed Snowden's legal defense in the US.

Wyden, Udall Statement on Reports of Compliance Violations Made Under NSA Collection Programs | Press Releases | U.S. Senator Ron Wyden - We have previously said that the violations of these laws and rules were more serious than had been acknowledged, and we believe Americans should know that this confirmation is just the tip of a larger iceberg.
Ron Wyden Considered Leaking The NSA's Surveillance Program - "I have to believe the civil liberties of millions of American have been violated," Wyden said.
Senator Ron Wyden Discusses NSA Surveillance, Edward Snowden and Government Transparency | Politics News | Rolling Stone - 'If we don't recognize that this is a truly unique moment in America's constitutional history, our generation's going to regret it forever.' (Obama's "legacy")
Lawbreaking at the NSA: Bring On a New Church Committee - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic - The Washington Post has revealed an audit documenting thousands of abuses per year. An exhaustive investigation is long overdue -- and Ron Wyden should lead it. The time is ripe for a new Church Committee ... (Obama loved his spying from day 1)

Audit Finds NSA Broke Rules Thousands Of Times - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - If only they could tell us how much good they're really doing, how many of our lives they save on a daily basis, how pure are their hearts and clean are their minds, then maybe it wouldn't matter that they all lie to us so goddamn much. Edward Snowden, International Man Of Luggage and flawed human being, has blown himself a helluva whistle here.
NSA Spying: The Three Pillars of Government Trust Have Fallen | Electronic Frontier Foundation - Today, the Washington Post confirmed that two of those oversight pillars—the Executive branch and the court overseeing the spying, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA court)—don't really exist. The third pillar came down slowly over the last few weeks, with Congressional revelations about the limitations on its oversight, including what Representative Sensennbrenner called "rope a dope" classified briefings.

If Bruce Schneier ran the NSA, he’d ask a basic question: “Does it do any good?” | Ars Technica - The way Schneier sees it, in an attempt to keep the operational details of the targets secret, the NSA (and presumably other intelligence agencies, too) has also claimed that it also needs to keep secret the legal justification for what it’s doing. “That’s bullshit,” Schneier says. (sooper-secrit laws for sooper-secrits)

Did President Obama know about the NSA’s privacy problems? (no sign of a thoughtful person there, anyway)
Germany Is a Both a Partner to and a Target of NSA Surveillance - SPIEGEL ONLINE - According to the report, results from the secret installation find their way into the President's Daily Brief, the daily intelligence report given to US President Barack Obama, an average of twice a week. (they just didn't "brief" him on the violations)
Watchdogs and Guard Dogs (view from the center: watch dogs would be preferable to guard dogs but will they be lapdogs?)
Did the NSA Director mislead hackers about NSA compliance problems? - Speaking before a room of hackers and security professionals at a Black Hat in Las Vegas this summer, NSA Director Keith B. Alexander denied that there were any problems with the NSA snooping programs and cited oversight by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to verify that point: (they all lie, all the time)
Feinstein Defends NSA, Says 'Compliance Incidents' Are No Big Deal | TPM LiveWire (the ones she didn't even know about, also)

Hey, Washington Post: Print that forbidden NSA interview! - Salon.com - The Post gets a huge story, but still allows the government to jerk its reporters around
NSA statements to The Post - The Washington Post - The National Security Agency offered these comments on The Washington Post’s article about privacy violations - The Post said it would not permit the editing of quotes. Two days later, White House and NSA spokesmen said that none of DeLong’s comments could be quoted on the record and sent instead a prepared statement in his name. The Post declines to accept the substitute language as quotations from DeLong. The statement is below.
NSA Violated Surveillance Restrictions Thousands of Times, Documents Show | American Civil Liberties Union
"There Have Been Some Compliance Incidents": NSA Violates Surveillance Rules Multiple Times a Day | American Civil Liberties Union

New Snowden Docs Show We Don’t Even Know What We Don’t Know | New Republic - Yet the administration did not disclose, say, the lapses Gellman reported. In fact, the NSA retroactively placed an on-the-record interview with its director of compliance off the record, according to Gellman. It did this after Obama’s speech extolling the importance of and promising transparency. In a sense, we got his wished-for transparency. WE CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH HIM NOW.
NSA under renewed fire after report finds it violated its own privacy rules | World news | theguardian.com - Revelations that NSA collected records it was not permitted to acquire pile further pressure on intelligence chief James Clapper (why does lying Crapper still have his job?)
Washington Post Slaps Back White House Over NSA Privacy Quotes - after the Post refused to let the White House edit quotes from an on-the-record conversation Gellman had conducted with John DeLong, the NSA's director of compliance, the administration tried to substitute the quotes with a prepared statement. The Post tersely told readers that it had declined:
Intelligence committee under pressure to explain if they withheld crucial NSA document | World news | theguardian.com - Critics demand answers from chairman Mike Rogers after claims that committee failed to share document before key vote (former FBI agent kept it all sooper-secrit)
NSA Violated Surveillance Rules Thousands of Times, Intercepted All 202 Area Code Calls By Accident | Democracy Now! - when a programming error confused the U.S. area code 202 for 20, the international dialing code for Egypt.
Pelosi: NSA report 'extremely disturbing' - The Hill's Hillicon Valley - She argued that under the law, the NSA should have reported the violations to Congress and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court.
Court: Ability to police U.S. spying program limited - The Washington Post - The leader of the secret court that is supposed to provide critical oversight of the government’s vast spying programs said that its ability to do so is limited and that it must trust the government to report when it improperly spies on Americans.
Privacy is a human right - The Hill's Congress Blog - President Obama offered a tepid response on government surveillance at his August 9 news conference.
NSA questions hitting lawmakers on the home front - Tony Romm - politico.com
In Brazil, Kerry Is Told Spying Sows ‘Distrust’ - NYTimes.com
A Guide To Thinking About NSA Surveillance And Democracy | ThinkProgress
A turning point in the NSA debate?

When you’re in a Fourth Estate situation » Pressthink - As things stand today, the Fourth Estate is a state of mind. Some in the press have it, some don’t. Some who have it are part of the institutional press. Some, like Ladar Levison and Edward Snowden, are not.
Glenn Greenwald offered Brazilian protection from U.S. - Salon.com - Greenwald tells Salon he intends to visit the U.S. soon -- but says the risk of prosecution against him is real - after determining he risks facing legal action if he returns to the U.S.
Edward Snowden, meet Jeff Bezos » Pressthink - What we do know about Snowden is something we don’t know about the new owner of the Washington Post: whether he can go up against the most powerful and secretive forces on the planet… and win.

How We All Betrayed Bradley Manning | Urizenus Sklar
» Update 8/16/13: Journalist Alexa O’Brien “tracking case” well, notes defense attorney Bradley Manning Support Network

Eschaton: Silence On The Right - I naively thought that the right would suddenly decide that the surveillance state abuses that were awesome under Bush were High Crimes and Misdemeanors under B. Barry Bamz. They're oddly quiet.

US consumer confidence in surprising fall from six-year high | Business | theguardian.com - Friday's figure of 80.0 follows a series of disappointing results from US retailers that have caught economists by surprise

Behind the Curtain: Eve of Destruction - politico.com - It is almost impossible to find an establishment Republican in town who’s not downright morose about the 2013 that has been and is about to be. Most dance around it in public, but they see this year as a disaster in the making, even if most elected Republicans don’t know it or admit it. (they always said they were going to drown government)
Why Republican lawmakers are dodging the town halls' days of rage | Ana Marie Cox | Comment is free | theguardian.com - In 2010, GOP politicians were keen to channel Tea Party fervor. Now, backed into a corner by the base, they're looking for an exit - A 2010 Freedom Works memo (pdf) that advised activists to use tactics to artificially inflate their presence seems especially poignant: they were, literally, fooling only themselves. Today, just a tiny fraction of the nation's voters, 8%, identify as members, with about 24% expressing "support".
Can the GOP Fix Its Woman Problem? - Garance Franke-Ruta - The Atlantic

Rick Perry Veto To Be Reviewed By Special Prosecutor, Judge Says - A Texas judge said Thursday he plans to have a special prosecutor review allegations that Gov. Rick Perry abused the powers of his office and broke the law over a veto that cut funding for state public corruption investigators. (the corrupt protecting themselves with corrupt policies)

RNC Unanimously Passes Resolution, No Debates For NBC Or CNN | TPM LiveWire (Candy Crowley has a sad)
Sean Hannity Reportedly Set To Be Dropped From Cumulus Network - Sean Hannity is set to be bounced from Cumulus, the second-biggest radio network in the United States, according to multiple reports on Thursday night.

Race, Lead, and Juvenile Crime | Mother Jones - For starters, did you know that arrest rates for violent crime have fallen much faster among black juveniles than among white juveniles? They have, as the charts below show. Rick Nevin explains why: (first they poison them, then they jail them for life)

Texas Police Hit Organic Farm With Massive SWAT Raid - The police seized "17 blackberry bushes, 15 okra plants, 14 tomatillo plants ... native grasses and sunflowers," after holding residents inside at gunpoint for at least a half-hour, property owner Shellie Smith said in a statement. The raid lasted about 10 hours, she said.

The Surprising Truth About Government Fraud - Eric Schnurer - The Atlantic - Government programs, from food stamps to Medicare, don't have unusually high fraud rates -- and the culprits are usually managers and executives, not "welfare queens." (sorry, that's just a liberal fact)

Modern Loneliness, Explained - James Hamblin - The Atlantic
Thanks Much! On the Geography of Language - James Fallows - The Atlantic

AOL to slash 500 jobs at Patch local news service | Technology | theguardian.com - Up to 500 of Patch's 1,000 employees will go in the layoffs, which started on Friday with 350 people getting pink slips
Facebook Can Be Better Than Happiness - James Hamblin - The Atlantic
Jobs's Great-Man Theory of Technology - Megan Garber - The Atlantic - The new biopic doesn't just portray Steve Jobs as a jerk, it justifies and glorifies his ruthless, uncompromising vision.

081513
Death Toll in Egypt Clashes Climbs to 525 - NYTimes.com
Egypt: Obama cancels military drills amid growing violence - live | World news | theguardian.com - Death toll following crackdown stands at over 500
Egypt protests: Horrifying moment Egyptian protestors push an armoured police van 50ft off a Cairo bridge before officers are stoned by mob | Mail Online
Obama On Egypt Crisis: 'We Deplore Violence Against Civilians' (that we paid for)
A feckless response to Egypt’s avoidable massacre | David Rohde - After golfing for five hours on Wednesday and having drinks with a campaign donor, Obama announced on Thursday morning that the United States was cancelling a military exercise with the Egyptian military and immediately went golfing again. (priorities, man)
No Military Or Financial Aid To Egypt - Not A Dime - Esquire - I am not a diplomat. I do not even often play one on this blog. But this I know for certain -- I do not want a cent of military aid sent to Egypt until the people there decide to stop slaughtering each other. The president's statement today was woefully circumspect. Yes, cancelling the joint military exercises with an Egyptian military currently engaged in killing its own citizens was the least we could do, and that's pretty much what we should commit to doing for the foreseeable future.

Obama upends intel panel - Josh Gerstein - politico.com - The White House dismissed the bulk of President Barack Obama’s premier panel of outside intelligence advisers earlier this year, leaving the blue-ribbon commission largely vacant as the public furor built over the National Security Agency’s widespread tracking of Americans’ telephone calls. (zero members but they are doing a good job; how Obama works)
If Obama wanted an 'open debate' on NSA spying, why thwart one for so long? | Jennifer Hoelzer | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The president asks us to trust him on government surveillance, yet his administration constantly denigrates critics as unpatriotic - Hayden's actual rhetoric is even more inflammatory than Cushing's. Not only did the former NSA director call us "nihilists, anarchists, activists, Lulzsec, Anonymous, twentysomethings who haven't talked to the opposite sex in five or six years", he equates transparency groups like the ACLU with al-Qaida.
NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds - The Washington Post - senior NSA official said in an interview, speaking with White House permission on the condition of anonymity. (wtf, anonymity?) Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who did not receive a copy of the 2012 audit until The Post asked her staff about it (but DiFi is sure it's all ok)
Twitter / emptywheel: Hahahahahaha! The NSA confused ... - DC with Egypt and decided that didn't need to be reported.
EPIC - Electronic Privacy Information Center
? Barrett Brown: 100 Years in Prison for Posting a Link? | Brainwash Update - YouTube
Spooked off the Net: Owner of Lavabit email blames US surveillance for closure — RT USA - Levison can’t admit he’s received a gag-order preventing him from discussing why he voluntarily shut down his site, because doing so what admit such a gag-order — and the legal justification behind it — even exists. (down Obama's rabbit-hole)

Todashev Family Press Conference in U.S. Demanding Answers for FBI Killing Son | LeakSource (FBI still "probing;" will release results in 2022)

Segregation in America: Every neighborhood in the U.S. mapped along racial lines. - Slate Magazine - Segregation, diversity, and clustering become very clear when every human becomes a dot.

Esquire Civil War Reenactment: Robert E. Lee and What an Oath Means - Esquire - “I think that Robert E. Lee, as a traitor and betrayer of his solemn oath before God and the Constitution, was a much greater terrorist than Osama Bin Ladin… after all, Lee killed many more Americans than Bin Ladin, and almost destroyed the United States. What do you think?”

President Shocked To Discover Leading Party Coalition Requires Leading Party Coalition - Lawyers, Guns & Money : The story also makes clear that Summers will be confirmed if he’s nominated, which isn’t a surprise. But it would be a terrible fight to pick for multiple reasons.

Republicans' big problem with crazy | Michael Cohen | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The GOP establishment pandered to Tea Party extremism to win the 2010 midterm elections. Now, it's reaping the whirlwind - Republicans have no one to blame but themselves. In nurturing and radicalizing its extremist fringe – in pursuit of short-term gain – the Republican establishment created a political Frankenstein. Increasingly, however, it looks as though the monster's first victim is going to be them.
Ex-Washington Post ombudsman: 'Fire Jennifer Rubin' - politico.com - Patrick Pexton, who served as The Washington Post's ombudsman until March of this year, has written an open letter to incoming Post owner Jeff Bezos in which he calls on him to make editorial page editor Fred Hiatt fire Jennifer Rubin, the paper's conservative columnist ... "Dump her like a dull tome on the Amazon Bargain Books page."

Humanities! Science is not your enemy, it’s a friend who owes you money — Crooked Timber - universities are about £1,000-£1,500 better off on every arts and social studies student (+Pinker)
Stop blaming the teachers
AP News: Philly superintendent seeks to suspend seniority - The leader of the city's struggling school system wants to suspend rules that require laid-off workers to be rehired based on seniority, a move the teachers union said it would fight.
PhD v. JD steel cage death match - Lawyers, Guns & Money : I missed this when it was published last spring. In this corner, we have the deeply embittered holder of a PhD in literature:

Lean In On Me Unpaid Labor - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Sheryl Sandberg’s LeanIn.org foundation is in hot water after its top editor tried to lean on an unpaid intern ... Not to mention that Facebook’s billion-dollar executive also cashed in $91 million of stock last week.
The Case for $15 and a Union for Low Wage Workers
Wired can’t find women on the Internet because it’s not looking for them

The Wrong Lesson From Detroit’s Bankruptcy - NYTimes.com - Detroit’s travails arise in part from a distinctive aspect of America’s divided economy and society. As the sociologists Sean F. Reardon and Kendra Bischoff have pointed out, our country is becoming vastly more economically segregated, which can be even more pernicious than being racially segregated. Detroit is the example par excellence of the seclusion of affluent (and mostly white) elites in suburban enclaves.

Drawing Down: How To Roll Back Police Militarization In America

Sharon Snyder, Court Clerk Fired For Helping Free Wrongly Convicted Man: 'I Would Do It Again' (video) - After working 34 years as a court clerk in Kansas City, Sharon Snyder was fired in June for giving Robert Nelson a public document that showed him how to properly seek DNA tests, a move that eventually led to his release from prison three decades after being wrongfully convicted of rape.

Bob Filner Sexually Harassed Great-Grandmother: Report (he spent all his time harrassing women)

Alisa L. Smith, police encounters: New research supports the notion that “consensual” police encounters do not exist.

Religious people are less intelligent than atheists, according to analysis of scores of scientific studies stretching back over decades - Science - News - The Independent - Study found 'a reliable negative relation between intelligence and religiosity' in 53 out of 63 studies
Christian family home after ill-fated Pacific voyage to escape US tyranny | World news | theguardian.com - Couple rescued after setting off for Kiribati in a small boat with two young children to flee 'state control' of religion - Among other differences, she said, they had a problem with being "forced to pay these taxes that pay for abortions we don't agree with". (case in point)

People Who Have Sex At Least 4 Times A Week Make More Money: Study
Hookup culture doesn't exist, new study shows. - What has changed is how they choose partners. They are more likely now to have sex with a “casual date” or a “pickup” or a “friend.” (Which might explain why they don’t have sex once or more a week–that’s what boyfriends or girlfriends are good for). That’s how “hookup” 2010 is different from “hookup” 1996.

Facebook use 'makes people feel worse about themselves' - Using Facebook can reduce young adults' sense of well-being and satisfaction with life, a study has found.
Microsoft Censors OpenOffice Download Links | TorrentFreak - Hoping to remove pirated versions of Microsoft Office from the Internet, the software company has sent several DMCA takedowns to Google, listing copies of its open source competitor Open Office as copyright infringements.

081413
IMG_1302.jpg | Flickr - Photo Sharing! - Egypt crackdown up close
Egyptian military government declares month-long emergency - live | World news | theguardian.com
Cairo massacre: Scores killed and hundreds more injured as Egyptian government declares war on the country's Islamists - Africa - World - The Independent - Mohamed el-Baradei, the vice President and Nobel laureate, resigns in protest over the crackdown
Egypt security forces launch decisive assault to clear Cairo protest camps | World news | theguardian.com - Muslim Brotherhood claims up to 60 people killed at Rabaa site, where Morsi supporters remain barricaded
Sky News cameraman Mick Deane shot and killed in Egypt | World news | theguardian.com - Veteran journalist, who had worked for the broadcaster for 15 years, killed while covering protests in Cairo
Egypt State Of Emergency Declared Following Police Crackdown
Egypt's military will not get away with human rights abuses | Michael Mansfield and Tayab Ali | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Human rights lawyers will use the principle of universal jurisdiction to prosecute perpetrators of international crimes
McCain suggests Kerry is partly to blame for violence in Egypt - The Hill's Global Affairs - “As we predicted and feared, chaos in Cairo,” McCain tweeted after dozens of pro-Morsi protesters were killed when their sit-in camps were raided. “Sec Kerry praising the military takeover didn't help.”
Kerry Condemns Egyptian Military’s Crackdown - NYTimes.com
Namibia drought: one in three at risk of malnutrition | Global development | theguardian.com - Climate change fears as 778,000 people face food insecurity amid Namibia's longest dry spell in a generation
Palestinians celebrate prisoner release | World news | theguardian.com - Jubilant reception in West Bank and Gaza for 26 men set free by Israel hours before beginning of peace talks
Abu Ghraib Torture Victims Sued by Their Torturers | Common Dreams - Defense contractor's move follows judge's dismissal of victims' charges of war crimes; lawyers say counter-suit is form of 'intimidation and punishment'
Israel to pay students to defend it online - Yahoo! News

America's nation-building at gunpoint - latimes.com - An Army colonel assesses the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the American occupation in Iraq between 2003 and 2011, as many as 250,000 Iraqis died and 1.4 million were displaced. Nearly 5,000 members of the American military were killed, with many thousands more suffering life-altering wounds, both physical and mental. the United States has spent about $3 trillion on its nation-building efforts (fucked up three countries, including America)

The Debate Obama Never Wanted - NationalJournal.com - In the NSA math, two additions plus one abuse equals a defensive president.
White House insists James Clapper will not lead NSA surveillance review | World news | theguardian.com - Officials stress director of national intelligence will have limited role after Obama seemed to imply Clapper would head panel (another predictable Obama move)
Alexander Joel: Dragnet with a Human Face | emptywheel - For some reason, James Clapper’s office decided it would be a good idea to tell the rest of the world that it has a Civil Liberties Protection Officer, Alexander Joel. Today, he introduces himself in a piece in McClatchy.
The Two OLC Still-Secret Memos Behind the Cross-Border Keyword Searches? | emptywheel (Obama's secret OLC memos authorizing his secret shit which if Al Qaeda read, they would win)
Lavabit email service unlikely to relaunch outside the US, says founder | Technology | theguardian.com - Ladar Levison warns that US is 'going to lose a lot of business' if cloud-based services rights aren't protected = "There's information that I can't even share with my lawyer, let alone with the American public. So if we're talking about secrecy, you know, it's really been taken to the extreme," he said. (all your data belong to NSA)
The Known Details on the Lavabit Demand | emptywheel

Intelligence committee under pressure to explain if they withheld crucial NSA document | World news | theguardian.com - Critics demands answers from chairman Mike Rogers after claims that committee failed to share document before key vote - Mike Rogers, a former FBI agent, chairs the House intelligence committee
Administration’s OWN White Paper Backs Claim Mike Rogers Did Not Share Dragnet Notice | emptywheel
Secret laws, secret courts, evasive leaders | The Daily Caller
A Guide to the Deceptions, Misinformation, and Word Games Officials Use to Mislead the Public About NSA Surveillance | Electronic Frontier Foundation (Obama's an expert at this)
Riseup and Government FAQ - help.riseup.net

International Criminal Court — Global Issues - By May 2002, the Bush Administration "unsigned" the Rome Statute. The U.S. threatened to use military force if U.S. nationals were held at the Hague The U.S. continues to pressure many countries to sign agreements not to surrender U.S. citizens to the ICC (Obama would invade the court if they captured Cheney)

? Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues - YouTube

PJ Media » Report: DOJ ‘Elevated Its Charges’ Against Swartz Because Internet Community Rallied on His Behalf (Carmen thought she would punish the internets)
Should James Risen have to testify against Jeffrey Sterling in the government’s leak prosecution? - Slate Magazine - Posner vs. Bazelon on the court ruling compelling writer James Risen to testify against his alleged source.
The Strange Case of Barrett Brown Just Got Stranger | Vivien Lesnik Weisman - The government opposed on August 8, 2013, and, in its opposition, surprisingly requested a Gag Order.
Meet the Hackers Who Want to Jailbreak the Internet | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com
Encryption is less secure than we thought - MIT News Office - For 65 years, most information-theoretic analyses of cryptographic systems have made a mathematical assumption that turns out to be wrong.

Eurozone moves out of recession - as it happened | Business | theguardian.com - The eurozone has returned to growth, led by Germany and France
Refereeing the Neil Irwin-Bette Midler Debate on Larry Summers | Beat the Press

Unease at Clinton Foundation Over Finances and Ambitions - NYTimes.com (corrupt conflict-of-interest self-dealing, same as it ever was)
The New York Times takes down the Clinton Foundation. This could be devastating for Bill and Hillary – Telegraph Blogs
Jesse L. Jackson Jr. sentenced to 30 months in prison - The Washington Post - for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign money to fund an extravagant lifestyle over many years.

Utah: State has ‘sovereign’ right to bar same-sex marriages | The Salt Lake Tribune - Gay marriage » State attorneys respond to lawsuit arguing Amendment 3 is unconstitutional.

Congress' Approval Rating Remains Near Historical Lows - Fourteen percent of Americans now approve of Congress and 81% disapprove. Americans' views of Congress have been highly stable, and highly negative, throughout the year.

Where is all that extra tuition revenue going? - Lawyers, Guns & Money : both gross and net tuition revenue rose by nearly 40% in real, inflation-adjusted terms. How did university administrators decide to spend this money? If you guessed “on hiring lots more underlings, and giving enormous raises to themselves,” you have just won an authentic Gordon Gee bow tie.
Rahm’s War on Public Schools Continues - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Less than three months after Rahm Emanuel closed 50 Chicago public schools to bust the teachers union move resources around efficiently, the august mayor has issued a call for new charter schools in the very neighborhoods where the public schools were shuttered. It just so happens that these are non-union jobs led by people who will probably not hire the laid off teachers. I’m sure it’s all a coincidence.
Rahm Emanuel Chicago School Reform - Chicago's Schools Are Open For Business - Esquire

Are fracking proponents wrestling enough with the environmental risks?

Sequestration Ushers In A Dark Age For Science In America
Upper-Class Twits Put Your Kids At Risk - Lawyers, Guns & Money : The world in which 1)Jenny McCarthy can get a highly compensated talk show gig and 2)inequality is increasing leads to some grim results:
Anti-vaxxers: Why parents who don’t vaccinate their kids should be sued or criminally charged. - Slate Magazine - The case for suing parents who don’t vaccinate their kids—or criminally charging them.
What’s with rich people hating vaccines? - Salon.com - It's not just Jenny McCarthy. Data shows the anti-vaccination movement spreading to places like Malibu and Boulder - But it’s not just California. Public health officials see large clusters of unvaccinated children in latte-drinking enclaves everywhere, like Ashland, Ore., and Boulder, Colo., where close to 30 percent of children are exempted from one vaccine or another. In some schools in Ashland two-thirds of the students have exemptions,
whatthefat comments on Can a person ever really catch up on sleep?
Who’s afraid of the amygdala? Research blows away "fear center" myth - Boing Boing - New revelations about your brain’s so-called “fear center” explain why it’s misleading to say “this part of the brain does x”

Orson Scott Card Worries About Obama Turning "Urban Gangs" Into His Personal Police Force (he forgot the gay part)

Here Are All Of The Nations That Incarcerate More Of Their Population Than The U.S.

'The New York Times' Site, Apps Return After Two-Hour Outage : All Tech Considered : NPR - One of the world's most trusted sources for news is back up, after an internal outage knocked it out for nearly two hours on Wednesday morning. The New York Times' main site and mobile app went down a little after 11 a.m. ET, when users who tried to visit received a "Service Unavailable" message.
Microsoft recovering from seven-hour long Outlook.com outage | The Verge

081313
Timing a Rise in Sea Level - NYTimes.com - But if sea level is capable of rising several feet per century, as Dr. O’Leary’s paper would seem to imply and as many other scientists believe, then babies being born now could live to see the early stages of a global calamity.
President Obama's Climate Action Plan: Not Even Close | MyFDL

'400 surface-to-air missiles' were 'STOLEN' from Libya during the Benghazi attack, says whistle-blowers' attorney | Mail Online
CIA Refuses to Acknowledge Drone Targeted Killings | Threat Level | Wired.com - Obama administration is again claiming that acknowledging if it has such paperwork could disclose classified secrets concerning whether it even carries out targeted killings. (the dead bodies are secrets also)

Q. & A. - Edward Snowden Speaks to Peter Maass - NYTimes.com (says NYT sucks)
How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets - NYTimes.com
Edward Snowden To NY Times: Media 'Abdicated' Role Post-9/11
Snowden: Any Unencrypted Message Goes to Every Intelligence Service
Encryption Works: How to Protect Your Privacy in the Age of NSA Surveillance | Freedom of the Press Foundation
All Journalists Should Use This Annoying Technology to Prevent Spying
How to Leak to Gawker Without (Hopefully) Getting Caught
Mailinator
Snowden: NSA targeted journalists critical of government after 9/11 - The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Obama Has Already Broken His Pledge on Surveillance Reform - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic - Last week, he promised an "independent" review by "outside experts." Then he assigned insider James Clapper to lead it. (OJoker)
Confessed Liar To Congress, James Clapper, Gets To Set Up The 'Independent' Review Over NSA Surveillance | Techdirt
Classic Obama charade: Appoint a crony to investigate himself by Andrew Malcolm - Investors.com
White House denies intel chief will lead NSA surveillance review - The Hill - The Obama administration is denying that James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, will control a review of the government's surveillance programs. " President Obama sure has a funny way of trying to rebuild that trust," Mike Masnick wrote on his blog TechDirt. "This seems a lot more like giving the concerns of the American public a giant middle finger." ...Amie Stepanovich doubts the group can be independent with Clapper playing a central coordinating role. (even more typical Obama move)
Intelligence committee withheld key file before critical NSA vote, Amash claims | World news | theguardian.com - Republican who led Congress revolt against surveillance insists members did not see document before 2011 Patriot Act vote

US Government “Protection” of Al-Qaeda Terrorists and the US-Saudi “Black Hole” | Global Research - More and more, it is becoming common to say that America, like Turkey before it, now has what Marc Ambinder and John Tirman have called a deep state behind the public one.[2] And this parallel government is guided in surveillance matters by its own Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, known as the FISA court, which according to the New York Times “has quietly become almost a parallel Supreme Court.”[
Transcript: Interview with former CIA, NSA chief Michael Hayden - It is a little like the Boston bombers. The issue is at what point does Islamic fundamentalism flip-over and become a genuine national security threat? Likewise, at what point does a cultural tendency towards transparency flip-over to become a deep threat inside your system? They are similar issues. (Snowden just like bomb-throwing terrorists)
Gwynne Dyer: NSA surveillance and changes to the Internet | Georgia Straight - Edward Snowden is safe from American “justice” for the moment, and he will certainly go down as the most effective whistle-blower in history. His revelations are going to cause a wholesale restructuring of the world’s most important communications system, the Internet. And that, rather than his whereabouts and fate, is now the real story.

Anonymous is not anonymous | Security - InfoWorld - At this point, most of us would welcome shelter from the gaze of government cyber spies. Here are six reasons why that may be unattainable
EXCLUSIVE: Owner of Snowden’s Email Service on Why He Closed Lavabit Rather Than Comply With Gov’t | Democracy Now!
Google: Gmail users ‘have no legitimate expectation of privacy’ — RT USA (since we give all your email to Obama)
Exclusive: After Multiple Denials, CIA Admits to Snooping on Noam Chomsky | The Cable (oh, did they lie; and Obama hates dissent in America)

Welcome to Chris Floyd's Empire Burlesque - The Obama years have given us an America that looks something like a bad Kurt Russell movie from the 80s: a weird, garish dystopia, where the president runs a death squad out of the White House, wages robot wars in foreign lands, operates a techno-panopticon sucking up every message, musing and secret desire of the populace, and lets tens of millions of citizens sink into poverty and despair in their gutted communities and crumbling infrastructure while he doles out trillions of dollars to rapacious elites gleefully bleeding the country dry.
Schneier: when the NSA comes to your company's door, fight! - Boing Boing
The NSA-DEA police state tango - Salon.com - This week's DEA bombshell shows us how the drug war and the terror war have poisoned our justice system

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s friends: Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov should not spend 25 years in prison. - Slate Magazine - Last week, Carmen Ortiz, Boston’s top federal prosecutor, indicted Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, two college buddies of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (having learned nothing)
Boston Bombing Secrecy: Why Are So Many Court Documents Sealed and Out of Public View? | Occupy.com (what are they covering up?)
First 100 Pages of Aaron Swartz's Secret Service File Released | Threat Level | Wired.com

Depression Statistics | Statistic Brain (America most depressed country; by far the most scared)

U.S. Budget Deficit Down 37.6 Percent Through July: CBO
How do you think the US Federal Government's yearly budget deficit has changed since January 2010? (40% - "increased a lot")
What People (Don't) Know About The Deficit - NYTimes.com - the public has no idea that the deficit has been falling like a stone. A solid majority of voters think it’s still going up, and hardly anyone knows that it’s going down. ("everyone knows")
Quelle Surprise! Administration Lied About Mortgage Fraud Results, Numbers 4 to 10 Times Too High « naked capitalism
Your mortgage documents are fake! - Salon.com - Prepare to be outraged. Newly obtained filings from this Florida woman's lawsuit uncover horrifying scheme
Municipal Workers in Bankrupt Cities Facing Financial Nightmare « naked capitalism
Don’t take my pension!: The looming public worker nightmare - Salon.com - What happens to a municipal worker's pension when a city goes bankrupt? Unlike banks, they won't get bailed out

Recognizing the Obvious Unconstitutionality of Bloomberg’s Stop-And-Frisk Program - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Apologists For Bloomberg’s Stop-And-Frisk Make A Compelling Case Against It - Lawyers, Guns & Money

State Change - Lawyers, Guns & Money : The future of human habitation in the American southwest is quite unclear with a non-zero possibility that cities from Denver to Las Vegas to Phoenix to El Paso could be more or less abandoned over the next century because the environment (specifically water supplies) simply won’t be able to carry this many people in those places. This would be catastrophic to the economy, although perhaps not more so than the near certainty that Miami is doomed and probably New Orleans as well.

Don’t vote for Cory Booker today - Salon.com - He will be an awful senator - But he’s also an avatar of the wealthy elite, a camera hog, and a political cipher who has never once proposed anything to address the structural causes of the problems he claims to care so deeply about.
The Awesome Awesomeness Of Cory Booker - Esquire
Bill De Blasio Leads New York City's Democratic Mayoral Primary, New Poll Shows

Daily Politics Blog - Charles P. Pierce - Political Blogging - Esquire - Down in the newly insane state of North Carolina, Governor Pat McCrory joined Chief Justice John Roberts in the Day Of Jubilee by signing one of the most restrictive voter-suppression laws since the days when black voters had to count the beans in the jar, or recite the Alabama state constitution backwards and in Latin. To nobody's surprise, this has occasioned a gaggle of lawsuits.

New efforts target young victims of trafficking - In the case of at least one local teenager, almost immediately after she was freed from her traffickers, she was charged with prostitution and placed in the Bucks County juvenile detention facility.

We Can’t Behave Ourselves Around You, So You Have To Go | The Raw Story - Via Jezebel, it appears anti-choicers in Witchita have come up with what they no doubt believe is a clever attempt to rules-lawyer the clinic that’s opened where the murdered Dr. Tiller’s clinic used to be: Argue that because they can’t contain themselves around the clinic, the clinic has to go.
Anti-abortion groups to again ask Wichita City Council to rezone area near women’s clinic | Wichita Eagle

Welcome To The Internet, David Brooks!

Should We All Stop Taking Birth Control? | Motherboard
Women Reach For Red And Pink Clothes During Ovulation — The Psychology of Human Sexuality
ADHD prescriptions rise sparks 'smart drug' fears | Society | theguardian.com - GPs in England hand out 657,000 prescriptions for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – up 56% since 2007
A Molecular Link between the Active Component of Marijuana and Alzheimer's Disease Pathology - Molecular Pharmaceutics (ACS Publications)
Why Smoking a Bowl Makes You Tired and Lazy - long-term habitual use of marijuana can lead to severe dopaminergic dysfunction
Alfredo Moser: Bottle light inventor proud to be poor
40 maps that explain the world
A surprising map of the countries that are most and least welcoming to foreigners - the top three most welcoming countries for foreigners are, in order: Iceland, New Zealand and Morocco.

Psychology’s answer to trolling and online abuse | The Raw Story
Daily chart: Browse beaten | The Economist
Pirate Bay’s Anti-Censorship Browser Clocks 100,000 Downloads | TorrentFreak

081213
Middle East peace talks: prisoner release and new settlement push raises temperature | World news | The Guardian - First substantive negotiations with Palestinians for five years to begin amid announcements on settlements and prisoners

American surveillance: The Snowden effect | The Economist - THERE was something surreal, in a Kafkaesque sort of way, about Barack Obama's press conference on August 9th. Aiming to ease concern over the government's surveillance programmes, the president announced reforms that seem both obvious and overdue. Then he criticised the man whose actions set those reforms in motion.
Obama's Opaque Commitment to Transparency - Bloomberg - At President Barack Obama's news conference today, he pledged to strengthen oversight, transparency and constraints on the use of U.S. surveillance authority in the future. Too bad he coupled this pledge to a disingenuous attempt to rewrite the past. (everyone says he lied)
Daily Politics Blog - Charles P. Pierce - Political Blogging - Esquire - The Los Angeles Times printed an interesting column over the weekend by a former CIA official in regards to Edward Snowden, International Man Of Luggage. In it, the author argues, essentially, that we should all trust the people running the surveillance state because they are all good people, dedicated wholly to maintaining our safety while adhering, wherever possible, to democratic norms. And, yes, Brutus was an honorable man.
The Snowden Effect: definition and examples » Pressthink (Rosen updates his article)
Rep. Justin Amash: House Intelligence Committee Withheld NSA Documents From Incoming Congressmen | Techdirt - Unfortunately, members of Congress have been lied to directly about the extent of the collections occurring under Section 215 (and 702), so that's one strike against the "oversight." Now, it appears that members of Congress are being selectively provided with information about the programs. (depends how you define "fully informed")
The Daily Dot - 100 members of Congress were never told about NSA metadata spying - This directly contradicts what White House's official line. In a June 7 press conference, President Obama said of metadata collection that "every member of Congress has been briefed on this program." (more from the liar-in-Chief)
Senate Insider Speaks Out: Ex-Wyden Staffer on Secret Laws, Domestic Spying and Obama’s NSA Reforms | Democracy Now! - Jennifer Hoelzer, the former deputy chief of staff for Democratic Senator Ron Wyden

Zimmermann’s Law: PGP inventor and Silent Circle co-founder Phil Zimmermann on the surveillance society — Tech News and Analysis

E-mail's Big Privacy Problem: Q&A With Silent Circle Co-Founder Phil Zimmermann - Forbes

Michael Hayden, Bob Schieffer and the media's reverence of national security officials | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The former NSA director is held up by the Face the Nation host as an objective authority when he is everything but that ... "Inviting Hayden to comment on regulation of surveillance is like having Bernie Madoff comment on regulation of Wall Street."
Bob Schieffer's NSA Farce - Bob Schieffer, the elderly moderator of CBS's Face the Nation, once dismissed Edward Snowden as "just a narcissistic young man who has decided he is smarter than the rest of us." Yesterday, Schieffer once again addressed the issues of privacy and the NSA. His performance was an embarrassment to journalism.
America cares for you – until you start asking questions | Gary Younge | Comment is free | The Guardian - Manning, Snowden and Trayvon Martin: a series of legal cases is making US citizens re-evaluate what the state is really for
CIA: Drones Document Count Would Damage National Security - A federal appeals court ruled in March that it wasn't "plausible" that the CIA had no role in the drone program and told a lower federal court to determine what exactly had to be disclosed. (plausibility is not their thing)
The NSA Is Commandeering the Internet - Bruce Schneier - The Atlantic - Technology companies have to fight for their users, or they'll eventually lose them.
FBI suspected of cyber-attack on anonymous web-hosting and email services - World Socialist Web Site
BBC - Blogs - Adam Curtis - BUGGER (they incompetent but very dangerous)
The Government Wants the Media to Stop Covering Barrett Brown | VICE United States
If Eric Holder won't prosecute reporters, why did the FBI target me? | James Ball | Comment is free | theguardian.com - It's unnerving to learn my journalism for WikiLeaks led to being named in an FBI probe. Mainstream media need to pay attention

Drone Strikes in Yemen Are Very Effective — For AQAP Recruitment | emptywheel - Yes. Our intelligence for targeting in Yemen is of such low quality that the latest barrage of strikes hasn’t killed a single high level al Qaeda leader. Instead, we are now claiming that those killed “were the guys that would have been future leaders”. (when they grew up)
The White Paper’s Selective Forgetting on FCC Phone Record Retention History | emptywheel - But now that we know how the timing all fits together, DOJ’s actions in response FCC’s invitation for a longer deadline repeat the Bush Administration’s earlier implementation of the illegal wiretap program even as Congress was legislating changes to FISA: it shows there were more appropriate means of accomplishing the desired objective that the government chose not to use.

San Diego 6 - CIA Director Brennan Confirmed as Reporter Michael Hastings Next Target - This week Elise Jordan, wife of famed journalist Michael Hastings, who recently died under suspicious circumstances, corroborated this reporter's sources that CIA Director, John Brennan was Hastings next exposé project (CNN clip).
DOJ Decided To Ratchet Up Case Against Aaron Swartz Because He Spoke Out Publicly About Being Innocent | Techdirt - One incredible claim made in it was that Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Heymann, who was running the prosecution against Swartz, apparently admitted that he really only ramped up his efforts against Swartz to punish Swartz and the organization he founded, Demand Progress, for having the audacity to discuss the case publicly and explain why Swartz believed he didn't do anything wrong.
Demand Progress Renews Calls for Firing of Prosecutors in Aaron Swartz Case | Common Dreams - "It is outrageous that prosecutors would deem a defendant's assertion of innocence -- the innocence which is supposedly presumed in the American judicial system -- as cause to bring their hammers down even harder. Carmen Ortiz leads an office run amok, plagued by vindictive, opportunistic prosecutors. It's time for her and Steve Heymann to go."

Sea Level Rise to Play Bigger Role in NYC Storms: Study - weather.com
Dana Rohrabacher, GOP House Science Committee Member: 'Global Warming Is A Total Fraud' - "Just so you'll know, global warming is a total fraud and it's being designed because what you’ve got is you’ve got liberals who get elected at the local level want state government to do the work and let them make the decisions," Rohrabacher said.
White House warns of rising threat to power grid from ‘extreme weather’ - The Hill's E2-Wire (just a plot to take away your guns)

Glenn Hubbard is Unhappy About the Budget Deficit | Beat the Press - Glenn Hubbard, along with Tim Kane, had a column in the NYT today decrying the budget deficit. The column begins by repeating the warnings of that well known economic expert, Admiral Mike Mullen, that the debt is the “single biggest threat to our national security.” (lies are the new truth)
Eric Holder Owes the American People an Apology - Bloomberg - The Justice Department made a long-overdue disclosure late Friday: Last year when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder boasted about the successes that a high-profile task force racked up pursuing mortgage fraud, the numbers he trumpeted were grossly overstated ... while estimates of homeowner losses associated with the frauds dropped to $95 million from $1 billion.

Justice Dept. Seeks to Curtail Stiff Drug Sentences - NYTimes.com (he's "evolving" again, way too late)
Eric Holder calls for criminal justice reforms aimed at easing drug sentences | World news | theguardian.com - US attorney general mandating changes that would eradicate mandatory minimum sentences for some drug-related crimes
Eric Holder: 'Broken' Justice System Needs 'Sweeping' Changes, Reforms To Mandatory Minimum
'Worst State Legislators Of 2013' Video Outlines Top Marijuana Policy Project Offenders (video) - Take, for instance, Rep. Darryl Rouson (D-St. Petersburg), who called bongs and pipes "utensils of death;" Rep. Luke Malek (R-Coeur d'Alene) who called medical marijuana a "farcical predatory scheme;" and Rep. David Howard (R-Park City) -- whose home state of Montana has been battling a crippling meth epidemic -- who called marijuana a "poison" and "the most dangerous drug there is."

New York's stop-and-frisk policy is unconstitutional, judge rules | World news | theguardian.com - NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg vows to appeal after judge finds police policy violates individuals' right to protection (until he's no longer fascist-in-chief of NYC)
Stop And Frisk Violated Rights Of New Yorkers, Judge Rules

Hullabaloo - Ticking time bomb in New Jersey (Cory Booker)

Physicists Pursue the Perfect Lens by Bending Light the Wrong Way - Wired Science

Oklahoma Up-And-Comer Markwayne Mullin Protects America From Inflation, Math - Still, we are looking forward to see what new pile of dumbfuck lies comes from our latest nominee for Wonkette’s coveted Legislative Shitmuffin of the Year Award; at the rate he’s going, Mullin could well be the new Gohmert.

North Carolina Voter ID Bill Signed Into Law By Gov. Pat McCrory, Sparking Lawsuits - North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed a bill Monday requiring photo identification at the polls and eliminating a slew of voting measures designed to protect against voter disenfranchisement.
California's Assembly Bill 1266 For Transgender Student Rights Signed By Governor Jerry Brown - California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a groundbreaking bill which will allow transgender youth to use whatever bathroom and participate on whichever sports team they believe matches their gender identity.

Undercover Agents Infiltrated Tar Sands Resistance Camp to Break up Planned Protest | Latest News | Earth Island Journal | Earth Island Institute - TransCanada and Department of Homeland Security keep close eye on activists, FOIA documents reveal (they might be terrorists)

Donald Trump On ABC's This Week: "I Don't Know, Nobody Knows" If Obama Was Born In The U.S. | Video | Media Matters for America (said the guy from another planet)

Get Whitey - Esquire - So the Feds managed to complete the easiest slam-dunk in the history of jurisprudence, sending sociopath James (Whitey) Bulger off to jail for the rest of what is laughingly called his natural life ... And, apropos of something we discussed earlier today, if you had gone to those crooked Feebs back in the day and criticized the whole notion of running Whitey Bulger, they'd have told you how they were protecting the citizens of Boston from the Italian mob in the North End, and they would be very proud of that because they, too, were honorable men.
John Sanjurjo Arrested In NYC Accident That Killed Child - The child was with a 34-year-old woman and a 7-year-old girl when they were struck by a Mercedes Benz around 8:25 p.m. Friday near a Staten Island deli. Police say the driver sped off after the accident. (#1 killer car)
Texas DPS trooper who performed cavity search gets reinstated | kens5.com San Antonio - Jennie Bui performed the searches on two women last July because she thought the women were hiding drogs. (war on drogs)
Promises Aren't Enough to Deter Campus Sexual Assault

Tennessee Judge Rejects Messiah And Isn’t Even Jewish Probably - A Tennessee judge has ordered that a baby’s name be changed from “Messiah” to “Martin,” explaining that There Can Be Only One: “The word Messiah is a title and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ,” Judge [Lu Ann] Ballew said.
? Neil Hilborn - "OCD" (Rustbelt 2013) - YouTube

Meshnet activists rebuilding the internet from scratch - tech - 08 August 2013 - New Scientist
Microsoft Doesn’t Want To Admit Windows RT Is Dead | TechCrunch

081113
After Guantánamo, Another Injustice - NYTimes.com (another of Obama's signature policies)
Baghdad bombers are 'enemies of Islam', says US | World news | theguardian.com - State Department describes as cowardly the weekend attacks during Eid celebrations that killed nearly 80 and injured more than 150 (said the friends of Islam)
Yemen Drone Strikes Bring New Round Of Terror To Embattled Country (drone-boy goes nuts on Yemem)
Israel raises temperature in runup to Middle East peace talks | World news | The Guardian - First substantive negotiations with Palestinians for five years to begin amid announcements on settlements and prisoners
Israel Settlements Get Go-Ahead On Eve Of Palestine Peace Talks - Israel's housing minister on Sunday gave final approval for building nearly 1,200 new settlement apartments on lands the Palestinians want for their state, just three days before U.S.-sponsored talks on the borders of such a state are to begin in Jerusalem. (another in-your-face; cut off their fucking aid)

UK wages fall among sharpest in EU | Money | theguardian.com - Figures show real wage value has fallen 5.5% since 2010, more than in eurozone crisis countries such as Spain and Cyprus - "These figures show the full scale of David Cameron's cost of living crisis. Working people are not only worse off under the Tories, we're also doing much worse than almost all other EU countries." (Cameron fail, or success, depending on how you look at it)

Opinion: Edward Snowden is a patriot - Trevor Timm - politico.com - Does President Barack Obama think we’re stupid? That’s the only conclusion possible after watching Friday’s bravura performance in which the president announced a set of proposals meant to bring more transparency to the National Security Agency — and claimed he would have done it anyway, even if Edward Snowden had never decided to leak thousands of highly sensitive documents to The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald.
NSA by the numbers — BuzzMachine - So by very rough, beer-soaked-napkin numbers, the NSA’s 1.6% of net traffic would be half of the communication on the net. That’s a fuckuvalota “touching.”
Jennifer Hoelzer's Insider's View Of The Administration's Response To NSA Surveillance Leaks | Techdirt - "Secrecy -- the first refuge of incompetents -- must be at a bare minimum in a democratic society for a fully informed public is the basis of self government. Those elected or appointed to positions of executive authority must recognize that government, in a democracy, cannot be wiser than its people." (*) (+it would aid Al Qaeda if Americans knew the legal/Constitution basis for pervasive secret spying!)
Jennifer Hoelzer, Former Wyden Aide, Unleashes On Obama Administration Secrecy (HuffPo's commenters are pathetic)
Former NSA Boss Calls Snowden's Supporters Internet Shut-ins; Equates Transparency Activists With Al-Qaeda | Techdirt - Some of the most ardent defenders of our nation's Skynet surveillance programs and other forms of cyber-overreach have one thing in common: they continue to belittle their opponents as a loose confederation of basement-dwelling loners who exist solely on The Internet The War on Terror is ridiculous enough without the specious addition of opponents of domestic surveillance and supporters of Snowden's whistleblowing to the "enemies" list. Hayden's mindset indicates there's an underlying tension that encourages intelligence agencies to view millions of Americans as latent threats simply waiting for something to trigger their "terrorist" actions. (we are all Al Qaeda)
Don't Insult Our Intelligence, Mr. President: This Debate Wouldn't Be Happening Without Ed Snowden | Techdirt - At the same time, to insist that people who care about our civil liberties are patriots, while still trying to attack and demonize Snowden, just screams of insincerity on the issue. Snowden should be proud: he did this to start the debate and to create change, and it appears that's happening. But President Obama should be ashamed to pretend that this would have happened without Snowden. It's insulting the intelligence of the American public.

Michael Hayden, Former NSA Chief: After A Major Attack, U.S. Likely To Seize More Surveillance Powers - Hayden was asked his opinion of Snowden. "I've actually thought about this," he said. "He didn't inform [the debate], he made it more emotional." (and they are planning the next "major attack")
Edward Snowden Is Viewed As 'Some Kind Of Jason Bourne,' John McCain Says - "There's kind of a generation change here. Young Americans don't trust this government," McCain said. (how did that happen?)


The Fed, Lawrence Summers, and Money - NYTimes.com

Mayor Bloomberg 'Detests' New York Times: Report - For years, it's been rumored that Bloomberg wants to buy the Times. He has denied those reports, and the Sulzberger family has also said that the Times is not for sale. (they had the gall to report on his fascist stop-and-frisk)

Help Thy Neighbor and Go Straight to Prison - NYTimes.com - IF you want to understand all that is wrong with America’s criminal justice system, take a look at the nightmare experienced by Edward Young. So the federal government, at a time when it is cutting education spending, is preparing to spend $415,000 over the next 15 years to imprison a man for innocently possessing seven shotgun shells while trying to help a widow in the neighborhood. And, under the law, there is no early release: Young will spend the full 15 years in prison. (America, land of the free)

Sympathy For Newspaper Families - Business Insider - The real story, the investor believes, is that the Grahams and other 'newspaper families' enjoyed decades of easy money and fame and then were confronted with a significant business challenge. Unlike many business owners, however, the Grahams failed to adapt to it: It's easy to "steward" a business when it's also making you rich. It's more difficult when the going gets tough.
Washington Post Sale Ushers In A New Age Of Publishing - It would be a huge public benefit to restore actual competition among news organizations in which ideas, policies and facts about how government and the economy perform actually got thrashed out in public. The LA Times — Yesterday’s News Day After Tomorrow. (facts?)
Newspapers are cheap to zillionaires, and news can be just a byproduct | Media | The Observer - So Jeff Bezos is hailed as saviour of the Washington Post. But what is the real motive of the man who says printed news won't last 20 years?

Perseid Meteor Shower 2013: How To See Celestial Light Show On Its August 12 Peak

Family Rescued In Pacific After Sailing 'Where God Led Us' : The Two-Way : NPR - Hannah Gastonguay, 26, and her husband, Sean, 30, were fed up with abortion, homosexuality, taxes and the "state-controlled church" and so "decided to take a leap of faith and see where God led us," she . With them were Sean's father and the couple's two daughters, one 3 years old and the other an infant. their ultimately 91 days at sea ... (might want to rethink that God thing)

New York State Cut Scores: From the Inside | The Line


081013
US embassies to reopen in Middle East and Africa after terror threat | World news | theguardian.com - Yemen mission stays closed amid fear of al-Qaida attack but 18 other offices will open doors on Sunday
U.S. Drone Strike In Yemen Kills 2 Al Qaeda Militants, Officials Say (and an undisclosed number of innocent civilians)
Drone strike kills two in southern Yemen: officials and residents | Reuters
Iraqi Officials: Wave Of Bombings Kills Dozens Celebrating Eid Al-Fitr Holiday - A wave of car bombings targeting those celebrating the end of Ramadan across Iraq killed 69 people Saturday, a bloody reminder of the inability of Iraqi authorities to stop violence threatening to spiral out of control.

When Power Goes To Your Head, It May Shut Out Your Heart : NPR (see below)

'Nobody is listening to your calls': Obama's evolution on NSA reforms | World news | theguardian.com - Barack Obama insisted on Friday that the NSA reforms he has proposed would have happened all along and that his views on surveillance programs had "not evolved" (in fact, nothing about him has evolved)
Twitter / ramdac: Obama's claim that there's ... - Obama's claim that there's no "domestic spying program" put in context: He doesn't consider gov't surveillance to be spying. That's telling. (lawyer talk)
President Moves to Ease Worries on Surveillance - NYTimes.com
Hullabaloo - If only we had waited for that review board ... And while the President insisted that he had already been reforming the NSA so Snowden's revelations are irrelevant in the long run, the mainstream press, at least, doesn't seem convinced of that anymore.
Obama's NSA Conference Could Be Subtitled 'The Guardian Gets Results'
General Keith Alexander: NSA will cut 90% of system administrators | World news | theguardian.com - Agency chief tells New York cybersecurity conference automation will improve security after Edward Snowden leaks (rise of the machines)

NSA: 1.6 Percent Of Internet Information 'Touched' By Us (just our "mechanisms")
James Risen's risk of prison means journalism is being criminalised | Lindsey Bever | Comment is free | theguardian.com - That a New York Times national security reporter may be jailed for refusing to name a source is a total affront to press freedom
Lavabit's closure marks the death of secure cloud computing in the US | Alex Hern | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Once Edward Snowden's use of the email service was public, it was perhaps a given that Lavabit would be targeted by the US
2 E-Mail Services Close and Destroy Data Rather Than Reveal Files - NYTimes.com
Creating a Raspberry Pi Mail server | Tariq Khan
How the Government Killed a Secure E-mail Company : The New Yorker (secret orders, secret trials, secret sentences)
Lavabit founder closes business and can't even say why  | Fox News - “I understand the need for keeping who was under investigation secret. I don’t see the Constitutional basis for keeping the methods used to investigate as secret as they are.” He added, "Our government shouldn’t be hiding what it’s doing." ... “This is exactly what as Americans we’re not supposed to have to do -- worry about breaking laws when we’re talking to the press,” Binnall fumed.

The Dead Enders » Balloon Juice - I really don’t know what it takes for the dozen or so Snowden/Greenwald dead-enders to accept the fact that Snowden’s documents are authentic. (commenters still don't get it)

Anonymous' Secret Presence In The U.S. Army - “There are people who I only know as screen names but I have put my career in their hands.” One member tells all.

Michael Hastings "Caught On Camera" Running Red-Light Seconds Before Crash - YouTube
IMG 0090[1] on Vimeo: Micheael Hasting being blown up by the FBI
'The Lives of Others' trailer - YouTube

In his second term, Obama becomes bolder on the environment - The Washington Post - President Obama’s environmental policies are likely to play a prominent role in defining his second term, even as the budget, immigration and health care still dominate the current political debate.
Eric Cantor Signals To GOP Colleagues That They Should STFU About Government Shutdown - Based upon what Robert Costa is reporting today, it would seem that the GOP's "Defund Obamacare Or We'll Shut Down The Government" caucus is all but dunzo in the eyes of party leadership.
Conservatives once ridiculed Ayn Rand - Salon.com - Today's doltish conservatives, like Paul Ryan, worship her. But their forebears called Rand's work "preposterous"
What’s different about today’s conservatives? by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - the most famous sentence in Chambers’ review, which is this: “From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard, from painful necessity, commanding: ‘To a gas chamber — go!’”

Fox's Shameless Misrepresentation Of SNAP Recipients | Blog | Media Matters for America - Baier: "When A Safety Net Becomes A Hammock"

Reid says Obamacare just a step toward eventual single-payer system - Las Vegas Sun News
More On The Disappearance Of Milton Friedman - NYTimes.com - What isn’t living on, however, is Friedman’s role as a guiding light for conservative economic policy.
Obama: Larry Summers Isn't Front-Runner For Fed Chair, Would Make Excellent Fed Chair - "I have a range of outstanding candidates -- you've mentioned two of them, Mr. Summers and Mr. Yellen," Obama said (you can see how his head works)

Contra Yglesias, newspapers have lost readers to the Web : Columbia Journalism Review - Where have those newspaper readers gone? To Yelp, Facebook,Yahoo, Huffington Post, Google, Twitter, Craigslist, et al. The unbundling of newspapers’ advertising has gone hand in hand with the unbundling of their content.
LION Publishers: Local Independent Online News

Oath Keepers: Potentially the most lethal and dangerous of all the new 'Patriot' groups | Crooks and Liars

Death Panels and the Apparatchik Mindset - NYTimes.com - Do they rationalize it by saying that truth is a secondary consideration when you’re engaged in a crusade against the evils of big government? Have they mastered true Orwellian doublethink, managing to believe things they know aren’t true? Inquiring minds want to know.

Report: San Diego Mayor Bob Filner Fishes Therapy One Week Early | TPM LiveWire (of a two-week program)

No, Walmart doesn’t create jobs by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - Here’s why: first, at the local level, all Walmart does is put mom-and-pop stores out of business. The overwhelming body of evidence, including the most rigorous peer-reviewed studies, suggests that when Walmart enters a community, the result is a net loss of jobs; at best, it’s a wash
Rent Is So High That New Yorkers Can't Afford To Move - Business Insider - Brooklyn — where the average rent rose 8.2 percent to $3,035 a month — isn't faring much better

Charter Schools Do Better On Standardized Tests: One of Rheeism’s Many Lies - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Gary Rubinstein does some number crunching from New York school test report that showed declining scores and what he finds exposes more Rheeism lies

Activist Post: Monsanto can sue farmers when GMO contamination goes over one percent of their crop

Marijuana stops child's severe seizures - CNN.com

Rehtaeh Parsons Rape Case Solved By Anonymous in Less Than 2 Hours Despite "No Evidence"
Video Shows Pembroke Pines Cop Punching Mentally Ill Girl « CBS Miami


How to game reddit. : TheoryOfReddit

080913
Egyptian Officials: Israel Kills 5 People In Egypt - An Israeli drone strike inside Egypt killed five suspected Islamic militants and destroyed a rocket launcher Friday, two senior Egyptian security officials said, marking a rare Israeli operation carried out in its Arab neighbor’s territory.
US tells diplomatic staff to leave Lahore after security threat | World news | theguardian.com - Non-essential staff told to move to capital, Islamabad, after specific threat comes amid soaring terrorism in Pakistan (worked out really well, didn't it)
U.S. Evacuates Consulate In Lahore, Pakistan In Response To Terrorist Threat
Turkish Airlines pilot and co-pilot kidnapped in Beirut | World news | The Guardian - Gunmen believed to have snatched men from van in response to capture of Lebanese pilgrims by Syrian rebels 15 months ago
The British Police: getting away with murder since 1969 | openDemocracy - 827 people have died during or following police contact since 2004. Families have struggled hard for justice, encountering multiple failures and police collusion from the IPCC. Why is police accountability failing in this most serious of issues?

TRANSCRIPT: President Obama’s August 9, 2013, news conference at the White House - The Washington Post
Obama touts NSA surveillance reforms to quell growing unease over programs | World news | The Guardian - President to work with Congress to reform NSA's Fisa court and Patriot Act but made clear that mass surveillance would continue
President Obama's Surprise Revelation of Sealed Benghazi Indictment - ABC News - A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, called the president's disclosure "crazy."
NSA loophole allows warrantless search for US citizens' emails and phone calls | World news | theguardian.com - Spy agency has secret backdoor permission to search databases for individual Americans' communications
Lawfare › The President’s Surveillance Reform Initiatives: A Section-by-Section Analysis
Obama’s Credibility Trap | emptywheel - President Obama just stood before the nation and said:
Obama's 'Tonight Show' Domestic Spying Comments Contradicted By New York Times Story (video) - "There is no spying on Americans. We don't have a domestic spying program. What we do have are some mechanisms where we can track a phone number or an email address that we know is connected to some sort of terrorist threat," Obama told Leno. (Liar-in-chief)
Politics & Public Policy Today : CSPAN : June 7, 2013 2:00pm-8:01pm EDT : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive - Obama: NSA surveillance of internet and e-mails does not apply to US citizens or people living in the United States. "Congress fully apprised of it but what is also true, the FISA court has to authorize it.”
Capitol Hill Hearings : CSPAN : June 18, 2013 8:00pm-1:01am EDT : Free Streaming : Internet Archive - James Cole, Deputy US Attorney General, testifying before House Intelligence Committee that information on US persons is only retained under limited criteria: foreign intelligence, evidence of crime or threat to bodily injury

Edward Snowden, patriot - President Obama’s news conference today was … weird. “Obama is really mad at Edward Snowden for forcing us patriots to have this critically important conversation.”
The president is wrong: The NSA debate wouldn’t have happened without Snowden - Whether or not Snowden is a patriot, it’s clear that his disclosures made possible a more vigorous and well-informed public debate about the NSA’s programs than would have happened otherwise.
NBC News Tweaks Snowden Description, From 'Accused Spy' To 'Admitted Leaker' | Michael Calderone
Obama Is Starting to Understand Why People Are So Upset About NSA Spying - Matt Berman & Brian Resnick - The Atlantic - "No, Mr. Snowden was not a patriot," the president said, but announced four new steps intended to quell concerns. (you know who else isn't a patriot?)
Obama says phone spying not abused, will continue - Obama said he welcomed the debate, but his national security team also said it never intended to tell Americans about the highly classified phone program, which it falsely denied existed.
Obama Offers Plan Meant to Ease Concerns on Surveillance - NYTimes.com
The Legal Rationale for Surveillance - Document - NYTimes.com - The Obama administration on Friday released two documents, one from the Justice Department and the other from the National Security Agency, related to the legal basis for surveillance efforts (gobbledegook)

Edward Snowden not in Moscow, say Russian authorities | World news | theguardian.com - Place of residence remains confidential and 'can only be revealed by whistleblower or his lawyer'
Obama pushed for tighter regulation of NSA surveillance as a senator | World news | ProPublica - Only five years ago, Obama was part of a group of legislators that supported substantial changes to NSA surveillance programs (he always lied)
The biggest threat to America? The size of its own military budget | Michael Cohen | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Don't be fooled by terror alerts and dire warnings: the world in general is a safer place than ever and the US in particular (they will eat us all)
NSA Casts Massive Dragnet Over Americans' International Communications | American Civil Liberties Union
NSA surveillance: the long fight to close backdoor into US communications | World news | theguardian.com - Senators' attempt to ensure removal of Americans' data from NSA trawls has been ongoing for more than a year
Obama, tech executives met to discuss surveillance | Reuters - "It's not clear yet that the White House appreciates the need to scale back these surveillance programs substantially instead of just rationalizing or tinkering with them." (will lie again; EFF not invited, of course)
Why a former NSA chief just made a big mistake by dissing hackers - He went on to dismiss Snowden supporters as “nihilists, anarchists, activists, Lulzsec, Anonymous, twenty-somethings who haven’t talked to the opposite sex in five or six years.”
The Daily Dot - Can the NSA's data center hold the entire world's digital communications?
More on the NSA's weird, deceptive, indefensible definition of "targeted surveillance" - Boing Boing
Spy Agency Sought U.S. Call Records Before 9/11, Lawyers Say - Bloomberg - ``The Bush Administration asserted this became necessary after 9/11,'' plaintiff's lawyer Carl Mayer said in a telephone interview. ``This undermines that assertion.'' (dot from 2006)
Former CEO Says U.S. Punished Phone Firm - the government withdrew opportunities for contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars after Qwest refused to participate in an unidentified National Security Agency program that the company thought might be illegal. (dot from 2007)

Email service used by Snowden shuts itself down, warns against using US-based companies | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - the American owner of the company believes his Constitutional rights and those of his customers are being violated by the US Government, but he is not allowed to talk about it.
The Public-Private Surveillance Partnership - Bloomberg - By Bruce Schneier
Declan McCullagh - Google+ - The email provider used by Edward Snowden (and many other…
The Battle For Secure Email - According to the privacy community, this isn’t the end of encrypted email. It’s a call to action.

Lavabit email service abruptly shut down citing government interference | Technology | theguardian.com - Founder of service reportedly used by Edward Snowden said he would not be complicit in 'crimes against the American people'
Lavabit is defunct – so what's a fan of secure email to do now? | Technology | The Guardian
Silent Circle Preemptively Shuts Down Encrypted Email Service To Prevent NSA Spying | TechCrunch (Obama shuts down all secure email in the US)
Snowden link to encrypted email service closes - Two encrypted email services have closed down for reasons linked to US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.
it doesn't have to be surrender. It could be an acknowledgement that email is insecure | Hacker News

Home - StartMail
Welcome to MyKolab.com | MyKolab.com
Bitmessage Wiki - Bitmessage is a P2P communications protocol used to send encrypted messages to another person or to many subscribers
The Best Free Ways to Send Encrypted Email and Secure Messages
The Amnesic Incognito Live System
Opt out of global data surveillance programs like PRISM, XKeyscore, and Tempora - PRISM Break - Opt out of global data surveillance programs like PRISM, XKeyscore and Tempora. Stop governments from spying on you by encrypting your communications and ending your reliance on proprietary services.
? Oversight: Thank you for volunteering, citizen. - YouTube
? The War On Americans' Rights, Privacy, Dignity, & Due Process - YouTube
Spy Agency Sought U.S. Call Records Before 9/11, Lawyers Say - Bloomberg

LAPD Dismisses Leah Remini's Missing Person Report on Wife of Scientology Leader - ABC News

Why I am banned from associating with Anonymous - Pastebin.com ("free" speech in America)

HTG Explains: The Difference Between WEP, WPA, and WPA2 Wireless Encryption (and Why It Matters)
Google Fiber Server 'Neutrality Violation' Being Overblown | DSLReports, ISP Information
"What Is That Box?" — When The NSA Shows Up At Your Internet Company - For nine months, this Utah ISP had a little black box in the corner, courtesy of the NSA. Its owner tells his story.
Inverted totalitarianism - Inverted totalitarianism is a term coined by political philosopher Sheldon Wolin to describe the emerging form of government of the United States.
? Dobie Gray - The In Crowd (Shindig) - YouTube (Obama's theme song)
? George Carlin The Best 3 Minutes of His Career "The American Dream" - YouTube - it's called the American Dream ... 'cuz you have to be asleep to believe it."
? Anonymous,World Wide Call for Awakening of New Anons 2013 360p - YouTube
? What you're not being told about Booz Allen Hamilton and Edward Snowden - YouTube

NSA cites case as success of phone data-collection program - The Washington Post - Moalin’s prosecution, barely noticed when the case was in court, has suddenly come to the fore of a national debate about U.S. surveillance. Under pressure from Congress, senior intelligence officials have offered it as their primary example of the unique value of a National Security Agency program that collects tens of millions of phone records from Americans. (sent $8,500 to friends in Somalia, therefore we have to tap everyones' phone and email)
FBI sued for keeping secret their file on journalist Michael Hastings — RT USA

U.S. Army general improperly accepted gifts in South Korea - The Washington Post - Fil told investigators that he accepted the gifts in “good conscience,” believing that they were legal because the giver was a longtime personal friend. Investigators cast doubt on that explanation, however, noting that the South Korean did not speak English and that Fil had to communicate with him by “using hand and arm signals.” (they buried the report)

A Poll I'd Like To See - NYTimes.com - Rand Paul talking about the evils of “running a trillion-dollar deficit every year” — which, as it happens, is not at all what we’re doing; the deficit is at around $600 billion and falling fast. This follows on Eric Cantor’s talk about “growing deficits”, when deficits are in fact shrinking ... Once you’re inside the closed conservative information loop, you know lots of things that aren’t so.
JP Morgan: $7 Billion in Fines, $16 Billion in Legal Costs | The Big Picture - Fortress JP Morgan? Dimon the greatest banker of his generation?
This graph calls the entire economic recovery into question - And instead of doing anything to help those people get back to work, Washington canceled the payroll tax cut, permitted sequestration to go into effect, and is now arguing about whether to shut down the federal government — and possibly breach the debt ceiling — in the fall.

Blow Out - Esquire - those place in the country — West, Texas, Geismar, Louisiana, etc. — that have taken to blowing up recently and it has discovered that, in many cases, the blowing up occurs because the local "business-friendly" climate proposed by state and local governments has had a lot to do with how the Invisible Hand has lit the fuse
How Chevron turned the tables in Ecuador. | Fossils & Photons – Energy and Clean Tech | an SFGate.com blog - Faced with a $19 billion fine for polluting Ecuador’s rainforest, Chevron Corp. has done a remarkable job of turning the tables on its foes.

Imagining a world without Fox News - Is cable news polarizing American politics? A clever new experiment suggests that the answer is “probably not.” (America IS polarized)
Former Sen. Scott Brown's Younger Brother Arrested for Impersonating Police - ABC News
Jack Villamaino, Former GOP Candidate, Gets 4 Months In Jail For Felony Voter Fraud - In the midst of his 2012 GOP primary campaign for a Massachusetts state House seat, Jack Villamaino changed the party affiliation of nearly 300 people in his town of East Longmeadow. Days later, the same number of absentee ballot requests were dropped off at the town clerk’s office, a list that was almost a “name-for-name match” for those whose registration information Villamaino had altered. (so don't let non-whites vote)

Joe Arpaio Requiring His Deputies To Carry AR-15s At All Times, Fight Crime Even When They're Off Duty

Southern California wildfire moves into 'wind tunnel' and injures six | World news | theguardian.com - Evacuations continue as the fire sweeps through the San Jacinto mountains, destroying homes and threatening hundreds

Richard Dawkins' tweets on Islam are as rational as the rants of an extremist Muslim cleric | Nesrine Malik | Comment is free | theguardian.com - My Eid was interrupted by Richard Dawkins tweeting about how few Nobel prizes Muslims have won. His logic rings a bell ...

Rehtaeh Parsons suicide: two charged over photos in cyberbullying case | Society | theguardian.com - Child pornography charges laid in case where girl killed herself after images of her alleged rape were posted online - Police initially concluded there were no grounds to charge anyone after a yearlong investigation.
Rehtaeh Parsons case: Two years after the initial report, Halifax police have finally made two arrests. (MSM ignores role of anonymous)
Rehtaeh Parsons Arrests Made, Twitter Users Say It's About Time

Ian Hacking reviews ‘DSM-5’ by the American Psychiatric Association · LRB 8 August 2013 - And trying to get it right, in revision after revision, perpetuates the long-standing idea that, in our present state of knowledge, the recognised varieties of mental illness should neatly sort themselves into tidy blocks, in the way that plants and animals do.
U.S. reports malaria vaccine breakthrough - CNN.com
University of Minnesota study says women use luxury items to keep your hands off their man. - a study that they claim demonstrates that women want to own designer handbags because they're hardwired to show off how much their man spends on them so other women back off.
Women and Luxury Products: How a New Study Brings Up Old Anxieties - Judith Ohikuare - The Atlantic - A new paper seems to perpetuate tired, depressing stereotypes about women and money. Is there anything redeeming about it?

Werner Herzog texting while driving documentary "From One Second to the Next" is worth watching. (video)
Werner Herzog Made a Documentary About Texting While Driving. And It’s Haunting. : movies

Bikram "Yoga" Choudhury accused of rape, sexual harassment, racism, homophobia, and unsafe practices related to the color green - Boing Boing

10 rules for managing your penis | Suzanne Moore | Comment is free | The Guardian - Recent news stories involving sexting, wine, toasters, politicians and penises indicate some men need a refresher course, so here are my 10 rules for keeping your penis out of trouble
Punditry of the penis: let's see this simple, elegant organ for what it is | Ally Fogg | Comment is free | theguardian.com

080813
US will not reverse Middle East terror precautions in wake of foiled plot | World news | The Guardian - Obama administration cautions that threat to western outposts has not subsided after Yemen claims it thwarted large-scale plot
Syria's Bashar al-Assad escapes injury as rebels attack convoy | World news | theguardian.com - Mortar strike against embattled leader underscores how close the country's conflict is edging to its seat of power
Fukushima leaks: Japan PM steps in | Environment | theguardian.com - Shinzo Abe promises 'firm measures' after nuclear plant operator Tepco admits radioactive water is escaping
US Selling Weapons To Civil War Iraq - Business Insider
Egyptians To U.S.: Stay At Home And Keep Your Foreign Aid - "Those bastards," sneered Magdi Hossein, a political activist from Giza who has helped rally supporters of the military against the Muslim Brotherhood. "Who are they anyway? What power do they have in the Congress? They came here to play a game -- a game of politics back home in America, not for here." (McCain and Linda Graham)
Canada-U.S. Border: American Police Want Legal Exemptions, RCMP Says - "Canadians would likely have serious concerns with cross-designated officers from the U.S. not being accountable for their actions in Canada." (well, they aren't accountable in the US, so ...)
Germany boosts arms exports to Qatar | Germany | DW.DE | 07.08.2013 - German arms exports to the Gulf region are on the rise. Critics say Germany should not be supplying countries with such questionable human rights records.
British women attacked with acid in Zanzibar
Website that helps people leave the Catholic Church to cease operations - Over 12,000 people downloaded a Declaration of Defection from CountMeOut.ie, but changes to canon law have made it difficult for the site to operate, a founder says.

Greek unemployment hit new record in May of 27.6 percent | Reuters - as the country staggers under austerity linked to its international bailout.

Russia "disappointed" bilateral talks with US cancelled - "This decision is clearly linked to the situation with former agent of US special services [Edward] Snowden, which hasn't been created by us," he said during a phone conference with the press.
How Obama’s Putin Snub Is Playing Out in Russia | TIME.com
Egermancy, Everybody To Get From Street! - Esquire - The list of banned officials released by the Foreign Ministry in April included former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff David Addington, former U.S. Justice Department adviser John Yoo and various other Justice Department officials alleged to have violated Russian citizens' human rights.
Displacing the Reset with Russia | emptywheel - No matter what happens with Snowden, very few have acknowledged that, in addition to details of spying on Americans, he has also mapped out the backbone of our increasingly fragile hegemony over the world. We have responded only by ratcheting up pressure, rather than attempting persuasion.

Lawrence O'Donnell Yells at Julia Ioffe About Putin and Snowden | New Republic - Dear Lawrence O'Donnell, Don't Mansplain to Me About Russia
New Republic's Julia Ioffe Calls Out Lawrence O'Donnell For 'Mansplaining Russia' To Her (video) - And if you don't have the good sense and education or, hell, the reporting experience to know better, then just let the guests you invited on speak. Otherwise, don't waste my fucking evening.
Don't Mess With Julia Ioffe - Esquire

Yemen Drone Strikes: 3 Attacks Kill 12 Suspected Militants (three in one day for drone-boy in the basement of the WH; "suspected" to have brown skin)
Behind Legion of Doom: Breaking “Encrypted Electronic Communications between High Level Al Qaeda Leaders” | emptywheel - While that doesn’t prove or disprove my outtamyarse guess that the Tor compromise had a connection to Legion of Doom, it does make it more likely. It also means the leaks are that much more damaging, in that they would have ended the period when we had location data on operatives they didn’t realize had been exposed.
Users of hidden net advised to ditch Windows - Legitimate users of the Tor anonymous browsing service are being advised to stop using Windows if they want to keep their identity hidden. (BBC thinks Firefox 17 = "Windows" though they might still be right)

Glenn Greenwald: Snowden Gave Me 15-20,000 Classified Documents
Glenn Greenwald Could Get 'Protection' From Brazil Over NSA Stories: Report (will attempt to shoot down Obama's drones)
Lavabit, Edward Snowden's Email Service, Abruptly Shuts Down Amid Court Battle (Obama's war on encryption: no, you don't have free speech, silly)
Lavabit - I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit

Obama's 'Tonight Show' Domestic Spying Comments Contradicted By New York Times Story - "That statement is just unbelievable and it reeks of this Orwellian newspeak," (everything he says is a lie)
Jay Leno's interview with President Obama (transcript, video) - Politico.com - "We don't have a domestic spying program. What we do have are some mechanisms ..." (so take it up with my mechanisms, suckas)
NSA Chief: Solution To Stopping The Next Snowden Is Replacing His Former Job With A Machine (tentative name: "Skynet")
N.S.A. Said to Search Content of Messages to and From U.S. - NYTimes.com
0v | A Nation of Unconvicted Felons - If you are reading this article, odds are you’re already a felon. Bold statement, I know. The problem is that I’m probably right. If you weren’t a felon when you started reading this paragraph, you are now.
New revelations: Germany sends 'massive amounts' of phone, email data to NSA — RT News
Privacy International to challenge telecoms firms over GCHQ cooperation | UK news | The Guardian - Vodafone and BT are among the companies questioned about their compliance with intelligence gathering

US Official Admits Spying On US Phone Calls & Internet Had Nothing To Do With Latest Terror Alert | Techdirt - In other words, it would appear that Chambliss flat out lied to defend these programs. I guess we can just add that one to the ever growing list.
The Lies Your Government Tells You About NSA Surveillance | Techdirt (Obama's war on anything resembling the truth)
Unhappy With U.S. Foreign Policy? Pentagon Says You Might Be A 'High Threat' (we are all terrorists now)

Adding up to 105: The Charges Against Barrett Brown

Under Agreement, NYPD To Stop Storing Names Of Those Stopped And Frisked « CBS New York - NYCLU: Database Had 'Entire Population Marked As Criminal Suspects' (except the billionaires, of course, in Bloomberg's fascist paradise)
DHS Eliminates 197 Million People’s 4th Amendment Rights In “Constitution Free Zones” (includes all of Bloombergia, of course)
Eric Holder May Release Sweeping Drug Sentencing Proposal, Admits Current Practices Are Discriminatory - While Holder and the Obama administration have drawn criticism for publicly embracing a laissez-faire approach to marijuana laws but cracking down anyway, some observers believe this proposal for reform could be genuine. (you can't believe anything he says)
September 11's indirect toll: road deaths linked to fearful flyers | World news | The Guardian - German professor estimates an extra 1,595 Americans died in car accidents in year after September 11 attacks (Bush should have invaded cars)

Dias Kadyrbayev And Azamat Tazhayakov, Friends Of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Charged In Boston Marathon Bombing (FBI at work)

Decades behind: Sexual assault unchecked as Defense Department ducks reform - Darren Samuelsohn - politico.com

Mike Huckabee: Muslims Depart Mosques Like 'Uncorked Animals,' Throwing Rocks, Burning Cars

Companies Need To Pay People More - Business Insider
Taniwha_NZ comments on Sorry, It's Not A 'Law Of Capitalism' That You Pay Your Employees As Little As Possible - the concept of 'ponerology'. This is the idea that a power structure, over time, becomes twisted by the work of relatively few sociopaths, until the entire structure and everyone in it behaves and thinks like a sociopath as well.

Citizens United 'Dark Money' Could Be Revealed By States, NYC Public Advocate Report Finds
'Citizen Koch' Rescued By Small Donors As Documentary Outraises Funds Pulled By PBS (which is owned by Koch Bros)

Jeff Zucker’s teenage son resigns under fire from Cory Booker start-up Waywire - NYPOST.com
Hullabaloo - Booker and the big money geeks
Why I Wouldn't Vote For Cory Booker - Esquire


70 Percent Of Georgia Republicans Believe In Creationism: PPP Poll

Hostile Policing by Dominic Holden - Seattle News - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper - After Cops Threatened to Arrest Me and Harass Me When I Took Their Picture, I Decided to Test the Citizen Complaint Process to See if It Works
Here Is the Graffito That Got Israel Hernandez Killed - Miami - News - Riptide 2.0

Library of Alexandria: Nature vs Nurture: The Debate Is Framed Wrong - It's All About Ranges
Should we care that smart women aren't having kids? | Sadhbh Walshe | Comment is free | theguardian.com - findings that maternal urges drop by 25% with every extra 15 IQ points (women have no purpose except as baby-factories)
FBI re-opens 1964 stolen baby case after DNA proves wrong child was returned - U.S. News

Mommy Blogger Lied About Pink Headband Bullying, ‘Baker Acted’ [Update]

Potential Lyme Disease Vaccine Shows Promise
Dramatic increase in throat cancer from HPV virus a looming health crisis: doctors | National Post - The trend seems linked to increased oral sex, especially by men, and is another reason why more effort must be made to improve the lacklustre uptake of the HPV vaccine, say doctors at a London, Ont., hospital.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Why I changed my mind on weed - CNN.com
ELI5:The Second Law of Thermodynamics ( law of entropy) : explainlikeimfive
ELI5: If I'm thinking in english, what were thoughts like before we developed language? : explainlikeimfive
The voices in my head: Eleanor Longden's 'psychic civil war' | Technology | theguardian.com
Voice Collective: Peer support for young people who hear voices or see visions

Spam rises, now counts for 70 per cent of emails - 07 Aug 2013 - Computing News - The past three months have seen a four per cent rise in spam, which now accounts for over 70 per cent of all email activity, according to the latest Spam Report from Kaspersky Lab.

The Daily Dot - Twitter's "report abuse" button takes out its first innocent victim
Re: the "trolling" scandal - Pastebin.com - Rapes are happening, right now, in the real world, and you're throwing around pointless words about how catastrophic the unregulated Internet is. (MSM discovers mysogeny) + Facebook is the death of humanity, the destroyer of families, the hunter of small children. It's an unimaginative, self-parodying lifeless hellhole that only benefits paedophiles and greedy corporations. Letting your children use it is like sending them into a dark alleyway with keys to an unmarked grey van in their back pocket.
Neunundneunzig Luftballons » Balloon Juice - “When you’re dying of malaria, I suppose you’ll look up and see that balloon, and I’m not sure how it’ll help you.”
African Entrepreneurs Deflate Google’s Internet Balloon Idea | MIT Technology Review - Kenyan tech leaders say the high-flying Internet balloons may not be a realistic networking solution for their continent.
Bitcoin Clampdown Continues As Federal Judge Says It’s A Currency | TechCrunch

080713
Study: deadly H7N9 virus has been transmitted between humans (Wired UK)
US will not reverse Middle East terror precautions in wake of foiled plot | World news | theguardian.com - Obama administration cautions that threat to western outposts has not subsided after Yemen claims it thwarted large-scale plot
Off The Front Pages - Esquire - That's kind of an ass-backwards way for Reuters to point out that Tepco was lying its glowing radioactive ass off there, but I'll take it. (read "Distraction")
Obama On Security Threats: 'We Don't Get Terrorized' - - President Barack Obama says security threats will never lead the U.S. to retreat from the world. He says Americans don't get terrorized. (they just terrorize the rest of the world)
Kenya's main airport engulfed in fire | World news | theguardian.com - Electrical fault thought to be the cause of five-hour blaze on the 15th anniversary of Nairobi US embassy terrorist attack

Louisiana Global Warming And Wetlands - What Has Happened Down Here Is The Wind Have Changed - Esquire - The inability of the world's most advanced democracy to confront a problem that's as obvious as houses falling into the sea is the most serious consequence of the ongoing war on science, and the ongoing waterboarding of science, and the ongoing derision of expertise that has become an important element in the governing coalition of one of the two major political parties that we have allowed ourselves (read "Distraction")
usgsphoto6.jpg (100+ Years of Land Change for Coastal Louisiana; it will end of small than Rhode Island and then ... glug, glug)

New U.S. spying revelations coming from Snowden leaks: journalist | Reuters - new revelations "within the next 10 days or so" on secret U.S. surveillance of the Internet.
Exclusive: IRS manual detailed DEA's use of hidden intel evidence | Reuters
Now That It's Been Exposed, DOJ Plans To 'Review' Information Sharing With DEA | Techdirt

On Obama's cancellation of summit with Putin and extradition [ Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The US frequently refuses extradition requests where, unlike with Snowden, it involves serious crimes and there is an extradition treaty
Snowden's Asylum: 'It's the law, stupid' - Opinion - Al Jazeera English - It should be made clear that Russia has no legal, political or moral duty to turn Snowden over to American authorities. (Obama's never been a big one for the "law")
Obama cancels meeting with Putin over Snowden asylum tensions | World news | theguardian.com - Relationship between the two nations chills further as White House cites 'not enough progress on our bilateral agenda'
Edward Snowden John McCain Russia - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - Edward Snowden, now enjoying the benefits bestowed by that champion of democracy and civil liberties Vladimir Putin, continues to employ his mystical Ninja whistleblower powers to drive the administration crazy. So crazy, in fact, that it's listening to John McCain on serious foreign policy questions. (questionable link to Driftglass)
Obama Breaks Up With Putin, Can’t Believe Putin Chose Snowden And Persecuting Gays Over Their Relaaaationship

Broad U.S. terror alert mystifies experts; ‘It’s crazy pants,’ one says | McClatchy
Terror ‘Experts’: ‘Crazy-Pants’ Yemen Plot Goes Up To Eleven
Here Is Your Al Qaeda Conference Call Bingo Card, For Freedom, And Jihad
Maybe the Gimmick Is in the Timing of Legion of Doom? | emptywheel - In my first post on this Yemen scare — which I will henceforth call “Legion of Doom” in honor of the Daily Beast source’s use of the term — I suggested the big part of the plot might have already transpired.
Al Qaeda Conference Call Intercepted by U.S. Officials Sparked Alerts - The Daily Beast
What If the Tor Takedown Relates to the Yemeni Alert? | emptywheel

The Surveillance Reforms Obama Supported Before He Was President - ProPublica (not lookin' back)
Snowden, Greenwald and Wikileaks are winning - Opinion - Al Jazeera English - Americans are becoming more concerned that government 'anti-terror' programmes are actually restricting civil liberties.
Connections Between Michael Hastings, Edward Snowden and Barrett Brown—The War With the Security State - WhoWhatWhy
US Government War On Hackers Backfires: Now Top Hackers Won't Work With US Government | Techdirt - from the what-did-they-expect? dept

Manning sentencing: judge rejects claim leaks had 'chilling effect' | World news | theguardian.com - Judge rules that State Department testimony is admissible only if the effect came directly after leaks were published

Hullabaloo - VIPR is the pits
The Ooga Booga* Continues to Wear Off | emptywheel - Two and a half years ago, I noted how TSA head John Pistole pointed to a plot the FBI created while he was still its Deputy Director to justify the use of VIPR teams to stop people on non-aviation public transportation.
DEA and NSA Team Up to Share Intelligence, Leading to Secret Use of Surveillance in Ordinary Investigations | Electronic Frontier Foundation
The NSA Comes Clean | The Nation
EXCLUSIVE: Activists Identify DC Cop Who Infiltrated Bangladesh Sweatshop Protests - Working In These Times - USAS filed suit on Monday against the District of Columbia seeking an injunction to stop police from spying on the group’s activities.

20 urgent questions we should ask Obama today - Salon.com
Pro Publica Advances Narrative on How Obama Killed Cramdown | FDL News Desk (he preferred his own program design to fail) ("Larry Summers, then the president’s chief economic adviser, also expressed doubts in private meetings, she said. “He was not supportive of this.”") The Obama Administration directly worked against the one tool that homeowners could have used to get relief, at great cost to the economy overall. (2011)

After Airing Pro-Keystone XL Ads, NBC Station Rejects Ad Opposing The Pipeline | ThinkProgress
National Push by a Local Immigration Activist - No G.O.P. Retreat - NYTimes.com - D. A. King, who quit his job as an insurance agent a decade ago to wage a full-time campaign against illegal immigration in Georgia, is one reason this state rivals Arizona for the toughest legal crackdown in the country. (profile of a racist)
Tea Party's Obamacare Threat Could Harm GOP Election Chances, Republicans Warn
Jim Messina, How Could You Flip From Barack Obama to David Cameron? - The Daily Beast
Quarter-Billionaire Mitt Romney A Total Communist Now (Because He Hadn’t Flip-Flopped On That Yet)
CNN Benghazi Special Pushes Debunked And Deceptive Claims | Research | Media Matters for America (CNN goes Foxy)

The Year of Living Stupidly - NYTimes.com - politicians seek out economists who reinforce their prejudices; news media are either propaganda organs or desperately afraid of declaring, in any straightforward way, that politicians are wrong, no matter how much what they say is at odds with the truth.
Larry Summers Helped Torpedo Elizabeth Warren CFPB Nomination - Former Obama administration economic adviser Larry Summers helped torpedo a bid from current Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the summer of 2010. (and now she's returning the favor)
Battle over fed chairmanship adds new complexity to relationship of Larry Summers and Elizabeth Warren - Politics - The Boston Globe
Brooks and Marcus on PBS News: Getting Just About Everything Wrong on the Economy (see correction) | Beat the Press - It really is amazing that the PBS Newshour would rely exclusively on two people who obviously have no economic knowledge whatsoever to discuss the state of the economy and relate the meaning of the new employment report to its viewers (PBS keepin' it simple and stupid)

Texans: Dinosaurs, Humans Walked the Earth at Same Time | The Texas Tribune - Nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time, and more than half disagree with the theory that humans developed from earlier species of animals
Majority of Texans Don't Believe in Evolution - Esquire - a significant proportion of the American people think that the The Flintstones is a documentary,' Prindle says. 'Turns out he was right.' "
Pennsylvania Rep. Steve Bloom Seeks Cosponsors For Bill That Spurs Creationism Discussion
Creationists May Be Helping To Choose Biology Textbooks In Texas (teach the stupidity)
Virginia’s Gubernatorial Race Has Turned Into a Sad, Sleazy Circus - The Daily Beast
State-Funded Crisis Pregnancy Centers Talk Women Out Of Birth Control, Condoms: Report - When a woman walked into a state-funded "crisis pregnancy center" in Manassas, Va., this summer and told the counselor she might be pregnant, she was told that condoms don't actually prevent STDs and that birth control frequently causes hair loss, memory loss, headaches, weight gain, fatal blood clots and breast cancer.

Jeff Bezos's Washington Post Purchase: What The Critics Are Saying
Washington Post Sale Turns Attention To Sulzbergers' Ownership Of The New York Times
Jeff Bezos: Washington Post sale leaves some anxiety over mogul's motives | Media | The Guardian - Newsroom described as optimistic the day after the paper's sale as most believe Amazon founder brings needed expertise
Washington Post Co.'s Kaplan Bet May Have Cost It The Paper - By the end of last year, just as Graham and his company now acknowledge they began seeking a buyer for the Washington Post, operating income at Kaplan's higher education division had plummeted to $27 million from $406 million two years earlier, a drop of 93 percent, according to the company's securities filings.

This Week in Misogyny, England Edition - Lawyers, Guns & Money : That the representatives of the state — those presumably on the side of civility and of the victim — explicitly and grotesquely critiqued the 13 year-old victim for leading the defenceless adult man astray is shameful
Karen Stollznow writes about her experiences with sexual harassment. Why is this such a problem in the skeptic community?
Decline of the humanities in the 1980s actually reflects the rise of gender equality. Worth it.
Veterans Eldonna Fernandez, Gerri Tindley Accuse San Diego Mayor Bob Filner Of Harassment - CNN reports Eldonna Fernandez and Gerri Tindley both claim to have been harassed by the mayor, joining eleven other women who have reported inappropriate advances by Filner.

Fetal pain is a lie: How phony science took over the abortion debate - Salon.com - New laws banning abortion after 20 weeks are based on pseudoscience -- and real research proves it conclusively
The right’s plan to reverse Roe: Ban abortions to ‘protect’ women — MSNBC (can't let their girly brains decide for themselves, after all)

One year on from the Higgs boson find, has physics hit the buffers? | Science | The Guardian - Despite the success of the Large Hadron Collider, evidence for the follow-up theory – supersymmetry – has proved elusive
Sun's Magnetic Field To Flip In Complete Reversal That Will Have 'Ripple Effects'


Google In Hot Water Over Big Security Hole In Chrome
contagio: Defcon 21 Archives Speaker Materials
Metasploit: Here's that FBI Firefox Exploit for... | SecurityStreet - In short, it looks we have a case where good security advice (don't save anything on your secret operating system) got turned around into a poor operational security practice, violating the "keep up on security patches" rule. Hopefully, this is a lesson learned.

080613
Yemen on 'high alert' over warning of imminent al-Qaida attack | World news | The Guardian - US and British diplomatic personnel evacuated from Sana'a as Washington warns of 'specific and immediate threat'
Egypt's ousting of Mohamed Morsi was a coup, says John McCain | World news | The Guardian - US senator's choice of words to describe army's overthrow of president may have legal ramifications for US aid to Egypt
A Very Bad Idea In Syria - What Can Possibly Go Wrong Here? - Esquire - Our whole foreign policy is a wilderness of whoopie cushions, with IED's.
They won't be lovin' it: McDonald's admits 90% of employees are on zero-hours contracts without guaranteed work or a stable income - Home News - UK - The Independent - Fast-food chain is potentially the largest zero-hours employer in the UK’s private sector
Split-Screen Look At Growing Up Rich Vs. Growing Up Poor

Letters: US should leave Edward Snowden alone | World news | The Guardian - More than 150 civil society organisations from around the globe are asking President Barack Obama to end the prosecution of Edward Snowden
Members of Congress denied access to basic information about NSA | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Documents provided by two House members demonstrate how they are blocked from exercising any oversight over domestic surveillance (Obama lied, people went to jail)
Former NSA chief warns of cyber-terror attacks if Snowden apprehended | Technology | theguardian.com - Michael Hayden, who also headed the CIA, speculates on global hacker response if Edward Snowden brought back to US - hackers and transparency groups were likely to respond with cyber-terror attacks if the United States government apprehends whistleblower Edward Snowden
Cyberscare: Ex-NSA chief calls transparency groups, hackers next terrorists - Salon.com - Michael Hayden equates potential angry reactions to Snowden indictments to al-Qaida operations
Obama's abuse of the Espionage Act is modern-day McCarthyism | John Kiriakou | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Shame on this president for persecuting whistleblowers with a legal relic, while administration officials leak with impunity
Videos - Glenn Greenwald: Is U.S. Exaggerating Threat to Embassies to Silence Critics of NSA Domestic Surveillance? (keeping you safe)
? 'National Stasi Agency': Germans furious over intel sharing with NSA - YouTube

Bradley Manning trial: what we know from the leaked WikiLeaks documents | World news | The Guardian - Revelations from the files downloaded include footage of US helicopter crews laughing at civilian deaths in Baghdad (well, that is certainly "aiding the enemy")
Military Commanders Testify on Impact of Bradley Manning’s Disclosures on US-Pakistan Relations Behind Closed Doors | The Dissenter (the truth always hurts the liars, so we can't have that)
Was It NSA or a Yemeni “Ally” Leaking the “Clear Orders” from Zawahiri to Wuhayshi? | emptywheel - And thus far, no one from the government has called for the NYT, McClatchy, and WaPo sources to be jailed. How … telling.

First criminal charges filed in Benghazi attack probe - CNN.com - charges against Ahmed Abu Khattalah, leader of a Libyan militia that officials believe was involved in the assault, people briefed on the investigation said. The charges under seal are the first criminal counts to emerge from the probe.
US drug agency surveillance unit to be investigated by Department of Justice | World news | theguardian.com - Civil rights groups express concern after revelations that secret unit uses wiretaps and telephone records to arrest Americans (they're "probing" the issue)
Schneier on Security: NSA Surveillance and Mission Creep - I find that "some experts say" bit funny. I suppose it's Reuters' way of pretending there's balance. This is really bad. The surveillance state is closer than most of us think.
T.S.A. Expands Duties Beyond Airport Security - NYTimes.com - With little fanfare, the agency best known for airport screenings has vastly expanded its reach to sporting events, music festivals, rodeos, highway weigh stations and train terminals. Not everyone is happy.
Activist Post: NSA's Cyber Army Attacks the Navy's Tor Network, Gives Spoils to the FBI
The Daily Dot - An in-depth guide to Freedom Hosting, the engine of the Dark Net
US Justice: A Rotting Tree of Poisonous Fruit? | emptywheel

PolitiFact finds its pants on fire - The Maddow Blog - What Cantor said was the opposite of the truth -- he said the nation has a "growing deficit," when in reality, we have a shrinking deficit. ("half-true" say Politifuck)
PolitiFact and the Shape of the Planet, Deficit Edition - NYTimes.com - Yet here we have a senior GOP official talking as if we lived in an alternative universe in which deficits are rising, not falling. And PolitiFact declares his statement half true.

Saboteurs in the Potato Salad - NYTimes.com - can summer, to picnics, town halls, radio stations, hospitals and Little League playing fields, with a mission to derail the economic recovery and drum up support for sabotaging federal law. They’re not terrorists, nor are they agents of a foreign government. This is your United States Congress, the Republican House, on recess for the next five weeks.
Iowa voters: Expand Social Security! - Salon.com - Progressives launch the first shot in the coming war for the Democratic Party's soul
w Obama's HAMP Initiative Struggling To Help Homeowners (program designed to fail, version 2)
Blue state, red face: Guess who benefits more from your taxes? (the Confederacy, of course)
Rick Perry Vetoed Texas Equal Pay Bill Under Pressure From Macy's, Kroger's
Revenge of the “Abortion Barbies” - Salon.com - Erick Erickson is the insecure frat-boy id of the Republican Party. Oh, sure, party leaders wring their hands about their problem with women voters, but deep down, we’re all “Abortion Barbie” to a whole lot of them. Only Erickson is creepy enough to say so.
Chris Wallace Gross Eric Cantor Over Congress Doing Nothing - Heartless Bastards - Esquire - You may have noticed something of a flummoxing at various media websites over the fact that the Fox News nerve gas apparently wore off sufficiently over the weekend for Chris Wallace to notice that Eric Cantor serves the same function in a democracy as would a Schwinn dealership off Georges Bank

The NRA's End: A Real Gun-Control Movement Has Arrived | New Republic

Washington Post to be sold to Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon - The Washington Post - Washington Post to be sold to Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon
Washington Post sold: Amazon's Bezos shocks media with $250m purchase | Media | The Guardian - Deal brings to an end the 80-year control of the paper by the Graham family which steered the Post to national prominence
Eschaton: Structural Unemployment - I doubt it will happen, but one can dream that the Post's editorial board and most of its columnists get a chance to experience structural unemployment firsthand. Few have any actual useful skills in our great new economy.
Washington Post Purchase Shows Jeff Bezos Is Once Again Using The Web For Traditional Means | Peter S. Goodman
Expert: Boston Globe building is best deal | Boston Herald
Post-er Boy Bezos - Newspapers are the new hottest accessory in the 1 percent.
CIA’s Cloud Storage Just Bought the WaPo | emptywheel
The Deferential Spirit by Joan Didion | The New York Review of Books - The following is an extract from “The Deferential Spirit,” a review of The Choice and five other books by Bob Woodward, which appeared in the September 19, 1996, issue.

Budget Bedlam This Fall | Stan Collender's Capital Gains and Games - That's what I'm predicting: budget bedlam this fall and beyond.
Lawrence Summers as Fed Chair: The View From Climate Policy « The Reality-Based Community (wrong again, and again, but he as "gravitas")
Brooks and Marcus on PBS News: Getting Just About Everything Wrong on the Economy (see correction) | Beat the Press

Richard Cohen's Huma Abedin Column Is Quite Something - For his most recent piece, Cohen took on Abedin's decision to stay in her marriage with Weiner and how he could personally relate to the topic. To sum up: Cohen's wife cheated on him. They moved on. Also, she liked folk music. (TMI)

Boomerang Babies: Record Numbers of Young Adults Live with Parents at Terrible Cost | Alternet - Facing big debts and few decent jobs, today's young people can't get started in life.
Women in frat culture: Is Princeton's Tiger Inn a place where girls can be boys?

Videos - Monsanto Baseball: Incredible Batting Average & Escaping Accountability in Corporate America - "Monsanto Baseball." If you are Monsanto, you can commit the most egregious crimes against humanity...

Childhood Obesity Rate Shows Signs Of National Decline For First Time In Decades: CDC Report

Texas state troopers caught on camera probing women's privates aren't isolated incidents: lawyers - NY Daily News - Multiple highway patrol officers in Texas have been captured by dash cams doing 'unconstitutional' cavity searches on women's genitals during traffic stops. Lawyers and civil rights advocates say the 'mind-boggling' searches are all too common. (coprape)
Did cops need a Taser, riot shield and shotgun to subdue a 95-year-old veteran? - Chicago Tribune - Common sense tells me that cops don't need a Taser or a shotgun to subdue a 95-year-old man. (and his walker)

Obama administration streaming proposal: felony if unauthorized | BGR
reddit myths
Sex, lies, and subtweets: Ohio high school tormented by Twitter gossip | The Verge - An anonymous account bullies teens, foils administrators
Apple's 'Mission Statement' - Business Insider
Attention, fellow Olds! We've been talking about the internet all wrong | Oliver Burkeman | Technology | theguardian.com - But if you want to avoid being laughed at by 20-year-olds, don't tell them you're "on Facebook" to mean that you're a member of Facebook. Why? Because, for the youngsters, apparently, "Facebook is the assumed space in which life occurs". (actually, Facebook is on you)
The Daily Dot - Ohio bans Internet cafes - Legislators claim they're hubs for illegal gambling. the cash-strapped state is taking the scourge so seriously it just put the 6,000 people at its 800 cafes out of work.
What's the #1 Double Standard your SO does/has that drives you nuts? : AskReddit

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US embassy closures used to bolster case for NSA surveillance programs | World news | theguardian.com - Congress told that NSA monitoring led to interception of al-Qaida threats but privacy campaigners fear ulterior political motives (back to Bush/Cheney)
Terror Alerts vs Elections | Information Is Beautiful
Authorities Quietly Reverse Underwear Bomber Official Story - informationliberation - Eyewitness Kurt Haskell’s description of accomplice vindicated after weeks of denial (2010)
Targeted for 9/11 Warning, Voting Rights for ‘Some’, Obama’s Mandela Hypocrisy — RT Breaking the Set - Abby Martin talks to Susan Lindauer, former CIA asset, and author of ‘Extreme Prejudice’, about her experience being scapegoated under the Patriot Act for blowing the whistle about 9/11 foreknowledge and Iraq
Bahrain: Shouting in the dark - Programmes - Al Jazeera English - The story of the Arab revolution that was abandoned by the Arabs, forsaken by the West and forgotten by the world.

Fukushima radioactive water leak an 'emergency' - Japan's nuclear watchdog has said the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is facing a new "emergency" caused by a build-up of radioactive groundwater.
Japan Finally Admits The Truth: "Right Now, We Have An Emergency At Fukushima" | Zero Hedge
Revealed: Secret plans to jail nationalists in nuclear crisis | Herald Scotland - Margaret Thatcher's ­government imagined rounding up and imprisoning Scottish nationalists in the event of a possible nuclear war, previously secret official documents show.
Guest Post: Egyptians Love Us For Our Freedom | Zero Hedge (never saw these in US media)

Glenn Greenwald: Edward Snowden Is 'Doing Very Well'
DEA Surveillance - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - Almost all of the extra-constitutional atrocities attributed to the "war" on terror have their philosophical -- and, in many cases, their literal -- roots in the equally futile "war" on drugs ... The only reason we're having one now is that Edward Snowden, guest of the Kremlin, forced it on a country that's forgotten a great deal about itself.
German Minister on EU Company Ban For Privacy Violation - spiegel online
German Intelligence Sends Massive Amounts of Data to the NSA - SPIEGEL ONLINE - German intelligence sends massive amounts of intercepted data to the NSA, according to documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden, which SPIEGEL has seen. The trans-Atlantic cooperation on technical matters is also much closer than first thought.
Watch The Flightpath Of Bolivia Air Force One As It Gets Trapped Over Austria | Zero Hedge
? Advice from NSA Whistleblower on Trusting Your Government - YouTube
The sneaky switch that set the stage for the NSA’s call records program | Ars Technica
Courage - A Tribute to Whistleblowers on Vimeo

Feds Are Suspects in New Malware That Attacks Tor Anonymity | Threat Level | Wired.com
Researchers say Tor-targeted malware phoned home to NSA | Ars Technica - JavaScript attack had a hard-coded IP address that traced back to NSA address block.
Child abuse sites on Tor compromised by malware - A service accused of helping distribute child abuse images on a hidden part of the internet has been compromised. (the excuse is always that)

Tamerlan On A Car Phone, You're Next - Esquire - Uh-oh, the narrative just done got broke. However, the late Mr. Tsarnaev seems to have spent months marinating in 100 different spices of American lunacy before he decided to bust out of Prison Planet with a bang. Turns out he was a bipartisan sociopath, a kind of No Labels/Third Way dude when it came to attempts at mass murder.

Florida to execute mentally ill man despite constitutional prohibition | World news | theguardian.com - Schizophrenic man will die by lethal injection at 6pm Monday unless his lawyers can convince the supreme court to intervene

Frank Rich on 'This Town' and Washington's Dysfunctional Bipartisanship -- New York Magazine - Washington may be a dysfunctional place to govern, but it’s working better than ever as a marketplace for cashing in. And that’s thanks, more than anything, to the Democratic Establishment.
Eric Boehlert On Talking Liberally: Right-Wing Media Calls For Hillary Clinton's "Crucifixion" Is Preview Of "What's To Come" If She Runs In 2016 | Video | Media Matters for America
Study Finds 5 Ways Conservative Media Erode Trust In Scientists | Blog | Media Matters for America (Republicans hate reality)

DEA Special Operations Division Covers Up Surveillance Used To Investigate Americans: Report - A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans. "It is one thing to create special rules for national security," Gertner said. "Ordinary crime is entirely different. It sounds like they are phonying up investigations."
Exclusive: U.S. directs agents to cover up program used to investigate Americans | Reuters
Sarah Stillman: The Use and Abuse of Civil Forfeiture : The New Yorker - Under civil forfeiture, Americans who haven’t been charged with wrongdoing can be stripped of their cash, cars, and even homes. Is that all we’re losing? (cops stealing everything; maybe they should "forfeit" their towns)

Apple trade ban reversal in US questioned by South Korea | Technology | theguardian.com - The block on the iPhone ban, which Samsung had won from the US-based International Trade Commission (ITC), was the first time the president has vetoed an ITC ban since 1987, when President Ronald Reagan ruled in favour of the import of Samsung memory chips against US rivals.

RNC threatens boycott of CNN and NBC over Hillary Clinton shows | World news | theguardian.com - Reince Priebus told networks RNC will not partner with them for 2016 primary debates unless Hillary Clinton films are canceled

Larry Summers' Enron Connection Is Yet Another Reason Not To Make Him Fed Chairman
Summers Fed chair: His failed tenure at Harvard should give us pause about his friends’ reassurances. - Slate Magazine - Insiders say he’d make a great Fed chair. Their reassurances are eerily similar to ones that led Harvard astray. Soon after Summers was ensconced in office, he installed Rubin on the six-person governing board of the university. (and it went all downhill from there; VSPs at work)

Washington Post to be sold to Jeff Bezos - The Washington Post
Jeff Bezos buys Washington Post for $250M, says doesn’t have “worked-out plan” | Ars Technica - CEO says that he'd been averse to selling but that Bezos "altered my feelings.”

Today in the Glories of Federalism - Lawyers, Guns & Money : The state of Missouri is trying to ensure that as many of its citizens lack access to health care as possible.
Slots revenue off at 9 of 11 Pa. casinos - Philly.com (casino economies not doing so hot, but more taxpayer money needed!)

Video-making Gilberton Police Chief Mark Kessler hailed as national Second Amendment leader by gun rights activists | PennLive.com (gun-crazies on the loose)

Olivia Nuzzi won’t defend herself against the latest lies, so allow me | PandoDaily - New York Times Op-Ed columnist Frank Bruni has written a salacious post today about the Anthony Weiner campaign in which he attacks journalist Olivia Nuzzi in his opening line saying: “One young staffer on Anthony Weiner’s mayoral campaign saw a chance at bright lights and went after it, spilling secrets in return for a glamour shot on the front page of a major newspaper, determining that attention was worth whatever crassness it called for.” None of that is true. (Bruni couldn't be bothered to google the truth)
Tina Brown Slams Howard Kurtz On Twitter
For Rush Limbaugh, The Damage Is Done | Blog | Media Matters for America - One week after it was first reported that talk radio giant Cumulus Media might cut ties with Rush Limbaugh and pull his show from 40 of its stations nationwide, the end result of the contractual showdown remains unclear. But we do know this: The damage has been done to Limbaugh and his reputation inside the world of AM radio as an untouchable star.
CBS Will Lose $400K Per Day From Time Warner Cable Black Out: Analyst - Deadline.com

Government subsidized day care loans. Tomorrow's Debt Trap Today—Government Subsidized Day Care Loans

Windows 8 passes Vista at last, as IE10 growth slows | Ars Technica

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West Acts Like 'Bull in China Shop' in Middle East – Russian PM | News | The Moscow Times - "Our Western partners sometimes behave like a bull in a china shop — they squeeze in, crush everything and then don't know what to do next. I often find myself astonished at their analysts and how inconsistent their projects are that they push through by their superiors and at the outcomes they get," Medvedev told RT. (sounds about right)
Syrian rebels face UN investigation over Aleppo footage | World news | theguardian.com - United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay says opposition forces are not immune from war crime charges
Terrorist threat followed 'pre-9/11 levels' of 'chatter', say NSA defenders | World news | theguardian.com - Embassy closures ordered in response to 'most serious threat in years', says Republican senator Saxby Chambliss (coincidence?)
The Latest Al Qaeda Threat & The Campaign to Reelect President Obama - The Brenner Brief | The Brenner Brief - Israel is believed to have conducted another strike in Syrian territory – a massive attack on a suspected chemical weapons facility and the first on Syrian chemical weapons, the largest arsenal in the Middle East
Moroccan king revokes Spanish paedophile pardon

Other Agencies Clamor for Data N.S.A. Compiles - NYTimes.com - The National Security Agency’s dominant role as the nation’s spy warehouse has spurred frequent tensions and turf fights with other federal intelligence agencies that want to use its surveillance tools for their own investigations, officials say. (warren terra)

Debate over NSA programs gets renewed attention amid terror threat – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs - There's no proof that the current terror threats in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond were uncovered through a federal program that monitors domestic telephone data, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday.
Twitter / meetthepress: Breaking: President Obama will ... - President Obama will not meet with Vladimir Putin on Russia trip if no change in #Snowden saga (butthurt Obama)
Members of Congress denied access to basic information about NSA | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com - Documents provided by two House members demonstrate how they are blocked from exercising any oversight over domestic surveillance (OLiar says they were "fully informed")
Exclusive: FBI allowed informants to commit 5,600 crimes - New documents show FBI agents gave their informants permission to break the law thousands of times in 2011. Agents authorized 15 crimes a day, on average, including everything from buying and selling illegal drugs to bribing government officials and plotting robberies (massive organized crime syndicate)
Stewart Baker’s User Interface and Edward Snowden’s Authorities | emptywheel
The Volokh Conspiracy » More on NSA and Snowden’s “Wiretap Anyone” Claim (commentors don't like him)
Column: Edward Snowden and the disaster of privatization - Yahoo! News

The Promise of May, the Betrayal of June, and the Larger Lesson of Manning and Snowden | Joseph Margulies | Verdict | Legal Analysis and Commentary from Justia

Despite Administration Promises, Few Signs of Change in Drone Wars - NYTimes.com - There were more drone strikes in Pakistan last month than any month since January. Three missile strikes were carried out in Yemen in the last week alone. And after Secretary of State John Kerry told Pakistanis on Thursday that the United States was winding down the drone wars there, officials back in Washington quickly contradicted him. (Obomber in the basement of the White House generating terrorists by killing innocent civilians)
? [216] US Droning On in Pakistan, Extradition Hypocrisy, Terror on the Border? - YouTube

Some Context for CNN’s Shocking Report on Benghazi by Max Ehrenfreund | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - CNN thinks the CIA might have been smuggling out of Libya, hence Benghazi. (why everyone shut up)

Can Larry Summers play nice with other financial regulators? - People already have strong opinions about Summers’ culpability for the financial crisis as a result of his past support of deregulation. But what goes missing is the extent to which he sought to control and undermine an independent regulator given that he disagreed with them.
US regulators 'find evidence' of banks fixing derivative rates - US regulators have reportedly been handed evidence that traders at some of the world’s biggest banks manipulated a key rate for derivatives, pocketing millions at the expense of pension funds in the process. (Obanker will pardon them all)
Michael Lewis: Authorities' Response To The Financial Crisis 'Bizarre' - “The judicial response to the financial crisis, especially the criminal and legal response, has been bizarre,” Lewis told the magazine. “Insider trading, theft of property from a corporation, these are easier for them to take on and wrap their minds around than what was actually the center of the financial crisis.”

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XXIX - Besides this fortunate 7-year-old, the child victims of GunFAIL this week were ages 2, 4, 7, 13, 14, 16, 16 and two juveniles of unspecified age.

The scandal attention cycle : Columbia Journalism Review - How the media lost interest in IRS targeting, even as new facts emerged (which didn't fit the Republican narrative, so, look over there! NYT, WaPo, Politico all fed the "scandal" and then dropped it )
The GOP’s kamikaze mission to stop Obamacare - A campaign of self-sacrifice. The current crop of Republican strategies ask conservative congressmen to hurt their constituents and their political prospects, conservative governors to hurt their states, and conservative activists to hurt themselves. It’s a kamikaze mission to stop Obamacare.
? Chris Matthews: Ted Cruz 'a political terrorist' - YouTube

Ariel Levy: Was Justice Served in Steubenville? : The New Yorker - After high-school football stars were accused of rape, online vigilantes demanded that justice be served. Was it?

Fox ‘mugs’ Muslim historian on Jesus book - Leonard Pitts Jr. - MiamiHerald.com
Fox News's Don't-Come-to-Jesus Moment with Reza Aslan : The New Yorker - The view that Muslims can’t speak of Jesus is of a piece with the view that it is actually a diminishment of liberty to ask people to buy health insurance, or that the more guns there are in the more hands the less gun violence there will somehow be.

$100M in natural gas being burned off monthly in ND - NEW YORK — Oil producers are allowing nearly a third of the natural gas they drill in North Dakota's Bakken shale fields to burn off into the air, with a value of more than $100 million per month, according to a study to be released Monday.

Donor Jonnie Williams, Star Scientific are cooperating in probe of Gov. Robert McDonnell - The Washington Post - A prominent political donor and his dietary supplement company have been cooperating for several months with federal prosecutors in a fast-moving public corruption investigation of Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, according to three people familiar with the probe.

Lead Paint Makers Could Face The Same Fate As Big Tobacco - "It's gone on and on and on," he said of lead litigation, even as research uncovering lead's dangers, "keeps coming and coming."

The Happiest States In America In One Map (infographic) (CO and CA very happy)
Everything About Him Screams Creepy. Until He Speaks. - A beautiful portrait of a particular type of woodworker who takes his craft very seriously.

Physics of teleportation: It doesn't work.

GrinningPariah comments on 23M. I don't really get how dating works. Can someone explain it?
raisedbynarcissists: for the children of narcissistic parents

The NYT's $150 million-a-year paywall : Columbia Journalism Review - The New York Times’s once-torrid paywall growth continued to slow in the second quarter, adding 23,000 digital-only subscribers.
Globe sale. - When You Account For Pensions, The Boston Globe Sold For Negative $40 Million

Latvia resists US call to extradite 'virus maker' - Latvia is resisting calls to extradite a man the US alleges wrote a computer virus used to steal millions.
TwitLonger — When you talk too much for Twitter - HALF OF TOR SITES COMPROMISED, INCLUDING TORMAIL - The founder of Freedom Hosting has been arrested in Ireland and is awaiting extradition to USA. (FBI hacked their servers, also)
Founder of the Freedom Hosting arrested, held without bail in Ireland, awaiting extradition to the USA : onions - FBI uploads malicious code on the deep web sites while everyone is off at DEFCON. Talk about playing dirty.
Hidden Services, Current Events, and Freedom Hosting | The Tor Blog
you can't get there from here - Hacker OPSEC
The Daily Dot - The Jester is back, and Homeland Security denies taking him down
The Daily Dot - This real-time sonification of Wikipedia's change feed will make you weep

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Indian consulate in Afghanistan attacked by suicide bombers | World news | theguardian.com - Delhi says its staff are all safe but Lashkar-e-Taiba group suspected as nine killed after three militants let off explosives
Qaeda Messages Prompt U.S. Terror Warning - NYTimes.com (rolling out the fear, fear, fear)
Interpol issues global alert over al-Qaida-linked prison breakouts | World news | theguardian.com - Police agency urges countries to show increased vigilance after hundreds of terrorists escaped over past nine months
Eschaton: Orange Alert - The timing is interesting. The danger may be real, of course. Hard to know. But if anything happens to any American anywhere in the world in the next six weeks they've been warned. And if nothing happens, look how well it works!

CIA 'running arms smuggling team in Benghazi when consulate was attacked' - The CIA has been subjecting operatives to monthly polygraph tests in an attempt to suppress details of a US arms smuggling operation in Benghazi that was ongoing when its ambassador was killed by a mob in the city last year, according to reports. (see, Hillary was smuggling guns to Islamic radicals ...)

Thousands protest freeing of Spanish pedophile in Morocco (PHOTOS) — RT News - Riot police broke up a rally in Morocco where thousands of people protested a decision by the country’s king to pardon a Spanish pedophile who raped 11 local children. The pardon came at the request of Spain's King Juan Carlos.
New footage reveals further details in Toronto streetcar shooting - The Globe and Mail (they killed him with three shots, shot him six more times, and then tasered him)

Twitter issues new rules to crack down on abuse | Technology | theguardian.com
Twitter clamps down on abuse after rape and death threats | Technology | The Observer - Site will roll out 'report abuse' button as its bosses apologise to women and say: 'People deserve to feel safe on Twitter'
Twitter Hands Down New Rules To Beat Abusive Talk
Mary Beard silences offensive Twitter troll | Books | The Guardian - Tweeter immediately apologises after Cambridge professor outs him for calling her 'a filthy old slut'
What is turning so many young men into internet trolls? | Media | The Observer - There's misogyny, of course. But sometimes it's boredom, a need for attention, or a grievance against a world that is passing them by. An academic specialist in online behaviour asks, how should we treat these disparate kinds of abuser?
NSA Collects 'Word for Word' Every Domestic Communication, Says Former Analyst | PBS NewsHour | Aug. 1, 2013 | PBS

The Daily Dot - U.S. admits NSA tracked email metadata until 2011 - The U.S. has admitted that, for a time, the National Security Agency tracked a vast number of its citizens' emails without a warrant.
Documents show NSA violated court orders on collection of phone records - KansasCity.com - WASHINGTON — National Security Agency officials violated secret federal court orders authorizing the daily collection of domestic email and telephone data from hundreds of millions of Americans, according to previously top-secret documents made public Wednesday by the Obama administration.
FISA court judge: No company has ever challenged Patriot Act sharing | Ars Technica - Also: Court staff helps gov't lawyers make their applications more palatable.

New Snowden leak upstages U.S. move to declassify documents | Reuters
NSA FISA Metadata Surveillance: Is The Government Using Cell Phones To Gather Location Data?
Deradius comments on What real reform of the NSA looks like - Holt's "Surveillance State Repeal Act" would repeal the 2001 Patriot Act (used for phone records surveillance), the 2008 FISA Amendments Act (used for PRISM), and would also extend whistleblower protections to cover employees of intelligence agencies
BT and Vodafone among telecoms companies passing details to GCHQ | Business | The Guardian - Fears of customer backlash over breach of privacy as firms give GCHQ unlimited access to their undersea cables
Talk:Edward Snowden (DiFi probably caught editing Snowden article)
The Daily Dot - Is a U.S. senator trolling Snowden's Wikipedia page?
Twitter / 57UN: Here´s message to all people (I Want You: Truth is only treason in the empire of lies)
Twitter Hints at NSA Requests - Rebecca Greenfield - The Atlantic Wire (see, they aren't allowed to tell you)
Alexa O'Brien (carwinb) on Twitter
Barrett Brown Awaits Trial on Spurious Charges in Texas | Kevin M. Gallagher
Donate | Free Barrett Brown (325+ days in jail without charges for writing journalism)

Bradley Manning Sentencing Testimony Suggests WikiLeaks Not Responsible For Any Deaths (oh, they lied about that too)
This Week in Review: The dangers of the Manning case, and more NSA revelations » Nieman Journalism Lab
The Bradley Manning verdict is still bad news for the press | Dan Gillmor | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The Obama administration's war on leaks and, by extension, the work of investigative reporters, has been unrelenting
Bradley Manning Acquitted of Aiding the Enemy, Guilty of Espionage Act Violations | Threat Level | Wired.com
Reaction to the Manning Verdict - NYTimes.com
Clark Stoeckley Asks Ban Lift for Manning Trial
Collateral Murder

Activist Post: Scare Tactics: Family Misled by Local Cops During Questioning About Google Searches - As it turns out, there is more to the story about the anti-terrorism task force’s visit to the family who was suspiciously Googling backpacks and pressure cookers.

TSA misconduct jumped up 26 percent in three years | The Verge (cops out of control everywhere)

Calling All Keystone (XL) Cops! The Pipeline Hits More Snags - Businessweek - Previous conflict of interest allegations about the Keystone XL had led to congressional complaints and an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General. The new disclosures raised the prospect that the project might be further delayed by a new ethics inquiry.
Lifelong ‘frack gag’: Two Pennsylvania children banned from discussing fracking — RT USA - The 7- and 10-year-old children of a Pennsylvania couple that reached a settlement following a lawsuit involving health issues brought on by fracking have been barred from discussing details of the case for the rest of their lives.

Republicans Go On Attack — Against Others In GOP - The barbs are personal, the differences are multiplying among Republicans, a party divided over spending, foreign policy, a willingness to risk a government shutdown in order to defund the health care law and more.
Musical Chairs in the House Knocks Out Tax Reform - The bottom line is that I don’t think tax reform is going anywhere in the House this year or next.
New Tory guru Jim Messina linked to homophobic political advert | Politics | The Observer - "Only the most naive adult would miss the implication that Taylor is a homosexual … The supposedly inclusive Democrats deftly played on the right's homophobia." After the advert aired, Taylor dropped out of the election, which Baucus won. (the roots of Obama's Blue-Dog strategy)
A Very Fox Friday | TPM Editors Blog - In between segments of dancing dogs and dumpster-diving bears, Fox News called up the past to revive conservative concerns about “Obamaphones.” (all phones are Obamaphones, you idiots)

The Town the Militia Took Over | Josh Horwitz - "You know why there's not more residents here? The threats. That's why. Because they're afraid. They're afraid they're going to have their windows shot out." - Lifelong Gilberton resident Rose McCarthy speaking about Police Chief Mark Kessler and his supporters on July 31, 2013

Boston Globe Sold To Red Sox Owner John Henry - Though it was bought for $1.1 billion in 1993, the newspaper business has changed along with the fortunes of the Globe, and Henry purchased it, along with its websites and another smaller newspaper, for a relative pittance of $70 million.
The newsonomics of John Henry buying The Boston Globe » Nieman Journalism Lab - The Red Sox owner will have to figure out why — despite making what seem like a lot of the right moves — the Globe is underperforming its peers. - That means the Globe is worth less than 4 percent of what it was then
Plain Dealer ‘eliminated the jobs of approximately 50 journalists’ | Poynter.
'I am alive at the Plain Dealer...' : Columbia Journalism Review - On “PD-D Day,” layoffs at Cleveland paper claim some 50 experienced journalists
Cleveland Plain Dealer staffers find out if they’re ‘separated from employment’
The newsonomics of The New York Times running in place » Nieman Journalism Lab
Advance's forced march backwards : Columbia Journalism Review - The Plain Dealer imposes draconian cuts in the name of an outdated strategy for newspapers
By Reinventing The Knight Foundation, Alberto Ibargüen Helped Reinvent The News | Fast Company | Business + Innovation - "Rather than continue to instruct the smartest, best journalists on how to be Woodward and Bernstein, how to be 1975," Ibargüen said, "a better investment was experimenting in ways that people would disseminate and use information."
The Washington Post Co.’s Self-Destructive Course : Columbia Journalism Review - If you hadn’t heard, the Washington Post Company is basically a for-profit college/SAT-prep firm that sidelines as a cable-TV provider and newspaper publisher.

Florida To Hold 'Stand Your Ground' Hearings After Will Weatherford Agrees To Revisit Law
'Stand Your Ground' Poll Reveals Majority Support For The Law
GOP Tries To Slow Anti-Abortion Push In Key States - The push brought the anti-abortion movement closer to a key milestone, in which the procedure would become largely inaccessible in the three-fifths of the country controlled by Republicans even if still technically legal under Roe vs. Wade.

Texas state troopers caught on camera probing women's privates aren't isolated incidents: lawyers - NY Daily News - Multiple highway patrol officers in Texas have been captured by dash cams doing 'unconstitutional' cavity searches on women's genitals during traffic stops. Lawyers and civil rights advocates say the 'mind-boggling' searches are all too common. (Texas, the rape state)

Yale Officially Declares 'Nonconsensual Sex' Not That Big of a Deal - The word "rape" does not factor into Yale's new report on how the university is handling sexual misconduct; instead, the act is described as "nonconsensual sex," and it's usually punishable by "written reprimand."
Yale Issues Report on “Nonconsensual Sex” by Max Ehrenfreund | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - Yale avoid using the word "rape" in its annual reports.

The McGinn Case, Gender, And Philosophy - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Jennifer Schuessler has a terrific article on the Colin McGinn case, putting it into the context of gender discrimination in the field more broadly. First, more detail on what McGinn did: (Pinker defended Summers, also)
A Star Philosopher Falls, and a Debate Over Sexism Is Set Off - NYTimes.com
What is it like to be a woman in philosophy?
Duties and caring | Mitigated Frenzy
Baffling things I have read in blog comments discussing Colin McGinn’s exit from University of Miami | Adventures in Ethics and Science
Colin McGinn (ProfColinMcGinn) on Twitter - Once again given the facts as I insist on them, one can only be a mysterian about why the fuck I resigned.

The Secret Alleged Sex Scandal Behind The Mysterious Arrest Of A Utah Sheriff’s Deputy | TPMDC

Worker sent to remove graffiti finds image of himself on the same wall hours later (very well done)

Against the “Golden Fleece” Award | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly - Pushing back on Bill Proxmire's anti-science legacy.
Astronomers Discover Two Heavy Metal Stars | Astronomy | Sci-News.com

OC Deputy Is Accused of Pepper Spraying Teen's Pizza | NBC Southern California - The deputy allegedly sprayed the pizza without the teen's knowledge
I Got Fired For Tweeting - A part-time food-truck worker with 300 Twitter followers managed to shame some Wall Street firm into getting him fired. What a world. - Shout out to the good people of Glass, Lewis & Co. for placing a $170 order and not leaving a tip. @glasslewis

Is Kim Kardashian a Feminist Role Model? - he short answer is: no. The long answer is: noooooooooooooooo.

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Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood 'disappointed' by John Kerry's remarks | World news | theguardian.com - Senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Ali Bishr attacked Kerry for saying the Egyptian army 'restored democracy' (he actually said that)
Hasan Rouhani's Israel Remarks Distorted, State Television Says - An earlier report by Iran's student news agency ISNA had quoted Rouhani as saying: "The Zionist regime is a wound that has sat on the body of the Muslim world for years and needs to be removed."
Damascus: What’s Left by Sarah Birke | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books

Court Rulings Blur the Line Between a Spy and a Leaker - NYTimes.com - The federal government is prosecuting leakers at a brisk clip and on novel theories. It is collecting information from and about journalists, calling one a criminal and threatening another with jail. In its failed effort to persuade Russia to return another leaker, Edward J. Snowden, it felt compelled to say that he would not be tortured or executed. (Obama's America)

Edward Snowden asylum case is a gift for Vladimir Putin | World news | theguardian.com - Ultimately, though, the US has only itself to blame for this cold war-style mess. You can hardly fault Snowden for wanting to avoid the fate of Bradley Manning, who following his conviction this week for espionage faces 136 years in jail. The US has taken a vengeful attitude towards those who leak classified information. It cancelled Snowden's passport. It (wrongly) forced down the plane of Bolivia's president. Snowden wasn't exactly left with options.
Edward Snowden asylum: US 'disappointed' by Russian decision | World news | The Guardian - Snowden said: "Over the past eight weeks we have seen the Obama administration show no respect for international or domestic law, but in the end the law is winning."
NSA controversy gives unfamiliar allies impetus for and against reform | World news | theguardian.com - While the White House has yet to endorse any reforms – it fought Amash – it has in recent weeks begun to concede that some reform may be inevitable, as its allies seek to head off the broader reform efforts.
Congress eyes second push for legislation that would rein in NSA | World news | theguardian.com - Proposals signify major shift in political opinion as laws would represent the first rollback of the NSA's powers since 9/11 - Intelligence officials have struggled to show how collecting bulk phone metadata was critical to foiling even one terrorist plot. (well, maybe one)
If By “Plots on the Homeland” You Mean “Defense against US-Backed Invaders” | emptywheel
US senators push for special privacy advocate in overhauled Fisa court | Law | theguardian.com - Bill would provide for special advocate for Americans' privacy to argue before the court when the US makes surveillance requests
Why have so many liberals been silent about NSA spying? | Ana Marie Cox | Comment is free | theguardian.com - On the left, even Senator Elizabeth Warren – generally presumed about as far left as a mainstream candidate can go – has called simply, safely for "an informed discussion".
NSA Confirms Dragnet Phone Records Collection, But Admits It Was Key in Stopping Just 1 Terror Plot | Democracy Now! (and that one is, you know, secret)
Ethics | Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team - Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled

The Unprecedented—and Contemptible—Attempts to Sabotage Obamacare - NationalJournal.com - Doing everything possible to block the law's implementation is not treasonous—just sharply beneath any reasonable standards of elected officials. (oh, yes it is)

Senators Trying To 'Narrow' Definition Of Journalist In Media Shield Law - Feinstein has put her money where her mouth is, co-sponsoring an amendment to the bill that, in the Associated Press's words, would "narrow the definition of what a journalist is." ("employed by a corporate arm of the surveillance state")

Things Fell Apart - NYTimes.com - Ezra Klein has a good piece urging journalists to stop talking about the “center” — unless they first explain what they mean, which in practice would mean acknowledging that what they call the “center” isn’t at the center of anything, except maybe the prejudices of a self-referential elite.

Yellen/Summers and the Twilight of the VSPs - NYTimes.com - and boy, did Obama’s inner circle make a gratuitous mess of this one — it’s been one heck of a revealing episode, and not just because of the sexism on display, which started out with thinly-veiled talk of “gravitas” and eventually went into full-blown masculinity panic.
Sex, Money and Gravitas - NYTimes.com - Yet there are not one but two sexist campaigns under way against Ms. Yellen. One is a whisper campaign whose sexism is implicit, while the other involves raw misogyny. And both campaigns manage to combine sexism with very bad economic analysis.
Gender at the Fed: It ought to count. - But I think it's worth saying that gender ought to be a consideration in this choice, a consideration that militates in favor of Yellen.
More On Yellen and Summers - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - First of all, what Krugman and and Ygelsias said about “gravitas,” which in this context appears to be a synonym for “male.”
17 Best U.S. Cities for Hippies | Estately Blog

Jim Messina, Obama Campaign Manager, Hired By David Cameron For 2015 (bird of a feather)

Education Reform, Chicago-Style | The Nation
Eschaton: Obviously Being a "a former chairman and chief executive of Lockheed Martin Corp" - Makes him uniquely qualified to fix education problems.

The Gun Report: August 2, 2013 - NYTimes.com

Emily Gilbert: Bob Filner 'Did A Little Grab On My Derriere' (number nine)

True Stories of Life as an Amazon Worker

17 Best U.S. Cities for Hippies | Estately Blog

Bateman CIvil War Intro - Before We Explain A Whole War... - Esquire (but language first)
Paris Review - The Art of Fiction No. 211, William Gibson
The Persisting Vision: Reading the Language of Cinema by Martin Scorsese | The New York Review of Books

When blogs go dark - Salon.com - In the age of blog-as-brand, taking a break can be anathema. But sometimes it's what writers need
Hyberpole and a Half: Depression Part Two
Feminism and The Cult of Imperial Motherhood : Cleavage

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Climate Change And Violence Linked, Breakthrough Study Finds - If the study's calculations are correct, a global temperature rise of just 2 degrees Celsius could increase intergroup conflicts (such as civil wars) by over 50 percent. And, as Climate Central notes, projections estimate that temperatures will make that jump by 2040.
Terror threat prompts U.S. embassy closures overseas - CNN.com - A U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly on the matter called the threat "credible and serious."
Gay Athletes Could Be Prosecuted at 2014 Winter Olympics, Russian Lawmaker Suggests - ABC News

Obama wins back the right to indefinitely detain under NDAA — RT USA - Congress granted the president the authority to arrest and hold individuals accused of terrorism without due process under the NDAA, but Mr. Obama said in an accompanying signing statement that he will not abuse these privileges to keep American citizens imprisoned indefinitely. (depends on your definition of forever)
Chris Hedges Responds to NDAA Defeat, Says It’s a ‘Black Day’ for Liberty - Truthdig - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has dealt a terrible blow to Chris Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg, Noam Chomsky and the other activists and journalists suing to prevent the indefinite military detention of American citizens.
Why The NDAA Bill is Even Scarier Than You Thought - The NDAA has become the most controversial element of President Obama's foreign policy. Section 1021 of the NDAA bill of 2012 allowed for the "indefinite detention of American citizens without due process at the discretion of the President."
NDAA | American Civil Liberties Union - In December 2011, President Obama signed the 2012 NDAA, codifying indefinite military detention without charge or trial into law for the first time in American history. The NDAA's dangerous detention provisions would authorize the president — and all future presidents — to order the military to pick up and indefinitely imprison people captured anywhere in the world, far from any battlefield.

Top Level Telecommunications: New slides about NSA collection programs
NSA lexicon: How James Clapper and other U.S. officials mislead the American public without lying. - Slate Magazine - A lexicon for understanding the words U.S. intelligence officials use to mislead the public. (liars' lexicon)
“Congress Was Fully Briefed” … at the Last Minute | emptywheel - This is what counts as good faith briefing of Congress, providing highly controlled documents to Congress well after important parts of the debate have already taken place.

Exclusive: NSA pays £100m in secret funding for GCHQ | UK news | The Guardian - Secret payments revealed in leaks by Edward Snowden •?GCHQ expected to 'pull its weight' for Americans •?Weaker regulation of British spies 'a selling point' for NSA
Manning, Snowden and Assange were the ones who took risks to expose crime | Amy Goodman | Comment is free | theguardian.com - But those who planned the wars, those who committed war crimes, those who conduct illegal spying, for now, walk free

Obama Starting to Lose It Over Snowden « naked capitalism - "Coincidentally, this forced Alan Grayson to cancel the hearing on NSA activity scheduled for today, at which the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald was to testify." So consider what has happened: we have a sitting President who is treating a journalist as a personal threat and is going to extreme lengths to stymie him providing testimony to Congress (read)
M of A - Snowden Case Reveals Obama's Personal Arrogance
M of A - Snowden Case Reveals Obama's Personal Arrogance - It actually adds up as Manning is accused of "aiding the enemy", so in the Obama administration Orwellian speak writing on destroyed villages (and showing the photographs of killed women children) is aiding Al Qeida. It adds up down to Obama's phone call to the Yemeni president not to release the journalist.
Running to the Right: Barack Obama and the DLC Strategy | Black Agenda Report - 05/07/2008 (well, that was accurate)

White House Reevaluating Obama-Vladimir Putin Summit Following Edward Snowden Asylum
Edward Snowden leaves Moscow airport and enters Russia - live coverage | World news | theguardian.com - Full coverage as the NSA whistleblower leaves Moscow airport to take up refugee status in Russia
Edward Snowden Evades Media Once More As He Leaves Moscow Airport
Edward Snowden Has Entered Russia, Lawyer Says
‘Most wanted on earth’: Give him to US principle unjust, unacceptable for Russia – Snowden’s lawyer — RT News
Declaring an End to the Decade of Fear - By David Rothkopf | Foreign Policy - With U.S. national security policy under review, Obama has a chance to cement his legacy for the better. But will he take it?
Eugene Robinson: Snowden performed a valuable service - The Washington Post - Edward Snowden’s renegade decision to reveal the jaw-dropping scope of the National Security Agency’s electronic surveillance is being vindicated — even as Snowden himself is being vilified.

White House unable to confirm if Congress briefed on NSA spy program | World news | theguardian.com - Spokesman defers questions on top-secret XKeyscore program, saying he was unaware if administration had briefed lawmakers ("we can't remember")
US government declassifies court order on NSA surveillance as pressure builds | World news | theguardian.com - Document suggests bulk collection of Americans' phone records is 'relevant' for terrorism investigations – but critics disagree (stopped two guys from sending money to Somalia, therefore ...)
Experts: Obama’s plan to predict future leakers unproven, unlikely to work | McClatchy
Obama's 'Insider Threat Program': A Parody of Liberal Faith in Bureaucrats - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic - The laughable plan: train millions of federal workers to psychologically profile all their coworkers
Greenwald And NYT‘s James Risen Completely Deflate Jeffrey Toobin’s Tortured Logic On NSA, Snowden | Mediaite
James Risen Calls Out Jeffrey Toobin Over Edward Snowden Clash (video)
U.S. Accused of Spying On McClatchy Journalist From New Zealand; Investigation Underway
What’s Past is Prologue: the Case of COINTELPRO | The Dissenter
US senators push for special privacy advocate in overhauled Fisa court | Law | theguardian.com - Bill would provide for special advocate for Americans' privacy to argue before the court when the US makes surveillance requests
The Door to the FISA Court | Eric Mill

Watch NSA Chief Gen. Alexander’s Speech To Black Hat Defending His Surveillance Work | TechCrunch
NSA Director accused of lying to Congress at Black Hat USA 2013 keynote | ZDNet
Booz Allen Having No Problems Post-Snowden - Post-Snowden, Booz Allen Owners Are Getting Richer - Esquire

FBI Spying Uses Hacker Tricks: WSJ - For example, agents can secretly activate the microphone on Android phones as well as laptops.

U.S. Drone Strikes In Pakistan Could End In Near Future, Kerry Says (Obama capitulates to small brown terrorist children)

Rolling Stone's Boston Bomber Issue Sells Big On Newsstands - It looks like all that drama over Rolling Stone's recent issue featuring alleged Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on its cover really paid off for the magazine.
Family Visited By Cops After Googling Pressure Cookers, Backpacks: Report - I had researched pressure cookers. My husband was looking for a backpack. And maybe in another time those two things together would have seemed innocuous, but we are in “these times” now. (yes, Obama is monitoring all your google searches)
Have 1,485 Innocent Americans Been Investigated for Researching Pressure Cookers? | emptywheel

Exclusive: Dozens of CIA operatives on the ground during Benghazi attack – The Lead with Jake Tapper - CNN.com Blogs

Food Stamp Cuts Twice As Deep In New GOP Proposal (just starving the moochers)

Supreme Court Ethics Act Proposed In Response To Controversial Behavior By Justices Scalia, Thomas - A group of congressional Democrats is set to introduce legislation Thursday that would apply stricter ethical standards to the Supreme Court, amid concerns that justices have been engaging in questionable behavior. (they will rule it unconstitutional)

House GOP Leaders Halt Debate On Austere Budget Measure As Rep. Calls Sequester 'Unrealistic And Ill-Conceived' - "The collapse of the partisan transportation and housing bill in the House proves that their sequestration-on-steroids bills are unworkable, and that we are going to need a bipartisan deal to replace sequestration," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash
Saxby Chambliss: GOP 'Got Our Butts Kicked' In Earlier Government Shutdowns - "We've been down that road," Chambliss said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "We shut down the government ... and we got our butts kicked over shutting down the government."
Kentucky Senate Poll Shows Alison Lundergan Grimes A Serious Threat To Unpopular Mitch McConnell
The Texas Legislature's Sexist Little Secret | The Texas Observer - At a certain point, after enough of these run-ins—which included male staffers from both chambers, some of whom I knew to be married, hitting on me, making comments about my physical appearance, touching my arm—it finally occurred to me that, when I was at work, I was often fending off advances like I was in a bar.

The Untouchables: America's Misbehaving Prosecutors, And The System That Protects Them - "It's about a system that is void of integrity. Mistakes can happen. But if you don't do anything to stop them from happening again, you can't keep calling them mistakes."

Larry Summers and Financial Crises: Is He Being Graded on Attendance? | Beat the Press
Brad DeLong : Why Does America's Left View Larry Summers as a Right-Wing Hyena?

Do American Anti-Choicers Really Want to Live With Europe's Abortion Laws? | The Nation - Smacking down the the latest anti-abortion fallacy.
Things that look like feminism but aren’t — MSNBC
Beset San Diego Mayor Says He Didn't Get Harassment Training : The Two-Way : NPR ("no one told me I couldn't harrass women")
Sources: Mayor’s Office Canceled Harassment-Related Training Sessions | Voice of San Diego - San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s office canceled multiple new employee and management training sessions in the first months of his term, a former top city official said late Wednesday. The sessions included direction to complete legally required sexual harassment training, two City Hall sources with knowledge of the situation said. (turns out he cancelled his own anti-harrassment training, of course)

NRA asks SCOTUS to strike down gun limits for minors - Salon.com - The gun lobby is challenging a law that bans the sale of handguns to those between 18 and 21

World O' Crap: Farewell, Doghouse Riley - DR's real name was Douglas Case
alicublog: R.I.P. DOGHOUSE RILEY.
A Death In The Family - Esquire - Over the weekend, Doug Case, the man behind both the pseudonym and the blog, passed away suddenly at the age of 59.
Douglas M. Case Obituary: View Douglas Case's Obituary by The Indianapolis Star
Doghouse Riley Will Be Missed » Balloon Juice

Update: Education Commissioner Bennett's resignation effective immediately | Tallahassee Democrat | tallahassee.com

Obama admin may have interfered with fracking studies | The Daily Caller - The EPA has also closed two other high-profile investigations into fracking in Parker County, Texas, and Pavillion, Wyoming. However, Horner argues that alleged political interference by the administration does not mean fracking has contaminated drinking water.

Andreessen-Backed Tutor Matching Service Is Working With Colleges To Upend The Tutoring Industry, Starting With Cost | TechCrunch
Team develops new water splitting technique that could produce hydrogen fuel

Mail from the (Velvet) Cybercrime Underground — Krebs on Security

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How Egypt Will Shake the World : The New Yorker

Greenwald: NSA hearing canceled - politico.com - "Obama developed a sudden and newfound interest in House Democrats and scheduled a meeting with them for that same time," he wrote in an email, adding that the committee was trying to re-schedule the meeting to take place before congress goes on recess.
Obama To Meet With Lawmakers On NSA Surveillance ... questions about surveillance likely didn't get asked because only about eight or nine members got to ask questions . in the meeting (30 in line) but also invoked the Boston Marathon bombings as an example of where data collected by the NSA helped "identify whether there was a great plot." (but failed at its main purpose)
Government Braces For Coming Changes To NSA Powers
NSA Programs Needed to Root Out Terror, Alexander Says - Bloomberg - “Terrorists use our communications. They live among us,” Army General Keith Alexander said in a speech today at the Black Hat annual computer security conference in Las Vegas. (yes, they are everywhere among us)

XKeyscore: NSA tool collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet' | World news | theguardian.com
NSA Documents About XKeyscore Search Tool - Business Insider
NSA Project X-Keyscore Collects Nearly Everything You Do On The Internet | TechCrunch
US senators rail against intelligence disclosures over NSA practices | World news | theguardian.com - Heated Senate committee hearing focuses on truthfulness over bulk surveillance as NSA and FBI officials defend program (54 plots foiled now down to maybe 1))
Is THIS What Wyden Meant by “Allowing the NSA to Deliberately Search for Records of Particular Americans”? | emptywheel - The latest report from Glenn Greenwald, describing how XKeyscore allows analysts — with no court review or other oversight — to review already collected information by indexing on metadata.

News from The Associated Press - President Barack Obama's national security team acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that, when investigating one suspected terrorist, it can read and store the phone records of millions of Americans ... the head of the NSA said government methods used to collect telephone and email data helped foil 54 terror plots - a figure that drew open skepticism from lawmakers back in Washington. "Not by any stretch can you get 54 terrorist plots," (said Wyden)
READ: Declassified government documents related to NSA collection of telephone metadata records - The Washington Post - The Obama administration on Wednesday made public a previously classified order that directed Verizon Communications to turn over a vast number of Americans’ phone records.

Edward Snowden's father says FBI asked him to fly to Moscow | World news | theguardian.com - Lon Snowden says his son will be 'treated horribly' if he returns to US and in his place he would stay in Russia
Deptartment of Homeland Security Forced to Release List of Keywords Used to Monitor Social Networking Sites | Political Blind Spot
Huge Global Coalition Stands Against Unchecked Surveillance | Electronic Frontier Foundation - 100+ Organizations Sign Thirteen Principles to Protect Human Rights
MoD serves news outlets with D notice over surveillance leaks | World news | The Guardian - BBC and other media groups issued with D notice to limit publication of information that could 'jeopardise national security' (how they do it in the UK)
America: Freedom to Fascism
The NSA's Overreach And Lack Of Transparency Is Hurting American Businesses | Techdirt - from the the-economy-has-been-drafted-into-the-War-of-Terror dept

Manning conviction under Espionage Act worries civil liberties campaigners | World news | theguardian.com - Private awaits sentencing in WikiLeaks case as one observer says: 'Obama has managed to do what Nixon couldn't'
Glenn Greenwald, Jeffrey Toobin Argue Over Bradley Manning Verdict (VIDEO) - Greenwald said Toobin's remarks showed that "if you're sufficiently rich and powerful and well-connected in Washington, the laws don't apply to you. You don't get punished. The only people who do are people like Bradley Manning." He compared Manning to Bob Woodward, who publishes classified information all the time.
Greenwald Slams "Establishment" Double-Standard for Manning | Common Dreams - 'If you're sufficiently rich and powerful and well-connected in Washington, the laws don't apply to you.'
The Obama Administration's Unhealthy Obsession with Whistleblowers - It's very hard to square Bradley Manning facing decades in prison while the people who designed and implemented torture policies under the Bush administration walk free.
Bradley Manning leak did not result in deaths by enemy forces, court hears | World news | theguardian.com - Counter-intelligence officer who investigated WikiLeaks impact undermines argument that Manning leak put lives at risk
Bradley Manning trial: what we know from the leaked WikiLeaks documents | World news | The Guardian - Revelations from the files downloaded include footage of US helicopter crews laughing at civilian deaths in Baghdad
Bradley Manning: my view inside from the Fort Meade courtroom | Molly Crabapple | Comment is free | theguardian.com - The media loves to argue whether Manning is a hero or a traitor, but that is beside the point. This is about truth
Manning sentencing: Wikileaks 'strained' US-Afghan ties (because they didn't like us laughing while we killed their women and kids)

Viable Opposition: The Very Private Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB is a joke, also)
How America's Top Tech Companies Created the Surveillance State - NationalJournal.com - They’ve been helping the government spy on people for a very long time. The cozy relationships go back decades.
Markos Moulitsas' Ugly, Reverse-Racist Smear | MyFDL

The backlash against feminism aims to preserve the 'manosphere' | Suzanne Moore | Comment is free | The Guardian - This pre-emptive strike against equality comes from a rightwing establishment that needs it pointing out to them that women haven't won

Larry Summers Gets 'Full-Throated Defense' From Obama In Capitol Hill Meeting, Lawmaker Says (despair and stay the same)
House Democratic Women To Obama: Nominate Janet Yellen For Fed Chair (no girly brains need apply)

A False Equivalence Classic - James Fallows - The Atlantic - The press' role in the new form of "defining deviancy down." ("on the one hand, facts; on the other, total insanity but they are both the same)
The Fever Isn’t Breaking by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - If, like me, you think the GOP has been on a fairly steady ideological bender from the moment John McCain started getting heckled on the 2008 campaign trail for not being vicious enough, then the fact that a 54/40 majority of the rank-and-file want their party to “move in a more conservative direction” is more than a little alarming (ReCrazies getting even more nuts)

Obamacare Employer Mandate Delay Will Cut Covered Americans By 500,000: CBO Report (half a million will suffer for Obama's appeasement of crazy Republicans)

Next Citizens United? McCutcheon Supreme Court Case Targets Campaign Contribution Limits (you know how this will turn out)

Fox Turns To 20-Year-Old Debunked Conspiracy Theories To Smear Hillary Clinton | Research | Media Matters for America - decades-old lies about the former Senator and secretary of state, reanimating phony 1990s "scandals" including Whitewater, Travelgate, and Filegate. Every so-called scandal Fox is pushing has been thoroughly discredited by numerous independent investigations.

JPMorgan Looks to Pay to Settle U.S. Inquiries - NYTimes.com

Kenneth Pollack Iraq Recommendation - Kenneth Pollack: If Only We Could Reinvade Iraq - Esquire - Pollack is, no doubt, a Middle East expert, a foreign policy expert and a security expert. But when he talks about money, check to make sure your wallet is where you left it. In The Threatening Storm, Pollack's pro-invasion tour de use of force, he assured us that Iraq could also be rebuilt on the cheap:

Very Ladylike Weiner Aide Simply Does Not Care For Intern Tell-All
Anthony Weiner intern reveals why she, fellows joined New York mayoral campaign - NY Daily News - Says Olivia Nuzzi: Several of my friends sent me links to the same online ad for the Weiner campaign, seeking applications for internships. They thought it would be educational and entertaining. How right they were.
Weiner Communications Director Fires Back At 'Slutbag' Campaign Intern, Shoots Self In Foot - Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall said there was "no question the interview was on the record." I tend to think that "off the record" niceties go right out the window the minute someone calls another person a "slutbag" or a "cunt," but that's just me.

Indiana Planned Parenthood Medicaid Battle Ended By Judge - A judge on Tuesday made permanent her order barring Indiana from denying Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood clinics, ending the state's two-year legal fight.

2013 Legislative Season Ends with 'Ag-Gag' Bills Defeated in 11 States | Food Safety News



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Planetary ‘runaway greenhouse’ more easily triggered, research shows | UW Today - It might be easier than previously thought for a planet to overheat into the scorchingly uninhabitable “runaway greenhouse” stage, according to new research by astronomers at the University of Washington and the University of Victoria published July 28 in the journal Nature Geoscience. (Republicans melting down the whole planet)

theguardian.com is our new domain, as of today | Help | theguardian.com - one Guardian URL, wherever you are in the world and whatever device you use
President signs Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill into law - The move came after the President convened a meeting of the Council of State to discuss the bill yesterday. (Ireland attempts to enter 20th century)

Pakistani Taliban prison attack frees hundreds of inmates | World news | theguardian.com - Police say known terrorists are among hundreds set loose in daring raid by 70 militants on Dera Ismail Khan jail (all for nothing)

Why NSA Surveillance Will Be More Damaging Than You Think - James Fallows - The Atlantic - The real threat from terrorism is not the harm it inflicts directly but the over-reaction it provokes. We saw that with the invasion of Iraq. We're seeing it with security-state overreach.
Justice Department to declassify key Yahoo surveillance orders | World news | theguardian.com - Obama administration to complete declassification review of Yahoo orders by 12 September, setting stage for public release

Bradley Manning cleared of 'aiding the enemy' but guilty of most other charges | World news | theguardian.com - Pfc. Manning convicted of multiple Espionage Act violations • Acquitted of most serious 'aiding the enemy' charge • Army private faces maximum jail sentence of 136 years
Bradley Manning Found Guilty Of 19 Counts, Not Guilty Of Aiding The Enemy - If Manning receives any prison time as a result of his convictions, his sentence will stand in stark contrast to that of the servicemembers who have been involved in alleged U.S. war crimes. After the 2005 Haditha killings in Iraq, where 24 unarmed people died, the only marine to be tried received a reduction in rank and a pay cut.
Manning Faces Up to 136 Years in Prison for Alerting You to What Your Government Does in Your Name | emptywheel
BBC NEWS | Americas | Abu Ghraib US colonel reprimanded - A top US commander at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq - where detainees were abused by American guards - has been reprimanded and fined $8,000 (2005)
Big-Footing Superpower Status Also about Legally Immune Commander in Chief(s) | emptywheel - Englehardt doesn’t mention Sabrina De Sousa’s claims about the CIA’s kidnapping of Osama Mustapha Hassan Nasr (Abu Omar) and Italy’s subsequent prosecution of those involved. Adding her in the mix makes it clear how closely immunity for the Commander in Chief and his top aides is part of this superpower big-footing.

MIT did not target Aaron Swartz before federal prosecution, review finds | Technology | theguardian.com - School did not request federal punishment of Swartz for alleged hacking offences but did not intervene in court proceedings
MIT Releases Its Own Swartz Investigation After Stalling Release of Secret Service’s | emptywheel - The report also provides this far less convincing description of how an MIT cop just happened to see Swartz close to his home and the Secret Service Agent just happened to be present at the time.

Who is new FBI director James Comey? | World news | The Guardian - The former US deputy attorney general has experience in arms sales, hedge funds and banking. Does that make him qualified for the job? (well, he know alot about torture too)

DOJ Responds to Non-Intell Committee Member of Opposition Party, But Not Intell Committee Member of President’s Party | emptywheel

Government Shutdown Will Not Shut Down Obamacare, Says New CRS Report

Where Have All the Jobs Gone? - Lawyers, Guns & Money - Overseas, quite decisively.

Hullabaloo - Zombie rising - Apparently, no matter how low the deficit goes or how much the president publicly repudiates the deficit framework, the White House is still offering what it offered back when the deficit was widely considered the greatest threat the world has ever known (more Grand Bargain Bullshit: Obama just can't help being a Republican)
Obama Proposes 'Grand Bargain' For Jobs
Obama Challenges GOP to Accept Corporate Tax Deal - NYTimes.com
Obama proposes 'grand bargain' on jobs amid visit to Amazon warehouse | World news | theguardian.com - Congressional Republicans say president's plan offer to cut corporate tax rates in exchange for more spending will 'never fly'
There’s no such thing as ‘the center’ - Insofar as that concept ever made sense, the idea was that it’s the legislative center, the zone of compromise where things can actually get done. (which is far to the right for Obama)
The New Mini-Jumbo Bargain

Jon Favreau on the Destructive Rise of the No-Government Conservatives - The Daily Beast - The Republican Party is divided—and the small-government conservatives, who want to reduce government’s size but preserve its institutions, are losing. Jon Favreau on the ruinous ideology that’s ascendant.

Groundswell: A Secret Tape Reveals How It Lobbied Boehner and Issa on Benghazi | Mother Jones (groundswell of craziness)

North Carolina Voting Bill - Justice Kennedy Has To Answer For North Carolina - Esquire - In his confessed ignorance of the details of a discriminatory voting law in a Southern state, McCrory is no outlier. His incurious approach to such vital legislation is yet another form of the willful ignorance that has animated much of the national debate over voting rights over the past half decade or so. North Carolina since 2000 has had just 22 reported cases of voter fraud and no reported cases of voter impersonation out of millions upon millions of votes cast.
This Is Just Super Awesome Good White People Dancing, North Carolina Lege - North Carolina legislators celebrated their victories over voting, poverty, and human decency, and they celebrated with THE DANCE!

New York Times Magazine writer ‘assumed’ Weiner’s naughtiness had stopped

The Influence of Airpower Upon Asian History | Flashpoints | The Diplomat

Urban Observatory - rich datasets for cities around the world that let you simultaneously view answers to the most important questions impacting today's global cities—and you. Compare and contrast visualized information for a greater understanding of life in the 21st century.

Online Colleges Won’t Solve Higher Ed’s Problems by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly

N.Y.’s Large Soda Ban Block Ruling Upheld on Appeal - Bloomberg

Tox - With the rise of widespread government monitoring programs, Tox is an easy to use application that allows you to connect with friends and loved ones without anyone else listening in.

072913
Climate study predicts a watery future for New York, Boston and Miami | Environment | guardian.co.uk - A significant number of people in 1,700 American cities are at greater risk of living below sea level than previously thought - About half the population of Cambridge, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Boston and home to Harvard and MIT, could be locked in to a future below sea level by the early 2060s, the study found.

Egypt restores feared secret police units | World news | The Guardian - Military-backed government seems to have no intent of reforming practices that characterised both Mubarak and Morsi eras
Egypt crisis: 'we didn't have space in the fridges for all the bodies | World news | The Guardian - As the death toll rises, a report from Cairo's main mortuary after the police massacre of pro-Morsi supporters
Baghdad car bombs kill dozens | World news | guardian.co.uk - Scores wounded in attacks after 12 car bombs target markets and car parks in Shia districts of Iraqi capital
Man held after banknote campaigner receives rape threats on Twitter | UK news | The Guardian - Police say man arrested on suspicion of harassment offences, after shadow minister criticises Twitter's response to abuse
Pope Francis On Gays: Who Am I To Judge Them?
Italy coach crash: prosecutors open investigation into fatal accident | World news | guardian.co.uk - Inquiry follows Italy's worst road accident in years, with 38 dead after coach swerves off motorway and falls into ravine
Thomson Reuters Twitter account flooded with pro-Assad cartoons in Syrian Electronic Army hack | The Verge

Spook out of water: What Snowden can expect if Russia grants him asylum — RT News
Major opinion shifts, in the US and Congress, on NSA surveillance and privacy | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Pew finds that, for the first time since 9/11, Americans are now more worried about civil liberties abuses than terrorism
Momentum Builds Against N.S.A. Surveillance - NYTimes.com - “I would just hope the Intelligence Committees will not stick their heads in the sand on this,” Mr. Sensenbrenner said. (lookin' at you, DiFi)
Holt Introduces "Surveillance State Repeal Act"
Lawfare › Dishonor in High Places: Sandbagging the Intelligence Chief—Again - “No, sir,” replied the director, visibly annoyed. “Not wittingly.”
With NSA revelations, Sen. Ron Wyden’s vague privacy warnings finally become clear - The Washington Post - “It’s the most one-sided legal process in the United States,” Wyden said in an interview on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” that aired Sunday. “I don’t know of any other legal system or court that really doesn’t highlight anything except one point of view.”
Court Eases Prosecutors' Burden of Proof in Leak Cases - Secrecy News - In a new interpretation of the Espionage Act, a federal judge made it easier for prosecutors in leak cases to meet their burden of proof, while reducing protections for accused leakers.

Revealed: The 95 FOIA Requests Flagged for Pentagon Approval | Freedom of the Press Foundation (some information is less free)
The NSA Couldn't Answer Our FOIA Request Because It Couldn't Figure Out Our Address - Philip Bump - The Atlantic Wire
Activist Post: NH Police View Peaceful Libertarian and Occupy Activists as Terrorists - Police in Concord, New Hampshire have applied for a grant to acquire a $258,000 armored vehicle from the DHS to combat domestic terrorism.

Holder Tells Russia Snowden Won’t Face Torture or Death, But Does U.S. Record Undermine Its Pledge? | Democracy Now!
After the whistle: Revealers of government secrets share how their lives have changed - The Washington Post (your Government hates the truth)
PRISM revelations result in lost business for US cloud companies | Ars Technica - Survey finds 10 percent of overseas companies cancelled contracts over PRISM.
Proof That Craft or Blackwater Agents Did The Boston Marathon Bombing - Must See Video & Pictures! | Terrorism
The Free Press -- Independent News Media from Columbus, Ohio - Who owns Scytl? George Soros isn’t in the voting machines, but the intelligence community is
How Much Is the US Government Spying On Americans? | The Big Picture - Anyone Who Says the Government Only Spies On Potential Bad Guys Is WRONG
Government Update: We're Still Collecting All Your Phone Data - Philip Bump - The Atlantic Wire (good pic of Crapper)

Chomsky praises Snowden and condemns US hypocrisy — Antony Loewenstein - So you can’t seriously on the one hand be not only carrying out massive terror but even generating potential terrorists against yourself and claim that we have to have massive surveillance to protect ourselves against terror. That’s a joke. It should be headlines.

Why would the US government care about the Panopticon? Has Obama read Foucault? | Sociological Navigation
Tomgram: Engelhardt, Luck Was a Lady Last Week | TomDispatch - Living in a One-Superpower World (or Edward Snowden vs. Robert Seldon Lady) (extraordinary renditer Lady vanishes into the thin air, no one notices)
Why Terrorists Hate America by William Blum
Covert Operations of the U.S. National Security Agency
John Perkins - Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption - YouTube
Signs at Pentagon Metro station support NSA leaker Edward Snowden | WJLA.com - The group that paid for the signs has a target audience and is recruiting. So far, they've put signs up near military bases in California, Texas, and Georgia.

Shocking 'Extermination' Fantasies By the People Running America's Empire on Full Display at Aspen Summit | Alternet - Security Forum participants expressed total confidence in American empire, but could not contain their panic at the mention of Snowden. Following the gales of cheering that resounded from the room, Mattis, the gruff 40-year Marine veteran who once volunteered his opinion that “it’s fun to shoot some people,” outlined the challenge ahead. The “war on terror” that began on 9/11 has no discernable end, he said, likening it to the “the constant skirmishing between [the US cavalry] and the Indians” during the genocidal Indian Wars of the 19th century.
Pamela Meyer: How to spot a liar - YouTube
» DHS Contractor Apologizes For Selling Shooting Targets of Children Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind! - “Offensive” cut-outs depicting pregnant women, gun owners in residential settings removed from website (how to shoot a baby)
Pakistan government admits secret “censorship arrangement” with Facebook » The Privacy Surgeon
In Letter, CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou Discusses His ‘New Normal’: Pedophiles in Prison | The Dissenter
New Zealand Denies Report US Helped It Spy On Journalist
USS Indianapolis sinking: 'You could see sharks circling'

Bradley Manning Awaits Verdict After Trial Ends with Prosecution "Smears" & Harsh Gov’t Secrecy | Democracy Now!
Bradley Manning Verdict Coming On Tuesday: Military Judge

GPS jamming: Out of sight | The Economist - EVERY day for up to ten minutes near the London Stock Exchange, someone blocks signals from the global positioning system (GPS) network of satellites.

Barack Obama expresses reservations about Keystone XL pipeline project | Environment | guardian.co.uk - Comments give hope to environmental campaigners looking for signs president will not approve controversial tar sands project

The Tyee – How to Talk to a Conservative about Climate Change - A growing body of social science offers ways to dig the debate out of the 'left-wing ghetto.'

Senate confirms James Comey as next director of FBI after Rand Paul ends hold | The Verge (torture now official FBI policy)

Shrinking case for Summers.
Larry Summers Should Absolutely Not Be the Next Fed Chair - Matthew O'Brien - The Atlantic - Monetary policy is complicated. But picking the right person to lead the Federal Reserve is easy. It's Janet Yellen.
Cumulus Dropping Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity: Report - Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are set to be dropped from the second-biggest radio network in the country, Politico reported Sunday night.

Louisiana Police Sting Targets, Arrests Gay Men For Sex Using Unconstitutional Anti-Sodomy Law
Unarmed Man Shot by Deputies Inside His Own Car Outside His Own Home

Stranded by Sprawl - NYTimes.com - So what’s the matter with Atlanta? A new study suggests that the city may just be too spread out, so that job opportunities are literally out of reach for people stranded in the wrong neighborhoods. Sprawl may be killing Horatio Alger.
alicublog: How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm... - Large cities in the U.S. are significantly safer than their rural counterparts, with the risk of injury death more than 20 percent higher in the country. A study to be published online tomorrow in Annals of Emergency Medicine upends a common perception that urban areas are more dangerous than small towns ("Safety in Numbers: Are Major Cities the Safest Places in the U.S.?")...
Welcome to Cook, One of America’s Safest Counties

The Filner Scandal Isn't a "Sex Scandal" - It's crucial not to conflate consensual and nonconsensual actions together into a single catch-all category of "sex scandals."
Widening Regional Divide over Abortion Laws | Pew Research Center for the People and the Press (South gets more talibanized)

Reza Aslan's book is now #1 at Amazon. The distribution of customer reviews is hilarious. He was recently on the front page of Reddit in "This is the worst interview I have ever seen" : books
Exclusive - Reza Aslan Extended Interview Pt. 1
Reza Aslan Speaks Out: 'I Kind Of Had An Idea What I Was Getting Into' With Fox Interview | TPM LiveWire
Right Goes Giddy Wild Over (Not) Catching Reza Aslan in a Lie | TPM Editors Blog
TNR asks the big journalism question : Columbia Journalism Review - Over at The New Republic, Marc Tracy offers a helpful peek into how an ignorant Fox News interview—a religion scholar who happened to be Muslim was asked why he wrote a book about Jesus—became a “traffic bonanza” for BuzzFeed

AP Exclusive: GOP Donor's School Grade Changed - ABC News - Former Indiana and current Florida schools chief Tony Bennett built his national star by promising to hold "failing" schools accountable. But when it appeared an Indianapolis charter school run by a prominent Republican donor might receive a poor grade, Bennett's education team frantically overhauled his signature "A-F" school grading system to improve the school's marks. ("accountability")

Robert Whitaker: Psychiatric Drugs: Anatomy of an Epidemic - YouTube
Robert Whitaker on Psychotropic Drugs and Children |
Book Review – Robert Whitaker, Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America (Crown 2010) | h-madness
Robert Whitaker Quotes (Author of Anatomy of an Epidemic)

P.T.S.D. and Its Critics : The New Yorker
Definition of Cancer Should Be Tightened, Scientists Say - NYTimes.com
Alzheimer's blood test edges closer - The test was accurate 93% of the time in trials on 202 people.
Mysterious medieval double coffin unearthed at Richard III site | Circa News
Almost all testicular cancer patients now recover - Almost all patients with testicular cancer recover from the disease, according to new figures from Cancer Research UK.
Next Generation Science Standards In Kentucky Draw Hostility From Religious Groups - While supporters feel the standards will help beat back scientific ignorance, some religious groups take issue because the standards treat evolution as fact and talk about the human role in climate change.

Beijing Subway, Line 13, morning rush hour - just a little crowded - YouTube

Telco Astroturfing Tries To Bring Down Reviews Of Susan Crawford's Book | Techdirt
WaPo makes a Switch : Columbia Journalism Review - The paper’s newest blog will cover tech policy, the Wonkblog way

072813
Netanyahu forces through Israeli release of 104 Palestinian prisoners | World news | guardian.co.uk - Deal brokered by John Kerry enables peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians to begin as early as next week
George Osborne's description of the economy is near-Orwellian | Ha-Joon Chang | Comment is free | The Guardian - The fact that even Labour accepts the UK is 'on the mend' shows how low our expectations of economic performance are (the new normal is fine)
Yvette Cooper attacks Twitter's 'inadequate' response to rape threats | Politics | guardian.co.uk

Cameron's proposed filters extend to more than just porn (Wired UK) - "violent material", "extremist related content", "anorexia and eating disorder websites" and "suicide related websites", "alcohol" and "smoking". But the list doesn't stop there. It even extends to blocking "web forums" and "esoteric material", whatever that is. "Web blocking circumvention tools" is also included, of course.

Glenn Greenwald: Low-Level NSA Analysts Have ‘Powerful and Invasive’ Search Tool - ABC News (nails it, again; why isn't Clapper in jail? Stephie dumbstruck for the whole 4 minutes they gave this story)
Greenwald Claims Private Contractors Can Spy On Calls, Emails: ‘I Defy NSA Officials To Deny’ These Capabilities | Mediaite
Wyden calls Fisa court 'anachronistic' as pressure builds on Senate to act | Law | guardian.co.uk - Dick Durbin joins growing outcry among senators to rein in power of secretive court meant to serve as a check on NSA

Edward Snowden's not the story. The fate of the internet is | Technology | The Observer - The press has lost the plot over the Snowden revelations. The fact is that the net is finished as a global network and that US firms' cloud services cannot be trusted - "Today," he writes, "the rhetoric of the 'internet freedom agenda' looks as trustworthy as George Bush's 'freedom agenda' after Abu Ghraib."
Eric Holder Says Snowden Won't Be Tortured If Handed Over to U.S. | Citizens for Legitimate Government - [You know you're living in a police state when... your government has to issue a special 'no torture' statement. --LRP]

D-Notice, June 7, 2013 - Guy Fawkes' blog - Private and Confidential: Not for publication, broadcast or use on social media. (how they do it in the UK)
18 USC § 1001 - Statements or entries generally | Title 18 - Crimes and Criminal Procedure | U.S. Code | LII / Legal Information Institute (lying to Congress is apparently a crime, sometimes)
Whistleblower - Informant Award - The IRS Whistleblower Office pays money to people who blow the whistle on persons who fail to pay the tax that they owe. If the IRS uses information provided by the whistleblower, it can award the whistleblower up to 30 percent of the additional tax, penalty and other amounts it collects. (the only whistleblowing Obama allows)
danah boyd | apophenia » Whistleblowing Is the New Civil Disobedience: Why Edward Snowden Matters

NSA: The Decision Problem | Edge.org - George Dyson [7.27.13] There is one problem—and it is the Decision Problem once again. It will never be entirely possible to systematically distinguish truly dangerous ideas from good ones that appear suspicious, without trying them out.

F-072613pmsession - 07-26-13-pm-session.pdf - In The Matter Of: United States vs. PFC Bradley E. Manning
» Manning judge alters charges to assist Gov’t ahead of verdict Bradley Manning Support Network

De Grijze Duif: Michael Krikorian and his poison on Michael Hastings
9/11 Firefighters Reveal Bombs Destroyed WTC lobby | The Top Information Post

EXCLUSIVE: GPS flaw could let terrorists hijack ships, planes | Fox News - Using a laptop, a small antenna and an electronic GPS “spoofer” built for $3,000, GPS expert Todd Humphreys and his team at the University of Texas took control of the sophisticated navigation system aboard an $80 million, 210-foot super-yacht in the Mediterranean Sea.

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XXVIII - The child victims of GunFAIL this week are ages 3, 4, 6, 6, 8, 9, 9, 15 and 17, and includes yet another case of a pre-school-aged boy shooting his sister, in case you thought that was terribly rare.

Obama Says Income Gap Is Fraying U.S. Social Fabric - NYTimes.com - Without a shift in Washington to encourage growth over “damaging” austerity, he added, not only would the middle class shrink, but in turn, contentious issues like trade, climate change and immigration could become harder to address. (after six years of pushing austerity)
80 Percent Of U.S. Adults Face Near-Poverty, Unemployment: Survey
Growing Number Of States Are Reporting Lower Than Expected Health Care Premiums | ThinkProgress (screw yourselves, Republican states)
NationalJournal.com - Why John McCain Is Barack Obama’s New Best Friend - Thursday, May 30, 2013

80 Percent Of U.S. Adults Face Near-Poverty, Unemployment: Survey - Buchanan County, in southwest Virginia, is among the nation's most destitute based on median income, with poverty hovering at 24 percent. The county is mostly white, as are 99 percent of its poor.

Reza Aslan stuns foxnews presenter about his bookThe Life&Amp;Times Of Jesus Of Niareth - YouTube
This is the worst interview I have ever seen : videos
Fox Anchor Wonders If Moon Volcanoes Mean Global Warming Isn't Happening | Video | Media Matters for America

Journalist Tom Ricks Fox News Interview Ends Abruptly - Benghazi - YouTube
TWA Flight 800 and 9/11 | Veterans Today

Borgata Babes Lose Lawsuit: Waitresses Can Be Fired For Gaining Weight, Judge Rules - Casino waitresses are effectively "sex objects" and can be fired for putting on too much weight, according to a ruling last week by an Atlantic County Superior Court judge in New Jersey.

The Daily Dot - Online bullies of Rehtaeh Parsons exposed
The Daily Dot - Anonymous has finally released the names of Rehtaeh Parsons's alleged rapists
Violence & Silence: Jackson Katz, Ph.D at TEDxFiDiWomen - YouTube

BBlasdel comments on In early times, where brothels and prostitutes were a part of everyday life, how did the prostitutes avoid getting pregnant?

A Journalist Went Near Mount Rushmore To Take Some Photos. What He Found Changed His Life Forever.
Fresh Air 2: 2 Fresh 2 Furious - YouTube

I’m Still Waiting for My Phone to Become My Wallet - NYTimes.com - “Mobile payments are trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist for most people,” he said. “You don’t hear people moaning about how hard it is to pay with their credit cards or debit cards.”


072713
Large, Troubling Methane Pulse Coincides With Arctic Heatwave, Tundra Fires | robertscribbler
Reuters' climate-change coverage 'fell by nearly 50% with sceptic as editor' | Environment | guardian.co.uk - Media Matters for America study follows blog by former agency reporter about appointment of Paul Ingrassia

Egypt: 'The injuries were very precise … the snipers were shooting to kill' | World news | The Observer - The crush of dead and injured in the field hospitals was so intense that exhausted doctors struggled to cope
Egypt: scores killed as army launches offensive against Muslim Brotherhood | World news | The Observer - Over 100 supporters claimed dead as soldiers are accused of shoot-to-kill policy to clear protest urging Morsi's release
Egypt clashes: at least 120 Mohamed Morsi supporters killed in Cairo – live | World news | guardian.co.uk - Turmoil that has convulsed Egypt for weeks deepens as security forces shoot dead more than 120 Muslim Brotherhood supporters before pre-dawn prayers near Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawia mosque - Early reports suggest that at least 136 people have been killed and thousands injured.
Pakistan bomb attacks kill at least 57 and injure many more | World news | guardian.co.uk - Authorities believe blasts in Parachinar - in predominantly Shia Kurram tribal area – were sectarian attack by Sunni militants
Libya Prison Escape: More Than 1,000 Inmates Break From Jail Near Benghazi
Outrage as bananas thrown at Italy's first black minister - Italy has seen an outpouring of disgust after a spectator at a party rally threw bananas at the country's first black minister, who has suffered an onslaught of racist slurs since taking office in April.

US says two Guantánamo inmates will be repatriated to Algeria | World news | guardian.co.uk - First transfer of detainees in nearly a year intensifies calls for Obama administration to close camp completely

Press releases - Transparency International Germany: Whistleblower Prize 2013 for Edward Snowden
Manning and Snowden light path for the US to return to its better self | Yochai Benkler | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Since the 9/11 trauma, America has allowed the national security state to ride roughshod over vital liberties. This is a turning-point

NSA surveillance program has had compliance problems, official says - The Washington Post
They Know Much More Than You Think by James Bamford | The New York Review of Books
New Jersey Democrat proposes bill to repeal the Patriot Act | The Raw Story

Lawmakers Who Upheld NSA Phone Spying Received Double the Defense Industry Cash | Threat Level | Wired.com - The investigation shows that defense cash was a better predictor of a member’s vote on the Amash amendment than party affiliation. House members who voted to continue the massive phone-call-metadata spy program, on average, raked in 122 percent more money from defense contractors than those who voted Wednesday to dismantle it.
Mapping the Vote to Limit the NSA via Amash-Conyers Amendment - Hit & Run : Reason.com - The final vote count was 205-217, with 94 Republicans and 111 Democrats voting for the amendment to limit the NSA. A majority of GOP members - 134 all told - voted against the amendment and were joined by 83 Democrats.

Edward Snowden's Remaining Documents Unlikely To Tie U.S. Hands (AP party-line)
NSA surveillance exposed - CBS News
Florida Democrat Alan Grayson is the most effective member of the House - Slate Magazine - Why Alan Grayson is now the most effective member of the House.
Outrage is not enough for US anti-surveillance campaign
Lawmakers, Facing Pressure on Surveillance, Focus on Privacy - NYTimes.com - The narrow defeat in the House on Wednesday of an amendment that sought to end the National Security Agency’s blanket collection of phone logs appeared to have an immediate impact on Capitol Hill

Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media | Technology | The Guardian - Military's 'sock puppet' software creates fake online identities to spread pro-American propaganda (2011, now they are out in force)
Under the Radar Blog: Josh Gerstein on the Courts, Transparency, & More - POLITICO.com - At an Aspen Security Forum event last week, National Security Agency director Gen. Keith Alexander said there were 13 cases where the "business records FISA," or call tracking program, had helped head off terrorism. He said 12 of those were in the U.S. He again cited an example of a prosecution of four individuals in San Diego who were providing assistance to Al-Shabaab. However, that terrorism was aimed at Somalia, with no evidence of an intent to strike on U.S. soil.
Did the NSA stop Najibullah Zazi? - The Maddow Blog
Shocking 'Extermination' Fantasies By the People Running America's Empire on Full Display at Aspen Summit | Alternet - Security Forum participants expressed total confidence in American empire, but could not contain their panic at the mention of Snowden.

Ignatius Has Become a “Choice between Security and Privacy” Stenographer | emptywheel - They think that forcing Congress to decide between security and privacy is an unfair choice, since the country would lose either way.
Wyden and Udall: They’re Blowing Smoke about Phone and Other Bulk Record Safety | emptywheel - All of which seems to suggest there have been serious problems with the NSA’s use of the phone record dragnet. But there have been even more serious problems with bulk records on other subjects as used by other agencies.
On the Growing Fight Against America’s Secret Enemies | emptywheel - But it is one thing it does do, along with hiding how broad the unilaterally declared war under Inherent Authority is. (Inherent Authority to lie and wage secret wars)
Pentagon: Who We're At War With Is Classified
Tikkun Daily Blog » Blog Archive » Google Engineer Wins NSA Award, Then Says NSA Should Be “Abolished”

Former CIA Officer & Whistleblower Sabrina De Sousa & the ‘Proper Channels’ Myth | The Dissenter - She also told McClatchy that Condoleezza Rice, who was then the White House national security adviser, “had concerns about the case, especially what Italy would do if the CIA were caught, but she eventually agreed to it and recommended that Bush approve the abduction.”
The Consequences of Weaving Tangled Webs, German Edition | Firedoglake - These are not the musings of tabloids looking for sensationalist angles on outrageous stories, but sober reflections in Der Spiegel and Deutsche Welle, both well-respected mainstream media outlets. And if the corporate world gets nervous about what Merkel and her CDU have done in their cooperation with the US and the NSA, that could spell doomsday when the ballots are counted.
German president says whistleblowers like Snowden merit respect | Reuters - Germany's president, who helped expose the workings of East Germany's dreaded Stasi secret police, said whistleblowers like U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden deserved respect for defending freedom.
German Firms Fear Industrial Espionage After Snowden Leaks - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Edward Snowden's revelations about data surveillance have left German firms feeling acutely vulnerable to industrial espionage. In the medium-sized business sector, which contains a host of world leaders in high-tech fields, the race is on to shield vital know-how.
Rumors of NSA surveillance outpost in Wiesbaden persist | Germany | DW.DE | 26.07.2013
German Intelligence Worked Closely with NSA on Data Surveillance - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly said she knew nothing about American surveillance activities in Germany. But documents seen by SPIEGEL show that German intelligence cooperates closely with the NSA and even uses spy software provided by the US.
Alex Marthews at PirateCon 2013 - YouTube

Bradley Manning's 'sole purpose was to make a difference', lawyer insists | World news | guardian.co.uk - In closing arguments, defence lawyer paints portrait of Wikileaks source as someone without 'evil intent'

Aaron Swartz FOIA documents bottled up - POLITICO.com - A judge indicated Tuesday that an order blocking disclosure of 8000 pages of government documents about the investigation that led to criminal charges against the late programmer, hacker and cyberactivist Aaron Swartz is likely to remain in place for at least a month after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the company that operates the JStor academic database moved to intervene in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit aimed at making the records public.

Government shutdown threats won’t work. But maybe complete gibberish will!
North Carolina Republicans slammed over 'suppressive' voting bill | World news | guardian.co.uk - State on collision course with Justice Department over bill experts say will damage rights of poor, elderly and minorities

Hullabaloo - The Yellen-Summers decision: "driven by gender" does not mean what they think it means - Richard W. Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said this year that if the president chose Ms. Yellen, the decision would be “driven by gender.” - Fed chairman is clearly no job for a blunderbuss like Larry Summers. Only an old boy network that simply wants to keep their own in power would even suggest such a thing.
Janet Yellen is the most qualified pick for Federal Reserve chair, so why are we talking about Larry Summers? - Yes, the same Larry Summers who, unlike Yellen, played an instrumental role in the economic collapse in the first place by consistently backing deregulation schemes that led to the housing bubble and its collapse. If this is the male candidate Obama needs to exhaust before he deigns to consider a female one, well, he should consider Summers exhausted.

Pray the Atheists Away - Several representatives tried to add nonreligious chaplains to the ranks of the military. You can imagine how that played out in the conservative and easily angered House. (must be Jeebus lover )

Same-Sex Marriage and the Liberalizing Effect of the Jewish Faith on the Democratic Party - - In just a few years, members of the U.S. Senate have made a dramatic shift.

Ideological Cartography

Herpes Virus Blasts DNA into Human Cells, Says New Study | Medicine | Sci-News.com - Herpes simplex virus 1 has an internal pressure eight times higher than a car tire, and uses it to literally blast its DNA into human cells,
Humans tame light, stop it from moving for a full minute | The Verge

One Irony of Nate Silver’s Leaving the New York Times — The Monkey Cage - So the irony, as I see it, is that Silver faced resentment within the newsroom even though his approach explicitly values the work that reporters do.
Nate Silver and a general theory of media exodus | Jack Shafer - The defection of statistics-wrangler Nate Silver from the status peaks of the New York Times for the flatlands of ESPN and ABC News puts a dent in the newspaper’s self-esteem and the orthodox view that for journalists, a Times position equals career success. He may be the only Times employee who gave the paper more than the paper ever gave to him.

Fixing San Diego Mayor Bob Filner — what is this magical two-week therapy program?

/ Fast Food, Low Pay - NYTimes.com - Something else didn’t happen, however: no one lost his job. And that was a huge deal.

/ 55 Perfectly Timed & Hilariously Epic Photos | WildAmmo.com - Funny pictures and awesome galleries!

Scientist banned from revealing codes used to start luxury cars | Technology | guardian.co.uk - High court imposes injunction on Flavio Garcia, who has cracked security system of cars including Porsches and Bentleys

072613
Afghan War Poll Finds That Two-Thirds Say That It Wasn't Worth The Cost
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Ex IMF Chief, To Be Tried On Aggravated Pimping Charges
Too Young to Wed: The Secret World of Child Brides | Pulitzer Center
10-year-old Yemeni girl after was granted divorce from her abusive husband : pics

No Change: Russia Won't Extradite Snowden to US - ABC News - A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin says Russia has not budged from its refusal to extradite U.S. leaker Edward Snowden, who has applied for asylum. (Putin adds, "muhahaha")

Democratic establishment unmasked: prime defenders of NSA bulk spying l Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - NYT: "The Obama administration made common cause with the House Republican leadership" (yeah, what could go wrong in 2014 as Obama destroys the Dem party)
Wyden on NSA Domestic Surveillance at Center for American Progress | Blog | U.S. Senator Ron Wyden - In his speech Wyden warns that "if we don't seize this unique moment in history to reform our surveillance laws and practices, we will all live to regret it."

NSA surveillance critics to testify before Congress | World news | guardian.co.uk - Democrat congressman Alan Grayson says hearing will help to stop 'constant misleading information' from intelligence chiefs - "Even today, most people in America are unaware of the fact the government is receiving a record of every call that they make, even to the local pizzeria," Grayson said.
Edward Snowden and the NSA files – timeline | World news | The Guardian - What has happened to NSA whistleblower who leaked files to Guardian since he decided to reveal his identity to the world and began his asylum battle
Letter To Obama: Civil Disobedience, Edward J. Snowden, and the Constitution | PopularResistance.Org

Candidate Obama’s Tribute to “Courage and Patriotism” of Whistleblowers Disappears 2 Days after First Snowden Revelations | emptywheel - Sunlight Foundation discovers the Obama Administration has removed access to his 2008 campaign promises from the White House website. It suggests one of the promises Obama may want to hide has to do with his support for whistleblowers.
Obama Promises, Including Whistleblower Protections, Disappear From Website (what promises)
Steny Hoyer Thinks All Americans May Be Pre-Investigation Terrorist Communicators | emptywheel
Eric Holder: Well, Maybe Just a Little Forced Nudity and Solitary Confinement… | emptywheel - That’s it! The guy whose DOJ reviewed but chose not to charge a bunch of CIA torturers (and those who obstructed investigations into that torture) says torture is illegal here and therefore Snowden wouldn’t be tortured.

Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Trade Sanctions Against Any Country That Offers Asylum To Snowden | Techdirt - The latest is that the Senate Appropriations Committee has supported a plan to instruct Secretary of State John Kerry to work with Congress in issuing sanctions against any country that grants Snowden asylum.
The FBI has used drones for warrantless surveillance in the US in 10 different cases | The Verge
FISC FISCR Members 1978 2013
Chris Hedges Answers Questions from Viewers - YouTube - On the final episode of Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Chris Hedges answers questions like: "Do you believe the US or Israel will attack Iran?" and "Is there any hope for Bradley Manning?"
NSA Whistleblower: NSA Spying On – and Blackmailing – Top Government Officials and Military Officers | Washington's Blog

Machine Gun Fire From Black Hawk Helicopters Flying Over Miami Fl - YouTube
Helicopter Training Wakes Up Chicago Twitterverse | NBC Chicago
NSA History of Traffic Anaysis Released - Matthew Aid
The "copy-and-paste" case - Barrett Brown, journalist and satirist, has spent almost a year in jail and now faces over a century in prison for copying and pasting a link from one chatroom to another in the course of journalistic research.
CIA Sued for 'Holding History Hostage' on Bay of Pigs Invasion

Journalists at Bradley Manning trial report hostile conditions for press - Boing Boing (Obama's police-state show-trial)
How Bradley Manning's 'aiding the enemy' charge could jolt journalism - CSMonitor.com - If publishing sensitive government information online, even with the intent of exposing perceived wrongdoing, is 'aiding the enemy,' investigative journalism could be seriously affected. But that could be the big takeaway from the Bradley Manning trial.

Car hackers use laptop to control standard car

Bad News For Reader Privacy: Google News Doesn't Index HTTPS Sites | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Republican Health Care Panic - NYTimes.com - Leading Republicans appear to be nerving themselves up for another round of attempted fiscal blackmail. - No, Republicans may be willing to risk economic and financial crisis solely in order to deny essential health care and financial security to millions of their fellow Americans. Let’s hear it for their noble cause!
House G.O.P. Sets New Offensive on Obama Goals - NYTimes.com (more Republicans destroying America)

Sequestration Will Prevent Creation Of Up To 1.6 Million Jobs In Next Year, CBO Concludes (Republican death-grip on America)
In Tug of War Over New Fed Leader, Some Gender Undertones - NYTimes.com - “Are we moving forward? It’s hard to see it,” said Ms. Romer, herself a late addition to Mr. Obama’s original economic team, chosen partly because the president wanted a woman.

Texas Two Step - Esquire - And, speaking of hair, it's pretty plain that Governor Rick Perry has not been paying attention in class at the Smart School where they sent him after he dumbed his way out of the 2012 presidential campaign.

Pepper-spray lieutenant appeals for worker’s comp Davis Enterprise - John Pike, is appealing for worker’s compensation, claiming psychiatric injury caused by the Nov. 18, 2011, incident.
Victim - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - The true victims of police violence against protestors are always the cops.
People On Internet Were Mean To Pepper-Spraying Cop And Now He Will Get All The Monies

Meramec float trip ends in fatal shooting after dispute over property rights along waterway : News - The property issues can be hard to sort out, he said. But either way, he said, “it obviously doesn’t have anything to do with people shooting people. We don’t have a stand-your-gravel-bar law yet.”

Myth that rape rarely causes pregnancy based on a Nazi experiment that never happened.

Assuming the Distance Learning Can Opener - Lawyers, Guns & Money


Do you use Reddit?: Six percent of American adults online do - The Washington Post

072513
Rapid Arctic thawing could be economic timebomb, scientists say | Environment | The Guardian - Methane released by a thinning permafrost may trigger catastrophic climate change and cost the world $60tn
Halliburton to Plead Guilty to Destroying Evidence in Gulf Oil Spill

Death Toll In Syria Rises To 100,000, UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon Says
Syria's exodus: a refugee crisis for the world | World news | The Guardian - Exodus from Syrian civil war is overwhelming region – UN
Spain train crash driver under investigation amid questions over speed | World news | The Guardian - Train was travelling at speed well above 50mph limit when it spun off rails and smashed into concrete security wall
Pirates of the Southeast Asian Seas | ASEAN Beat | The Diplomat
UK ISP on porn filters: if you want internet censorship 'move to North Korea' (Wired UK) (Cameron: we're moving NK to UK)

Breaking: Obama DEA stormtroops into the Evergreen State | MyFDL (Obama cracks down hard on MM)

CIA cutting down on drone strikes in Pakistan, fearing public outrage | The Verge (drone-boy is sulking)

Stop Watching Us | Stop Watching Us
NWO Behind NSA Blackmailing 7-19-13 - YouTube - Abby Martin talks to Russell Tice
Roberts’s Picks Reshaping Secret Surveillance Court - NYTimes.com - Ten of the court’s 11 judges — all assigned by Chief Justice Roberts — were appointed to the bench by Republican presidents; six once worked for the federal government. Since the chief justice began making assignments in 2005, 86 percent of his choices have been Republican appointees, and 50 percent have been former executive branch officials.

Democratic establishment unmasked: prime defenders of NSA bulk spying l Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - NYT: "The Obama administration made common cause with the House Republican leadership"
Final Vote Results for Roll Call 412 - Amash of Michigan Amendment No. 100
The Amash Coalition by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - If you look a little more closely, though, the splits are not entirely congruent or predictable. Democrats favored the amendment 111-83 and Republican opposed it 94-134. By my rough count, the House Tea Party Caucus only favored it by a narrow 27-21 margin, with some of its most prominent leaders—e.g., founder and chairman Michele Bachmann and Steve King—opposing it.

Justice Department fails in bid to delay landmark case on NSA collection | World news | guardian.co.uk - ACLU, who brought lawsuit arguing that NSA programme is unconstitional, welcomes judge's decision to set a court date
House vote on NSA amendment: privacy advocates hail near miss – live | World news | guardian.co.uk - Pelosi: 'I don't want anybody to misunderstand' my no vote
NSA amendment's narrow defeat spurs privacy advocates for surveillance fight | World news | guardian.co.uk - Democratic congresswoman hails 'great beginning' as bipartisan coalition looks to reset balance between liberty and security
NSA amendment's narrow defeat | guardian.co.uk (comment)
People's Blog for the Constitution » Civil liberties movement wins by losing a key House vote
NSA, privacy and Edward Snowden - The Washington Post

The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - The vote to kill the Amash-Conyers Amendment, which would have defunded the National Security Agency's ability to Hoover up cellphone data from all of us, was a distressing example of what happens in a Congress when there is a leadership class and a rank and file, and especially on issues over which can be draped the all-purpose alibi-poncho of National Security.
Interview with Edward Snowden Lawyer Anatoly Kucherena - Spiegel Online
Snowden in Moscow: What Russian Authorities Might Be Doing With the NSA Whistle-Blower | TIME.com - Former Russian security officials and spies suspect NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is being kept in a Russian safehouse outside Moscow and will struggle to escape his Russian handlers without sharing his secrets.

Tolkien v. Orwell: Who understood modern surveillance best? - Slate Magazine - Tolkien, not Orwell, understood today’s spying best.
Leaks reveal how Australia helps US spies | Green Left Weekly - It seems a little too late for bread and circuses.

Sibel Edmonds' Boiling Frogs Post | Home of the Irate Minority - Classified Woman: The Sibel Edmonds Story (“If you do not speak up when it matters, when would it matter that you speak? The opposite of courage is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow.” — Jim Hightower

Bradley Manning sought notoriety, argues prosecution in closing remarks | World news | guardian.co.uk - Military court hears closing arguments in case which sees Manning face 21 counts relating to leaking of 700,000 documents
The sky darkens for American journalism - Opinion - Al Jazeera English - The future of the American media is being decided in a military court, writes Chase Madar.
In Closing Argument, Government Casts Bradley Manning as ‘Anarchist,’ ‘Hacker’ & ‘Traitor’ | The Dissenter

Scientists discover what’s killing the bees and it’s worse than you thought - Quartz - scientists at the University of Maryland and the US Department of Agriculture have identified a witch’s brew of pesticides and fungicides contaminating pollen that bees collect to feed their hives
Another Slow Motion Catastrophe » Balloon Juice (Koch Bros and Fox will swing into action)

Feds tell Web firms to turn over user account passwords | Politics and Law - CNET News - Secret demands mark ESCALATION in Internet surveillance by the federal government through gaining access to USER PASSWORDS, which are typically stored in encrypted form.

Jeremy Scahill Condemns White House Opposition To Freeing Of Abdulelah Haider - Shaye had been imprisoned "because he had the audacity to expose a U.S. cruise missile attack that killed three dozen women and children, and the United States had tried to cover it up." (Obama would like to lockup all journalists if he could, well, maybe not the sports guys)

The Dubious Math Behind Stop and Frisk - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic (Ray Kelly, Obama's favorite racial-profiler)
Kelly’s creative writing: Stop-and-frisk and Muslim surveillance are wonderful! - Salon.com - A paragraph-by-paragraph rebuttal to NYPD Commissioner and would-be Homeland Security Chief Ray Kelly's WSJ op-ed

New IRS Scandal Twist Disputed By Jack Lew
Growing consensus on Social Security: Expand it - Salon.com - After staving off Obama's plan to cut benefits, progressives are fighting to boost checks to seniors

What Potential Fed Front-Runner Larry Summers Said About Women - NationalJournal.com - A 2005 speech will always haunt Larry Summers. Here's why it matters.
Surely The Obama Administration Is Joking About This 'Have Larry Summers Run The Federal Reserve' Thing!
Anyone But Larry Summers . . . | The Big Picture (Obama loves Summers and Kelly; what does that say about him?)
Janet Yellen For Federal Reserve Chairman? Dems Reportedly Send Letter Urging Obama To Pick Her (he won't)

Justice Department to challenge voting rights laws in Texas despite court ruling | World news | guardian.co.uk - Eric Holder announces plan to require Texas to obtain federal government's approval before redrawing political districts

400,000 Foreclosure Settlement Checks Sent To Wrong Address
The student loan fiasco - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Last night the Senate passed a bill to re-set student loan rates. The House is expected to accept this “compromise” measure (compromise being a term of art meaning “a GOP-backed measure acceptable to the Obama administration”).
Who’s To Blame For Student Loan Policy Getting Worse? - Lawyers, Guns & Money : - “What I don’t understand,” Mr. Sanders said, “is when you have a Democratic president, a Democratically controlled U.S. Senate, why we are producing a bill which is basically a Republican bill?” (because students would have been even more screwed)
Obamacare Sabotage Watch: Conservative Campaign Gets Real | New Republic - They're launching campaigns designed to discourage young people from using the law to get insurance (Koch Bros funded)
Why Are College Students Contributing Less Money for College? It Might Be the Internships by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly

Wis. Legislators Denounce Crackdown on Singers | The Progressive - This afternoon, the Wisconsin state police arrested dozens of nonviolent singers in the capitol in Madison. Declaring an unlawful assembly, police officers handcuffed members of the Solidarity Singers—including an 80-year-old woman.

Will the GOP’s North Carolina End Run Backfire? - The Daily Beast - Amid an outburst of right-wing energy, North Carolina is set to pass one of the most restrictive voting laws in the nation. But the experiences of other states should tell them how badly it could backfire.
Why Republicans Are Disciplined and Democrats Aren't | Robert Reich
Inside Groundswell: Read the Memos of the New Right-Wing Strategy Group Planning a "30 Front War" | Mother Jones - Ginni Thomas, Allen West, and a crew of conservative activists and journalists have formed a hush-hush coalition to battle progressives—and Karl Rove.
The Right-Wing JournoList by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly
Secret Conservative Group ‘Groundswell’ Plotted World Domination Through Unbeatable Combination Of Hashtags And Whining ("Obamagration!")

Hurricanes 101: Pattern for U.S. Threat - weather.com
Strange new features on the Sun revealed in first images from NASA's IRIS telescope | The Verge

Madison Square Garden Is Told to Move - NYTimes.com - Madison Square Garden, home to the Knicks, the Rangers, the Ice Capades, the circus and the “Fight of the Century” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1971, received an eviction notice of sorts on Wednesday. (New Penn Station to replace the one they stupidly tore down)

Paula Deen’s Cook Tells of Slights, Steeped in History - NYTimes.com

Second Interview: Chris Steele has a few questions ... | Regis University Digital Repository - Interview with Noam Chomsky and Chris Steele on March 28, 2013, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA.

Money on the Mind - YouTube - n a series of startling studies, psychologists at the University of California at Berkeley have found that "upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals." (BMW's 4x more likely to run you over)

Blackout Experiment - The Takers - YouTube

Should Reddit Be Blamed for the Spreading of a Smear? - NYTimes.com - According to the online-traffic tracker Alexa, Reddit generates more traffic than The New York Times, Fox News and Skype
New York Times: is Reddit to blame for Boston Bombing witch-hunt? | The Verge - I find it slightly ironic that it’s the New York Times that’s making the case against shoddy evidence and misinformation and how damaging it can be, but on the other hand, i suppose it is their responsibility and part of their community service to make amends by making sure others don’t make their mistake.
The US government has charged five men with the largest hacking scheme in US history | The Verge - 160 million credit card numbers were allegedly stolen
Gawker is letting readers rewrite headlines and reframe articles » Nieman Journalism Lab
Google Serves 25 Percent of North American Internet Traffic | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com - That’s a far larger slice of than previously thought, and it means that with so many consumer devices connecting to Google each day, it’s bigger than Facebook, Netflix, and Instagram combined.
Technology, Not Law, Limits Mass Surveillance - Slashdot

072413
Arctic Methane Release Due To Climate Change Could Cost Global Economy $60 Trillion, Study Reports (methanapocalypse coming)
Fukushima nuclear meltdown cleanup costs could rise more than five times to $58 billion | The Verge

Abdulelah Haider Shaye, Yemeni Journalist, Freed From Prison - His imprisonment has been blamed on President Obama, who personally intervened in early 2011 when it seemed that then-Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh was going to pardon Shaye. Obama called Saleh to express concern about Shaye, who remained in prison. (Obama has always hated journalists)
US, Russia Intend To Arm Sides In Syria - Business Insider
Egyptian general calls for millions to protest against 'terrorism' | World news | guardian.co.uk - General Abdel-Fatah Sisi makes rallying call after explosion in Mansoura kills police conscript and injures 19 others
Indian food poisoning school headteacher arrested | World news | guardian.co.uk - Police detain woman who went missing for over a week after pesticide-contaminated meal killed 23 children
Spain train crash: reports of at least 20 killed | World news | guardian.co.uk - Train derails outside northern city of Santiago de Compostela
Forbes Apologizes For Calling Irish President Michael D. Higgins Gay - The article, posted Tuesday by Ireland-based blogger David Monagan, called Higgins an "acknowledged homosexual."

White House braced for Congress vote on amendment to limit NSA collection | World news | guardian.co.uk - Obama opposed to 'Amash amendment' as vote provides first test of congressional opinion on widespread NSA surveillance (Obama's spy-state)
Congress debates amendment to limit NSA surveillance – live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk - Conyers says he believes in the collection under the auspices of the Patriot Act of phone records that are relevant to national security investigations. But people suspected of no crime should not be subject to surveillance, he said:
The Amash amendment: a vital shield from unwarranted NSA surveillance | Alexander Abdo | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Congress must use this crucial vote on the NSA's data dragnet to protect our privacy from the agency's intent to 'collect it all'
White House urges Congress to reject moves to curb NSA surveillance | World news | guardian.co.uk - Obama administration alarmed by vote on 'Amash amendment' aimed at blocking blanket surveillance of phone records - The White House urged House members to vote against a measure from Representative Justin Amash, a Michigan Republican, that would stop the NSA siphoning up the telephone records of millions of Americans without suspicion of a crime. (disgusting)
The Talking Points for NSA's Dragnet Don't Hold Up | Cato @ Liberty - The crucial general point to understand about these claims for the efficacy of these programs is that if you have unlimited authority, then that will be what you end up using even if more limited authority would have sufficed

The Snowden Effect, Cont'd - Esquire - With defunding stuff all the rage among Washington Republicans these days, you could have missed Rep. Justin Amash's long-bomb attempt to defund the National Security Agency's secret attempts to Hoover up cellphone records from millions of Americans. Some Democrats in the House have signed aboard, which apparently has given the administration sufficient agita as to cause a sudden lapse into illogic and incoherence. This is the argument that the White House is making to try and get Democrats not to support Amash's Hail Mary ... And, once again, his mad international PR skillz aside, if Edward Snowden had not done what he did, the debate is not happening.

Edward Snowden plans to stay in Russia, says lawyer | World news | guardian.co.uk
Snowden’s Whistleblowing Creates Climate for Critical House Vote on NSA Surveillance | The Dissenter
The Liars Are “Very Concerned” Program They Lied About Will Be Defunded | emptywheel
Justin Amash NSA Amendment Earns White House Condemnation (HuffPo plays it straight)
Edward Snowden 'to stay in Moscow airport' says lawyer - Wednesday 24 July | World news | guardian.co.uk - Reports had suggested the US whistleblower had been granted documents that would allow him to leave the airport where he has been since 23 June
Edward Snowden Receives Documents To Enter Russia: Airport Source
Tomgram: Rebecca Solnit, Emerging From Darkness, the Edward Snowden Story | TomDispatch
Tomgram: Engelhardt, Can Edward Snowden Be Deterred? | TomDispatch - How to Be a Rogue Superpower A Manual for the Twenty-First Century

NSA PRISM Keywords For Domestic Spying - Business Insider (yes, encryption; also William Gates and Whitewater)
This is Your Brain on Terrorism | LibertyMcG
NationMaster - Crime stats: Russia vs United States (USA! Number 1!)

NYPD's Ray Kelly defends controversial policing practices in appeal to public | World news | guardian.co.uk - With lawsuits pending over department's stop-and-frisk policy and Muslim surveillance, the police commissioner turns to the media to vigorously defend his record as the city's top cop (Obama's favorite racist racial profiler)

A Death In Florida - Esquire - This is more than mysterious. It is flat weird. The detention of the roommate appears to be purely punitive in nature. The dive taken by Coakley, considering that Massachusetts state troopers were in the room with the feds when Todashev got made dead, is disgraceful. And you'll have to forgive us up here if we decline to take the FBI's word on very much, since we're also in the middle of an ongoing legal drama regarding what a stupid idea that is. Whitey at least is getting a trial.

Obama Economic Speech Tells GOP To Drop The 'Endless Parade Of Distractions'
Congress Disapproval Rating Hits All-Time High In NBC/WSJ Poll, Obama Approval Drops
Colbert Calls Out Fox News Racism After Obama's Race Speech (video)
Chris Hayes Slams Bill O'Reilly For 'Super Racist Rant' (video)

Eschaton: Thieves - Pretty sure that if I break into your house, steal all of your stuff, and then sell it then I'm going to go jail. But I'm not a bank, so laws actually apply to me.

NY Times Editorial Board: Anthony Weiner Should Withdraw From Race - The board suggested that "the serially evasive Mr. Weiner should take his marital troubles and personal compulsions out of the public eye, away from cameras, off the Web and out of the race for mayor of New York City."
Anthony Weiner Accused Of Engaging In New Sex Chats Using 'Carlos Danger' Handle (updated)
Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin Face New Sexting Scandal Together
Rachel Maddow On Anthony Weiner: 'Why Would Anyone Ever Believe Him Ever Again' (video)
Fox News' Allen West Accuses GOP Of Aiding In Benghazi "Cover-Up" | Blog | Media Matters for America
It's the Racism, Stupid - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic - These two strands -- stupidity and racism -- are inseparable. The pairing seem to find a home at National Review with some regularity.
North Carolina’s voter ID law is the worst in the country. - Slate Magazine - The state went from beacon of tolerance to bastion of voter suppression in a month. (what happens when Republicans take over)
NC lawmaker: Women should ‘duct tape’ nipples to stay out of jail | The Raw Story - North Carolina Republican state Rep. Tim Moore says that women can protect themselves from a new law that makes baring female breasts illegal by simply applying duct tape to their nipples.

From Bridgeport To Bangor, All Of New England Now Seeing Green (infographic)



San Francisco cyclist guilty of manslaughter in legal first | World news | guardian.co.uk - "I was already way too committed to stop … I couldn't see a line through the crowd and I couldn't stop, so I laid it down and just plowed through the crowded crosswalk in the least-populated place I could find," the post said.

U.S. Internet Speed Slows Compared To Other Countries: Report (and a lot more expensive)


072313
Al-Qaida raids on Iraqi prisons raise fears of return to civil war | World news | The Guardian - Claims that attackers were helped by guards inside Abu Ghraib, as more details emerge of audacious assault
Yemeni journalist who reported US drone strike is released from jail | World news | guardian.co.uk - Abdulelah Haider Shaye, imprisoned on charges of being an al-Qaida operative, reportedly had pardon revoked by US request (Obama hates journalists with a passion)
Egypt pre-dawn clashes leave six dead in Cairo | World news | guardian.co.uk - Heath ministry official says six people were killed in violent clashes between supporters and opponents of deposed president Mohamed Morsi
Syrian rebels to start receiving US weapons amid anxiety from Congress | World news | guardian.co.uk - CIA could begin shipping arms in the coming weeks after clearance from House and Senate intelligence committees
New Zealand Government About To Legalize Spying On NZ Citizens - Slashdot - After admitting they have illegally spied on NZ citizens or residents 88 times (PDF) since 2003, the government, in a stunning example of arse covering, is about to grant the GCSB the right to intercept the communications of New Zealanders in its role as the national cyber security agency, rather than examine the role the GCSB should play and then look at the laws.

The Complete Failure Of Austerity, In 1 Chart (nothing succeeds like the complete failure of elite "thinking")
France 'returns to growth' and Spain sees slump easing - as it happened | Business | guardian.co.uk
Detroit: judge to decide if bankruptcy can proceed despite pension funds' opposition | World news | guardian.co.uk - City's funds have gone to court to try and derail the bankruptcy amid concerns benefits will be slashed for 20,000 retirees (the solution: austerity/starvation for workers)

Chevron Gets Private Data For Lawsuit - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - In brief, if the government -- which, theoretically, at least, is us -- decides to destroy the lives of whistleblowers, that will become the common currency of all centers of power, including the least accountable ones.

Obama: 'Nobody Is Listening to Your Phone Calls' - YouTube (we now know that he knew he was lying when he said this)
The top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrant | World news | guardian.co.uk - Fisa court submissions show broad scope of procedures governing NSA's surveillance of Americans' communication (GG: "And there's still plenty more genuinely big stuff to come." in comments, read them also)
Jason Leopold | NSA Spying Evolved Pre-9/11 - Tuesday 17 January 2006
Fact-check: The NSA and Sept. 11 - ProPublica - But one thing we do know: Those making the argument have ignored a key aspect of historical record.
Welcome to the NSA | National Geographic Channel
NSA Says It Can’t Search Its Own Emails - ProPublica (why would they want to do that?)
NSA's Keith Alexander Calls Emergency Private Briefing To Lobby Against Justin Amash Amendment Curtailing Its Power (oversight completely unnecessary and will let terrorists terrorize us)
House forces vote on amendment that would limit NSA bulk surveillance | World news | guardian.co.uk - Opposition to bulk surveillance swells with vote that would 'end authority for blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act' - Republican congressman Justin Amash prevailed in securing a vote for his amendment to a crucial funding bill for the Department of Defense that "ends authority for the blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act."
Twitter / dametzger: @kurteichenwald Sec 215 ...
Kim Dotcom: Megaupload Data Was Wiped - Business Insider
Dotcom can sue NZ’s intelligence agency, court rules — RT News - A New Zealand court has sided with IT tycoon Kim Dotcom, confirming his right to sue the national spy agency for damages over illegally gathering intelligence on him. (NZ justice system still functional)
Main Page - Buggedplanet.info
Michael Hastings conspiracy theories: Web goes wild after NSA, CIA reporter killed in crash - NY Daily News - Less than a day after the BuzzFeed and Rolling Stone reporter died in a fiery car crash at age 33, conspiracy theorists are speculating that there is more than meets the eye over Hasting's demise.

Edward Snowden's fear of flying is justified | Geoffrey Robertson | Comment is free | The Guardian - Snowden is a refugee, not a spy. But America has history when it comes to forcing down planes in defiance of international law (libtards howl in derision)

Kelly’s creative writing: Stop-and-frisk and Muslim surveillance are wonderful! - Salon.com - A paragraph-by-paragraph rebuttal to NYPD Commissioner and would-be Homeland Security Chief Ray Kelly's WSJ op-ed (Obama favorite racial-profiler and authoritarian asshole)
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev photos: Massachusetts police officer put on restricted duty | World news | guardian.co.uk - Sean Murphy, who leaked pictures to Boston magazine, to remain on 'desk duty' until full internal investigation is complete (Boston cops jr. CIA with their secrecy)

Louisiana drilling rig blowout causes evacuation of 47 workers | Environment | guardian.co.uk - Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement says natural gas flowed uncontrolled from well off coast

Brian Nieves, Missouri State Senator, Questions If Liberalism Is A 'Mental Disorder' - Sean Soendker Nicholson, executive director of Progress Missouri, a progressive advocacy group, told The Huffington Post that Nieves "should think twice before accusing anyone else of mental instability."

Former employee accuses San Diego mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment | World news | guardian.co.uk - San Diego mayor Bob Filner's former communications director filed a sexual harassment lawsuit on Monday against the leader of the nation's eighth-largest city, alleging he asked her to work without underwear, demanded kisses and dragged her around in a headlock while whispering sexual advances. (real cave-man there, Bob)
USC Student: Police Said I Wasn't Raped Because He Didn't Orgasm (college cops the same everywhere)

A Guide to Anti-Choice Concern Trolling - Opponents of abortion rights often make the same misleading arguments. Here's why they're wrong. (Douthat, for instance)

Due to Global Warming, End Is Virtually Certain for NYC, Boston, Miami, Holland | Eric Zuesse (conservatives say Jesus will return before that happens)

Your ‘Distressed’ Jeans Are Wearing Out Workers’ Lungs - Working In These Times

Iodization Effect On IQ - Business Insider - the population in iodine-deficient areas saw IQs rise by a full standard deviation, which is 15 points, after iodized salt was introduced. (explains low-IQ in mid-west)

Fort Tells of Spain’s Early Ambitions - NYTimes.com - In the Appalachian foothills of western North Carolina, archaeologists have discovered remains of a 16th century fort, the earliest one built by Europeans penetrating deep into the interior of what is now the United States. The fort is a reminder of a neglected period in colonial history, when Spain’s expansive ambitions ran high and wide, as yet unmatched by England.

Move fast, break things: The sad story of Platform, Facebook’s gigantic missed opportunity | PandoDaily - . In private, some developers complained that they’d been “Zucked over.” A beautiful feat of engineering quickly became a huge disappointment.

072213
Dozens reported dead in China earthquake | World news | guardian.co.uk - At least 75 killed and more than 400 injured after quake measuring up to 6.6 magnitude
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks' resumption put in doubt by both sides | World news | guardian.co.uk - Hostility within Israel's government towards preliminary talks forged by US secretary of state matched by Palestinian rebuttals (won't give up their illegal territories)
EU puts Hezbollah armed wing on terrorist blacklists | World news | guardian.co.uk - Assets of Shia Muslim group's military wing frozen after Bulgarian bus bombing and amid growing fears over Syria
US military intervention in Syria would create 'unintended consequences' | World news | guardian.co.uk - General Martin Dempsey, top military officer, warns senators that each option under consideration would be costly and uncertain
Morsi's family brands Egyptian army chief a 'criminal' | World news | guardian.co.uk - Ousted president's children allege human rights violations over his continued detention and say they plan to sue coup leader
Marte Deborah Dalelv, Alleged Norwegian Rape Victim, Pardoned After Being Sentenced To Jail For Sex Outside Marriage (down the Muslim rabbit-hole)
Al Qaeda militants flee Iraq jail in violent mass break-out | Reuters - Hundreds of convicts, including senior members of al Qaeda, broke out of Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail as comrades launched a military-style assault to free them, authorities said on Monday.

Polio In Pakistan - A Disastrous Setback - Esquire - Now, some bright Zero Dark Thirty type concocts a phony vaccination campaign, and now people doing god's work in some of the worst places in the world get clipped, and a disease we all thought was eliminated is back again, and we get blamed for it. (more dead children on Obama's bloody hands)
File Under WTF: Did the CIA Fake a Vaccination Campaign? - Wired Science

The lesson from the US: George Osborne has wasted the last three years | Ed Balls | Comment is free | The Guardian - Britain's modest recovery is weak, and benefits the richest most. We need a One Nation economic plan - following George Osborne's accelerated tax rises and spending cuts, the economy has flatlined and deficit reduction has stalled (nothing succeeds like rightwing failure)
UK government to 'drain the market' of online child sex abuse | Technology | guardian.co.uk - David Cameron describes campaign with police and internet firms to pursue abusers and users of online images and video (quick, look over there!)
Why David Cameron's war on internet porn doesn't make sense | Tom Meltzer | Comment is free | The Guardian - The prime minister's so-called plan for controlling access to online pornography is a breathtaking piece of political sleight-of-hand

Judge Challenges White House Claims on Authority in Drone Killings - NYTimes.com - A federal judge on Friday sharply and repeatedly challenged the Obama administration’s claim that courts have no power over targeted drone killings of American citizens overseas. (Obama don't need no steenking courts)
Pakistan Civilian Casualties In Drone Strikes Confirmed In Leaked Document - According to the document, 746 people were killed in the strategic attacks. At least 147 of the victims were civilians, and 94 were children. (Obama: we've never killed anyone but terrorists; well, and terroristic children)

New York Times Corrects Coverage of Judge’s ‘Aiding the Enemy’ Ruling in Bradley Manning’s Trial | The Dissenter (whoops, your bias is showing)
MIT Interjects Itself Into Aaron Swartz Secret Service FOIA Case | FDL News Desk - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who played an active role in trying to incriminate Aaron Swartz, has intervened in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case regarding Swartz’s secret service file. MIT is claiming it is afraid if the public knew the actions it took there could be a backlash against the personnel at the institution who helped destroy Swartz. (unprecedented non-government third-party intervention)
MIT Moves to Intervene in Release of Aaron Swartz's Secret Service File | Threat Level | Wired.com

Expanding NSA facilities included an underground cellphone tracking team | The Verge - In a new report about the rapid expansion of the US National Security Agency, The Washington Post details a cellphone location tracking program whose existence the agency initially seemed to deny following disclosures from whistleblower Edward Snowden. (more stuff everyone knew but didn't)
Drones Over America - "Watching You" - YouTube
The Errors of Edward Snowden and His Global Hypocrisy Tour | Vanity Fair - he doesn’t understand he has made himself an international fool by cozying up to some of the world’s less-admirable regimes on issues of human rights. (another poo-poo-er)

Big Racial Divide over Zimmerman Verdict | Pew Research Center for the People and the Press - Whites Say Too Much Focus on Race, Blacks Disagree
No More Mister Nice Blog - Yes, Brooks actually said he'd never quite thought about the possibility of extending Stand Your Ground to "all sorts of people." Yes, even those sorts. When you put it that way, Stand Your Ground is kinda scary, hunh, David? (we thought that law only applied to white people)
Obama Speech, Trayvon Protests Lure Rightbloggers Into Another Week of Hilarious Minority Outreach - New York - News - Runnin' Scared
Quit Hitting My Fist with Your Face, Black People - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Calling Trayvon Martin a thug, calling black leaders who are upset by the verdict race baiters, and gleefully citing statistics for black on black crime in inner cities is absolutely not race baiting. Also not race baiting is “having conversations” about race (that are one-sided skrees about how black people are dumb, lazy, and violent. ALSO THE REAL RACISTS ™.)

Obama Plans to Unveil His Agenda for Economy - NYTimes.com - With major battles looming in the fall over the federal budget and the debt ceiling, President Obama is trying to regain the initiative, embarking on a campaign-style tour of the Midwest this week to lay out his agenda for reinvigorating the nation’s economy, administration officials said Sunday. (more grand bargain bullshit coming up)

Upward Mobility and Geography by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly

The Nuclear Senate, Defused | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly - a case in which the majority offered a credible threat to impose majority rule on executive branch nominations, and the minority folded.
When a 'bombshell' is a dud - The Maddow Blog - House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), struggling to shake his well-deserved reputation as a "laughably inept" clown, did his level best this week to revive the discredited IRS "scandal." Relying on a partial transcript -- one of his favorite tactics -- Issa fed the media what he said was a scoop. (and a drunken Nooners couldn't resist another round)

ACLU warns of mass tracking with license plate scanners; local police say rules prevent misuse | lehighvalleylive.com (sure they do)
FBI hair analysis may have falsely convicted thousands, including some on death row | The Verge - Over 2,000 cases up for review in 'unprecedented' internal investigation

Cries of Betrayal as Detroit Plans to Cut Pensions - NYTimes.com - But the average pension benefit in Detroit is not especially high. The average annual payment is about $19,000, said Bruce Babiarz, a spokesman for the pension funds. And it is about $30,000 for retired police officers and firefighters, who do not get Social Security benefits
Detroit, the New Greece - NYTimes.com - So now the deficit scolds have a new case to misinterpret. Never mind the repeated failure of the predicted U.S. fiscal crisis to materialize, the sharp fall in predicted U.S. debt levels and the way much of the research the scolds used to justify their scolding has been discredited; let’s obsess about municipal budgets and public pension obligations!

Rahm’s School Strategy - Lawyers, Guns & Money : While I don’t doubt that Chicago has a real budget crisis coming from unfunded pension requirements, this is pretty telling of how Rahm Emanuel plans to use Teach for America as a way to undercut the teachers’ union. Teach for America is basically a union-busting organization. (always the same)
The California Prison Disaster - Lawyers, Guns & Money - When terrible bipartisan “tough on crime” policies meet terrible Republican tax policies, the results are awful for human rights.

McDonald's Employees Walk Out In Protest Of No Air Conditioning After Crew Member Collapses - "[The owners of the store] make fun of us because they think we're animals," Villa said in Spanish. "We're not animals. We're people. We don't want to die and you can certainly die from the heat, you know."

Big Law Firms in Trouble: When the Money Dries Up | New Republic
The end of Big Law? - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Like everything else in the employment market these costs tend to be affected strongly by gender:

NYT Culture Hate Hate Hated That Gay Math Wizard Guy | TBogg - But why would Nate leave what is arguably the most important news organization in the world (if you don’t count TMZ)? It seems that Nate was sand in the lubricant of good news gathering amongst the very serious deep-thinking chin-strokey political writers:
Why’d Nate Silver Leave the Times? | TPM Editors Blog - Silver informed Abramsonof his decision on Friday. She was none too pleased - a yearlong strategy, up in smoke.
Report: The Battle To Poach Nate Silver From The Times Lasted Months | TPM LiveWire
NYTimes Public Editor: Nate Silver Didn't Fit Into Paper's Culture | TPM LiveWire - "a number of traditional and well-respected Times journalists disliked his work." (because he was right and they were wrong)

Dissent Over a Device to Help Find Melanoma - NYTimes.com
Virus Genome Finding Points To New Branch In Tree Of Life - The organism was initially called NLF, for “new life form”.
Ruins That May Be King David’s Palace Unearthed By Israeli Archaeologists - A team of Israeli archaeologists believes it has discovered the ruins of a palace belonging to the biblical King David, but other Israeli experts dispute the claim. The consensus among most scholars is that no definitive physical proof of the existence of King David has been found.

Turning Addiction Into a Sideshow - NYTimes.com - Kristen Johnston says that even reality shows like “Intervention” do little to educate viewers about addiction.

Why Men Need Women - NYTimes.com - It’s often said that behind every great man stands a great woman. In light of the profound influence that women can have on men’s generosity, it might be more accurate to say that in front of every great man walks a great woman. If we’re wise, we’ll follow her lead.

Blond beauty set to sue NYPD over sexy photos swiped from iPhone - NY Daily News - Pamela Held, 27, of Deer Park, Long Island, claims an NYPD officer from the 104th Precinct in Ridgewood, Queens stole the raunchy images she shared only with her boyfriend.

North Dakota law restricting abortion blocked by federal judge | World news | guardian.co.uk - Law that bans procedure as early as six weeks into pregnancy among America's most restrictive anti-abortion legislation
As the Mayans Predicted … | TPM Editors Blog - As the Mayans predicted, when Ken Cuccinelli’s crusade against sodomy collided with the ladies from The View the world would end.
Nightmare NCAA Basketball Coach Fired Over ‘No Fat Sluts’ Rule (also, praise Jeebus)
Ross Douthat Abortion Texas - Cardinal Douthat's Musings On Abortion - Esquire - His Eminence, Ross Cardinal Douthat, Cardinal-Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Oblivioustan, is back with another sermon aimed at the ladies who have ladyparts, and who do not use their ladyparts as God and His Eminence intended) to their full snowflake-Jesus-baby-making capacities
My Family, Our Cancer, and the Murderous Cruelty of Conservatives | Vanity Fair

To you, what is the biggest flaw in humanity? : AskReddit


Apple Developer site hack: Turkish security researcher claims responsibility | Technology | guardian.co.uk - Apple says its Developer portal has been hacked and that some information about its 275,000 registered third-party developers who use it may have been stolen.

072113
Deadly Car Bombings Hit Iraq's Capital - Bombings and other attacks have now killed more than 250 people since the start of Ramadan on July 10, according to an Associated Press count
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks' resumption put in doubt by both sides | World news | guardian.co.uk - Hostility within Israel's government towards preliminary talks forged by US secretary of state matched by Palestinian rebuttals
Power remarks cause Venezuela to end efforts to improve US ties | World news | guardian.co.uk - Foreign ministry releases statement in response to UN envoy nominee's promise to stand up to 'repressive regimes' (so they did)
Paris riots sparked by police identity check on veiled Muslim woman | World news | guardian.co.uk - Cars destroyed and 14-year-old injured after police ID check triggers two nights of violence in suburb of French capital - Muslim full-face veils have been banned from all public places in France after a controversial law introduced by President Sarkozy in 2011.
Pope Francis's judgment in question after priest named in gay sex scandal | World news | guardian.co.uk - Papal nunciate who lived openly with his male lover in Uruguay appointed by pope to senior job in the Vatican (gay sex is the new celibacy)


Deception in Counting the Unemployed - Steve Clemons - The Atlantic - One of the ways the Obama administration, as well as many administrations before it, cheat American workers is an institutionalized duplicity about worker employment figures.

Antonin Scalia: Holocaust Was Partially Brought About By Judicial Activism (report)

Shattered Lane: Everything That's Wrong With WaPo Writer Chuck Lane's Detroit Column –  Deadline Detroit
The Great Pension Scare - NYTimes.com - OK, this is quite amazing: Dean Baker catches the WaPo editorial page claiming that we have $3.8 trillion in unfunded state and local pension liabilities. (see Iraq)
Washington Post Kills Account of Its Failures in Iraq Reporting and Runs a Defense Instead

John McCain: Arizona's Stand Your Ground Law Should Be Reviewed - Around 30 states have some form of a "stand your ground" law, which state that a person has a right to use lethal force to defend himself if he feels that his life is in danger. ("feels" and the other person is black)

Virginia GOP Nominee: I Still Believe Gay People 'Soulless'

Hookup culture: for the white and wealthy. - Slate Magazine - So what we are seeing on college campuses is the same dynamic we see outside of colleges. People with privilege—based on race, class, ability, attractiveness, sexual orientation, and, yes, gender—get to set the terms for everyone else
Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University Home

How an Obscure Regulatory Process Could Spark an Education Revolution - NationalJournal.com - The generational opportunity that Shelton and other advocates envision centers on the use of digital technology to create a more personalized learning environment.

Sex Addiction Does Not Appear To Be A Disorder, UCLA Study Says (actually, hormones)
The Vitamin Myth: Why We Think We Need Supplements - Paul Offit - The Atlantic
E6 protein in blood increases risk of throat cancers, say scientists | Society | The Guardian

072013
Mokhtar Belmokhtar, Algerian Hostage Crisis Mastermind, Charged By FBI

Secret court lets NSA extend its trawl of Verizon customers' phone records | World news | The Guardian - Latest revelation an indication of how Obama administration has opened up hidden world of mass communications surveillance
FISA Court Approves Continued U.S. Phone Surveillance
Fourth Circuit Guts National Security Investigative Journalism Everywhere It Matters | emptywheel - Golly. It was just last week when the press believed DOJ’s News Media Guidelines would protect the press’ work. (more lies from Obama's DOJ)

This week in press freedoms and privacy rights | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - The travesty calling itself "the Bradley Manning court-martial", the kangaroo tribunal calling itself "the FISA court", and the emptiness of what the Obama DOJ calls "your constitutional rights" - "'Mr. Hauck acknowledged that Americans targeted overseas do have rights, but he said they could not be enforced in court either before or after the Americans were killed.'" (Obama's definition of "rights" is "no rights")

Aurora, Newtown Survivors Honor Theater Victims

Center for Investigative Reporting simplifies FOIA : Columbia Journalism Review - A Kickstarter project aims to fund a website that makes the FOIA process easier

Obama admin now openly embracing neoconservative rhetoric, too by Samuel Knight | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - It’s not enough for the Obama administration to embrace some of the most aggressive national security policies of the Bush Administration - it has, apparently, decided it must embrace neoconservative rhetoric, too.

Obama Says Ray Kelly ‘Well-Qualified’ For Homeland Security Post « CBS New York - Schumer, King Also Want To See NYPD Commissioner To Run DHS (Obama's empty words about Trayvon Martin)
Raising the Wrong Profile - NYTimes.com - The president responded by calling Kelly “well-qualified” and an “outstanding leader in New York.” He sounded a pitch for bringing the commissioner into the White House’s fold. (you can't believe a single word he says)
Garance Franke-Ruta - Authors - The Atlantic - . In less than six years, Obama has gone from being mistaken for a waiter among the New York media elite, to the president-elect. What a country."
National Review Online's "Cartoon Of The Day" Portrays Al Sharpton As A Lynching Tree On Zimmerman Trial | Blog | Media Matters for America (not racist at all, so shut up)

U.S. reviewing 27 death penalty convictions for FBI forensic testimony errors - The Washington Post (how many were black? how many in Texas?)
Forensic Evidence In 27 Death Penalty Cases Being Questioned By U.S. Government - . "How many more of these revelations will it take before we say 'stop'?"

Detroit, tip of a vast pensions liability iceberg | Heidi Moore | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Across the US, cash-strapped municipalities cut contributions to pension funds to scrape through recession. That could sink them - Detroit's bankruptcy is, primarily, a lesson in how cities and states cannot avoid their pension responsibilities without a backlash of biblical proportions. shortfall in public pensions could be as huge as $1tn. (banksters at work)
Unfunded Pension Liabilities Are Trillion, Not .8 Trillion: Never Take Anything In a Washington Post Editorial At Face Value | Beat the Press - Clearly the Post has an agenda to weaken or end public sector pensions and is perfectly happy to use bad numbers to accomplish this goal.

alicublog: Libertarians, They'Re Lovin' It! - Ah, Megan McArdle is at Bloomberg now. Let's see what she's up to -- oh yeah, that McDonald's how-to-survive-on-our-shitty-pay thing. Guess what, McArdle sides with McDonald's! (Her husband's right, these scripts are getting awfully predictable.)
Eschaton: How To Get By While Working Only 70 Hours Per Week - Not a new point, but it is quite amazing that so many people think that what people who are managing to get by working shit jobs for 70 hours per week really need is advice from people who have no experience trying to get by working shit jobs for 70 hours per week. Spend less on t-bones and cadillacs! Put on an extra sweater and turn off that heat!

Enzi-Cheney Primary Suddenly Makes Wyoming -- And Its Disproportionate Power -- Interesting - s one reason why this Wyoming primary is going to be very compelling -- it's the venue for a hot proxy war between Rand Paul's libertarianish insurgency and the neo-con old guard.
Hullabaloo - If Wyoming gets to be a state, so should Washington, DC
The State of Wyoming Has 2 Escalators - Megan Garber - The Atlantic (one for each senator)

RIP Helen Thomas by Samuel Knight | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly (with clips)

Ken Cuccinelli: Keeping the war on sodomy alive! - Salon.com - Virginia gubernatorial hopeful and state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli launched a website on Wednesday to promote his ongoing effort to enforce a law banning oral and anal sex in the state. Earlier this year, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals declared Virginia’s “Crimes Against Nature” law unconstitutional, but Cuccinelli has pressed on, trying to keep the law alive with a series of appeals. (if they allow oral sex, next step will be marrying turtles)

Daily Kos: Privatization of weather and climate data: What could possibly go wrong?

Daily Kos: House Republicans pass No Child Left Behind overhaul, predictably leaving children behind (Rethug war on education and children)

Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight Blog Is to Join ESPN Staff - NYTimes.com
Open Thread: Nate Silver Flees Back to Baseball » Balloon Juice

Anti-Vaccine Body Count (how many did Jenny McCarthy kill?)

San Jose State suspends Udacity online classes after students fail final exams.

Back to Asiana 214 - James Fallows - The Atlantic - On a light-wind, clear-skies day, a team of professional pilots flew a normally functioning airplane smack into the runway. What have we learned about the cause?
Ask a Korean!: Culturalism, Gladwell, and Airplane Crashes

Mobile-Device Email Signatures: More Than You Ever Wanted to Know - Alexis C. Madrigal - The Atlantic
Jay-Z Joins To-Day and Ice-Cream in the Hyphen Graveyard - Spencer Kornhaber - The Atlantic - "Printed writing is very much design-led these days in adverts and Web sites, and people feel that hyphens mess up the look of a nice bit of typography. ... The hyphen is seen as messy looking and old-fashioned."

071913
Hitting China’s Wall - NYTimes.com - Yet the signs are now unmistakable: China is in big trouble. We’re not talking about some minor setback along the way, but something more fundamental. The country’s whole way of doing business, the economic system that has driven three decades of incredible growth, has reached its limits.
Egypt braced for renewed protests as Muslim Brotherhood stays on streets | World news | guardian.co.uk - Both Brotherhood and its pro-government opponents plan large afternoon demonstrations amid fears of further state killings
'Earthquake' for Israel: EU To Halt Support For Illegal Settlements - YouTube - Shir Hever: European Union announces restrictions for funding Israeli colonies; Israeli government in panic because every aspect of Israel's economy and society could be affected by the EU decision
Marte Deborah Dalelv, Alleged Norwegian Rape Victim, Sentenced To 16 Months Jail In Dubai For Sex Outside Of Marriage

Barack Obama Ponders Canceling Summit With Vladimir Putin In Moscow (fuck you, O)
Putin Warns U.S. Russia Won’t Back Down on Snowden Asylum - Bloomberg - “We won’t behave like many countries are behaving,” Putin told reporters in the Siberian city of Chita, a day after the former U.S. security contractor bid for temporary asylum in Russia. “We are an independent country and we have an independent foreign policy and we will carry it out. I hope our partners understand this and respond calmly.” (it's come to this, thanks to Obama)
Russia Says It Doesn't Know Of Any Plan By Edward Snowden To Seek Russian Citizenship
Judge Questions Broad Obama Administration Assertions In Drone Strikes Lawsuit - A federal judge expressed skepticism on Friday over the Obama administration’s assertion that the judicial branch has no role in a lawsuit filed on behalf of three American citizens killed by drone strikes
FISA Court Approves Continued U.S. Phone Surveillance
Michael Hayden, Former CIA Chief, Criticizes Edward Snowden's NSA Leaks (video) - Hayden also expressed concern that other countries will no longer "have confidence in the United States that we're actually going to be able to keep secrets." (even secrets they didn't know US had stolen)
Microsoft to Google Input Sought in Probe of NSA Programs - Bloomberg
Former CIA Milan chief en route to US after being detained in Panama | World news | guardian.co.uk - Robert Seldon Lady was convicted in absentia in Italy four years ago for kidnapping an Egyptian Muslim cleric (Obama threatened to bomb Panama)
Huawei has spied for Chinese government, ex-CIA boss says | World news | guardian.co.uk - Michael Hayden, also former head of NSA, says he is aware of hard evidence of spying activity by world's No 2 telecoms firm
Intelligence chiefs would consider changes to NSA data collection – top lawyer | World news | guardian.co.uk - Robert Litt, the ODNI's top lawyer, says officials are 'currently working to declassify more information about our activities' (sure)
Chris Hedges: "America is a Tinderbox" - YouTube - On Reality Asserts Itself, Paul Jay asks Chris Hedges if the American Left bears responsibility for the weakness of the mass movement; Hedges says the gravest mistake of the left is not articulating a viable vision of socialism - Pt. 4 of 7
Jimmy Carter Says NSA Surveillance Has Killed Democracy; Didn’t Notice Other Suspects Holding Bloody Axes
Lindsey Graham, Chuck Schumer Pressure Russia To Send Back Edward Snowden
This Week in Review: Tech companies’ NSA pushback, and Rolling Stone’s cover backlash » Nieman Journalism Lab
Everything you need to know about PRISM | The Verge - A cheat sheet for the NSA's unprecedented surveillance programs
Drone Hunting In Colorado - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - Somewhere in Colorado, Uncle Fud is oiling up the shootin' 'arn, gobbling some canned beans, sucking down some bottled water, checking out the bunker out back -- the place where his kids are stashing their porn, but he doesn't know that -- and waiting for someone to yell INCOMING!!!

In Major Ruling, Court Orders Times Reporter to Testify - NYTimes.com - In a major decision about press freedoms, a divided federal appeals court on Friday ruled that James Risen, an author and a reporter for The New York Times, must testify in the criminal trial of a former Central Intelligence Agency official charged with providing him with classified information. ruled that the First Amendment provides no protection to reporters who receive unauthorized leaks from being forced to testify against the people suspected of leaking to them. (but Obama promises not to waterboard him)
New York Times reporter must testify against his own source in leaks investigation, court rules | The Verge

Bradley Manning 'aiding the enemy' charge is a threat to journalism | Yochai Benkler | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Without an informed and free press, there cannot be an enlightened people. That's what this trial is really about

NY Times Backs Rolling Stone, Decries 'Hysteria' Over Boston Cover
Boston Magazine Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Photos - Boston Wrong - Esquire - I live around here, and I spent a couple days chasing this story, so I understand that feelings are a bit raw, but can Boston stop losing its mind over a photograph now, please?

President Obama Trayvon Martin Speech - The Great Contradiction - Esquire - Not only were these remarks guaranteed to send the flying monkeys screeching aloft, but also they provided a clear and vivid glimpse into the fundamental contradiction of this particular president's entire public career.
Considering the President's Comments on Racial Profiling - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic - The impact of the highest official in the country directly feeling your pain, because it is his pain, is real. And it is happening now. And it is significant.
Fox News Host Calls Obama 'Race-Baiter-In-Chief' After Trayvon Martin Statement | TPM LiveWire
Abraham Lincoln and the Birth of Stand Your Ground : The New Yorker

This 1 Chart Reveals The True Economic Power Of The U.S. Slave System - The "human capital" consisting of black men and women held as chattel in the states of the south was more valuable than all the industrial and transportation capital ("other domestic capital") of the country in the first half of the nineteenth century.
Former Justice On Supreme Court Voting Rights Ruling - Justice Stevens Would Like A Word - Esquire - former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens -- who, thank the Lord, is not taking retirement seriously -- has decided to box John Roberts's ears for him. For Justice Stevens, the day of jubilee has not yet arrived.
Live In The South? Your Life Expectancy Is Shorter, Sicker Than The Rest Of The U.S. (not to mention dumber)

City of Demons (LA has its own police-state)
California prison guards retaliating against hunger-strikers, lawyers say | World news | guardian.co.uk - Inmates' lawyers say health of men is at risk amid allegations prisons are using cold temperatures to snuff out protest (good old American sadism)

JPMorgan Executive May Escape Penalty - NYTimes.com - Even as the nation’s top energy regulator is poised to extract a record settlement from JPMorgan Chase over accusations that it manipulated power markets, the agency is expected to spare a top bank lieutenant who federal investigators initially contended made “false and misleading statements under oath,” according to people briefed on the matter. (Obama lets another banker walk)
Elizabeth Warren's Takedown Of CNBC Removed From YouTube - "It's weird that they would try to shut down a sitting senator's comments," Mordecai said. "[The YouTube clip] is unedited, it's stuff they had on their network." ("no impact" but we're going to censor it anyway)
The Trade Deals Are Complicated Because They Are Designed to Serve Special Interests | Beat the Press

In Case You Needed a Good Purge Today - Lawyers, Guns & Money (Lanny "Asshole" David and bonus Josh Marshall)

This Week In The Laboratories Of Democracy - Esquire - We have to begin this week in Utah, where a Republican state legislator has decided that there's no need for all that compulsory government schoolin' because...freeeedooooommmmm!

Middle class still left behind in U.S. economic recovery, data show - The Washington Post
Demography: Broke in the ’burbs | The Economist - Poverty has moved to the suburbs - . In 2010 roughly 15.3m poor people lived in the suburbs, compared with 12.8m in cities (and how many are white?)
Eschaton: America Is Too Damn Poor - The changing geography of poverty is of interest and suburban poverty does have additional challenges, but the real issue is we have too any poor people in the greatest most richest country in the history of the universe. The solution is pretty easy, really. Give people jobs and money and stop letting the banks steal their houses.
SROs, flophouses, microapartments: Smart cities are finally allowing the right kind of housing for the poor, young, and single. - Slate Magazine - Dumb urban policies wiped out the best kinds of housing for the poor, young, and single. But they’re finally making a comeback in smart cities.

BMW drivers and cyclists: The war between the luxury cars and bicycles. - Slate Magazine - 4. BMW drivers are assholes.
'The Conjuring' review: the return of true horror | The Verge

Avoiding estrogen therapy proved deadly for nearly 50,000: study - latimes.com - The coauthors urged researchers, healthcare providers and the media to devote a special effort to making sure patients understood the potential benefits of estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy in women who do not have a uterus.
Scientists confirm neutrinos shift between three interchangeable types

Adult Tumblr blogs now removed from every form of search possible | ZDNet - Rather than leave adult content alone Yahoo's Tumblr has eliminated its Erotica category, disabled search engine indexing for adult blogs, and removed adult Tumblrs from all internal search. Users are furious.

071813
Killing in Cairo: the full story of the Republican Guards' club shootings | World news | guardian.co.uk - 'If they'd just wanted to break the sit-in, they could have done it in other ways. But they wanted to kill us,' a survivor says

Guardian: comment: recap of House Hearing on NSA (no, everyone didn't know)
Lawmakers of both parties voice doubts about NSA surveillance programs - The Washington Post - Lawmakers said the surveillance effort, which was disclosed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden , is too broad and intrusive.
Former CIA Milan chief held in Panama over abduction of Egyptian cleric | World news | guardian.co.uk - Robert Seldon Lady was convicted in absentia by Italian court for 2003 abduction of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr in Milan (there's hope)
Obama's secret kill list – the disposition matrix | World news | The Guardian
White House stays silent on renewal of NSA data collection order | World news | guardian.co.uk - Officials decline to comment on whether they will seek to renew order that permits bulk collection of Americans' phone records
Prometheus Among the Cannibals: A Letter to Edward Snowden (NSA losing the PR campaign, Snowden-belittlers looking like tools)
Telecom Companies Implicated in NSA Spying Unite to Lobby Congress on Digital Privacy
Surveillance Blowback: The Making of the US Surveillance State, 1898-2020
How to Be a Rogue Superpower
Gov’t Bureau ‘Creating a Google Earth on Every Financial Transaction,’ Senator Warns Trunews:
Due to Increased Regulations, Millions of Americans Abroad Forced to Reconsider U.S. Citizenship | The Weekly Standard - "The legislation is Fatca, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.
NSA is more than just a spy network, it’s global fascism — RT Op-Edge
The 8-FISA Judge 11-Docket Spying Authorization to Identify Less than $10,000 to Al-Shabaab | emptywheel

Letters: Kelly 10 years on | Politics | The Guardian - Tomorrow it will be 10 years since the suspicious death of the biological weapons scientist, Dr David Kelly. His death is a matter of continuing public and professional concern. Ten years after the Hillsborough disaster, the truth was still deeply concealed.

Judge refuses to drop 'aiding the enemy' charge in Bradley Manning trial | World news | guardian.co.uk - Defence witness 'extraordinarily disappointed' after Col Denise Lind declines to throw out charges against WikiLeaks source

The Drone That Killed My Grandson - NYTimes.com - I LEARNED that my 16-year-old grandson, Abdulrahman — a United States citizen — had been killed by an American drone strike from news reports the morning after he died. (drone-boy's bloody hands)
Colorado town ponders bounty for shooting down drones | World news | guardian.co.uk - Residents would have to salvage the nose or tail to qualify for $100 reward under quixotic proposal

Here’s why health insurance premiums are tumbling in New York

Did Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law Increase Firearm Homicides? | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly

World Trade Center owners fail in bid to claim more damages from airlines | World news | guardian.co.uk - Developer Larry Silverstein had insisted airlines owed at least $3.5bn for letting hijackers board planes before 9/11 attacks
Schumer civil liberties: Nelson Román and coalition politics. - Police tactics based on systematic racial discrimination are wrong, NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly seems to have pursued such tactics, and as such I would not be pleased to see him appointed to federal office.
Revealed: Gen. David Petraeus' Course Syllabus Features "Frackademia" Readings | DeSmogBlog - Revealed: Gen. David Petraeus' Course Syllabus Features "Frackademia" Readings

Planned Parenthood To Close Three Texas Clinics

Detroit becomes largest US city to file for bankruptcy in historic 'low point' | World news | guardian.co.uk - Michigan governor laments lowest point in city's history after emergency manager fails to broker deal between city's bondholders and pension funds

A Misguided Experiment in Minimalism - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - I have an article up noting that the recent same-sex marriage cases came out pretty much the way that Ruth Bader Ginsburg retroactively wanted Roe to come out (and this may not be coincidental, since she was in the majority in both cases.) Unfortunately, Ginsburg’s argument about Roe is wrong:

Can For-Profit Corporations Have a “Religious Conscience?” by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly
More Than a Hobby - In a case challenging the Obama administration's contraception mandate, a court finds that for-profit companies have free-exercise rights under the First Amendment. A look at Hobby Lobby, the company at the heart of the legal challenge.
Get a clue, McDonald’s: The other insult no one’s talking about - Salon.com - McDonald's got heat for telling its staff to have two jobs. Its financial planning advice is even more offensive

San Jose State Finds Problems in its Online Course Offerings by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly - Preliminary findings from the spring semester suggest students in the online Udacity courses, which were developed jointly with San Jose State faculty, do not fare as well as students who attended normal classes…. (Jerry Brown's pet rock)



071713
Free school meals kill Indian children | World news | guardian.co.uk - At least 20 children die and dozens hospitalised after eating school meals that may have been contaminated with pesticides (let them eat poison)
Taliban's letter to Malala Yousafzai: this is why we tried to kill you | World news | The Guardian - Adnan Rasheed tells schoolgirl she was targeted because Taliban believed she was running smear campaign

NSA warned to rein in surveillance as agency reveals even greater scope | World news | guardian.co.uk - NSA officials testify to angry House panel that agency can perform 'three-hop queries' through Americans' data and records - The National Security Agency revealed to an angry congressional panel on Wednesday that its analysis of phone records and online behavior goes exponentially beyond what it had previously disclosed. ("no big deal, we already knew that, what does exponentially mean?")(three degrees=half the people in the world)(4.74 may to the actual number of total connectedness)
ACLU on the Hill: NSA Surveillance "Intrusive and Unconstitutional" | American Civil Liberties Union
NJ Congressman Rush Holt Is Attempting To Repeal The Patriot Act And FISA Amendments Act | Techdirt

NSA-Affäre: Jimmy Carter kritisiert USA - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Die Regierung Obama versucht, Europas Ärger über Spähprogramme abzuwiegeln. Nicht so Ex-Präsident Jimmy Carter: Der Demokrat attackiert die US-Geheimdienste scharf. Die Aufdeckung durch Whistleblower Snowden sei "nützlich". Pres. Jimmy Carter defends Snowden, also says: "America has no functioning democracy." Could only find this on German news sites, not American (story banned in America)

Vladimir Putin: I will not let Edward Snowden harm Russia's relations with US - video | World news | guardian.co.uk
Lindsey Graham Edward Snowden Olympics Boycott - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - This is one guy, who released some documents, many of which were not as earth-shattering as his fans would like to believe, who's penned up in an airport with no particular place to go, and Graham wants to ratchet up the international political hysteria to an even more deafening pitch.
Slew of court challenges threaten NSA's relationship with tech firms | World news | guardian.co.uk - Unlikely coalition takes NSA – and the telecoms firms who own much of the web's infrastructure – to court over bulk surveillance
British Spies Used PRISM Data, U.K. Says It Was Perfectly Legal (yeah, perfectly)
U.S. Secret Surveillance Is A Major Election Issue In Germany - Allegations of widespread U.S. data surveillance have created turbulence for Angela Merkel on what looked like a smooth cruise to a third term as German chancellor, even though it remains to be seen whether the flap will threaten her seriously. (of course not)
Millions of US license plates tracked and stored, new ACLU report finds | Law | guardian.co.uk - Alarming number of databases across US are storing details of Americans' locations – not just government agencies (Police-State America)
The FBI Is Approaching Seattle Climate-Change Activists | Slog
Deep State on social networking privacy - Business Insider

[ORIGINAL RESEARCH] The Mountain of Evidence for a Massive International Pedophile Ring Protected by Police and Intelligence Agencies : conspiracy

Three_Letter_Agency comments on Michael Hastings Cremated, Family Never Requested; Wife Hires Private Investigator

Drone crashes into Florida highway - The Hill's Transportation Report - A Florida highway was closed on Wednesday after a crash involving a fallen drone from an Air Force base, according to reports.
EconomicPolicyJournal.com: Drone Crashes On Highway In Florida; Second Crash In One Week

Military Sexual Assault Cost The U.S. $3.6 Billion Last Year: Study (therefore, we must eliminate food-stamps)
US air force engineer sentenced to 15 months after making ssault allegation | World news | guardian.co.uk - Air force says investigation into Adam Cohen's sexual assault claim led to Cohen himself being prosecuted on various charges (jail the victims, that will save money)

JPMorgan in Talks to Settle Energy Manipulation Case for $500 Million - NYTimes.com

Senate Filibuster Deal An Embarrassment For Mitch McConnell - "Today was really, really bad for him," said one, revealing that McConnell was cut out of the deal and rebuffed by Reid twice when he tried to personally work his way back in -- including just minutes before the Nevada lawmaker went to the floor with McCain.

Liz Cheney Eyes Senate Seat in Wyoming - Dear Republicans: This Is Your Problem - Esquire - You may have heard that Liz Cheney, a woman whose last real accomplishment was being born to help keep Daddy out of the rice paddies, is running for the United States Senate in Wyoming. This is somewhat inconvenient for Republicans, since there already is a Republican in the seat in question.

The Banality of Richard Cohen and Racist Profiling - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic

Health Plan Cost for New Yorkers Set to Fall 50% - NYTimes.com - State insurance regulators say they have approved rates for 2014 that are at least 50 percent lower on average than those currently available in New York. (that socialist program that was going to bankrupt America)
Jim Cramer Says Warren Didn't Best CNBC Anchors: 'She Had No Impact' | TPM LiveWire - The always-wired Jim Cramer pushed back on Wednesday against the "weird strain of thought" that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) bested his fellow CNBC anchors during a rcent appearance on the financial news network.

The Strange Tale Of The Girl With The Faraway Eyes - Esquire - As her career in public office winds down, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Michele Bachmann, for one brief, shining moment your Republican front-runner for president of the United States, is one of the strangest ducks in the history of the United States Congress, and that's saying something, considering that once quacked there Ignatius Donnelly, the "Prince Of Cranks," and the man who pretty much invented Atlantis.
Jonnie Williams’ Ties To Former VA Gov. Nominee Jerry Kilgore | TPMMuckraker
GOP Lawmaker In Utah Wants To End Compulsory Education In The State | TPM LiveWire - State Sen. Aaron Osmond (R) argued that certain "parents act as if the responsibility to educate, and even care for their child, is primarily the responsibility of the public school system." ("and it would save a lot of money")
Fun With Andrew Sullivan - Esquire - Of course, if it were a couple of decades or so ago, and Cohen wrote pretty much the same thing, gussied it up with a lot of laughable pseudo-science about IQs, and changed his name to, oh, I dunno, say Charles Murray, he could have cashed a fat check from The New Republic.

Mitch Daniels Sought To Censor Public Universities, Professors - The emails are raising eyebrows about Daniels' appointment as president of a major research university just months after critics questioned his lack of academic credentials and his hiring by a board of trustees he appointed.
Mitch Daniels Howard Zinn Baned From Perdue - Coming Up A LIttle Short - Esquire - There was a time, and not so long ago, when Mitch Daniels, Indiana's value-sized governor, was considered the one great hope for the Republican party. This was despite the fact that he'd been Patient Zero in the economic pandemic that was the administration of C-Plus Augustus, having been Budget Director when the deficit was last seen outbound past the orbit of Mars.

America in ruins: how States of Decay captures beauty in derelict buildings - in pictures | Art and design | guardian.co.uk

Down Syndrome’s Extra Chromosome Silenced in Lab Cells - Bloomberg

blog.reddit -- what's new on reddit: New Default Subreddits? omgomgomg

071613
Beneath the Arctic, a Sleeping Climate Giant Stirs - weather.com Deadly Carbon Being Released? - "Permafrost soils are warming even faster than Arctic air temperatures -- as much as 2.7 to 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit in just the past 30 years," the mission's principal investigator, Charles Miller of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in an interview. (Methanapocalypse)
Louis C.K. Animation Imagines God Lashing Out At Global Warming Deniers (that would be Republicans)

Syria Violence: Pro-Assad Militia Kills 6 Mediators From National Reconciliation Committee
Greeks take to streets again amid general strike over job cut plans | World news | The Guardian - Demonstrators fill Syntagma Square in Athens ahead of parliamentary vote on measures demanded by Troika
EU takes tougher stance on Israeli settlements | World news | guardian.co.uk - 'Earthquake' directive will prohibit EU states from signing deals with Israel unless settlement exclusion clause is included
Egypt's everyday problems fester as political turmoil continues | World news | guardian.co.uk - For many Egyptians concerned with unemployment, red tape, fuel shortages and harassment of women, life is getting worse
China crackdown on corruption campaigners | World news | guardian.co.uk - Activists' trial on charges of illegal assembly shows new Communist party leaders will not tolerate challenge to their rule
EU to ban fipronil to protect honeybees | Environment | guardian.co.uk - Farmers will not be allowed to spray widely used insecticide blamed for declining bee population

Obama's secret kill list – the disposition matrix | World news | The Guardian - The disposition matrix is a complex grid of suspected terrorists to be traced then targeted in drone strikes or captured and interrogated. And the British government appears to be colluding in it

Email exchange between Edward Snowden and former GOP Senator Gordon Humphrey | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - 'I believe you have done the right thing in exposing what I regard as massive violation of the United States constitution'
Edward Snowden seeks temporary asylum in Russia | World news | The Guardian - US whistleblower has told immigration officials that he fears for his life, says Kremlin-friendly lawyer
Vladimir Putin: U.S. Has Blocked Edward Snowden In Russia - President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he wanted Edward Snowden to leave after three weeks holed up at a Moscow airport, but also signalled that the former U.S. spy agency contractor was moving towards meeting Russia's asylum conditions.
Glenn Greenwald, Guardian Reporter, Blasts Media, MSBNC Over Edward Snowden Stories - and said a recent Reuters story on Snowden was a "fabrication." Speaking in a radio interview, Greenwald also accused MSNBC talk show hosts of bias and said they were "desperate to distract attention away from [the NSA] disclosures." (lookin' at you, MHP)

State Department Brief Today on Snowden. Unbelievable - Democratic Underground (Psaki - Lee)

Eschaton: Restive Provinces - Widely forecast by who? - As protests over the verdict unfolded across the country, it became clear in Sanford that the widely forecast unrest was unlikely to come to pass. (Fox News, trying to create riots)
Rachel Maddow Skewers Fox News For Trayvon Martin Protests Coverage (o rly)
Washington Post Defends Richard Cohen Column Justifying Trayvon Martin Profiling (if the hoodie fits, you must convict)
I Guess Open Racism is Now Acceptable on the Washington Post Editorial Page - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Rush Limbaugh: 'I Can Now' Say 'N---a' (AUDIO) - Rush Limbaugh crowed on Tuesday that, after hearing an interview with Trayvon Martin's friend Rachel Jeantel, he was now allowed to use the word "n---a." He then used the word. (not about race, at all)
Eschaton: Black=Urban - We'll get a million lectures from racist white guys who aren't racist SO DON'T SAY THAT on the "reality of urban crime" in America so, you know, it's totally rational to fear scary black people.
George Zimmerman juror shelves book plans after angry backlash | World news | guardian.co.uk - Woman named only as juror B37 abandons plans to write book as NAACP puts pressure on DoJ to launch federal prosecution

Filibuster Deal Averts 'Nuclear Option' As Senators Reach Tentative Agreement - The Senate began stepping back from the "nuclear" brink Tuesday as leaders were said to be close to cutting a deal to approve seven of President Barack Obama's long-blocked nominees.
Richard Cordray Cloture Vote Threshold Passed, Nomination Advances In Senate - The Senate has voted to end a two-year Republican blockade that was preventing Richard Cordray from winning confirmation as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (Rethugs hate with a passion Consumer Protection)
Elizabeth Warren On CNBC - Please Stop This Fight Before Somebody Gets Hurt - Esquire - The gang at CNBC's Wall Street House Of Carnal Delights, Squawk Box, invited that silly faux-Indian woman from Massachusetts on to talk about her new bill to bring the Glass-Steagall Act back for the 21st Century. The next thing they knew, they were sprawled on the canvas, and somebody was waving ammonia capsules under their noses, and Mills Lane was standing above them, waving his arms.

The Dumbest Article You’ll Read Today - Lawyers, Guns & Money : David Brooks wins that title with most of his articles, but his piece fretting about men in the economy is particularly bad. (men are obsolete and so is David Brooks) ……I stand corrected. Richard Cohen saying that our fear of even mentioning crime committed by young black men is like our fear of talking about sex in the Victorian Era is the dumbest article you’ll read today.
Our Mr. Brooks Explains The Man Thing - Esquire - It's too damn hot, thought Moral Hazard, the Irish setter owned for photo-op purposes by New York Times columnist David Brooks, as he lay, tongue hanging out, on the back fire escape of the Young Fogies Clu

NY Times Front Page Quotes Far More Male Than Female Sources, Study Finds - From all the sources cited, 65 percent were male and only 19 percent were female. Seventeen percent of sources were unknown. (then they said, don't worrry your little girlie brain about it)

Jenny McCarthy's 'View' Hiring Met With Outrage Due To Her Anti-Vaccine Views
Jenny McCarthy's Dangerous Views on Vaccination : The New Yorker
Dear ABC: Putting Jenny McCarthy on “The View” will kill children - Salon.com - Anti-vaccine conspiracist and "View" co-host Jenny McCarthy isn't just quirky -- she spreads lies that hurt people (+HuffPo/Arianna promoted her shit)
Bill Nye: Jenny McCarthy's Errant Views On Childhood Vaccines May Be Discredited On 'The View' - Bill Nye is among those who take a dim view of McCarthy's new gig -- and the possibility that she will use it as a forum to spread her pseudoscientific views on vaccine safety.
The View: a good place to debunk Jenny McCarthy's autism quackery | Media | guardian.co.uk - Don't give McCarthy a platform for her dangerous beliefs, cry the critics – but the View women are pretty tough on dumb ideas

David Petraeus cuts academic salary to $1 after heavy criticism | World news | guardian.co.uk - Former CIA director's original salary of $200,000 from City University of New York spurred outrage in college system

Of Thee I Sing - Lawyers, Guns & Money : If the students of Hoover, Alabama want the government to provide bus service so they can get to school, they are basically moochers anyway and we don’t need them getting in the way of our freedom to not provide basic 20th century government services.
The McDonald’s Guide to Living On Its Wages - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - That McDonald’s. It’s such a sweet New Gilded Age corporation, helping its employees learn how to live on its minimum wage salaries. Here’s the sample budget journal (work 74 hrs a week, and give up heat and medicine)



071513
Typhoon Soulik, Torrential Rains Leave At Least 295 Dead Or Missing In China
Senior US diplomat affirms Washington backs 'democratic process' in Egypt | World news | guardian.co.uk - Deputy secretary of state William Burns dismisses claims US is supporting any one side while on high-level visit to Egypt
Ghulam Azam, Former Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Party In Bangladesh, Sentenced To 90 Years For War Crimes
Britain Expected To Legalize Gay Marriage Shortly
Vladimir Putin dives 50m below to examine shipwreck in latest stunt | World news | guardian.co.uk - Russian president takes to the Gulf of Finland in attempt to boost populist appeal following street protests against his rule
China Raises 2015 Target For Solar Power Capacity - China Real Time Report - WSJ - China has raised its 2015 target for solar-electricity capacity, giving a shot in the arm to its solar companies, many of which are struggling due to industry overcapacity, slow global demand and overseas trade disputes.

For NSA chief, terrorist threat drives passion to ‘collect it all’ - The Washington Post
The crux of the NSA story in one phrase: 'collect it all' | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - The actual story that matters is not hard to see: the NSA is attempting to collect, monitor and store all forms of human communication
GOP Not Anxious to End John Roberts’ Unilateral Reign Appointing FISA Judges | emptywheel
Can Edward Snowden cite human rights and still applaud Putin? | Peter Beaumont - The whistleblower had few options, but let's not forget Russia's illiberal record when dealing with opponents (what was he supposed to do, dude?)

How the Snowden Leaks Are Leveling the Oversight Playing Field - Philip Bump - The Atlantic Wire (suck it up, libtards)
Media Continues to Focus on Snowden Rather Than the Information He's Revealed | Freedom of the Press Foundation - Harris-Perry’s commentary denies the autonomy of journalists and pundits and implies that they are somehow hypnotized by Snowden’s escapades, rendered incapable of thinking for themselves. An appropriate response to Harris-Perry would be: Many of us are talking about whether accessing and monitoring citizen information and communications is constitutional, and that information is easily accessible online. So what’s stopping you?
MSNBC Host Melissa Harris-Perry’s ‘Beef’ with Edward Snowden is a Total Distraction | The Dissenter - her “beef” is much more like willful ignorance than a valid issue with Snowden that merits further debate.
Why The Edward Snowden Story Is Such A Psychologically Compelling Mess - Forbes

Richard Stallman: Snowden leak a chance for privacy, time to fight Big Brother — RT SophieCo
US government to declassify Yahoo legal docs on FISA, secret court opinion
Snowden leak: Microsoft added Outlook.com backdoor for Feds • The Register - NSA praises Redmond for 'collaborative teamwork'

Suppenbrain comments on Why We Can No Longer Trust Microsoft. If the NSA is spying on Microsoft products, why would anyone want to use them (especially European/foreign governments)?
NSA-proof your e-mail in 2 hours | Sealed Abstract
Spy-spotter: joke about scary visit came true - The Local - A German man who called on Facebook friends concerned about American secret service operations to join him in a walk around a US army spy centre near his home, found secret service men at his door checking his political leanings.

Bills Introduced by Congress Fail to Fix Unconstitutional NSA Spying | Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Case for Abolishing the DHS - Businessweek - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security was a panicked reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks. It owes its continued existence to a vastly exaggerated assessment of the threat of terrorism. The department is also responsible for some of the least cost-effective spending in the U.S. government. It’s time to admit that creating it was a mistake.
'Anti-Propaganda' Ban Repealed, Freeing State Dept. To Direct Its Broadcasting Arm At American Citizens | Techdirt (as opposed to the corporate shit we get all the time)

US under pressure to bring federal charges against George Zimmerman | World news | guardian.co.uk - Eric Holder says he shares concerns about Trayvon Martin's 'tragic death' and promises DoJ will renew federal investigation (but nothing will happen)
Our Vigilante Nation - Esquire - Besides race, which it was not about because nothing is ever about race, the verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman was not about guns, either
Here we go again: the Trayvon Martin verdict, and the white supremacist Groundhog Day that is American history by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly

Grandpa’s Pissed His Pants Again, He Don’t Give A Damn - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Shorter Roger L. Simon: “The biggest “loser” from Trayvon Martin being summarily executed for wearing a hoodie while being African-American and his killer escaping punishment is Barack HUSSEIN Obama, who by forcing Florida prosecutors to try George Zimmerman and denying him a fair trial caused racism to appear again in the United States. Also, Obama refuses to acknowledge that racism is over. I am not a crackpot.”
NRO Guy Not A Fan Of Murdered Black Kids, Kardashians Or Expressions Of Sympathy Extended To Grieving Families | TBogg - NRO website editor, professional supraorbital ridge model, and guy who substitutes *’s for u’s instead of dotting his i’s with little hearts, Dan Foster, is very very angry that people are not celebrating George Zimmerman’s good clean state-sanctioned kill of a black teenager who obviously had it coming for being a black teenager, and Foster is not going to put up with you motherf*cking bleeding f*cking heart motherf*ckers and your f*cking expressions of f*cked-up sympathy:
The Next Three Trials of George Zimmerman - Philip Bump - The Atlantic Wire

Senate Control in 2014 Increasingly Looks Like a Tossup - NYTimes.com

Hunger Games, U.S.A. - NYTimes.com - Something terrible has happened to the soul of the Republican Party. We’ve gone beyond bad economic doctrine. We’ve even gone beyond selfishness and special interests. At this point we’re talking about a state of mind that takes positive glee in inflicting further suffering on the already miserable ... But these days almost half of food stamp recipients are non-Hispanic whites; in Tennessee, home of the Bible-quoting Mr. Fincher, the number is 63 percent. So it’s not all about race.

Are Corporations Trying to Distract Us with Social Issues While They Take Control of Our Economy? | Alternet - Politicians are winning liberal hearts and minds on social issues, while embracing a corporate political agenda. History had provided the background for Obama’s changed views while Republicans had pioneered his tactics.
Golden Opportunity to Update Infrastructure Will Soon Be Gone | The Big Picture - But the era of cheap credit may be nearing its end. And thanks to a dysfunctional Washington, D.C., we are on the verge of missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” (Repubicans hate infrastructure because they have their own tractors or helicopters)
Farm Bill Deal to Hungry Americans: You're on Your Own - Corby Kummer - The Atlantic - On the day House Republicans split food stamps off the main package, it's time to revisit a devastating documentary about hunger in America.
How John Boehner became Bob Dole, and Republicans moved far to the right

Filibuster Reform - An Issue About Which I Don't Care - Esquire - If you don't have the votes to demolish the filibuster entirely, then don't bother with futile attempts to do it piecemeal. They're a bad idea.
The Nuclear Option and the “New Nullification” by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - This is use of the filibuster not to influence the president’s appointments, but to sabotage whole agencies, or at least make them hostage to demands that previously enacted laws they are charged with administering be radically changed without going through the normal legislative process.
John McCain Believes He Is President - Esquire - If it weren't for the bookers on The Sunday Showz, you'd have all the political influence of a hat rack. No, John, nobody in the administration is going to let you play president for a day and staff the NLRB. I'm surprised he hasn't broken ground for his library yet.

No, Teabillies, You Can’t Secede. P.S. STFU » Balloon Juice - What gets me about these secession efforts is that there is no more privileged cohort than rural Americans. Rural states get far more federal money than they pay in. One recent example: federal subsidies that pay to run telecommunications miles into the country to serve a few subscribers are funded by universal taxes on long distance, which means poor people in urban areas are paying for rural telephone lines.

Why the City of Miami Is Doomed to Drown | Politics News | Rolling Stone - By century's end, rising sea levels will turn the nation's urban fantasyland into an American Atlantis. But long before the city is completely underwater, chaos will begin (oh well, never mind on the infrastructure)
Rising Seas: A City-By-City Forecast | Politics News | Rolling Stone

Boston limiting new parking as number of residences soars - Business - The Boston Globe

The Republican War on Women, Ohio Edition - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - In fact, I think these types of restrictions, and worse as we go forward, can be expected any time Republicans control all three branches of a state (or god forbid, national) legislature

“The View” Hires Loathsome Vaccine Denier Jenny McCarthy, Thus Demonstrating ABC’s Utter Disregard for Health, Science, and the Lives of Humans Everywhere | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly
The View: Daytime talk show hires anti-vaxxer Jenny McCarthy.

Massachusetts figured out a simple solution to prevent domestic homicide: Target abusers. - Kelly Dunne started the Domestic Violence High Risk Team in 2005, and since then, not a single case she's taken on has ended in murder, and the men who have been sentenced to GPS tracking have not committed any future acts of violence. In addition, the team has done wonders to help victims return to normal life:

The Gatekeepers of Education Reform by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly - In order for any education reforms to get anywhere in America, they have to be Gates approved. Gates has thrown $472 million on higher education reform. The trouble, however, is that Gates has a very strong perspective, and great power, but not necessarily great ideas. (students are product)

Book Review: Project Terminated - When it comes to covering the intriguing world of cancelled aircraft, vanished spaceship concepts and ‘what-if’ scenarios,

Why Guys Really Hate Being Called ‘Creepy’
Marriage, Ukrainian-style: Hopeful bachelors from all over the world head to Odessa in search of a wife - Europe - World - The Independent - Western men are flocking to Ukraine to find love. But Odessa's dating scene isn't quite what it seems, as Shaun Walker discovers.
Sperm-like cells created by scientists - Health - CBC News (men no longer needed; eggs produce only females)

UnderstandingSociety: Graphing metadata

HBO Asks Google to Take Down “Infringing” VLC Media Player | TorrentFreak - It’s no secret that copyright holders are trying to take down as much pirated content as they can, but their targeting of open source software is something new.
Noahpinion: What is "derp"? The answer is technical.
Reddit Insight

071413
Two killed in US drone strike on Pakistani militants | World news | guardian.co.uk - Two suspected militants struck in North Waziristan region while seven others killed in Pakistani military operation ("suspected")
Israel targeted Russian-made missiles in Syria, US officials say | World news | guardian.co.uk - Reports suggest Israel attacked anti-ship cruise missiles sent to Assad regime near the port of Latakia
OpEdNews - Article: Fukushima Spiking All of a Sudden - Fukushima Radiation Leaks Rise Sharply, Officials Are Baffled As to Why (couldn't have anything to do with that fucking leaking nuclear plant)
Garry Wills on Pope Francis: he’s been “doing wonderful things,” but canonizing John Paul is not one of them by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly

Edward Snowden: I Have No Regrets - Snowden reiterated his view that U.S. cyber programs are “illegal” and “immoral,” framing his leaks as a “moral decision.”
Daily Kos: 10 Reasons Why Greenwald is Foolish (from three weeks ago, none of the libtard narratives are working)
Travellers' mobile phone data seized by police at border - Thousands of innocent holidaymakers and travellers are having their phones seized and personal data downloaded and stored by the police, The Telegraph can disclose. Mr Anderson said: “Information downloaded from mobile phones seized at ports has been very useful in disrupting terrorists and bringing them to justice. (thousands of attacks stopped; sorry, we can't name one because it's all secrit)

Inside look at the internal strife over Al Jazeera America | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - As the new US network is finally set to launch, serious concerns arise about its brand and intent: especially from within the organization

Eschaton: License To Kill - If the hoodie fits, you must acquit. And that's where we are.
Twitter / tnyCloseRead: I still don't understand what Trayvon was supposed to do.
George Zimmerman trial: black activists urge US officials to pursue civil rights case | World news | guardian.co.uk - 'Outraged and heartbroken' NAACP chief says death of Trayvon Martin meets benchmark for inquiry by Department of Justice (Obama's DOJ only goes after whistleblowers, so no)
Open season on black boys after a verdict like this | Gary Younge | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Calls for calm after George Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin are empty words for black families
Zimmerman saga was all about race - Salon.com - Let's get real
George Zimmerman Trayvon Martin Verdict - What George Zimmerman Can Do Now - Esquire - Some night very soon, if he so chooses, George Zimmerman can load his piece, tuck it into the back of his pants, climb into his SUV, and drive around Sanford, Florida looking for assholes and fucking punks who are walking through neighborhoods where he, George Zimmerman, defender of law and order, doesn't think they belong.
The Zimmerman Acquittal Isn't about "Stand Your Ground" - It's worse than that.
George Zimmerman found NOT GUILTY. : news (18,000+ Reddit comments)
Florida Justice - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Marissa Alexander had never been arrested before she fired a bullet at a wall one day in 2010 to scare off her husband when she felt he was threatening her. Nobody got hurt, but this month a northeast Florida judge was bound by state law to sentence her to 20 years in prison. (+fuck you, John Roberts)
George Zimmerman Gun: Weapon Used To Kill Trayvon Martin Will Be Returned

US blocks crackdown on tax avoidance by net firms like Google and Amazon | Business | The Guardian - France fails to win backing for tough new international rules targeting online companies in run-up to G20 summit (Obama always lets the corps/banksters go free)
Homelessness, hunger, the immiseration of the unemployed, decimated Head Start programs and public schools: all brought to you, courtesy of the sequester by Kathleen Geier | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - The federal budget sequester — that Rosemary’s baby that resulted from the unholy alliance between political elites’ bipartisan fetish and its austerity mania — continues to wreak havoc in the lives of millions of Americans.(another one of Obama's bargains that failed, disasterously, of course)

“Meritocracy” is not what you think: don’t forget about the “ocracy” — The Monkey Cage - In a meritocracy, the whole point of having “merit” is that you can run things (“ocracy”), and the point of running things is that you can get good jobs for your family and friends.
Lamentably common misunderstanding of meritocracy « Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science
American Beliefs about Economic Opportunity and Income Inequality « Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science
Mechanical model of personal income distribution - It is found that in relative terms the PID in the US has not been changing since 1947. ( the distribution of higher incomes is the realization of probability only and does not depend on “merits” of the owners.)
Communication Method, Scale, and Entropy | How We Know Us - However, when look at the observed conditional entropy (below the fold), the differences become clear: communication patterns are very different by media type, even as the networks scale similarly in communicants. Maybe McLuhan was right.

Pontiac teachers’ health insurance cancelled when district uses insurance premiums to balance its books | Eclectablog - It’s important to note that this isn’t just moving around piles of money that are in the school district’s budget. They literally took money the teachers paid out of pocket and applied it to their bottom line. The outcome is that these teachers effectively had their benefits stripped and their pay cut at the same time and they never even knew it was happening. It is theft, pure and simple.

My New Hero, Kathleen Kane aka Destroyer of Democracy | Rumproast - last month’s DOMA Doom party had barely cleared before I realized—Hey! maybe this means that Pennsylvania’s own state law banning gay marriage is equally unconstitutional. Lo and behold, the same thought occurred, simultaneously to the ACLU, 23 citizens of the Keystone State and Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, Kathleen Kane.
Agreement Reached in Lawsuit Against Indianapolis Public Schools For Failing to Protect Gay Student | NCLR Blog: Out for Justice - The severe bullying that Dynasty endured at Arsenal Tech caused both psychological and educational harms that were compounded by the school’s insistence on blaming Dynasty for being ‘too flamboyant.’

Destabilizing the Jenny McCarthy Public-Health Industrial Complex - David M. Perry - The Atlantic - Giving the anti-vaccine advocate a platform is dangerous. (shame on The View)

Eschaton: My Right To Free Parking Is Sacrosanct - New buildings must have off street parking, while I must keep my cheap residential parking sticker without any kids getting off my lawn. (Globe's Lawrence Harmon wants other people to pay for his nearly-free parking, of course)

ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find - WSJ.com - Studies of Children With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Find Little Change - Many students report they find themselves absorbed in cleaning their rooms rather than studying.

Nokia Lumia 1020 preview: Take two - GSMArena.com

071313
'It was a kill mission': independent Bin Laden panel contradicts US claims | World news | guardian.co.uk - Comprehensive report from Abbottabad Commission describes US raid on Pakistani compound as a 'criminal act of murder' (Obama lied, as usual)

S. American states to recall ambassadors from Europe over Bolivian plane incident — RT News (no American media will touch this)
UN human rights chief says whistleblowers need protection — RT News - In her first reference to whistleblower Edward Snowden’s case, UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay has called on all countries to protect the rights of those who uncover abuses and stressed the need to respect the right for people to seek asylum. (this one either)

Greenwald: Snowden has enough information to cause US govt ‘worst damage in history’ — RT News - When asked whether he believed that someone would attempt to harm or kill the whistleblower, he said that Snowden has “already distributed thousands of documents and made sure that several people around the world have their entire file,” stating that it would be beneficial for anyone to attempt assassination. “If something happens, all the information will be revealed, and that would be [America’s] worst nightmare,” he said.

Edward Snowden caught in asylum catch-22 | World news | guardian.co.uk - No valid passport, conditional asylum offers and US diplomatic pressure make it hard for NSA whistleblower to leave Moscow
Snowden announces he will seek asylum in Russia - audio | World news | guardian.co.uk
Snowden Agrees To Stop Leaks: Report
Snowden documents could be 'worst nightmare' for U.S.: journalist | Reuters - "Snowden has enough information to cause harm to the U.S. government in a single minute than any other person has ever had," Greenwald said in an interview in Rio de Janeiro with the Argentinean daily La Nacion.
This Week in Review: Snowden’s flight continues, and the Tribune Co. cuts and runs from print » Nieman Journalism Lab
Matt Lee Destroys Jen Psaki on Obama Admin Transparency - YouTube (Obama has revoked the First Amendment; no really)

GGSideDocs: Email to Walter Pincus - That you decided to write an entire column grounded solely in baseless innuendo is between you and your editors. But your assertion of several factually false claims about me, Laura Poitras, and others is not (Pincus demolished)
If there’s one thing traditional media outlets still suck at, it’s making corrections — paidContent - The Washington Post’s delay in responding to complaints about a piece that one of its columnists wrote is just another sign of how out of touch many media outlets are when it comes to correcting their mistakes.
Washington Post corrects Walter Pincus column | Poynter.
The Washington Post (Finally) Corrects Its Error-Riddled Snowden Column - Abby Ohlheiser - The Atlantic Wire

161719 comments on I believe the government should be allowed to view my e-mails, tap my phone calls, and view my web history for national security concerns. CMV
How Much Is the US Government Spying On Americans? | The Big Picture - Anyone Who Says the Government Only Spies On Potential Bad Guys Is WRONG

H.R. 5949 (112th): FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012 (On Passage of the Bill) -- GovTrack.us
H.R. 5949 (112th): FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012 (On Passage of the Bill) -- GovTrack.us

Rammstein - Amerika - YouTube

No More Mister Nice Blog - In Case You Weren't Sufficiently Undermotivated ... (Obama has always hated Democratic voters)

In the South, the GOP Is A-OK with Being the White People Party - In state legislatures in the South, Republicans aren't concerned about reaching out to minorities—just the opposite, in fact!
Fracklandia? Gunorado? by Ed Kilgore | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly (wake up, Ed, it's Whitelandia!)

'Texas thinks of women as second-class citizens – if it thinks we're citizens at all' | World news | The Observer - Some Democrats see the abortion row played out in Austin's statehouse as a turning point for Texas liberals. But with the bill now passed by the senate, others warn that life will get even harder (Rethugs and their vagina obsession)

Radley Balko: “Once a town gets a SWAT team you want to use it” - Salon.com - America's police are beginning to look like an army, and the author says there's very little we can do about it

The Electricity Grid’s Big Climate Change Problem | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly

Wal-Mart Is Scared of These True Stories From Its Own Employees
Why Costco Rules in Hearing Aids ... and Gummy Bears - Businessweek - The average person who needs a hearing aid waits about seven years before actually getting one

Portrait of Jesus displayed at middle school - Freedom From Religion Foundation - The Freedom From Religion Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and individual plaintiffs have agreed to settle their lawsuit against the public school district in Jackson, Ohio, for displaying a large portrait of Jesus above the entrance to Jackson Middle School. The district has agreed to permanently remove the portrait. (taxpayer-funded Jesus)

Gawker Misreads the WSJ on Vaccines and Immunity (UPDATED) : Columbia Journalism Review
New Report Says: Jenny McCarthy's Son May Not Have Had Autism After All - Hollywood Life - After years of speaking publicly about her belief that MMR shots (immunization for measles, mumps, and rubella) caused her son to suffer from autism, Jenny McCarthy now faces the reality that her 7-year-old son Evan — who no longer shows any signs of autism — may likely have lived with completely different illness. the Center of Disease Control, say her claims about immunizations make her “a menace to public health.” (way to go, The View)
How Long Can You Wait to Have a Baby? - Jean Twenge - The Atlantic - Deep anxiety about the ability to have children later in life plagues many women. But the decline in fertility over the course of a woman’s 30s has been oversold. Here’s what the statistics really tell us—and what they don’t. In other words, millions of women are being told when to get pregnant based on statistics from a time before electricity, antibiotics, or fertility treatment.
'Survival of the wrongest' : Columbia Journalism Review - How personal-health journalism ignores the fundamental pitfalls baked into all scientific research and serves up a daily diet of unreliable information

The Pizza Belt: the Most Important Pizza Theory You'll Read - Taken at its strictest, The True Pizza Belt runs, more or less contiguously, hugging the coast, from southern New Jersey to Providence, R.I.

Sex on Campus - She Can Play That Game, Too - NYTimes.com (they drink a lot too)
After Year-Long Investigation, NYT Finds UPenn Women Like Casual Sex

071213
Typhoon Soulik threatens chaos in China and Taiwan as flood toll mounts | World news | guardian.co.uk - Schools, offices and airlines closed or disrupted with more than 200 dead after torrential rain in parts of China
Paris train crash kills six people and injures hundreds | World news | guardian.co.uk - Intercity train travelling to Limoges derails and crashes into platform at Brétigny-sur-Orge station in Paris suburb
Saudi princess bailed on charge of human trafficking in California | World news | guardian.co.uk - Meshael Alayban to return to court on 29 July to face allegations she subjected Kenyan maid to 'forced labour'
Afghan judges free three jailed for torture of child bride Sahar Gul | World news | The Guardian - Three freed despite imprisoning, starving and burning girl sold into marriage as new laws could prevent relatives testifying against each other
Whiskey Fire: Ireland Is Now Officially Better Than Texas - Ireland now legislatively permits abortion in cases where the woman's life is threatened.
Creighton replaced as Dáil passes new abortion law - Political News | Irish & International Politics | The Irish Times - Thu, Jul 11, 2013 (for the Irish comments)

Eschaton: It's Working!!! - Of course the people in charge of deciding the fate of Greece don't think ameliorating economic misery is really their goal. No bit of bad data will convince them that maybe they did the wrong thing.

Edward Snowden accuses US of illegal, aggressive campaign | World news | The Guardian - Whistleblower uses first public appearance since surveillance leaks to defend decision and praise states which offered asylum
Edward Snowden inflames US-Russian tensions with Moscow meeting | World news | guardian.co.uk - Obama and Putin to discuss situation after NSA whistleblower meets representatives of human rights agencies in Moscow
Snowden: "I believe in the principle declared at Nuremberg in 1945: "Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience. Therefore individual citizens have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring." : politics

The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - Is the White House seriously asking Vladmir Putin to slap a gag on Snowden? Is that the kind of optics they want? Getting a former KGB button-man to silence your critics? And how does letting Snowden present his own case in public damage "American interests" exactly? It's not like he's calling a press conference to hand out the nuclear codes. (+more uninformed and short-sighted comments)

Justice Department Revises Media Guidelines In Leak Investigations - The Justice Department will be restricted from labeling a journalist as a criminal co-conspirator in seeking a search warrant to gain access to reporting materials under new media guidelines issued on Friday. (can still wire-tap, though)

Fracking linked to earthquakes, study finds | The Raw Story

The 4 Worst New Anti-Abortion Laws…in the Past 3 Weeks | Mother Jones - Republican legislators and governors have advanced a flurry of anti-choice laws just this month. (the Taliban going nuts on ladyparts)
Tampons Confiscated, Guns Still Allowed At Texas Capitol Ahead Of Abortion Vote [UPDATE] - Tampons Confiscated, Guns Still Allowed At Texas Capitol Ahead Of Abortion Vote
Pat McCrory Would Sign Motorcycle Abortion Bill, Despite 2012 Campaign Promise

There's No Republican Party—There Are 5 of Them - Norm Ornstein - The Atlantic - There is a House party, a Senate party, and a presidential party, of course. But there is also a Southern party and a non-Southern one. The two driving forces dominating today's GOP are the House party and the Southern one -- and they will not be moved or shaped by another presidential loss. If anything, they might double down on their worldviews and strategies.

States Push Post-Citizens United Reforms As Washington Stands Still

Bob McDonnell's stunning fall from grace - Alexander Burns - POLITICO.com - The question everyone’s raising now is: How on earth did McDonnell let this happen? How did a famously disciplined politician set himself up for this operatic dive from the peak of American political life?

All-Male Iowa Supreme Court Rules Firing Of Woman For Being Too Attractive Was Legal - The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday stood by its ruling that a dentist acted legally when he fired an assistant because he found her too attractive and worried he would try to start an affair.

The Employment Mismatch - Special Reports - The Chronicle of Higher Education (let's turn liberal-arts colleges into vo-tech training with a very short half-life)

Sarah Lacy Is a Free Market Monster - How dare the transit workers have made life inconvenient for the only people who really matter, the ones who are changing the world with their startups?
Silicon Valley’s Anti-Unionism and Class Warfare -- Daily Intelligencer - In other words, it's not Silicon Valley's rejection of organized labor that should surprise us. It's the class hostility that now often rides along with it.

Three Responses to Hateful Homophobe Orson Scott Card's Plea for "Tolerance" | Slog (you need to "tolerate" his bigotry by reading his books and going to his movie)
Lionsgate Releases Statement Regarding Ender's Game - ComingSoon.net

First estrogen receptor mutation found in a young woman - The 18-year-old wasn't experiencing breast development or menstruation, classic symptoms of too little estrogen, the usual cause of delayed puberty. Subsequent studies revealed instead sky-high levels of the sex hormone in her blood, said Dr. Lawrence C. Layman, Chief of the Section of Reproductive Endocrinology

071113
Dangerous global warming could be reversed, say scientists | Environment | guardian.co.uk - A combination of burning trees for energy and capturing and storing carbon dioxide could offset and even reverse emissions

Sudden Improvements in Egypt Suggest a Campaign to Undermine Morsi - NYTimes.com - Sudden Improvements in Egypt Suggest a Campaign to Undermine Morsi
Israel admits holding second secret prisoner | World news | guardian.co.uk - A second secret prisoner is being held in same jail that Israeli-Australian spy known as Prisoner X killed himself in 2010

Quebec's Lac-Mégantic oil train disaster not just tragedy, but corporate crime | Environment | guardian.co.uk - At the root of the explosion is deregulation and an energy rush driving companies to take ever greater risks

NSA Blackmailing Obama? | Interview with Whistleblower Russ Tice - YouTube - NSA Blackmailing Obama? | Interview with Whistleblower Russ Tice
Trapped: An air escape from Moscow unlikely for NSA leaker Snowden | McClatchy
NSA surveillance: French human rights groups seek judicial investigation | World news | guardian.co.uk - Two groups file lawsuit in attempt to prompt investigation in France into disclosures made by Edward Snowden
Revealed: how Microsoft handed the NSA access to encrypted messages | World news | guardian.co.uk - Secret files show scale of Silicon Valley co-operation on Prism • Outlook.com encryption unlocked even before official launch • Skype worked to enable Prism collection of video calls
Yahoo wants Fisa objections revealed | Technology | guardian.co.uk - Company says court papers would show the public it fought strenuously against intelligence agencies accessing its data
Lawmakers say administration’s lack of candor on surveillance weakens oversight - The Washington Post (NSA: we don't need no steenking oversight)
Spying on Americans: A “Team Sport” Since 2004 | emptywheel - The information the NSA collects from Prism is routinely shared with both the FBI and CIA.
Jailed Journalist Barrett Brown Faces 105 Years For Reporting on Hacked Private Intelligence Firms | Democracy Now!
Public inquiry into the implications of GCHQ's 'Tempora' programme | Campaigns by You
The NSA Has Inserted Its Code Into Android OS, Or Three Quarters Of All Smartphones | Zero Hedge
Netherlands establishes inquiry into security service links to Prism - European News | Latest News from Across Europe | The Irish Times - Fri, Jul 05, 2013 - Dutch MPs insist on independent investigation
AIUK : USA must not hunt down whistleblower Edward Snowden
The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - The Washington Post, a once-great newspaper now operating as an adjunct to the educational-testing industry, issued a whopper of a correction today as regarding a hit-piece its veteran national security correspondent Walter Pincus did on Edward Snowden and his primary publicist, Glenn Greenwald.
Courage - A Tribute to Whistleblowers on Vimeo
The Politics of Conspiracy Theory on Vimeo
United Stasi of America Lightart Protest Projection U.S. embassy in Berlin - YouTube
Obama signs executive order to allow shut down of all US communications - West Palm Beach News | Examiner.com

Who is a journalist? Manning trial poses question of vital public interest | Jeff Jarvis | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - In this age of radically open networks, journalism is no longer a profession. It is a service to inform society anyone can provide

Warren Bill To Bring Back Glass-Steagall - Business Insider - Today, she'll introduce a bill to reenact Glass-Steagall.
Conservatives Hate All Legislation Now -- Daily Intelligencer
Can the Democrats really win back the House in the 2014 midterms? | Harry J Enten | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - According to one reputable pollster, they can. But the data don't support it: without a big boost for Obama, it's wishful thinking
Jeff Merkley: Leader on Liberal Issues, Filibuster Reform | New Republic - How the Senate has frustrated Jeff Merkley
Sen. Warren Uses CBO Numbers -- and Still Gets Dinged by the WaPo Fact Checker | Jared Bernstein - So, let's review: Sen. Warren, in an argument in support of affordable student loans, used official CBO numbers based on sound and accurate accounting, yet was scored by the WaPo factchecker as getting the numbers half-wrong (she got two out of four "Pinocchios").

North Carolina Republicans sneak antiabortion provisions into motorcycle safety bill - Salon.com - State GOPers, without notice, tacked sweeping antiabortion provisions onto yet another unrelated bill (Republicans riding their motorcycles up your vagina)

Even More About Whites and the Safety Net - NYTimes.com
Charles Koch Foundation: An Income Of $34,000 Puts You In The Wealthiest 1 Percent (VIDEO) - Charles Koch Foundation: An Income Of $34,000 Puts You In The Wealthiest 1 Percent (video)

Reid Sets Votes On Nominees, Threatens Nuclear Option If GOP Filibusters | TPMDC - “Senator McConnell broke his word,” Reid said. “The Republican leader has failed to live up to his commitments. He’s failed to do what he said he would do — move nominations by regular order except in extraordinary circumstances. I refuse to unilaterally surrender my right to respond to this breach of faith.”

The State of US Health Ain’t so Good | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly


071013
China warns of grim trade outlook after surprise 3% fall in exports | Business | guardian.co.uk - Figures defy expectations and likely to raise fresh concerns about extent of slowdown in economy and global demand

The Snowden Effect: definition and examples » Pressthink - It’s about what he set in motion by taking the action he did. (first use: Charlie Pierce on Jun 10; took a month for the size of the story to sink in)
Why Edward Snowden's Motives Matter - NationalJournal.com - Contra Ben Smith, the leaker's intentions are as important as the leaks themselves.
Debating ‘The Snowden Effect’ — MSNBC

Glenn Greenwald: Edward Snowden Will Likely Go To Venezuela
Edward Snowden Says He Gave No Information To Russians: Report (even though Putin sat on him)
Edward Snowden: Russia, China Did Not Get Any Documents From Me
National Security Policies Go Too Far In Restricting Civil Liberties: Poll - Men, by a 54-34 margin, said that policies had gone too far, while women, by a 47-36 margin, said they had not gone far enough, revealing a sizable gender gap. (women love their fascist daddies)
U.S. Government Pays Hundreds Of Dollars To AT&T And Verizon For Every Wiretap

Oliver Stone on the NSA: 'The government's gigantic surveillance machine is eating our freedom' – video | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
NSA scandal delivers record numbers of internet users to DuckDuckGo | World news | The Guardian - Gabriel Weinberg, founder of search engine with zero tracking, credits Prism revelations with prompting huge rise in traffic
Opt out of PRISM, the NSA’s global data surveillance program - PRISM Break - Stop the American government from spying on you by encrypting your communications and ending your reliance on proprietary services.
The Best Browser Extensions that Protect Your Privacy
Google backlash: Prism leaves red ink | madeupname3

Hurricanes And Climate Change: Storms Likely To Get Stronger And More Frequent, Study Shows (Republicans say Al Gore is fat)

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to appear in court in Boston bombing case | World news | guardian.co.uk - Boston Marathon bombing suspect is charged with using weapon of mass destruction in attacks that left three people dead

Comey's Crickets | The Nation - Which brings us to the problem of Barack Obama: “None of the Republicans he’s nominated seems to have extraordinary qualifications for their posts other than the R next to their names which makes confirmation easier.” (pro-torture, pro-spying on Americans Obama)
More Questions for James Comey | The Nation
Torture Without Accountability - Why hasn't the Obama administration tried to prosecute any Bush-era torture crimes? (what a disaster this guy has been: arrogant, out-of-touch, anti-American)

Employment Non-Discrimination Act Passes Senate Committee - Currently, federal law bans employment discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age and disability, but not on sexual orientation or gender identity. This means that, in the 33 states that don't explicitly have such a ban right now, people can be fired, denied a promotion or harassed solely for being LGBT.

More Regulation On Bank Capital Rules - Too Big To Exist - Esquire - Despite all their bravado, and the vast army of fixers and bagmen they've engaged to fight against any meaningful reform, the folks on Wall Street, the sweethearts who stole most of the world economy and then wrecked what was left, are still running scared. A consensus seems to be building -- from Sherrod Brown on the left to David Vitter on the right, and throughout the regulatory bureaucracy -- that the government went about as far as it could in enabling thieves, and that too big to fail is too big to exist ... Heads we win-tails we steal is no way to run a national economy. Visit us at Esquire.com

Democrat on Democrat: Warren spars with Manchin on student loan proposal - The Hill - covering Congress, Politics, Political Campaigns and Capitol Hill | TheHill.com - Warren was referring to a deal Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and two other members of the caucus, Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Angus King (I-Maine), struck with Republicans to peg student-lending rates to the 10-year Treasury notes. (Angus Fucking King, Republican)
Republicans: Obama Has Exceeded Presidential Authority (Republicans exceed previously-recorded levels of insanity)
Andy Sanborn, New Hampshire State Senator, Compares Obamacare With San Francisco Plane Crash - Sanborn first told WMUR.com that he had no memory of making the comment. When the tape was played for him, he said, "If I offended anyone I am sorry." (NH Republican rock-head and, of course, liar)
Beckel: "I Would Not Have Another Mosque Built In This Country Until We Got It Worked Out Who Is Not A Terrorist" | Video | Media Matters for America (Fox News "liberal")

Daily Kos: House Republicans debt ceiling offer: Pick your own ransom note! - Go big--by agreeing to privatize Social Security, for example--and get a deal that will raise the ceiling for the rest of President Obama’s term. (once again, Obama bargaining away your life for his crappy second term)
US diplomats cry foul as Obama donors take over top embassy jobs | World news | The Guardian - Former ambassador likens practice to 'selling of public office' as figures show average amount of cash raised is $1.8m per post (Obama has completely sold us out)

7 Ways The Obama Administration Has Accelerated Police Militarization
Militarized police overreach: “Oh, God, I thought they were going to shoot me next” - Salon.com - Local law enforcement's often using SWAT teams to do regular police work. The results are frightening -- and deadly
How A Crazy Sex Drug Inspired Mass Police Raids Across America - Business Insider

Chris Hayes: Rand Paul Has 3 Racist Strikes Now
McDonnell’s corporation, wife benefited from $120,000 more from donor, sources say - The Washington Post - The money to the corporation and Maureen McDonnell brings to $145,000 the amount Williams gave to assist the McDonnell family in 2011 and 2012 — funds that are now at the center of federal and state investigations. (WaPo writes entire article without mentioning he's a Republican)

Sarah Slamen, Texas Woman, Dragged Out Of Senate Amid Fiery Testimony Against Abortion Bill
Texas Abortion Bill Author In 2007: No Health Care For Unborn Because 'They're Not Born Yet' (yes, they are that stupid)
Sarah Silverman's 'anal probe' tweet sparks political row | Stage | guardian.co.uk - after a Democratic representative retweeted her stated desire to "anally probe" the governor of Wisconsin – in response to his having signed off new anti-abortion legislation. (mandatory anal-probes for transvaginal rapist Republicans floated)
North Carolina GOP Attaches Abortion Restrictions To Motorcycle Safety Bill With No Public Notice - North Carolina House Republicans are pushing legislation that would restrict abortion access, attaching the measure to an unrelated motorcycle safety bill on Wednesday and giving neither the public nor Democratic legislators any advance notice. (riding their motorcycles up your vagina)

Here We Go Again: Fox News' Palin Says She Is Considering 2014 Senate Bid | Blog | Media Matters for America

Drug War Testing Scandal - The Lust For Convictions In The War On Drugs - Esquire - Drug convictions were the glory train for showboating cops and ambitious prosecutors. Corners were cut in the law for them in the legislatures. Everybody in the system saw it, all the way down to the Annie Dookhans and Jonathan Salvadors. Everybody knew what worked. Everybody knew what was expected of them. The authoritarianism we see in our law enforcement first became embedded there in the war on drugs, and Annie Dookhan and Jonathan Salvador were just doing what they perceived was their jobs. (Obama hates drugz too)

Watch “Two American Families” right now - Salon.com - "Frontline's" new documentary offers a heartbreaking portrait of the new normal for the former middle class
REPORT: The Sunday Morning Shows Are Still White, Conservative, And Male | Research | Media Matters for America

Florida Accidentally Banned All Computers, Smart Phones In The State Through Internet Cafe Ban: Lawsuit - When Florida lawmakers recently voted to ban all Internet cafes, they worded the bill so poorly that they effectively outlawed every computer in the state, according to a recent lawsuit. (Lex Luthor at work)

Rare Mutation Ignites Race for Cholesterol Drug - NYTimes.com (Gina Kolata likes patents that make drugs very expensive)

Apple guilty of conspiring to raise ebook prices, federal judge rules | Technology | guardian.co.uk - Tech company to face trial for damages over attempt to thwart Amazon's dominance after book publishers settle with US (Apple price-fixing? Never! +arrogance)
Apple could be in court a long time on ebook case | The Verge - More than 33 state attorneys general and several class-action groups are waiting to collect money for ebook buyers
Antitrusting Apple: the plot with publishers to hike ebook prices | Dan Gillmor | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - It is hardly surprising that a federal judge found Apple guilty of conspiring to raise ebook prices. The evidence, based in large part on the company's own words, was overwhelming (Jobs' arrogance)

MSG and gluten intolerance: Is the nocebo effect to blame? - Slate Magazine - Gluten and MSG intolerance may be only in your head. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.

070913
Fukushima Groundwater Shows Record Radiation Levels
Egypt Political Roadmap Announced Amid Mass Protests
Egyptian state media backs military action as rival organs attacked | World news | The Guardian - Many independent as well as official news groups are supporting the interim president Adly Mansour
Lebanon Blast: Explosion Rocks Hezbollah Stronghold As Ramadan Begins - A car bomb rocked a stronghold of the Shiite militant Hezbollah group south of the Lebanese capital on Tuesday, wounding at least 53 people and setting several cars ablaze in the most serious knock-on effect from Syria's civil war on its smaller neighbor since the crisis began, officials said.
Toronto Storm 2013 Knocks Out Power, Stops Subways In Canada's Largest City (VIDEO/PHOTOS/LIVEBLOG) - Environment Canada said some parts of the city had been drenched with more than 3.9 inches (10 centimeters) of rain in the evening storm, easily beating the previous one-day rainfall record of 1.4 inches (3.6 centimeters) in 2008.
Rupert Murdoch to be recalled by MPs over comments on illegal payments | Media | guardian.co.uk - Move follows tape in which News Corp mogul tells Sun staff that payments to public officials were part of 'culture of Fleet Street'
Police investigate Rupert Murdoch over secretly recorded meeting | Media | The Guardian - Met investigates media mogul over alleged conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office following meeting with Sun staff
The 8 Craziest Revelations From The Osama Bin Laden Report (tippy-top-secrit)

Key witness in Bradley Manning trial: Guantánamo files just 'baseball cards' | World news | guardian.co.uk - Former chief prosecutor Colonel Morris Davis says WikiLeaks detainee files contained information already available publicly

US must fix secret Fisa courts, says top judge who granted surveillance orders | Law | guardian.co.uk - James Robertson breaks ranks and says he was shocked to hear of changes to allow broader authorisation of NSA programs (Obama should be indicted)
Alexei Pushkov, Russian Lawmaker, Sparks Confusion Over Edward Snowden Venezuela Offer - The net of rumors and uncertainties over NSA leaker Edward Snowden deepened Tuesday when a prominent Russian lawmaker tweeted that Snowden had accepted Venezuela's offer of political asylum, then deleted the posting a few minutes later.
The Snowden video sequel and Brazil fallout | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk (as usual, the comments are far better than any American site)
Glenn Greenwald: Edward Snowden "Satisfied" by Global Outrage over U.S. Surveillance Operations | Democracy Now!
Exclusive: Ecuador’s Foreign Minister on Snowden, Assange & Latin American Resistance to U.S. Spying | Democracy Now!
Obama Supporters Sign Petition to Repeal the BILL OF RIGHTS to Support the President - YouTube
Here’s what can go wrong when the government builds a huge database about Americans (it's to keep you safe)
How cryptography is a key weapon in the fight against empire states | Julian Assange | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - What began as a means of retaining individual freedom can now be used by smaller states to fend off the ambitions of larger ones

Lawfare › Making FISC More Adversarial: A Brief Response to Orin Kerr
Twitter / Search - #PCLOB
From Today's Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Workshop (with tweets) · froomkin · Storify

Elizabeth Warren Urges Senate To Confirm Richard Cordray As CFPB Director

Food Stamps May Be Split From Farm Bill In House (so they can starve the poor without consequences)
How Food Stamp Resentment Feeds Crabby Conservatism

Racists Love Ron and Rand Paul for Some Reason -- Daily Intelligencer

Moral Monday Rally: North Carolina Protest Against Abortion Bill Ends With 64 Arrests
Pennsylvania Gay Marriage Ban Faces ACLU Challenge
Orson Scott Card, Anti-Gay Author, Responds To 'Ender's Game' Boycott Campaign

Air Force Pulls Brochure Advising Sex Assault Victims To Submit - The Air Force has pulled a brochure circulated at a South Carolina base after a lawmaker complained about some objectionable advice to sexual assault victims — such as submitting to an attack rather than resisting.

Mexico Obesity Rate Surpasses The United States', Making It Fattest Country In The Americas - With a 32.8 percent adult obesity rate, Mexico just inches past the 31.8 percent obesity rate in the United States, according to a study released last month by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization.

Girl Living With Half Her Brain - YouTube



070813
Egypt: ‘51 killed’ in shooting at Cairo Republican Guard compound – live | World news | guardian.co.uk
Muslim Brotherhood decries killing of Morsi supporters in Cairo 'massacre' | World news | guardian.co.uk - Army says 'terrorists' tried to storm Republican Guard club where Mohamed Morsi is rumoured to be in detention
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Urges Followers To Rise Up After Deadly Clashes (live updates)
Al Jazeera staff resign after ‘biased coverage’ | GulfNews.com - Mahmoud added that the management used to instruct each staff member to favour the Muslim Brotherhood.
CNN Becomes Target Of Egypt Protesters
U.S. Considers Faster Pullout In Afghanistan - NYTimes.com - a “zero option” that would leave no American troops there after next year, according to American and European officials. (complete, costly failure, GTFO)

Edward Snowden: 'The US government will say I aided our enemies' – video interview | World news | guardian.co.uk - Edward Snowden: 'The US government will say I aided our enemies' – video interview
Edward Snowden: US surveillance 'not something I'm willing to live under' | World news | The Guardian - In second part of Glenn Greenwald interview, NSA whistleblower insists he is a patriot who regards the US as fundamentally good
Daniel Ellsberg: NSA leaker Snowden made the right call - The Washington Post (libtards howl)

US privacy group challenging NSA and FBI collection of phone records | Law | guardian.co.uk - Electronic Privacy Information Center to file petition asking supreme court to suspend FBI's blanket collection of data
DOJ Says Public Has No Right To Know About The Secret Laws The Feds Use To Spy On Us | Techdirt
Federal Judge Allows EFF's NSA Mass Spying Case to Proceed | Electronic Frontier Foundation - Rejects Government's State Secret Privilege Claims in Jewel v. NSA and Shubert v. Obama
NSA and GCHQ spy programmes face legal challenge | UK news | guardian.co.uk - Privacy campaigners file claim saying laws used to justify data trawling by Prism and Tempora programmes are being abused
The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - Can we take just a short break from the good fun we're all having trying to guess where Edward Snowden will land, and about how much of self-promoting show pony he may be, and return, however briefly, to the very serious argument within our democracy that his revelations have set off? (the conversation Obama never really wanted to happen because he lies all the time)

Brazil demands explanation from US over NSA spying | World news | guardian.co.uk - Foreign minister expresses 'deep concern' over extensive spying revealed in documents uncovered by Edward Snowden
FISA Court Interpretation Of 'Relevant' Allowed Broad Surveillance: Report - Reports on the court's rulings, which remain classified, seem to confirm the concerns of senators who are seeking to declassify the court's decisions. These senators allege that the FISC has interpreted the Patriot Act in unprecedented ways that Congress did not intend. (depends on what we think "relevant" means)
Adm. William McRaven Shields Files About Raid On Osama bin Laden's Hideout From The Public - The secret move, described briefly in a draft report by the Pentagon's inspector general, set off no alarms within the Obama administration even though it appears to have sidestepped federal rules and perhaps also the Freedom of Information Act. (Emporer Obama)

Bradley Manning lawyer calls for 'aiding the enemy' charges to be dropped | World news | guardian.co.uk - David Coombs files four motions with US military court asking judge to drop several counts because of lack of evidence

Defining Prosperity Down - NYTimes.com - We certainly can’t count on fiscal policy. The austerity gang may have experienced a stunning defeat in the intellectual debate, but stimulus is still a dirty word, and no deliberate job-creation program is likely soon, or ever. (Obummer at work)

Gallup: Fox News The Top Source Of Televised News | TPM LiveWire - A study released Monday by Gallup found that television is the leading source of news for most Americans and that, among specific sources of televised news, Fox News tops all competitors. ("news" = far rightwing lies and propaganda)
Criticizing CNN: Goodbye to that » Pressthink - I used to say: I criticize because I care. But I no longer do.
Jeff Cohen: How Do You Know When President Obama Is Lying? MSNBC Won't Tell You - The Snowden/NSA story proves once again that -- especially on so-called "national security" issues -- we need strong, independent media not enmeshed with the corporate/political power structure and not allied with one of the two corporate parties. (Harris-Perry is awful, Rachel misses the point) Al Jazeera America is watching MSNBC’s decline with great expectations.
Even Democrats Increasingly Reject MSNBC’s Spin | Mediaite

News from The Associated Press - Report: no widespread fraud found in SC elections (another fake scandal used to justify voter suppression)

8 shot on West Side - chicagotribune.com - 67 shot over long weekend (but terrorists!)

State-Level Assault on Abortion Rights Continues in First Half of 2013

Dr Attia at TEDMED: What if We're Wrong About Diabetes? | DietDoctor.com
Cholesterol and Heart Disease - YouTube
The Eating Academy | Peter Attia, M.D. The Eating Academy | Peter Attia, M.D.
TEDMED 2013...now I get it « The Eating Academy | Peter Attia, M.D. The Eating Academy | Peter Attia, M.D. TEDMED 2013
Ric Elias: 3 things I learned while my plane crashed | Video on TED.com
Manhood in the Mirror - YouTube

Franklin Avenue: We Found It, The Actual L.A. Location of Don Draper's Childhood Whorehouse

Kentucky ending private prisons | The Courier-Journal | courier-journal.com - first time in nearly 30 years Kentucky will soon be housing none of its inmates in privately-run prisons.


070713
SFO Plane Crash Cause Investigated By FAA, NTSB
Quebec train crash death toll rises to three as police search for more victims | World news | guardian.co.uk - 'We know there are going to be more deaths', says spokesman as fires continue to burn more than a day after crash
A Painful Mix of Fire, Wind and Questions - NYTimes.com

Egypt clashes continue amid faltering efforts to forge new government | World news | The Guardian - Tensions run high between rival protesters as crowds gather in Tahrir Square to support 'independence of the nation'
Morsi Spurned Deals, Seeing Military as Tamed - NYTimes.com
Obama White House rejects 'false claims' of Egypt interference | World news | guardian.co.uk - Statement says US 'not aligned with any political party or group' as Muslim Brotherhood questions ElBaradei reports
The Temptation of Coups and David Brooks : The New Yorker - But the conservative imagination, judging from two columns on Friday, can be even more degraded when it comes to coups.
Ali Ahmed, First Grader In Egypt, Excoriates Muslim Brotherhood (smarter than 87% of Americans)

Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia offer asylum to Edward Snowden | World news | guardian.co.uk - President Maduro offers to protect NSA whistleblower 'from persecution by the empire' and rejects US extradition request
US attempts to block Edward Snowden are 'bolstering' case for asylum | World news | The Observer - As Venezuela and Nicaragua offer help to whistleblower, experts say US actions are strengthening his case for safe haven
Sen. Menendez: Granting Snowden Asylum Is 'Taking A Step Against The US' | TPM LiveWire (we will bomb the shit out of them)
EUA espionaram milhões de e-mails e ligações de brasileiros - Jornal O Globo - País aparece como alvo na vigilância de dados e é o mais monitorado na América Latina - U.S. spied on millions of e-mails and calls of Brazilians Latest Snowden Leak Reveals!
Brazil Target Of U.S. Spying, Globo Newspaper Reports
The NSA's mass and indiscriminate spying on Brazilians | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - As it does in many non-adversarial countries, the surveillance agency is bulk collecting the communications of millions of citizens of Brazil (Menendez thinks this is totally fine)
Edward Snowden Accuses Germany of Aiding NSA in Spying Efforts - Spiegel Online - Snowden accuses the National Security Agency of partnering with Germany and other governments in its spying activities. New information also indicates close working ties between the German foreign intelligence agency and the American authority.
Snowden Spiegel Interview - 8 July 2013. Cryptome/A English translation and original German supplemented by Der Spiegel's English version published today. The two English versions differ.
Russia Official: Venezuela Last Chance For Snowden
Martin Dempsey: Edward Snowden Has Hurt U.S. Ties With Other Countries (by telling them the US was illegally spying on them, said without a trace of irony or self-awareness)
In Secret, Court Vastly Broadens Powers of N.S.A. - NYTimes.com - In more than a dozen classified rulings, the nation’s surveillance court has created a secret body of law giving the National Security Agency the power to amass vast collections of data on Americans while pursuing not only terrorism suspects, but also people possibly involved in nuclear proliferation, espionage and cyberattacks, officials say. (nothing Obama says can be believed)
NSA recruitment drive goes horribly wrong | World news | guardian.co.uk - Staff from the National Security Agency got more than they bargained for when they attempted to recruit students to their organisation earlier this week …
Tech companies are cooperating with US intelligence agencies more than you think | The Verge (but "everyone knows")

The Gun Report: July 3, 2013 - NYTimes.com (America loves dead children)
“Why did you shoot me? I was reading a book”: The new warrior cop is out of control - Salon.com - SWAT teams raiding poker games and trying to stop underage drinking? Overwhelming paramilitary force is on the rise

The Fall of the American Worker : The New Yorker
Meet The Press' David Gregory Falsely Claims All American Workers Will See Medicare Tax Increase As A Result Of Health Care Reform | Blog | Media Matters for America (if the richest 4.2 percent is "everybody")

The Bobblespeak Translations: Meet The Press – July 7, 2013

Female inmates sterilized in California prisons without approval - Health and Medicine - The Sacramento Bee - Doctors under contract with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sterilized nearly 150 female inmates from 2006 to 2010 without required state approvals, the Center for Investigative Reporting has found - From 1997 to 2010, the state paid doctors $147,460 to perform the procedure (each)

Virginia ultrasound law: women who want an abortion will be forcibly penetrated for no medical reason - Slate Magazine - Under the new legislation, women who want an abortion will be forcibly penetrated for no medical reason. Where’s the outrage? (Republicans love forceably penetrating women)
Christian Pastor: ‘I Believe That the Government Should Use the Death Penalty’ on Homosexuals - Fundamentalist Pastor Steven Anderson (says marital rape ok too)

The Atlantic In Paris--Dispatch #1 - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic
Manhood Among the Ruins - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic
Me and My Girls - The Night of the Gun - David Carr - NYTimes.com - Where does a junkie’s time go? Mostly in 15-minute increments, like a bug-eyed Tarzan, swinging from hit to hit.

Charles Saatchi: Nigella Lawson and I to divorce | Art and design | The Guardian - I am disappointed that she was advised to make no public comment to explain that I abhor violence of any kind against women, and have never abused her physically in any way." (and the bitch should have apologized for me trying to strangle her)
Women and sex: the myth-buster | Books | The Guardian - Zoe Williams talks to Daniel Bergner, the American author of What Do Women Want?, an explosive new book about female desire (not really monogamy)

Mysterious radio bursts come from outside our galaxy | Ars Technica - A huge surge of power in just a few milliseconds and then, nothing.


The hoaxer who breaks women's hearts | Life and style | The Observer (virtual reality)
Who is the most hated redditor of all time? : AskReddit
RSS isn't dead: the best Google Reader alternatives | The Verge
MIT tool connects the dots of your life through Gmail metadata | The Verge

070613
SFO Airport Plane Crash: Asiana 777 Passenger Jet Crashes While Trying To Land (Photos, Videos, Live Updates)
Dozens missing after oil train explosion levels Canadian town center | The Raw Story

Nigeria: Islamic Militants Attack School, Killing 30 - Some of the pupils were burned alive in the latest school attack blamed on a radical terror group, survivors said.
Egypt's Interim President Meets With Army Chief
Wall Street Journal says Egypt needs a Pinochet – can it get away with that? | Martin Pengelly | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - The Chilean dictator presided over the torture and murder of thousands, yet still the free-market right reveres his name
Brotherhood, Army risk Civil War: 30 Dead, Hundreds Wounded | Informed Comment
Egypt: on the brink of disaster | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian - It is, to say the least, ironic that the African Union called the coup for what it was and, notably, the European Union did not
Italian 'top mafia boss' caught in Colombia - Colombian police say they have caught the alleged boss of Italy's Calabrian mafia, who they described as Europe's most wanted drugs trafficker.
Rupert Murdoch knew about his papers' bribes culture : Columbia Journalism Review - An explosive secret tape from CEO’s crisis chat with arrested Sun journalists

Snowden affair puts Wikileaks back into spotlight - Wikileaks confirms that Sarah Harrison - a member of the Wikileaks legal team - "assisted Mr Snowden with his lawful departure from Hong Kong" and is "escorting him at all times" while in Russia.
Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua offer Snowden asylum
Iceland parliament declines Snowden's citizenship bid | Reuters
What Edward Snowden tells us about international relations theory | Daniel W. Drezner (everyone hates Wikileaks, for one thing)
PRISM fallout could cost US cloud industry billions, warns Europe's digital chief | ZDNet - US cloud service providers could miss out on business from EU firms because of anger of US government surveillance programmes

Lack of transparency means tainted justice for Bradley Manning | Alexa O'Brien | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Military obfuscation and compliant media make for an Orwellian trial of managed misinformation against the WikiLeaks source

Key US missile interceptor fails test again, says Pentagon | World news | guardian.co.uk - Department of Defense confirms third consecutive failure of system managed by Boeing (30 yrs of failure)

On The Political Economy Of Permanent Stagnation - NYTimes.com - I guess what I’m saying is that I worry that a more or less permanent depression could end up simply becoming accepted as the way things are, that we could suffer endless, gratuitous suffering, yet the political and policy elite would feel no need to change its ways. (why should it?)
Forward guidance: Good news should be good news.
Eschaton: Hope I Die Before I Get Old - I get why once upon a time people bought into the 401K fantasy. I do not know how people now imagine they can retire with any security without more generous social security benefits.
REPORT: Broadcast And Cable News' One-Sided Social Security Debate | Research | Media Matters for America - 68 Percent Of Segments On Social Security Advocate Cutting Costs (first they screw you with fantasy 401-K's then they want you to starve; Obama's "grand bargain" with the corporatocracy)

Climate Change And Wildfires: Bigger, Fiercer Blazes Expected In West (Republicans sequestering fire-fighting funds, dening global warming)

Davis for governor of Texas? Don't mess with it, Wendy | Harry J Enten | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - She got great press for her filibuster of a senate abortion bill, but don't bet on Wendy Davis turning a red state blue anytime soon
Jay Nixon Veto: Missouri Bill Would Have Nullified Federal Gun Laws - Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed legislation Friday that would have made it a crime for federal agents to attempt to enforce federal gun laws in Missouri and could have landed journalists in jail for publishing the names of gun owners in the state. (but they really, really, want to regulate your vagina)
The cost of America’s first black president | The Great Debate - The minority voting power that helped elect Obama, nonetheless, seems to have instigated a willful amnesia among the court’s conservative majority. Despite this flurry of recent voting restrictions, the court found that there is no current justification for the act’s federal oversight of mostly Southern states with histories of virulent racism.
Scott Walker Quietly Signs Mandatory Ultrasound Bill Into Law | ThinkProgress (Republicans all up in your vaginas)

Petraeusgate: Anatomy of a Scandal — Crooked Timber - Petraeusgate is a rapidly unfolding scandal of multiple parts and pieces
Passions of the Meritocracy | Chris Bray | The Baffler - General David Petraeus and his wandering PhD

Fifty worst charities: a reporters' resource : Columbia Journalism Review - A Laurel to the Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting for a report that other journalists can put to work
America's Worst Charities

How six papers observed the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg « Charles Apple « copydesk.org

New York’s Beau Monde Finds Downtown - NYTimes.com (disgusting)

Nevada cops sued over forced occupation of private homes — RT USA

Active brain 'keeps dementia at bay' - Keeping mentally active by reading books or writing letters helps protect the brain in old age, a study suggests.
Where Exactly Is the Middle of Nowhere? - True nowhere is actually in Idaho. (also, Northern Maine)

The Meme Hustler | Evgeny Morozov | The Baffler - Tim O’Reilly’s crazy talk - The Randian undertones in O’Reilly’s thinking are hard to miss, even as he flaunts his liberal credentials. (another government shrinker)
The spread of link rot | Felix Salmon - Greg Mankiw’s decision, back in 2007, not only to close his blog to comments, but at the same time to delete all the previous comments which had been made, with no warning. All the conversations which had taken place in his comments section, all the smart rebuttals which had been made — all of them just disappeared, overnight.
Adactio: Journal—Erase and rewind
Google Supposedly Paid Off AdBlock Plus to Not Block Google Ads
A Map of the Entire Internet, 1977

070513
Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog : Extreme Jet Stream Bringing U.S. Record Heat, Record Cold, and Flash Flooding | Weather Underground - The jet steam is exhibiting unusual behavior over the U.S., a pattern we've seen become increasingly common in summertime over the past decade.

Fighting across Egypt as Brotherhood supporters told to stay on streets | World news | The Guardian - Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader tells followers to continue protesting until return of ousted president Mohamed Morsi
Egypt's 'day of rejection' - live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk - At least three dead at Republican Guard HQ
For Islamists, Dire Lessons on Politics and Power - NYTimes.com
Shorter Wall Street Journal: “We Love Governments that Murder Thousands of People” | Americas South and North - "Egyptians would be lucky if their new ruling generals turn out to be in the mold of Chile’s Augusto Pinochet" (Satan's big mouth at work)
Who Should Stop Writing About Egypt Today? David Brooks (you know who else lacks some "mental ingredients?")
80 sexual assaults in one day – the other story of Tahrir Square | World news | guardian.co.uk - Egypt's women increasingly at risk of rape and sexual assault as rights groups warn of a step up in attacks
Canadian military still investigating Afghanistan sex assault claim | Toronto Star - Probe investigates claims Canadian soldiers told by superiors to ignore incidents in which Afghan boys were assaulted by allied soldiers
David Brooks Is Mentally Unprepared for Egyptian Democracy - "It’s not that Egypt doesn’t have a recipe for a democratic transition. It seems to lack even the basic mental ingredients." (ever the same racists)
Are Things Too Cozy In London's 'City' Within A City? : NPR - "They were always excellent in playing down their power to the public," he says. "But behind the scenes, they've been very, very significant in shaping British policy." (where business IS government)

Edward Snowden Asylum To Be Offered By Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro Says - "I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young American, Edward Snowden, so that in the fatherland of (Simon) Bolivar and (Hugo) Chavez, he can come and live away from the imperial North American persecution,"
Edward Snowden Poll Finds More Americans Now Think He Did The Wrong Thing - According to the new poll, 38 percent of Americans think that Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency, did the wrong thing, while 33 percent said he did the right thing. Still, 29 percent of Americans remain unsure about Snowden's actions. (Obama's propaganda is working; Americans have no clue; WaPo and NYT completely ignore Morales hi-jacking)
Edward Snowden is a whistleblower, not a spy – but do our leaders care? | World news | guardian.co.uk - Legislators and journalists alike have been cavalier in their condemnations of the man responsible for the NSA leaks (accomplices in fascism)
NSA leaks: UK blocks crucial espionage talks between US and Europe | World news | guardian.co.uk - First talks to soothe transatlantic tensions to be restricted to data privacy and Prism programme after Britain and Sweden's veto (why we can't trust right-wing Sweden)
Evo Morales threatens to close US embassy in Bolivia as leaders weigh in | World news | guardian.co.uk - Anger at US and EU from Bolivia's left-leaning South American allies at meeting to discuss rerouting of Morales' plane
Letters: Sovereignty at stake in Snowden saga | World news | The Guardian - France was probably within its legal rights, but it will be most interesting to see the American reaction when some country refuses overflying rights to USAF1 and compels it to make an unscheduled landing with President Obama aboard so that it can be searched for the presence of someone suspected of spying, the director of the National Security Agency perhaps.
Evo Morales threatens to close US embassy in Bolivia as leaders weigh in | World news | guardian.co.uk - Anger at US and EU from Bolivia's left-leaning South American allies at meeting to discuss rerouting of Morales' plane
European states were told Snowden was on Morales plane, says Spain | World news | guardian.co.uk - Spanish foreign minister declines to say where information came from that NSA whistleblower was on Bolivian leader's flight (a little bird, maybe?)
NSA revelations: why so many are keen to play down the debate | Nick Hopkins | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - The mass surveillance that Edward Snowden has exposed asks questions not only of government but of telecoms companies too
Seeking Snowden in Sheremetyevo - The Washington Post (the best WaPo could do to ignore almost everything)
Eugene Robinson: We can handle the truth on NSA spying - The Washington Post - I don’t believe government officials when they say the National Security Agency’s (NSA) surveillance programs do not invade our privacy. The record suggests that you shouldn’t believe them, either ... The biggest lie of all? That the American people don’t even deserve to be told what their laws mean, much less how those laws are being used.
Snowden's Twitter Marriage Proposal and the Latest Twists in the Scandal : The New Yorker

Prosecution case vs. Bradley Manning threatens First Amendment rights to free speech and press - World Socialist Web Site

E Pluribus Unum - NYTimes.com - The block-the-vote people know what they’re doing, but they also know that they mustn’t say it in so many words. (K tries a happy face)
Obamacare Delay Troubles Both Unions And Republicans - * AFL-CIO says White House decision is "troubling" (sells out again)

Whose Term Was It? A Look Back At The Supreme Court : NPR (yes, Roberts is a real asshole)
Voting Rights Act John Roberts - John Roberts, Bullshit Artist - Esquire


The 'religious freedom' ploy to block healthcare coverage of birth control | Jill Filipovic | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Rightwing Christians are abusing the right to religious liberty to impose their views on others and restrict access to contraception (liberty to oppress you with my primitive patriachial religion)

Harborside Health Center, Billed As World's Largest Pot Shop, Scores Big Win - A medical marijuana dispensary billed as the world's largest cannabis store may stay open while the city of Oakland fights a U.S. government effort to shut it down or seize the property, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday. (Obama doing his thing)

A Disease Without a Cure Spreads Quietly in the West - NYTimes.com - coccidioidomycosis, or valley fever, an insidious airborne fungal disease
Skin Cancer on the Rise in Young Women - NYTimes.com


Software as a Monthly Rental - NYTimes.com - There’s a new reason for Photoshop to be famous.
Photoshop's New Rental Program, and the Outrage Factor - NYTimes.com

070413
Star-Spangled Confederates: How Southern Sympathizers Decided Our National Anthem - The Daily Beast - Jefferson Morley relates the strange story of how ‘a poem of intense hatred’ set to a British tune became America’s national song.
The American Revolution was a flop - The Washington Post
American Exceptionalism

Egypt prepares for backlash as Morsi allies reject new regime | World news | The Guardian - Ousted Muslim Brotherhood mobilises for day of protest as hundreds of party's members are seized
Egypt's military arrest Muslim Brotherhood supreme leader | World news | guardian.co.uk - Mohammed Badie arrested in coastal city near Libyan border, officials say, as Adli Mansour sworn in as interim head of state
Adly Mansour Sworn In As Egypt's Interim President
Mohammed Badie And Khairat El-Shater, Muslim Brotherhood Leaders, Ordered To Be Arrested - Badie and el-Shater were widely believed by the oppositions to be the real power in Egypt during Morsi's tenure.
Mohammed Morsi, 15 Other Islamists Probed For 'Insulting Judiciary' (like Morsi's "disrespecting Islam")
Al Jazeera Offices In Egypt Raided By Security Forces
Catholic Cardinal calls openly gay ambassador nominee a ‘f*ggot’ | The Raw Story - The Archbishop of Santo Domingo recently referred to openly gay people as “faggots” while discussing the nominee for U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic.
Scandal and skulduggery at the Vatican - Can Pope Francis call a halt to the corruption gnawing at the heart of the Catholic Church?
US should press corrupt practices charges against Murdoch, says MP | Media | The Guardian - Secret recording 'another reason' for FBI to act, says MP, amid anger at News Corp boss's cash for police tips claim

Guantánamo hunger strike: US to force-feed detainees during Ramadan | World news | guardian.co.uk - Government says feedings provide 'essential nutritional and medical care' and will not interfere with religious observance (because they are expert Muslims)

Lawmakers Question White House Account of an Internet Surveillance Program - NYTimes.com - Obama administration officials quickly took credit for having shuttered the effort in 2011. But two Democratic senators who have been longtime critics of the N.S.A.’s domestic surveillance operations are now challenging the administration’s version of events, and say the program was abandoned only after they repeatedly questioned its usefulness and criticized its impact on the privacy of American citizens. (Obama always lies)

Google Translate : Flutningsmenn propose to Edward Joseph Snowden receive Icelandic citizenship already but under. 6 Article. the Citizenship Act, no. 100/1952, the Parliament of citizenship by law.
Evo Morales: plane rerouting over Edward Snowden 'a provocation' | World news | guardian.co.uk - Bolivian president says he regrets offering NSA whistleblower asylum, but Europe should free itself from US imperialism
Craig Murray » Blog Archive » All Law is Gone: Naked Power Remains - The forcing down of the Bolivian President’s jet was a clear breach of the Vienna Convention by Spain and Portugal, which closed their airspace to this Head of State while on a diplomatic mission ... To the US and its allies, international law is no longer of any consequence (Ogangsta)
Forcing down Evo Morales's plane was an act of air piracy | John Pilger | Comment is free | The Guardian - Denying the Bolivian president air space was a metaphor for the gangsterism that now rules the world ... revealing a vast Orwellian police state apparatus servicing history's greatest war-making machine, they illuminate the true extremism of the 21st century. Unprecedented, Germany's Der Spiegel has described the Obama administration as "soft totalitarianism". (NOTE: the same countries allowed overflight for kidnapping/torture renditions)
Snowden case: France apologises in Bolivia plane row - France has apologised to Bolivia for refusing to allow President Evo Morales' jet into its airspace, blaming "conflicting information".
Bolivia Rejects U.S. Request for Snowden After Flight Detour - Bloomberg - Bolivia rejected a U.S. extradition request for the fugitive former security contractor Edward Snowden one day after speculation that President Evo Morales was harboring him disrupted the South American leader’s flight home from a Moscow conference ... Snowden never spoke with Morales while he was in Russia and the former National Security Agency contractor is not on Bolivian territory, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday. That makes the U.S. request “strange, illegal, unfounded,” it said.

Bolivian Vice-President Álvaro García Linera: ‘today certain countries of Europe are subjected to the most terrible, ignominious obscurantism’ | Cunning Hired Knaves (in case you thought this was nothing)
Bolivia complains to UN after Evo Morales' plane 'kidnapped' | World news | guardian.co.uk - US refuses to comment on Morales plane but admits contact with other nations over potential Snowden flights (sorry, we were lying again)
Ecuador embassy bug unlikely to be work of security services, say experts | World news | guardian.co.uk - Expert in covert techniques says off-the-shelf plug socket device is unlikely to have been planted by state agency
Barack Obama agrees to talks with Germany to explain spying on allies | World news | guardian.co.uk - US president tries to allay concerns of Angela Merkel, insisting he takes European concerns about surveillance seriously (yeah, really seriously)
US and Germany to hold talks over European NSA surveillance concerns | World news | guardian.co.uk - Obama tells Merkel US 'takes seriously the concerns' but French interior minister admonishes US ambassador at 4 July party
EU Parliament Urges Blocking U.S. Data Access After Spy Leaks
France Intelligence Agency Spies On Phone Calls, Emails, Social Media Activity: Report

Guardian/Observer pulls front-page NSA story after source turns out to be a fruitloop who thinks Obama is gay – Telegraph Blogs - Guardian/Observer pulls front-page NSA story after source turns out to be a fruitloop who thinks Obama is gay (but read the comments)
FBI Document—“[DELETED]” Plots to Kill Occupy Leaders “If Deemed Necessary” - WhoWhatWhy
European firms 'could quit US internet providers over NSA scandal' | World news | guardian.co.uk - European commission vice-president says American cloud services providers could suffer loss of business (Oblunder)
Reporters Without Borders' Christophe Deloire, Julian Assange Urge EU To Protect Edward Snowden
NSA/GCHQ - The New Praetorians and the New Cold War » Golem XIV - Thoughts
NEW MODEL ARMY - 51st State (Video with lyrics) - YouTube
Kim Dotcom challenges New Zealand PM over spy agency laws - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) - Mr Key was forced to apologise to Mr Dotcom last year after it was revealed his government's spy agency, the Government Communications Security Bureau, had illegally tapped Mr Dotcom's communications.
z9maCYA.jpg (Yes We Scan) )

MasterCard breaks ranks in WikiLeaks blockade - MasterCard has broken ranks in the US-linked banking blockade against WikiLeaks.

What the TSA has in common with the NSA: unreasonable searches | Jennifer Abel | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - The NSA's surveillance and the TSA's hands on your junk: it's all a violation of citizens' privacy and our constitutional rights (Obama is in your private parts, too)

Obama’s Climate Action Plan: The Methane Problem With ‘Clean’ Natural Gas | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly

Occupy Oakland protesters awarded $1 million over police brutality | The Raw Story - The US district court in San Francisco made the award to a group of 12 protesters who complained of brutality during in confrontations with police in Oakland, California, in 2011.
Courthouse News Service - Henderson police arrested a family for refusing to let officers use their homes as lookouts for a domestic violence investigation of their neighbors, the family claims in court.

No jail time for Olympus bosses who committed $1.7 billion accounting fraud (there never is)

When the Default Rate is Higher than the Grad Rate, the College Is Probably Pretty Terrible by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly - . It turns out that at 265 colleges in America the default rate on student loans is actually higher than the gradation rate (Scam U.)

Longtime Marijuana Use Linked With Decreased Motivation, Study Finds

U.S. Government Is to Blame for Megaupload Data Massacre, Court Hears | TorrentFreak - Megaupload has asked the U.S. District Court to renew negotiations over the preservation of 1,103 servers that remain stored at Carpathia Hosting. If no agreement is reached, Megaupload fears that this data may suffer the same fate as the servers that were recently wiped by Dutch hosting company Leaseweb. Megaupload tells the Court that the destruction of the LeaseWeb servers is a direct result of the U.S. Government’s failure to act.

070313
Egyptian army suspends constitution and removes President Morsi – live | World news | guardian.co.uk - President Mohamed Morsi ousted by military coup • Army suspends constitution and promises early election
Egypt army ousts Morsi, who decries 'coup' | World news | The Guardian
Egypt: President Morsi defiant as army deadline runs out | World news | guardian.co.uk - Egyptian president vows to risk death rather than quit as he warns foreign leaders to stay out of nation's power battle
Mohamed Morsi loyalists ready to fight to preserve Islamist rule | World news | guardian.co.uk - For many Islamists, the removal of Morsi from power would be a coup not just against him but against Islam as they perceive it
American Networks Have Little Time For Egypt

Revealed: the Rupert Murdoch tape - Channel 4 News (Satan is arrogant)

CIA drone strike in Pakistan kills suspected militants | World news | guardian.co.uk - Government condemns missile attack on building near Afghan border said to have been used as unofficial sharia court ("suspected militants" = probably innocent civilians)
Researcher Exposes Government, Military Lies About Civilian Drone Deaths in Afghanistan | emptywheel - Lewis told the Guardian he found that the missile strikes conducted by remotely piloted aircraft, commonly known as drones, were 10 times more deadly to Afghan civilians than those performed by fighter jets. (many of those "suspected militants" were innocent civilians that Obama murdered)

Obama Administration: Federal Court Can't Intervene In Guantanamo Force-Feeding

U.S. Postal Service Logging All Mail for Law Enforcement - NYTimes.com

US admits contact with other countries over potential Snowden flights – live | World news | guardian.co.uk - . He said the US government was behind the rumours that Snowden was on board. "This is a lie, a falsehood," he said. "It was generated by the US government."
Bolivia to complain to UN after Evo Morales' plane 'kidnapped' | World news | The Guardian - US refuses to confirm or deny involvement in diversion of Bolivian president's plane over Snowden suspicions - Bolivia will file a complaint at the United Nations over what it calls the kidnapping of its president, Evo Morales
Bolivian president leaves Austria as diplomatic row erupts over diversion | World news | guardian.co.uk - South American nations condemn treatment of Evo Morales as envoy says plane search for Snowden violates international law - after a 12-hour interruption during which his plane was stopped and searched for the whistleblower Edward Snowden. In a midnight press conference, Bolivia's vice-president, Alvaro Garcia Linera, described Morales as being "kidnapped by imperialism" in Europe.
Bolivian President and Edward Snowden - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - A lot of somebodies in a lot of governments -- notably including this one -- need to lose their j-o-b's behind this. You can't simply hijack the president of a sovereign nation, force him to ground, and search his plane because you're pissed at a 29-year old hacker
Hidden microphone found at Ecuador's embassy in UK, says foreign minister | World news | guardian.co.uk - Microphone was found last month inside office of Ecuadorean ambassador, in building where Julian Assange resides
Glenn Greenwald Says Edward Snowden Statement 'Flavored' With Other Person (video)
How Does This Guy Still Have a Job? » Balloon Juice - Before the war, Clapper’s outfit was one of several intelligence agencies that endorsed conclusions that Iraq was working on chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. His agency analyzed satellite photos. (still crapping out lies +Collateral Murder in case you forgot)

Evo Morales’s controversial flight over Europe, minute by heavily disputed minute
The Tale of the Re-Routed Bolivian President's Plane Is Falling Apart - Philip Bump - The Atlantic Wire
Obama Lets Loose on Evo Morales | Mother Jones - The original headline of this post was "Obama Finally Shows His Chicago Thug Side for Real."
Angela Merkel: NSA snooping claims 'extremely serious' | World news | guardian.co.uk - German chancellor says fight against terrorism is essential but methods used must be proportionate
James Clapper, EU play-acting, and political priorities | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Fixations on denouncing Edward Snowden distract, by design, from the serious transgressions of those who are far more powerful
Eschaton: Discomfort - I wonder whether the reason Glennzilla raises hackles of people you'd expect to support, even admire, his work is because he makes them feel uncomfortable, in a "I don't really want to engage in self-examination" sort of way. Some of them are just self-serving hacks, of course.
CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou’s Open Letter to Edward Snowden | The Dissenter - His “most important advice,” as he writes, is to “not, under any circumstances, cooperate with the FBI.” (they will shoot you)
Wyden and Udall: As with Torture, Intelligence Committee Lies about Efficacy | emptywheel - So why are we collecting dragnets of American communications for no good reason?
SWIFT: Big Brother with a Booz Assist, Only without the Paperwork | emptywheel - In addition, in spite of demands that the program include no bulk downloads, that’s precisely what the US was doing.
Tasers with Wings | emptywheel - Among the other documents EFF has gotten in its FOIA on drones in the United States is a planning document for Customs and Border Patrol’s use of the Predator drone.
Cyclorama: A Guide to Celebrity Asylums and Defections | New Republic
Mass protests planned over web NSA spying revelations - Some of the web's biggest names have backed mass protests over internet surveillance carried out by the US National Security Agency (NSA).

David Petraeus can’t lose (unless he goes to jail)! - Salon.com - The former general and CIA chief is set to make a small fortune from a public university for no reason
More on the Real Petraeus Scandal - Lawyers, Guns & Money


We’re Not a Goddamn Christian Nation - The Daily Beast - Despite what many on the Christian right claim, America was not founded as a Christian nation. Author Fred Rich on why we should be afraid of their agenda on our Independence Day.

North Carolina Abortion Bill: State Senate Votes On Restrictive Measure

North Carolina Abortion Bill Passes Senate Despite GOP Governor's Rebuke
Marco Rubio To Introduce Abortion Bill In Senate: Report
OA
Rasmussen’s Bizarre Poll About Racism | TPMDC - The right-leaning polling firm Rasmussen Reports dove into America’s views of race on Wednesday with a bizarre survey that concluded most of the nation thinks blacks are more likely to be racist than whites.

Texas Trooper Shoves 74-Year-Old Then Arrests Her For Felony Assault When She Hits Him With Her Purse | Techdirt

No sign of HIV return in bone marrow transplant patients, say scientists | Society | guardian.co.uk - Two men who had longstanding HIV infections have stopped taking Aids drugs and have no detectable HIV in their blood
Nearly Half of All American AIDS Cases Are Found in Just 12 Metropolitan Areas - John Metcalfe, The Atlantic Cities - The Atlantic Wire

Waiters/Waitresses of Reddit, have you ever seen a couple date go sour right in front of your eyes? If so, how? : AskReddit

Why did Apple hire a Paris fashion executive? | The Verge (because they have always been a fashion company)
BBC - Future - Technology - The internet's new secret social codes (you know what I'm talking about)
Boston University sues Apple over 1997 patent, asks for ban on iPhone sales — Tech News and Analysis
Second teen spends months in jail for video game threat | The Daily Caller - Josh could get 10 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000.
6% of Online Adults are reddit Users | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project

070213
Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi Defies Military's Ultimatum In Tweet
Egypt: pressure on Morsi rises as military reiterates ultimatum | World news | The Guardian - Rival rallies held in Cairo, with Tahrir Square overwhelmed by demonstrators calling for president to cede power
Egypt on the brink: Report says 'road map' would suspend constitution - live | World news | guardian.co.uk - Obama urges Morsi to respond to protesters • Morsi hit by more resignations
Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi Rejects Military's Ultimatum, Country On Edge
Egyptian women fear rising tide of sexual assault as Tahrir crowds grow | World news | guardian.co.uk - Dutch woman flown home after assault as activists try to counter ugly side of Cairo protests
Canada Arrests 2 Terror Plot Suspects Attempting To Leave Suspicious Package At British Columbia Legislature - Police in Canada have arrested and charged a man and woman with terrorism for attempting to leave pressure cooker bombs at British Columbia's provincial legislature on Canada Day, when thousands of people were expected to be there. John Stewart Nuttall and Amanda Marie Korody (yeah, Nuttall)

US drone strikes more deadly to Afghan civilians than manned aircraft – adviser | World news | guardian.co.uk - Study focusing on one year of conflict contradicts claims that robotic planes are more precise than manned counterparts (oh, drone-boy has been lying through his teeth for years, quelle surprise)

Bad Day For Milwaukee Archdiocese - Boom Goes The Dynamite - Esquire - The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, half of which was the blog's first alma mater in the biz, has done us all an estimable service to putting online all the documents that were jacked out of the Archdiocese there as part of the bankruptcy proceedings resulting from thousands of cases of sexual abuse by priests of said Archdiocese. Needless to say, nobody comes out looking very good. In fact, the Roman Catholic Church comes out of them looking very much like an organization that should be disbanded and fed piecemeal -- hierarchy first -- into a woodchipper.

Edward Snowden asylum: Bolivian president's plane diverted - live coverage | World news | guardian.co.uk - He has also just spoken to White House officials, asking for their response to claims made by the Bolivian defence minister that Portugal's decision to refuse Morales' plane access to their airspace was influenced by the US. "This is a hostile act by the United States State Department which has used various European governments" (o rly)
Bolivian Minister: Morales' Plane Rerouted On Suspicion Snowden On Board - France and Portugal would have to explain why they canceled authorization for the plane.
Edward Snowden's options dwindle after political asylum rejections | World news | guardian.co.uk - Several countries have denied whistleblower's request to seek asylum and others say he must be on their territory to apply
Edward Snowden asylum: countries approached and their responses | World news | guardian.co.uk - The NSA whistleblower has made 21 applications for asylum worldwide as he flees the US – with little success
Glenn Greenwald To Fox News: 'The World Will Be Shocked' By New NSA Stories (VIDEO) - Glenn Greenwald told Fox News on Tuesday that the "world will be shocked" by upcoming revelations about the National Security Agency's surveillance.
Edward Snowden Asylum Request In Brazil Rejected
Venezuela's Maduro: Snowden Needs 'World's Protection'
Hullabaloo - What if the people running our secret programs are idiots?
Job Title Key to Inner Access Held by Snowden - NYTimes.com - It is a title that officials have carefully avoided mentioning, perhaps for fear of inviting questions about the agency’s aggressive tactics: an infrastructure analyst at the N.S.A., like a burglar casing an apartment building, looks for new ways to break into Internet and telephone traffic around the world.
Why the Story on Snowden and the NSA Doesn't Add Up | Mother Jones - And on a related note, I'd still like to know what's on those other 37 PRISM slides. Or, at the very least, I'd like to know why I can't know. (that's a secret)

James Clapper: I gave 'erroneous' answer because I forgot about Patriot Act | World news | guardian.co.uk - Intelligence chief tries to explain false Senate testimony by saying he 'simply didn't think' of NSA efforts to collect phone data
NSA officials 'not always accurate' in public statements over surveillance | World news | guardian.co.uk - Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall, members of NSA oversight panel, question claims on scope and utility of programs

How the US (probably) spied on European allies’ encrypted faxes | Ars Technica - Grainy image stokes speculation of old-school, Tempest-style attack.
How a 30-year-old lawyer exposed NSA mass surveillance of Americans—in 1975 | Ars Technica - Project SHAMROCK allowed the NSA to intercept telegrams sent by US citizens.
Teenage WikiLeaks volunteer: Why I served as an FBI informant | Ars Technica - Sigurdur Thordarson got $5,000 for handing over 1TB of WikiLeaks data.
Cops shouldn’t have easy access to 220+ days of cell location data, lawyers say | Ars Technica - In appellate case, ACLU and others argue that a warrant should be required.


Hullabaloo - But Margaret Sullivan at the New York Times is an exception. Her opinions are fiercely independent and she takes the fundamental responsibility of journalism seriously. Take this one: (+ I have an idea. Maybe Dave could get his wife, the former General Counsel for Fannie Mae, to explain all this high flying financial mumbo jumbo to her mother-in-law. And if worse comes to worse and Ma Gregory loses her job, maybe Dave could hire her to clean his multi-million dollar Nantucket vacation home.)

Romney Voted Against Himself In 2010 Family Poll, Still Had To Run For President (they forced him to run, un-huh)
Soledad To The Muslin Network! Greta Sniffs Around CNN! Has This New York Times Guy Been Fired Yet? Media!

American Babies Cost Three Times as Much as European Babies, For Freedom (and profit!)

Limbaugh: The Only Reason Zimmerman Is On Trial Is Because "The Race Industry ... Made This Trial Happen" | Video | Media Matters for America
Eschaton: The Race Industry - I wasn't there and have no idea what happened, but what must your worldview be if you think it's odd that when a guy with a gun kills a guy without a gun that there shouldn't at least be some sort of serious investigation.

If your sperm have no taste, you may end up sterile | Ars Technica - New research shows taste receptors are key to maturation of sperm.

1913: When Hitler, Trotsky, Tito, Freud and Stalin all lived in the same place

Judge says yoga does not promote Hinduism in California schools | World news | guardian.co.uk - John Meyer uses ruling in case brought by Christian group to say yoga in US is 'distinctly American cultural phenomenon'

LED led me astray: the home lighting misadventure that brought me full-circle | The Verge (comments)

Dr. Eben Alexander Proof of Heaven Investigation - Proof of Heaven Factual Omissions - Esquire

Gigabit Internet and phone service for $48 a month? It really exists | Ars Technica - With $116M in federal funds, Vermont telco offers gigabit fiber and LTE.
How Facebook threatens HP, Cisco, and more with its “vanity free” servers | Ars Technica - Ars tours Facebook's DIY-hardware lab to learn why it embraces open source hardware.
The Daily Dot - The Reddit sleuths who brought down a meme empire - Quickmeme (scammers will be scammers even after shooting themselves in the head)

070113
Egypt in turmoil as defiant Morsi stands firm over 'coup' threat | World news | The Guardian - President retains US backing and refuses to bow down to two-day ultimatum from the head of the nation's armed forces
Egypt protests: army issues 48-hour ultimatum - live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk - Army gives politicians 48 hours to settle crisis
Egypt Military Intervention: General Says Army Will Intervene If Crisis Not Resolved In 48 Hours

Brazil protests: victory on the pitch but grievances remain | World news | guardian.co.uk - Once the euphoria passes, and Fifa's officials return home, the issues that sparked unrest will remain
Vatican bank promises sweeping change as senior staff resign | World news | The Guardian - Director and deputy director step down just three days after the arrest of Monsignor Nunzio Scarano over corruption allegations

Eurozone unemployment at record high in May (more austerity!)
Eurozone unemployment hits fresh high | Business | guardian.co.uk - Jobless rate reached 12.1% across the region in May, with youth unemployment nearing 24%
Jeff Olson Found Not Guilty On All Charges, Dodges Punishment For Anti-Bank Chalk Protest (banker gangsters: he vandalized the sidewalk with anti-gangster chalk, so they acted like gangsters)

Uh Oh … Ecuador Throws Snowden Under Bus | TPM Editors Blog
Edward Snowden Letter Thanks Ecuador For Asylum Help
James Clapper is still lying to America - Salon.com - A smoking gun shows Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is a big liar -- and it's not the first time
Clapper under pressure despite apology for 'erroneous' statements to Congress | World news | guardian.co.uk - "Senator Wyden is deeply troubled by a number of misleading statements senior officials have made about domestic surveillance in the past several years," said his spokesman, Tom Caiazza. "He will continue pushing for an open and honest debate about programs and laws that touch on the personal lives of ordinary Americans."
NSA spying row: bugging friends is unacceptable, warn Germans | World news | guardian.co.uk - US attempts to downplay spying allegations as growing European anger threatens to derail transatlantic trade talks
Obama tries to ease NSA tensions and insists: Europe spies on US too | World news | guardian.co.uk - President says intelligence services all over the world use spying programs but admits US could be damaged by revelations
Putin hints at offer for Snowden to remain in Russia | World news | guardian.co.uk - US whistleblower could stay if he stops 'bringing harm to our American partners' says president in audacious statement
Report: Snowden has asked for asylum in Russia
Misinformation on classified NSA programs includes statements by senior U.S. officials - The Washington Post - The same day Litt spoke, the NSA quietly removed from its Web site a fact sheet about its collection activities because it contained inaccuracies discovered by lawmakers. ("misinformation" = lies)
The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - We cannot call these lies. We call it "misinformation" by high government officials because to call them "lies" would be to call high government officials "liars" and that would be very impolite and uncivil. As would be calling them, "goddamned liars," if you're scoring at home. (+Jane Harman, idiot)
James Clapper’s Double Super Secret Correction | emptywheel - If the Director of National Intelligence corrects a lie but nobody hears it, does it make a sound?
Misinformation on classified NSA programs includes statements by senior U.S. officials - The Washington Post
Alberto Gonzales and Internet Data Mining | emptywheel - I was going to leave this speculation well enough alone. But George W Bush decided to interrupt his dog painting to defend Obama’s surveillance dragnet.
The Biggest Edward Snowden Conspiracy Theories

Prosecution wrapping up in WikiLeaks trial - Al-Qaida leaders reveled in WikiLeaks' publication of reams of classified U.S. documents, urging members to study them before devising ways to attack the United States, according to evidence presented by the prosecution Monday in the court-martial of an Army private who leaked the material. (but fails to name one piece of "material")

Koch: Climate pledge strategy continues to grow - The Koch Club | Investigative Reporting Workshop
Koch millions spread influence through nonprofits, colleges - The Koch Club | Investigative Reporting Workshop

Arizona Wildfire 2013: 19 Firefighters Die While Battling Yarnell Hill Blaze (VIDEO/PHOTOS) - An out-of-control blaze overtook an elite group of firefighters trained to battle the nation's fiercest wildfires, killing 19 members as they tried to protect themselves from the flames under fire-resistant shields.
Death In Yarnell Hill - Esquire - And the fire simply rolled them up. Of course, it would be a terrible thing to "politicize" this tragedy, but we feel constrained to point out that, because of the genius strategy of "sequestration" -- wherein Republican vandalism and the president's gift for eleventy-dimensional chess have combined to give us a New Normal of austerity while the rest of the world is abandoning the concept -- our capacity to fight fires like the one in Arizona has been hampered.

Paid via Card, Workers Feel Sting of Fees - NYTimes.com (you owe your soul ... )
Hourly Worker Pay Cards - The Great Gouge Continues - Esquire - This is simply appalling. If we're going to have another Gilded Age, I guess we might as well owe our souls in one way or another to a new, efficient, and convenient company store. (great minds)
War On the Unemployed - NYTimes.com - Consider, for example, the case of North Carolina. The state was hit hard by the Great Recession, and its unemployment rate, at 8.8 percent, is among the highest in the nation, higher than in long-suffering California or Michigan.
Democracy Journal: Arguments: The Supreme Court and Taft-Hartley’s Legal Land Mines - Obscured amid the attention paid to the Supreme Court’s end-of-term decisions was its granting of certiorari to a case that could have an enormous impact on the viability of private-sector organizing (back to the 19th Century Gilded Age)

The US supreme court thinks racism is dead. It isn't | Gary Younge | Comment is free | The Guardian - Judges gutted an act to protect black voters, saying it was out of date – but there are salient illustrations of their folly

Former CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien to join Al Jazeera America | Media | guardian.co.uk - Former CNN's Starting Point host will be special correspondent for AJA's primetime news program America Tonight

Wendy Davis on renewed Texas abortion bill: 'We are up for the fight' | World news | guardian.co.uk - Texans plan to rally at state Capitol in Austin as lawmakers return to work on filibustered bill to limit access to abortion
Peggy Noonan Does Not Care For Your Babby-Murdering, Young Lady (Drunken Nooners calls 50-yr old woman "young lady")
Ohio Abortion Restrictions: Gov. John Kasich Signs New State Budget Containing Anti-Abortion Measures
Ohio Barbarism - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - The Republican Party has the following offer to make to American women: we want to make sure that every rapist’s child is born whether you like it or not. As Roy says, “by the time this conservative outreach to female voters is over, Republican National Headquarters won’t even need a ladies’ room.”
American Way of Birth, Costliest in the World - NYTimes.com - Though Ms. Martin, 31, and her husband, Mark Willett, are both professionals with health insurance, her current policy does not cover maternity care

Milwaukee Archdiocese Priest Sex Abuse Records Release Includes Deposition With Cardinal Dolan (WLPO)

4-Year-Old Kentucky Boy Fatally Shoots 6-Year-Old Sister (freeeedom!)

Pay us like you pay Petraeus — Crooked Timber - If you’re an adjunct at CUNY, you make about $3,000 per course. If you’re an adjunct at CUNY and you’re David Petraeus, you make about $200,000 per course.
The Humanities, Declining? Not According to the Numbers. - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education


063013
Protesters across Egypt call for Mohamed Morsi to go | World news | guardian.co.uk - Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators line streets to demand president's removal on first anniversary of his inauguration (new boss same as the old authoritarian boss)
Egypt: Protesters Gather Nationwide To Demand Morsi's Ouster
Pakistan bombings kill at least 49 | World news | guardian.co.uk - At least 28 die in deadliest attack, near Shia Muslim mosque in Quetta, capital of south-west Baluchistan province
Pope's 'gay lobby' remarks stir up new storm of Vatican gossip | World news | The Observer - Pontiff's comments spark flurry of speculation about alleged 'bunga bunga' scene in the Holy See
Gay Pride Versus 'Gay Propaganda' | The Nation - In Russia, activists struggle against rising homophobia and a government crack down on LGBT rights.

Bradley Manning should win the Nobel Peace Prize | Mairead Corrigan-Maguire | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - As a peace prize winner myself, I am nominating Manning for this honor for his work to help end the Iraq War and other conflicts (and revoke Obama's)

Edward Snowden Can't Leave Moscow Without Consent Of Russian Authorities, Says Ecuadorean President
Daily Kos: 'Meet the Press' vs. Snowden. Who's more crooked?
Daily Kos: Watch Julian Assange Vaporize TIME's Credibility in ABC - Stephanopoulos 'Grilling' - LOL!
Speaking on NSA stories, Snowden and journalism | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Discussing the implications of the last four week's of articles, revelations and debates

Daily Kos: the only safe place for Snowden
'Meet the Press' Pundit With Financial Ties to NSA Misleadingly Slams Snowden | The Nation

New NSA leaks show how US is bugging its European allies | World news | The Guardian - : Edward Snowden papers reveal 38 targets including EU, France and Italy
Key US-EU trade pact under threat after more NSA spying allegations | World news | guardian.co.uk - Reports in Der Spiegel that US agencies bugged European council building 'reminiscent of cold war', says German minister
U.S. taps half-billion German phone, internet links in month: report | Reuters - The United States taps half a billion phone calls, emails and text messages in Germany in a typical month and has classed its biggest European ally as a target similar to China, according to secret U.S. documents quoted by a German newsmagazine.
U.S. Spying On Europe: EU Confronts Washington Reports Of Spying On Allies
Germany Compares Reported U.S. Bugging To 'Cold War'
U.S. Taps Half-Billion German Phone, Internet Links Each Month: Report
Washington Post releases four new slides from NSA's Prism presentation | World news | guardian.co.uk - Newly published top-secret documents detail how NSA interfaces with tech giants such as Google, Apple and Microsoft
NSA slides explain the PRISM data-collection program - The Washington Post
Today in NSA/FISA » Balloon Juice - The Post has a FISA story and some new NSA material that are worth a look. The FISA court judges are apparently butthurt because their secret court that approves almost every request for surveillance is being called a “rubber stamp”.

Ed Snowden Inspired This Chinese Lawyer to Challenge Beijing's Digital Spying | FP Passport
Amid Data Controversy, NSA Builds Its Biggest Data Farm : NPR

Historic Mistake Watch - NYTimes.com - When the Fed began its talk of “tapering” asset purchases, I warned that it might turn out to be a “historic mistake”. I guess the historic bit is still up in the air; but the mistake aspect is now glaringly obvious.

Heat Wave Intensifies Across Western U.S. - Temperatures in Las Vegas shot up to 115 degrees on Saturday afternoon, two degrees short of a record, while Phoenix baked in 119 degrees. Large swaths of California sweltered under extreme heat warnings, which are expected to last into Tuesday night – and maybe even longer.
Daily Kos: Torrential Downpours Expected Over East Coast This Week, Flash Flooding Likely
Daily Kos: It's the economy, stupid. (Climate Change Edition) - only 42% of Americans believed that the earth is warming due to human activity.

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XXIV - the minor victims of GunFAIL this week included three 5-year-olds, one 9-year-old, two 12-year-olds, two 13-year-olds, two 16-year-olds, one 17-year-old, one teen of unknown age, and one young boy of unknown age. One of the 12-year-olds and the 9-year-old were the victims of the recent homicide-suicide tragedy in which the older boy is believed to have killed himself after possibly accidentally shooting his younger brother. (Freeeeedom!)
German Police Fired 85 Bullets All Year, US Police Use 90 on 1 Person - YouTube

Supreme Court Rejects Petition To Halt Gay Marriages In California
The Real John Roberts Emerges - NYTimes.com - Congress can’t be trusted. The executive branch is out of control. What’s left? The Supreme Court. There’s a comforting thought as we await Year 9 of the Roberts court.

Inequality Is

Geo-Tagged Twitter Map of #StandWithWendy Shows Texas Senator Wasn't a Lone Star | Underwire | Wired.com

Lazy Weekend Open Thread: “Nothing is sacred on the Internet, not even a wedding” » Balloon Juice - So it turns out that Sean Parker, Facebook billionaire of the multi-million-dollar “Tolkien-inspired” wedding, is not going to take our callow, ill-informed internet mockery quietly! Reports Kevin Roose, at NYMag:

Triple P-Positive Parenting programs: the folly of b... [BMC Med. 2013] - PubMed - NCBI
The Benefits of Positive Parenting - NYTimes.com - Is there a science to parenting? (well, NYT, apparently not)

Review of Finn Brunton, "Spam: A Shadow History of the Internet" | Inside Higher Ed

062913
Al-Azhar cleric fears civil war in Egypt as protests over Mohamed Morsi grow | World news | The Observer - Seven dead and over 600 injured amid duelling protests by allies and opponents of Islamist president, but opposition is split
International forces will provide advice to Afghan military until 2020 | World news | guardian.co.uk - Senior military sources say Nato will continue to play major role as Afghan forces are unprepared for 2014 withdrawal (and they won't be prepared in 2200 either)
The Rio Protests: Who, What, Why, and Will They Matter? — The Monkey Cage

Ecuador's Correa says Biden asked him to deny Edward Snowden asylum | World news | guardian.co.uk - Senior White House official confirms vice-president talked to Ecuadorean president over the NSA whistleblower's status
Revealed: secret European deals to hand over private data to America | World news | The Observer - Germany 'among countries offering intelligence' according to new claims by former US defence analyst
Susan Rice Downplays Impact Of Snowden Leaks - U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice dismissed claims that Edward Snowden's highly classified leaks have weakened the Obama presidency and damaged U.S. foreign policy, insisting that the United States will remain "the most influential, powerful and important country in the world."
Glenn Greenwald: NSA Can Store A Billion Cell Phone Calls Every Day

Chris Hayes Absolutely Nails Hypocrisy On Snowden Leaks Versus Leaks That Advance Gov't Agenda - YouTube
Edward Snowden: The Movie - While most of the world was watching the NSA/Snowden saga unfold, four filmmakers, Edwin Lee, Jeff Floro, Shawn Tse and Marcus Tsui, got together and turned the international news story into a five minute film.
Shorter Mark Udall: Why Can’t John Brennan “Honor the Oath”? | emptywheel - ntelligence agencies requires transparency and strong congressional oversight. This latest leak–the latest incident in a long string of leaks from unnamed intelligence officials who purport to be familiar with the Committee’s Study and the CIA’s official response to it–is wholly unacceptable (it's ok when they do it)
How David Addington Hid the Document Implicating George Bush in Illegal Wiretapping | emptywheel

Yahoo, the Law-Abiding Free Email Provider | emptywheel
You'll Never Know if the NSA Is Breaking the Law — or Keeping You Safe - Philip Bump - The Atlantic Wire (but trust us, because we lie all the time)
NSA reportedly bugged European Union offices in Washington DC, the UN, and abroad | The Verge

Government wiretaps were foiled by encryption for the first time in 2012 | The Verge (doesn't work anyway)
We need encryption for private communications | Jeff Jarvis | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Technology companies should offer encryption for email, VOIP and other communications. Trust in the internet is at stake (Obama hates your privacy) w
License-plate readers let police collect millions of records on drivers | The Center for Investigative Reporting

Glenn Greenwald’s Speech to the Socialism Conference [with Transcript] | The Dissenter

GOP Has One Word To Win Back All The Ladies: ‘Hashtags’
Voting rights and the Supreme Court: The impossible “literacy” test Louisiana used to give black voters.

Hullabaloo - Don't mess with Krgthulu™
Finally, Someone Is Going To Jail For What The Banks Did! - Did we also forget to mention that the man’s impending prosecution comes after Bank of America’s Vice President of Global Corporate Security relentlessly pressured the city attorney to charge the man for writing mean words with chalk?
The Coal Lobby's Fight for Survival - NationalJournal.com - Once a Washington powerhouse, it now lies in disarray at the mercy of forces beyond its control. Can a group built for war sue the Obama administration for peace?
The Indian express: how an Amway CEO landed behind bars halfway around the world | The Verge - . "Questions raised in India about Amway cannot be dismissed," he said. Defining pyramid schemes is a worldwide problem, he said, and the Kerala arrests "highlight continued concerns over the lack of transparency" in these companies.

A truly historic victory over the education-industrial reform complex... - Wait, What? - “The court orders Paul Vallas be removed from his office.”

What's the most intellectual joke you know? : AskReddit


062813
'We should have talked to Taliban' says top British officer in Afghanistan | World news | The Guardian - General Nick Carter says west could have struck a deal with Taliban leaders after they were toppled a decade ago (would have been a lot cheaper and many less killed)
Brazilian protesters clash with police near Confederations Cup stadium | World news | guardian.co.uk - Around 5,000 protesters in clashes with police near Castelao stadium in Fortaleza where Spain beat Italy in semi-final tie
Japan's Whaling Is Not Science, Expert Witness Tells World Court: Scientific American - The Japanese practice of catching and killing nearly 1,000 whales a year cannot be justified as science, an expert witness told the World Court on Thursday in a case Australia has brought against Japan. (Japan: "we're eating them for research purposes")
Girl Slaves of Catholic Magdalene Asylums to Receive Compensation, but Not from the Church - By the 1870s, asylum candidates … extended beyond prostitutes to unmarried mothers, mentally retarded women and abused girls. Even young girls who were considered too promiscuous and flirtatious, or too beautiful, were sent to an asylum by their families.
Vatican rentboy and satanism claims revealed by priest - Italian investigators have opened an inquiry into claims by a convicted pedophile priest that an underage prostitution ring has been operating inside the Holy Roman Church with clergymen hiring rentboys for sex inside churches.
Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks fail to get phone-hacking cases dropped | UK news | guardian.co.uk - Former News International boss and David Cameron's former spin doctor go to court of appeal in bid to halt prosecutions

Invest, Divest and Prosper - NYTimes.com
Climate Talks Consensus: All Countries Should Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions--In Future: Scientific American - In a frantic late night rush, a plan to come up with a plan for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of all countries passed muster at the U.N.'s annual climate negotiations (yeah, far, far in the future)

The Criminal N.S.A. - NYTimes.com - THE twin revelations that telecom carriers have been secretly giving the National Security Agency information about Americans’ phone calls, and that the N.S.A. has been capturing e-mail and other private communications from Internet companies as part of a secret program called Prism, have not enraged most Americans. Lulled, perhaps, by the Obama administration’s claims that these “modest encroachments on privacy” were approved by Congress and by federal judges, public opinion quickly migrated from shock to “meh.”

Obama Calls Surveillance Programs Legal and Limited - NYTimes.com (because he said so, or something)
NSA Surveillance Prompts Several Bills But Little Action In Congress

Ex-official: Cia Helped Jail Mandela - Chicago Tribune - For nearly 28 years the U.S. government has harbored an increasingly embarrassing secret: A CIA tip to South African intelligence agents led to the arrest that put black nationalist leader Nelson Mandela in prison for most of his adult life. (from 1990; lest we forget again and again)

Senators accuse government of using 'secret law' to collect Americans' data | World news | guardian.co.uk - Bipartisan group seeks answers from intelligence chief James Clapper over scale of and justification for NSA surveillance
The Guardian Blocked By The Army After NSA Stories
NSA Secret Data Snowden Took Worried - Business Insider
Ecuador cools on Edward Snowden asylum as Assange frustration grows | World news | The Guardian - President Correa revokes Snowden's temporary travel document amid concerns WikiLeaks founder is 'running the show'
Glenn Greenwald Is Ralph Nader -- Daily Intelligencer (except better)

Traitors Or Heroes: All Of The Whistleblowers Who’ve Been Prosecuted By Obama Administration | Mediaite
Glenn Greenwald: 'Meet The Press' Interview Validates 'Incestuous' Washington Media Critique
Hey, MSM: All Journalism is Advocacy Journalism | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone - So New York Times Dealbook writer Andrew Ross Sorkin has apologized to journalist Glenn Greenwald for saying he'd "almost arrest" him, for his supposed aid and comfort of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. "I veered into hyperbole," was Sorkin's explanation.
CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin Apologizes For Saying He’d ‘Almost Arrest’ Greenwald: ‘I Veered Into Hyperbole’ | Mediaite
All journalism is advocacy (or it isn't) — BuzzMachine
David Gregory tries to read Glenn Greenwald and The Guardian out of the journalism club » Pressthink
This Week in Review: The backlash against Greenwald and Snowden, and RSS’s new wave » Nieman Journalism Lab - There were several other breakdowns of Gregory’s questions as a way of defending himself as a professional journalist by excluding Greenwald as one; of these, NYU professor Jay Rosen’s was the definitive take. The Los Angeles Times’ Benjamin Mueller seconded his point, arguing that by going after Greenwald’s journalistic credentials, “from behind the veil of impartiality, Gregory and his colleagues went to bat for those in power, hiding a dangerous case for tightening the journalistic circle.”
Marshall on Snowden - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Josh Marshall’s reply to John Cassidy yesterday reminds me of his earlier piece on Snowden, which I meant to write about at the time. Both of Marshall’s posts are quite odd; they read, to me, as though they’re incomplete, with the paragraph that contains the central argument excised for some reason. (muddle-headed self-defense - "I am America")
Sources With Secrets Find New Outlets for Sharing - NYTimes.com - That new reality may pain The Times as a competitive news organization — and would have wrecked the ending of a classic movie. But in a democracy threatened by excessive secrecy and the criminalizing of news gathering, the more sunlight the better.
Frank Rich: Gay Marriage Wins, Roberts Be Damned -- Daily Intelligencer - I propose that Gregory be full-time on Today, where he can speak truth to power by grilling Paula Deen.
Government Officials Use The Media To Anonymously Make Case Against Edward Snowden - And yet despite the lack of direct evidence, anonymous government claims have carried significant weight in the media this week, influencing the cable news debate and helping to try Snowden in public, long before any actual trial on charges of espionage takes place.
Mozilla-backed Stop Watching Us Grows - Business Insider

Senate Immigration Reform Bill Passes With Strong Majority
Comprehensive Rejection | National Review Online - House Republicans give the Senate’s immigration bill short shrift. . The House should “fold it up into a paper airplane and throw it out the window. Oh, is that not the right answer?” jokes Representative Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina.
The Obama Scandals Used to Be a Thing -- Daily Intelligencer

Gay couples stand to receive thousands of benefits in wake of DOMA decision - U.S. News
Proposition 8 Gay Marriage Hold Lifted By Appeals Court, California Begins Issuing Licenses
Gay couples stand to receive thousands of benefits in wake of DOMA decision - U.S. News
Recognize All Legally Celebrated Marriages When Determining Benefits and Responsibilities Under Federal Law | We the People: Your Voice in Our Government
Brian Sims, Pennsylvania Lawmaker, Silenced On DOMA By Colleagues Citing 'God's Law' - An openly gay lawmaker was silenced by colleagues on the Pennsylvania House floor Thursday when he attempted to speak about the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act. conservative state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler), told WHYY that he believed Sims' comments would be a violation of "God's law."
On Our Knees for America - Lawyers, Guns & Money : - ….Once again, it’s worth noting that it is in fact impossible to parody conservatives. Impossible.
A Queer History
With gay marriage sure to spark emotional responses, The Washington Post and New York Times try structuring comments » Nieman Journalism Lab

BOR: 72 Year-Old Woman Arrested During Wendy Davis Filibuster, Charged With Felony - From the video, shot by Elizabeth Willmann, it is clear Martha neither resisted arrest or assaulted an officer. You can then hear her shout, "You're hurting me" as she appeared ready to stand as the arresting DPS officer grabbed her arm and lifted her out of her seat. (facist thugs)
Fox's Eric Bolling On Girls Playing Football: "This Is More Of The Wussification Of American Men" | Video | Media Matters for America - "I Just Long For The Days Where Its Ok To Tell A Woman She Looks Beautiful In That Dress"

Mayor Bloomberg: NYPD 'Stops Whites Too Much And Minorities Too Little' | ThinkProgress - The statistics are overwhelming. An independent study of the city’s stop-and-frisk program found that 87 percent of the 685,724 stops in 2011 — a record high — were of blacks and latinos. Young black men between the ages of 14 and 24 were stopped 106% of the time — as in, there were more stops of young black men than the entire population of young black men. (Michael "Racist Fuck" Bloomberg)

Kansas Abortion Law Temporarily Blocked By Federal Judge - A Kansas judge on Friday temporarily blocked some of the state's new abortion restrictions that were set to take effect next week, including a requirement that providers said would make it nearly impossible for a woman to obtain an emergency abortion.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry calls 2nd special session to pass abortion bill - CBS News - Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday called a second special session of the Texas Legislature to pass widespread abortion restrictions across the nation's second-largest state, after the first attempt by Republicans died overnight following a marathon one-woman filibuster.

Teen Justin Carter Jailed In Texas After Making Sarcastic Threat In Facebook Comment (labeled sarcasm is now "terroristic")

Tesla wins in North Carolina, paves the way for direct-to-consumer sales (but not the in the State of Freeeeedom, Texas) s

Three-person IVF: UK government backs mitochondrial transfer | Science | The Guardian - Mitochondrial transfer procedure could prevent mothers passing on devastating genetic conditions to their children
Futurity.org – Feeling edgy? Get some sleep - A lack of sleep, which is common in anxiety disorders, may play a key role in firing up brain regions that contribute to excessive worrying.
High heels can be a pain in the feet - The Washington Post

Russell Brand: what I made of Morning Joe and Question Time | Culture | The Guardian - More from acute awareness of Instant Karma's immediate sting than morality, I have learned to treat people apparently lacking power with cordiality. This means that when I arrived at the New York studios of Morning Joe, the gleaming, informal mid-morning MSNBC news analysis show, I was polite to everyone there.
Derpaganza (Erick Erickson is a derp)

4 Changes to English So Subtle We Hardly Notice They're Happening | Mental Floss

Highway Robbery for High-Speed Internet - Our broadband is getting faster, but we're paying through the nose for it.
Norton Mobile Insight Discovers Facebook Privacy Leak | Symantec Connect Community - the Facebook application for Android because it leaked the device phone number. The first time you launch the Facebook application, even before logging in, your phone number will be sent over the Internet to Facebook servers. You do not need to provide your phone number, log in, initiate a specific action, or even need a Facebook account for this to happen.

062713
Chilean police evict student protesters from schools | World news | guardian.co.uk - Government insists forceful end to protests was necessary in order to allow voting in weekend's primary elections
Turkey protests: hundreds set up barricades in Ankara | World news | guardian.co.uk - Main road is blocked in working-class district of Dikmen as small core of protesters continue daily demonstrations
Zimbabwe’s coming election: The spirit of wrath is upon us | The Economist - A mysterious Facebook character is predicting murder and mayhem

Former high-ranking US general reportedly being targeted in Stuxnet leak investigation | The Verge - NBC News is reporting that retired Marine Gen. James "Hoss" Cartwright, the former second highest ranking officer in the US military, is currently under investigation for leaking classified information about Stuxnet, the US-Israeli computer virus which sabotaged an Iranian nuclear facility in 2010.
CIA cracks down on its own to stop leaks - In a memo to the CIA workforce this week, Brennan says the "Honor the Oath," campaign is intended to "reinforce our corporate culture of secrecy" through education and training. The Associated Press obtained the memo Wednesday, marked unclassified and for official use only. (leaked)
All the president's hitmen: tracking Washington's secret army | The Verge - Jeremy Scahill and Richard Rowley reveal the new face of war

Obama: US will not engage in 'wheeling and dealing' over Edward Snowden | World news | guardian.co.uk - US president indicates he won't spend much geopolitical capital to apprehend the NSA surveillance whistleblower (said the wheeler-dealer)
Obama: I Won't Be Scrambling Jets To Get Edward Snowden - Obama said the damage to U.S. national security has already been done and his top focus now is making sure it can't happen again.
Obama: NSA Leaker Edward Snowden Has More Documents | WLRN - and that the government did not know "what other documents he may try to dribble out there."
Ecuador offers U.S. rights aid, waives trade benefits | Reuters - In a cheeky jab at the U.S. spying program that Snowden unveiled through leaks to the media, the South American nation offered $23 million per year to finance human rights training.
NSA collected Americans' email records in bulk for two years under Obama | World news | guardian.co.uk - Secret program launched by Bush continued 'until 2011' • Fisa court renewed collection order every 90 days
How the NSA is still harvesting your online data | World news | guardian.co.uk - Files show vast scale of current NSA metadata programs, with one stream alone celebrating 'one trillion records processed'
Ecuador breaks US trade pact to thwart 'blackmail' over Edward Snowden | World news | guardian.co.uk - Government renounces Andean Trade Preference Act even as Snowden's prospects of reaching Ecuador from Moscow dimmed
Chris Hedges Defends Snowden's Heroism in the Face of a Growing Smear Campaign | Alternet - Hedges: "If there are no Snowdens, if there are no Mannings, if there are no Assanges, there will be no free press."
There's a New Fascism on the Rise, and the NSA Leaks Show Us What It Looks Like | Alternet - The power of truth-tellers like Edward Snowden is that they dispel a whole mythology carefully constructed by the corporate cinema, the corporate academy and the corporate media.
Reply to Cassidy | TPM Editors Blog (projects himself onto America, calls it "national identity" or something)

How Glenn Greenwald Became Glenn Greenwald - Before he was the Guardian’s eyes on the National Security Agency, Greenwald was a Manhattan litigator with an itchy trigger finger. “He doesn’t care if the entire world hates him.” And people who have known Greenwald for years say his defining characteristic may be that he has never changed.
NYT uses work of journalist covering Manning hearings, refuses to call her a journalist - Boing Boing

EPA Fracking Report - Obama Can't Get It Right On Fracking - Esquire
Today in Humans Destroying the Planet
Why the U.S. Is Becoming Ground Zero For the Dirtiest Energy [With Slideshow] | Alternet - The practice that has devastated parts of Canada is already underway in the U.S. and things could get a lot worse.

Current Conditions - NYTimes.com - Well, here’s a current condition: the ink was barely dry on the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder when Attorney General Greg Abbott of Texas announced that his state’s voter-ID law, blocked by a federal court last summer, “will take effect immediately.”

Tim Huelskamp Readies Constitutional Amendment To Ban Gay Marriage - The Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional isn't stopping Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) from trying to block same-sex marriages through another route: by amending the U.S. Constitution.
Gay Marriage Advocates Anticipate Return To Supreme Court After Ruling
A Legal Blow to Sustainable Development - NYTimes.com - In the wake of this under-the-radar ruling, the cost of protecting a community from a harmful building project now lies not with the developer but with the local residents and taxpayers. It’s hard to fathom that the framers of the Constitution would call this either fairness or justice.
Even The Conservative Richard Posner… » Balloon Juice - …thinks Roberts’ voting rights decision sucked [redacted; this is a family blog
Samuel Alito, King of Dicks - Esquire - the real walking id of the Court’s preposterously Janus-faced conservative faction is Justice Samuel Alito, who turns out to be not only a reliable reactionary voice on almost every issue, but a colossal dick besides.
Roberts Gets His Trophy | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - In my focus on the joyful and immediate exploitation of the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder by southern Republicans who behaved like they were in the midst of a jail break, I probably gave too little attention to the audacity of the decision itself. Ari Berman of The Nation offered some immediate observations, beginning with the stunning contrast between the Chief Justice’s solicitude for Congress is his dissent against the invalidation of the Defense of Marriage Act with his breezy contempt in Shelby County v. Holder:
Notorious R.B.G.

US moves to end Doma discrimination after gay rights breakthrough | World news | guardian.co.uk - Government employees in gay marriages to be granted equal benefits as to review immigration policy in wake of Doma ruling
Republicans Targeted Tea Party Groups In IRS Scandal - Today In The Summer Of Fakery: The Republicans Eat Their Own Kind - Esquire - So, after all that fuss and bother, and making poor Peggy Noonan think through a Grey Goose haze for two consecutive weeks, it turns out that the only people who "targeted" only conservative groups in this whole affair were...congressional Republicans.
Rick Perry Attacks Wendy Davis: 'She Was A Teenage Mother Herself' | ThinkProgress (Govenor Asshole)
State Sen. Davis Responds To Rick Perry's 'Small Words' | TPM LiveWire - "They are small words that reflect a dark and negative point of view," Davis told the Associated Press Thursday. "Our governor should reflect our Texas values. Sadly, Gov. Perry fails that test."
On Wendy Davis, the Supreme Court, and Speaking Out As Women - The Cut
Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Mizuno Women's Wave Rider 16 Running Shoe - ‘marathon shoe for marathon filbustering’, ‘fits perfectly up a Republican’s rear end’. (and read the one-star reviews too)
Texas' Perry tries mansplaining abortion to Wendy Davis - The Maddow Blog
Wendy Davis Says Texas GOP Purposefully Falsified Time Stamp on SB5 - Filibuster heroine Senator Wendy Davis told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that the time stamp was changed intentionally on the recording of the vote on SB 5 in order to make it appear as if the bill had passed. (they always cheat)

Conservative Supreme Court Justices Hypocritical on Voting Rights - US News and World Report - Justices who say they stick to the text of the Constitution did nothing of the sort
Strict Constructionism - Esquire - Just when you think the combination of oligarchical prerogatives and dumbass local law enforcement couldn't get any more comical, somebody winds up getting jugged for over a decade for writing on the sidewalk.
The System Works - Lawyers, Guns & Money - Jeff Olson, the 40-year-old man who is being prosecuted for scrawling anti-megabank messages on sidewalks in water-soluble chalk last year now faces a 13-year jail sentence. A judge has barred his attorney from mentioning freedom of speech during trial.

Lessons of the Great Recession: How the Safety Net Performed - NYTimes.com - So let’s get this straight: the poor and their advocates were not the ones who tanked the economy. Nor should they be on the defensive when the safety net expands to offset some of the damage.

Tammy Duckworth Veterans Smackdown - A Smackdown Such As We've Never Seen - Esquire (Tammy Duckworth)
Tammy Smash (Open Thread) » Balloon Juice - If you’ve ever thought of parlaying that repetitive motion injury you got while shoveling popcorn into your mouth during “The Hurt Locker” into a disabled veteran set-aside contract from the US government…just don’t:

Armey in Exile | People & Politics | Washingtonian - The 2012 election was supposed to be the culmination of Dick Armey’s life’s work—his chance to harness tea party fervor and bring about sweeping reform. So when it all fell apart amid a feud with his comrade-in-arms, not even an $8-million payout could console him.

Target To End Its Relationship With Paula Deen - Target Corp., Home Depot Inc. and diabetes drug maker Novo Nordisk on Thursday became the latest companies to distance themselves from the Southern celebrity chef. (another brick in the wall disintegrates)

Cocaine addiction may be cured by Ritalin - CBS News
Cocaine addiction may be cured by Ritalin "Researchers have shown a single dose of methylphenidate, a stimulant drug prescribed to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), may normalize the nerve pathways that go haywire in cocaine addicts' brains." : science
Mouse cloned from drop of blood - The female mouse lived a normal lifespan and could give birth to young, say the researchers.
Physical Environment, Dishonesty Linked In New 'Embodied Cognition' Research
Dehydration Myths: 7 Things You Should Know About Staying Hydrated

mecaenas comments on ELI5: Why don't journalists simply quote Obama's original stance on whistle blowers, and ask him to respond? Because real journalism is dead in the US mainstream media.

White House petition backs direct sales of Tesla cars | Cutting Edge - CNET News - None of Tesla's all-electric vehicles are sold in car dealerships, which could be a problem in states that are looking to ban auto manufacturers from selling directly to customers.


062613
Russia withdraws its remaining personnel from Syria | World news | The Guardian - Evacuation signals growing concern in Moscow about conflict between ally Bashar al-Assad's regime and rebels

Putin: NSA whistleblower Snowden is in Moscow airport | World news | The Guardian - Russian president brings end to mystery over whistleblower's whereabouts after days of confusion
Politicians who demand inquiries should be taken out and shot | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | The Guardian
Lawyers in US News Corp hacking suit working with more potential victims | Media | guardian.co.uk - Lawyers representing Angelina Jolie's sometimes stuntwoman are part of first case for alleged hacking in the US courts

Edward Snowden 'not likely to gain asylum in Ecuador for months' | World news | The Guardian - As NSA whistleblower waits at Moscow airport, Ecuadorean foreign minister says entry decision will be considered carefully
US prosecution of Snowden and Manning exceeds international norms | Sandra Coliver | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Many European countries punish leakers, but not for life, and they take into consideration how much harm the leak caused
Edward Snowden: in defence of whistleblowers | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian - Daniel Ellsberg, the leaker of the Pentagon Papers 40 years ago, was smeared and denounced at the time
Demonizing Edward Snowden: Which Side Are You On? : The New Yorker - , they are part of the media and political establishment that stands accused of ignoring, or failing to pick up on, an intelligence outrage that’s been going on for years. It’s not surprising that some of them share Marshall’s view of Snowden as “some young guy I’ve never heard of before who espouses a political philosophy I don’t agree with and is now seeking refuge abroad for breaking the law.” (you shall know them by their acts)
The personal side of taking on the NSA: emerging smears | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Distractions about my past and personal life have emerged – an inevitable side effect for those who challenge the US government (smear machine at work)
On the Espionage Act charges against Edward Snowden | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Who is actually bringing 'injury to America': those who are secretly building a massive surveillance system or those who inform citizens that it's being done?
Liberal icon Frank Church on the NSA | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Almost 40 years ago, the Idaho Senator warned of the dangers of allowing the NSA to turn inward (no looking backwards)


Supreme Court Guts The Voting Rights Act | TPMDC -
Why the Supreme Court was wrong to gut the Voting Rights Act | New Republic
Texas rushes ahead with voter ID law after supreme court decision | World news | guardian.co.uk - State to instantly implement controversial photo ID requirement after ruling releases them for anti-discrimination constraints
Republicans promise quick action after court ruling - Across the South, Republicans are working to take advantage of a new political landscape after a divided U.S. Supreme Court freed all or part of 15 states, many of them in the old Confederacy, from having to ask Washington’s permission before changing election procedures in jurisdictions with histories of discrimination. ('cause we're all over that racism thing)
Supreme Court DOMA Decision Rules Federal Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional
Scalia Slams 'Legalistic Argle-Bargle,' Re-Argues 'Homosexual Sodomy' In Dissenting DOMA Rant (speaking of evil)
U.S. v. Windsor Ruling: The Best Justice Kennedy Quotes From The Court's DOMA Decision
Supreme Court Rules On Prop 8, Lets Gay Marriage Resume In California
Conservatives Take Gay Marriage Rulings In Stride, Just Kidding - Poor Bryan Fischer! The spokesman for the American Patriarchy Association has a MAJOR sad today, and he has lots of company following the Supreme Court’s decision overturning DOMA.
Social Media and Civil Rights - How Facebook Friended Gay Marriage - Esquire - “From a policy perspective,” Pew Research Center Director Michael Dimock says, “the changes we've seen over the past four or five years, not to mention the last decade, have been really remarkable.” It's one of the biggest shifts in fundamental attitude he's seen in his time surveying public opinion, he says.
"Supreme Court Overrules God" And Other Right-Wing Media Reactions To The Marriage Equality Victory | Research | Media Matters for America

Markey wins US Senate special election - Boston.com
Open Thread: Markey Did It! » Balloon Juice - he GOP threw a ton of money into tv ads, but there’s not a lot of photogenicity among that crew. Scott Brown wouldn’t be seen in public with Gomez until about 36 hours ago, and even then he looked like a man thinking “don’t let this luzer get his stench on me.”
Weiner, Frontrunner | TPM Editors Blog - Rep. Anthony Weiner, the butt of so many jokes from the NY/DC media set is now the frontrunner in the race, having displaced Christine Quinn, who for most of the last year has carried a Hillary/2008 mantle of inevitability.

U.S. GDP In First Quarter Worse Than Previously Announced
Why is the TPP draft treaty such a big secret? | Phil Ebersole's Blog - “What I saw was nothing that could possibly justify the secrecy that surrounds it,” Grayson said, referring to the draft Trans-Pacific deal. “It is ironic in a way that the government thinks it’s alright to have a record of every single call that an American makes, but not alright for an American citizen to know what sovereign powers the government is negotiating away.”

Nietzsche’s Marginal Children: On Friedrich Hayek | The Nation - How did the conservative ideas of Friedrich Hayek and the Austrian school become our economic reality? By turning the market into the realm of great politics and morals.
Nietzsche, Hayek, and the Austrians: A Reply to My Critics — Crooked Timber
Microsoft Word - Document1 - hayek-why-i-am-not-conservative.pdf
Conservatism and Counterrevolution | clusterflock
No More Mister Nice Blog - Oh, And By The Way, Libertarians Can Bite Me, Too (like Ilya Shapiro at Cato)

Five myths about why the South seceded - The Washington Post

The Wendy Davis Rebellion in Texas - In dramatic fashion, Texas women proved their political power—and gave progressives in the state new hope for the future.
Wendy Davis’ Filibuster by the Numbers - Esquire - senator Wendy Davis attempted to filibuster for 13 hours so that she could kill an anti-abortion bill. Once the filibuster was put to an early end by Republican senators, the chaos that ensued was even more groundbreaking. The entire display was a spectacular case study on how news coverage -- and possibly even democracy -- are evolving through social networking. (“the LeBron James of Filibustering.”)
Texas Vote Passing Abortion Bill Is Rendered Moot - NYTimes.com
Texas Abortion Bill Filibustered By State Senator Wendy Davis Is Dead
Rick Perry calls special session to pass Texas abortion bill blocked by filibuster | World news | guardian.co.uk - Governor calls second special session of State legislature to pass tough abortion bill that was filibustered by Wendy Davis

Texas prepares to execute 500th inmate | World news | guardian.co.uk - Kimberly McCarthy to become first woman executed in US since 2010 after all appeals are exhausted in 1997 robbery and murder

Windows 8.1 in-depth hands-on: features, apps, impressions and screenshots (video)
Comcast, Verizon Editorials Distort True Picture of U.S. Internet Service, Experts Say - "These guys are picking and choosing numbers to make it seem like we're not so terrible and ignoring the big thing -- that we're twice as expensive and we should be doing better," Burstein added. (don't touch our expensive, lame internets, say phone co.s)

062513

Roundup on Week 3 of Bradley Manning’s Trial | The Dissenter

Vladimir Putin: Edward Snowden Still In Moscow Airport Transit Zone, Won't Be Extradited
China and Russia Basically Tell Obama to Screw Off | FDL Action
Demonizing Edward Snowden: Which Side Are You On? : The New Yorker
Top Ten Ways US TV News are Screwing us Again on NSA Surveillance Story (Iraq Redux) | Informed Comment
Wyden & Udall to Alexander: Why Do You People Keep Lying? | emptywheel
Obama’s Stubbornness and the Risk of Snowden | emptywheel
Fox News Hosts Rail Against David Gregory For 'Insane' Glenn Greenwald Question (VIDEO) - "It's absolutely insane," co-host Eric Bolling said of Gregory's question. "We need more Glenn Greenwalds, we don't need fewer of them ... Bottom line, David Gregory is carrying water for the Obama administration by asking that question."
Subjective “Treason” | Firedoglake
Assange, Back in News, Never Left U.S. Radar - NYTimes.com - t Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks are being investigated by several government agencies, along with a grand jury that has subpoenaed witnesses.
Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Under Investigation 'By Several Government Agencies': NYT
Obama's Hands Off Approach To Snowden - The Snowden Effect, Continued - Esquire - Leave it to The Washington Post, a once-great newspaper now operating as an unprofitable adjunct of the educational-testing industry, to change the subject from the surveillance state to What's Wrong With Obama Today?
Keith Alexander’s “Packets in Flight” Turn Hackers into Terrorists | emptywheel - The government is using the limited success of NSA’s counterterrorism spying to justify programs that increasingly serve a cybersecurity function — a function Congress has not enthusiastically endorsed.

Eschaton: No Big Surprise - SCOTUS says places with histories of violating the voting rights of minorities are now free to continue doing so.
Supreme Court Voting Rights: Justices Strike Down Section 4
John Lewis On Voting Rights Act: Supreme Court 'Put A Dagger In The Heart' Of The Law
Al Sharpton: Supreme Court 'Canceled' Martin Luther King's Dream
“Like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” - Lawyers, Guns & Money : I have a piece up about today’s Roberts Court atrocity. Read the whole etc., but I wanted to highlight a couple points. First, let’s be clear about Congress’s authority and why the majority’s focus on state sovereignty is utterly misguided, by starting with what Roberts would prefer to obfuscate, the relevant text of the United States Constitution:
Dana Milbank: Justice Samuel Alito’s middle-school antics - The Washington Post (what an asshole)
A Little More On The Voting Rights Atrocity - Esquire

President Obama Climate Speech - Obama Bails Out The Ocean With A Thimble - Esquire
Obama: Keystone XL Should Not Be Approved If It Will Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Documents show IRS also screened liberal groups

062413
Silvio Berlusconi Found Guilty Of Sex With Underage Prostitute, 'Ruby The Heartstealer'

Et Tu, Bernanke? - NYTimes.com - The trouble is that this is very much the wrong signal to be sending given the state of the economy. We’re still very much living through what amounts to a low-grade depression — and the Fed’s bad messaging reduces the chances that we’re going to exit that depression any time soon.

Ron Paul: We've learned nothing from Iraq, Afghanistan - Washington Times - “We have attacked at least five countries since 9/11. We have launched drones against many more. We have deposed several dictators and destroyed several foreign armies. But, looking around at what has been achieved, it is clear: It is all irrelevant.”

0zdjKRF.jpeg (Obama in a nutshell)

Thompson05.qxd (Page 1) - Hugh Thompson, charged with treason for stopping My Lai massacre, your governments priorities)

So When Will Dick Cheney Be Charged With Espionage?

The Snowden Effect, Special Sunday Edition - Esquire - Sooner or later, we're all going to start paying more attention to the folks at McClatchy than we do to the kidz at Tiger Beat On The Potomac. It was some of them who kept warning us that the Bush administration case for going to war in Iraq was shot through with moonshine and bullshit, but the courtier press got itself dazzled by mushroom clouds, aluminum tubes, African uranium, and Colin Powell, aka The Most Overrated Man In The World, and off to war we went. Now, they've come out with a gigantic story revealing, in detail, that the Obama administration is the most fertile environment for paranoids since the Nixon people first cut a check to Egil Krogh.

A Guardian guide to US government whistleblowers | World news | guardian.co.uk
Whistleblower Snowden escapes arrest in Hong Kong thanks to US errors | World news | The Guardian - Edward Snowden heads for Ecuador after flight to Russia leaves authorities in various countries amazed and infuriated
'Who betrayed whom?' Ecuador considering Snowden's asylum, doubts fair trial in US — RT News - “It should be asked, who betrayed whom,” Patino stressed as he questioned the correctness of calling Snowden’s leak a “treason.” “Is this betraying the citizens of the world, or betraying some elites that are in power in a certain country?” the Minister asked. The alleged US espionage plan would be violating the rights of “every citizen in the world,” Patino said, referring to Snowden’s claim that the US agencies are “intercepting the majority world’s communications.”
Ecuador considering Snowden's asylum, doubts fair trial in US: "Word 'treason' used, but who has betrayed whom? Is it people who've been betrayed, or certain elites?" asked Ecuador FM Patino : worldnews
Julian Assange: Edward Snowden Is 'Safe And Healthy'
Glenn Greenwald On Meet The Press - What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days? - Esquire - gregory: To the extent that you have aided and abetted Snowden, even in his current movement, why shouldn't you, Mr. Greenwald, be charged with a crime? - to the roaring cheers of the dozens of people who still watch this mess, the Dancin' Master's open display of public foofery gave Greenwald a chance to plant him 15 rows deep into the bleachers.
David Gregory Asks Important Question About Whether or Not He Should Go to Jail
Brian Williams Makes the Case for Putting NBC on Trial - Now, U.S. citizens obviously have a compelling interest in knowing when their government believes it can kill them without a trial–but such information is clearly of interest to Al-Qaeda as well. (you see this bullshit a lot)
Edward Snowden is eighth person Obama has pursued under Espionage Act.
Snowden Snow Job: Leaker Fools Reporters on to Cuba Flight Without Him - And now, in a national-security version of the Rihanna plane, journalists from AP, AFP, BBC and NBC News, among others, are trapped on a 12-hour flight from Moscow to Cuba. It gets worse:
Eschaton: All Knowing, Wrong, And Useless
Andrew Ross Sorkin: 'I'd Almost Arrest Glenn Greenwald' (VIDEO) | TPM LiveWire - Andrew Ross Sorkin, a financial columnist for the New York Times and a commentator for CNBC, said on-air that he'd "almost arrest" Greenwald along with NSA leaker Edward Snowden, who fled Hong Kong for Russia on Sunday in the hopes of ultimately receiving asylum in Ecuador. (sounds like the NYT)
Google Gave U.S. Government Emails From Wikileaks Volunteers Smari McCarthy, Herbert Snorrason - The extent of the U.S. government's probe into Wikileaks may have become just a little clearer on Friday, when a pair of former Wikileaks volunteers revealed prosecutors' successful attempts to subpoena their Gmail account information.

Senators demand NSA correct inaccurate claims over privacy protections | World news | guardian.co.uk - Ron Wyden and Mark Udall write to head of NSA to correct portrayals of surveillance restrictions on website factsheet
Senators Say There's A 'Significant' Inaccuracy In NSA Surveillance Fact Sheet - "In our judgment this inaccuracy is significant, as it portrays protections for Americans' privacy being significantly stronger than they actually are," Wyden and Udall wrote in a Monday letter to the agency's head, Gen. Keith Alexander. In other words, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) argued on Sunday, Clapper lied.
Wyden and Udall to General Alexander: NSA Must Correct Inaccurate Statement in Fact Sheet | Blog | U.S. Senator Ron Wyden

3 NSA veterans speak out on whistle-blower: We told you so - Not only did they go through multiple and all the proper internal channels and they failed, but more than that, it was turned against them. ... The inspector general was the one who gave their names to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution under the Espionage Act. And they were all targets of a federal criminal investigation, and Tom ended up being prosecuted — and it was for blowing the whistle - Thomas Drake, William Binney and J. Kirk Wiebe (keeping you safe from information which would make you very angry at the goverment)

“They Pretend to Pay Us, and We Pretend to Work” » Balloon Juice - Older readers will remember the title as a punchline from the declining days of the Soviet Union. Looks like forty years of Reagan-blessed kleptocracy is reducing America to the same level. Timothy Egan, in the NYTImes, on why American workers are “Checking Out” - 70 percent of them either hate going to work or have mentally checked out to the point of costing their companies money — “roaming the halls spreading discontent,”
75 Percent Of Americans Don't Have Enough Savings To Cover Their Bills For Six Months: Survey

Today In The Supreme Court - Today Among People Who Wear Robes - Esquire - The big new out of the Supreme Court today will be that, by a resounding 7-1 margin, the Court dropped a long, booming spiral into the coffin corner, pinning the Longhorns back inside their own five-yard line on the issue of affirmative action. (Note to political scribes: That's the way you do a "punting" metaphor. Just sayin'.) The littler, and more important, news out of the Supreme Court today is that this most corporate-friendly of courts issued two more decisions that will make it suck a little more to be an employee.
“Let’s End the Great Society Week” Begins - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - The Voting Rights Act might be the main course, but the Civil Rights Act is the appetizer.

Suffolk University - Suffolk University Poll Shows Markey with 10-Point Lead over Gomez in U.S. Senate Race - Survey shows Obama’s approval ratings declining, and a majority of voters polled don’t trust government on privacy.
Rasmussen Shows Collapse In Rubio's Support Among Republicans | TPM LiveWire
Not so fast: 2014 Congressional Battleground Very Competitive | Battleground Surveys

The Quote that May End the Trayvon Trial - Esquire - In Zimmerman’s angry mind, without trial or jury, even after he killed him and learned he was a 17-year-old who was legitimately staying in the complex, Martin was an asshole victimizing the neighborhood.

Mississippi Open Carry Law - Mississippi Flaunts Its Guns - Esquire - Mississippi -- because of, you know, FREEEEEEEDOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!! -- passed itself a new open-carry gun law so as to keep all that meddling New York Jewi...er...Bloomberg money from harshing the mellow feelings that Mississippians have toward their firearms. Now, the law is going into effect and some Mississippi cops are a bit baffled by how to handle their constituents who can now go about their daily business strapped.

Daily Kos: American Indians won the right to vote in 1924, but some officials still haven't gotten the message (the West is worse than the South when it comes to Jim Crow)

Big battle last night in Texas » Balloon Juice - “In the emergency room they have what’s called rape kits where a woman can get cleaned out,” she said, comparing the procedure to an abortion.
Texas State Rep. Jodie Laubenberg Breaks Glass Stupid Ceiling, Declares Rape Kit = Abortion - Have you had just about enough of ignorant GOP men saying incredibly stupid, clueless things about rape and abortion? Well so has Texas state Rep. Jodie Laubenberg (R-Shut It Down), who obviously decided it was time for GOP women to get in on the act.

Spanking for Jesus: Inside the Unholy World of ‘Christian Domestic Discipline’ - The Daily Beast - What do you call it when a husband beats his wife with a paddle for disobeying him? Some would say domestic abuse. These people say he’s doing God’s work. By Brandy Zadrozny.
Christian Domestic Discipline Promotes Spanking Wives To Maintain Biblical Marriage

Spanking for Jesus: Inside the Unholy World of ‘Christian Domestic Discipline’ - The Daily Beast - A new study is making waves after claiming to have found the elusive spot—so why isn't everyone over the moon about the finding? Dr. Debby Herbenick on why this particular study doesn't teach us anything new about women's sexuality.

The Polaroids of Andrei Tarkovsky : The Mystery of Everyday Life | Gwarlingo - “Never try to convey your idea to the audience,” said Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, “—it is a thankless and senseless task. Show them life, and they’ll find within themselves the means to assess and appreciate it.”

The Guileless 'Accidental Racism' of Paula Deen - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic - Americans have condemned her and shamed her. But, looking at our history, what do we we expect?

Watch Peggy Olson Break Through the Glass Ceiling - The Cut
Mad Men: “In Care Of” What? Oh Really? - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Sony and Disney begin streaming movies still in theaters in a bold move against piracy | The Verge

062313
Latest Brazil protests bring 250,000 on to streets | World news | guardian.co.uk - Anger as legislation that ties federal prosecutors' hands when investigating crime is seen as a shield for corrupt politicians
Pakistan Gunmen Kill 11 Foreign Mountain Climbers Preparing Nanga Parbat Ascent - The local branch of the Taliban took responsibility for the killings, saying it was to avenge the death of a leader killed in a recent U.S. drone strike. (who could have predicted drone-boy's killings would have blow-back)
Sun's Jamie Pyatt, John Edwards Face Charges In News Corp. Bribery Scandal - LONDON — Two journalists for The Sun newspaper were charged Friday with allegedly paying public officials for information about psychiatric patients and a member of the royal family, British authorities said. (hands of Satan)
David Dinsmore Replacing Dominic Mohan As Editor Of The Sun - Britain's top-selling Sun newspaper, one of the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloids at the centre of a large criminal investigation, said on Friday its editor Dominic Mohan was moving on to a role advising the chief executive of the new News Corp.

Obama is announcing major new climate plans Tuesday. This chart explains why. (Republicans will fuck over the world)

Ecuador Foreign Minister: Snowden Asked Ecuador For Asylum | TPM LiveWire
Snowden Gives U.S. The Slip | TPM Editors Blog - Hong Kong to U.S.: Sorry, your man Snowden has left the country … now tell us more about this hacking you’ve been doing here.
Greenwald Thinks Snowden's Final Destination Is Still 'Up In The Air' | TPM LiveWire - "He is headed to a democratic country that will grant him asylum for his persecution," Glenn Greenwald said on NBC's Meet The Press.
News from The Associated Press - It acknowledged the U.S. extradition request, but said U.S. documentation did not "fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law." It said additional information was requested from Washington, but since the Hong Kong government "has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr. Snowden from leaving Hong Kong."
NSA director: Edward Snowden has caused irreversible damage to US | TPM News - Keith Alexander defends agency’s broad surveillance as being in line with Americans’ expectations for preventing another 9/11 (because now you know we are illegally spying on you)
China's Xinhua news agency condemns US 'cyber-attacks' - In a commentary, it said the US had turned out to be the "biggest villain in our age".
Brief Snowden Thoughts - Lawyers, Guns & Money

WikiLeaks Statement On Edward Snowden’s Exit From Hong Kong
WikiLeaks Defies U.S. To Help Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden Passport Revoked: Reports
Edward Snowden arrives in Moscow | World news | guardian.co.uk - NSA whistleblower lands in Russia after Hong Kong allows him to leave, with WikiLeaks saying it is providing assistance
Edward Snowden Leaves Hong Kong: Plane Believed To Be Carrying Leaker Lands In Moscow
On the Espionage Act charges against Edward Snowden | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Who is actually bringing 'injury to America': those who are secretly building a massive surveillance system or those who inform citizens that it's being done? (Obama is the real traitor to America)
Michael Calderone: The Guardian's 'Very Disappointed' By Sen. McCaskill's Criticism - On Thursday, McCaskill told CNN's Jake Tapper that she thinks "the Guardian has an agenda." (yeah, Claire, it's called the "truth" which you couldn't recognize if it hit you between the eyes)
David Gregory To Glenn Greenwald: 'Why Shouldn't You Be Charged With A Crime?' - Greenwald replied that it was "pretty extraordinary that anybody who would call themselves a journalist would publicly muse" about such a thing, and that there was no evidence to back up Gregory's claim that he had "aided" Snowden. - "Who needs the government to try to criminalize journalism when you have David Gregory to do it?" (Dancin' Dave thinks he's a journalist and Greenwald isn't and should be in jail)
Eschaton: While I Was Sleeping - Apparently we are at war with Russia, China, Venezuela, and Ecuador and not a single journalist David Gregory knows in Washington has ever published classified information.
Shep Smith Rips FBI Deputy Director Sean Joyce Over NSA Revelations (video) - Smith seemed outraged and said he prayed that the American public was listening. "He 'misspoke' on the centerpiece of the argument?" Shep said of Joyce. "The one example of the 50 that they're holding up for the nation [to explain], 'This is why we collect this data!' And he misspoke? At the very fundamental level?.. When is enough going to be enough?" ("misspoke" = "lying through his teeth")
Schumer: Putin ‘aiding and abetting Snowden’s escape’ – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs ("escape")
Aaron Swartz, Plea Leveraging & The Bordenkircher Problem | emptywheel
Surveillance State News: Snowden Breaks for Moscow, McClatchy on the “Insider Threat Program” | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - Leaks to the media are equated with espionage.

Putin Steals Snowden’s Laptop During Moscow Layover » Balloon Juice - “He said he wanted to see my laptop, so I showed it to him in the airport lounge,” said Snowden. “Putin picked it up and said, ‘I could kill someone with this.’”

The Strange Case of Barrett Brown | The Nation (Obama hates journalists and likes to put them in jail and their mothers too; compare with Swartz)

FBI Denies It Was Ever Investigating Michael Hastings (oh, you can believe us, sure)
Geraldo Rivera's Michael Hastings Tweet Draws Backlash; He Attacks 'Tweeting Vandals' - Geraldo Rivera's Michael Hastings Tweet Draws Backlash; He Attacks 'Tweeting Vandals'

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XXIII - Oh, yes. And this week also marks the third time this year that a family in Tennessee has accidentally shot their own baby. (Darwin at work)

The F.B.I. Deemed Agents Faultless in 150 Shootings - NYTimes.com (they "probed" themselves and decided they were never, ever, responsible)

Paul Krugman: Greg Mankiw Forgets 'We Are A Much More Unequal Society Now'
A number of people have already piled on to Greg Mankiw over his defense of the one percent (pdf). Yet I do have something to add.
We Were Middle-Class Once, And Young - NYTimes.com - As I noted the other day, Greg Mankiw (pdf), in his defense of the one percent, seems oddly oblivious, among other things, to the extent to which America has changed since he was young. We are a much more unequal society now, and as a consequence arguably one with a lot less intergenerational mobility too.

GOP Hates Poor Too Much to End Farm Socialism -- Daily Intelligencer
Morality study finds conservatives show a ‘general insensitivity to consequences’ | The Raw Story

Bill Cunningham Outburst On 'Hannity' Stirs Fox News Controversy - "You shut up!" Cunningham yelled. "Know your role and shut your mouth." "My role is a woman," Holder responded (Fox slime-pit)
Paula Deen Defended Southern Attitude Towards Race In Fall 2012 (VIDEO) - She says, back then, "black folk were such integral part of our lives, they were like our family," and, for that reason, "we didn't see ourselves as being prejudiced." (The first person plural here raises the question: did Paula Deen herself live in the Antebellum South? Is she a vampire?) It's also worth noting that she takes care not to refer to slaves as "slaves." She generally calls them "these people" or "workers."
Mika Brzezinski: I Didn't Know Who Russell Brand Was (VIDEO) - "I have never gotten more vitriol and anger and hatred than I have over this," she added. "So I apologize for not knowing." ("how stupid I am")

Time Cover Story Wrongly Attacks Atheists for Not Helping Out Victims of Oklahoma Tornadoes


Nanotube Probe Gives a Single Neuron’s View of Brain Activity | MIT Technology Review - A thin probe of carbon nanotubes can measure small electrical changes inside a neuron.
Wine-tasting: it's junk science | Life and style | The Observer - Experiments have shown that people can't tell plonk from grand cru. Now one US winemaker claims that even experts can't judge wine accurately. What's the science behind the taste?

The World of Black-Ops Reputation Management -- New York Magazine - I watched online as a college classmate went from disgrace to redemption in months. That’s when I found myself deep in the world of black-ops reputation management.


NSA controversy boosts interest in ‘private’ Internet search engines | The Raw Story - DuckDuckGo, an engine created in 2007, which does not store IP addresses or create profiles of users.

062213
Brazil's protests raise fears for World Cup as a million take to the streets | World news | The Guardian - Football becomes focus of furious outcry against corruption, police brutality, dire public services, high prices and street crime
In the favelas on the frontline of protest, Brazilians ask: who is this World Cup for? | World news | The Observer - In Fortaleza, a city of glaring inequality, 130,000 live in extreme poverty, a mother sold her baby for £15 – and a £150m stadium has been built for next year's tournament
Flooding kills 3, forces 75,000 from Calgary homes

World Bank Insider Blows Whistle on Corruption, Federal Reserve

Hullabaloo - This really is Big Brother: the leak nobody's noticed - President Barack Obama’s unprecedented initiative, known as the Insider Threat Program, is sweeping in its reach ... Leaks to the media are equated with espionage ... When the Department of Education is searching for "insider threats" something's gone very wrong. (WELL, ALMOST NOBODY)

Obama Administration Urges Hong Kong To Act Soon On Edward Snowden Extradition ("or else")
Lengthy Battle on Arrest Seen in Leaks Case - NYTimes.com
Edward Snowden Charged With Espionage, Theft In NSA Case
On the Espionage Act charges against Edward Snowden | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Who is actually bringing 'injury to America': those who are secretly building a massive surveillance system or those who inform citizens that it's being done?
Snowden spy row grows as US is accused of hacking China | World news | The Observer - His latest claims came as US officials, who have filed criminal charges against him, warned Hong Kong to comply with an extradition request or risk complicating diplomatic relations after some of the territory's politicians called for Snowden to be protected.
exclusive: Snowden safe in Hong Kong, more US cyberspying details revealed | South China Morning Post - Snowden is not under police protection but in a "safe place" in Hong Kong
The Daily Dot - After espionage charges, Edward Snowden petition reaches critical mass - A We the People petition titled "Pardon Edward Snowden" reached the requisite 100,000 signatures Saturday morning. By the Obama administration's own rules, any petition that reaches that threshold will receive a formal response from the White House, though there’s no formal timetable for the official comment.

GCHQ: this is a pivotal moment: democracies are becoming national security states | Comment is free | The Observer - The revelations about GCHQ confirm that what once looked like science fiction is now an everyday reality
MI5 feared GCHQ went 'too far' over phone and internet monitoring | UK news | The Observer - Amid leaks from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, senior intelligence source reveals worries were voiced in 2008
GCHQ taps fibre-optic cables for secret access to world's communications | UK news | guardian.co.uk - British spy agency collects and stores vast quantities of global email messages, Facebook posts, internet histories and calls, and shares them with NSA, latest documents from Edward Snowden reveal

Nancy Pelosi Booed, Heckled Over Edward Snowden, NSA Comments At Netroots Nation 2013 - SAN JOSE, Calif. -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) drew vocal backlash Saturday for her answers to questions about National Security Agency data surveillance and whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Glenn Greenwald: Edward Snowden Espionage Charge Shows 'Absolutely Atrocious Record Of The Obama Administration' (video)
Edward Snowden Extradition Battle In Hong Kong Could Go On For Years
Support NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, says Julian Assange | World news | guardian.co.uk - WikiLeaks founder releases statement after former contract worker is charged with espionage by US prosecutors
WikiLeaks' Julian Assange urges support for Snowden, slams Obama - CNN.com - WikiLeaks' Assange urges support for Snowden, slams Obama 'betrayal'
The Espionage Act of 1917 Should Never Be Enforced - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Prior to Barack Obama’s inauguration, there were a grand total of three prosecutions of leakers under the Espionage Act (including the prosecution of Dan Ellsberg by the Nixon DOJ). That’s because the statute is so broad that even the US government has largely refrained from using it. But during the Obama presidency, there are now seven such prosecutions: more than double the number under all prior US presidents combined. How can anyone justify that?
Greenwald: Snowden Charges Show Obama's 'Vindictive Mentality' (video) | TPM LiveWire
Bob Cesca: Today's NSA Brought to You By a Decade of Republican Fear-Mongering

Conservatives Pledge To Defy Any Marriage Equality Ruling The Supreme Court Reaches (but they're not traitors or anything)

5 potential ‘border surge’ pitfalls - Josh Gerstein - politico.com

Michael Hastings Sent Email About FBI Probe Hours Before Death - Hours before dying in a fiery car crash, award-winning journalist Michael Hastings sent an email to his colleagues, warning that federal authorities were interviewing his friends and that he needed to go "off the rada[r]" for a bit. ("working on a big story")
NYT Public Editor: Hastings Obit Didn't 'Capture His Adversarial Spirit' | TPM LiveWire - "But it doesn’t adequately get across the essence of Mr. Hastings’ journalism or the regard in which he was held," Sullivan wrote. "And, in the way it presents the Pentagon’s response to his most celebrated article in Rolling Stone, which brought down Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the obituary seems to diminish his work’s legitimacy."
Michael Hastings, Truthteller, Dead at 33 « Antiwar.com Blog - Hastings was lambasted by the establishment hive for supposedly “breaking the rules,” which meant he did his job: McChrystal and his A-team of chest-thumping commandos had said too much in front of Hastings
Must-reads of the week : Columbia Journalism Review - Remembering Michael Hastings

The top 9,486 ways Jay Carney won’t answer your questions (interactive) | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

Louie Gohmert Argues Against Food Stamps, Claiming People Buy King Crab Legs With Benefits (they have refrigerators!)
Sherwin Smith, Tennessee Official, Says Water Quality Complaints Could Be 'Act Of Terrorism' (AUDIO) - A Tennessee state official reportedly told residents who were concerned about dirty drinking water that complaining about water quality could be considered "an act of terrorism."
Probe of gifts to McDonnell widens - The Washington Post

Indiana gives BP a break on mercury pollution in Lake Michigan - chicagotribune.com - After a 2007 Tribune investigation, BP pledged to tackle its Whiting refinery's toxic discharges into Lake Michigan. Today, state regulators allow the pollution to persist.

The ax falls at The Oregonian (UPDATED) : Columbia Journalism Review - Oregonian owner Advance Publications long bragged about the “local control” it gave its newspapers. But its new template for its newspapers is now depressingly familiar: End daily delivery; fire a third to a half of the veteran journalists, particularly the editors, particularly in news; replace some of them with young, inexperienced (and most important: cheap) labor; put them on the hamster wheel; toss around insipid buzzwords; spend a bunch of money on new offices; piss off readers; embolden competition. (it's the Bain way)

The Legend of John Sexton - Lawyers, Guns & Money : This morning’s New York Times features Marty Lipton taking umbrage at the idea that anyone would raise questions about why NYU is lavishing seven-figure annual compensation packages on the Great and the Good in its midst:

Shifting Discourses of Motherhood: The Victorian Breastfeeding Photo Fad » Sociological Images
period breastfeeding images
Why is "side boob" or general cleavage publicly acceptable, but the nipple itself is considered pornographic? : AskReddit
TN Couldn’t Decide Whether Andrea Jones Is Male Or Female, So They Arrested Her / Queerty - After Andrea Jones had gender reassignment surgery and was recognized as female by the Social Security office, she went into a Tennessee DMV office to change the gender on her driver’s license—but they denied her request. So she walked out into the parking lot, removed her shirt and the police arrested her for indecent exposure, though it’s completely legal for men to go around shirtless.

Pa. woman charged in faith-healing death gets bail - Clark said under questioning from the judge that he suggested a day or two before Brandon's death that Herbert Schaible tell his probation officer about the child's illness, but "he said that if he called anyone, it would be a denial of his faith that God could heal the child." (God had already failed them once, didn't learn)
Open Thread: Waiting Out the Apocalypse… in Kansas » Balloon Juice - Some might say that being stuck in an underground RV park full of survivalists and preppers would be their second choice. From the Washington Post:

honestbleeps comments on Ex-Rooster Teeth (David "Knuckles Dawson" Dreger) contributer found dead in West Vancouver

062113
Brazil protests: president to hold emergency meeting | World news | guardian.co.uk - Night of protests draws vast crowds in cities across Brazil, with a total turnout estimated at 2 million
Backlash grows against Brazilian protests after riots | Reuters - Fernando Rodrigues, a columnist for Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, wrote that Rousseff's silence on Thursday night "sums up the lack of action by politicians." (if "backlash" = exponential growth)
The Tired Debate Over Missile Defense | Flashpoints | The Diplomat (it's the short-range shit you have to worry about)
Growing Unrest in Brazil (the first non-Islamic uprising)

Violence Against Women Is A 'Global Health Problem Of Epidemic Proportions,' Says WHO - About one in three women worldwide experience sexual or physical violence at least once in their lives, according to a World Health Organization report released Thursday (one of the statistics James Woodman doesn't believe)
NPR Ruins Day With Facts About Violence Against Women - So, great. THIRTY-FIVE FUCKING PERCENT might be a goddam UNDERESTIMATE.
Want To Keep Your Job? Don’t Get Domestic Violenced - The school’s action -– firing her because she is a victim of domestic abuse –- is sadly legal in most states. (another form of violence)

Boy’s death highlights anger some Yemenis feel over U.S. drone strikes | McClatchy
Yemeni Boy Killed In Drone Strike - The US Just Killed A Boy In Yemen: Will Obama Respond? - Esquire - If true, the boy's killing sets a grisly new milestone. This is the first reported civilian death from a drone strike since President Obama's May 23 speech on counter-terrorism, in which he told us that the U.S. would only strike if there was a "near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured." (you didn't believe him, did you?)

Eschaton: Threats - several men in San Diego were discovered to have sent about $8,500 to Al Shabab, a terrorist group in Somalia. State and federal authorities decided against indicting HSBC in a money-laundering case over concerns that criminal charges could jeopardize one of the world’s largest banks and ultimately destabilize the global financial system.

Obama On Charlie Rose About NSA Surveillance - The Most Ludicurous Statement From A President - Esquire - He is referring, of course, to the FISA court and, if your main argument for transparency and oversight is a secret rubber-stamp court issuing secret warrants based on secret evidence, well, you're gonna need a bigger boat there, Skipper. (we've had enough of your lies and evasions, Barry)
Ari Melber Trashes Obama, Washington For ‘Orwellian’ Defense Of ‘Transparent’ FISA Courts | Mediaite “You cannot invoke a secret court for transparency.”
GCHQ taps fibre-optic cables for secret access to world's communications | UK news | guardian.co.uk - British spy agency collects and stores vast quantities of global email messages, Facebook posts, internet histories and calls, and shares them with NSA, latest documents from Edward Snowden reveal
Mysterious privacy board touted by Obama has deep government ties | World news | guardian.co.uk - Privacy & Civil Liberties Board at the heart of Obama's effort to address NSA surveillance scandal is itself a Washington enigma (typical "transparent" Obama move - the PCLOB, center of his response to spying scandal, exists only in his mind, so we're totally safe there)
Lawyers eye NSA data as treasure trove for evidence in murder, divorce cases - NBC News.com

Let's check James Comey's Bush years record before he becomes FBI director | Laura Murphy | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Comey is lionised in DC for one challenge over liberties. Yet he backed waterboarding, wire-tapping and indefinite detention (sounds like Barry's boy)

Realtors: Rising home prices are 'unsustainable' - NBC News.com
Profits Without Production - NYTimes.com - the growing importance of monopoly rents: profits that don’t represent returns on investment, but instead reflect the value of market dominance. (GM vs Apple the rentier(
The Last Mystery of the Financial Crisis | Politics News | Rolling Stone - It's long been suspected that ratings agencies like Moody's and Standard & Poor's helped trigger the meltdown. A new trove of embarrassing documents shows how they did it

The Club » Balloon Juice (Jonathan Chait is a member)
Echidne Of The Snakes: Meet James Taranto
Rep. Louie Gohmert Has Some Feelings About the Farm Bill, America - NationalJournal.com (Republican crazy at its best)

Finally, the Supreme Court Stands Up For the Poor Major Corporations Who Just Want to Break the Law a Little - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Despite the ongoing delay in bringing us “Let’s Destroy the Great Society Day,” there was, alas, a major Supreme Court decision yesterday. Scalia’s majority opinion in American Express v. Italian Colors was an embarrassment that Kagan shredded like the Republican heroes working for the Houston office of Arthur Andersen in 2001:
The unpaid internship racket — MSNBC

Eight Toxic Foods: A Little Chemical Education. In the Pipeline: (Buzzfeed's Bullshit)

Marijuana Not Linked To Lung Cancer When Use Is Light Or Moderate, Unknown With Heavy Use
Saturn Hurricane: See Massive Vortex More Than 20 Times Larger Than Any Storm On Earth - International Science Times


062013
MERS Virus: Mysterious New Respiratory Virus Spreads Easily, Appears Deadlier Than SARS - "In the right circumstances, the spread could be explosive," said Perl, while emphasizing that the team only had a snapshot of one MERS cluster in Saudi Arabia. Compared to SARS' 8 percent death rate, the fatality rate for MERS in the Saudi outbreak was about 65 percent,

Brazil: 300,000 protest in Rio | World news | The Guardian - Hundreds of thousands demonstrate across the country despite U-turn over transport fare increases which sparked the unrest
The Die is Caste | Schroedinger's Cat - NYT is now outsourcing their vacuous analysis on the Opinion Pages to op-ed contributors from Bangalore, no less. Tom Friedman beware, your competition has arrived

Obama’s crackdown views leaks as aiding enemies of U.S. | McClatchy - President Barack Obama’s unprecedented initiative, known as the Insider Threat Program, is sweeping in its reach. They also show how millions of federal employees and contractors must watch for “high-risk persons or behaviors” among co-workers and could face penalties, including criminal charges, for failing to report them. Leaks to the media are equated with espionage. (HE HAS AN ANTI-WHISTLEBLOWER PROGRAM WITH MILLIONS OF SPIES! - WHO IS THE REAL ENEMY OF DEMOCRACY?)

Revealed: the top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrant | World news | guardian.co.uk - Fisa court submissions show broad scope of procedures governing NSA's surveillance of Americans' communication
Skype's secret Project Chess reportedly helped NSA access customers' data | Technology | guardian.co.uk - Scheme – set up before firm was purchased by Microsoft – allegedly eased access for US law enforcement agencies
NSA surveillance is an attack on American citizens, says Noam Chomsky | World news | guardian.co.uk - Governments will use whatever technology is available to combat their primary enemy – their own population, says critic (Obama hates the very idea of America)
NSA Can Keep Data On U.S. Citizens Indefinitely: Report
Russ Tice, Bush-Era Whistleblower, Claims NSA Ordered Wiretap Of Barack Obama In 2004 (terrorism suspect)
Government Spying: Why You Can't 'Just Trust Us' | The Nation - For proof that the current surveillance programs are ripe for abuse, Americans need only look at what preceded them.
The Intelligence Community’s Willful Ignorance about Americans Caught in 702 Surveillance | emptywheel - they said providing such a number would violate the privacy of Americans (down the Orwell Hole: we can't tell you we've been spying on you because that would violate your privacy)
Web’s Reach Binds N.S.A. and Silicon Valley Leaders - NYTimes.com

Closing Bell: Markets Tumble on Fears of Higher Interest Rates - DailyFinance

Inequality: The 1 percent needs better defenders | The Economist - APPARENTLY someone, perhaps John Kenneth Galbraith, once said that the way to debate Milton Friedman was to wait for him to say "Let us assume..." and then immediately interrupt and say "No, let's not assume that."
Inequality - The Signal and the Noise
Just Deserts? Do the 1 Percent Deserve their Wealth? | Demos - In this paper, as elsewhere, Mankiw claims to follow a "just deserts" perspective on economic justice. Under Mankiw's understanding of this long-standing concept, just deserts dictates that individuals receive compensation congruent with their contributions. (and the rich deserve more dessert)
Who Killed Equality? - Bloomberg - There are two main schools of thought on income inequality: The fatalists, who contend that rising inequality is the ineluctable result of a changing economy, and the redistributionists, who blame a skewed tax system and lethargic government. Perhaps it’s time to consider a third. (robot overlords)
Letter from a millennial: We're not going to buy your house - Baltimore Business Journal (ghost suberbs coming )

Michael Hastings' Wife Obliterates New York Times For Dismissive Obituary - That said, it’s unclear whether the Times' reaction to Hastings' story is rooted in professional jealousy or a knee-jerk defense of the establishment. The inspector general's report said it could not confirm some elements of Hastings' reporting, but that was to be expected.

Food Stamp Cuts Derail Farm Bill - But this week Republicans added amendments to let states drug-test SNAP program beneficiaries and set up additional work requirements that anti-hunger advocates and Democrats warned would give states incentives to boot even more people from the food-stamp rolls.
Farm bill fails in the House - First Read - The House voted 195-234, with 62 Republicans joining 172 Democrats, to defeat the bill. The vote was regarded as a surprise, and represented an embarrassment to the House GOP leadership team.


Judson Memorial Church :: Sermons - Teja Cole calls this the White Savior Industrial Complex. When you live there, you are already dead but not yet still.

Texas poised to execute 500th prisoner as lawyers fight to save her life | World news | guardian.co.uk - Kimberly McCarthy, 52, to face lethal injection next week for 1997 murder but lawyers say judicial process was fatally flawed
Timely Justice Act: Florida’s horrifying plan to make it quicker and easier to execute its death row inmates. - Slate Magazine - Florida’s horrifying plan to make it quicker and easier to execute its death row inmates.

Stella Tremblay Resigns From New Hampshire Legislature - A New Hampshire state legislator who drew fire for claiming the Boston Marathon bombing was an inside job has resigned from office.

Chris Simcox, Co-Founder Of Minuteman Border Patrol Group, Arrested On Child Sex Charges

That Michael Burgess, Fetal Masturbation Thing That Happened? Science Has Weighed In
GOP Congressman Wants to Ban Abortion to Save Masturbating Fetuses - Alexander Abad-Santos - The Atlantic Wire

Biggest, Oldest ‘Ex-Gay’ Group Shutting Down -- Daily Intelligencer - Exodus International, will soon cease to be, after its president apologized for trying to convert gays and lesbians through prayer.

For the first time, scientists can identify your emotions based on brain activity | The Verge - The mind reading trick, done before with objects, is now plumbing the depths of human feeling (if "depth" = "surface")
First Teach No Harm by Phillip Longman | The Washington Monthly - The U.S. spends $13 billion a year subsidizing graduate medical education. Yet almost all of this money winds up producing the wrong kinds of doctors in the wrong places, with America’s most elite teaching hospitals being the worst offenders.
Bacteria Live At 33,000 Feet | Popular Science
The Large Hadron Collider in pictures: using big technology to investigate tiny things | The Verge - Proton beams, cryogenics, superconductors, and massive underground labs — welcome to CERN!

Sodomy Hazing Leaves 13-Year-Old Victim Outcast in Colorado Town - Bloomberg - Two of the attackers were sons of Robert Harris, the wrestling coach, who was president of the school board. The victim’s father was the K-12 principal. After the principal reported the incident to police, townspeople forced him to resign.


061913
UN warns of worst refugee crisis in nearly 20 years | World news | guardian.co.uk - Conflicts in Syria, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mali push number of displaced people to more than 45 million
Brazilian politicians struggle with how to respond to another night of protests | World news | guardian.co.uk - Politicians warned of being 'on wrong side of history' as anger swells about state of nation and World Cup extravagance
Hamid Karzai suspends US-Afghanistan security talks | World news | guardian.co.uk - President accuses Washington of 'inconsistent statements and actions' with regard to peace talks with Taliban
Drone 'Signature Strike' Witness Responds To Obama Speech: 'I Don't Trust A Single Word' - Drone 'Signature Strike' Witness Responds To Obama Speech: 'I Don't Trust A Single Word' (neither do we)
Work on Guangzhou Metro Line 6 destroys five ancient tombs | South China Morning Post
Cat stands for election in Mexican city | World news | guardian.co.uk ("yes we cat")

Pipeline in northern Alberta leaks 9.5 million litres of industrial waste water | Globalnews.ca (but oil is perfectly safe)

Climate Change-Poverty Link Highlighted In World Bank Report
Obama Climate Change Strategy Coming Within Weeks, Adviser Says

Audit Finds Sexual Abuse Was Topic Decades Ago - NYTimes.com - A regional province of the Capuchin religious order that had fought allegations of sexual abuse for decades decided last year to open its files dating to the 19th century to three independent auditors, in what the order claimed to be a first in the long-running Roman Catholic Church abuse scandal in the United States.

Julian Assange Emerges As Central Figure In Bradley Manning Trial - Casting a long shadow over his trial, however, is the figure of someone else the government would apparently like to put on trial: Julian Assange. (not like Sweden would extradite him, or anything)
Assange will not leave Ecuador embassy even if Sweden drops extradition bid | Media | The Guardian - WikiLeaks founder fears moves are under way by the US to prosecute him on espionage charges over cable releases

AP CEO: Our Sources Have Been Intimidated By Phone Records Seizure - WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department violated its own rules when it secretly seized records for thousands of phone calls to and from journalists for The Associated Press as part of a leak investigation, the head of the company said Wednesday. (but of course we'd never do that to you)

Poll: Public wants congressional hearings on NSA surveillance (Obama considers droning the "Public")
Three Guiding Principles for NSA Reform - Many Americans are disturbed by government data-mining, but what can we actually do to change the system we're so uncomfortable with?
FBI Director: Phone Records Collection Helped In 10-12 Terrorism Cases | TPM LiveWire (or maybe 2 or maybe dozens or maybe 50 or infinity!)
Barack Obama: NSA is not rifling through ordinary people's emails | World news | guardian.co.uk - US president is confident intelligence services have 'struck appropriate balance', he tells journalists in Berlin
Fisa court oversight: a look inside a secret and empty process | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - No individualized warrants required under 2008 Fisa law (a sham and a joke, Obama's idea of "justice")
NSA hearing: Hot mic catches NSA boss praising FBI chiefs for supportive testimony on surveillance programs | Mail Online - 'Tell your boss I owe him another friggin' beer:' Hot mic catches NSA boss praising FBI chiefs for supportive testimony on surveillance programs
Merkel: 'Important, Necessary' To Debate NSA Surveillance | TPM LiveWire
Chatting about Japan with Snowden, the NSA whistle-blower | The Japan Times - Snowden, who learned Japanese as a teenager, was a Japanophile who had longtime connections to the country and several people here, who perhaps had no idea that their online friend was doing top-secret work for the U.S. government.
Finally, Some More Incoherent Trooferism From Naomi Wolf! - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Well, she’s back, with an even better one: Edward Snowden is a stooge for the security state.
Naomi Wolf Is a Snowden Truther

FBI Director: We Have Used Drones On U.S. Soil | TPM LiveWire
DHS Releases More Documents on Occupy to PCJF - Homeland Security Documents Show Massive Nationwide Monitoring of Occupy Movement

Chris Van Hollen: IRS Rules To Be Challenged In Court - - Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Tuesday that he and two campaign finance watchdog groups would sue the IRS, challenging regulations that allow nonprofit groups to be involved in politics if they're "primarily" devoted to a social welfare purpose.
Eye On The Ball - Esquire - The entire brawl over the IRS dumbassery has centered on the 501 (c) (4) loophole scam, whereby the Tea Party Patriots Of Billy Bob's Frontal Lobes could get a tax-break if their pretended to be a "social-welfare" organization.
Elijah Cummings Releases IRS Transcript - Darrell Issa Gets Played - Esquire - I'm not going to play poker, ever, with Congressman Elijah Cummings of Maryland, because the man knows how to play a hand.

Big Lie: America Doesn't Have #1 Richest Middle-Class in the World...We're Ranked 27th! | Alternet - America is the richest country on Earth. We have the most millionaires, the most billionaires—and a increasingly poor "middle class."
Kansas Bleeds the Middle Class

IRS Official: White House Was Not Involved In Targeting Of Conservative Groups - IRS Official: White House Was Not Involved In Targeting Of Conservative Groups (Issa-fit)
GAO: Health Care Law Launch Faces Obstacles

The Worst Kind of Obama Nominee - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - A good bit of the left-wing criticism of President Obama partially misses the mark because it assumes a unilateral presidency where presidents can do what they want. On the other hand, there’s plenty for progressives to criticize about Obama, particularly in his choice of appointments. Take for instance his choice to head the Federal Communications Commission: (Obama's corporatist rule)
F.C.C. Nominee Favors Competition Over Regulation - NYTimes.com
White House Petition Calls For Federal Ban On Creationism, Intelligent Design In Classrooms - White House Petition Calls For Federal Ban On Creationism, Intelligent Design In Classrooms
Donna Brazile: Obama Deserves Low Marks On Bringing America Together | TPM LiveWire (his job was always about bringing corporations togehter)
Russell Brand Schools Morning Joe Panel. Why Are We Surprised At His Smarts? | ThinkProgress

National Mortgage Settlement Monitor Finds Few Flaws As Consumer Advocates Cry Foul - National Mortgage Settlement Monitor Finds Few Flaws As Consumer Advocates Cry Foul (Obama's program designed to screw you just peachy-keen)

20-Week Abortion Ban Passes House ("masturbating male fetuses" saved)
The WSJ Needs to Stop Publishing James Taranto's Rape Apologia - Yesterday's column on sexual assault in the military isn't worth detailing in full because it's so overwhelmingly horrible, but Taranto essentially argues that so-called "sexually assaulted" women (who he thinks experience "hanky-panky" and "sexual recklessness," not rape) are asking for it and that men are incapable of not raping because of testosterone, or something. HE IS THE WORST. (and an ugly fuck, also)

Avedon's Sideshow: And we speak of things that matter, in words that must be said - And we speak of things that matter, in words that must be said

Paula Deen's Dream Dinner Party Waiters: Black Slaves in White Jackets - alleged that Paula and her brother Bubba made black and white employees use separate bathrooms, threw the N-word around, repeatedly told racist and sexist jokes, and other shit your drunk grandpa might do at a block party.
Dlisted | The KKK Is Going To Ask Paula Deen To Be Their New Resident Chef In 3…2…
Dave Chappelle - Out Front Racism - - YouTube

New Hope To Regrow Our Cut Limbs, Just Like Lizards - nexpected

Form and Landscape: Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Basin, 1940-1990 in pictures | Art and design | The Guardian

Xbox One: Microsoft abandons controversial DRM restrictions | Technology | guardian.co.uk - Company responds to global outcry and removes daily online requirements and restrictions to pre-owned sales. Xbox president, Don Mattrick, thanks gamers for "candid feedback"
Microsoft planning improved Surface RT with Qualcomm processor | The Verge

061813
Brazil's Protesters Take To The Streets Again - - Some of the biggest demonstrations since the end of Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship have broken out across this continent-sized country, uniting tens of thousands frustrated by poor transportation, health services, education and security despite a heavy tax burden.
U.S., Taliban To Hold Talks In Doha

FBI Secrets: Feds Reportedly Used Secret Evidence Obtained Under Secret Surveillance Law To Prosecute Accused Terrorists (it's all secrit)
NSA: Surveillance Programs Foiled Some 50 Terrorist Plots Worldwide - Intelligence officials have disclosed some details on two thwarted attacks, and Alexander promised additional information to the panel on thwarted attacks that the programs helped stop. He provided few additional details. (50=2)
Glenn Greenwald Tells Anderson Cooper: U.S. Officials Partaking In 'Fear-Mongering Campaign'
Media's Edward Snowden Haters Club Keeps Growing

Ray Kelly Opens Up On Surveillance - This Is Being Done In Your Name - Esquire

Skills gap myth (finally) falls, but will anyone hear it? » Balloon Juice - There is a durable belief that much of today’s unemployment is rooted in a skills gap, in which good jobs go unfilled for lack of qualified applicants. This is mostly a corporate fiction, based in part on self-interest and a misreading of government data. (plus clueless Tom Friedman)

John Derbyshire, Columnist, Says Female Soldiers Prone To 'Victim Hoaxes,' Make Up Sexual Assaults ("illegitimate rape")
Michael Burgess: I Oppose Abortion Because Male Fetuses Masturbate (just when you thought Republicans couldn't get any loonier)
Cos I’m feeling like a criminal » Balloon Juice - The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto dismissed the epidemic of sexual assault in the military, claiming that efforts to address the growing problem contributed to a “war on men” and an “effort to criminalize male sexuality.”

Don’t Copernicize Me, Bro! | TPM Editors Blog - Politico cofounder lashes out at Nate Silver for trying to prove things with math.
Nate Silver Responds | TPM Editors Blog - Silver: Politico cofounders lack “curiosity for the world outside of the bubble.”

Gary Webb And The Limits Of Vindication - Esquire - the late Gary Webb, the brilliant investigative reporter whose life and career were ruined when the establishment media of the time joined with the government to discredit a series he'd written about the involvement of the CIA in drug-running operations in alliance with the guerrilla forces the United States was backing in Central America in the 1980s.

Bank of America whistle-blower’s bombshell: “We were told to lie” - Salon.com - Bank of America whistle-blowers detail horrid schemes to fleece borrowers, reward foreclosures

The business of higher ed - Lawyers, Guns & Money : This piece features more juicy tidbits on the 501(c)(3) racket known as New York University, but its real target is the Educational Administrative Complex more generally. - At latest count, we have 1.5 million university professors in this country, 1 million of whom are adjuncts

Autism, Air Pollution Link Confirmed By First National Study
3-D Map Of Universe Shows Positions Of Known Galaxies In Unprecedented Detail (video)
\ Cosmography of the Local Universe (FullHD version) on Vimeo

Mark Frauenfelder, Dad And Boing Boing Founder: 'TSA Officer Humiliated My Daughter'


061713
Obama and Putin at odds over Syria after cool exchange at G8 summit | World news | guardian.co.uk - US president says talks 'very useful' but Russia admits 'our opinions do not coincide' as pair look to end conflict in Syria
Turkish trade unions call for strike | World news | guardian.co.uk - Workers urged to leave jobs on Monday afternoon and converge on Taksim Square, scene of weeks of anti-government protests
Merkel 'appalled' at Turkey's clampdown on protests | World news | guardian.co.uk - German chancellor is 'shocked' at handling of unrest but does not call for suspension of talks on Turkey joining EU
CTN News: Its about to go down in Aleppo, Syria. as 80,000 troops are about storm the city. - Some 80 thousand military forces trained by Lebanese Hezbollah were preparing to launch a ground offensive to recapture Syria’s commercial city of Aleppo.
emptywheel - Perhaps the most notorious of these war criminals is Rashid Dostum, who is accused of killing up to two thousand prisoners who surrendered as Kabul fell to US forces. Here is McClatchy in 2008 describing Dostum removing evidence of his war crimes ... In fact, with the recent disclosure of “bags o’ cash” going directly from the CIA to Hamid Karzai, the word is that as Afghanistan’s Chief of Staff of the Army, Dostum is recieving up to $100,000 per month under the program.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad summoned to criminal court | World news | guardian.co.uk - News highlights outgoing president's waning influence in Iran as 'unspecified charges' follow lawsuit from parliament speaker
Palestinian hopes for two states 'not possible', says Israeli minister Bennett | World news | guardian.co.uk - Israeli trade minister Naftali Bennett dismisses two-state solution as 'hopeless' and urges swift annexation of West Bank's Area C (so we'll take it all)

Julian Assange prepared for five more years in embassy, says Ecuador | Media | The Guardian - Foreign minister Ricardo Patiño says situation is 'totally unjust', as talks arranged between British and Ecuadorean legal experts - The Foreign Office said "no substantive progress" had been made during the discussions, while Patiño told a press conference that Assange's situation was "totally unjust".

Guantanamo Indefinite Detainees List Released By Obama Administration - The Obama administration on Monday publicly identified for the first time 46 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay whom it wants to hold indefinitely without charge or trial because it says they are too dangerous to release but cannot be prosecuted.

From hope to fear: the broken promise of Barack Obama | The Raw Story - Yet Obama has flippantly dismissed the controversy. Resorting to the worst tactics of the Bush years, his message is: “Trust us. We’re the good guys.” And then Congress is briefed – in secret, of course – about the “dozens” of terrorist plots such industrial-scale espionage has stopped.

Eschaton: Savvy - I'm seeing responses along the lines of "How dare Snowden reveal that we spy on other countries and of course we spy on other countries everybody knows that." It can't really be both, you know.
NSA Surveillance Revelations Shine Spotlight On Obama Administration Secrecy - It's as if the United States has two governments, one open and one very much not. President Barack Obama leads both, trying not to butt heads with himself.
Nadler and Mueller on Analysts Getting Call and E-mail Content - A brief, slightly confusing exchange between Rep. Jerrold Nadler and FBI director Robert Mueller at a hearing this week is stirring up a lot of fuss, as C-NET reports (and The Hill repeats) that it reveals an NSA admission that analysts sifting through metadata can, without further court authorization, listen to calls or read e-mails:
The CNET “Bombshell” and the Four Surveillance Programs | emptywheel - CNET is getting a lot of attention for its report that NSA, “has acknowledged in a new classified briefing that it does not need court authorization to listen to domestic phone calls.”
Think That’s All She Wrote | TPM Editors Blog - We now have a statement from Rep. Nadler which seems to debunk the CNET piece which I discussed in the earlier post.
James Clapper Throws a Concentrated Nugget of Orwellian Turd-Splat | emptywheel - The claim that NSA doesn’t wittingly “collect” data on millions of Americans was just an opening act for James Clapper, it seems. I know it won’t work this way for those who trust this program, but Clapper’s statement should raise more questions whether the thrust of what Nadler said, rather than four words taken out of context, are in fact true.
Media's Edward Snowden Haters Club Keeps Growing - In trashing NSA leaker Edward Snowden on Sunday, CBS's Bob Schieffer joined a fast-growing club of establishment pundits who have derided his actions and questioned his character.

Edward Snowden: US government has destroyed any chance of a fair trial | World news | The Guardian - In a live chat with Guardian readers, NSA whistleblower says US leaders cannot 'cover this up by jailing or murdering me'
Snowden: 'If I Were A Chinese Spy, Why Wouldn't I Have Flown Directly Into Beijing?' | TPM LiveWire - . "Ask yourself: if I were a Chinese spy, why wouldn't I have flown directly into Beijing? I could be living in a palace petting a phoenix by now."
Snowden Explains Why He Didn't Go Straight To Iceland | TPM LiveWire
Snowden: U.S. Is 'Not Going To Be Able To Cover This Up By Jailing Or Murdering Me' | TPM LiveWire
Snowden: Media More Interested In My Girlfriend Than NSA Programs | TPM LiveWire (everything else is over Schieffer's head)

New Yorker Cover: 'Uncle Sam Is Listening' (PHOTO)
Defenders of NSA Surveillance Omit Most of Mumbai Plotter’s Story - ProPublica - government surveillance only caught up with Headley after the U.S. had been tipped by British intelligence. And even that victory came after seven years in which U.S. intelligence failed to stop Headley as he roamed the globe on missions for Islamic terror networks and Pakistan's spy agency.
State photo-ID databases become troves for police - The Washington Post
Exclusive: Inside Account of U.S. Eavesdropping on Americans - ABC News - US Soldier's 'Phone Sex' Intercepted, Shared (swept under the rug in 2008)
‘Notion of what is an unreasonable level of paranoia has shifted’ says security consultant | The Raw Story

Obama Approval Rating Dips - It's Not About The Approval Rating - Esquire - Moreover, Obama's approval rating has plummeted 17 points in the last month among people under the age of 30, long one of his most reliable pockets of support.

Fred Hiatt is Holding Head Start Hostage Until Liberals Support Cuts to Social Security and Medicare | Beat the Press - The basic argument is that Hiatt has decided how large the deficit can be, he has decided that there can be no additional cuts to the military, and that there can be no new taxes ever. Therefore if liberals don't want to see the domestic discretionary portion of the budget contract, then they better accept cuts to Social Security and Medicare. (WaPo rules your world)
Fight the Future - NYTimes.com - And because that time is not yet, influential people need to stop using the future as an excuse for inaction. The clear and present danger is mass unemployment, and we should deal with it, now.

Supreme Court Strikes Down Arizona Voter Registration Citizenship Requirement - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that states cannot on their own require would-be voters to prove they are U.S. citizens before using a federal registration system designed to make signing up easier.
SCOTUS Slams Door On Proof-Of-Citizenship State Laws | TPMDC
Today In The Supreme Court - Today In The Supreme Court With Justice Alito - Esquire - Alito had a big day today. First, he -- with Clarence Thomas -- was one of the dissenters in a 7-2 decision that struck down Arizona's voter-suppression act
Bob McDonnell, Virginia Gov., Billed Taxpayers For Sunscreen, Dog Vitamins: Report
Judge Edith Jones to Be Investigated for Alleged Racist Remarks » Balloon Juice - this is one of only a handful of times that a federal circuit judge has been the subject of a public judicial misconduct complaint. Usually such matters are secret under federal law. (of course it's all secrit)
New Hampshire court strikes down law to divert public funds to religious schools | The Raw Story - A New Hampshire state court on Monday struck down a recently enacted law that established an education tax credit program to help fund private schools.

Moore Oklahoma Tornado Victims Strong-Armed by Mortgage Servicers | New Republic - How mortgage servicers are strong-arming the victims of the Moore, Oklahoma tornado (among others)

Courthouse News Service - Two Women Claim Texas Jailers Ran a 'Rape Camp' Behind Bars (Texas, of course)
The Even Further Adventures Of The Free Market - Esquire - Based in part on surreptitious tape recordings, an FBI affidavit lays out allegations that a Sacred Heart pulmonologist kept patients too sedated to breathe on their own, then ordered unneeded tracheotomies for them -- enabling the for-profit hospital to reap revenue of as much as $160,000 per case

‘What Do Women Want?’ by Daniel Bergner - NYTimes.com
In Slight Defense Of Miss Utah USA, A Little Bit, With Reservations : Monkey See : NPR
Miss Utah Fumbles Over Inequality - Miss Utah's Big Blunder - Esquire (context)

How The American University was Killed, in Five Easy Steps | The Homeless Adjunct - First, you defund public higher education.

It's Always About The Money - Esquire - The truth is that there are two very different education stories in America. The children of the wealthiest 10 percent or so do receive some of the best education in the world, and the quality keeps getting better. For most everyone else, this is not the case. America's average standing in global education rankings has tumbled not because everyone is falling, but because of the country's deep, still-widening achievement gap between socioeconomic groups

JAMA Network | JAMA Pediatrics | The Efficacy of Duct Tape vs Cryotherapy in the Treatment of Verruca Vulgaris (the Common Wart) - Duct tape occlusion therapy was significantly more effective than cryotherapy for treatment of the common wart.

Mad Men Recap: The Importance of Being Bob -- Vulture
Mad Men: The Other Bob Benson Shoe Drops -- Vulture
Mad Men Recap: The Ballad of Don and Bob -- Vulture
The Code of Miss Porter's School | Vanity Fair

Facebook Introduces Hashtags
The Surface Pro at work: Can it be a full PC replacement? - The Next Web

061613
Turkey unrest: violent clashes in Istanbul as Erdogan holds rally | World news | The Guardian - Police use teargas against protesters trying to enter Taksim Square as prime minister talks of foreign conspiracy
Putin backs Assad and berates west over proposal to arm Syrian rebels | World news | The Guardian - Russian president says backing 'those who kill their enemies and eat their organs' flouts Europe's humanitarian values
U.N. Chief Opposes Obama’s Decision To Arm Syrian Rebels - UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is opposing the U.S. decision to send arms to the Syrian rebels and says there can be no certainty of chemical weapons use in Syria without an on-the-ground investigation. (but McCain and Clinton said so!)
Iranian Reformists Celebrate As Rowhani Wins Presidency
Iranians vote for change, however gradual | World news | The Guardian - Channel 4's Jon Snow, the only UK journalist covering election from Tehran, found people desperate for an end to their isolation

Wall Street is winning the long war against post-crash regulation | Heidi Moore | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Feeble as it was, Dodd-Frank was a high point of reining in abuses. Thanks to financial lobbying, it's business as usual (as usual, thanks to Obama)
Former Bank of America workers allege it lied to home owners | Reuters - the bank deliberately denied eligible home owners loan modifications and lied to them about the status of their mortgage payments and documents. (thank you, Barry)

US intelligence outlines checks it says validate surveillance | World news | guardian.co.uk - Intelligence chiefs confirm programmes, but say they protect against terrorism and minimise infringements on privacy
NSA targeted Dmitry Medvedev at London G20 summit | World news | The Guardian - Leaked documents reveal Russian president was spied on during visit, as questions are raised over use of US base in Britain
GCHQ intercepted foreign politicians' communications at G20 summits | UK news | The Guardian - phones were monitored and fake internet cafes set up to gather information from allies in London in 2009

Bradley Manning: Truth on trial? - Listening Post - Al Jazeera English - Although US media outlets appear more interested in the case than during the pre-trial, the reporting is scant, because for every five accreditation requests made by journalists and interested parties, the Pentagon turned down four of them. (don't need no steenking "journalism")
Julian Assange was willing to go to Sweden to answer allegations. All he wanted was a guarantee he wouldn't be handed over to the United States. Sweden refused. : worldnews

Obama Does Not Believe He Has Violated The Privacy Of Any American | TPM LiveWire (muhahaha)
Secret to Prism program: Even bigger data seizure
NSA admits listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants | Politics and Law - CNET News - National Security Agency discloses in secret Capitol Hill briefing that thousands of analysts can listen to domestic phone calls. That authorization appears to extend to e-mail and text messages too. (there goes another centrist-Dem talking point)
Another Shoe Drops » Balloon Juice - The National Security Agency has acknowledged in a new classified briefing that it does not need court authorization to listen to domestic phone calls.
U.S. surveillance architecture includes collection of revealing Internet, phone metadata - The Washington Post - U.S. surveillance architecture includes collection of revealing Internet, phone metadata (someone tell Josh Marshall and Rick Perlstein and Toobin)
Yet More Reporting on NSA's Surveillance Programs | Mother Jones
The STELLARWIND Came Blowing In » Balloon Juice - Apparently the fight at John Ashcoft’s bedside was over a surveillance program, codename STELLARWIND, that collected Internet metadata, according to Barton Gellman’s piece in today’s Post:
How Little We Still Know About The NSA’s PRISM Program | TPMDC

Bob Schieffer: Edward Snowden 'Is No Hero' (cranky gramps thinks it's fine for you to be spied on)
Dick Cheney: Edward Snowden Is A 'Traitor' And Possibly A Chinese Spy (you know who the "traitor" is)
Geoffrey R. Stone: Edward Snowden: "Hero or Traitor"? - , Snowden is neither a hero nor a traitor, but he is most certainly a criminal who deserves serious punishment.

After Profits, Defense Firm Faces Pitfalls of Cybersecurity - NYTimes.com - WASHINGTON — When the United Arab Emirates wanted to create its own version of the National Security Agency, it turned to Booz Allen Hamilton to replicate the world’s largest and most powerful spy agency in the sands of Abu Dhabi.
Round Up | TPM Editors Blog - So this week I cleverly lured a large of people into calling me a statist lickspittle, managed to get Daniel Ellsberg to call me “stupid” and inadvertently got Mort Sahl to namecheck me in a tweet.

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XXII
Gunshot wounds drive up government health care costs - Gun violence has a high cost
U.S. Gun Deaths in 2013
10 hurt in shotgun accident at gun club - Chicago Tribune - Because the incident was an accident, police said there will be no criminal charges. (for shooting ten people)
Daily Kos: Six months of accidental shootings of children since Newtown - 76 resulted in the death of children and teens aged 18 and under * 28 resulted in the death of children aged 7 or under -- the ages of the first-graders killed at Newtown
Chicago Shootings: 6 Killed, 13 Wounded Overnight Sunday; 36 Shot Over Weekend

GOP plan: Bring Dubya back! - Salon.com - Look beneath the surface, and a hot new plan for the party's comeback is really just George W. Bush redux (without the Hispanic outreach)

NFL implements new bag policy: Leave the purses at home - CBSSports.com - The NFL announced a change to its bag policy Thursday and beginning with the 2013 season, only clear plastic, vinyl or PVC bags will be permitted inside NFL stadiums.

Markey leads Gomez by double digits in new poll - News Politics - Boston.com - A 13-point gap with 10 days to go, but disengaged voters remain unpredictable (Boston Herbloid: "race very close")

Los Angeles Review of Books - MOOCs And The Future Of The Humanities: A Roundtable (Part 1)

Google builds new system to eradicate child porn images from the web - Google, the internet giant, is to create a global database of child abuse images - which it will share with its rival companies - in a bid to eradicate child pornography from the web.

061513
Reformist Hassan Rowhani Wins Election To Become Iran's Next President
Heavy Pressure Led to Decision by Obama on Syrian Arms - NYTimes.com
Syria and the lessons of Iraq « The Reality-Based Community - Bill Keller, who got Iraq so horribly wrong, is now asking us to trust him that Syria is different, but can’t really say why
Sarah Palin On Syria: 'Let Allah Sort It Out' - “Until we have a commander in chief who knows what he is doing... let Allah sort it out!”

Bill Would Ban Drone Strikes Against U.S. Citizens (Obama pouts)

Senators skip classified briefing on NSA snooping to catch flights home - The Hill - covering Congress, Politics, Political Campaigns and Capitol Hill | TheHill.com - Only 47 of 100 senators attended the 2:30 briefing, leaving dozens of chairs in the secure meeting room empty as Clapper, Alexander and other senior officials told lawmakers about classified programs to monitor millions of telephone calls and broad swaths of Internet activity ... The Hill was not provided the names of who did, and who didn't, attend the briefing. (of course not)
Snowden Is Using 'Specific' Evidence of the U.S. Hacking China to Stay Out of Jail - Alexander Abad-Santos - The Atlantic Wire - Snowden Is Using 'Specific' Evidence of the U.S. Hacking China to Stay Out of Jail - The detailed records - which cannot be independently verified - show specific dates and the IP addresses of computers in Hong Kong and on the mainland hacked by the National Security Agency over a four-year period
Edward Snowden Interview Brings South China Morning Post 'Unprecedented' Attention - Edward Snowden Interview Brings South China Morning Post 'Unprecedented' Attention
On Prism, partisanship and propaganda | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Addressing many of the issues arising from last week's NSA stories - the tactic used by Democratic partisans would be to cling to and then endlessly harp on any alleged inaccuracy in any one of the stories we publish as a means of distracting attention away from the revelations and discrediting the entire project. That proved quite prescient, as that is exactly what they are attempting to do ... he fact that Perlstein couldn't be bothered to use Google doesn't entitle him to falsely claim I haven't addressed these questions. I have done so repeatedly, and do so here again.
The PRISM spin war has begun | FP Passport

U.S., company officials: Internet surveillance does not indiscriminately mine data - The Washington Post
Politics: some / Politics: none. Two ways to excel in political journalism. Neither dominates. » Pressthink - “Edward Snowden’s decision to leak to Greenwald, and Glenn’s domination of newsland for several days, tells us that politics: none is not the only way of excelling in journalism. It now has to share the stage with politics: some.”
The Sickening Snowden Backlash - The Daily Beast - It's appalling to hear the Washington bureaucrats and their media allies trash Edward Snowden as a traitor, when it's our leaders and the NSA who have betrayed us, writes Kirsten Powers.
For Snowden, a Life of Ambition, Despite the Drifting - NYTimes.com

Here's (Possibly) the Whole Truth About How PRISM Works - Connor Simpson - The Atlantic Wire
We Still Don't Know What We Don't Know About the NSA - Elspeth Reeve - The Atlantic Wire
FISA Court Has Rejected .03 Percent Of All Government Surveillance Requests | Mother Jones ("oversight" - so-called "court" is packed)
Retired Federal Judge: Your Faith In Secret Surveillance Court Is Dramatically Misplaced | ThinkProgress
The Other Side of the Story - NYTimes.com - The deck is always stacked when we debate keeping the nation safe. (another FISA tragedy)
Inside 'Prism' Success: Even Bigger Data Seizure
Obama administration may declassify key court order on NSA surveillance, says NPR | The Verge
Google opts out of FISA disclosure deal made by Facebook and Microsoft, calls it 'a step back for users;' Twitter agrees | The Verge

Edward Snowden, Slayer of Party Unity?
Laura Poitras, Edward Snowden Filmmaker, Takes Center Stage In Surveillance Story
Jeremy Scahill Rips Thomas Friedman: NY Times Columnist 'As Usual Living In La-La Land' (video) - Jeremy Scahill Rips Thomas Friedman: NY Times Columnist 'As Usual Living In La-La Land' (video)
Facebook And Microsoft Corp. Get Broader Surveillance Revelations - their companies have been given permission to make new but still very limited revelations about government orders to turn over user data.
Officials tell Senate staffers they can’t do their job at work | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - According to Forbes, the letter “asks security managers to remind Senate employees and contractors that the [NSA] documents are still technically classified and should be treated as if millions of people haven’t already read them.”

CBS News Confirms Sharyl Attkisson's Computer Breached - CBS News Confirms Sharyl Attkisson's Computer Breached

Ten Things You Should Know About The Federal Judge Accused Of Racism | ThinkProgress (that whole "Blacks and Hispanics are criminals" was just the tip of the iceberg; candidate for world's worst person)

Five Best Friday Columns - J.K. Trotter - The Atlantic Wire

The 11 Biggest Conservative Scandal Flops | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly (any lie will do)
How U.S. Politics Was Hijacked by Partisans | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly - “the great irony” of American politics: that the more Americans participate in their political system, the angrier and more disillusioned they become. We have met the enemy, and it is us. Or at least some of us.
Obama Military Sexual Assault Comments Were 'Unlawful Command Influence,' Judge Says - Navy Judge Cmdr. Marcus Fulton ruled that President Barack Obama's comments on military sexual assault could affect the sentencing in two cases, according to Stars and Stripes.
Religious Conservatives Asked To Back GOP Plans At Faith And Freedom Coalition Conference - Religious Conservatives Asked To Back GOP Plans At Faith And Freedom Coalition Conference
Gov. Rick Scott signs bill to speed up executions in Florida | Tampa Bay Times
Rick Scott Will Have His Revenge On Wildflowers - Lord knows I should expect no end of perplexing behavior from Florida's fraud-tastic supervillain governor Rick Scott, but I am truly perplexed by one of his recent decisions.
Politicians Playing Doctor Act denies miscarriage treatment for 48 hours - The House GOP wants Ohio to adopt the Irish law that led to the death of Savita Halappanavar. (Republicans are obsessed with controlling ladyparts)
Mortality Among Poorly-educated Women | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly (once again, the Confederacy leads the way to hell)

How College Costs Are Skyrocketing Out Of Middle-Class America's Reach (In 1 Chart) (cost of education up 250% -- profit!)

The 'Black Swan' Intern Ruling Could Change Unpaid Internships Forever - Rebecca Greenfield - The Atlantic Wire

Scientists Use New Engineered Virus to Restore Sight | Medicine | Sci-News.com - Researchers have engineered a new adeno-associated virus that could greatly expand gene therapy to help restore sight to patients with blinding diseases like retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration.
Mahendraparvata, 1,200-Year-Old Lost Medieval City In Cambodia, Unearthed By Archaeologists

Jonathan Franzen’s Puzzling Letter to the New York Times - Alexander Nazaryan - The Atlantic Wire - out-of-left-field odd

Designers Think Apple's New Flat iOS Look Is 'Ugly' and 'Harsh' and Blinding - Rebecca Greenfield - The Atlantic Wire

061413
Syria No Fly Zone Would Be Costly And Difficult, White House Says (fuck Clinton)
Obama Authorizes Sending Weapons To Syrian Rebels
US looks to G8 summit to build consensus over Syria | World news | guardian.co.uk - Washington in talks with allies over radical options including no-fly zone as plan for small arms support meets lukewarm reaction
Obama should Resist the Clintons & Europe on Syria | Informed Comment (note the plural on Clintons; Hillary is pro-getting involved in another war)
Erdogan offers to suspend Gezi Park redevelopment pending court case | World news | guardian.co.uk - Turkish PM makes concession after late-night meetings with protesters' representatives to end almost two weeks of demonstrations
Czech Prime Minister Aide Jana Nagyova Reportedly Ordered Illegal Spying On 3 People - A multi-pronged scandal involving the prime minister's top aide, his estranged wife, military spy chiefs, former ruling party lawmakers and kilograms of gold raised unanswered questions Friday about the troubled government of Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas.
Brazil Protests 2013: Violent Clashes Between Police And Thousands Of Young Demonstrators

IMF Says Sequester Hurting U.S. Economy, Delaying Recovery (Republican traitors to America)
Asian Stocks’ Wild Ride | Pacific Money | The Diplomat
Sympathy for the Luddites - NYTimes.com

Edward Snowden's worst fear has not been realised – thankfully | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | The Guardian - The NSA whistleblower's only concern was that his disclosures would be met with apathy. Instead, they're leading to real reform
Al Gore: NSA's secret surveillance program 'not really the American way' | World news | guardian.co.uk - Former vice-president – not persuaded by argument that program was legal – urges Congress and Obama to amend the laws
Eric Holder: NSA Leaker Will Be Punished (Obama hates whistleblowers exposing his illegal spy machine)

Daniel Ellsberg On Edward Snowden: 'He Made The Right Choice' (libtards scream "he's no Ellsberg")
The BRAD BLOG : 'We're in the Abyss': My KPFK 'BradCast' Intvw with Daniel Ellsberg on Edward Snowden - And, while answering to my request for a response to Josh Marshall's recent piece at TPM, in which Marshall weights his own conscience on this matter and frankly revealing his natural tendency to support the government over whistleblowers in cases like this, Ellsberg was particularly pointed. "Marshall has a lot to be said for him as a blogger," he said, before adding: "I think what he said there is stupid and mistaken and does not do him credit." He went on to describe some of Marshall's comments as "slander" against Snowden.

Senators challenge NSA's claim to have foiled 'dozens' of terror attacks | World news | guardian.co.uk - Mark Udall and Ron Wyden – critics of NSA's surveillance – say they want proof that programs have disrupted plots against US
Some Questions For and About Edward Snowden | Mother Jones (more liberal pushback on "direct access")
NSA's Utah Home Is A 1.5 Million Square Foot 'Spy Center'
Anti-Surveillance Apps To Prevent Spies From Snooping On You
Accused bank robber wants NSA phone records for his defense - Boing Boing

US House defence bill blocks Obama's plan to close Guantánamo Bay prison | World news | guardian.co.uk - Republican-controlled chamber also limits president's attempt to reduce nuclear weapons in version at odds with Senate bill

Louisiana Plant Explosion - The Rest Of The Story In Louisiana - Esquire - The Williams Olefins plant, which produces about 1.3 billion pounds of ethylene and 90 million pounds of polymer grade propylene, according to the company's website, does not have any recorded inspections for plants producing either substance in OSHA's database since 1993.


Smith & Wesson gun sales hit an all-time high in year after mass shootings | World news | guardian.co.uk - At six-month anniversary of Newtown shooting, guns manufacturer reports its sales are up 43% over last year
Fewer Waiting Periods For Guns Than For Abortions (infographic) (guns on demand)

The Daughter Problem: Obama and Teen Girl Sex Panic - The Cut (he thinks he's everybody)
Rick Perry Vetoes Texas Equal Pay Bill - Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has vetoed a bill meant to prevent wage discrimination against women.
Top 10 sexist moments in politics: Julia Gillard, Hillary Clinton and more | Politics | The Guardian - The 'Julia Gillard Kentucky Fried Quail' menu is the latest sexist attack on the Australian PM. But it's the same for women in politics everywhere. Here are 10 of the worst examples
Dalai Lama: Women Better Leaders Because Of Potential For Compassion; Next Dalai Lama May Be Female

NASA Finds 'Amazing' Levels Of Arctic Methane And CO2, Asks 'Is a Sleeping Climate Giant Stirring in the Arctic?' | ThinkProgress - 500,000-Year History of Permafrost Reveals Further Warming of 1.5°C Would ‘Thaw Significant Regions’
99 One-Liners Rebutting Denier Talking Points — With Links To The Full Climate Science | ThinkProgress
Kansas' New Science Standards Make Evolution And Climate Change Key Part Of Curriculum

Cops Plead Guilty to Helping Plant Drugs on Woman Sexually Harassed by Judge | Alternet - A judge responded to an assault victim by demanding sex in exchange for 'legal favors.' She filed a complaint, and he sent cops to plant meth in her car.

Gene patent decision: In Plain English : SCOTUSblog
A Quiet Blockbuster - It wasn't one of the civil-rights cases activists were clamoring for, but AMP v. Myriad Genetics may prove to to be one of this Supreme Court term's most consequential rulings.
Extroverts Brain: Scientists Find Their Processing Of Reward Differs From Introverts - extroverts prefer immediate gratification and focus more on faces. On the other end of the spectrum, introverts tend to be overwhelmed by too much stimulation and pay more attention to detai

u.s. soldier at leipzig, old war photos

Google Trends - Hot Searches

061313
Turkey's leader issues 'final warning' to Gezi Park protesters | World news | The Guardian - Recep Tayyip Erdogan says government has reached end of its patience with 'troublemakers' camped out in Istanbul
Syria regime used chemical weapons against rebels, US officials say | World news | guardian.co.uk - US confirms for the first time it has evidence that Bashar al-Assad's government has used nerve gas against rebel groups
Syria Death Toll: UN Says Nearly 93,000 Killed In Conflict Since 2011
The Question of the NSA And Tech Corporations - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - I think “epic botch” is going too far, but it certainly looks as if the strongest claims made about the collaboration between the NSA and tech companies in the initial Guardian and Washington Post stories are at this point unfounded (Clinton thinks Obama is a "wuss" for not fucking with Syria)
Taoiseach gets letters ‘written in blood’ | Irish Examiner - The Taoiseach revealed he has received “letters written in blood” over his Government’s legislation allowing abortion in limited circumstances, which was published last night. Enda Kenny said he was proud to stand in the Dáil as “a Taoiseach who happens to be Catholic, but not a Catholic Taoiseach”.
Rupert Murdoch files for divorce from wife Wendi Deng | Media | The Guardian - News Corporation boss cites irretrievable breakdown in marriage in divorce filing from woman seen as key player in media empire

Colorado Wildfires 2013: Black Forest Fire Burns Homes, Royal Gorge Fire Burns Hundreds Of Acres, Big Meadows Fire Continues - At least four major wildfires fueled by hot, gusty weather burned along the front of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado on Tuesday, destroying a handful of large houses and chasing people from hundreds of homes.

World Bank cuts growth forecasts | Business | guardian.co.uk - Downbeat forecasts help drive wave of selling in Japan amid fears that central bank stimulus measures might be withdrawn
Insurers Inflating Books, New York Regulator Says - NYTimes.com
The Next Crash And The Next Bailout Now - Esquire

US storms soak midwest as mid-Atlantic region braces for wind and hail | World news | guardian.co.uk - Forecasters warn severe storms could produce damaging winds as flash flood watch goes into effect on US east coast
Colorado wildfires force 7,000 to flee | World news | guardian.co.uk - Soaring temperatures and high winds destroy 92 homes in Colorado, while fires burn in New Mexico, Oregon and California

Loretta Sanchez, Dem Rep, Says NSA Revelations Only 'The Tip Of The Iceberg' "I think it's just broader than most people even realize," Sanchez went on. (especially the ones who say they knew it already)
Glenn Greenwald To Anderson Cooper: Peter King's Comments Are 'Menacing' "The last thing I would try to do is read the mind of and what goes on internally in the swamp of Peter King's brain," Greenwald said." (King supported IRA terrorism)
FBI chief Mueller says spy tactics could have stopped 9/11 attacks | World news | guardian.co.uk - Robert Mueller dismisses congressional concerns and vows to take action against NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden (but they missed the Boston Marathon)
The Question of the NSA And Tech Corporations - Lawyers, Guns & Money : I think “epic botch” is going too far, but it certainly looks as if the strongest claims made about the collaboration between the NSA and tech companies in the initial Guardian and Washington Post stories are at this point unfounded:
Edward Snowden: how the spy story of the age leaked out | World news | The Guardian - The full story behind the scoop and why the whistleblower approached the Guardian (and why he didn't go to the NSA-controlled NYT)
Edward Snowden, NSA Leaker, Remains In Hong Kong, Editor Chow Chung Yan Says
NSA surveillance: Guardian poll finds majority in US want greater oversight | World news | guardian.co.uk - Poll finds two-thirds of Americans want NSA's role reviewed, and 56% find current congressional oversight insufficient
Polls show Obama's real worry: NSA leaks erode trust in government | Harry J Enten | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - With the NSA revelations doubling down on the IRS and AP scandals, the president's approval rating is hitting new lows (but they don't like spy-boy)
Glenn Greenwald: It's As If I'm Scooter Libby In The Eyes Of Peter King (zing)
Sean Hannity Displays Hypocrisy On NSA Surveillance (and every other issue)
Prism: concerns over government tyranny are legitimate | Kim Dotcom | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - The post 9/11 security narrative has eroded our privacy rights in favour of government control. Prism should be discontinued immediately (he should know)
Kim Dotcom - The RAID - YouTube
Dear NSA, let me take care of your slides.
Defend Edward Snowden! - World Socialist Web Site

Undercover CIA agent sues agency over stalled probe of alleged war crimes | World news | guardian.co.uk - It is not clear what the crimes may have been. But it was during that period that the Justice Department began investigating CIA operatives for their involvement in the agency's Bush-era torture programs (you won't read this in America)

Senator Warren Presses White House to Release Pacific Trade Text - Businessweek - President Barack Obama’s administration should release documents the U.S. and 10 other Pacific-region nations are using as they negotiate a new trade agreement, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said.

Justices rule human genes cannot be patented - Supreme Court decision is a win for women with genetic risk of breast and ovarian cancers, as well as geneticists and researchers who had criticized a Utah company's exclusive patent. "Myriad did not create anything," Thomas said. "To be sure, it found an important and useful gene, but separating that gene from its surrounding genetic material is not an act of invention."

Darrell Issa gets nastier - Salon.com - In a three-page insult to Elijah Cummings, he flip-flops on releasing committee interview transcripts
Darrell Issa's IRS Investigation Is Falling Apart - Businessweek

George Zimmerman's case exposes the joke of stand-your-ground laws | Sadhbh Walshe | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Florida is one of many states with a stand-your-ground law that seems to legally protect everyone but those in genuine danger
Joe Manchin: NRA Is Lying And Has 'Lost Its Way' | TPM LiveWire
'Scandal' and the politics of definition - Opinion - Al Jazeera English - Conservatives often cry 'scandal' when they perceive a violation of hierarchy and natural order. ("natural order" = "God's will")
Supreme Court Bans Protests On Its Grounds - The Supreme Court has come up with a new regulation banning demonstrations on its grounds. The rule approved Thursday comes two days after a broader anti-demonstration law was declared unconstitutional.

2016 and Obama’s Left Flank | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - a bunch of Obama policies or positions from which a 2016 Democratic candidate could profitably dissent (with the proper tone of respect or even sorrowful sympathy for the 44th president, of course): NSA data-mining; journalistic leak-plugging; drone warfare; Gitmo; campaign finance reform; and the fiscal strategies that have given us sequestration and persistently high unemployment. (or, they could just run as another Obama-type Republican)
Rep. Luis Gutierrez: House Republicans: What Happened? You Were Doing So Well (learned nothing, still in stone age)
Obamacare and Conservative Self-Delusion -- Daily Intelligencer - Four out of ten Americans don’t realize the law hasn’t been struck down.
Arizona Medicaid Expansion Advances After Jan Brewer Forces Lawmakers' Hands
Brewer Scores Big Win For Medicaid Expansion | TPM LiveWire - providing health insurance coverage to an additional 350,000 low-income Arizonans.

Complaint Against Judge Edith Jones Reaches Washington | TPM LiveWire - A complaint against Judge Edith Jones of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was transferred Wednesday to an appeals court in Washington, D.C., the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. ("Blacks and Hispanics are criminals")
Cory Booker: the inexorable rise of Newark's neoliberal egomaniac | Jason Farago - Eyeing the Senate, the New Jersey mayor turns self-promotion into an art form. His corporate-friendly policies are not so pretty
New Jersey Catholic Church spending big to keep abuse victims silent — NewsWorks


Black hole bonanza in 'next door' Andromeda galaxy | Stuart Clark | Science | guardian.co.uk - Black holes contain the keys to a deeper understanding of the universe. So finding 26 in our neighbouring galaxy is a big deal

Frank Luntz hired by Washington football team to convince people name isn’t horribly racist - Salon.com - Republican pollster hired by football team with disgusting name


Feminist Frequency • Twitter vs Female Protagonists in Video Games (mysogeny in the gaming world)

Study: Streaming Video Viewers Lose Patience After 2 Seconds « CBS Connecticut
Gatekeepers of Cable TV Try to Stop Intel - NYTimes.com

061213
Erdogan's chilling warning: 'these protests will be over in 24 hours' | World news | The Guardian - 'We have not responded to punches with punches. From now on security forces will respond differently,' Turkish PM says
Japan June 13 - Business Insider

Massive line of storms puts one in five in US at risk for severe weather | World news | guardian.co.uk - Meteorologists from Chicago to Washington warn system could be the 'worst severe weather outbreak' of the year

Guantanamo Update: Yossarian Wept » Balloon Juice - New layer of secrecy emerges at Guantanamo court
Because Without This Nonsense, Tom Friedman Would Wet Himself - Esquire - The classified government motion is in response to the classified defense motion, and they're both classified because the torturers don't want the torture to be revealed to the people who footed the bill for it, and in whose name and (alleged) defense the torture was done.

Timeline of NSA Domestic Spying | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Government Says Secret Court Opinion on Law Underlying PRISM Program Needs to Stay Secret | Electronic Frontier Foundation

More Americans see man who leaked NSA secrets as 'patriot' than traitor: Poll | Reuters
Civil Liberties Groups Are Ganging Up on NSA, All the Way to the Legal Limit - Philip Bump - The Atlantic Wire - The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit against Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, the director of the National Security Agency, the Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General, following confirmation that the NSA is collecting phone call data from a division of Verizon. This could be a significant threat to the programs, as civil libertarians suddenly find themselves in new territory.
The Surveillance State Suffers a Surprise Legal Setback - Philip Bump - The Atlantic Wire - The Electronic Frontier Foundation scored a remarkable — and remarkably timely — legal victory on Wednesday. The secret court at the center of the recent NSA surveillance revelations allowed the group's push for the release of a ruling on violations of Americans' Fourth Amendment rights to move forward.
Is Ed Snowden Trying to Take Control of the Next Wave of NSA Leaks? - Philip Bump - The Atlantic Wire - BTW the Guardian didn't publish whole PRISM brief either; chose ~same slides the WP did. There are things in there that should stay secret. (WaPo guy decides what you don't need to know)

Tell Me What Is Being Done In My Name - Esquire
Guantánamo doctors must refuse to force-feed hunger strikers – physicians | World news | guardian.co.uk - Senior professors at Boston University use piece in influential journal to label prison camp 'a medical ethics free zone'
What Is Being Done In My Name Response - Twitter Responds to #InMyName - Esquire

NSA director says agency will release full number of terror plots foiled by surveillance | The Verge
Edward Snowden vows to fight extradition and claims US hacked China | World news | guardian.co.uk - NSA whistleblower says he is not in Hong Kong to 'hide from justice' and alleges US hacked hundreds of targets in China
James Clapper: I Gave 'Least Untruthful' Answer Possible On NSA Surveillance (the least big-fat lie I could have told)
Edward Snowden To South China Morning Post: Let Hong Kong 'Decide My Fate'
Edward Snowden Tells South China Morning Post: U.S. Has Been Hacking Hong Kong And China Since 2009

James Clapper, NSA and the “L” word
Glenn Greenwald Hits Back At Peter King Over Call For Legal Action - Only In America can a renowned and devoted terrorism supporter like Peter King be the arbiter of national security and treason.
Why Edward Snowden Is a Hero : The New Yorker - In revealing the colossal scale of the U.S. government’s eavesdropping on Americans and other people around the world, he has performed a great public service that more than outweighs any breach of trust he may have committed. (complete moral and intellectual bankruptcy)
Is Edward Snowden a hero or a traitor? Who cares - Salon.com - Casting judgment on the leaker is way easier than seriously dealing with the leak
Edward Snowden and the selective targeting of leaks | Jack Shafer
Schneier on Security: Prosecuting Snowden - I believe that history will hail Snowden as a hero -- his whistle-blowing exposed a surveillance state and a secrecy machine run amok. I'm less optimistic of how the present day will treat him, and hope that the debate right now is less about the man and more about the government he exposed.

Man, the State and trust | Daniel W. Drezner - Friedman allows that these surveillance programs are vulnerable to abuse but says that, "so far, [it] does not appear to have happened." Here's my question: how the f**k would Friedman know if abuse did occur? We're dealing with super-secret programs here.
NationalJournal.com - The Dirty Secrets of Washington Elites - Monday, June 10, 2013 - The response is predictable: Don't be naive! Discussing secret national security programs will tip off the terrorists and make the United States vulnerable!
Watching the Watchmen, NSA Edition | Mother Jones
Tom Friedman On Surveillance And Terrorism - Running Up The White Flag - Esquire - But what does that matter, since Tom Friedman's given up on America anyway? In one column, Friedman surrenders the American idea, in order, to a straw-man, his own fears, and any murderous nutball who can go on the Internet and build a bomb. From this:
David Brooks and the Mind of Edward Snowden : The New Yorker
David Brooks: The last Stalinist - Salon.com - Edward Snowden offended the commentator by declining to honor his oaths. There's a history behind such bromides

NSA Surveillance Sparks Concern, Confusion Among Lawmakers
Mika Brzezinski Accuses Glenn Greenwald Of 'Misleading' Coverage (video) - "That's right," Brzezinski agreed. "That I think is an intellectual true analysis of what he is and he's not a whistleblower." (a true analysis would reveal you have no brain)
Hullabaloo - They have no clue what's out there - Many of the people at the top, the ones who are charged with carrying out the privacy policies, don't know what the hell they are doing.
NSA: Senators Who Back NSA Spying Oppose Gun Background Checks For Infringing Rights
Google, Asking Government For Permission To Disclose NSA Data, Isn't Done Defending Itself
NSA Spying Controversy Highlights Embrace Of Big Data
Daniel Ellsberg On NSA Spying: 'We're A Turnkey Away From A Police State'
The Story Of Joseph Nacchio And The NSA - Business Insider - Only One Big Telecom CEO Refused To Cave To The NSA ... And He's Been In Jail For 4 Years - Former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio

Daily Kos: Old white man decides to leave military sexual assault decisions in the hands of old white men - Thanks to Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Carl Levin (D-MI), top military officers will substantially get their way: Solving the problem that's bigger than they imagined will continue to be up to their imagination.
The Ongoing Battle to Remove Military Sexual Assault Prosecution From the Chain of Command
A Measure to Curb Sexual Assault in Military to Be Cut From Bill - NYTimes.com - In a striking showdown between Senator Carl Levin, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and a member of his own party, Mr. Levin said on Tuesday that he would remove a measure aimed at curbing sexual assault in the military from a defense spending bill.
Senator Gillibrand’s attempt to improve military sexual assault protocol blocked
Chuck Hagel: Military Sexual Assault Legal Process Must Involve Commanders
Obama, Hagel Offer Lip Service on Military Sexual Assault (he bows to the sexual assault machine)

Americans Tell Their Stories About Guns, Violence And The Aftermath (audio)
alicublog: Fantasy Camp. - Groch-Begley's error, it seems, is calling something unconstitutional because the Supreme Court of the United States found it unconstitutional. I've been reading Marbury v. Madison wrong all these years, apparently, and SCOTUS' judgement on constitutional matters is less meaningful than that of the National Review editorial board. (it's not "unconstitutional" unless the Supreme editoral board at NR says it is)
Senate Passes Half-Trillion Dollar Farm Bill - The Senate bill would cut the food stamp program, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, by about $400 million a year, or half a percent. The House bill would cut the program by $2 billion a year, or a little more than 3 percent, and make it more difficult for some people to qualify. ("small" cuts for starving people)
House Committee Passes 20-Week Abortion Ban | TPMDC
Sen. Flake Apologizes For Son's Offensive Slurs On Twitter | TPM LiveWire - On his Twitter account earlier this year, which has since been locked, Tanner threatened the "faggot" who stole his bike, writing I "will find you, and...will beat the crap out of you." He also called someone a "Jew" for stealing people's ideas and went by the name “n1ggerkiller” in an online game, which he posted screenshots of on his Twitter account. (like father, like racist asshole)

What The Great Gatsby Teaches Us About America In 1 Chart
Inequality In U.S. Is Scarily High, Rising (infographic)

Judge Rules for Interns Who Sued Fox Searchlight - NYTimes.com
Fun With Numbers: Means Testing Social Security | Beat the Press - Todd Ganos at Forbes Magazine is upset that people earning $150,000 a year get Social Security. Hey, I'm upset that people earning $1 million a year get interest on government bonds. In both cases they don't need it, but you know what? They paid for it.
Human Genome Project Spurred $966 Billion Sciences Boom - Bloomberg

In Illinois, Daley Exploring a Run for Governor - NYTimes.com (of course)

Trent Franks: 'The Incidence Of Rape Resulting In Pregnancy Are Very Low' - During a House Judiciary hearing on his abortion bill Wednesday, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) said that he opposes an exemption for rape victims because "the incidence of rape resulting in pregancy are very low." the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that more than 30,000 pregnancies result from rape in the United States each year.
GOP Congressman Walks Back Claim About Pregnancy From Rape | TPMDC
"We Got Your Back": Fox Host Kilmeade Endorses Tommy Robinson, Leader Of Violent Anti-Muslim Hate Group | Blog | Media Matters for America
Mike Pompeo: Islamic Leaders Are 'Potentially Complicit' In Terrorist Acts For Staying Quiet ("co-conspirators")
Laura Ingraham: Plan B Contraceptive Ruling 'A Good Deal' For Pedophiles, Statutory Rapists (because young girls won't have to have their babies)
Danielle Powell, Grace University Student Kicked Out For Being Lesbian, Must Repay Thousands - it "would be impossible for the faculty of Grace University to affirm your Christian character, a requirement for degree conferral."
I have never spoken in depth about this, but am now ready. The horrors I endured while in a Catholic high school...seminary. : atheism

Living in a Wiggly World » Balloon Juice - Watching James Fallows and Patrick Smith (of Ask the Pilot) work over Noah Gallagher Shannon’s “I almost died, on a plane” NY Times piece has been ugly but informative.
After Scouts lift gay youth ban, Baptist group calls for firings - U.S. News - HOUSTON -- The Southern Baptist Convention on Wednesday called for the removal of some of the Boy Scouts’ leadership after the organization voted to allow gay youth to join, but did not ask its affiliated churches to pull their sponsorship of Scouting.
Whole Foods Slammed For ‘English-Only' Policy As Petition Gathers Signatures

Internet anonymity is the height of chic | Technology | The Guardian
Jony Ive Redesigns Things

061113
Afghan supreme court staff killed in suicide blast | World news | guardian.co.uk - Seventeen dead in Kabul bombing claimed by Taliban as revenge attack aimed at judges
Turkish police and protesters battle for control of Taksim Square | World news | guardian.co.uk - Teargas and water cannon deployed hours after prime minister demands an end to 10 days of demonstrations
Turkey Protests: Riot Police Launch New Push Into Taksim Square, Fire Tear Gas
Russia To Vote On Bill That Bans Informing Children That Gay People Exist (more Sharia -- Russian Orthodox -- law)
State broadcaster ERT to shut down as Greece seeks more savings | World news | The Guardian - A government spokesman described the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation as a 'haven of waste'

Edward Snowden: saving us from the United Stasi of America | Daniel Ellsberg | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Snowden's whistleblowing gives us a chance to roll back what is tantamount to an 'executive coup' against the US constitution
Wyden cites contradiction in eavesdropping answer - "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?" Wyden asked Clapper at the March 12 hearing. "No, sir," Clapper answered.
Fire DNI James Clapper: He lied to Congress about NSA surveillance. - Slate Magazine - The Director of National Intelligence lied to Congress about NSA surveillance. What else will he lie about? (Wyden, who had been briefed on the program, knew that Clapper was lying, but he couldn’t say so without violating the terms of his own security clearance.)
Eschaton: Tell Us Sweet Little Lies - Forget the lying, the incompetent appearance with Andrea Mitchell should be reason enough to get rid of Clapper.
US Surveillance Program Will Not End - In Which My Plea Goes Unanswered - Esquire - By any reasonable standard, and certainly by any standard currently being applied to, say, Eric Holder by, say, Ted Cruz, Clapper lied to Congress in the person of Ron Wyden. Wyden gave him two chance to be honest and Clapper declined both opportunities.
James Clapper Hails Checks and Balances While Treating Oversight “Too Cute by Half” | emptywheel
The Vain Media Cynics of the NSA Story
Graham Says NSA Phone Record Tracking Goes Deeper Than Believed
Susan Collins On NSA PRISM Briefings: No Access To 'Highly Compartmentalized Information' - Collins said the Obama administration's argument that she could have requested a briefing falls short, because she had no knowledge on which to base a request. "How can you ask when you don't know the program exists?" Collins wondered, chuckling at the absurdity.
NSA Leak Highlights Key Role Of Private Contractors
NSA Programs Likely To Continue Despite Revelations
NSA’s PRISM program: The government’s surveillance will lead to an abuse of power. - Slate Magazine - We shouldn’t have to wait for an abuse of power to know that the NSA’s snooping has gone too far.
Divisions Over National Security State Scramble Old Alliances, Political Coalitions
Russia Says It Would Consider Asylum For Edward Snowden
New Poll Says American Public is Fine With NSA Surveillance | Mother Jones (though Republicans have a small problem with a black guy doing it)
PRISM scandal: The problem with "nothing to hide" and surveillance.
NSA surveillance: The US is behaving like China | Ai Weiwei | Comment is free | The Guardian - Both governments think they are doing what is best for the state and people. But, as I know, such abuse of power can ruin lives
Mozilla, Reddit, 4Chan join coalition of 86 groups asking Congress to end NSA surveillance | The Verge - Mozilla, Reddit, 4Chan join coalition of 86 groups asking Congress to end NSA surveillance
Top Ten Ways the US Government will Smear, Slight Whistleblower Edward Snowden | Informed Comment
The Massive Online Surveillance Program No One Is Talking About | ThinkProgress - another program code-named BLARNEY that bears a striking resemblance to the one alleged in a prominent court case over the existence of a dragnet online surveillance program.
d r i f t g l a s s: The Difference Between The Lightning Bug and The Lightning* -- update (" Aaaaand Cap'n Ahab Glass tries to sink another harpoon into Moby Greenwald... xD")
Edward Snowden And Congress - The Snowden Effect, Day Two - Esquire - Snowden told Americans what their government was doing. How does that violate "America"'s trust? It violates his employer's trust, and the NSA's, but, frankly, if DWS thinks that the primary function of the Congress -- and the judiciary -- is to vindicate the country's "trust" in its government, we have a longer way back to what we should be as a country even than I thought we did. Jesus, these people.
Meet Edward Snowden’s Pole-Dancing Girlfriend - Lindsay Mills has a blog, YouTube, Twitter

the daily howler: Politifact fact-checks (almost) everyone! - That said, there’s one group Politifact won’t fact-check. Politifact will not fact-check the powerful figures at Fox along with those at MSNBC and CNN.



Meet Roger Vinson, the Judge Who Signed the Sweeping NSA Order | New Republic - Vinson—to some, a “Tea Party judge”—is a Reagan appointee and former Navy lieutenant who briefly came into the media consciousness in 2011 when he struck down Obamacare in its entirety from his seat in Florida.
As Long As Poor People Are Saved From the Tyranny of Medical Care… - Lawyers, Guns & Money : You may remember Roger Vinson from his particularly embarrassing opinion holding the ACA unconstitutional
Conservative Freedom Lovers Doing It Wrong -- Daily Intelligencer - Anything! You could be forced to buy broccoli, he warned. Really, a world in which people had to buy health insurance — like Massachusetts — was one in which the last embers of freedom were to be snuffed out.
Nice work if you can get it - Lawyers, Guns & Money : If you’re worried about whether Sexton’s social security payments will cover the co-op fees, don’t: he will also be paid $800,000 per year for life after he retires.
Russian Lawmakers Back Jail Terms for Insulting Religion | Crime | RIA Novosti (Russia adopts Sharia law)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vaccine conspiracy theory: Scientists and journalists are covering up autism risk. - Slate Magazine - He says scientists lie, journalists are scared of the CDC, and the government is poisoning children.

Olutosin Oduwole: Unjustly convicted college student’s long legal nightmare is over. - “Terrorism is inconsistent with civilized society and cannot be tolerated,” said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan at the time. Who needs rationality when you’ve got rhetoric? (Lisa Madigan is an asshole)

Bacterial apocalypse – the bugs are getting cleverer, and we are doing little to stop them | The Raw Story
Choosing sunscreen for your kids: Organic or mineral? SPF 30 or 50? Spray or lotion? Help. - Slate Magazine - Organic sunscreens often contain oxybenzone, and one of the most well-publicized claims about oxybenzone, which is also an ingredient in some cosmetics and in plastic food packaging, is that it acts as a hormone disruptor, tweaking natural hormone levels in ways that could potentially be harmful.
Lead and Schizophrenia - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Lead Exposure Shown to Trigger Schizophrenia | Environment News Service
World's Oldest Tumor? - X-rays reveal a rib afflicted with fibrous dysplasia.

The Orange Couch Does Mad Men: S6E11, “Favors” | The Raw Story
Maureen Ryan: 'Mad Men' Recap: A Devastating Discovery In 'Favors'
Mike Hogan: 'Game Of Thrones' Finale Recap, Season 3: This Changes Everything

How people read online: Why you won’t finish this article. - Slate Magazine (tl;dr)
Bitchy Resting Face - YouTube

PSA: A small group of users (30-40) are currently camping the new queue and downvoting anything that isn't a complaint about the rules into the negative. The admins are looking into it. In the mean time, please edit your preferences and blank out "don't show links with a score less than X". : atheism
Theory Of Reddit: Be the change you want to see.
Swizzle | 50 Best Websites 2013 | TIME.com - TIME's annual salute to sites and services that keep you entertained and informed, save you time and money — and maybe even change your life
Apple, iOS 7: Will borrowing ideas from Microsoft help Apple destroy the smartphone competition? - Slate Magazine - Will borrowing ideas from Microsoft help Apple destroy the smartphone competition?

061013
Syria troops 'preparing for Aleppo assault'

Supreme Court Ends Torture Lawsuit Against Donald Rumsfeld

NSA Whistleblower Ed Snowden: From My Desk I Could Wiretap Anyone: You, A Federal Judge Or The President Of The US | Techdirt (no big deal, apparently, everyone knew this except the "bad guys")
The Guardian Reveals NSA Whistle-blower -- Daily Intelligencer
Of Slippery Slopes - NYTimes.com - Some of that hysteria has been quelled, although the law and law enforcement tactics it gave birth to are still in effect. By 2011, only 25 percent of those polled were willing to have their civil liberties violated while 71 percent were not. (pundits are "not surprised" but "our enemies" knew nothing and now they do)
The Edward Snowden Rorschach Test | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - I'm rather sad at the wish to discredit this story -- and Snowden already. Suddenly concerns that the ACLU and those of proud democrats have been smeared as "Libertarian" by you and others I respect. Why?
Could There (Finally) Be a Backlash Against Domestic Surveillance? — The Monkey Cage (in a nation of bed-wetters? probably not)
Edward Snowden, NSA Whistleblower, Says He Acted Out Of Conscience To Protect 'Basic Liberties'
Sen. Feinstein wants Glenn Greenwald prosecuted - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - It’s unclear if the indictment is supposed to be brought under the Alien and Sedition Acts or the General Provisions Regarding Anti-Soviet American Slander.
Petition To Pardon Edward Snowden - Business Insider
The Guardian's Glenn Greenwald: 'There's a lot more coming' | TPM LiveWire (a lot of GG hate in the comments of this "liberal" website)
Schneier on Security: Government Secrets and the Need for Whistle-blowers
Edward Snowden NSA Spying Leak Motive | New Republic - To understand Edward Snowden's motivations, look to Aaron Swartz
Edward Snowden in Hong Kong - James Fallows - The Atlantic - I'm glad we have this information; I am sorry we are getting it from Hong Kong.
Icelandic Lawmaker Will Help Edward Snowden Seek Asylum | TPM LiveWire
NSA snooping scandal reveals our Constitutional amnesia | New Republic - I've seen this all before—and have an FBI file to show for it
One of Many Dissenting Voices | TPM Editors Blog - A threshold has been crossed while the public slept. Some light is finally being shined on the practices of our security apparatus. It kills me to see people I respect, opinion leaders like yourself, collectively shrug at the revelations of these last several days. (but will say nothing about the assumption this is news to "terrorists")
Hong Kong Is Unlikely Refuge For Edward Snowden - That combination of sturdy legal institutions and strong political backing made Hong Kong an attractive place to take shelter, said Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, whose reports last week that exposed widespread U.S. government programs to collect telephone and Internet records were based on information from Snowden.
Who Gets to Decide? | TPM Editors Blog - if going to the press, why not at least go to the New York Times? (which had to ask Andrew Sullivan who Gleen Greenwald was; please; and these are "liberals")
By The Power of Stipulation: I Have The Power! — Crooked Timber - I am sick and tired of hearing about that ticking nuclear bomb in Manhattan. You know the one. Why? Because, if you let me put my thumb on the utilitarian scales, I can get you to agree that you have an affirmative moral duty to torture a three-year-old child to death.
Bill Kristol: 'Republicans Are Making A Huge Mistake' - Kristol defended the NSA's surveillance program, which include collecting millions of phone records every day, as necessary for national security.
I Am So Fucking Over This Already » Balloon Juice - No, you want to see the villain, look in the mirror. It’s the pants-wetting populace of the United States, who votes for these assholes who pass bad laws in moments of crisis, because we have to do something and because Americans, unlike every other nation in the world, have a god given right to be safe at all times from all things.
Mad Dogs and Englishmen » Balloon Juice - There’s no Daddy like a Tory Daddy: "Only terrorists, criminals and spies should fear secret activities of the British and US intelligence agencies, the Foreign Secretary has insisted. [...] He added that law abiding citizens had “nothing to fear” from intelligence agencies’ activities. - That’s the fundamental proposition that’s been on sale from both the US and British government for the last dozen or so years, in two simple sentences.
Edward Snowden Revelations - The Snowden Effect - Esquire - Business as usual opened again in 1980. We are not the country we say we are. What we are arguing about is the distance between the two.
Politicians Welcome Chance To Discuss This NSA Surveillance Monster They Hid In The Basement - Others patiently warned us that this classified top secret eavesdropping and metadata collection program had definitely prevented terror but that they couldn’t tell us exactly HOW it prevented terror, because that is secret, silly! Yes, surely the terrorists had absolutely no idea until now that their phone calls, emails, chats, and Skype convos were possibly monitored by their own governments or by ours, this is surely a tremendous revelation.
Eschaton: Gatekeepers - I find the degree of hostility from our journalistic class (largely but not just cable news) to Edward Snowden to be fascinating.
Fox News' Ralph Peters: 'Bring Back The Death Penalty' For Edward Snowden (video)
PRISM Program: Obama Administration Held 22 Briefings For Congress On Key FISA Law
AUMF Repeal Bill Would End Extraordinary War Powers Granted After 9/11 - The repeal measure, crafted by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), would end the 2001 Authorization to Use MIlitary Force, or AUMF, in 2015, as the U.S. finally exits the war in Afghanistan.
Using Metadata to find Paul Revere - Kieran Healy
More Angles on the Snowden Defection » Balloon Juice
Franken said he was not surprised by NSA revelations | StarTribune.com - He said that the data the security agency has collected have kept Americans safe.
Edward Snowden, the N.S.A. Leaker, Is No Hero : The New Yorker (pundits screech)

The Big Shrug - NYTimes.com - So here’s my message to policy makers: Where we are is not O.K. Stop shrugging, and do your jobs.
Eschaton: All Better Now - If massive long term unemployment isn't on the teevee, does it really exist?
The Pundit Class Does Not Care About Economic Issues - Lawyers, Guns & Money

The GOP’s Gaping, Growing Modernity Gap - The Daily Beast - Republicans’ problem with young voters isn’t about stray stupid comments, writes Lloyd Green, but its retrograde approach to technology, culture and modernity.
What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days? - Esquire - Before we begin, let us all congratulate The New York Times for unearthing the work done by hundreds of blogs and websites and media critics over the past 20 years and noticing the giant elephant sitting in the middle of the room, monopolizing the sofa and dominating the remote control. (all your channels are belong to McCain)
New Poll Shows Americans Like Eating, Republicans Do Not - Sorry, low-income Americans who like to eat, but ever since Republicans bankrupted America by warring all over the planet and giving tax cuts to the rich and letting corporations do whatever the hell they please, we don’t have any more monies for your petty little luxuries like food. That is why Congress wants those greedy bastards getting a maximum of $200 a month to cut back and pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Or eat their bootstraps. Whatever.
Obama Plan B Decision: Feds To Comply With NY Judge's Ruling

The secret of Costco’s success revealed! (hint: no MBAs need apply)
Costco CEO Craig Jelinek Leads the Cheapest, Happiest Company in the World - Businessweek (meanwhile, Walmart family has 40% of America's money)

Chart of the Day: What War on Women?
McGinn leaving Miami due to improper emails | Feminist Philosophers - “Mr. McGinn…denies allegations that he behaved improperly. Those allegations were lodged by a female graduate student who has said that the professor sent her a series of sexually explicit e-mail and text messages, starting in the spring-2012 semester.”
Some modest proposals in the wake of Colin McGinn’s exit from University of Miami. | Adventures in Ethics and Science

MRI detects early damage to chemotherapy child hearts - Detecting early damage to a child's heart following chemotherapy is possible using MRI scans, says a study from Canada.

Surprise man charged with DUI, documents show drug recognition experts said no impairment present - "He (the officer) walked up and he said 'I can tell you're driving DUI by looking in your eyes,'" said Thornton. "This is a case of D-W-B, driving while black," said Thornton's attorney Marc Victor.



060913
Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismisses Turkey protesters as vandals | World news | guardian.co.uk - Turkish prime minister challenges anti-government protesters to beat his party at the ballot box as demonstrations enter 10th day
Civil Disobedience on a Turkish Game Show - NYTimes.com
Pakistan summons US ambassador to protest against latest drone killings | World news | guardian.co.uk - New PM Nawaz Sharif's government calls for end to drone strikes after nine people die in first attack since he took office
Karzai demands return of all Afghans held prisoner by the UK in Helmand | World news | guardian.co.uk - President wants inmates transferred to Afghan justice system, though two-week deadline is legally impossible for UK to meet
US army suspends two-star general for allegedly failing to investigate assault | World news | guardian.co.uk - Commander of US army forces in Japan was scheduled to become a deputy commander with US Central Command
Thousands evacuated as Elbe bursts dam in German floods | World news | guardian.co.uk - Man, 80, dies in Austria after week of flooding in central Europe claims at least 21 lives as rivers overflow

Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance | World news | guardian.co.uk - The 29-year-old source behind the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA's history explains his motives, his uncertain future and why he never intended on hiding in the shadows
New NSA leak: BOUNDLESSINFORMANT documents the extent of NSA spying around the world - Boing Boing
Contracting Firm Responds To Revelation That Employee Leaked Classified NSA Materials | TPM LiveWire ("core values" = spying, lying and undermining the Constituion)
Mark Udall: No Proof Terrorism Stopped By Phone Records Program - WASHINGTON -- Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Sunday expressed skepticism over whether the government's vast intelligence-gathering program is entirely necessary to thwart terrorist plots.
'4 Intelligence Officials' Allegedly Joke Of 'Disappearing' NSA Leaker, Reporter (updated)
NYT Editorial Board Slams Obama On Tracking: 'Administration Has Now Lost All Credibility' | TPM LiveWire - Update: The article was edited several hours after originally being published to now read: "The administration has now lost all credibility on this issue." (let's go with the original wording)
The Logic of the Surveillance State | Ian Welsh
NSA memo pushed to 'rethink' 4th Amendment - Philip Ewing - POLITICO.com - The 2001 memo, later declassified and posted online by George Washington University’s National Security Archive, makes a case to the incoming George W. Bush administration that the NSA needs new authorities and technology to adapt to the Internet era.
Obama faces hypocrisy charges at China summit after data mining revelations | World news | guardian.co.uk - Administration must confront discrepancy between its closed-door practices and the position it seeks to hold in the world
LoveOfProfit comments on What is PRISM?
John McCain: Rand Paul Already Proved Wrong On Terrorism By Boston Bombings
Mass Surveillance in America: A Timeline of Loosening Laws and Practices

The Decline and Fall of Post War Liberalism and the Rise of the Right | Ian Welsh (game over, they won)
A disturbing trend: labor’s falling share of GDP, virtually everywhere in the world

Eschaton: XXI - 14 kids accidentally shot this week. Don't know of any suffocated in discarded refrigerators.
Daily Kos: GunFAIL XXI - 14 kids accidentally shot, aged 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 10, 12, 13, 13, 14, 16, 16, 17 and 17. Six of those kids were killed.

Why Republicans Can Get Away With Ignoring Their Problems - NationalJournal.com - Republicans have a problem with young voters. Democrats have a problem with young nonvoters.
John Lewis's Long Fight for Voting Rights | The Nation - Nearly five decades after Bloody Sunday in Selma, he’s in the fight of his life, as the Supreme Court threatens to overturn his signature achievement.

On Sunday Talk Shows, a Familiar Cast of Characters - NYTimes.com - Yet on many given Sundays — over 60 of them since 2010 — Mr. McCain repairs to a television studio in Washington to hold forth. On “Face the Nation” alone, Mr. McCain has appeared more than any other politician in the program’s 60-year history.

So Who is the Dumb Money Ruining the Rental Housing Market? « naked capitalism

Twilight of the Elites, the Saga Continues: Susan Komen Foundation Edition | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - On Thursday of this week, the Washington Post’s Jena McGregor noted something very strange: Nancy Brinker is still the CEO of the Susan Koman Foundation. Not only that, she’s helped herself to a 64 percent pay raise. On Monday, Komen announced that it was canceling half of its annual multi-day events for 2014, citing declining participation rates. (nothing succeeds like elite failure)

Big Multiple Sclerosis Breakthrough: Northwestern University News - Phase 1 trial safely resets patients’ immune systems, reduces attack on myelin protein
Danish researchers expose new cause of life-threatening disease – University of Copenhagen - Cell communication - Danish researchers have just published findings that explain a previously unknown mechanism used by cells to communicate with one another. The research significantly contributes to understanding why some children are born with malformations and why children and adults may develop life-threatening diseases.



Cloud computing is a trap, warns GNU founder | Technology | guardian.co.uk - Web-based programs like Google's Gmail will force people to buy into locked, proprietary systems that will cost more and more over time, according to the free software campaigner
Schneier on Security: A Really Good Article on How Easy it Is to Crack Passwords - Pretty much anything that can be remembered can be cracked.

060813
Why the Israel Lobby Needs to Lobby Israel - John Kerry asks American Jewish organizations to send a message to Jerusalem to negotiate peace. They should listen.
U.S. Helps Allies Trying to Battle Iranian Hackers - NYTimes.com

German man locked up over HVB bank allegations may have been telling truth | World news | guardian.co.uk - Gustl Mollath was put in a psychiatric unit for claiming his wife was involved in money-laundering at the Bavarian bank. But seven years on evidence has emerged that could set him free (seven years for "fabricating" a "paranoid" story about crooked bankers)

What If China Hacks the NSA's Massive Data Trove? - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic - The danger of creating data sets that would permit a foreign government or non-state actor to wreak havoc on Americans.
Could This Be How PRISM Technically Works? - Alexis C. Madrigal - The Atlantic - A plausible account of the technical and institutional details from a long-time national security reporter.
All the Infrastructure a Tyrant Would Need, Courtesy of Bush and Obama - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic - To an increasing degree, we're counting on having angels in office and making ourselves vulnerable to devils.
NSA spying scandal: Data Mining Isn't Good at Keeping Us Safe | New Republic - The real problem with data mining
Tech Companies Concede to Surveillance Program - NYTimes.com
'I Cannot Figure Out Why This Was Classified to Begin With' - James Fallows - The Atlantic - What the PRISM leaks have in common with the Pentagon Papers
NSA Spying Controversy Complicates Cybersecurity Efforts - Civil liberties groups say the revelations give new life to several privacy lawsuits against the National Security Agency, which hit the headlines twice in two days for secretly monitoring Americans' phone records and internet activity.
What Google and NSA Snoops Have in Common - Leo Mirani - The Atlantic - The world's Internet companies got rich behaving just like our government's intelligence apparatus.
Boundless Informant: the NSA's secret tool to track global surveillance data | World news | guardian.co.uk - Revealed: The NSA's powerful tool for cataloguing data – including figures on US collection
Daily Kos: Americans Are Outraged Because in Voting for Obama, They Thought They Were Rejecting Bush
Chris Hayes/Jeremy Scahill Nail the Bush-Obama Relationship | Crooks and Liars - Chris Hayes/Jeremy Scahill Nail the Bush-Obama Relationship | Crooks and Liars - Which is to say, it's no change at all. It's a consolidation. - This story is the tip of the iceberg. I think a lot more revelations are coming out in the coming weeks about this NSA story. That's all I'll say about it.
NSA Prism: Why I'm boycotting US cloud tech - and you should too • The Register - 'Not subject to American law' - the next desirable IT feature
We Are All Truth Monsters And We’re Being Played - The house blew away years ago, and we’re wailing afresh over a lost umbrella.
EFF’s Peter Eckersley On ‘Clever’ PRISM Denials, Fighting FISA, And Why Privacy Matters [TCTV] | TechCrunch (weasels use weasel-words)

How All Three Branches Conspired to Threaten Your Privacy - Checks and balances have not worked in the way the framers envisioned.

“The sequester will help the economy”: another right-wing fairy tale debunks itself | Political Animal | The Washington Monthly - Remember all those fearless predictions by the usual grinning idiots on the right about how the sequester was going to work miracles for the economy? Well guess what? That never happened.

The Right's Cult of Obama - From Peggy Noonan to Mitch McConnell to the Tea Party caucus, conservatives have a habit of making it all about Barack, all the time.
North Carolina's Tug-of-War - What happens when a state becomes more progressive and more conservative at the same time?
Virginia's New Dominion - How soon will changing demographics swamp old Virginia's Republicans?
Colorado conservatives: Secession ‘one of our options’ | The Raw Story (treason is always an option for them)

A Victory for Workers, a Victory for Families | American Civil Liberties Union - This week, an Ohio federal jury awarded Christa Dias $171,000 after she was fired from her part-time teaching jobs at two religious schools. Dias had alleged that she was fired for becoming pregnant while unmarried. In response, the schools and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati had claimed that her use of artificial insemination violated Catholic religious tenets and was a valid reason for firing her. In its verdict, the jury specifically found that Dias was the victim of pregnancy discrimination.


A Program to Combat Food Contamination - NYTimes.com - Last summer, more than 250 people in 24 states were sickened and three died after eating cantaloupes contaminated with salmonella. A year earlier, cantaloupe tainted with listeria killed 33 people. The Food and Drug Administration laid the blame on conditions like stagnant pools of water and dirty surfaces in packing areas, problems that farm workers could help prevent.

Flooding Across Central Europe - In Focus - The Atlantic (nothing to see here, Al Gore is fat, move along)

Santa Monica Gunman Planned Attack, Had Rifle & 1,300 Rounds Of Ammunition (UPDATES)
Free Gun Initiative Begins In Houston Neighborhood - But others in Houston, while expressing support for Second Amendment rights, question whether more guns will result in more gun-related deaths rather than less crime.

Pop neuroscience is bunk! - Salon.com - The media -- and some scientists -- use brain imaging to explain law, politics, even theology. It's often hooey (low-effort thinking)
Big Data Analytics Will Help Us to Explore the Universe - Harnessing data from 500,000 antennas, scientists are building a system to measure radio signals from unexplored parts of the universe.
Extremely Rare Giant Oarfish Caught on Camera in Gulf of Mexico | Biology | Sci-News.com - The giant oarfish Regalecus glesne has been caught on film in the deep waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Is that a Radical Feminist Unicorn in Your Pocket or Are You Just Unhappy to See Women Having a Secularism Conference? - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Ron Lindsay’s Radical Feminism » Almost Diamonds

These Dialect Maps Showing The Variety Of American English Have Set The Internet On Fire


060713
UN drone investigator expecting 'dramatic' decrease in US strikes | World news | guardian.co.uk - Ben Emmerson tells the Guardian drone use likely to be curbed in coming months as program shifts from CIA to US military
Obama orders US to draw up overseas target list for cyber-attacks | World news | guardian.co.uk - Exclusive: Top-secret directive steps up offensive cyber capabilities to 'advance US objectives around the world'
How a 'Lady in Red' became the symbol of Turkey's unrest | The Verge
Erdogan demands end to Turkey protests | World news | guardian.co.uk
Turkey's Protests Must End Immediately, Prime Minister Erdogan Says
Erdogan accuses EU members of hypocrisy over Turkey protests | World news | The Guardian - Turkish PM says methods used by Turkish police to quell demonstrations are little different from those used in US and UK
Nicaragua gives Chinese firm contract to build alternative to Panama Canal | World news | guardian.co.uk - Project will reinforce China's growing influence on global trade and weaken US dominance over a key shipping route

How to destroy the future | Noam Chomsky | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - From the Cuban missile crisis to a fossil fuels frenzy, the US is intent on winning the race to disaster
U.S. Suffers Biggest Pay Drop On Record, As Workers Squeezed Tighter - Hourly pay for nonfarm workers fell at a 3.8 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Wednesday. This was the biggest quarterly decline since the BLS started keeping track in 1947

Justice Department: American Citizen Drone Killings Constitutional Because Obama, Holder Said So - WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's targeted drone strikes against American citizens were constitutional in part because the president said so, Department of Justice lawyers argued in a court filing this week.

Will the NSA pursue legal action against journalist Glenn Greenwald? | The Verge (or will Obama just drone him?)
Anti-Surveillance Activist Is at Center of New Leak - NYTimes.com (NYT looks down on GG, everyone laughs)

On whistleblowers and government threats of investigation | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - No healthy democracy can endure when the most consequential acts of those in power remain secret and unaccountable
Obama Defends NSA, Says America Has To Make Choices Between Privacy And Security
Justice Department Fights Release Of Secret Court Opinion On Law That Underpins PRISM Program
Clapper admits secret NSA surveillance program to access user data | World news | guardian.co.uk - Obama's director of national intelligence attacks program's disclosure as 'reprehensible' and says it threatens security
NSA Surveillance Program Oversight: White House, Congress Point Fingers At Each Other - “These programs are subject to congressional oversight and congressional reauthorization and congressional debate,” Obama said. “And if there are members of Congress who feel differently, then they should speak up.”
Was President Obama the leaker? - If Obama so welcomed this debate, his administration could have released the details on these proposals long ago. Doing so would, at the least, have allowed them to deliver a precise description of what is and isn’t going on, thus avoiding the “numerous inaccuracies” James Clapper, director of national intelligence, decries but doesn’t identify.
Spy chief Clapper denies misleading Congress about spying on Americans | The Ticket - Yahoo! News (yeah, right)
Massive Government Spying Is Inevitable - Business Insider
Polls Show Growing Resolve to Live With Terror Threat - NYTimes.com
On whistleblowers and government threats of investigation | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - No healthy democracy can endure when the most consequential acts of those in power remain secret and unaccountable
NSA taps in to user data of Facebook, Google and others, secret files reveal | World news | The Guardian - • Companies deny any knowledge of program in operation since 2007
Phone Records Shared With U.K. - The Daily Beast - Intelligence officials tell Eli Lake that U.S. customer data, secretly collected from phone companies, has been shared with British security agencies.
Sources: NSA sucks in data from 50 companies - The Week - ranging from credit rating agencies to internet service providers
White House Defends Phone-Record Tracking as 'Critical Tool' - WSJ.com - NSA Monitoring Includes Three Major Phone Companies, as Well as Online Activity
White House Defends Phone-Record Tracking as 'Critical Tool' - WSJ.com - NSA Monitoring Includes Three Major Phone Companies, as Well as Online Activity
U.S., British intelligence mining data from nine U.S. Internet companies in broad secret program - The Washington Post
Obama Administration On PRISM Program: 'Only Non-U.S. Persons Outside The U.S. Are Targeted' (the key word is "targeted")
Internet Giants Deny Granting Government 'Direct Access' To Servers (the key word is "direct")
Apps That Hides Phone Records Are Still No Barrier To NSA Snoops
Politics | AT&T gave feds access to all Web, phone traffic, ex-tech says | Seattle Times Newspaper - The retired worker says the National Security Agency vacuumed up Internet and telephone data from ordinary Americans.
Phone Records Program Declassified After Outcry - Moving to tamp down a public uproar spurred by the disclosure of two secret surveillance programs, the nation's top intelligence official is declassifying key details about one of the programs while insisting the efforts to collect America's phone records and the U.S. internet use of foreign nationals overseas were legal, limited in scope and necessary to detect terrorist threats.
NSA PRISM Program: Is Big Data Turning Government Into 'Big Brother?'
NSA Prism Data Mining Is All Up In Ur Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple
Jeff Merkley: Obama Took NSA Data Collection Lightly | TPM LiveWire - "There are several parts to this that the president glossed over," Merkley told MSNBC after Obama spoke. (he's always been strangely incurious)
Obama Privacy And Security - President Obama's War - Esquire - they can't exercise true oversight because most of what need for the oversight function is, itself, secret. Sooner or later, the snake eats his own tail, and there is no reason to believe any president in this area again. Ever. ("Obama voted for this as a Senator. Hillary was opposed. We should be remembering that.")
Phone Data And Civil Liberties - Civil Liberties Are Not Something You Trade - Esquire - The American people are not being asked to "trade" their civil liberties. They are being asked to surrender them, for all practical purposes, permanently.
America through the N.S.A.'s Prism : The New Yorker
Verizon and the N.S.A.: The Problem with Metadata : The New Yorker
Public Documents Contradict Claim Email Spying Foiled Terror Plot - Defenders of “PRISM” say it stopped subway bombings. But British and American court documents suggest old-fashioned police work nabbed Zazi.
Your Wonkette Surveillance Explainer: Why All Your Metadata Are Belong To The NSA
Your Wonkette PRISM Explainer, Part 2 Of Infinite: Which Morons Are Saying What Stupid Things About PRISM?
PRISM Spying Denials From Tech Companies Baffle Security Experts
Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page Slam 'Outrageous' PRISM Reports (we know nothing)
Tech companies reportedly built 'secure portals' for government surveillance in lieu of 'direct access' to servers | The Verge - The nine tech companies implicated in the PRISM data-collecting operation yesterday have refuted the allegations by stating that they provide no "direct access" to their servers — but according to The New York Times, the wording is just an artful dodge around the way the systems do in fact work.
NYT/Sullivan email exchange (talk about strange ... NYT: "who is this Greenwald character?")
Daily Politics Blog - Charles P. Pierce - Political Blogging - Esquire - To his credit, the president mounted his defense of the NSA's data-vacuuming programs on the simple historical fact that this has been going on since we all started hiding under the bed on September 12, 2001. Unfortunately, that was the only completely convincing part of his presentation.
Four Jacks and a Jill - Master Jack - 1968 - YouTube

FBI Raid On Deric Lostutter, AKA KYAnonymous, Was In Connection With Steubenville Hack

May Jobs Report: U.S. Economy Adds 175,000 Jobs; Unemployment Rate Up To 7.6 Percent

The Spite Club - NYTimes.com - And why would they do this? They won’t save money. On the contrary, they will hurt their own budgets and damage their own economies. Nor will Medicaid rejectionism serve any clear political purpose. As I’ll explain later, it will probably hurt Republicans for years to come.
GOP Obamacare Strategy Is Dooming the Republican Party | New Republic - Republicans' obsession with the law will be the party's undoing
Managing Healthcare Costs - Today’s Managing Health Care Costs Number is 19,000 (killed by Republicans opposing health care)
Physicians for a National Health Program
Southern Conservatives Revive Calhounism—Tyranny of the Minority - The Daily Beast - A bill in South Carolina that would effectively nullify the Affordable Care Act is the latest sign of the modern Republican Party’s drift from the ideas that animated its creation, writes Jamelle Bouie.
Senate Republicans Divided On Moving Obama's D.C. Circuit Nominees

IRSghazi: Now With History’s Two Greatest Monsters - Hi wingnuts! How goes things with the IRS “scandal” today? Still trying to make something, anything, stick to the White House like poop on rabbit fur? Because by our count you’re batting about 0-for-eleventy-billion so far.
Meet Your New Wingnut Congresscritter: Stephen Fincher - Esquire

How Investigators Unraveled The Latest Ricin Framing Case | TPMDC (star in her own reality show, not the brightest bulb)
Walking Dead actor arrested for allegedly sending ricin-laced letters | World news | guardian.co.uk - Obama and New York's Michael Bloomberg received letters allegedly sent by Texas woman who first accused her husband
Meet Your New Wingnut Congresscritter: Stephen Fincher - Esquire - The blog is always on the lookout for bright new scriptural scholars, and by god, you should pardon the expression, it's found one in Congressman Fincher, who decided that the poor people on food stamps need to be banged around by the Bible a little.
GOP Congressman Stephen Fincher On A Mission From God-Starve The Poor While Personally Pocketing Millions In Farm Subsidies - Forbes

The story of Michelle Obama and her heckler - “As we’ve said before, the White House has no updates regarding a hypothetical executive order on LGBT non-discrimination for federal contractors,” White House spokesman Shin Inouye said in an e-mail.

Frogs and toads in trouble — High Country News - Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey found that every year between 2002 and 2011, frogs and toads disappeared from another four percent of the places they used to live.
The Great Climate Change Hoax Rolls On - I'm Going To Miss The Arctic - Esquire - The Great Climate Change Hoax, which was invented by crafty scientists in order to get wealthy on grant money at the expense of the embattled poor sisters of America's oil companies, is on its way to providing us with a new summertime getaway for water fun for the whole family. It used to be called the Arctic.
Arctic summers could be nearly ice-free in seven years | Grist
Get used to killer heat waves, CDC warns - Vitals (the Sun is committing terroristic acts on America)
Creature Features: Your Late Afternoon Friday Morning Sci-Blog! - While it’s not correct to link specific storms to Anthropogenic Climate Change, it has been established that increasing global temperatures make the incidence of severe weather more likely and the storms more dangerous. The answer is probably not “Let’s just do nothing.”

West Texas Oilfield Town Runs Out of Water | The Texas Tribune - The Barnhart area has been hard-hit by drought, he said, just as surging oil and gas drilling activities have increased local water demands.

Vitamins: stop taking the pills | Life and style | The Guardian - In May 1980, during an interview at Oregon State University, Pauling was asked, "Does vitamin C have any side-effects on long-term use of, let's say, gram quantities?" His answer was quick and decisive. "No," he replied. Seven months later, his wife died of stomach cancer. In 1994, Linus Pauling died of prostate cancer.

Walmart Activism Is Effecting Change At World's Largest Retailer, Organizers Say

BDSM Correlated With Better Mental Health, Says Study

UNC Honor Court Charges Against Landen Gambill Dismissed; Report Finds No Retaliation - After an external review, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill announced Thursday that it dropped a school honor court charge against Landen Gambill, a student who was accused of "intimidating" the man she says sexually assaulted her.
Biblical Marriage Not Defined Simply As One Man, One Woman: Iowa Religious Scholars' Op-Ed - A trio of Iowa-based religious scholars penned an op-ed in a local paper this week, reminding readers that despite popular opinion, the Bible does not simply define marriage as between one man and one woman.

Microsoft Confirms Gamers' Fears Over Xbox One - Forbes

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IMF 'to admit mistakes' in handling Greek debt crisis and bailout | Business | guardian.co.uk - Internal reports to suggest International Monetary Fund underestimated the damage austerity would cause to the eurozone country (whoops, our bad, suck it up, Greece)

NSA phone records collection: anger swells after data revelations | World news | guardian.co.uk - Senior politicians reveal that US counter-terrorism efforts have swept up personal data from American citizens for years
Section 215 Order Reveals Secrecy Only Serves to Prevent Court Challenge | emptywheel
President Obama’s Dragnet - NYTimes.com - Mr. Obama is proving the truism that the executive will use any power it is given and very likely abuse it.
NSA Whistleblowers: Spying Operation Has Been In Place For Years, Involves All Major U.S. Phone Companies
U.S. Is Secretly Collecting Records of Verizon Calls - NYTimes.com - a domestic surveillance program under which it is collecting business communications records involving Americans under a hotly debated section of the Patriot Act, according to a highly classified court order disclosed on Wednesday night
DOJ Will 'Very Likely' Investigate Guardian NSA Leak, Says Pete Williams; Official Disagrees - Glenn Greenwald reported in The Guardian Wednesday night that the NSA is indiscriminately collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers under a top-secret U.S. court order, a major scoop detailing the extent of domestic surveillance that comes amid increasing civil liberties concerns and controversial leak investigations involving the Associated Press and Fox News.
NSA Has Direct Access To Tech Giants’ Systems For User Data, Secret Files Reveal | TPM News - Secret PRISM program gives intelligence agency access to web and email of Google, Facebook and Apple customers
U.S. intelligence mining data from nine U.S. Internet companies in broad secret program - The Washington Post
What You Should Know About The Government's Massive Domestic Surveillance Program | ThinkProgress
Still More About The Wiretaps - Esquire - One of the things I hoped would not happen -- but was very confident would happen -- would be that the revelation of the data-vacuuming that Verizon performed on behalf of the NSA would simply be dismissed as business as usual by our elected representatives, who only ever have our interests at heart. (Note to Senator Feinstein: that it is business as usual is the fking problem.)
Verizon Phone Record Scandal - Why Verizon's Phone Record Scandal Is No Real Surprise - Esquire
Hullabaloo - Re: Greenwald's blockbuster: How do they know which calls are associated with terrorism?
White House Defends NSA Collection Of Phone Records
U.S. responds to NSA disclosures - The Week ("nothing to see here, move along")
Mark Udall Tried To Stop NSA Surveillance | TPM LiveWire - Udall: I Did ‘Everything In My Power’ To Stop NSA Records Collection
The Verizon Data Order and Why It Matters - Creating "national security" exemptions to the Fourth Amendment in the context of an open-ended conflict where the whole world is the battlefield and the conflict has no clear end point is very dangerous.
Barack Obama: My Position On FISA (2008) (not looking backwards)


'Bag Men' Sue New York Post Over Boston Marathon Bombing Cover

Six Charts That Show It's Time To Reset The Budget Debate (Krugman FTW)
Grand Bargain Loses Center For American Progress Support In Major Blow To Austerity - The Center for American Progress, a pillar of the Democratic establishment in Washington is walking away from the broad negotiations aimed at reaching a "grand bargain," the pursuit of a deficit-reduction deal that has dominated the political agenda since mid-2010.
Can Democrats Use The Discrediting Of Austerity To Win The Budget Fight? | TPMDC

Nancy Pelosi: Congress Is 'Rigged' To Maintain The Status Quo - to suppress the interests of women and keep their voices out of the discussion.
Daily Kos: Limbaugh, O'Reilly costing Republicans elections
Steve King Amendment Passes House To Deport More Dreamers
Report Says IRS Approved Tax-Exempt Status For Twice as Many Conservative Groups as Liberal Groups | Mother Jones (scandal!)
Tax Analysts -- News Analysis -- Substantial Minority of Scrutinized EOs Were Not Conservative - News Analysis: Substantial Minority of Scrutinized EOs Were Not Conservative
State Legislatures: Where the Republicans Are Really Red, and Democrats Are Really Blue | Ten Miles Square | The Washington Monthly - Again, California pops up — it has the most liberal Democrats and the most conservative Republicans in the land. Colorado and Washington are similar, coming up in the most extreme categories in both parties.

Massachusetts Senate Debate - Markey And Gomez Square Off - Esquire - There is a great desire among the elite political media up here to turn this into a race -- For some of these folks, Brown vs. Coakley was a formative political experience, regardless of what happened to McDreamy the first time he ran against a real candidate in a real election -- but I'm still not seeing it
RALEIGH: More than 150 arrested at NC legislature during Monday protests | State Politics | NewsObserver.com - ‘This ain’t Wisconsin’ - “I’m sure they believe in what they’re doing, but I like to call this the last gasp of the angry white man.”
Marriage Equality Survey Finds Sharp Division Over DOMA Case - 41 percent of Americans said the Supreme Court should overturn DOMA and 45 percent said it should uphold the law, which forbids the federal government from recognizing the marriages of gay and lesbian couples, even in states where those marriages are legal.

The Lessons of the Megalomaniac University President | TIME.com - If you want a glimpse into what has gone wrong with higher education in America, look no further than the brilliant career of E. Gordon Gee, who as of July 1st will be the ex-president of the Ohio State University (and of Brown and Vanderbilt, as well as the flagship public universities of Colorado and West Virginia).

Obama Administration Ordered to Make Some Forms of EC Available Without Restrictions (Obama still acting like a pro-life Republican)





060513
Syria's Qusair Captured By Syrian Army
Iranians protest against Khamenei, chant 'death to dictator' - Middle East - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper - A funeral of a senior dissident cleric turns into biggest anti-government protest in years.
Intolerance of Intolerance in the Name of Tolerance Is Intolerable | The Daily Dolt - Vatican: This Intolerance of Our Intolerance Will Not Be Tolerated
Rebekah Brooks pleads not guilty to charges related to phone hacking | UK news | The Guardian - Ex-News International chief denies conspiracy to commit phone hacking, pervert course of justice and unlawfully pay officials

IMF admits: we failed to realise the damage austerity would do to Greece | Business | The Guardian - Athens officials react to report with glee, saying it confirms that the price extracted for country's bailout package was too high

Telephone metadata and what it can tell the authorities about you | James Ball | World news | guardian.co.uk - The US insists call data is not private information, but critics say it allows government to build detailed picture of individuals' lives
Revealed: NSA collecting phone records of millions of Americans daily | World news | The Guardian - Exclusive: Top secret court order requiring Verizon to hand over all call data shows scale of domestic surveillance under Obama

GOP: Rape Is Just Nature’s Way of Keeping Women Out of Military

Bradley Manning given unfettered access to closed databases, court hears | World news | guardian.co.uk - Manning's former supervisors testify as court martial shifts focus to environment US soldier worked in while stationed in Iraq
The Hacker Who Turned Bradley Manning In Testifies In Court

Fitch Cuts Illinois Rating on Unfunded Pension Liability - WSJ.com

Tom Donilon Resigning: Obama National Security Adviser To Be Replaced By Susan Rice
Obama Hires Susan Rice And Samantha Power - Obama's Two New Hires - Esquire - Susan Rice is going to be the president's new National Security Adviser. She will be replaced at the U.N. by Samantha Power, a foreign-policy star since the publication of her book on genocide, A Problem From Hell. Both of these are good choices but, as my man Chuck Todd points out, they are tinged with "controversy."

Amid IRS Mess, Democrats Try to Make a Scandal Out of Issa | TIME.com
Mitch McConnell Charges 'Culture Of Intimidation' On Obama Nominees

Ed Markey Extends Lead Over Gabriel Gomez In Massachusetts Senate Poll
Roger Ailes Thinks People Hate Him 'Because I'm Fat', And 12 More Fun Facts From Jonathan Alter's The Center Holds (paranoid personality disorder)
Congress up in the air about losing nonstop flights - More than 100 members of Congress are upset that nonstop flights out of a Washington, D.C., airport to their hometowns could be a thing of the past, which they say isn’t fair to smaller communities. (but it is fair to screw the rest of the country and steal people's houses)
South Carolina Obamacare Resistance - The Whole South Is the Grave Of Calhoun - Esquire - The state of South Carolina is one tiny step away from doing something it has done twice before (to its great historical regret) in its history.
Obamacare nullification bill on SC Senate agenda | Politics | The State (you can take your so-called "Federal" laws and ...)
Well, Nullify Know! » Balloon Juice - To recap, a bunch of guys who feel that the state is unfairly coercing citizens who disagree with them is passing a law allowing the state to specifically coerce citizens who disagree with them. It’s still possible that the SC Senate could punt on this, but this is the same bill that would eliminate the penalty for not having health insurance as the state would give a tax refund to anyone penalized by the federal Obamacare statues, putting the state on the hook for, well, pretty much everything. Because this kind of thing happened to Clinton all the time, right?
GOP Congressman Says Supreme Court Doesn't Actually Get To Decide Whether Laws Are Constitutional | ThinkProgress

Judge Edith Jones Accused Of Racial Bias | TPM LiveWire - Judge Edith H. Jones, of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said in a speech in February at the University of Pennsylvania Law School that African-Americans and Hispanics are "predisposed to crime" and that defendants facing capital punishment who claim "mental retardation" disgust her.
Texas Judge Racial Bias - Judge Not, Lest People Find Out - Esquire - she said that blacks and Hispanics were more prone than others to commit violent crimes and that a death sentence was a service to defendants because it allowed them to make peace with God.

Social Security should be expanded, not cut - latimes.com - Social Security is still the best retirement program we have. Benefits should be increased, paid for by raising or eliminating the payroll tax cap.
Is Obamacare a War on Bros? -- Daily Intelligencer
New Study Confirms Obamacare's Birth Control Mandate Will Reduce Abortion Rate | ThinkProgress (why Rethugs are anti-birth-control)
Another Court Orders Obama Administration To Let All Women Buy The Morning After Pill Over The Counter | ThinkProgress

Sheldon Adelson's Woes Mount With Grand Jury In Las Vegas Sands Money-Laundering Probe
Jefferson County Bankruptcy - The Lessons Of Jefferson County - Esquire - Of all the marks victimized by the Wall Street crooks, the folks who wrecked most of the economy on the way to stealing what was left, one of the saddest cases was that of Jefferson County, Alabama, who got taken by JPMorgan and today announced the largest municipal bankruptcy in the country's history.

Tiny, insect-eating animal becomes earliest known primate | Science | guardian.co.uk - Archicebus achilles lived 55m years ago in what is now China and is the ancestor of all monkeys, apes and humans

Apple loses US trade panel ruling in Samsung dispute - Apple has lost a ruling by a US trade panel in a patent dispute with its rival Samsung.

WHCD 2012: Greta Van Susteren Responds To Meghan McCain Criticism
If Comedy Has No Lady Problem, Why Am I Getting So Many Rape Threats?
Totally Biased: Extended Talk with Jim Norton and Lindy West - YouTube
Rape Culture - Lawyers, Guns & Money
How to Make a Rape Joke
Ziggamorph comments on The Rape Joke Double-Standard
Pretty interesting discussion between Roseanne and Patton Oswalt showing that Patton Does Not Yet Get It^TM : SRSBusiness

New Government Documents Show the Sean Parker Wedding Is the Perfect Parable for Silicon Valley Excess - Alexis C. Madrigal - The Atlantic - Nothing says, "I love the Earth!" quite like bringing bulldozers into an old-growth forest to create a fake ruined castle.

Windows 8.1 makes video debut ahead of June 26th preview release | The Verge
??????ARISE ANOTHER MISSION? - YouTube

060413
The Post-1979 ‘Asian Peace’ & Economic Miracle are Probably Connected » Duck of Minerva
El Salvador’s ‘Beatriz’ stable after Caesarean - World News | IOL News | IOL.co.za
American Woman Gang-Raped In India - The 30-year-old woman was picked up early Tuesday morning by men in a truck as she was hitchhiking back to her guest house after visiting a friend, police officer Sher Singh said.

The Rogoff and Reinhart Controversy: A Summing Up : The New Yorker - The Marketing of Austerity Policies (and politics)

Another Missile Defense System Is an Unnecessary Military Expense - NYTimes.com - At a time when the United States government is under pressure to cut spending, and every dollar counts, some members of Congress are pushing for a new missile defense site, possibly on the East Coast, that could eventually cost at least $3.6 billion. The proposal is premature at best and could actually harm America’s national security by denying resources to other more urgently needed and more effective defense programs.

Leak Investigations Revive Talk Of A Chilling Effect On Journalism - "The reporters who work for the Times in Washington have told me many of their sources are petrified even to return calls," she said. "It has a real practical effect that is important."
Julian Assange: Media's Failure To Defend Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks Emboldened DOJ

Saxby Chambliss Attributes Military Sexual Assault To 'The Hormone Level Created By Nature' (rape is what men do, and shouldn't be punished)

Obama To Nominate Three To U.S. Appeals Court
A plain blog about politics: Assumption GOP Will Blockade DC Circuit Is Probably Wrong

The Christie Fraud - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Rich Democrats can be really stupid, as the Newark Star-Ledger shows: (Christie will always be an asshole)
Chris Christie Calls Special Election To Fill Frank Lautenberg Seat - “I will not play politics with this," Christie said, stressing that New Jersey needed an elected senator for the next 18 months.
Chris Christie Special Senate Election - Chris Christie Smartens Up - Esquire
In Further Defense of Scalia’s Maryland v. King Dissent - Lawyers, Guns & Money (Kennedy hates civil rights)
Labor Should Demand Political Value for Money - Lawyers, Guns & Money - Let’s look at the recent South Carolina special election to replace Tim Scott. Elizabeth Colbert-Busch received $32,500 from organized labor, including $10,000 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Her payback? ("fuck you")
Erick Erickson Shows The Worst in GOP - Business Insider

Marijuana Arrests Four Times as Likely for Blacks - NYTimes.com - Black Americans were nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested on charges of marijuana possession in 2010, even though the two groups used the drug at similar rates, according to new federal data ... half of all drug arrests in 2011 were on marijuana-related charges ... “Whenever federal funding agencies encourage law enforcement to meet numerical arrest goals instead of public safety goals, it will likely promote stereotype-based policing and we can expect these sorts of racial gaps,” (lookin' at you, Bloomfuck)
20-Week Abortion Bill Advanced By All-Male Congressional Panel - The bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy in the United States in all cases except those in which the mother's life is in danger. (the "Have Your Rapist/Daddy's Child" Bill)

Newsweek Subscriptions, Circulation Slashed In Half Over Three Years
Why in the World Would Anyone Buy Newsweek? -- Daily Intelligencer

Late Night Open Thread: Wingnuts Against Treating Mental Illnesses » Balloon Juice - But the real meat of the story is Munro’s assertion that anxiety and depression aren’t real illnesses… (just moochers faking it)
Obama urges public to use government mental-health programs | The Daily Caller (for the comments; they are all afraid of losing their guns)
Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

Mad Men Recap: There’s an Extra Nipple for You -- Vulture

This Week’s Mad Men, All About Second Chances -- Vulture
This Week’s Mad Men GIF: Roger’s Poor Balls -- Vulture
Who Is Mad Men’s Bob Benson? -- Vulture
Dread vs. Shock: The Two Red Wedding Reactions -- Vulture

'Game Of Thrones' Robb Stark Speaks: Richard Madden Addresses Shocking Developments

Oh Shit, I Totally Forgot That Happens! | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

060313
Turkey Protests 2013: Violence Flares On 4th Day Of Anti-Government Demonstrations
Turkey protests continue as US voices concern about police use of force | World news | The Guardian - Following fifth day of demonstrations, Turkish PM lashes out at critics and John Kerry calls for restraint
China Reaps Biggest Benefits of Iraq Oil Boom - NYTimes.com

Wonkbook: Ben Bernanke’s surprisingly excellent, radical speech
18 Of America's Biggest Companies Using Tax Havens To Skirt $92 Billion In U.S. Taxes: CTJ
The Fed and Inequality - NYTimes.com
Sequester Watch, #7 | Jared Bernstein | On the Economy
Eschaton: The One Thing That Mattered In The Sequestration - Was the ability of rich people to continue flying normally.

House Republican Defense Bill Blocks Guantanamo Closing - House Republicans on Monday proposed keeping open the military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by barring the administration from transferring its terror suspects to the United States or a foreign country such as Yemen. (or anywhere the fuck else)

Police can collect DNA from arrestees, court says - News Nation Washington - Boston.com - A sharply divided Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for police to take a DNA swab from anyone they arrest for a serious crime, endorsing a practice now followed by more than half the states as well as the federal government.
Supreme Court DNA Swabs Ruling - Antonin Scalia Throws A Bomb - Esquire - oday, in what is going to be a momentous month, a 5-4 majority of the United States Supreme Court, led by Anthony (Weathervane) Kennedy, took a cotton swab to the Fourth Amendment, ruling that anyone who simply is arrested can be forced to surrender a DNA sample.

The Stupidest Argument About Immigration Written in the 21st Century - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Such is the case with Ying Zh-Ye’s column at PolicyMic.

New York Times Ombud Criticizes Lack Of Bradley Manning Coverage Again
The Bradley Manning Trial Opens - In Which Our Dedication To The First Amendment Is Tested - Esquire - unlike what is happening to James Rosen, who will not be indicted and not be tried and, very likely, will get a nice book deal out of the situation, the government is playing for keeps with Bradley Manning.
Bradley Manning trial begins with clash of interpretations over soldier's actions | World news | The Guardian - Court hears new allegations about soldier's relationship with WikiLeaks' Julian Assange in trial's intense opening statements

A Pennsylvania disgrace that isn't Tom Corbett's fault - The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections plans to close Cresson, but the Justice Department said the misuse of solitary confinement could extend to prisons statewide. The department is expanding its probe to include all state prisons.
The Conservative Case Against Mental Health - Elspeth Reeve - The Atlantic Wire
Enduring Macho Culture, Unique Legal System Perpetuates Rape Culture In Military - “That means there are thousands of felons walking around — free and dangerous — in the military today,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

Jill Kelley is Suing the Government Over 'Violations of Privacy' in Petraeus Scandal - Abby Ohlheiser - The Atlantic Wire - Jill Kelley, the Tampa "socialite" who inadvertently led the FBI to evidence of Paula Broadwell and David Petreaus's affair, is suing the FBI, the Department of Defense and other unnamed government officials because, she says, the agencies violated her privacy, as well as that of her husband

Texas couple blames each other for ricin-laced letters - CBS News
Ricin Case Hits Tabloid Heaven - This Will Turn Out Very Well - Esquire - this very bizarre CBS story about the couple that is being questioned in regards to the latest ricin-based letter, the ones that were dispatched to the president, to Michael Bloomberg, and to Bloomberg's gun-control organization.

Lindsey Graham: 'No Evidence' White House Directed IRS To Target Conservatives - Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Monday became the latest Republican to reject Darrell Issa's comments that White House press secretary Jay Carney is a "paid liar" in relation to the IRS controversy.
David Plouffe Attacks Darrell Issa: Calls Congressman 'Mr. Grand Theft,' 'Insurance Swindler'
John McCain Disagrees With Darrell Issa's 'Liar' Charge
Issa Stirs Echoes of McCarthy as Obama's 'Best Friend' in IRS Probe - NationalJournal.com - Chief GOP investigator doesn't know when to let damning facts speak for themselves.
Garance Franke-Ruta - Authors - The Atlantic - Oh -- and we also don't know that all the groups selected for special scrutiny were actually conservative groups.
IRS tax scandal in US: new evidence undermines political bias claims | World news | guardian.co.uk - Officials reveal three-quarters of political groups subject to extra tax inspection not identifiably White House opponents (the "scandal" deflates)

The Geezers Are All Right - NYTimes.com - Last month the Congressional Budget Office released its much-anticipated projections for debt and deficits, and there were cries of lamentation from the deficit scolds who have had so much influence on our policy discourse.
Medicaid Expansion Denial Will Cost States Billions: Report
Hullabaloo - Obamacare implementation: it's all about how people are supposed to perceive it

Frank Lautenberg Dead: New Jersey Senator Dies At 89 - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) will fill the vacant Senate seat.
RIP, Frank Lautenberg - Esquire - the last World War II veteran left in the Senate
Report: How GOP lost young voters - Katie Glueck - politico.com

MSNBC Chief Phil Griffin: 'We're Not The Place' For Breaking News (that would take "reporters")
Brad DeLong : Can Anybody Explain the Wall Street Journal's War on Bicycles to Me? - The Wall Street Journal has made an epic editorial video blasting NYC's new bike share program (called Citibikes).
Those Bolshevik Rapscallions And Their Blasted Velocipedes | TBogg
A Publication's Spirit, Captured - James Fallows - The Atlantic - The menace of the all-powerful bicycle lobby -- revealed at last! Writers at the Onion, take careful notes.
Our Driven Elite (Trivial and Time-Wasting) - NYTimes.com - Like many of us, Atrios is still having fun with the hysterical WSJ screed against rental bicycles. Unusually for him, however, I think he fails to fully recognize the role of class in the whole discussion. He writes,

Experts Debate Plan to Speed Antibiotic Development - NYTimes.com

Bella Ellwood-Clayton: 10 Things You Need to Know about Female Sexuality
Orgasmic Birth: Orgasms During Childbirth Are Real, Study Suggests

Room Service Dying a Well-Deserved Death in New York | Mother Jones


060213
Turkish protesters control Istanbul square after two days of clashes | World news | guardian.co.uk - Demonstrations pose biggest challenge yet to prime minister and expose government influence over media (including, apparently, American media)
Court says Egypt legislature illegally elected
US and China to discuss cybersecurity at high-level diplomatic meetings | World news | guardian.co.uk - US hopes new Chinese president, who will meet Obama on Friday, can rein in hackers attached to military

Drone attacks continue, the FBI killed an unarmed witness, and Obama aides cash in | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - A video informally titled "the care and feeding of a young imperial bureaucrat" viscerally conveys the rot that is Washington

The Leveraging Synergies for Matrix-Driven Perfomance Based Action Presidency - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - It’s very exciting that the Romney Presidency would have been nothing more than an exercise in corporate cliches, with its leaderocity, core competencies, magnetic niches, and other meaningless words.

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XX

Experienced storm chasers among dead in Oklahoma tornadoes | World news | guardian.co.uk

Teaching the Tulsa Race Riot - Lawyers, Guns & Money : This weekend was the anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot, one of the most horrifying episodes of organized violence against African-Americans after emancipation.
NebraskaStudies.Org - 1924 Indian Citizenship Act (yeah, 1924)

Hullabaloo - Beatriz: why are they ok with a C-Section? (pretending it's not an abortion)
Number of Women 'Tricked' Into Parenthood is On Rise - A recent study led by Brown University suggests that some men are "tricking" women into pregnancy by poking holes into condoms or hiding birth control pills. It is called "reproductive coercion" and is thought to affect mainly unmarried, sexually active women in abusive relationships.

WSJ On Citi Bikes - Business Insider - DEATH BY BICYCLE: Wall Street Journal Goes Absolutely Ballistic Over New York's New Bike Share Plan

Why did the Neanderthals die out? | Science | The Observer - A major conference in London this week will reveal the results of five years' research on why Homo sapiens emerged triumphant in the survival battle of the humans - Homo sapiens could have reached Europe 45,000 years ago. Five thousand years later, Neanderthals had largely disappeared. Reset researchers have used evidence of a devastating eruption of the Campi Flegrei volcano west of Naples 39,000 years ago.

Angelina Jolie 'grateful and moved' by reaction to her mastectomy decision | Film | The Guardian - Actor says she is happy to have generated debate about women's health and thanks 'wonderful' partner Brad Pitt

060113
Istanbul Protests Grow In Size As Demonstration Enters 5th Day
Turkey's building boom unrest conceals fear of corruption | World news | The Observer - Istanbul riots started over proposed parkland development but government's increasingly authoritarian policies fuel unrest
#occupygezi
Syria peace talks likely to be postponed as Russia plans to ship more weapons | World news | The Guardian - Geneva negotiations conceived by US and Russia will not take place in early June as hoped, say diplomats
UN: More Than 1,000 Iraqis Killed In May Violence
Drone strikes targeting al-Qaida kill seven in southern Yemen | World news | guardian.co.uk - Attacks come a week after US President Barack Obama signalled a new approach to use of unmanned aircraft
Erdogan faces fury of the streets as Istanbul erupts into mass protests | World news | The Observer - Recep Tayyip Erdogan sees extent of rage at authoritarian rule in violent clashes after demo break-up
For Muslims, Internet Use Leads To Favorable Views Of The West, Per Survey

Whiskey Fire: Shame on a Paddy - the thoroughly disgusting William Donohue of the Catholic League has discovered an entirely new way for us to hold him in utter contempt -- "We are releasing a booklet today that I wrote, Myths of the Magdalene Laundries, that debunks the conventional wisdom about these Catholic-run facilities in Ireland."

Asia curbs US imports of wheat after genetically modified sample found | Environment | guardian.co.uk - Billions in food exports at stake following disclosure by US Department of Agriculture of the existence of the GM wheat
Why did the 400ppm carbon milestone cause barely a ripple? | Andrew Simms | Environment | guardian.co.uk - Newspapers, for whom marking round numbers is the easiest excuse to report an issue, were mostly uninterested

Brad DeLong : There Is a Substantive Analytical Point at Issue Between Reinhart-Reinhart-Rogoff and Krugman (and Me) That It Would Be Nice to Thrash Out…
The coalition's 'infrastructure boost' is a damp squib, but challenges for Labour remain - By funding higher capital spending through cuts elsewhere, Osborne will do little to boost growth. But will Labour finally make the case for borrowing for growth? ("not quite as evil as the other guys")
Reinhart-Rogoff, Austerity Superduo, Even More Full Of B.S. Than Previously Thought
The National Memo » Inequality Rising — All Thanks To Government Policies
The US has more austerity than Europe. So why is America doing OK? | AEIdeas - . If the choice is between the current policy mix in the U.S. and/or the Eurozone/pre-2013 Japan model of tight money, zero nominal GDP growth, deflation and a chronic debt overhang, one would think the choice is pretty clear
Political Animal - American Austerity - Austerity has been doubly damaging in Europe because the European Central Bank doesn’t seem to care at all about keeping its weaker countries from falling to bits. This turned minor problems into major ones and major problems into catastrophes

Oklahoma City authorities say nine killed in latest tornado outbreak | World news | guardian.co.uk - El Reno and Union City also see twisters as violent storm system moves through midwest during delayed tornado season

Widow of Chechen man shot dead by FBI: 'I hope we will get to the truth' | World news | guardian.co.uk - why she fears the mystery surrounding husband's death may never be solved, and why 'it just feels like a movie right now'

Ricin Letters Probe Leads To Texas Home, Official Says (where else?)

The last three on the island — Crooked Timber - Pluralities of US conservatives believe, or at least claim to believe, that: The President of the US is a socialist Muslim, born in Kenya; The earth is less than 10 000 years old; Mainstream science is a communist plot; Armed revolution will likely be necessary in the near future

Ted Cruz’s personality problem - Salon.com - The Texas senator is annoying, and doesn’t play well with others. Will that doom his White House ambitions?
Politically, the south and New England really are two different Americas | Harry J Enten | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Rhode Island's governor has switched parties yet again, signaling historic polarisation and state control over politics (irreconcilable differences)


Vaporizer Store — Buy Vaporizers, Grinders, and Parts | Vape World

Nordic Diet Could Be Local Alternative To Mediterranean Diet : The Salt : NPR

Rare Color Film Of New York City In The Summer Of 1939 Is Gorgeous (video)

Bitcoin Companies Attract Frenzy Of Venture Funding
Yahoo's Email Hacking Problem Starts To Hurt As Major Telecom Provider Ditches The Service - A British telecom company says it will no longer make Yahoo Mail the default email service for its 6 million customers due to concerns their accounts are vulnerable to getting hacked.
Google Fiber expansion: Executive hints at new markets | BGR
The Most Controversial Article In All Of English Wikipedia Is George W. Bush's

053113
Obama's new FBI chief approved Bush's NSA warrantless wiretapping scheme | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - James Comey becomes just the latest symbol of the Obama legacy: normalizing what was very recently viewed as radical
A federal judge tells the company to comply with the FBI's warrantless National Security Letter requests for user details, despite ongoing concerns about their constitutionality. Just keep Looking Forward. ("No Warrant" Obama)

From the Mouths of Babes - NYTimes.com - Every once in a while, however, politicians do something so wrong, substantively and morally, that cynicism just won’t cut it; it’s time to get really angry instead. So it is with the ugly, destructive war against food stamps. (let the moochers starve)
Obamacare Insurance Options: Looks like exchanges will have plenty | New Republic - Federal exchanges look like they'll have plenty of insurance options
Cause of Death: Sloppy Doctors - TIME - Doctors' sloppy handwriting kills more than 7,000 people annually. It's a shocking statistic, and, according to a July 2006 report from the National Academies of Science's Institute of Medicine (IOM), preventable medication mistakes also injure more than 1.5 million Americans annually.

Maddow: ‘Something weird is going on’ in FBI shooting of Ibragim Todashev | The Raw Story

Erick Erickson Continues His Impotent, Childish Flailing for Your Entertainment | The Raw Story
Megyn Kelly, U Mad? Oh Yeah, She Maaaaaaaad

More on those “Psychological Science” papers (menstrual cycles and political attitudes, biceps size and political attitudes) — The Monkey Cage
How can statisticians help psychologists do their research better? « Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science (ovulating women want to fuck Romney)
Low-Effort Thought Promotes Political Conservatism
Leading neuroscientist: Religious fundamentalism may be a ‘mental illness’ that can be ‘cured’ | The Raw Story

Why the Boomers Are the Most Hated Generation - Edward Tenner - The Atlantic - F. Scott Fitzgerald's flappers also grew up in a time of plenty, but they were allowed to age out of their sybaritic image. What makes the Boomers different?

053013
Will El Salvador's Anti-Choice Government Let a Pregnant Woman Die? | The Nation
Japan cancels U.S. wheat order on GMO fear: report - MarketWatch

U.S. GDP In Q1 Revised Lower As Austerity Measures Bite (and Destructo-Republicans kill the economy)
Reinhart And Rogoff's Pro-Austerity Research Now Even More Thoroughly Debunked By Studies - And a new paper by University of Massachusetts professor Arindrajit Dube finds evidence that Reinhart and Rogoff had the relationship between growth and debt backwards: Slow growth appears to cause higher debt, if anything.
After crunching Reinhart and Rogoff’s data, we’ve concluded that high debt does not slow growth - Quartz (Rogaine and Braveheart)
Daily Kos: Surprise! CBO report shows 50% of government tax expenditures go to top 20% of earners
Smithfield-Shuanghui Merger Faces Opposition From Food Safety Advocates - Two years ago, Shuanghui was embroiled in a food-safety scandal at home, eventually admitting it had blended a banned, carcinogenic additive into its pig feed. No deaths resulted from the tainted feed, and the company publicly apologized and closed down the plant that made the product.
Northern Ireland Town Fakes Prosperity for G8 Summit | @pritheworld - Dan Keenan: These are basically empty shops that are being now made to look as if they are thriving businesses, and they’ve done that in a very clever fashion indeed.
Costco's Profit Soars To $459 Million As Low-Wage Competitors Struggle

Officials: Man who knew Boston bombing suspect was unarmed when shot - The Washington Post - Todashev lunged at the agent and overturned a table. But the official said Todashev did not have a gun or a knife. A second official also said Todashev was unarmed. (lies and more lies; at least six agents in room)
Abdul-Baki Todashev, Father Of Ibragim Todashev, Claims His Son Was Executed By FBI - "I'd only seen and heard things like that in the movies – they shoot somebody and then a shot in the head to make sure," Todashev said.
Why Did the FBI Kill an Unarmed Man and Clam Up? - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic - Law enforcement can't get its story straight in the worrisome case of Ibragim Todashev.
And A Million Conspiracies Bloom - Esquire - . Supply one detail right now. How did your agents lose such control over the scene in a small apartment that a possible key witness in a major crime winds up being shot dead while unarmed? That's a fairly important detail (FBI may take "several months" to conclude its "probe" into what happened)

Holder media backlash intensifies - The Hill's Blog Briefing Room - Major news outlets lined up to reject Attorney General Eric Holder’s offer of an off-the-record meeting Thursday as his conflict with the press corps escalated.
James Comey and the most riveting 20 minutes of congressional testimony. Maybe ever.

Rob Ford Scandal: Did Toronto Mayor Know And Lie About Alleged 'Crackstarter' Video?

It Might Finally Be Time for the 'Nuclear Option' in the Senate - Norm Ornstein - The Atlantic - Abolishing filibusters for judicial nominees could be dangerous, but Republican obstructionists have left few alternatives.
Tea Party Caller Suggests Shooting Susan Collins Over Immigration | TPM LiveWire - According to ThinkProgress' transcript of the exchange, the statement was met with laughs.
Letters To Bloomberg And Obama Contained Threats About Shooting People In The Face Over Gun Control

No More Mister Nice Blog - I Think I Know What Might Save Msnbc
Fox Figures: Rise In Female Breadwinners Is A Sign Of Society's Downfall | Blog | Media Matters for America - Fox's Erick Erickson: "Look At the Natural World ... The Male Typically Is The Dominant Role"
Four out of ten households have female breadwinners: Fox News responds with utter panic.

Chicago Sun-Times cuts entire photography staff - Marketing/media News - Crain's Chicago Business

Universities bolster MOOCs for online learning
Are MOOCs Soon to Be Obama Administration Policy? - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Well, this is disturbing to anyone who cares about the future of higher education:
Harvard’s Flak Army by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly - Perched on the top floor of the Holyoke Center, the offices of Harvard Public Affairs and Communications are easy to miss. But from high above Harvard Square, the nearly 60-person team

Breast Milk Protein HAMLET Reverses Antibiotic Resistance in MRSA, Pneumococcus | Medicine | Sci-News.com

Reproductive Coercion: When Men Sabotage Birth Control - The Cut

Is Mad Men’s Megan Draper Actually Sharon Tate? -- Vulture

Bloggers, Media Shield Laws, And The First Amendment - Mr. Durbin said to Fox News host Chris Wallace that he doubted whether bloggers, or “someone who is Tweeting,” should be given media shield rights. (only VSP may apply)
Microsoft News | Windows 8.1 Screenshots Emerge, Reveals New Start Button
Microsoft News | Bing Releases Infographic Slamming Google’s Privacy Practices

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World Health Organization Calls New SARS-Like Virus A 'Threat To The Entire World' | ThinkProgress (could kill half world's population)
To Drill or Not to Drill - By Gal Luft | Foreign Policy - The coming American oil boom is bad news for Saudi Arabia. How the kingdom responds could very well determine if it survives.

The economy is holding up surprisingly well in a year of austerity (despite the Republicans' best efforts to screw America)

Charting Obama’s Crackdown on National Security Leaks - ProPublica
Espionage Act Repeal - Here's A Bipartisan Idea That Will Die At Birth - Esquire - The Espionage Act is a foul relic of a foul time, born of the repressive mind of Woodrow Wilson, American history's most overrated man, employed to quash dissent during World War I, and then repurposed for the Red Scare that followed hard on the Armistice, and it rose again during the subsequent Red Scares after the subsequent world war.
AP CEO Says DOJ Seized Records For 'Thousands And Thousands' Of Phone Calls: Staffer
Eric Holder To Meet With Washington Bureau Chiefs Amid Leak Investigation Criticism (but they can't report it)
New York Times, AP Won't Attend Off-The-Record Eric Holder Meeting - NEW YORK -- The New York Times and Associated Press said Wednesday that they will not attend a meeting this week between Attorney General Eric Holder and the Washington bureau chiefs of several media outlets to discuss guidelines for journalists in leak investigations.
News Corp. Says It Was Not Told of Subpoena for Reporter’s Phone Records - NYTimes.com
CNN: DOJ Has Proof It Alerted News Corp. Of Rosen Subpoena | TPM LiveWire - The Justice Department previously said it had notified News Corp. of the seizure on Aug. 27, 2010, but company officials over the weekend countered by claiming they had no such record. News Corp.'s chief legal counsel at the time also issued a strong denial of ever receiving a subpoena from the government.

Eight Men Consider House Bill To Restrict Women's Reproductive Rights (PHOTO) - An all-male panel of House lawmakers considered a bill on Thursday that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy across the United States, without exceptions for rape, incest or health of the mother.
Senate GOP feels jilted after being wined and dined by Obama on deficit talks - The Hill - covering Congress, Politics, Political Campaigns and Capitol Hill | TheHill.com (whine)

Michael Bloomberg Ricin Letters: Parcels Addressed To NYC Mayor Intercepted, Police Say - NEW YORK — Two threatening letters containing traces of the deadly poison ricin were sent to Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York and his gun-control group in Washington, police said Wednesday.

Michele Bachmann Not Running For Re-Election - Farewell, Faraway Eyes - Esquire - And not about how she almost lost last time, or about those nice young men from the FBI who keep popping out from behind the hedges, scaring Marcus to death.
Michele Bachmann Retiring From Congress In 2014 (video)
Michele Bachmann's Legislative Accomplishments In One Chart

Lincoln Chafee, Independent Rhode Island Governor, To Run As A Democrat
Thomas Friedman Tells Readers How to Get a High Paying Job Writing About Your Daughter's College Roommate | Beat the Press
Record 10,978,040 Now on Disability; ‘Disability’ Would Be 8th Most Populous State | CNS News

Newsweek Acknowledges It Is Exploring A Sale - Tina Brown confirmed on Wednesday that IAC is exploring a possible sale of Newsweek magazine.

FBI shared child porn to nab pedophiles; Washington home raided - SFGate - FBI shared child porn to nab pedophiles; Washington home raided


World's Oldest Torah Believed Found In Bologna University Library, Scroll Overlooked For Years
Mammoth find: Preserved Ice Age giant found with flowing blood in Siberia — RT News

Unprecedented e-mail privacy bill sent to Texas governor’s desk | Ars Technica - While reform languishes in Congress, Austin moves to protect Texans' inboxes.
New Gmail Inbox: Google Unveils Email Changes, Customizable Tabs (video)

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The World's Richest 8% Earn Half of All Planetary Income | Alternet - The top 1 per cent has seen its real income rise by more than 60 per cent over those two decades.
Israel warns Russia against giving Syria missiles - Yahoo! News
Chinese Hackers Reportedly Compromised U.S. Designs For More Than 2 Dozen Weapons ... as a news report in Australia said Chinese hackers had stolen the blueprints for Australia's new spy headquarters.
Afghanistan Dinner Massacre: 7 Police Killed By Commander's Guests
Vaccinate your children or declare why not, parents told - Parents will be forced to either vaccinate their children or register for an exemption in order to enrol them in childcare, after changes to the Public Health Act passed through cabinet Monday night. (Jenny McCarthy banned from country)
Australia ranked 'happiest' developed nation again - Australia has been ranked the world's happiest nation among developed economies for the third year running. (gun-free country)
Cambodian workers hurt in Nike factory clash | World news | The Guardian - Police with stun batons were called to end a protest over pay by 3,000 mostly female workers making clothes for the US firm

New Jack Toronto | TPM Editors Blog
Gates of Hell » Balloon Juice - Rob Ford’s press team resigned yesterday. When your crackhead boss calls the press “a bunch of maggots” and fires his chief of staff, (apparently because he went to the police with the crack video story), there just isn’t much that a press office can do. (series coming soon to Netflix)
Rob Ford Crack Smoking Mayor - Why You Want a Mayor Who Smokes Crack - Esquire

Court stays out of Planned Parenthood funding case - The Supreme Court will not disturb a lower court ruling that blocks Indiana's effort to strip Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood because the organization performs abortions among its medical services.

Oklahoma Senator: Climate Change Had No Role In Deadly Tornado | TPM LiveWire (since it's all a hoax by Al Gore)
Good News! Massive Killer Tornadoes Just The Normal Kind, Not the Global Warming Kind (Updated)

News Corp.: We Have No Record Of Fox News Subpoena - "While we don't take issue with the DOJ's account that they sent a notice to News Corp, we do not have a record of ever having received it," said News Corp spokesman (we throw mail from Obama in the trash, he added)

The NRA's End: A Real Gun-Control Movement Has Arrived | New Republic - The bigger, richer, meaner gun-control movement has arrived

Was President Obama high on coke while Benghazi burned? - Arlington Conservative | Examiner.com - during the night of September 11 of last year, our fearless leader was allegedly hiding away somewhere getting “high as a kite” on cocaine. This is the speculation of Kevin DuJan ("or gluttonously engaged in gay sex") (project much?)
Obama To Nominate 3 For D.C. Circuit Court Of Appeals, Setting Up Filibuster Fight
Breaking! Lawless Obama Administration Uses So-Called “Article III” to Usurp Rule of Law! - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Damn Obama and his diabolical “court-packing” plan of getting one judge confirmed to the D.C. Circuit (out of 4 vacancies) in 5 years!
Some tea-party groups examined by the IRS indeed crossed the line
Washington Post breaks news on White House counsel’s shoes - Salon.com - If Kathryn Ruemmler wanted to be taken seriously, she should have gone barefoot

Snowe: Republicans Need To 'Rethink Their Approach As A Political Party' | TPM LiveWire (instead of a gang of thugs)
Congressmen Propose Constitutional Amendment To Block Voting Rights Challenges | TPMDC - A pair of Democratic congressmen is pushing an amendment that would place an affirmative right to vote in the U.S. Constitution (because Republican say only they should be allowed to vote)

Arizona Medicaid Health Care Expansion - Let's Talk About Health Care Again - Esquire - Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona had a surprisingly lucid moment over the weekend when she told her legislature to shut its collective piehole, and that she would veto every bill that came to her desk until the legislature got its act together and passed an amendment to expand the state's Medicaid program under the provisions of the (certified genuinely constitutional) Affordable Care Act.
Arizona’s Brewer Labeled ’Traitor’ as She Pushes Medicaid - Bloomberg
Poll: Possible Dem Candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes Tied With McConnell | TPM LiveWire
In North Carolina, unimpeded GOP drives state hard to the right - The Washington Post - Legislators have slashed jobless benefits. They have also repealed a tax credit that supplemented the wages of low-income people, while moving to eliminate the estate tax. They have voted against expanding Medicaid to comply with the 2010 federal health-care law. The expansion would have added 500,000 poor North Carolinians to the Medicaid rolls. (hope you're happy now)
How Michelle Rhee Misled Education Reform | New Republic - A memoir illustrates what's wrong with her brand of school reform (fraud and grift)
Republicans get three times more ‘false’ ratings from PolitiFact than Democrats | The Raw Story - The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University found Republican’s had made three times as many false statements as Democrats this year.
Nebraska lawmaker’s ‘biggest mystery’ is women: ‘They don’t even understand themselves’ | The Raw Story - he applies the “moral absolutes of Christianity” to everything he does. “Men are very easy to understand. Very basic, very simple,” he added.

Oregon woman raped after police refuse to send out response unit - The Commentator - Local police in Oregon, USA fail to respond to emergency calls and advise residents to "consider relocating to an area with adequate police services"

Scientists develop CO2 sequestration technique that produces 'supergreen' hydrogen fuel

USDA's Watchdog Reveals "Egregious" Hog Slaughter Conditions | Mother Jones
Genetic Scientists Eliminate Schizophrenia Symptoms in Mice | Genetics | Sci-News.com - reversed schizophrenia-like symptoms in adult mice by restoring normal expression to a gene called Neuregulin-1 (NRG1 for short).
Mysterious and Well-Preserved Oort Cloud Object Heading Into Our Solar System

PayPal denies teenager reward for finding website bug | PCWorld - Robert Kugler said he notified PayPal of the vulnerability on May 19. He said he was informed by email that because he is under 18 years old, he did not qualify for its Bug Bounty Program. He will turn 18 next March.
Are eBay Auctions A Thing Of The Past?
Snapchat Nudes Are Being Screenshot And Secretly Posted On Facebook

As Apple Feels Bite, Hon Hai Looks to Diversify - WSJ.com - Apple posted its first profit decline in a decade in its fiscal second quarter ended March 30, with net profit falling 18%

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Behold the Unfathomable Scale of Death in the Civil War - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic - The precise number killed is unknowable, but 625,000 is a plausible estimate. Here's exactly what that looks like.
American exceptionalism is a dangerous myth - Salon.com - Move beyond Tea Party lies and phony patriotism. This Memorial Day, let's remember our history honestly
Sebastian Junger: U.S. veterans need to share the moral burden of war - The Washington Post
Exclusive: John McCain Slips Across Border Into Syria, Meets With Rebels - The Daily Beast - The leaders of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army told the senator they want the U.S. to provide arms, a no-fly zone, and strikes on Hezbollah. Josh Rogin reports.
Obama's terrorism speech: seeing what you want to see | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Some eager-to-believe progressives heralded the speech as a momentous change, but Obama's actions are often quite different than his rhetoric
The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Afghanistan: What Went Wrong?

Tenth arrest over Woolwich killing | UK news | guardian.co.uk - Armed police arrest a 50-year-old man in the street in Welling, south-east London, in connection with the death of Lee Rigby
Baghdad rocked by deadly bomb attacks | World news | guardian.co.uk - Explosives detonate in largely Shia areas of Iraqi capital, killing at least 66 people and injuring nearly 200
Farc peace talks: Colombia unveils major breakthrough | World news | guardian.co.uk - Agreement on land rights signals 'radical transformation' of countryside and end to half-century of war
Cardinal George Pell Admits Abuse Cover-Up To Protect Australian Catholic Church
America’s top Catholic calls for renewed wave of anti-LGBT sentiment | The Raw Story
China Closes Pyongyang Bank Account | Pacific Money
Congo Siasa: The Framework Agreement: A good start? - Lokuta eyaka na ascenseur, kasi vérité eyei na escalier mpe ekomi. Lies come up in the elevator; the truth takes the stairs but gets here eventually. - Koffi Olomide - Ésthetique eboma vélo. Aesthetics will kill a bicycle. - Felix Wazekwa
Toronto police spoke to Mayor Ford’s senior staffer after tip linked killing to alleged drug video - The Globe and Mail

Google chairman Schmidt interview: tax dodging defended | BGR - If governments want Google to pay more taxes, they should change tax laws (which they will lobby against)
Private sector parasites - Salon.com - The real “takers” in America are not poor people dependent on welfare, but the unproductive, rent-extracting rich
GE To Invest Billions Of Dollars In Fracking

President Obama and Drone Warfare: His Speech Wasn't Good Enough | New Republic - If Obama had given his speech at any time before Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster, he might have accomplished his purpose
Eschaton: Priorities - Nukes. Precision weapons. (180 b61 obsolete gravity bombs upgraded for $10 Bn)

Supreme Court Justices Could Be Influenced By New Gay Marriage Laws
States’ Policies on Health Care Exclude Poorest - NYTimes.com (vote Teaparty, fuck yourself)

The Obamacare Shock - NYTimes.com - Yet important new evidence — especially from California, the law’s most important test case — suggests that the real Obamacare shock will be one of unexpected success
Polarized Congress Thwarts Changes to Health Care Law - NYTimes.com
SOS | Seniors for a Democratic Society - Guess what. We’ve been O’Keefe’d again. It turns out that the “IRS Targeted Conservatives” story is just one more made up, phony, right-wing victimization fantasy lie.
Political intelligence firms set up investor meetings at White House - The Washington Post - Wall Street investors hungry for advance information on upcoming federal health-care decisions repeatedly held private discussions with Obama administration officials, including a top White House adviser helping to implement the Affordable Care Act. (Obama is the banksters' mole inside the administration)

What’s wrong with MSNBC? - Salon.com - I'm not harping on "Morning Joe" because it defines everything wrong with contemporary politics, though it does...

Which DC Lobbying Firms are the Unemployed Hiring To Represent Them? « Spocko's Brain
Employers Eye Bare-Bones Health Plans Under New Law - Yahoo! Finance - Employers are increasingly recognizing they may be able to avoid certain penalties under the federal health law by offering very limited plans that can lack key benefits such as hospital coverage.
Hullabaloo - Drowning it in the bathtub very slowly
Nonprofit Applicants Chafing at I.R.S. Tested Political Limits - NYTimes.com

America is the only rich country that doesn’t guarantee paid vacation or holidays
These 31 charts will destroy your faith in humanity
Why aren’t Americans moving anymore? Here’s a new theory. - they suggest that Americans are moving less because Americans are switching jobs less frequently than they used to
Avedon's Sideshow: Death of a thousand cuts - This is how Obama chose to address black graduates: Or, as Stuart Zechman unpacked this: "It's not a global race to the wage-less, democracy-free bottom, young man, it's a chance to prove your individual competence through healthy competition with billions...I mean 'millions of young people'."
Echidne Of The Snakes: Three Old Men Define Women's Proper Roles
Daily Howler: Peter Beinart starts getting it right in the Post--just about six years too late - So how burned out is Michael Kinsley, once the brightest man of his age? Sadly, Kinsley is deeply burned—a virtual drop-out from the public discussion. You have to be completely burned to praise this prez for his honesty on SS. But Michael Kinsley is just that burned. Let’s consider two recent examples. (Somerby on Kinsley, 2005, same old wanker)
Warning lands Batavia teacher in hot water - DailyHerald.com - A Batavia High School teacher's fans are rallying to support him as he faces possible discipline for advising students of their Constitutional rights before taking a school survey on their behavior.
The political fallout of natural dippppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppgh ==============================================================[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[sasters
Who Are You And What Have You Done With Jan Brewer

Angelina Jolie's aunt Debbie Martin dies of breast cancer | Film | The Guardian - Younger sister of Jolie's mother had defective gene but was not aware of it until cancer diagnosis in 2004

Repeated charges of illegal searches, violence, racial profiling, racial slurs and intimidation against Lt. Daniel Sbarra and his team have cost the city more than $1.5 million in settlements   - NY Daily News - Victims say Sbarra is a 'ticking time bomb' as the Brooklyn North Narcotics lieutenant is involved in 15 lawsuits. The NYPD says charges are meritless and that narcs are often targets

Cliff Mass Weather Blog: Why Does the U.S. Midwest Get So Many Severe Thunderstorms?

Study: Men's Biceps Predict Their Political Ideologies - Lindsay Abrams - The Atlantic - Positions on economic redistribution correlated with upper-body strength. (and economic class, but in reverse)
Quantum Magnetism Observed For First Time, Physicists Say - quantum magnetism, which describes the behavior of single atoms as they act like tiny bar magnets.
FDA approves first study on ecstasy-assisted therapy for social anxiety in autistic adults | The Raw Story

The Orange Couch Does Mad Men: S6E9, “The Better Half” | The Raw Story

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Carmen Reinhart, Kenneth Rogoff Lash Out Against Paul Krugman Over Austerity Criticism (R&R contribute to ruining millions of lives with fake stats; call Krugman shrill)
Reinhart And Rogoff Vs. Krugman - Business Insider
Reinhart And Rogoff Are Not Happy - NYTimes.com - I’m sorry, but the failure to clear up this misconception has done a great deal of harm — and this harm is not significantly mitigated by various remarks in passing to the effect that austerity might be overdone.
Brad DeLong : Accurate and Inaccurate Ways of Portraying the Debt-and-Growth Association
Eschaton - But, yeah, it's your critics who are mean. LEAVE ROGAINE AND BRAVEHEART ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Banks' Lobbyists Help in Drafting Financial Bills - NYTimes.com

‘A’ Is for Avoidance - NYTimes.com - Even before last week’s Senate hearing on Apple, it was clear that the aggressive use of tax havens and other tax avoidance tactics had become standard operating procedure for global American companies. (gee no one has said this? the Apple is rotten)

Leaks Inquiries Show How Wide a Net Is Cast - NYTimes.com - Even before the F.B.I. conducted 550 interviews of officials and seized the phone records of Associated Press reporters in a leak investigation connected to a 2012 article about a Yemen bomb plot, agents had sought the same reporters’ sources for two other articles about terrorism.
Why Obama Is Right To Limit The Authorization Of Military Force Against Terrorists | ThinkProgress
Top Democrat Announces Bipartisan 'Gang Of Eight' To Draft Media Shield Law | ThinkProgress - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has pledged to hold a vote on the measure, telling reporters on Tuesday, “I wish the Republicans hadn’t blocked the shield law previously, so we’ll bring it up again, and I hope they won’t block it again.”

Globe investigation: The Ford family’s history with drug dealing - The Globe and Mail - What has emerged is a portrait of a family once deeply immersed in the illegal drug scene. All three of the mayor’s older siblings – brother Randy, 51, and sister Kathy, 52, as well as Doug, 48 – have had ties to drug traffickers.

GOP: Party of crybabies - Salon.com - Republicans insist that you please don’t criticize their policies or insult their donors
Eschaton: I Forget What We Call A Flock Of Wankers - But the White House did manage to assemble the ultimate team.
Whiskey Fire: Moore Booze Please - Present at the meeting were Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist; Gerald Seib, the Wall Street Journal's Washington bureau chief; Fred Hiatt, the editorial page editor of the Washington Post; David Igantius, the Washington Post columnist; Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic correspondent and Bloomberg View columnist; and Joe Klein, the Time Magazine columnist. (Obama's wankerfest)

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XIX

Tom Coburn On Disaster Relief: Status Quo Means People 'Don't Have To Be Responsible' For State - Coburn said he doesn't oppose any federal money going toward the state, however. (RepubliFAIL)

Unexcited? There May Be a Pill for That - NYTimes.com
NYTimes on Lybrido: Women get bored with monogamy faster than men.
Effects of gender and relationship context in... [Arch Sex Behav. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI - . Heterosexual women's nonspecific genital response to gender cues is not a function of stimulus intensity or relationship context. Relationship context did significantly affect women's genital sexual arousal--arousal to both female and male friends was significantly lower than to the stranger and long-term relationship contexts--but not men's.
Habituation of Sexual Responses in Men and Women: A Test of the Preparation Hypothesis of Women's Genital Responses - Dawson - 2013 - The Journal of Sexual Medicine - Wiley Online Library - . Women's genital responses are much less dependent on specific sexual cues and are much less concordant with their subjective reports.
United States - Maternal mortality rate - Historical Data Graphs per Year

Julie Hermann, Rutgers Athletic Director, Accused Of Abuse - the woman hired to clean up the university' scandal-scarred athletic program quit as Tennessee's women's volleyball coach 16 years ago after her players submitted a letter complaining she ruled through humiliation, fear and emotional abuse.

Score one for the antiscience cranks in Portland on fluoridation – Respectful Insolence
Massive submerged structure in Sea of Galilee stumps Israeli archaeologists  - NY Daily News

Fascinating Map Of The Most Common Locations Where Craigslist "Missed Connections" Occur

US entertainment industry to Congress: make it legal for us to deploy rootkits, spyware, ransomware and trojans to attack pirates! - Boing Boing

052413
Swedish Rioters Torch Cars, Target Schools as Violence Spreads - Bloomberg
Sweden riots spread beyond Stockholm despite extra police - There has been a sixth night of rioting in Sweden's capital, Stockholm, despite police reinforcements being deployed.
Pakistan school bus fire kills 16 children - At least 16 children and their teacher have been killed when their school bus caught fire in eastern Pakistan, police say.
Two-state solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict slipping away, says Hague | World news | The Guardian - British foreign secretary says there is no 'plan B' and warns of consequences of failure of US mission to revive peace process
Hezbollah leader vows to stand by Syrian regime in fight against rebels | World news | guardian.co.uk - Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah's comments come as Assad's forces and Hezbollah intensify campaign for town of Qusair
Police arrest 30 at gay pride rally in Moscow | World news | The Observer - Activists march to protest at rising Orthodox intolerance of homosexuality across Russia
Andrew Sullivan, terrorism, and the art of distortion | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

A conversation with director Alex Gibney on Assange, Manning, and the legacy of WikiLeaks | War of Ideas
Why Julian Assange Hates "We Steal Secrets" | Mother Jones - Alex Gibney's new documentary traces the rise and fall of WikiLeaks and its prickly founder ... What happens when an admirable cause is headed by a thin-skinned, combative prick?

Nearly a Quarter of People in Greece and the U.S. Can't Afford Food - Olga Khazan - The Atlantic - Hunger has grown dramatically in Europe since 2007
The Closing of the Conservative Mind - NYTimes.com
Paul Krugman: Conservative Movement Allows 'No Room For Independent Thinking'
Josh Barro, the Loneliest Republican - Jonathan Chait - The Atlantic - What to make of the 28-year-old columnist's contempt for the GOP—and its would-be reformers

Michael Hastings Rips Obama Drone Speech (video) - Journalist Michael Hastings had very harsh words for President Barack Obama on Saturday morning.
Political Animal - I Stand with Rosen - It is shocking that this action is being performed by the Obama administration; one had such higher expectations of Obama, although no more. Once again we see that power does corrupt.

Which Matters More: Reporting Assault or Respecting a Victim's Wishes? - Carmel DeAmicis - The Atlantic - A conservative reading of Title IX has some schools ordering faculty and staff to report cases of sexual harassment even when the victim has pleaded for secrecy.
22-year old failed fake Michigan Democrat Cody Bailey now running a for-profit charter school | Eclectablog - When educating your kids is all about making a profit, being a shyster is as good a qualification as anything (Charter scams paid for with taxpayer money)

Joe Arpaio racially profied Latinos in Arizona, judge rules | World news | guardian.co.uk - 'America's toughest sheriff' was found by federal judge to have systematically singled out Latinos in immigration patrols
For Memorial Day, Another 'End the War on Terror' Speech - James Fallows - The Atlantic

It's Not About You - NYTimes.com - Brad DeLong and Dan Drezner wearily continue the policing of Michael Kinsley. I’ll leave it in their hands. But may I say that there is a serious pundit lesson here — namely, that it’s not about you. (idiots shouldn't try to argue with people much smarter and more knowledgable than they are)
Sometimes a factual error is just a factual error | Daniel W. Drezner | Daniel W. Drezner - Look, this isn't rocket science -- Kinsley made an argument about austerity that got a lot of basic economic facts about the 1970s and the current era very, very wrong. Dare I say, spectacularly and obviously wrong.
A plain blog about politics: Dept. of Missing the Point (Kinsley ed.) - A wonderful example of the myopia of the deficit scolds...

It’s time for D.C. to stop wrecking lives over a bag of weed - The Washington Post

A majority on Earth face severe self-inflicted water woes within 2 generations: Scientists - the majority of the 9 billion people on Earth will be living under the handicap of severe pressure on fresh water, an absolutely essential natural resource for which there is no substitute. This handicap will be self-inflicted and is, we believe, entirely avoidable." (not if the Koch Bros, hands of Satan, have anything to say about it)
A Vital River, Drained of Wildlife - NYTimes.com

A Few Words about Angelina Jolie's Breasts - Jolie’s mother died young, after a decade living with ovarian cancer; when Jolie herself got genetically tested, she learned that she had a BRCA1 genetic mutation that gave her an 87 percent chance of getting breast cancer. It takes at least some of the focus away from “screening” and “awareness.” She says nothing about annual mammograms, whose usefulness has been so thoroughly discredited (lookin' at you, Komen pinkfest)
Our Feel-Good War on Breast Cancer - NYTimes.com
Even More Thoughts on Angelina, Me and You - You might be wondering where Komen stands in all of this. They are silent. Perhaps because Myriad Genetics is one of their donors. (Komen bought)

The Problem With How We Treat Bipolar Disorder - NYTimes.com

The better to see you with: Scientists build record-setting metamaterial flat lens

texpeare comments on Is there any solid evidence that Shakespeare's works were written by others?

Facebook Rejects Breast Cancer Ad For Violating Ban Against 'Adult Products' | ThinkProgress - including toys, videos, or sexual enhancement products.”

052313
Obama Seeks to Narrow Terror Fight - NYTimes.com
Obama details drone policy in speech outlining counter-terrorism doctrine | World news | guardian.co.uk - Increased oversight designed to bring killing programme out of legal shadows as president defends use of strikes in the past
Guantánamo detainee release to be restarted as part of Obama plan | World news | guardian.co.uk - President outlines steps for transfer of detainees from controversial Cuban detention centre in national security speech
New light shed on US government's extraordinary rendition programme | World news | guardian.co.uk - Online project uncovers details of way in which CIA carried out kidnaps and secret detentions following September 11 attacks
Reprieve

Woolwich attack: MI5 knew of men suspected of killing Lee Rigby | UK news | The Guardian
Swedish riots rage for fourth night | World news | The Guardian - Police attacked and cars torched in Stockholm suburbs as unrest sparked by long-term youth unemployment and poverty spreads

Tom Cotton 'Corruption Of Blood' Bill Would Convict Family Members Of Iran Sanctions Violators - "An amendment is being offered literally to allow the sins of the uncles to descend on the nephews," Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) said. "The amendment that's being offered doesn't even indicate a requirement of knowing violation. … I really question the constitutionality of a provision that punishes nephews for the sins of the uncles." (Republicans destroying everything but the 2nd Amendment)
Al Jazeera deletes its own controversial Op-Ed, then refuses to comment | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - The bizarre behavior by the media giant reflects brewing tensions as it seeks to enter the US television market
Abbas Alleges Link Between Zionists And Nazis - The Daily Beast

The Drone Letter - Esquire - I would like to congratulate the White House, and Attorney General Eric Holder, for doing all they can to turn me into one of those people who believe that the current president is no better than the previous one.

Noaa predicts wildly active hurricane season out of Atlantic and Caribbean | World news | guardian.co.uk - Scientists say three to six major hurricanes will hit US, some in areas far beyond those typically associated with extreme storms

Senator: West Point case shows military has 'sexual harassment problem' | World news | guardian.co.uk - Kirsten Gillibrand of New York criticises official response after charges sergeant photographed and filmed women

Experts: Fox News spying scandal a game-changer - Salon.com - Advocates see potential "sea change" now that government crackdown on leaks includes framing journalism as a crime (Obama's war on truth hits a snag)

Obama Counterterrorism Speech - The President's Tightrope Walk - Esquire - Implicit in the speech was the undeniable truth that the country and its politics and, yes, its people were complicit in the last decade of producing a reaction to the events of September 11, 2001 about which the country and its politics and, yes, its people are now in the middle of profound second thoughts.
Obama speech: Drones, Benghazi, and Gitmo responsibility lies with Congress.
WATCH: Full Video Of Protestor Heckling Obama | TPM LiveWire

Eric Holder Signed Off On Search Warrant For James Rosen Emails: NBC News
Eric Holder: Aaron Swartz Case 'A Good Use Of Prosecutorial Discretion'
Twitter / nomoremister: Missed the speech, but I see ... ("emoprogs")
Tea Party Senators jump the shark ("emocons")

What is the economic responsibility of corporate America? | Heidi Moore | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Even Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is calling out the private sector for not doing its part to help the frail economy

Iowa Medicaid Expansion Gets Boost As GOP Governor Drops Opposition: Report
Mississippi Could Soon Jail Women for Stillbirths, Miscarriages | Mother Jones - The state's manslaughter laws weren't supposed to apply to women who lose pregnancies. Prosecutors don't seem to care.
Homophobes Aren't, Like, Homophobic -- They're Just 'Pro-Straight' - Former National Organization for Marriage leader Maggie Gallagher has a genius solution

Rahm’s Priorities - Lawyers, Guns & Money - Rahm Emmaunel, having failed in his all-too-valiant effort to kill health care reform, has been even worse as mayor of Chicago than I would have thought, which is really saying something. This is particularly special:
Legal Experts Debate U.S. Retailers’ Risks of Signing Bangladesh Accord - NYTimes.com
Eschaton: Sadist>Wanker - Kinsley, hole, shovel.

Special Report: The profit motive behind virtual schools in Maine | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram - Documents expose the flow of money and influence from corporations that stand to profit from state leaders' efforts to expand and deregulate digital education.
Nathan Heller: Is College Moving Online? : The New Yorker - Some Ph.D. students are being trained in MOOC production as “HarvardX fellows.”

Gay Parents In The U.S.: Salt Lake City Has Highest Population Of Same-Sex Couples Raising Kids

Rules for writing: block that metaphor! | Books | The Guardian - Figures of speech are to be applauded when used wisely, but start employing 'epicentres' and 'seismic shifts', and you're in danger

Did You Graduate in Four Years? Congratulations by Richard Vedder | Washington Monthly
How Teens Are Really Using Facebook: It's a 'Social Burden,' Pew Study Finds - The Facebook generation is fed up with Facebook.

052213
Twitter / mdimont: this could be one of the craziest ...

No Arrests on Wall Street, But Over 7,700 Americans Have Been Arrested Protesting Big Banks | The Contributor
The 1 Chart That Reveals Just How Grossly Unfair The U.S. Tax System Has Become
Deja Vu on the Hill: Wall Street Lobbyists Roll Back Finance Reform, Again | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone - In English, this just means that in addition to hedging, which we banks think is pretty much everything we do, we'd like to be eligible for bailouts when we engage in "non-structured finance swap activities and certain structured finance swap activities." (Obama and Dems completely owned by banksters)

Four American Citizens Killed In Drone Strikes Since 2009: Eric Holder
When the Cold War Almost Went Nuclear | Flashpoints

Eschaton: Dreaming Of The Glory Days: Keller: "The president should announce that he has told the Justice Department to appoint an independent investigator with bulldog instincts and bipartisan credibility. The list of candidates could start with Kenneth Starr, who chased down the scandals, real and imagined, of the Clinton presidency." - They learned nothing. (everything you need to know about the NYT in one paragraph)

You Just KNEW There Would Be 'Tornado Truthers,' Didn't You? (Obama made it up to hype "global warming" or he was testing out his "tornado gun" on OK)

Fox News Erupts Over James Rosen Scandal, Says His Parents' Records Were Seized (video)
Obama Administration's Media Surveillance Unleashes Wave Of Condemnation (Obama's team of idiots)
Another Chilling Leak Investigation - NYTimes.com - With the decision to label a Fox News television reporter a possible “co-conspirator” in a criminal investigation of a news leak, the Obama administration has moved beyond protecting government secrets to threatening fundamental freedoms of the press to gather news.
Dana Milbank: In AP, Rosen investigations, government makes criminals of reporters - The Washington Post
The Justice Department and Fox News's Phone Records : The New Yorker
'Reporter's Privilege' Under Fire From Obama Administration Amid Broader War On Leaks
DOJ Seized Fox News Phone Records: New Yorker
Sharyl Attkisson's Computer Not Compromised, DOJ Says

Conservatives Crawl out of the Woodwork to Claim IRS Persecution | Mother Jones - Libertarian Wayne Allyn Root claims to be the "face" of the Obama IRS scandal. His tax records suggest otherwise.
"True the Vote," the Victim? Voter Vigilante Group Says IRS Targeted Its "Verify the Recall" Effort in Wisconsin | PR Watch

Ibragim Todashev, Questioned In Connection With Marathon Bombings, Shot And Killed By Police: Reports - Taramiv also said that Todashev "felt inside he was going to get shot" by the FBI.

McCain, Collins Slam Republicans For Budget Hypocrisy | TPMDC

The Inside Story Of The Harvard Dissertation That Became Too Racist For Heritage | ThinkProgress

9CA Rejects Anti-Choice Junk Science - Lawyers, Guns & Money - A federal appellate panel struck down Arizona’s abortion law on Tuesday, saying it was unconstitutional “under a long line of invariant Supreme Court precedents” that guarantee a woman’s right to end a pregnancy any time before a fetus is deemed viable outside her womb — generally at 24 weeks.

Rahm Emanuel’s Zombie Pigs vs. Chicago’s Angry Birds | The Nation - It all starts with the person who seems committed to win the current spirited competition as the most loathsome person in American political life: Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The same Mayor overseeing the closing of fifty-four schools and six community mental health clinics under the justification of a “budgetary crisis” has announced that the city will be handing over more than $100 million to DePaul University for a new basketball arena ... These aren’t the actions of a mayor. They’re the actions of a mad king. (Depaul, Catholic U with a shitty basketball team)
Chicago School Closings Vote: Board Of Education Votes To Shutter 50 Public Schools
Edifice Complex - Esquire - Rahm Emanuel, political genius and mayor of Chicago, has stepped into it up to his eyeballs
With Rahm’s DePaul plan, we’ve entered a new arena of stupidity - Chicago Sun-Times
AC's Revel exits bankruptcy court - Just over a year after it opened, Atlantic City's newest casino has gone into bankruptcy and gotten out of it, ready to start again. (Christie's favorite money-hole)

Sexual Abuse Behind Bars: Inmates Who Are Mentally Ill Suffer High Rate Of Victimization, Report Finds
Michael Kinsley Speaks Up for the Misunderstood Homophobes

You Need Phosphorous to Live—and We're Running Out | Mother Jones - Industrial farming has played a part in sucking this critical element out of our soil. (so we'll get it from the Jihadis in Western Sahara!)

Virginia Parents Outraged After Walmart Security Allegedly Suspected Father Of Kidnapping Biracial Daughters

How Michelle Rhee Misled Education Reform | New Republic - A memoir illustrates what's wrong with her brand of school reform
People Getting Dumber? Human Intelligence Has Declined Since Victorian Era, Research Suggests (especially in America)(smarter women have fewer children)

Study: Benefits of sun exposure may outweigh risks | Dermatology Times

052113
Efrain Rios Montt Conviction Overturned: Guatemala Court Annuls Proceedings In Genocide Case
John Sifton: The Real Costs of CIA Cash - Instead of creating a slush-fund presidency, the U.S. could have helped Afghanistan transform into a more stable post-conflict country in which outside budgetary support for security forces, as for other offices, became part of a transparent system of revenue and expenditure overseen by elected officials.
U.S. Drone Strikes Ineffective Solution To Combat Militants In Pakistan's Tribal Areas, Report Says

Apple’s Web of Tax Shelters Saved It Billions, Panel Finds - NYTimes.com

Rape by American Soldiers in World War II France - NYTimes.com - In the port city of Le Havre, the mayor was bombarded with letters from angry residents complaining about drunkenness, jeep accidents, sexual assault — “a regime of terror,” as one put it, “imposed by bandits in uniform.”

Why are tornadoes so hard to predict?
Tornado Photos: Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa Hit By Twisters (pictures)
Senator Jim Inhofe: Oklahoma Tornado Aid Will Be 'Totally Different' From Sandy Aid - Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe (R) said on Tuesday that federal aid to tornado-ravaged parts of his home state will be "totally different" than a Hurricane Sandy aid bill he voted against late last year
Oklahoma Senators Jim Inhofe, Tom Coburn, Face Difficult Options On Disaster Relief
Oklahoma GOP Sen. Tom Coburn Will Seek To Offset Tornado Aid | TPM LiveWire (New England must pay!)
Climate Change Denier Inhofe Says Monster Tornado 'Hard to Explain' | Video Cafe

Stop the Leaks - NYTimes.com
Republicans’ Hatred of Obama Blinds Them to Public Disinterest in Scandals - NationalJournal.com - Republicans are so focused on their bitter battles against Obama, they can’t see how little impact the “scandals” have had on public opinion.
The White House claim of ‘doctored emails...to smear the president’ - The Washington Post
True Statements By Democrats Causing Critical Pinocchio Shortage At WaPo’s ‘Fact Checker’
Sharyl Attkisson's computers compromised - politico.com

Obama Okay With Delaying Gay Immigration Provision: AP Sources (sells out again)
Tenn Rep. Stephen Fincher Pocketed $9 Million in Ag Subsidies, Says Jesus Hates Food Stamps

Racism and immigration policy: The Richwine affair | The Economist

Kirsten Anderson, Former Iowa Senate GOP Staffer: I Was Fired For Bringing Up Sexual Harassment - Kirsten Anderson served as communications director for the Iowa state Senate GOP caucus until Friday, when she was fired just hours after raising concerns about a pattern of sexual harassment in the workplace, she claimed in an interview with Iowa's WHO TV.

Why Suburban Poverty Is Less Visible and More Insidious - Emily Badger - The Atlantic Cities

Annals of the Security State, Gabriel Silverstein Division - James Fallows - The Atlantic - We all notice the parts of security-overreach that affect us.

Riders on the Storm - The Doors HD - YouTube

The Washington Monthly - The Magazine - Beauty Tips for the FDA - Did my wife’s cosmetics give her breast cancer?

052013
Two-mile-wide tornado slams Oklahoma City area, killing at least 37 - CNN.com
5/20/13 Moore, OK Devastating Tornado - YouTube
Oklahoma City Tornado 2013: Twister Makes Landfall Near Capital
A Week of Tornadoes - In Focus - The Atlantic
Oklahoma Senators Jim Inhofe, Tom Coburn, Face Difficult Options On Disaster Relief - Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, both Republicans, are fiscal hawks who have repeatedly voted against funding disaster aid for other parts of the country. They also have opposed increased funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers federal disaster relief.

Eschaton: The Suffering Of Other People - It's difficult to conclude that it's about anything other than sadism. Why are there so many sadists?
Macroeconomic Machismo - NYTimes.com - Atrios, weighing in on the Kinsley Kontroversy, suggests that the evident urge to make Someone Suffer — Someone Else, of course — reflects sadism (yes, Paul, it really is sadism)
Neocons:Munich :: Austerians:Stagflation - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Indeed, Kinsley was actually explicit about it (you must suffer for my sins)

New Documents Reveal How a 1980s Nuclear War Scare Became a Full-Blown Crisis | Danger Room | Wired.com - Able Archer to DEFCON 1, the highest level (even worse than you knew)
I Think I Speak For The Entire Class When I Say "Holy Crap!" - Esquire - It was a period of startlingly loose talk from Ronald Reagan and his people, and we know now— (Ronnie thought he was in a movie) Theory, Practice and Challenges: Airpower and Collateral Damage:

Vexed by Terrorism, Trials and Guantánamo, and Bearing Witness - NYTimes.com - Karen J. Greenberg
Five myths about Guantánamo Bay | World news | Guardian Weekly - As pressure mounts to close the US's detention camp in Cuba, what would be the implications for its policy on terrorism?

How the Obama Administration Talks to Black America - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic - "Convenient race-talk" from a president who ought to know better = I would have a hard time imagining the president telling the women of Barnard that "there's no longer room for any excuses" -- as though they were in the business of making them. Barack Obama is, indeed, the president of "all America," but he also is singularly the scold of "black America."

A Washington ‘whodunit’: who fed bogus Benghazi ‘emails’ to the media? **UPDATE: a ‘glaring omission…’** | The Reid Report Blog
Whack a mole » Balloon Juice - A convincing case can be made that Jonathan Karl is a GOP mole (ABC hired a political operative as a journo with predictable results)
Frank Rich: GOP Finds a New Watergate -- Daily Intelligencer
Dana Milbank: Conspiracy of the unproductive - The Washington Post
Karl Role - Esquire - It has not been a good couple of weeks for ABC's Jonathan Karl, the man who passed along barbered information from some disreputable sources, and then got found out. Yesterday, having been caught injecting disinformation e coli into the mainstream, Karl issued a statement that almost broke the blog's heretofore infallible weaselspeak-to-Engiish translation device.
The Latest Turn of the Screw | TPM Editors Blog - For the last several days we’ve been narrating the odd aftermath of ABC’s Jon Karl’s blockbuster but ultimately erroneous report about the White House Benghazi emails.
A Right-Wing Mole at ABC News — FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting - Jonathan Karl and the success of the conservative media movement

A rare peek into a Justice Department leak probe - The Washington Post - They obtained a search warrant for the reporter’s personal e-mails (Obama's war on journalism/truth)
DOJ's Targeting Of Fox News Reporter James Rosen Met With Outrage - That goes above and beyond what the Justice Department did when it monitored the Associated Press. There, it looked at phone records, not the actual contents of emails - Case against Fox's Rosen, in which O admin is criminalizing reporting, makes all of the other "scandals" look like giant nothing burgers
The Connection Man
Four key Hillary Clinton staffers from 2008 unlikely to sign on for 2016 bid - The Washington Post - Howard Wolfson, the 2008 communications director for Hillary Rodham Clinton, has said he will not return for a 2016 presidential campaign. Neither, for that matter, will Neera Tanden, the campaign’s policy director. Ditto for Mark Penn, the chief strategist, and Patti Solis Doyle, the embattled campaign manager.
Mark Penn All But Out For Potential Hillary Clinton 2016 Run - Hillary Clinton's campaign finished paying off a $5.4 million debt owed to Mark Penn's political consulting firm only in January 2013 (maybe she's learned something)
Later Night Open Thread: Good News for Democrats in 2016 – GOP Edition » Balloon Juice
Romney Adviser: Everybody Loves Donald Trump! -- Daily Intelligencer
Poll: Michele Bachmann in for tight fight - POLITICO.com Print View - With Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann facing a widening campaign finance probe, her Democratic challenger is out with a new poll showing him in a close race with the conservative firebrand.

Jane Mayer: How Far Did PBS Go to Avoid Offending a Sponsor? : The New Yorker - Public television’s attempts to placate David Koch. (the rich don't tip)

Nucla, Colo. Passes Ordinance Making Gun Ownership Mandatory (infants will be issued a birth certificate and a gun permit)

Revisiting the ‘Crack Babies’ Epidemic That Was Not - NYTimes.com - : In the 1980s, many government officials, scientists and journalists warned that the country would be plagued by a generation of “crack babies.” They were wrong.

The MOOC Moment and the End of Reform – The New Inquiry

Apple set for showdown on Capitol Hill over corporate taxes - May. 20, 2013 (if Apple were a "person" the gov would confiscate its assets)

Yahoo Tumblr Deal Is Officially Announced: Marissa Mayer 'Promises Not To Screw It Up'


Hackers Who Breached Google in 2010 Accessed Company's Surveillance Database | Threat Level | Wired.com - The database contained years’ worth of information on law enforcement surveillance surveillance orders issued by judges around the country. The hackers were hoping to discover if law enforcement agents were investigating undercover Chinese intelligence operatives who were working out of the U.S.
Yahoo's Past Big Buys Tell a Tale of Mediocrity and Failure | Wired Business | Wired.com
How much can Google Ngrams really tell us about history? | War of Ideas

051913
Report: Obama Trims Afghan War Budget Request - The report says the president reduced his original request from $88.5 billion to $79.4 billion.

Climate Warnings, Growing Louder - NYTimes.com (Koch Bros stick their fingers in the media's ears)
Daily Kos: Climate change isn't AN issue, it's THE issue
Wings Over Scotland | It’s not just us, then? (BBC hits bottom)

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XVIII
Andrea Rebello Killed: Hofstra Student Shot By Police During 'Crime Of Opportunity' - A police officer aiming at the would-be robber opened fire, hitting the 21-year-old college junior as well as the ex-convict who had entered the house.

Obama Approval Rating Not Hurt By Scandals: CNN/ORC International Poll (can't get more polarized)
Jonathan Karl: I 'Regret' Inaccuracies In Benghazi Reporting - Guest David Shuster came down hard on Karl on Sunday, saying, "The story was wrong. The attribution was wrong. And he's still not characterizing the source as a Republican source, even though other news organizations are already doing that. So I just think the problems continue for ABC News in all of this." (won't burn his Republican sources)
Karl’s Folly » Balloon Juice - What happened is clear. Karl lied to us because he trusted his source. His source, however, burned him, and Karl’s lie was exposed. Instead of burning his source to show that he takes this matter seriously and won’t be lied to again, he is doubling down and protecting his source, because as we all know with our current media, access is more important to accuracy.
A Right-Wing Mole at ABC News — FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting - Jonathan Karl and the success of the conservative media movement
Mitch McConnell Defends Obama Administration On AP Scandal
Judge rules tea party group a PAC, not a nonprofit - Houston Chronicle

Daily Kos: The hard lessons of the post-partisan unity schtick (Obama got zero for giving away half the Dem platform)
Obstruction will ruin GOP - Salon.com - Playing politics and abusing the system can excite the extremes, but it's a recipe for long-term political disaster

Open Thread: Buzzfeed Ben Smith’s Koch Habit » Balloon Juice
The Plural of “Noonan” Is Not “Data” » Balloon Juice - And then Nate Silver came along and said “Wow, this woman is insane, TO THE NATE CAVE” and then squished her. Then he probably had a tasty beverage.

Kennedy School students demand inquiry into immigration thesis - Metro - The Boston Globe - Thesis asserted Latino immigrants have lower IQs - urged the university to investigate how the thesis came to be approved and to ban future research on racial superiority.
Daily Kos: Richwine's Harvard PhD: The Committee and Dean Respond
The Dark Art of Racecraft - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic - Jason Richwine's place in the long history of research on race and IQ
Why Did Harvard Give a PhD for a Discredited Approach to Race and IQ? | The Nation
IQ and the Nativist Movement | MetaFilter

Kaitlyn Hunt, Florida Teen, Faces Felony Charges Over Same-Sex Relationship

“Paleofantasy”: Stone Age delusions - Salon.com - An evolutionary biologist explains why everything you think you know about cavemen (and their diet) is wrong
Paleofantasy: When people act like cavemen because they misunderstand evolution » Blag Hag
Justicar/Integralmath: Wretched skeevy piece of internet offal » Pharyngula

Skepchick | The Silencing of Men
(11) Twitter / Search - #radfem2013
RadFem2013 vs the MRAs: what really happened and who’s the baddie? | Another angry woman
The Dangerous Tale Of The MREs And Their Allies | sisterhoodispowerful (MRAs, Male Rights Extemists & "malestream media & their trans/queer activist allies vs TERFs, Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists. )
UnCommon Sense: TERF13: At worst a distraction...
Nerd is my Gender: Reactions to My Gender
MRA LONDON.ORG - Rules for Radicals, by Saul D. Alinsky, was first published in 1972
TERF Quotes | Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminism
Get ready to shit your pants. I’m going to use the word “trans.” | Rage Against the Man-chine
FAAB and MAAB | Trans Feminisms
Decoding the FAAB/MAAB “Argument” | femonade
Sorry, Sex-Positive Transwomen: I’m Not Buying What You’re Selling. At All. | femonade
Trans women and Male Privilege | Femanon - Men have been raised to hate women
I’d rather have intercourse than suck dick. | Femanon
Feminists assaulted in Transgender Attack at Portland conference for Social Change: Women’s books destroyed and bodies defaced with permanent magic markers | GenderTrender

Google Is Prepping A Sneak Attack On Microsoft Office – ReadWrite
Reddit User Makes Beautiful, Explorable Graph Of Subreddit Community
Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia - Salon.com - The unmasking of a writer who took extraordinary advantage of online anonymity to pursue old vendettas
Anonymous revenge editing on Wikipedia – the case of Robert Clark Young aka Qworty | Wikipediocracy - Anonymous revenge editing on Wikipedia – the case of Robert Clark Young aka Qworty
Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents
Wikipedia talk:Requests for comment/Jagged 85/Cleanup
Wikipediocracy - View topic - Rev. Stuart Campbell
Quote by Dr. Seuss: Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it...

051813
'US drone' kills four in strike on al-Qaida target in Yemen | World news | guardian.co.uk - Local officials say vehicle carrying suspected militants near Aden was struck in an attack by an unmanned aircraft ("suspected" = "dead")
Do Drones Work? - Congress hasn't debated whether the civilian and psychological costs that come with targeted killings are worthwhile in the long run. It should.
Gunmen kill anti-terror policeman and family as Iraq violence continues | World news | guardian.co.uk - Eight policemen abducted on highway to Jordan and Syria, following three days of violence that killed 130 people
Law Protecting Afghanistan Women Blocked By Conservatives - Conservative religious lawmakers in Afghanistan blocked legislation on Saturday aimed at strengthening provisions for women's freedoms, arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles and encourage disobedience.
Memory in Latin America: Argentina: Videla is dead - Jorge Rafael Videla, former dictator and leader of the Argentine junta, has died in jail aged 87
Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentina Military Leader in ‘Dirty War,’ Dies at 87 - NYTimes.com
Pakistan's Industry of Violence - In the wake of election violence, one reporter explores the country's acceptance of its bloody everyday—and how different it is from the United States' reaction to bloodshed

Trading in oil: Libor in a barrel | The Economist - Oil markets fall under the suspicion of price-fixing on a global scale (no scandal here)
Zombie climate sceptic theories survive only in newspapers and on TV | Graham Readfearn | Environment | guardian.co.uk - Study finds overwhelming scientific consensus that humans have caused global warming, but media still hasn't caught up

What Republicans Already Knew About The White House Benghazi Emails | TPMDC
Why No Dem Freak-Out Over the Doctored Emails? | TPM Editors Blog - Obama has chosen not to push back hard against doctored Benghazi leaks that even the tame broadcast media objected to. So no Democrats in Washington is either. (the Wimp-in-Chief wimps out, again)

GOP Hopes IRS Scandal Will Snag Health Care Law

Food Stamps Get Licked by Cuts - Will go hungry for deficit reduction

Alleged 'PayPal 14' Hackers Seek Deal To Stay Out Of Prison After Nearly 2 Years In Limbo - "I saw something about PayPal shutting down payments to Wikileaks, and I clicked on some other site and joined a protest," she said. "And next thing I knew, my house was surrounded by guns." (Obama's anti-whistleblower war)

Connecticut commuter train crash leaves 72 injured and chaos at scene | World news | guardian.co.uk - Officials express amazement at lack of fatalities from collision as northeast corridor set for lengthy disruption

Mountain of Petroleum Coke From Oil Sands Rises in Detroit - NYTimes.com - The company is controlled by Charles and David Koch, wealthy industrialists who back a number of conservative and libertarian causes including activist groups that challenge the science behind climate change.
Corporations are manufacturing uncertainty about scientific findings. Now scientists are fighting back. | The Raw Story

Bayonne Medical Center Has Highest U.S. Billing Rates - NYTimes.com (profit!)

Texas Judge Forbids Lesbian Woman From Living With Her Partner | ThinkProgress - Judge John Roach, a Republican who presides over a state trial court in McKinney, Texas, placed a so-called “morality clause” in Compton’s divorce papers. This clause forbids Compton having a person that she is not related to “by blood or marriage” at her home past 9pm when her children are present.

You Want to Know What Competition in Education Will Do? Look at Chile. by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly - Sound familiar? Adjusted for income Chile now has the most expensive higher education system in the world. We have the second most expensive system. (privatization!)

Western leaders study 'gamechanging' report on global drugs trade | World news | The Observer - Review by Organisation of American States on illicit drugs 'could mark beginning of the end' of prohibition (Obama considering his options)
Federal Appeals Court: Drug Sentencing Disparity Is Intentional Racial 'Subjucation' | ThinkProgress
Illinois Passes Medical Marijuana Bill | ThinkProgress


Facebook’s stock has lost 31% of its value since it went public one year ago - The Next Web

051713
Bombs targeting Sunnis kill at least 76 in Iraq | World news | guardian.co.uk - Fears that country is again heading towards civil war as tensions intensify between Sunnis and Shias (who could have predicted?)
Russia reveals identity of CIA Moscow chief following Ryan Fogle's expulsion | World news | guardian.co.uk - Federal Security Service spokesman breaches protocol as he accuses US agency of crossing 'red line' in its recruitment efforts (but Obama threatened to drone the Guardian, so they don't reprint the name)
French Gay Marriage Law Ruled Constitutional - ABC News
Berlusconi 'Bunga Bunga' Parties Included Nun Stripper, Karima El Mahroug Says In Testimony - Silvio Berlusconi's private disco featured not only aspiring showgirls performing striptease acts as sexy nuns and nurses, but one woman dressed up as President Barack Obama and a prominent Milan prosecutor whom the billionaire media mogul has accused of persecuting him, according to the first public sworn testimony by the Moroccan woman at the center of the scandal.


Obama War Powers Under 2001 Law 'Astoundingly Disturbing,' Senators Say - "This is the most astounding and most astoundingly disturbing hearing that I've been to since I've been here. You guys have essentially rewritten the Constitution today," Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) told four senior U.S. military officials who testified about the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force and what it allows the White House to do.
Washington gets explicit: its 'war on terror' is permanent | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Senior Obama officials tell the US Senate: the 'war', in limitless form, will continue for 'at least' another decade - or two

John Paul Stevens: Bush v. Gore Decision Rationale Was 'Unacceptable'

A New 'Smart Rifle' Decides When To Shoot And Rarely Misses : All Tech Considered : NPR - You pull the trigger but the gun decides when to shoot. It fires only when the weapon has been pointed in exactly the right place, taking into account dozens of variables, including wind, shake and distance to the target.

It's Official: Those Bogus Email Leaks Came From Republicans | Mother Jones - But it was typical GOP overreach. To their surprise, the White House took Republicans up on their demand to make the entire email chain public, thus making it clear to the press that they had been burned. And now reporters are letting us all know who was behind it. (not really, names != Republicans)
Republicans Altered Benghazi Emails, CBS News Report Claims
The Stories That Never Get Told - Esquire - The right thing to do here is for ABC to reveal the source that fed it bogus information. This is what should happen for two reasons: 1) it should happen to demonstrate the consequences of feeding bogus information to ABC, and 2) it should happen to demonstrate that there is something of a campaign among Republican congressional staffers to wound an elected president with bogus information, because (as I think we would all agree) that's a helluva news story, too. (they will never name actual names)
Barack Obama’s scandals: Why the White House is suddenly beset by the controversies over Benghazi, the IRS, and the Associated Press. - Slate Magazine - Why Obama is suddenly under siege.
Yes, He Was, In Fact, A Crook - Esquire - (Smirking? The president deftly avoided the obvious answer, which was, "Are you on fking mushrooms, Junior?" as non-presidential.)
Outgoing IRS chief deflects Republican attempts to link scandal to White House | World news | guardian.co.uk - Steven Miller issues public apology at House hearing in which he blamed tax-targeting scandal on procedure, not politics
Harry Reid Focuses On July For The 'Nuclear Option' - “All executive branch and judicial nominations would be subject to majority votes. He would not do it on legislative items.”

In Unrelated News - Esquire - Investigators determined that the fire that led to the powerful explosion was caused either by a battery-powered golf cart that was kept in the fertilizer and seed building in which the fire started, the building's 120-volt electrical system or by an intentional criminal act

Guest Post From A U.S. Marine About Barack Obama’s Shocking And Disgusting Use Of An Umbrella - Shut your cockholster, you civilian sack of shit.

Ohio Republicans Push Law To Penalize Colleges For Helping Students Vote | TPMDC - “It’s a transparent effort at vote suppression — about the most blatant and shameful we’ve seen in this state, which is saying quite a lot.” (Republifucks at work)

Arkansas Abortion Law: Judge Grants Injunction Against 12-Week Ban
Did Michael Kinsley Invent the Concept of Same-Sex Marriage? - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Kinsley loves austerity because it is “spinach” - Salon.com - The liberal pundit supports a worthless international initiative

New York Times: Our Website Was Attacked

Cold War: Map shows areas prohibited to Soviet travelers in the United States (Indiana off-limits)

Study: Marijuana Buffers Pain of Social Exclusion - New research suggests one reason for the popularity of pot may be that it helps people cope with the pain of loneliness.

Star Trek movies and TV series: Which are the best? Why? - Slate Magazine
Handwriting: Broadside teaching the Spencer method of cursive - Spencerian handwriting was eventually displaced by the typewriter and the Palmer method, a more minimalist script developed in the 1910s in reaction to Spencer’s flowing, decorative lettering.

Google Fiber broadcast television impact analysis | BGR

051613

Pentagon Spec Ops Chief Sees '10 to 20' More Years of War Against al-Qaida | Danger Room | Wired.com (renewable in 20 years, forever)
The same motive for anti-US 'terrorism' is cited over and over | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Ignoring the role played by US actions is dangerously self-flattering and self-delusional (never look at causes)

Economist's View: 'About That Debt Crisis? Never Mind' - It's a good scam if your goal is to reduce the size and influence of government: implement spending cuts that slow the economy, never mind the unemployed, then call loudly for tax cuts and deregulation to spur economic growth. Repeat as needed.
Why we need a currency war with China (and Denmark and Singapore … )
The case for austerity isn’t dead yet (none of his commentors agree with him)
The Smith/Klein/Kalecki Theory of Austerity - NYTimes.com
Noahpinion: Why do people support austerity? A conjecture. (the Naomi Klein agrument not credited)
Paul Krugman's Misguided Moral Crusade Against Austerity | New Republic (his commentors aren't any happier than Perlstein's)
Brad DeLong : Seven Howlers from Michael Kinsley's Very Misguided War Against Paul Krugman (Delong squashes a bug tying to bite Krugman)
The worst piece of conventional wisdom you will read this year | Daniel W. Drezner - And then, as if Krugman planned it all along, along comes Michael Kinsley in the New Republic --
Michael Kinsley Needs To Shut Up - Esquire - Isn't it time for all of us to admit that the 1980s are over, and that Michael Kinsley is really a smug little douchenozzle and perhaps the most overrated political commentator of the past 30 years?
Despite Dramatic Deficit Reduction, Fox & Friends Promotes Harmful Austerity Measures | Blog | Media Matters for America

Climate research nearly unanimous on human causes, survey finds | Environment | guardian.co.uk - Of more than 4,000 academic papers published over 20 years, 97.1% agreed that climate change is anthropogenic
Tom Zeller Jr.: Scientists Agree (Again): Climate Change Is Happening
Climate change may be baring Mount Everest - latimes.com
Inhofe: God Says Global Warming Is A Hoax | ThinkProgress - In the interview, Inhofe did not mention he has received $1,352,523 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, including $90,950 from Koch Industries. (false gods)

The Obama Administration Scandals - TIME
DOJ Tactics Against AP Raise Concerns For The New York Times (they are going to tap Douthat's phone)

New GOP debt-limit demands: Ban late-term abortion and approve Keystone pipeline? - The Washington Post

Turns out much-hyped settlement still allows banks to steal homes - Salon.com - New data reveals mega-banks still illegally foreclosing on thousands. Get this: The housing settlement allows it
Elizabeth Warren Wants Big Banks To Face The Same Prosecution And Jail As Citizens | Addicting Info

Despite Dramatic Deficit Reduction, Fox & Friends Promotes Harmful Austerity Measures | Blog | Media Matters for America

RNC Spokeswoman Admits Harry Reid Was Right About Romney’s Taxes All Along, Whoops - Oh, whoops, we do not think the spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, and the Daily Caller (the spokespaper for the RNC), meant to confirm that Harry Reid was right about Mitt Romney paying a big gorgeous goose egg in taxes for 10 years. But they accidentally did! Oh our tangled webs and cetera

Christianity declining 50pc faster than thought – as one in 10 under-25s is a Muslim - Christianity could be facing a catastrophic collapse in Britain according to official figures suggesting it is declining 50 per cent faster than previously thought.

Human stem cells cloned for the first time | The Verge

051513
National Security Brief: Poll Finds Americans Aren't Buying GOP Benghazi Witch-Hunt | ThinkProgress - Forty-nine percent trust Clinton, versus 39 percent for Republicans. A whopping 41 percent of Republicans polled think the Obama administration’s handling of Benghazi is the greatest scandal in U.S. history. “One interesting thing about the voters who think Benghazi is the biggest political scandal in American history,” PPP adds, “is that 39% of them don’t actually know where it is. 10% think it’s in Egypt, 9% in Iran, 6% in Cuba, 5% in Syria, 4% in Iraq, and 1% each in North Korea and Liberia with 4% not willing to venture a guess.” (sounds about right)
Where Is Benghazi Poll - Greatest. Poll. Ever. - Esquire - Thirty-nine percent of people who think the Benghazi scandal is the biggest in American history don't actually know where it is. Here is a helpful map.
Conspiracy theorists flummoxed in face of actual scandals - Salon.com - The Benghazi/IRS/AP trifecta was the moment critics of Obama and the government had been waiting for. Or was it?

An Itty Bitty Pity Party for the Associated Press - Gary Pruitt, President and CEO of the Associated Press, rose up raging on Monday afternoon and threw a bag of live rats over the White House fence. To wit:
F.B.I. Violated Rules in Obtaining Phone Records, Report Says - NYTimes.com - Based on nothing more than e-mail messages or scribbled requests on Post-it notes, the phone employees turned over customer calling records, the report said. On some occasions, the phone employees allowed the F.B.I. to upload call records to government databases. On others, they allowed agents to view records on their computer screens, a practice that became known as “sneak peeks.” (Charlie Savage)
AP, Tea Party, Bloomberg Clients All Being Monitored Just Like You
Reporter Shield Law: Obama Asks Schumer For New Bill After Hampering Prior Efforts
James Cole Authorized AP Subpoenas, Eric Holder Confirms
The DOJ's Freedom of Speech Breach - The seizure of AP's phone records is legal, but that doesn't make it an acceptable course of action for the Justice Department to take.
Obama’s Justice Department: Holder’s Leak Investigations Are Outrageous and Unprecedented - Slate Magazine - His administration’s leak investigations are outrageous and unprecedented.
DOJ’s Dragnet on Leakers: The Apathy is Troubling, Especially Among Journalists | TIME.com
Wednesday Nice Time: Eric Holder Tells Darrell Issa to STFU
Eric Holder Slams Darrell Issa During House Judiciary Committee Hearing (video)

Elizabeth Warren to Obama Administration: Take the Banks to Court, Already! | Mother Jones
Recession in eurozone is now the currency bloc’s longest, surpassing even 2008-2009 crisis - The Washington Post
Rolling Stone Mobile - Politics - Politics: Everything Is Rigged, Continued: European Commission Raids Oil Companies in Price-Fixing Probe
Stimson Center: DoD Could Trim $1 Trillion Without Eroding Combat Power | Defense News | defensenews.com - the Defense Department could trim its planned spending by almost $1 trillion over the next 10 years by making a list of accounting, personnel and contracting changes.
Military Sexual Assault Scandal Causes Outrage Among Lawmakers

How the Case for Austerity Has Crumbled by Paul Krugman | The New York Review of Books

Deficit To Shrink Rapidly Through 2015 Due To Rising Revenues, CBO Reports (Boehner weeps)
Obama Student Loan Policy Reaping $51 Billion Profit - The Obama administration is forecast to turn a record $51 billion profit this year from student loan borrowers, a sum greater than the earnings of the nation's most profitable companies and roughly equal to the combined net income of the four largest U.S. banks by assets.
Credit Rating Agencies Loosening Standards Again, In Same Dynamic That Preceded Financial Crisis
The Greatest Apparel Company Villain–Gap - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - But the real villain in the international clothing industry is Gap. That company has done more than any other to push back against any meaningful reform, including in the aftermath of the Bangladesh disaster.

Eric Holder's Justice Department Hammered By Democrats Over AP Subpoenas - Members of President Barack Obama's own party slammed his Justice Department's secret gathering of reporters' phone records as inexcusable and sickening on Tuesday, suggesting that Congress may have to act to protect the freedom of the press.

Jarvan Jackson, 11-Year-Old Florida Boy, Fatally Shot By 4-Year-Old Relative (video) (arm the toddlers)

This Week in Poverty: Twelve Things You Can Do To Fight Poverty Now | The Nation

Answering a Question No One Asked: 13 Years of Williamsburg in the NYT

No Benefit Seen in Sharp Limits on Salt in Diet - NYTimes.com
Cannabis Induces a Clinical Respo... [Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2013] - PubMed - NCBI

Once in Sixty Lifetimes | mc79hockey.com - If you watched the end of last night’s Meltdown in Beantown, you probably wondered a little bit about what the odds of such thing happening were

Dear Prudence: My husband has asked for an open marriage after discovering my affair. - Slate Magazine - In a live chat, Prudie counsels a woman whose husband caught her cheating and now wants an open marriage.

Amy's Baking Company Freaks Out Online After Epic Meltdown On Gordon Ramsay's 'Kitchen Nightmares'

Google Play Music All Access: Search Giant Launches Spotify Competitor
Now You Can Send Money Through Gmail, Google Announces
LinkedIn Clarifies Its Ban On Prostitutes, And Yes, There Are Prostitutes On LinkedIn

051413
Russia to expel US diplomat accused of spying for CIA | World news | guardian.co.uk - Ryan Fogle, accused of trying to recruit Russian agent for the CIA, had 'spy arsenal' of wigs and glasses, say officials (and a Groucho mustache)

Alaska: where politics and climate change go hand-in-hand | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Universal Basic Income - Business Insider
Thinking Utopian: How about a universal basic income?
Just Give People Money - Forbes
Bloomberg hit by new scandal as trading emails are shared online | Media | guardian.co.uk - Financial information giant scrambles to restore reputation as error follows revelation of reporters' access to terminals (Bloomfuck spies on everyone else, who wouldn't he spy on his customers?)
Elizabeth Warren Pushes Feds For Answer On Big Bank Enforcement (the answer: Obama)

Eric Holder On AP Phone Records Subpoena: Trust Us
AP To DOJ: Explanation For Secret Probe 'Does Not Adequately Address Our Concerns'
Condemnation Of DOJ's AP Probe Continues; Carl Bernstein Calls It 'Inexcusable' (video) - "I've been in this business for more than 30 years," she said on "Morning Joe." "Our First Amendment lawyers, and our lawyers inside the AP, and our CEO, who's also a well-known First Amendment lawyer, none of us have ever seen anything like this." Speaking on the same program, famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein was even more scathing, calling the operation "inexcusable."
Obama Administration Secretly Obtains Phone Records of AP Journalists | Threat Level | Wired.com
Why The Department Of Justice Is Going After The Associated Press' Records | ThinkProgress
On the AP Spying - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Justice Department's pursuit of AP's phone records is both extreme and dangerous | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
AP, IRS, Benghazi: how can Americans trust President Obama now? | Crystal Wright | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - The only 'political circus' is all the controversies in the Obama administration. Republicans and America want answers
The IRS and AP controversies spell trouble for Obama and Democrats | Harry J Enten | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Trust in government is a key factor in how people vote in midterm elections. All of that is heavily at stake now for 2014 (Obama loves screwing Dems)
Ringside Seat: Taxghazi -

The Coming Attempt to Impeach Obama - The Daily Beast - The idea of impeaching Obama is industrial-strength insane. Republicans will probably try anyway, predicts Michael Tomasky.

Boston College Enda Kenny Commencement Speaker - The Clan Of The Red Beanie Strikes Back - Esquire - The latest chapter has Cardinal Sean O'Malley, that darlin' man, boycotting the BC ceremony because, and this may the the funniest thing ever said, especially coming from an Archbishop of Boston: "It is my ardent hope that Boston College will work to redress the confusion, disappointment and harm caused by not adhering to the bishops' directives."
Cardinal O’Malley’s decision to boycott BC graduation has the ring of hypocrisy - Metro - The Boston Globe

RNC FL Hispanic Director is Now a Democrat | The Florida Nation - It doesn’t take much to see the culture of intolerance surrounding the Republican Party today. I have wondered before about the seemingly harsh undertones about immigrants and others. Look no further; a well-known organization recently confirms the intolerance of that which seems different or strange to them.

7NEWS - Aurora PD: Student suffers 'significant injury' in accidental shooting at Rangeview High parking lot - Local Story - a school employee who also works a second job as an armed security officer, according to police. The employee was trying to put his gun into the glove box of the car when the weapon fired, hitting the student in the leg.

Pentagon Said to Furlough Up to 650,000 Civilian Workers - Bloomberg (that means they employ a lot of "civilians")
cab drollery - That gender gape [sic] means that a full-time working woman will earn $443,360 less than her male counterpart over 40 years, according to a recent study by the National Women's Law Center.

Ag-Gag - Lawyers, Guns & Money - The real signal will come out of North Carolina’s insane wingnut legislature, which has a bill with much the same language, but which also expands it to investigations in any industry.

Wealthy Manhattan moms hire handicapped tour guides to bypass lines at Disney World - NYPOST.com

Ten things you may not know about stars | Space | EarthSky - 5) The Sun is a green star
Earth's center is out of sync
New forensic technique for estimating time of death by checking internal clock of the human brain - Science - News - The Independent - Depressed people live in parallel time zone, scientists find

Muslims Outraged After Boston Bomber Buried In Confederate Cemetery - “Through what we can only describe as a gross error of judgement, Tamerlan Tsarnaev has been buried among a group of traitors,” Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America, complained to reporters.

How to Tell if College Presidents Are Overpaid by Richard Vedder | Washington Monthly

America’s New Oligarchs—Fwd.us and Silicon Valley’s Shady 1 Percenters - The Daily Beast - When Steve Jobs died in October 2011, crowds of mourners gathered outside of Apple stores, leaving impromptu memorials to the fallen businessman. Many in Occupy Wall Street, then in full bloom, stopped to mourn the .001 percenter worth $7 billion, who didn’t believe in charity and whose company had more cash in hand than the U.S. Treasury while doing everything in its power to avoid paying taxes. (you've been zuckerfucked again)

Bringing it all together: 15 GB now shared between Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos

051313
Pakistani court declares US drone strikes in the country's tribal belt illegal - Asia - World - The Independent - Judges say the strikes must be declared a war crime as they kill innocent people (not according to the Pentagon)
Benghazi hospital blast kills 12 | World news | The Guardian - Women and children among dead at al-Jala hospital in eastern Libyan city after bomb goes off in car park
David Cameron arrives in US buoyed by Russian signals on Syria | Politics | guardian.co.uk - British prime minister will tell Barack Obama he believes Vladimir Putin is now more open to putting pressure on Assad regime
Bangladesh Garment Factories Shut Down Amid Worker Unrest, Minimum Wage Change

Benghazi Poll Finds More Disapprove Than Approve Of Obama's Handling Of Attack Aftermath

Gov't obtains wide AP phone records in probe
DOJ Secretly Obtains Months Of AP Phone Records; AP Condemns 'Unprecedented Intrusion' (they're lucky Obama didn't just drone them)
Government secretly obtains months of AP phone records - Salon.com - The government would not say why it sought lists of incoming and outgoing phone calls
Twitter reactions: And then they came for the AP - Salon.com - Journalists react to some of their own being the object of government surveillance

Minnesota Senate Passes Gay Marriage, Governor To Sign - becoming the 12th to allow same-sex couples to marry.

Contrary to popular belief, President Obama doesn't have a magic wand | Michael Cohen | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - GOP opposition to everything Obama supports is the most important story of the last four years of American politics (Insane Clown Party destroying America)
The National Memo » LOL Of The Week: Destroying Hillary Clinton Is The GOP’s Only Hope For 2016
How the Republican Party could go extinct - Salon.com - The party has a golden chance to make inroads with Latinos and gays with one immigration move. And it's blowing it
BIll Keller Think Tanks Column - Somebody Hit Bill Keller's Knee With A Hammer - Esquire
History’s Greatest Martyr Speaks - Lawyers, Guns & Money : I actually enjoyed Byron York’s piece on Jason Richwine, the deposed Heritage Foundation hack who is dismayed that you can be called a white supremacist merely for arguing that people of color are intellectually inferior. Shockingly enough, his mentor was another giant in the field of racist junk science:

Henry Waxman will support Chained CPI in trade for "things we want" ("we" = "him" - Dems screwing you again)

The Dark Art of Racecraft - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic - Jason Richwine's place in the long history of research on race and IQ
Riddled: I do not know why Jason Richwine has opted for the facial grooming of a date rapist; perhaps it is a condition of his parole *

Ohio kidnappings: what makes men take women and children prisoner? | World news | The Observer - The accusations against Ariel Castro have shocked the world – but experts fear many crimes of sexual slavery go undetected

Gun Nut Intimidation of Academics - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Kutztown University in Pennsylvania has decided to allow guns on its campus. This is a terrible move, but this isn’t the reason for the post. Rather, it’s the vitriol anyone even questioning the idea has received from gun nuts. This makes what happened to me seem reasonable by comparison.

REPORT: Diversity On Evening Cable News In 13 Charts | Research | Media Matters for America (white guys!)
Bloomberg editor in chief: reporters' access to client data 'inexcusable' | Media | guardian.co.uk - As scandal deepens, Matthew Winkler writes op-ed apologising for use of terminals to access data 'considered proprietary'
Howard Kurtz isn't the problem at The Daily Beast, it's Tina Brown | Michael Wolff | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - The Daily Beast/Newsweek has floundered in the digital space. Some blame needs to be pointed at editor Tina Brown
New York Times v Washington Post – a tale of two strategies | Technology | guardian.co.uk - Both are great American newspapers, both suffer from the advertising slump and from the transition to digital. But the NYT's paywall strategy is making a huge difference
Good riddance, Barbara Walters - Salon.com - Veteran newswoman retires to spend more time with her craven obsession with power

Arbitrary and Capricious Emergency Contraception Restrictions Still Arbitrary and Capricious - Lawyers, Guns & Money : If a stay is granted, it will allow the bad-faith, politically motivated decision of Secretary Sebelius, who lacks any medical or scientific expertise, to prevail — thus justifiably undermining the public’s confidence in the drug approval process,” Judge Korman wrote.

It's time to out Lindsey Graham - And while it’s one thing to be gay and a closet case, it’s quite another to be a hypocrite, an anti-gay gay, someone who uses his power to harm others in the name of morality, all the while knowing secretly that he is one of the others.
The Largely Forgotten Story of Glenn Burke - Lawyers, Guns & Money : In a bit of irony that would seem farcical if it wasn’t so tragic, one of the Dodgers who tried to talk Burke into getting “married,” was his manager, Tommy Lasorda, whose son Tom Jr. died from AIDS complications in 1991. To this day, Lasorda Sr. refuses to acknowledge his son’s homosexuality.

Government Assault on the Chinatown Bus Industry Fueled By Bogus Federal Study - Reason.com - An influential report by the National Transportation Safety Board used the wrong data and committed "statistical malpractice."

ACEsTooHigh.com : CJR's Guide to Online News Startups - Reporting on the science, education, and policy surrounding childhood trauma
Researchers Identify 4 New Genetic Risk Factors For Testicular Cancer : Health & Medicine : Nature World News - The meta-analysis revealed that testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) risk was significantly associated with markers at four loci—4q22, 7q22, 16q22.3, and 17q22, none of which have been identified in other cancers.
Cheech and Chong star claims cannabis helped cure prostate cancer | Film | guardian.co.uk - Comedian and stoner Tommy Chong says 'I kicked cancer's ass!' with a variety of treatments including diet and supplements (and a lot of weed)
Marijuana Linked To Lower Bladder Cancer Risk, Study Says - More frequent marijuana use -- smoking cannabis more than 500 times -- was associated with greater risk reduction than smoking only once or twice. However, the study was critized for not including any non-smokers.

Balloon Juice » Don’t Even Think About Being The Coolest Person On (Above) The Planet…

Twitter Hate Speech Map Pinpoints Racist, Homophobic Hotspots Across U.S. - A majority of hateful tweets are coming from smaller towns and more rural areas.
Hate Map

Eric Schneiderman Pressures Apple, Samsung To Combat Smartphone Thefts

051213
Former Guatemala Dictator Rios Montt Convicted of Genocide - NYTimes.com
Will Pakistan finally stand up against illegal US drone attacks? | Clive Stafford Smith | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - The Peshawar high court has delivered a damning verdict on the strikes. Pakistan must now move towards protecting the security of its citizens
Syrian war death toll rises to 82,000 - opposition group | Reuters
potlatch: Britain's Brezhnev-style capitalism
‘Conservative’ study warns climate change may kill half of Earth’s plant life | The Raw Story - More than half of common species of plants and a third of animal species are likely to see their living space halved by 2080 on current trends of carbon emissions, a climate study said on Sunday.

The Death of Truth by Chris Hedges (Interview with Julian Assange) | Dandelion Salad

Political Animal - Will Conservatives Come to Grips with Climate Change? (no, sorry)

Recession is a good time to boost profits, says Cameron aide | Business | The Observer - Lord Young says low-wage conditions are a bonus for business, drawing a furious response from the TUC
Hullabaloo - I guess this means we're winning? - I wonder why the disparity? I don't suppose it might be because the Democrats have been consistently betraying their own values? No, of course not.
Who Says Fiscal Policy Is Hurting the Economy? (Almost) Everyone. - NationalJournal.com - Austerity is dragging down growth, many economists say.
Mass Poverty, Social Inequality and the Thirdworldization of America | Global Research (Reagonomics!)
The Biggest Price-Fixing Scandal Ever | Politics News | Rolling Stone - The Illuminati were amateurs. The second huge financial scandal of the year reveals the real international conspiracy: There's no price the big banks can't fix - London-based firm ICAP
Daily Kos: The job fatality rate isn't budging, and no wonder, with penalties this low - The AFL-CIO released its Death on the Job report this week, and the toll for the United States in 2011 was 4,693 workers killed on the job, an average of 13 every day. It's much harder to know how many died from occupational diseases, but the estimate is 50,000

A new GOP bill would prevent the government from collecting economic data (don't bother us with your steenking "facts")
Wall Street Bills Clear Hurdle With Democrats Backing Deregulation (go Dems!)
Bloomberg Terminal Spying Targeted Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner: CNBC
Sallie Mae Profit Boosts College Endowments And Pension Funds As Students Pay More
Brad DeLong : Moby Ben, or, The Washington Super-Whale: Hedge Fundies, the Federal Reserve, and Bernanke-Hatred
Liberal Wonk Blogging Could Be Your Life | Next New Deal

Noahpinion: Libertarianism and the Tamerlane Principle - My problem with libertarianism is something I call the "Tamerlane Principle." Before I explain it, consider this account of the conquests of the 14th Century Central Asian warlord and conqueror Timur the Lame, commonly known as Tamerlane ... a "hurricane of annihilation"...
The Mongol Empire: Its Rise and Legacy - Michael Prawdin - Google Books
Timur - Scholars estimate that his military campaigns caused the deaths of 17 million people, amounting to about 5% of the world population
Ciudad Juarez is all our futures. This is the inevitable war of capitalism gone mad | Ed Vulliamy | Comment is free | The Guardian - Mexico's drug cartels are actually pioneers of the global economy in their business logic and modus operandi
Noahpinion: Science fiction novels for economists

Frack Corporate Personhood - In These Times - A Pennsylvania judge has drawn a hard line against so-called corporate ‘persons.’ - “It is axiomatic that corporations, companies and partnerships have no ‘spiritual nature,’ ‘feelings,’ ‘intellect,’ ‘beliefs,’ ‘thoughts,’ ‘emotions’ or ‘sensations,’ because they do not exist in the manner that humankind exists.”

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XVII

Notes on a Pseudo-Scandal - Things like Benghazi generate their own momentum, whether there was any actual wrongdoing or not.
Thomas Pickering: Benghazi Call Did Not Come From Hillary Clinton - decisions about the consulate were made well below the secretary's level. Pickering's defense of his panel's conclusions, however, was unlikely to quiet Republicans' calls for accountability for the attacks that left four Americans dead, including an ambassador.
John McCain Refuses To Back Impeaching Obama Over Benghazi (video)
Not Believing the Hype | TPM Editors Blog - Right wing forces are constantly yelling scandal and constantly going for over-hype. Why join them, and why not realize that they turn off most Americans who are not already Obama/Clinton haters?
Stop Hitting Yourself, And Other Advice For Benghazi-Obsessed Wingnuts
Tea Partyers boycott Fox News for being too “left” - Salon.com - A three-day boycott of the network protested a lack of coverage of the attacks on Benghazi, among other things

Hullabaloo - Ole Joe Biden, the good cop (no SS cuts, no XL death-funnel, oh wait)
Meet The New Paultard, Same As The Old Paultard | TBogg

How Jason Richwine Passed Immigration Reform -- Daily Intelligencer
The Heritage Foundation And The Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Super Racist Week

New SARS-like virus can probably pass person-to-person | Reuters
WHO | Press Statement Related to the Novel Coronavirus Situation

Hospital Prices No Longer Secret As New Data Reveals Bewildering System, Staggering Cost Differences - she faces an official price tag of $99,690. Less than 30 miles away in the Bronx, N.Y., the Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center charges only $7,044 for the same treatment

‘Purity’ culture: bad for women, worse for survivors of sexual assault | The Raw Story - Virginity has no bearing on a person’s worth, yet ‘purity balls’ and shaming victims make our culture more medieval than modern
Female 'Purity' Is Bullshit
CNN's Sex-Crazed Amanda Knox Case Interview - Susan Milligan (usnews.com)
Today in Non-Phallic Historical Advertising Campaigns - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Psychiatrists under fire in mental health battle | Society | The Observer - British Psychological Society to launch attack on rival profession, casting doubt on biomedical model of mental illness - There is no scientific evidence that psychiatric diagnoses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are valid or useful, according to the leading body representing Britain's clinical psychologists.
Scientists find mutations behind testicular cancer and heart disease | The Raw Story - “Most interestingly, the set of genes mutated in congenital heart disease unexpectedly overlapped with genes and pathways mutated in autism,” said Richard Lifton, a professor of genetics.
Antibiotics could cure 40% of chronic back pain patients | Society | guardian.co.uk - Scientists hail medical breakthrough by which half a million UK sufferers could avoid major surgery and take antibiotics instead - "This is vast. We are talking about probably half of all spinal surgery for back pain being replaced by taking antibiotics,"
How to spot a murderer's brain | Science | The Observer - Do your genes, rather than upbringing, determine whether you will become a criminal? Adrian Raine believed so – and breaking that taboo put him on collision course with the world of science
A Neuroscientist Uncovers A Dark Secret : NPR
Middle-age obesity 'will lead to a surge in dementia cases' | Society | The Observer - Study says hundreds of thousands more are at risk of Alzheimer's

One World Trade Center build shown in time-lapse – video | World news | guardian.co.uk

Windows Blue/8.1 on the Surface Pro | CRASHCTRL

051013
Global carbon dioxide in atmosphere passes milestone level | Environment | guardian.co.uk - Climate warming greenhouse gas reaches 400 parts per million for the first time in human history
Atmospheric CO2 Concentrations Surpass 400 PPM Milestone
The Coming GOP Civil War Over Climate Change - NationalJournal.com - Science, storms, and demographics are starting to change minds among the rank and file.
Wall Street Journal's Idiocracy: CO2 Is What Plants Crave | Research | Media Matters for America (there's your "civil war")

Bangladesh factory: woman found alive in rubble 17 days after collapse | World news | guardian.co.uk - Reshma Begum survived on biscuits and by breathing through a pipe amid wreckage of Rana Plaza in Dhaka

The Military Can't Handle the Truth - Years of sexual scandals followed by yet more military negligence show the consequences of letting the organization police its own.

Benghazi embassy attack: Why it didn't help Mitt Romney win.
White House Holds Secret Benghazi Briefing, Incensing Some Reporters
ABC News Benghazi Coverage - Benghazm - Esquire

On eve of Plan B ruling taking effect, NY judge refuses to delay access to morning-after pill - The Washington Post - “Indeed, in my view, the defendants’ appeal is frivolous and is taken for the purpose of delay,” Korman wrote. He called the government’s reasoning “largely an insult to the intelligence of women.”
Are Vouchers Dead? - The policy that was once the heart of the school choice movement is losing steam

The Facts Are In and Paul Ryan Is Wrong -- Daily Intelligencer
Political Animal - More From Political Scientists About Effects of Campaigns
Surprise Winner in Thomas Friedman Porn-Title Contest | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone

Immigration reform: Jason Richwine resigns from the Heritage Foundation.
Jason Richwine Resigns From Heritage Foundation After Dissertation Controversy - for arguing in his Harvard dissertation that Hispanic immigrants to the U.S. have substantially lower IQs than whites, resigned Friday.

Texas Explosion Criminal Investigation Launched By Law Enforcement Officials - federal agents said they found bomb-making materials belonging to a paramedic who helped evacuate residents the night of the explosion.
After Explosion, Texas Remains Wary of Regulation - NYTimes.com

Katherine Russell Not Involved In Boston Bombing, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Allegedly Says
Boston Bombing Suspects Implicated In 2011 Triple Murder: Officials - The victims in the unsolved case had their "throats slashed" and "their bodies covered in seven pounds of marijuana," waiting on further DNA evidence before bringing an indictment against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Fungus network 'plays role in plant communication' - Plants can communicate the onset of an attack from aphids by making use of an underground network of fungi, researchers have found.

Will & Monifa Sims Do Karaoke On Leno's 'Pumpcast News' Bit And It's Amazing (video)

How to Tell Your Friends from the Japs - Lawyers, Guns & Money

How New Legislation Could Give Smartphone Owners Control Over Their Privacy | ThinkProgress

050913
Bangladesh factory fire kills 8; collapse toll tops 900 | Reuters
Latest Bangladesh factory fire kills owner, seven others - "Clearly the executives of the factory did not have their own exit strategy,"
Russia To Sell Anti-Aircraft Missile Batteries To Syria, Israel Warns U.S.

Greek Youth Unemployment Rises Above 60 Percent
This Video Of One Half-Second Of High Frequency Trading Is Insane, Terrifying - What you see is trading gone haywire, hopelessly beyond the control of any regulators that might want to make sure all of these trades are legitimate.
ATM Fraud Allows Thieves To Steal $45 Million In Hours
Hullabaloo - Who are these "people" you speak of? - 86% of voters believe Congress should make its top focus jobs creation, with 86% saying Congress should prioritize work on improving the economy.

Foreign-Born Infographic - U.S. Census Bureau

The real lesson of Benghazi - It’s that the party-aligned press works so well for Republicans that they’ve become too lazy to bother explaining their ideas, or doing the hard work of actual oversight. (Fox)
Benghazi Hearing Reveals Incompetence, But No Cover-Up
Merry Benghazi Day! - Lawyers, Guns & Money :
Rachel Maddow Relentlessly Mocks GOP For Benghazi Conspiracy Theory (video)
Jon Stewart Shreds Fox News, GOP Benghazi Theories: 'You Have No F*cking Idea!' (video)

The New Truth About the Cop Shot in Watertown: Friendly-Fire in a Getaway - Alexander Abad-Santos - The Atlantic Wire

Political Animal - Low Country Boils Over - Busch’s defeat shows once again that the old southern white Democratic formula of moving as far to the right as possible and hoping to win a personality contest just doesn’t much work anymore, which is why the ranks of the Blue Dog southern white Democrats in the House from the Deep South have dwindled to near nothingness

The Ongoing Failure of Cleveland Police to Take Violence Against Women Seriously - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Cleveland has had more rapes per capita than any major city in America over the past several years, and roughly 2/3 of them are never even prosecuted.
Cleveland Kidnapping Victims Endured Decade Of Isolation, Rape, Beatings
Ariel Castro Charges: Man Accused In Ohio Abductions Appears In Court On Kidnapping, Rape Charges
Ariel Castro's Alleged Suicide Note Includes Confession About Cleveland Kidnapping

Balloon Juice » The Reverse Midas Touch - Teahadist and now head honcho at Heritage, Jim DeMint, has had a fine week:
Conservative Immigration Scholar: Black and Hispanic Immigrants Are Dumber Than European Immigrants | Mother Jones - Jason Richwine, who coauthored a Heritage Foundation study on immigration, didn't just argue that certain minorities are dumber in his scholarship—he also said it at a public panel.

Undermining Pell | NewAmerica.net - How Colleges Compete for Wealthy Students and Leave the Low-Income Behind
Infographic: Is Your State's Highest-Paid Employee A Coach? (Probably) - Infographic: Is Your State's Highest-Paid Employee A Coach? (Probably)

Every Every Every Generation Has Been the Me Me Me Generation - Elspeth Reeve - The Atlantic Wire
It's Different for Girls with ADHD - Maria Yagoda - The Atlantic Wire - ADHD does not look the same in boys and girls. Women with the disorder tend to be less hyperactive and impulsive, more disorganized, scattered, forgetful, and introverted. “They’ve alternately been anxious or depressed for years,” Littman says. “It’s this sense of not being able to hold everything together.”

Politico to Test a Pay Wall With Some Readers of Its Site - NYTimes.com (oh, good)

Anatomy of a Cosplayer | Polygon


050813
Silvio Berlusconi's tax fraud conviction upheld on first appeal | World news | guardian.co.uk - Former prime minister has long denied tax fraud charges, and is expected to appeal to Italy's highest court

US officials blocked rescue efforts while Benghazi burned, Congress told | World news | guardian.co.uk - Diplomat Gregory Hicks accuses State Department of cover-up in evidence that may yet hurt Hillary Clinton's White House bid
GOP Star Witnesses Debunk Right-Wing Benghazi Conspiracy Theories | ThinkProgress
Dick Cheney Slams Obama On Benghazi - Dick Cheney Takes The Great Mulligan - Esquire
Fox News Invites Convicted Cover-Up Expert Oliver North To Comment On Alleged Benghazi Cover-Up | ThinkProgress

Daily Kos: How We Can Help President Obama Fulfill His Pledge to Close Guantanamo

Obama May Back F.B.I. Plan to Wiretap Web Users - NYTimes.com - a sweeping overhaul of surveillance laws that would make it easier to wiretap people who communicate using the Internet rather than by traditional phone services

US air force strips 17 officers of power to launch nuclear missiles | World news | guardian.co.uk - Nuclear missile unit's deputy commander says it is suffering from 'rot' within its ranks in leaked internal email

Echidne Of The Snakes: When Corpses Are Buried Or Unearthed

Charles Ramsey recounts heroic day - YouTube
Charles Ramsey: ‘Take that reward and give it to’ the kidnap victims | The Raw Story
Ariel Castro Charged With Kidnapping And Rape In Ohio Missing Girls Case

“An Intellectually Dishonest Argument” - Lawyers, Guns & Money : The Obama administration’s inexplicable decision to defend its arbitrary emergency contraception restrictions came up again before Edward Korman. This went about as well as it deserved to:
Plan B As Plan A
North Carolina May Force Teens To Get Notarized Parental Consent Before Getting STD Tests | ThinkProgress - In North Carolina specifically, half of all new reported cases of sexually transmitted infections occur among people between the ages of 15 and 24.

Tom Coburn Withdraws Gun Amendment On Water Bill (UPDATE)

The House Takes Mass Incarceration to Task - Will the Over-Criminalization Task Force be able to put a dent in our soaring rates of incarceration, or will it fall into the same rancor that defines every D.C. debate?

Heritage Study Author: 'Hispanic Immigrants Will Have Low-IQ Children' | ThinkProgress (terrible enough, worse with teaparty takeover +Charles Murray works at AEI)

Eschaton: It's Actually Kind of Impressive - Niall Ferguson types the wankiest thing to ever appear on this or any other Internet. (he invited Andrew Sullivan to his wedding so he can't be homophobic)

Daily Kos: Elizabeth Warren: Students should get the same loan rate as big banks
Hullabaloo: The Medicare crystal ball: It's a huge mistake to allow our politicians to fear-monger us on behalf of their wealthy benefactors to give up the meager benefits we know we will need many years hence. (wrong, wrong and wrong)
Dani Rodrik's weblog: What is wrong (and right) in economics?

Cheating Moms' Affair Habits Revealed In New Ashley Madison Survey - the site also revealed that they typically see the highest spike in female signups on the day after Mother's Day.

Bioteeth From Stemcells Will Regrow Complete Tooth, Superior to Implants : Health & Medicine : Science World Report

Jonathan Mayer And Cookies In Firefox - Business Insider

050713
Syria Internet Goes Down, Traffic Monitoring Sites Confirm
Bangladesh Building Collapse Death Toll Tops 700 As Protests Rage On
Pentagon accuses China of trying to hack US defence networks | World news | guardian.co.uk - China dismisses as 'hype' Pentagon's claim that China is using cybersnooping to acquire technology for its military modernisation

The Economic Recovery Is For Real -- Daily Intelligencer
France hails austerity rethink as Dijsselbloem issues bank stress-test warning - as it happened | Business | guardian.co.uk
Impact of Sequester: Weather Balloons May Get Cut Loose
Working Poor Face Long Odds: 'You Have To Just Wait Your Turn, But That Turn May Never Come'
Brad DeLong : I Confess Clive Crook Is Getting to Me: Bloomberg Has Some House-Cleaning to Do Weblogging

Military Sexual Assaults Spike Despite Efforts To Combat Epidemic - Sexual assaults occurred at an average of more than 70 per day in the United States military during fiscal year 2012 (support our rapists)

Tom Coburn Pushes Gun Amendments On Water Resources Bill - Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is attempting to attach two pro-gun amendments to a water resources bill that the Senate is scheduled to take up on Tuesday. One measure would allow gun owners to carry their firearms to outdoor recreational areas that are currently off-limits, and the other would create a registry of the guns and ammunition owned by the federal government.
Kelly Ayotte Explains Position On Background Checks - Kelly Ayotte Explains It All To You - Esquire
Flake: 'I've Always Supported Background Checks' | TPM LiveWire

The Republican `Permission Structure' for Racial Resentment - Bloomberg
Frank Rich on Race and the Republicans -- New York Magazine - The party on the brink of destroying the Voting Rights Act reminds us that Republicans were really the great civil-rights leaders all along.
Louisiana Court Finds Bobby Jindal Education Reform Unconsititutional - The Court Brings The Big Hammer Down On Bobby Jindal - Esquire - You can't use public money to support religious schools. Period. It is the most preposterously obvious violation of the Establishment clause of the First Amendment this side of the outright attempt by the newly insane state of North Carolina to establish Christianity as an official religion
Delaware Senate Passes Gay Marriage Bill

J.C. Penney Spent $170 Million to Install Johnson Team - Bloomberg

Cleveland police criticised as city asks: why were women not found sooner? | World news | The Guardian - Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight leave hospital as neighbours insist they reported suspicious behaviour

US fast food chains 'failing' healthier menu test | Life and style | guardian.co.uk - Study finds major fast food chains have 'barely improved nutritional quality of menus in 14 years' despite their promises

Judge rips Obama’s right-wing Plan B stance - Salon.com - "You're disadvantaging young people, African-Americans, the poor... that's the policy of the Obama administration? (actually, yes)

NYT Still Making Williamsburg Hipster Jokes -- Daily Intelligencer

050613
Israeli Bombs and American Qualms: Assessing Syria | Center for a New American Security
U.N. has testimony that Syrian rebels used sarin gas: investigator | Reuters (McCain: "bomb, bomb, bomb, oh ... wait)
The unlikely winner in the war on drugs? Iran | FP Passport
The Irish Prime Minister has just been threatened with excommunication from the Catholic Church if he passes new abortion legislation in Ireland. His response:

German Finance Minister Who Helped Start Euro Now Calls For Its End

Red-State Democrats Buck Obama On Social Security Cuts - The majority of Senate Democrats running for reelection in 2014, including three running in red states, have broken with President Barack Obama and are opposing his effort to cut Social Security benefits, imperiling the austerity project known as the "grand bargain." (his favorite Republican pony)
The Chutzpah Caucus - NYTimes.com - At this point the economic case for austerity — for slashing government spending even in the face of a weak economy — has collapsed.
Austerity Has Cost The U.S. Economy 2.2 Million Jobs: Study (Obama won't let facts get in his way)
Why Simpson/Bowles Should Be DOA. - the bait-and-switch pulled by the Republicans after the Greenspan commission on Social Security and the 1993 Clinton budget deal, in which deficit reductions were used to finance hugely expansive Republican boondoggles like unnecessary, trillion-dollar wars and upper-class tax cuts.
America's Youth Unemployment Rate Is One Of The Worst Of Wealthy, Large Economies: Report
Larry Summers Says that Reinhart-Rogoff Type Mistakes Are "Distressingly Common" Then Goes on to Prove His Point | Beat the Press
The Real Rogoff-Reinhart Problem Was Not the Mistakes, It Was the Lack of Basic Transparency | FDL Action (economics is a special kind of "science" where you don't have to publish data or methodology)
The grad student who exposed Reinhart and Rogoff: They still can’t get their facts straight - Quartz

Newly Declassified Memo Shows CIA Shaped Zero Dark Thirty's Narrative
Lawfare › Oxford Union Debate on Drone Warfare
The Rise of the Missile Carriers | U.S. Naval Institute
Weekly Standard Accidentally Disproves Central Right-Wing Benghazi Claim | Blog | Media Matters for America

Jeffrey Krusinski, Air Force Officer In Charge Of Sexual Assault Prevention Program, Arrested For Alleged Sexual Assault

West Fertilizer Co.'s Insurance Policy Was Just $1 Million Before Deadly Plant Explosion - "It's rare for Texas to require insurance for any kind of hazardous activity," he said. "We have very little oversight of hazardous activities and even less regulation."Father was NRA president from 1959-1961, is part of the small, Birmingham, Ala., law firm of Porter, Porter & Hassinger. The firm’s website notes its expertise in defending gun manufacturers in lawsuits.”

Open Carry March In Washington Seeks To Put 'Government On Notice' With Loaded Rifles (10,000 well-regulated militia-men marching on the WH, so begins the "armed rebellion" what could go wrong?)
The gun toll we’re ignoring: suicide - Ideas - The Boston Globe - You wouldn’t know it from the national debate, but most American firearm deaths aren’t murder (50/day, especially in "Liberty States")
Vendor Pulls 'Obama' Target From Booth At NRA Convention | TPM LiveWire (preparing for their "armed rebellion" in three years)
NRA Meeting: Author Rob Olive’s Gun-Free Future | TPMDC
When Stories Collide | TPM Editors Blog - On March 10th, Middlefield, Ohio police made what appeared to be a routine traffic stop of a man who had run a stop sign. But then James Gilkerson emerged from his stopped car firing 37 rounds from an AK-47 rifle. Amazingly the two officers in the cruiser sustained only relatively minor injuries and fired off 54 rounds of their own, eventually killing Gilkerson. You can see the shocking and somewhat disturbing dash-cam video released by local police just this weekend here. Perhaps not surprisingly, in Gilkerson’s car police found eight 40-round magazines for the AK-47 and a bunch of militia and terrorist related literature
Background Checks Bill Would Get A 'Couple More Votes' Now: Harry Reid
FBI arrests Minnesota ‘militia type’ for plotting ‘localized terror attack’ | The Raw Story

TIME/CNN Poll Shows Increasing Number Of Americans Won't Give Up Civil Liberties To Fight Terrorism | Techdirt - from the the-government-can't-give-you-safety,-but-it-can-take-your-rights dept
Anonymous Hacker Targeted Bombing Suspect | TPMDC

Pro-Business Decisions Are Defining This Supreme Court - NYTimes.com - A study has found the current Supreme Court to be the most pro-business since World War II.
Brad DeLong : Did John Roberts and Nino Scalia Kill the Republican Party with Citizens United?
Rush Limbaugh vs. Cumulus Media | Blog | Media Matters for America - At this point, it doesn't really matter who you believe. The fact that Limbaugh's affiliates are consistently reporting losses and that Limbaugh is now attacking them is evidence of the one thing that has become undeniable: Rush Limbaugh is bad for business. Onward we go...
Rapists Will No Longer Have Custody Rights In Colorado If New Bill Passes (video) | Addicting Info - 31 states that allow a rapist to enjoy the same parental rights as any father,

Balloon Juice » I’m No Math Major - The conservative Heritage Foundation is claiming in a new report that bipartisan immigration legislation pending in the Senate would cost taxpayers $6.3 trillion. (just makin' shit up: $500,000/immigrant)
Wash. Post Highlights Contradiction That Undermines Heritage Immigration Study | Blog | Media Matters for America
When Your Boss Steals Your Wages: The Invisible Epidemic That’s Sweeping America | Alternet - Wage theft is fast becoming a top trend of the 21st-century labor market

Everything Turning Up Horse Poop for Michele Bachmann
Why did Komen for the Cure give Nancy Brinker a 64 percent raise? - Salon.com - Komen, already under fire for shrinking contributions for breast cancer research, paid its CEO $684,000 last year

ta1901 comments on What is something every girl should know about relationships?

New study finds no evidence for theory humans wiped out megafauna
Scientists Discover a Brain Region That Controls Aging - Businessweek - Turns out that the elusive Fountain of Youth may exist after all … in our heads.

Teacher 'powerless' to stop ex-girlfriend's cyberstalking - Canada - CBC News - Court order fails to prevent comments from being posted online
When Startups Need More Lawyers Than Employees, The Patent System Isn't Working | Techdirt
Google Aims To Patent Policy Violation Checker, Potentially Revolutionizing Email Snooping

050513
Syrian regime accuses Israel of declaring war after further air strikes | World news | The Guardian - Israel's night raid on 'missiles destined for Hezbollah' deepens fears of conflict spreading beyond Syrian border across region
Israeli Warplanes Strike Syria In Escalation: Official
Kenyan Mau Mau victims in talks with UK government over legal settlement | World news | The Guardian - Payments to thousands who were tortured during 1950s insurgency could open door for other victims of British colonial rule - discovery of a vast archive of colonial-era documents which the Foreign Office (FCO) had kept hidden for decades, and which shed new and stark light on the dying days of British rule, not only in Kenya but around the empire.
Royal Society scientists angered by Prince Andrew's election as fellow | Science | The Guardian - Some of the Royal Society's 1,450 fellows are unhappy at Duke of York's election and say 'royal fellows' should be phased out - asking the wider question of whether it is time for an institution based on science to end the practice of honouring people on the basis of heredity.

Krugman "legitimizes" MMT (but needs a copy editor) | Corrente
Robert Samuelson Tells the Middle Class and Poor that They Should Stop Expecting to Have Decent Lives Because His Rich Friends Want All the Money | Beat the Press

Uncle of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev visits funeral home | World news | guardian.co.uk - Pre-burial rituals carried out as FBI continues investigations at Tsarnaev family's Cambridge home
Friend Who Had "Fling" With Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the 3 Additional Suspects: "They All Idolized Jahar" | Mother Jones - In an interview with Mother Jones, a woman who says she hooked up with Tsarnaev sheds light on him and his friends now in custody
Teenagers, social media, and terrorism: a threat level hard to assess - CSMonitor.com - Authorities are leaning more toward zero tolerance of teenagers who fling around online threats about acts of violence or terrorism. As a result, what might have once merited a slap on the wrist may today result in criminal charges.

Former FBI agent revealed that every phone conversation a US citizen engages in is recorded. "We certainly have ways in national security investigations to find out exactly what was said in that [phone] conversation. It's not necessarily something that the FBI is going to want to present in court" : technology
The NSA Is Building the Country's Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say) | Threat Level | Wired.com
NSA Data Center Brings Concerns Over Security and Privacy and Jobs - Slashdot

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XVI
Op-Ed Columnist - Joe Nocera's Blog - NYTimes.com - The Gun Report: May 3, 2013
Emotion and Reason in the Gun Debate - How influenced should we be by stories like the killing of 2-year-old Caroline Sparks?

Pigford II and the Eternal Problem of How to Prove Discrimination | Mother Jones

'Iron Man 3' Takes On Drone Strikes, Media Manipulation, And The War On Terror | ThinkProgress

Daily Beast's Ferguson Apologizes For Anti-Gay Comments | Blog | Media Matters for America
Political Animal - Today in what’s wrong with the economy: full-time writers at a hit TV show who make $500 a week and enjoy no benefits - Fashion Police. The program, which stars Joan Rivers, is one the E! network’s most popular shows. And yet its writers, who work virtually full-time (30 to 40 hours per week), are paid a measly $500 a week — with no benefits.

Solar panels could destroy U.S. utilities, according to U.S. utilities | Grist
How can we boost distributed solar and save utilities at the same time? | Grist

Letter Puts End to Persistent 'Mockingbird' Rumor : NPR - New evidence may end the decades-old speculation that Truman Capote — not Harper Lee — wrote the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Dr. Wayne Flynt, retired professor of history from Auburn University discusses the basis for the persistent rumor and explains why it is indeed false.

Suicides almost double among 50-somethings – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs
Schizophrenic. Killer. My Cousin. | Mother Jones - It's insanity to kill your father with a kitchen knife. It's also insanity to close hospitals, fire therapists, and leave families to face mental illness on their own.
MAP: Which States Have Cut Treatment For the Mentally Ill the Most? | Mother Jones
FerdThePenguinGuy comments on My coworker died in my arms today. Fuck retail, no one else knew CPR but me.

Tom Wheeler and the Coming War Over Net Neutrality : The New Yorker (Obambi's corporatism at work)
SendGrid Fires Employee After Firestorm Over Inappropriate Jokes - Slashdot

050413
Force-feeding at Guantánamo Bay puts pressure on Obama to close prison | World news | The Guardian - UN condemns force-feeding of inmates, while lawyer claims drone strikes being used as alternative to detaining suspects
Syria: massacres of Sunni families reported in Assad's heartland | World news | The Observer - President inaugurates 'martyrs' statue as fresh violence explodes in Alawite zone
Bangladesh factory collapse: rescuers find owner's gun as death toll hits 550 | World news | The Observer - Dhaka police are questioning Rana plaza owner Sohel Rana about gun licence, and have arrested structural engineer
Seven US soldiers killed in Afghanistan bomb blast | World news | guardian.co.uk - Renewed violence comes as President Hamid Karzai confirms CIA payments to Afghan government would continue
Palestine now recognised by greater power than US or Israel – Google | Technology | guardian.co.uk - Internet giant follows UN in recognising statehood, changing home page tagline from 'Palestinian territories' to 'Palestine'
Vatican 'orders Cardinal Keith O'Brien to leave Scotland' | World news | guardian.co.uk - Britain's most senior priest, who retired over inappropriate sexual conduct, has been advised against Dunbar move, report says (try Ireland)

The Rich Have Gained $5.6 Trillion in the 'Recovery,' While the Rest of Us Have Lost $669 Billion | Alternet
22 Facts That Prove That The Bottom 90 Percent Of America Is Systematically Getting Poorer - According to the Pew Research Center, the top 7 percent of all U.S. households own 63 percent of all the wealth in the country ... The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have as much wealth as the bottom one-third of all Americans combined.
The April jobs report, in 8 charts
Dow Jones Reaches 15,000 For First Time | TPM LiveWire
Harvard Professor Trashes Keynes For Homosexuality - Harvard Professor and author Niall Ferguson says John Maynard Keynes' economic philosophy was flawed and he didn't care about future generations because he was gay and didn't have children. This takes gay-bashing to new heights. It even perversely pins the full weight of the financial crisis on the gay community and the barren.
Political Animal - “There’s wrong, there’s very wrong and then there’s Niall Ferguson.”
Brad DeLong : Psychohistorical Origins of Niall Ferguson's Bizarre Remarks About John Maynard Keynes - Gertrude Himmelfarb (mother of demon spawn William Kristol)
Pankaj Mishra reviews ‘Civilisation’ by Niall Ferguson · LRB 3 November 2011

Are all telephone calls recorded and accessible to the US government? | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - A former FBI counterterrorism agent claims on CNN that this is the case - "No, welcome to America. All of that stuff is being captured as we speak whether we know it or like it or not."

California Wildfire Grows To 43 Square Miles (photos, video)

NRA’s New President Wants To Lead The ‘Culture War’ Against ‘Fake President’ Obama - “With Jim Porter, they’ve gone full crazy.”
Stella Tremblay, New Hampshire Legislator, Says Jeff Bauman 'Was Not In Pain' After Bombing
Wayne LaPierre: 'How Many Bostonians Wish They Had A Gun Two Weeks Ago?'
Five-year-old shoots and kills toddler sister with birthday present rifle – video | World news | guardian.co.uk (idiots)
Guns and Political Suicide - NYTimes.com - Conservative politicians, Broockman and Skovron argue, overestimate the conservative leanings of constituents by the largest margins – by about 20 percentage points; liberals overestimate by about 10 points; and centrist Democrats like Heitkamp overestimate by about 15 points.
A march on Washington with loaded rifles - Salon.com - A gun activist is planning a massive march on D.C., with participants' rifles illegally slung over their shoulders (the "armed rebellion" they are all expecting)

House of Un-Representatives - NYTimes.com - the great gerrymander of the people’s House — part of a brilliant, $30 million Republican action plan at the state level — has now produced a clot of retrograde politicians who are comically out of step with a majority of Americans.
Eschaton: Permission - This "permission structure" business illuminates the centrist Democrats approach to revoking the New Deal. Bi-partisan commissions, historic presidencies, hostage-taking, tribalism are all tools for obtaining permission to violate core values that poll really, really well.
Hullabaloo - Did you know the White House invented marketing? the plan seems to revolve around getting a few Republicans that other Republicans trust to sign on and then let them sell the Grand Bargain to the troops. (like a Republican from Mars)
Why Obama’s Critics Completely Dropped The Ball On The ‘Permission Structure’ | TPMDC
So about that ‘permission structure’ …

US officials claim errors in case of death row prisoner Willie Manning | World news | guardian.co.uk - Justice Department suggests evidence used to help convict Manning was flawed as officials reportedly agree to further tests (hi-tech lynching, for real)

the mask of god: Joy Division (Slayer and Slain)

Against foodies: Alison Pearlman’s Smart Casual reviewed. - Slate Magazine - An academic book about the evolution of restaurants sheds new light on the moral bankruptcy of foodie-ism.
‘Mockingbird’ Author Sues to Regain Copyright - The 87-year-old author alleges Pinkus took advantage of her declining hearing and eyesight seven years ago to get her to assign the book’s copyright to him and a company he controlled.

UK.Gov passes Instagram Act: All your pics belong to everyone now • The Register - Everyone = Silicon Valley ad platforms tech companies

050313
Syrian National Coalition claims 50 killed in new massacre | World news | The Guardian - Syrian opposition group has condemned 'large-scale massacre in Bayda' and asked for protection for country's people
Bangladesh Building Collapse Death Toll Tops 500; Engineer Whistleblower Arrested - Bangladesh's finance minister downplayed the impact of last week's factory-building collapse on his country's garment industry, saying he didn't think it was "really serious" Friday, hours after the 500th body was pulled from the debris.
Chaudhry Zulfikar Dead: Lead Pakistan Prosecutor In Benazir Bhutto Murder Case Shot To Death, Police Say

Not Enough Inflation - NYTimes.com - Fundamentally, the right wants the Fed to obsess over inflation, when the truth is that we’d be better off if the Fed paid less attention to inflation and more attention to unemployment. Indeed, a bit more inflation would be a good thing, not a bad thing.
Keynesianism today: Start by stating the argument correctly.

Balloon Juice » Long Reads: President Obama Still Wants to Close Guantanamo (Republifuckers at work)
US drone strikes being used as alternative to Guantánamo, lawyer says | World news | guardian.co.uk - Lawyer who drafted White House drone policy says US would rather kill suspects than send them to Cuban detention centre
The pro-rule of law argument against a 'drone court' - The Hill's Congress Blog

Terror Database Grows: Number Of Names In TIDE Jumped From 540,000 To 875,000 In Just 5 Years
The bad joke called 'the FISA court' shows how a 'drone court' would work | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Newly released data show that the government submitted 1,789 eavesdropping requests last year, and none was rejected

New NRA President Jim Porter - The NRA Defies The Odds - Esquire - I would be glad simply if the NRA would look at Wayne LaPierre and decide that being represented by a velociraptor in a $400 suit is not consonant with this historical moment. Maybe it's time to put a moderate face on the organization, no? ... the organization selects as its new president a neo-Confederate yahoo who counseld armed sedition and whom, on the issue of race, you don't exactly need the Enigma Machine to decode. Visit us at Esquire.com
The New NRA President Fantasizes About "Whipping" Anti-Gun Opponents

Balloon Juice » Nation’s billionaires finally get a seat at the table - Recognizing that the problem with our country today is the enormous power wielded by hotel housekeepers and second grade teachers, President Obama has nominated a fierce advocate for billionaires to head Commerce:

Markey starts general with 4 point lead - Public Policy Polling
Ed Markey Massachusetts Senate Race - Ed Markey Hits The Trail - Esquire - For decades, Eddie Markey labored under the shadow of the Allegedly Smartest Man in Congress. Whatever Markey did, it was eclipsed by the cubic zirconia brilliance of Barney Frank. Frank was sharp, to be sure - even broken glass can catch the light and cut - and funny.

The Drought And Religion - Praying For Rain And For Common Sense - Esquire - The ongoing drought remains our most thoroughly ignored environmental story, and it is ignored even as an adjunct to the coverage of the Great Climate Change Hoax, but, boy howdy, religious fervor will get you in the newspapers.
National Day of Reason backlash: Penny Nance blames the Holocaust on reason on Fox news.

Fox's Andrea Tantaros On Plan B: "Is The Obama Daughter, Malia, Going To Go On Birth Control?" | Video | Media Matters for America

Howard Kurtz Had Larger Daily Download Role Than Other Advisory Board Members
Hollywood conservative unmasked as notorious Holocaust revisionist | World news | guardian.co.uk - Republican Party Animals operator David Stein says he is really David Cole, and that he still holds controversial views

Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community - 16 year old Kiera Wilmot, a Florida student who mixed toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil in a small plastic bottle on school grounds

What the F*ck is Katie Roiphe Talking About? | Corey Robin

Consumption of artificially and sugar-sweetened beverages and incident type 2 diabetes in the Etude Epidémiologique auprès des femmes de la Mutuelle Générale de l'Education Nationale–European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort

The WHO - I Can See For Miles (1968) - YouTube
The Who - Wont Get Fooled Again - YouTube
Allman Brothers & Berry Oakley 1972 - YouTube

050213
Guantanamo Hunger Strike Lays Bare Detainees' Growing Desperation
Bangladesh Building Collapse Death Toll Rises To 430, Many Still Missing
Bangladesh’s Are Only the Latest in Textile Factory Disasters - NYTimes.com - In this way, for the last 200 years, garment manufacturing has flowed from ethnicity to ethnicity, as well as from region to region, from New England to the Middle Atlantic states, from North to South. Each group, when it begins to demand more accountability and a living wage, is discarded.
Balloon Juice » One Reason It’s Hard to Write About the Bangladesh Factory Disaster - A jury on Wednesday awarded a total of $240 million to 32 mentally disabled turkey processing plant workers in Iowa for what an expert witness described as years of “virtual enslavement” by the Texas company that oversaw their care, work and lodging

Reinhart, Rogoff Backing Furiously Away From Austerity Movement - They claim that their views on austerity have never changed, but the record tells a different story. They're still trying to have it both ways -- advocating for government belt-tightening while trying to avoid being seen as political.
The systemic plight of labor | Felix Salmon - total US wages as a proportion of total US GDP — a number which continues to hit all-time lows. Blodget also puts up the converse chart — corporate profits as a percentage of GDP. That line, you won’t be surprised to hear, is hitting new all-time highs.

Kentucky Rifles For Children - The Worst Quote Of The Day - Esquire - A five-year-old boy in the southern US state of Kentucky has accidentally shot dead his two-year-old sister at the family home. He had received the rifle, specially made for children, as a gift last year.

Medicaid Expansion: Oregon study shows benefits, mostly. | New Republic - A report indicates just how important it can be in improving poor people's lives
Scott Walker's Jobs Problem - Mad Times In Madison - Esquire - Those are the numbers provided by the U.S. Chamber Of Commerce, which is basically a trade organization for oligarchs. And they show that Walker has managed to place Wisconsin dead freaking last in short-term job growth and 44th out of 50 states in its overall ranking.
From a mental hospital in Las Vegas, he's dispatched by bus to Sacramento - Sacramento City News - The Sacramento Bee - Patient dumping – some call it "bus therapy" – has been an ongoing problem for shelters across the country. In recent years, Los Angeles city officials have successfully prosecuted several cases of hospitals "dumping" patients onto Skid Row, arguing that the acts violate laws against abuse of dependent adults and even false imprisonment. A relatively new federal law prohibits shipping sick patients from one location to another before confirming they have a place to live and get treatment.

U.S. to Defend Age Limits on Morning-After Pill Sales - NYTimes.com - The Justice Department’s decision to appeal is in line with the views of dozens of conservative, anti-abortion groups who do not want contraceptives made available to young girls. But the decision was criticized by advocates for women’s reproductive health and abortion rights who cite years of scientific research saying the drug is safe and effective for all ages. (still chasing his crazy Republican daddies)
Obama Administration Plan B Appeal Draws Criticism From Reproductive Rights Groups
Hey, FDA: Drop the Plan B Age Restriction | The Nation
Of Judges and Judging - NYTimes.com - If you read only one judicial opinion this year, you might consider skipping the Supreme Court entirely and going right to a decision issued early this month by Judge Edward R. Korman of Federal District Court in Brooklyn. The ruling ordered the Obama administration to lift age restrictions on the over-the-counter availability of emergency contraception
Obama’s half-dose of Plan B - Salon.com - Emergency contraception being made available for those 15 and up may sound like a victory. But here's why it's not

Talking Points Memo | Breaking News and Analysis | TPM (Tina fired his lying ass)
Balloon Juice » Don’t Let the Door Hit Ya - For those of you keeping score, that means that Tina Brown, magazine killer, has more integrity than CNN

How Cooper Union Gave Up by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly - the reason Cooper Union is charging tuition has to do with some very specific, and very bad financial decisions the school made in recent years.
The tragedy of Cooper Union | Felix Salmon

J.C. Penney Pricing Disaster Destroyed Employee Morale (clothes not iPhones)

Study links insecticide use to invertebrate die-offs | Environment | The Guardian - Dutch research reveals correlation between water polluted with imidacloprid and low numbers of aquatic insects
White House warned on imminent Arctic ice death spiral | Nafeez Ahmed | Environment | guardian.co.uk - National security officials worried by rapid loss of Arctic summer sea ice overlook threat of permanent global food shortages
How climate scientists are being framed | Graham Readfearn | Environment | guardian.co.uk - To turn the public off climate change, right-wing media is blaming scientists for hurting kids and being puppets of totalitarianism
Belief in biblical end-times stifling climate change action in U.S.: study | The Raw Story - the fact that such an overwhelming percentage of Republican citizens profess a belief in the Second Coming (76 percent in 2006, according to our sample) suggests that governmental attempts to curb greenhouse emissions would encounter stiff resistance even if every Democrat in the country wanted to curb them,” (every person in America with half a brain)

The 8 Most Wildly Irresponsible Vintage Toys | Cracked.com

Facebook profits rise despite drop in US users | Technology | guardian.co.uk - Number of unique visitors falls in US and remains static in UK, but social media site's profits show healthy growth
Microsoft Shipped 900,000 Surface Tablets in First Quarter, Says IDC - John Paczkowski - Mobile - AllThingsD

Microsoft said to be planning next-gen Surface announcement for June | The Verge
Intel’s high-performance, low-power secret: the Haswell SoC | Ars Technica
Intel’s “Iris” wants to change how you feel about integrated graphics | Ars Technica

050113
Bangladesh Building Collapse: Protesters Demand Worker Safety As Death Toll Tops 400
Happy Anniversary, Dumbass - Esquire - Most of the 300,000 deaths in that war occurred after he flew his plane and told his lies. Most of the billions of dollars wasted were wasted after he landed on the flight deck and got the pundits all moist. And this is what happened in Iraq today.
Iraq Violence Kills 460 In April

Banks Criticize Strict Controls for Foreign Bets - NYTimes.com (because Obama made them immune from laws)
Federal Reserve Sticks To Stimulus Plan, Warns 'Fiscal Policy Is Restraining Economic Growth'

GOP Census Bill Would Eliminate America's Economic Indicators (GOP Census Bill Would Eliminate America's Economic Indicators (no facts for you, baby)
Check Out Who's Hiding $32 Trillion in Offshore Accounts - Money Morning

Three additional people taken into custody in Boston Marathon bombings - Boston.com
Most want death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev if he is convicted of Boston bombing - The Washington Post - Most Americans, 74 percent, also back the decision to try Tsarnaev in the federal court system instead of a military tribunal. (who are these "American" pussies, anyway)
Katherine Russell, Boston Bombing Suspect's Widow, Wants Tamerlan Tsarnaev's Body Released

Kelly Ayotte Confronted Over Background Checks Vote By Erica Lafferty, Newtown Victim's Daughter
Gun Control Armed Revolution Poll - One Of Us Is Crazy And I Don't Think It's Me - Esquire - Eighteen percent of Democrats said an armed revolt "might be necessary," as compared to 27 percent of independents and 44 percent of Republicans. Support levels were similar among males and females but higher among less educated voters.

Permission Slips - Esquire - Perhaps the most important moment of the president's press conference today was his introduction of the term, "permission structure" to Our National Dialogue, and specifically in the context of trying to get Republican members of Congress to remember that they were not elected to be drive-time AM radio talk-show hosts ... To borrow a line from Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail, the Republican members of the House are the fking base, motherfker.
David Brooks and the Role of Opinion Journalism -- Daily Intelligencer - The latest offensive, or counter-offensive, in the passive-aggressive Cold War between David Brooks and Paul Krugman has taken the form of an entire Brooks column not very subtly lambasting Krugman as a tired partisan hack while justifying his own work as thoughtful, elevated, and intellectually independent.
Political Animal - The Bus Whose Passengers Don’t Mind Running Off the Road - Tea Folk dominate the rank-and-file Republican Party—representing about half its members and well over half of its activist energy (and probably primary voting)—but don’t much give a damn about the GOP as anything other than as an instrument for the advancement of their very conservative ideological views (on social as well as fiscal and economic policy). (and getting crazier)

FDA's Plan B on Plan B Is Still Not Good Enough - The Obama administration modified its Plan B policy yet again, making over-the-counter emergency contraceptives available for all women over age 15. But the age limit—even if lower—remains completely irrational. (Obama never gives up on stupid ideas)
DOJ Appealing Judge's Morning-After Pill Order On Age Limits (what, exactly, is the political point?)

Justice Denied - For Misdemeanor Cases, Trials Are Elusive - NYTimes.com - How 60 Days Turn Into 600 in a Misdemeanor Case (American "justice" and the 6th Amendment)
Chris Christie Comes Out For Good Samaritan Drug-Overdose Bill - Christie's decision to reverse his earlier opposition to the bill paved the way for a compromise measure to pass the state Senate and Assembly by overwhelming bipartisan margins on Monday. New Jersey will join 11 other states and the District of Columbia, which have similar laws, if he signs the bill as expected.

Howard Kurtz Indignantly Accuses Jason Collins Of Not Disclosing Thing He Actually Totally Disclosed (this hurts)

Ground Turkey Study Finds More Than Half Of Samples Contaminated With Fecal Bacteria

Environmental Racism? Toxic Gowanus Sludge Is Heading For Red Hook: Gothamist (the rich ship their shit to poor neighborhoods)

Anne Frank's Diary Too 'Pornographic' For 7th-Grade Students, Claims Michigan Parent - , Gail Horalek filed a formal complaint with the district (way to make yourself famous on the internets for your stupdity, Gail)

The tragedy of Cooper Union | Felix Salmon

Skeleton of teenage girl confirms cannibalism at Jamestown colony - The Washington Post

Physicists Attempt to Measure Gravitational Mass of Antihydrogen | Physics | Sci-News.com - the first direct measurement of gravity’s effect on antimatter, specifically antihydrogen in free fall.

Are Gay Guys Checking You Out in the Locker Room? - NBA player Jason Collins’s decision to come out has homophobes in a panic. Here’s why straight dudes need to chill out

What is the most mysterious/paranormal thing you've witnessed? : AskReddit
The Matrix Revisited - 2001 - YouTube

FCC chairman nominee: Tom Wheeler expected to get nod | BGR (typical Obama move)
reddit's privacy policy has been rewritten from the ground up - come check it out : blog

043013
President says 'I don't want these individuals to die' as medical team arrives in Cuba to keep striking protesters alive
Israel assassinates Palestinian 'bomb-maker' as Jewish settler knifed to death | World news | guardian.co.uk - First targeted killing by Israel this year and death of hardline settler likely to frustrate US efforts at restarting peace talks
Hezbollah is helping Assad fight Syria uprising, says Hassan Nasrallah | World news | guardian.co.uk - Leader of Lebanese group hints that Russia and Iran would intervene militarily, declaring that Syria has 'real friends' in region

The Beatings Must Continue - NYTimes.com - Sometimes economists in official positions give bad advice; sometimes they give very, very bad advice; and sometimes they work at the OECD - it also demanded that the US start raising interest rates rapidly, so as to head off the threat of inflation — even though its own models showed no such threat. (suffering for suffering's sake)
Cyprus parliament votes to accept controversial €10bn EU-IMF bailout | World news | guardian.co.uk - Officials greet result with relief as deal drafted amid calls for island to exit eurozone is passed by majority of just two votes


President Obama's budget puts House Democrats in bind - politico.com

Mayor Bloomberg Equates Civil Rights Group Fighting Stop-And-Frisk With Gun Lobby 'Extremists' | ThinkProgress
Governor Explains Away Poor Jobs Numbers: Most Unemployed People Are On Drugs | ThinkProgress - Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) is facing an uphill fight for re-election (my state is full of methhead moochers)
How James O’Keefe Seeks to Rally the Troops -- New York Magazine - The Breitbart protégé is hunting for some like-minded compatriots.

Radioactive Water Imperils Fukushima Plant - NYTimes.com
Ex-Regulator Says Nuclear Reactors in United States Are Flawed - NYTimes.com - All 104 nuclear power reactors now in operation in the United States have a safety problem that cannot be fixed and they should be replaced with newer technology (but it can't happen here)

Congress tries to reset science grants, wants every one to be “groundbreaking” | Ars Technica - If lawmakers get their way, research like recent Higgs findings could disappear.
China is plundering the planet’s seas—and it’s doing it 12.5 times more than it’s telling anybody - Quartz
Researchers find high-fructose corn syrup may be tied to worldwide collapse of bee colonies
Obama: Science funding shouldn't be 'subject to politics' - Science
Don't Let Patents Kill 3D Printing | Techdirt

U-T San Diego's Alleged Pro-GOP Campaign Ad Pricing Scheme Sparks State Review | Blog | Media Matters for America

Conservative US shoppers turned off by eco-friendly lightbulbs, study finds | Environment | guardian.co.uk - Consumer research finds conservative shoppers avoid purchasing an item associated with protecting the environment (they WANT the world to go to hell)
Climate change inaction the fault of environmental groups, report says | Environment | guardian.co.uk - Environmental groups overlooked growing opposition to environmental protections among conservatives voters and, underestimated the rising force of the Tea Party, believing – wrongly, as it turned out – they could still somehow win over Republican members of Congress through "insider grand bargaining". (sounds a little familiar; see, the "environmentalists" are to blame because they underestimated the insanity of Republicans)

finpap.htm - Online Stings: High Tech Entrapment or Innovative Law Enforcement?
FBI Arrests Anyone Who Even Clicks On Child Porn. Fair? / Queerty
FBI Child Porn Sting and Entrapment Concerns - Goldtalk Forum - FBI Child Porn Sting and Entrapment Concerns

Facebook Rejects Ad Highlighting Zuckerberg Group's Support For Keystone XL | ThinkProgress

042913
CIA and MI6 ghost money may fuel Afghan corruption, say diplomats | World news | The Guardian - Failure of peace initiatives raises questions over whether British eagerness for political settlement may have been exploited (US largest source of corruption in Afganistan)
CIA Bribes Karzai: Millions In 'Ghost Money' Paid To Afghanistan President's Office, New York Times Reports
Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community - What? Afghanistan doesn't have direct deposit? A bank account in Cyprus won't do?
How the CIA's Bags of Cash Undermined the Afghanistan War | Danger Room | Wired.com

Libya faces growing Islamist threat | World news | The Guardian - Diplomats warn that militants squeezed out of Mali by western intervention are hitting targets in Tripoli
Gun runner No. 1 | War of Ideas (Usa! USA!)
Lawfare › A Crash Course on Chechnya and Kyrgyzstan
Information Dissemination: Strength in Numbers: The Remarkable Potential of (really) Small Combatants - Strength in Numbers: The Remarkable Potential of (really) Small Combatants

The era of austerity is over (for now) - Iqaluit 2010 as the moment of the pivot toward austerity; some future book may well pinpoint Washington, 2013—that is, the IMF and World Bank spring meetings that ended a week ago—as a similar turning point in global economics
Democrats ask: What debt crisis? - Ben White and Tarini Parti - Politico.com - This group got a huge boost this month with the very public demolition of a sacred text of the austerity movement, the 2010 paper by a pair of Harvard professors arguing that once debt exceeds 90 percent of a country’s gross domestic product, it crushes economic growth.

Guantánamo Bay hunger strike prompts arrival of medical back-up | World news | guardian.co.uk - US military confirms presence of 40-strong team as 21 of 100 detainees refusing food are approved for force-feeding

Report: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's repeated requests for a lawyer were ignored | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - There is zero legal or ethical justification for denying a suspect in custody this fundamental right
Michael McCaul: Boston Bombings Device 'Leads Me To Believe' There Was A Trainer Involved (dimbulb Republican never heard of "the internets")
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, Mother Of Bomb Suspect, Insists Sons Are Innocent - But Zubeidat Tsarnaeva is drawing increased attention after federal officials say Russian authorities intercepted her phone calls, including one in which she vaguely discussed jihad with her elder son.
FBI Locates Misha Tsarnaev - Something You Should Read Because Nobody Else Will - Esquire - Apparently, the FBIM has located "Misha," the mysterious red-headed Armenian who, according to the surviving Tsarnaevs, whom many people suddenly believe on this subject and this subject alone, was the man who radicalized Tamerlan Tsarnaev and lit the fire in what we can loosely be called his brain that sent him and his brother off to blow up the finish line at the Boston Marathon.
Guy Confronts Boston Conspiracy Theorists - YouTube

Sandra Day O'Connor Doubts Decision To Take Bush V. Gore (rot in hell, evil bitch)
After Casting Key Fifth Vote For Bush, Justice O'Connor Now Regrets Bush v. Gore | ThinkProgress
A Day Late, Several Trillion Dollars Short - Lawyers, Guns & Money (not to mention all those dead people)

House Republicans Eyeing New Hostage Opportunity -- Daily Intelligencer - “The debt limit might be raised for only a few months, with the promise of another increase when tax reform legislation passes the Senate.” ("reform" = cuts for the rich)

Political Animal - The Optimist’s Case For Obamacare Implementation
Scalia’s understanding of the Voting Rights Act is shortsighted - The Washington Post - The act protects all voters, especially in the states and districts covered by Section 5, from any obstacles that might be put in their way. That was true in 1966 and remains true today as efforts to suppress the minority vote continue. Scalia needs to do his homework before the court determines the act’s future.
Supreme Court Rejects Alabama Immigration Law Appeal - Justice Antonin Scalia voted to hear the state's appeal.

Fired LAPD officers seek reviews of their cases in wake of Dorner rampage | World news | guardian.co.uk - The requests have put the department's disciplinary procedures under scrutiny. Many officers feel that there are genuine problems of institutional racism and capriciousness in the force.

Lamar Smith, GOP Push Politicization Of Scientific Research (only Republican "facts" allowed)
The First Casualty of the National Science Foundation Funding Cut for Political Science | Robert Kelly — Asian Security Blog - 2. Find a way to communicate with conservatives. This will be very hard, but it should be pretty obvious to everyone now that American conservatives have really come to dislike academia.

Preschool Funding Reached 'State Of Emergency' In 2012: NIEER Report - Between the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years, pre-K spending on state programs dropped by more than $548 million overall, and $442 per student (to $3,841) when adjusted for inflation, according to the report. (make the little moochers get jobs)
Meals On Wheels Sequestration Cuts Taking Effect (let them eat rocks)

If It Smells Like a Skunk… | EduShyster - According to the Detroit News, a secret work group that includes top aides to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has been working to come up with a model for so-called “value schools

Enlisting a Virtual Pack, to Study Canine Minds - NYTimes.com ("dognition")

Coding Horror: Revisiting the Black Sunday Hack

042813
Factory Collapse in Bangladesh Exposes Cracks in the System - Working In These Times - the body count at Rana Plaza is about 300 and rising, with hundreds more workers still unaccounted for, and the 72-hour emergency window for recovering trapped people alive almost gone

The Economy Is Heading the Wrong Way - NYTimes.com - The budget fights have endured even as the intellectual arguments for near-term deficit reduction have collapsed. They have endured even as the economies that have enforced budget cuts most strenuously have contracted, notably in Britain and in much of the rest of Europe. And they endure even as the United States remains impaired by fiscal wounds that are, unfortunately and undeniably, self-inflicted. (if you count "Republicans" as your self)

Political Animal - QOTD: Henry Farrell (channeling John Holbo) on the Reinhart-Rogoff Two-Step
Would it not be easier for Matt Yglesias to dissolve the Bangladeshi people and elect another? — Crooked Timber
      Et tu, Mr. Destructo?: Destructo Salon: Does Matthew Yglesias Enjoy Murder?
Crimethink - Matt Yglesias' glib reaction to factory collapse is neoliberal self-parody

The Great Degrader - NYTimes.com - Bush brought an unprecedented level of systematic dishonesty to American political life, and we may never recover ... we thought we could trust them not to lie about fundamental matters. That time is now behind us — and it was Bush who did it.
Political Animal - What was the single worst thing about George W. Bush’s presidency? - the Bush regime’s most reprehensible acts were probably the torture and the other grotesque abuses of civil liberties and human rights they perpetrated — all in the name of national security.
Jon Stewart on George W. Bush library | TPMDC - ‘The Hard Rock Cafe Of Catastrophic Policy Decisions

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XV

Russia Caught Tamerlan Tsarnaev On Wiretap

President Obama at the 2014 White House Correspondents Dinner | Video Cafe
FishbowlDC Writes Eight Million Word Hit Piece About Party They Got Thrown Out Of, For Journalism
‘Red Alert’ for Eddie Scarry, FishbowlDC Butt Snapper | Observer - D.C. blogger photographs rear ends and tweets about 'date rape' and 'whore' female reporter

Ricin Letters Might Have Been Clumsy Frame-Up, Script Treatment For Coen Brothers Movie


Political Animal - Dartmouth College equates rape threats with anti-rape protests; threatens to discipline the anti-rape protesters - Dartmouth is threatening to discipline both the anti-rape protesters and the students who have made rape and death threats against those protesters. Nice!

Who's covering local climates? : Columbia Journalism Review - A new, interactive map from the Earth Journalism Network has details
New Interactive Map Tracks Climate Change News in the US | Internews
Sea surface temperatures reach highest level in 150 years - Sea surface temperatures in the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem during 2012 were the highest recorded in 150 years

Swans Commentary: Student Debt or Freedom?, by Manuel García, Jr. - mgarci64

Sundays With The Christianists: A Biology Textbook For A Very Young Earth (America: free to be stupid)

042613
Obama: proof of Syrian chemical weapons would be 'game-changer' | World news | guardian.co.uk - President says US allies 'could not permit the use of chemical weapons' but stops short of saying red line had been crossed
Moscow hospital fire turns spotlight on Russia's terrible safety record | World news | The Guardian - Russia's health minister denies reports patients had been tied to their beds after fire sweeps through Pyschiatric Hospital No 14
Hundreds of thousands of Bangladesh’s garment workers walk out in protest over factory deaths | The Raw Story
Major Retailers Rejected Bangladesh Factory Safety Plan
International factory safety. (we call them "plantations")

The 1 Percent’s Solution - NYTimes.com - At this point, the austerian position has imploded; not only have its predictions about the real world failed completely, but the academic research invoked to support that position has turned out to be riddled with errors, omissions and dubious statistics. To the extent that we have policy of the 1 percent, by the 1 percent, for the 1 percent, won’t we just see new justifications for the same old policies? (lies, lies, and more lies)
Reinhart and Rogoff Are Not Being Straight | Beat the Press - Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff, used their second NYT column in a week, to complain about how they are being treated. Their complaint deserves tears from crocodiles everywhere.
Rogoff and Reinhart should show some remorse and reconsider austerity | Heidi Moore | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - It's disingenuous to claim their error is just an 'academic kerfuffle'. Reinhart and Rogoff sold debt-cutting to governments hard
Page1.pdf - Democracy and the Policy Preferences of Wealthy Americans (they don't give a shit about deficits, just want to destroy the country)
Academic Non-Obscurity - NYTimes.com - Robert Samuelson tries to minimize the significance of the Reinhart-Rogoff affair; and that, I realized, offers an interesting window into why, in fact, the affair matters so much.
How influential was the Rogoff-Reinhart study warning that high debt kills growth? – Quartz - “Absolutely,” Rogoff said. “Not acting moves the risk closer,” he explained, because every year of not acting adds another year of debt accumulation. “You have very few levers at this point,” he warned us .
Ken Langone Paul Krugman Rant - Business Insider (teh stupid is burning)

US economic growth quickens but misses forecasts as cuts kick in | Business | guardian.co.uk - GDP grew at 2.5% in first quarter as consumer spending increased, but government cuts continue to hold back recovery (austerity always works)

What Went Wrong in West, Texas — and Where Were the Regulators? - ProPublica

Senators Quietly Seek a New Path on Gun Control - NYTimes.com
Pat Toomey Approval Rises After Gun Control Stand: Poll
US schools weigh bulletproof uniforms: 'It's no different than a seatbelt in a car' | World news | The Guardian - As gun control legislation grinds to halt in Washington, parents and teachers are taking matters into their own hands

Even The FBI Not Immune To Swirl Of Bad Info In Tsarnaev Case | TPMMuckraker
Finally, a Clearer Picture of the Chaotic Shootout in Watertown Emerges - Adam Clark Estes - The Atlantic Wire
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, Bombing Suspect's Mom, Also On Terror List (for terrorizing L&T)
Tsarnaev's Parents and Their Conspiracy Campaign Have Gone into Hiding - Alexander Abad-Santos - The Atlantic Wire
Boston Magazine's Heart-Shaped Shoes: The Story Behind the Beautiful Cover - Esther Zuckerman - The Atlantic Wire
Jon Stewart Takes Fox News to Warp Speed on Boston Bombing Trial - Esther Zuckerman - The Atlantic Wire

Putin Says Russia’s Boston Bombing Tip Didn’t Have ‘Operative Significance | TPMDC - Putin also declared that Americans who want to see the surviving suspect branded a “prisoner of war” have “completely lost their marbles.” (zing)
FAA Furloughs: Senate Reaches Deal To Avoid Air Traffic Delays
How To Lose The Sequestration Fight | TPM Editors Blog - Last night, the Senate proved it can fix big problems for real Americans — so long as they’re rich, or relatively rich, or fly for business or what have you.
12 Programs Congress Refuses To Save From Automatic Spending Cuts | ThinkProgress (you know, the ones rich people don't need)
Senate Democrats Save Air Travelers and GOP from the Sequester | New Republic
Democrats ‘Lost’ Sequestration Two Years Ago -- Daily Intelligencer (when Obama let them take him hostage)
Cantor Celebrates GOP Victory In Sequestration Fight | TPMDC
News from The Associated Press
New Effort To Curb Too Big To Fail Creates Strange Bedfellows | TPMDC - “It’s clear there’s too much Wall Street in this administration,” he told me during a Thursday interview in his Capitol Hill office.
Elite conventional wisdom is losing on Social Security - Salon.com - The crowd calling for cutting benefits is being overtaken by another movement: A proposal to expand the program

50 Reasons You Despised George W. Bush's Presidency
George Bush Library Opening - The George Bush Manure Locker Is Now Open - Esquire - the Creation Museum is more honest in its crackpot interpretation of history than another manure locker that happens to be opening today. And the courtier media is preparing once again to disgrace itself in the kind of epic fashion it has not displayed since rolling over for C-Plus Augustus and the Avignon Presidency in 2002.
Bush family furiously selling itself to Americans once again - Salon.com - George W. Bush's mess of a presidency is whitewashed as Jeb airs out some unpleasant past business of his own
Balloon Juice » Too soon? Yep. Too soon. - In a post entitled “George W. Bush is smarter than you,” someone named Keith Hennessey, the former director of the George W. Bush National Economics Council (which is like being the Emeritus Chair of the Sarah Palin Center for Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Peggy Noonan George W Bush Library - Today The Bottle Let Peggy Noonan Down - Esquire - Today's delusional episode concerns the opening of the Great Manure Locker down in Dallas yesterday, and la Noonan apparently feels beset again by the current's president's education, his use of multisyllabic words, and his disinclination to give her his foot to fondle. This has set the bats aloft in her overly populated belfry again. (+Barry Friedman)
How George P Bush becomes president – once he learns how to make a speech and answer questions | Trail Blazers Blog

Poor parenting -- including overprotection -- increases bullying risk
Baby dies from whooping cough in Orange Co. | www.wftv.com - Officials said the family chose not to vaccinate their child. Some parents are choosing not to fully vaccinate their children because they worry there is a link between the vaccinations and autism.
Roundup, An Herbicide, Could Be Linked To Parkinson's, Cancer And Other Health Issues, Study Shows

New York Times paywall growth slows : Columbia Journalism Review - But it remains to be seen whether that’s a one-quarter blip or the new normal

'Catastrophic Threat': UK Government Calls Antibiotic Resistance a 'Ticking Time Bomb' | Wired Science | Wired.com

New wave of 'superbugs' poses dire threat, says chief medical officer | Society | The Guardian = Warning over rising death toll as antibiotics fail to tackle rising incidence of 'gram negative' bacterial diseases
Antibiotics and drug resistance: how do we compare? | News | guardian.co.uk (Greeks eat them for breakfast)
The Gonorrhea Doomsday Is Nigh - Alexander Abad-Santos - The Atlantic Wire - British doctors who devote their careers to studying The Clap are warning that the disease could be completely untreatable sooner than the U.S. elects a new president.
Balloon Juice » Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid - t Vancomycin, a pretty damn nasty drug, originally discovered in 1953 but largely shelved until it became a drug-of-choice as a last line of defense against largely intractable MRSA
Vancomycin: A 50-Year Reassessment - 50 years after its discovery, vancomycin remains an interesting and even somewhat controversial agent.

'Sirius' Documentary Reveals DNA Test Results On Ata, The '6-Inch Alien'

George Jones - He Stopped Loving Her Today - YouTube
George Jones - If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me - YouTube

The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - How Twitter Impacts Voting
Hullabaloo - Mark Zuckerberg moves his empire to Galt's Gulch - In other words, Mark Zuckerberg is a Republican as are, apparently, all his tech pals who are putting their cash to work for conservative causes. Just like all the other greedhead billionaire assholes.
CISPA Is Dead, Long Live CISPA - Adam Clark Estes - The Atlantic Wire - After stirring up trouble for months, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) died a quiet death in the Senate on Thursday (zombie bill will rise again)
LivingSocial Hacked, Cyber Attack Affects Millions Of Customers' Information - LivingSocial, the second-largest daily deal company behind Groupon Inc, said on Friday that it was hit by a cyber attack that may have affected more than 50 million customers.
So I saw this thing today. : pics (Peacemaker Bus)

042513
Bangladesh building collapse: 40 people found alive in rubble | World news | guardian.co.uk - Police in Dhaka say factories were told to evacuate building 24 hours before collapse due to cracks appearing in walls
China's Leadership is Really, Really Rich - Matt Schiavenza - The Atlantic - One need not wonder why official corruption is such a concern there. (this can't work out well)

Spain Unemployment Hits Record High On Recession Fears (oh, who could have predicted austerity would cause a recession?)

Boston suspects planned attack on New York City, Mayor Bloomberg says | World news | guardian.co.uk - Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said to have told FBI investigators of plan to drive to New York and detonate explosives in Times Square
Today Along Mount Auburn Street - Esquire -
Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosions - The Other Explosions - Esquire -
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Unarmed - Today With The Brothers Tsarnaev - Esquire -
NRA and Boston Marathon Bombing: Will Wayne LaPierre Defend Bombs? | New Republic - Will Wayne LaPierre defend every American's right to build a pressure-cooker bomb?

Why do people hate deficits? (they're stupid)

Why Big Cities Make Media Liberal—and Why the Koch Brothers Can't Do Anything About It - Garance Franke-Ruta - The Atlantic - Newspapers are the ultimate product of urban space.
Balloon Juice » Seriousness sells, but who’s buying? - .it’s amazing how many more followers NYT columnists have than WaPo columnists do.
Harold Meyerson: What would the Koch brothers do to the Los Angeles Times? - The Washington Post

Drug Control Strategy A Bust, GAO Report Says (our profoundly Repubican Pres)

Many Men and Many Women: How a Sect Redefined Marriage 165 Years Ago - Noah Berlatsky - The Atlantic - America has a long history of experimenting with the ancient institution - Oneida community

042413
Matalan supplier among manufacturers in Bangladesh building collapse | World news | guardian.co.uk - Manufacturer housed in building that collapsed – killing at least 76 – previously supplied discount fashion chain - At least 76 garment workers have been confirmed dead
Suspect in alleged Canadian terror plot claims charges 'based on appearances' | World news | guardian.co.uk - Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser accused of conspiring to derail passenger train and receiving guidance from al-Qaida
New bird flu strain 'more easily caught by humans' than 2003 outbreak | World news | guardian.co.uk - WHO official says H7N9, which has infected more than 100 people in China, is one of most lethal flu viruses
Easter Rising Anniversary Ireland - Happy Anniversary, Ireland - Esquire - Anyway, the Easter Rising was 97 years ago today. An Poblacht Abú, y'all.

The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Climate Change Is Not an Environmental Issue

Holding Corporations Responsible for Workplace Deaths - Lawyers, Guns & Money : We don’t hear too many stories anymore like last week’s fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, where the death toll has now risen to 15. This is because we have outsourced our industrial risk to Asia and Latin America.

The Snicker Factor - NYTimes.com
The Colbert Report 04/23/13 Stephen Colbert interviews Thomas Herndon - YouTube
Brad DeLong : Marking My Beliefs About Which Economists Mark Their Beliefs to Market to Market - whitelist of economists whom one should presume are to be taken seriously--because they have a coherent framework for looking at the world, and have broadly been correct in their forecasts since the world changed in 2007. It consists of:

Fox News Attacks Muslims Relentlessly In Wake Of Boston Bombing (and Tom Brokaw joins in)
'Cape Fear,' and Our Fear | The Nation - Instead, the nation has surrendered to an inherently right-wing idea, one that I’ve written of here in the context of the gun control debate: the notion that the world is easily parsed into god guys and bad guys,
Read Him His Rights - The capture of bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev presents an opportunity to show that fighting terrorism doesn't require abandoning the Constitution.
Whiskey Fire: This One Is on the House, This One Is Better Than Ever - A debate about civil rights, the law, & terrorism is occuring. Everyone wants to hear from John Yoo!
The 11 Most Mystifying Things the Tsarnaev Brothers Did | Mother Jones
More Information Out On Tsarnaev Brothers Partying - The Stupid (And The Deadly) Was Strong In These Ones - Esquire - Give points to Uncle Ruslan — And are we sure yet that he's really their uncle? Did anyone, you know, check? — because he called it early. The Brothers Tsarnaev were a pair of losers.
The Boston Attack Has Nothing to Do With Immigration Reform - Bloomberg
Tsarnaev Brothers Welfare - Enemies With Benefits - Esquire - Up here, the city's plucky little tabloid, and one of the blog's several alma maters, is having itself a fit of genuine shit because Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and various other Tsarnaevs, collected some government benefits

Gun Background Check Bill Lost, But Backlash Has Only Just Begun | New Republic - Senator Kelly Ayotte’s vote against legislation to expand background checks for gun purchases.
Kelly Ayotte's Approval Rating Plunges After Vote Against Gun Background Checks - Sunday’s Portsmouth Herald headlined its editorial: "If you want gun control, vote Ayotte out of office."

Illinois River floodwaters top 70-year record: 'That's our nightmare' | World news | guardian.co.uk - Rivers across midwestern states cresting at record-high levels as firefighters fear fuel leaks will cause secondary disaster

Rhode Island Gay Marriage Bill Passes Senate, Governor Says He Will Sign

This Photo Shows How Much Politicians Care About The Long-Term Unemployment Crisis - Business Insider - Even as the economy improves, a huge block of workers is becoming shut out of the work force, damaging society and its long-term potential. It's a much bigger deal than the debt, or any other economic issue. (Obama and his corporate bosses could give a shit)
Immigration Reform Is All About Families - Obama will achieve the dubious milestone of 2 million deportations by next year -- much sooner than President George W. Bush, who took eight years to reach the 2 million mark (Obama hates immigrants, and for what purpose?)
Eric Schneiderman Challenges Obama Administration Over Mortgage Investigations - r not aggressively investigating dodgy mortgage deals that helped trigger the financial crisis, according to senators and congressional aides who met with him this month.
Harry Reid: 'Republicans Like The Pain' Of Sequestration Budget Cuts

The Great Mulligan - Esquire - There has been some low hilarity, and one high crime against history and memory, attending the sudden reappearence on the scene of C-Plus Augustus, the previous president of these United States.
Adam Savader, Former Mitt Romney Campaign Intern, Arrested In Alleged Sexual Extortion Scheme - 21-year-old Adam Savader was arrested in Great Neck, N.Y. on Tuesday by the FBI. He was charged with cyberstalking and blackmailing women online, according to authorities.

Newt Gingrich on CNN Crossfire - Things In Politico That Make Me Want To Guzzle Antifreeze, Part The Infinity - Esquire - Dear lord, the stench of decay is stronger around CNN these days than it is around the average whale that beaches itself on the Cape in August ... Is there no end to Gingrich's ability to grift himself some coin from the mainstream media suckers he otherwise derides?
CNN hires failed gimmick king - Salon.com - After years of awful ratings, the network is handing its reins to Jeff Zucker -- the man who destroyed NBC (Nov 2012)

Turbulence at The Times - POLITICO.com Print View - The executive editor of The New York Times was upset about the paper’s recent news coverage — she felt it wasn’t “buzzy” enough, a source there said — and placed blame on Baquet, her managing editor. A debate ensued, which gave way to an argument.
Jill Abramson: 'Very Unpopular' Or Just Doing Her Job?

Politico on Jill Abramson Rendered as Memes - Garance Franke-Ruta - The Atlantic
Politico: NYT Boss Lady Too Bossy (with tweets) · womensmediacntr · Storify
2013 Pulitzers: Bret Stephens Wins Despite Calling Hagel Anti-Semitic | New Republic - Bret Stephens played the anti-Semitism card against Chuck Hagel—and is rewarded for it
Worst Job In America Is ... - Careers Articles - 1. Newspaper Reporter -- Average income: $36,000.

Transgender rights: the next big political movement | Rodrigo Lehtinen | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Akin to the marriage equality effort, there is a coalition forming to end discrimination and misunderstanding of the trans community

Admissions Officers Still Aren’t That Impressed By Your Essays by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly

Apple sees profits fall for first time in a decade but cash pile rises to $145bn | Technology | The Guardian - Tech firm beats analysts' expectations for quarter as chief executive Tim Cook pins company's hopes to rising iPad sales
Windows tablets make big share gains

042313
Israeli general: Syrian 'regime has used and is using chemical weapons' | World news | The Guardian - Military intelligence chief says Bashar al-Assad's regime has used lethal chemicals – probably sarin – against opponents
Libya bomb attack hits French embassy in Tripoli | World news | guardian.co.uk - Two guards injured in first such attack in Libyan capital since the 2011 war
France Legalizes Gay Marriage After Harsh Debate, Violent Protests

Eschaton: Gibberish - Translation: a policy which increased prosperity and caused much less economic suffering would be wrong, but have more support.

AP Twitter Account Hacked, Incorrectly Says Obama Injured At White House | TPM LiveWire

West Fertilizer Plant's Hazards Eluded Regulators For Nearly 30 Years
Recaps of West, Texas - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - In 2011, 4,609 Americans were killed in workplace accidents while only 17 Americans died at the hands of terrorists — about the same number as were crushed to death by their televisions or furniture.

Boston Bombing Suspects Motivated By Afghanistan, Iraq Wars: Report
Boston bombing: FBI backlash 'risks turning US into surveillance state' | World news | guardian.co.uk - FBI insist they scrutinised Tamerlan Tsarnaev as intelligence veterans say increased surveillance would erode civil liberties
Miranda Warning Withheld From Bombing Suspect For More Than Two Days - The Daily Beast - The “public safety” exception—invoked by authorities who withheld reading Miranda rights to the alleged marathon bomber—started out narrow, but has grown into a warped version of itself
NBC: Boston Bombing Suspect Says Brothers Weren't In Touch With Overseas Terrorist Groups - he and his brother discovered instructions for bomb-making on the Internet.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Influenced By Mysterious Muslim Radical, Turned Towards Fundamentalism - Tamerlan took an interest in Infowars, a conspiracy theory website.
Alex Jones Downplays Connection To "Boston Bomber"
Lindsey Graham: Boston Suspect's 'Ties To Radical Islamic Thought' Justifies 'Enemy Combatant' Status (thought-crime +why is the media addicted to this drama-queen asshole?)

Why the Senate Vote May Signal 2016 Problems for the Gun Lobby - NationalJournal.com - support for expanding background checks and possibly further steps has again become a political norm in almost all of the blue-leaning states that underpin the recent Democratic advantage in the race for the White House.

Paul Kevin Curtis, Ricin Suspect, Released From Jail
Ricin Letter Found At Bolling Air Force Base, Harry Reid Says - A third ricin letter has been discovered by authorities in the nation's capital Tuesday, the same day the initial suspect in the mailing of earlier letters was released, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters.
Former GOP Candidate Reacts After Man He Allegedly Framed For Ricin Poisioning Is Released | TPMDC

Pierce on the Enemy Combatant Circus - John And Lindsey Are Charged Up - Esquire - Dear god, can nobody stop these two from diving into the spotlight?
Max Baucus Retiring: Montana Democrat Won't Seek Another Term In U.S. Senate (corporate Blue-Dem pawn has ruined America, his job is done)
Max Baucus Retiring - My Early Christmas Wish - Esquire - It seems that Max Baucus, the pestilential trout-mask replica from Montana, will be hanging them up at the end of this term, guaranteeing that any future Democratic majority on the Senate Finance Committee will be considerably more, well, Democratic.

Comments Closed on Keystone Pipeline - Coming Down The Pipeline - Esquire - 800,000 comments weighing in on the elongated death-funnel designed to transport the world's dirtiest fossil-fuel from the ecological moonscape they've created in Alberta to refineries on the Gulf coast in Texas, and thence to the world, or what's left of it after we burn a good piece of it down. (but Obama loves it)

Meet the revisionist George W. Bush -- pretty much the same as the old George W. Bush | Daniel W. Drezner - 1) The moment you trot out someone as partisan as Victor Davis Hanson to claim that Bush's legacy will outshine Obama's, you've abandoned the argument that Bush is merely the victim of partisan historians.

Deported While Unconscious: American Hospitals Quietly Deport Hundreds Of Undocumented Patients
San Francisco probes report Nevada dumped psychiatric patients - Yahoo! News - a Nevada mental hospital was illegally busing hundreds of newly discharged psychiatric patients to California and other states
Daniel T. Blumstein: A Teachable Moment About Plastic Bag Bans - quantifies the effect of plastic bag bans on emergency room visits for infectious intestinal diseases.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Are Plastic Grocery Bag Bans Bad for Public Health?

Organic, Fair Trade Porn: On the Hunt for Ethical Smut - The Daily Beast - Just what exactly is feminist porn?

One-third of the Guardian’s readers are American, with US traffic up 37% last year — paidContent


042213
Syrian regime accused of new massacre | World news | The Guardian - Anti-Assad groups report 350 people killed in Damascus countryside, but Russia and Iran express support for regime
'Major Terrorism Attack' Thwarted By Canadian, American Authorities: Report
Reaching an Arctic Accord - NYTimes.com - The waters of the central Arctic, an area the size of the Mediterranean, hold the last untouched fishing stocks on this planet.

Austerity may help growth during good times. But man, does it hurt during bad times. - To sum up: There’s basically no evidence that fast austerity programs, or ones undertaken during economic downturns, are even good at reducing the debt burden. It’s very clear they’re bad for growth.

New Torture Reports Blames Obama and the Media for Not Confronting the Truth | Dan Froomkin's Temporary Tumblr Depository
CNN's Jaw-Droppingly Awful Hour Of Boston Bombing Coverage
US torture 'indisputable', CNN's humiliation, and Iran sanctions | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Why is Boston 'terrorism' but not Aurora, Sandy Hook, Tucson and Columbine | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Can an act of violence be called 'terrorism' if the motive is unknown?
Boston Suspects' Carjacking Victim: Tsarnaev Brothers Spared Me Because I Was 'Not American'
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Will Not Be Treated As Enemy Combatant: White House
Not Off To A Good Start - Esquire - Noted torture advocate Alan Dershowitz was just on CNN ... The complaint is barely unsealed, and already the commentary on this case has completely gone to the zoo.

Popularity Of Expanding Background Checks Confuses Even Seasoned Pundits | Blog | Media Matters for America - NBC's Tom Brokaw is apparently one of those pundits.
WSJ Columnist Taranto Uses Gabby Giffords' Injuries To Silence Her On Gun Violence | Blog | Media Matters for America - Taranto Doubts Giffords Could "Produce 900 Publishable Words" In Five Hours (asshole)

Obama Is a Supporting Character - On domestic policy, "Why couldn't the president pass [blank]?" is the wrong question to ask.
Lead abatement, alcohol taxes and 10 other ways to reduce the crime rate without annoying the NRA
Ten Years of Krauthammer Days — Crooked Timber - It’s now been exactly a decade since Charles Krauthammer told us that (he has no credibility and neither does Fred Hiatt)

Sequester Furloughs Kick In, Flight Delays Appear - Commercial airline flights started backing up and delayed some travelers Monday, a day after air traffic controllers started going on furlough because of government spending cuts. (Republicans have their own helicopters)

Where Americans Can Travel Without Visas - Business Insider

Great Lakes oil proposals threaten repeat of Kalamazoo spill, environmentalists say | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Why aren’t younger Americans driving anymore?

Bill for compulsory science fiction in West Virginia schools | Books | guardian.co.uk - Republican state delegate Ray Canterbury says move would inspire pupils to use practical knowledge and imagination in the real world

'Game of Thrones' recap: And Now His Watch Is Ended | Season 3 Episode 04 | EW.com

Somewhere Everywhere, Big Brother Is Smiling: Congress Sells Your Privacy For A Cool $84 Million | Techdirt
Thirtydegrees comments on How close were we to finding the Boston Bombers?
Ex-Beauvoir teacher Eric Toth, wanted on child pornography charges, is found abroad - The Washington Post - Eric Justin Toth, the former D.C. elementary school teacher and accused child pornographer who replaced Osama bin Laden on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, has been found in Nicaragua, according to people familiar with the case.

042113
Syria crisis: US steps up aid to rebels at talks in Turkey - More than 60,000 have died in the two-year uprising against Bashar al-Assad.
Rich Political Novice the Favorite to Win Paraguayan Presidency - NYTimes.com - he vows to reform his party, which was tainted by corruption during its 60-year reign through 2008.
Earthquake in Sichuan: Charity Organization Has China Seeing Red - China Real Time Report - WSJ

China confirms 102 H7N9 cases, 20 deaths - Xinhua | English.news.cn

Bruegel - The Brussels-based think tank | blog > Detail

Perils of placing faith in a thin theory - FT.com - Reinhart and Rogoff told policy makers what they wanted to hear (you mean, what Peterson and Koch Bros told them to say)
How much of Reinhart/Rogoff has survived? | Gavyn Davies
IMF steps up call for Osborne to slow down austerity plans as row escalates (being horrifically wrong is no reason to change)


New details on wild shootout with bomb suspects in Watertown; chief believes older brother was killed by younger brother’s desperate getaway - Boston.com
Doctor: Dead bomb suspect had wounds 'head to toe' - News - Boston.com
US ‘slow’ to tackle homegrown jihadism - FT.com
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Remains In Serious Condition, May Have Suffered Throat Injury - an official told CNN that Tsarnaev suffered a throat injury and may not be able to talk at all.
Boston Marathon Inquiry Shifts to Suspect’s Russia Trip - NYTimes.com
Rep. Mike Rogers: Tamerlan Tsarnaev May Have Traveled To Russia Under An Alias
Boston Manhunt: Watertown Police Chief Details How Suspect Was Captured (video) - . The younger brother managed to escape custody, but not before running over his brother.
Police, citizens and technology factor into Boston bombing probe - The Washington Post
Lindsey Graham: FBI 'Dropped The Ball' With Boston Bombing Suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev - , after the Russian government had raised concerns to U.S. authorities that Tsarnaev was a follower of radical Islam. (profile and wiretap all Muslims)
Media Criticizes New York Post, CNN For Boston Marathon Bombings Coverage
CNN Reporter states "Reddit not a reliable news source" : news
video: Final Moments Of Boston Bombing Suspect's Capture | TPM LiveWire
Boston police chief: facial recognition tech didn’t help find bombing suspects | Ars Technica - Amid a huge volume of digital evidence, one agent watched same video 400 times.
The Roots of Chechen Rage - By Oliver Bullough | Foreign Policy

Hillary Was Right: Obama’s Inexperience Sank Gun Deal - The Daily Beast - She told us so? The debacle on background checks fully exposed the president’s flawed leadership, which his Democratic rival warned voters about back in 2008. (well, she wasn't so hot either)
Andy Parrish, Former Michele Bachmann Chief Of Staff, Will Testify In Ethics Case - d to confirm allegations that Bachmann's campaign made improper payments to Iowa State Sen. Kent Sorenson (R).

Koch Brothers Making Play for Tribune’s Newspapers - NYTimes.com - Tribune’s newspapers, including The Chicago Tribune, have caught the interest of a number of suitors.

Rail Traffic Continues To Trend Lower - Business Insider

In Texas, Mourning First Responders Who Paid With Their Lives - NYTimes.com
Scope of threat in West a surprise to feds - Houston Chronicle - West Fertilizer Co. stored 270 tons of ammonium nitrate - 1,300 times the threshold that triggers federal oversight.
Fertilizer sold, stored across Central Texas, but no need for panic | www.statesman.com (oh sure)
The other form of violence - Now the horrific events in a small town in Texas provide a reminder of another danger, which for most of the population is actually a more significant threat: industrial accidents ... The truth is that corporations often show a brazen disregard for the safety of their employees -- and nearby residents
West Fertilizer Violated Federal Anti-Terror Regulations - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Bats Left/Throws Right: Glad I Can Help You Kids Out With This New Googling Technology

Meet The Horrifying Demon That Has Crept Into Our School System - Sir Ken Robinson brilliantly describes the death of creativity in the name of education with perhaps the driest British wit in existence.

Gene wars: the last-ditch battle over who owns the rights to our DNA | Science | The Observer - A US biotech company is fighting to protect the patents it took out on a test for a cancer-causing gene. Scientists say a win for the firm would set back a growing ability to detect diseases
Interactive map plots locations of more than 100 million species | Ars Technica - It's the most comprehensive map of US biodiversity ever made.
Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON)
Poor, cute bunnies likely to get eaten when the snow melts early | Ars Technica - Hares change coat color for winter based on the calendar, not the conditions.

San Diego cop smashes phone & beats up suspect: "Phones can be converted to a weapon. Look it up online." - Boing Boing
Family of “BadNews” malware in Google Play downloaded up to 9 million times | Ars Technica - Apps steal sensitive data, push SMS app that racks up charges to pricey service.
Obama threatens CISPA veto, sponsor calls opponents basement-dwelling 14-year-olds | Ars Technica - White House says the revised "cybersecurity" bill doesn't protect private information.
Estonia calls BSA’s IP enforcement report a “modern protection racket” | Ars Technica - Some copyrighted material simply isn't available legally in Estonia.

041013
US prepares $130m military aid package for Syrian rebels | World news | guardian.co.uk - Secretary of state John Kerry expected to announce plans as opposition forces and international allies meet in Istanbul
Earthquake in China has claimed 160 lives, with more than 5,700 injured (video, photos) — RT News
Muslim gang-rapes across Europe under-reported in press

Torture Report - A new report confirms what we already know: The U.S. engaged in torture in the wake of 9/11. Will those who perpetrated these abuses ever be brought to justice?

WATCH: Watertown Police Chief’s Epic Minute-By-Minute Account Of Deadly Manhunt | TPMDC
Boat where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hid 'looked like Swiss cheese' after shootout | World news | guardian.co.uk - Tsarnaev was found when Watertown man looked underneath tarpaulin and found the Boston bombing suspect inside
We gave Tsarnaevs the attention they wanted - Salon.com - The suspects were nobodies who wanted to spread fear. A citywide lockdown and media hysteria helped them do that
Night in Watertown Cemetery - Guns Along The River: A Late Night In Watertown - Esquire
FBI wait to quiz Dzhokhar Tsarnaev amid relief over suspect's capture | World news | guardian.co.uk - Suspect in Boston bombing remains in a serious condition in hospital following capture on Friday after intense manhunt
Obama’s Miranda Exemption May Lead To Legal Challenge | TPMDC
When the law gets bent out of shape for him, it’s easier to bend out of shape for the rest of us.
Why Tsarnaev Should Be Read His Miranda Rights - Lawyers, Guns & Money
David Remnick: The Brothers Tsarnaev : The New Yorker
Details of Tsarnaev Brothers’ Lives Emerge - NYTimes.com
Two brothers, two paths - Metro - The Boston Globe
Russia Warned FBI About Tamerlan Tsarnaev Before Bombing
Boston Is One of the Best Prepared U.S. Cities to Handle a Crisis - Henry Grabar - The Atlantic Cities
A History of Terrorism on U.S. Soil

Boston Marathon bombing suspects were from Chechnya | New Republic - The best background info on the Boston suspects
Prisoners of the Caucasus | Foreign Affairs - Russia's Invisible Civil War
Chechen Terrorism (Russia, Chechnya, Separatist) - Council on Foreign Relations
The Chechen Connection - The Boston bombers have put the region and U.S.-Russia relations in the spotlight
What We've Learned In The 14 Years Since The Columbine Shooting | ThinkProgress

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XIV - Another special note: The Chief of Police of Medina, OH, who briefed the press there following that town's "Gun Appreciation Day" accidental shooting at the local gun show (one of three that day, if you recall) has... accidentally shot himself.

Texas fertilizer company didn't heed disclosure rules before blast | Reuters - The fertilizer plant that exploded on Wednesday, obliterating part of a small Texas town and killing at least 14 people, had last year been storing 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that would normally trigger safety oversight by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Balloon Juice » States Rights! - Unfortunately, the asshole that these people elected to the Senate, Texas’ answer to Joe McCarthy, Canadian-born Ted Cruz, voted against Sandy relief 3 times. If you live in the state with the most FEMA-declared natural disasters since 2009, maybe you’d want to rethink your choice of Senator next time you visit the polls.


Other Austerity Bloopers - NYTimes.com
What the Reinhart & Rogoff Debacle Really Shows: Verifying Empirical Results Needs to be Routine — The Monkey Cage
Pete Peterson's Fingerprints All Over That Bogus Economic Study | Crooks and Liars - She is married to economist and author Vincent Reinhart, who does similar work for the American Enterprise Institute, also funded by the Peterson Foundation. Who else funds AEI? Oh, I know! David and Charles Koch! (bought and paid for by billionaire austerians; does Krugman know this?)
Bitcoin: the perfect bubble — Crooked Timber - Bitcoin is a more perfect example of a bubble, and therefore a more perfect refutation of the Efficient Markets Hypothesis, than anything seen previously
Commentary: The Bitcoin Bubble and a Bad Hypothesis | The National Interest
Absurd pitches (pull out the Hayek and Polanyi lesson)

Balloon Juice » A-B-C Always-Be-Closing - the Boy Scouts’ next effort to try to appease their religious backers while not appearing to be the most retrograde bigots in the room

Guilty of Rape? Write a Book Report, Says School - When you consider appropriate punishments for rape, jail might come to mind, or perhaps castration if you're old-fashioned. But if you ask Occidental College, allegedly, they'll recommend a super-reparative book report.

Daily Kos: U.S. is second-worst of 35 developed nations when it comes to child poverty (and if you just count the South ...)

New five-planet system contains two that are in the ‘habitable zone’ - MIT News Office - Potentially habitable planets are slightly larger than Earth.
Thoughts on Furpeople

The Fat Angel by Donovan on 1966 Mono Epic LP. - YouTube (fly Trans-Love Airways, getcha there on time)

Legislation Preventing Employers From Asking for Facebook Passwords Defeated - US News and World Report - Several high profile cases of employers asking for social media passwords led to proposal

041913
Fitch downgrades UK credit rating - as it happened | Business | guardian.co.uk

Boston Marathon Bombing Manhunt: Residents Told To Stay Inside During Police Investigation
Police comb streets of Watertown for Marathon bombing suspect - Boston.com
Why Boston's Hospitals Were Ready : The New Yorker
Bombing suspects were local, ‘normal’ US immigrants - Boston.com
Aunt says US suspect recently became devout Muslim - News - Boston.com

Thank you, JpDeathBlade, cedargrove, and NeonRedSharpie : news
Live Boston Update Thread [Part 9] : news
Live Boston Update Thread [Part 8] : news
Live Boston Update Thread [Part 7] : news
Live Boston Update Thread [Part 6] : news
Live Boston Update Thread [Part 5] : news

Boston Marathon Bombing Manhunt: Residents Told To Stay Inside During Police Investigation
Balloon Juice » » Soy Un Perdedor
Boston bombing suspects' mother: My sons are innocent, this is a set up - YouTube (says FBI knew before)
Father: Boston bombing suspect 'a true angel' - Associated Press - politico.com
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Tamerlan Tsarnaev: Family, Acquaintances Describe Boston Bombing Suspects
Did Boston Bombing Suspect Post Al Qaeda Prophecy on YouTube? | Mother Jones
Wrestling Photo, Stunned Reactions From Former Classmates of Bombing Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev | Mother Jones

The entire city of Boston has shut down. How much will this cost? - a shutdown could cost Boston between $250 million and $333 million per day, though that’s “a very rough guess.”
The Morning Plum: Foes of immigration reform pounce on Boston bombing
The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - This Is Important: Not All Muslims in the Post-Soviet Region are Radical Islamists or Chechen Nationalists
The School - C.J. Chivers - Investigation of 2004 Shooting at Russian School - Esquire - On the first day of school in 2004, a Chechen terrorist group struck the Russian town of Beslan. Targeting children, they took more than eleven hundred hostages.

Balloon Juice » West Texas Cascading Safety Failure - Texas Explosion Seen as Sign of Weak U.S. Oversight

The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - The Filibuster Did Save Us From Some Republican Stuff…

After my report on soy company's anti-birth control agenda, its CEO calls to talk Obama, abortion and contraception
How A Right-Wing CEO's Big Mouth Could Kill His Attack On Birth Control | ThinkProgress

Blackmun bust bill riles abortion foes | Capitol View | Minnesota Public Radio

The Only Positive Effect Of The Cuban Embargo? Weight Loss | Labcoat Life | Learn Science at Scitable - scientists have now identified the only benefit of the embargo: it lead to a population-wide weight loss, and with this a decrease in cases of diabetes and heart diseases.

HS Principal Threatens to Destroy Student for Speaking Out Against School's Abstinence-Only Policies, Fails Miserably

Boy Scouts proposal: let in gay youth, keep out gay adults | Reuters


Reddit suffered a "malicious DDoS attack" early today : technology
What the Internet looked like in 1995 - here’s a PBS segment from 1995 about all the cool stuff you could do on this crazy new thing called the Internet.

041813
Fergus Shanahan, Sun Executive Editor, Charged With Conspiracy In News Corp. Bribery Scandal

Government And Violence - The Violence We Live With - Esquire - Earlier this week, the report of a nonpartisan commission was released detailing the fact that, in contravention of international treaties freely signed, and in contravention of over 200 years of formal and informal precedent, the United States enthusiastically constructed and ran a regime of torture in the wake of the attacks of Septenber 11, 2001.

Obama Gun Policy Agenda Comes To Maddening End
Gun Background Checks Votes - The Manchin-Toomey Amendment: How They Voted - Esquire

Filibuster Reform Debate Reignited By Senate Gun Vote (and will be blocked by Reid, again)
Federal Gun Registry Is The New Death Panels
Giffords is a fighter, and NRA will be sorry - Salon.com - The post-Newtown gun-control movement must undo a decade of Democratic inaction on guns. And it will
Gun Amendment Voting - No Credit For Courage - Esquire - Take it away, Heidi Heitkamp.
Internet Gun Sites Ease Illegal Sales - NYTimes.com
Begich Explains Background Check 'No' Vote: We Shouldn't Legislate With Our Emotions | TPM LiveWire - Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), who voted against a proposal to expand background checks for gun buyers

Only in Texas.. This is what no zoning regulations looks like : WTF
Cold Rain Doesn't Hamper Search And Rescue Efforts - victims of a fertilizer plant explosion that killed between 5 and 15 people and injured more than 100 more
The West, Texas Disaster - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Yes, that’s right, a fertilizer plant was placed in a neighborhood. Or a neighborhood grew up around a fertilizer plant. In any case, there are already lessons we can draw from this developing story. First, non-union states often have terrible working conditions that can lead to horrible accidents. (no zoning, because Freeeeeedom)
The Texas fertilizer plant explosion is horrific. But how common is this? - there are 44 production plants around the country. And 30 of those are nitrogen plants

Photos Of The Boston Marathon Bombings Suspects | TPM LiveWire
Obama Boston Marathon Bombing Speech - There Were Reasons To Vote For This Guy - Esquire - Sometimes, honest to blog, speeches really can be enough.
The Post's 'Person of Interest' Is a Local High-School Track Runner
Authorities have clear video images of two suspects in Boston Marathon bombings, official says - Boston.com

Antonin Scalia: Voting Rights Act Is An 'Embedded' Form Of 'Racial Preferment'
George W. Bush Poll Finds Americans Still See President In Unfavorable Light

Attorney: Miss. man denies mailing ricin to Obama - Business - Boston.com

PLOS ONE: Increasing Maternal Age Is Associated with Taller Stature and Reduced Abdominal Fat in Their Children

Adding Insult to Plagiary? - Percolator - The Chronicle of Higher Education
Plagiarism spat over scientific poster prep advice escalates to legal threats | Retraction Watch
Bring Me The Head Of That Threatening Lawyer! | Popehat
Scientist writes funny, helpful guide for making science posters. A big company steals it. Then the company sues him. : science

CISPA Vote: House Passes Cybersecurity Bill To Let Companies Break Privacy Contracts

041713
New Zealand's Parliament votes to legalize same-sex marriage - CNN.com - If the laws in New Zealand and Uruguay are enacted, the count of nations allowing same-sex marriage would rise to 13.

Eschaton: Fortunately There's A Policy For That - Unemployment jumped by 70,000 in the three months to the end of February and pay rises registered the lowest increase since 2001, adding to the mounting pressure on George Osborne to adopt a more aggressive growth strategy. - He doesn't have any growth strategy. He has a destroy the economy and lives strategy.

We Are The Commonwealth Of Massachsetts - Esquire
Boston Marathon Bombings - A Firefighter's Story - Esquire
Confusion reigns in reporting of Boston ‘arrest’ | Poynter. - The coverage is a reminder of the challenges of reporting breaking news story quickly and accurately. Here is how the information has played out so far.
The Trouble with Scoops - When an event like the bombing in Boston happens, news organizations should forget about getting information before their competitors.
Hullabaloo - Your latest media debacle
The Saudi Marathon Man : The New Yorker - He wasn’t alone; a hundred and seventy-six people were injured and three were killed. But he was the only one who, while in the hospital being treated for his wounds, had his apartment searched in “a startling show of force,”
Balloon Juice » Something Else to Talk About -

Gun Bill Background Check Amendment Fails, Other Key Provisions To Follow
Daily Politics Blog - Charles P. Pierce - Political Blogging - Esquire - The famous watered-down Manchin-Toomey "bipartisan compromise" on this country's preposterous infatuation with its firearms has gone down to an ignominious defeat in the United States Senate. So much for Newtown.
Obama condemns Senate for 'shameful' failure to pass gun control reform | World news | The Guardian - Dismayed president delivers rebuke to those who blocked amendment and accuses senators of caving in to the gun lobby - "wilfully lied"

Obama Ricin Letter: Poison-Tainted Mailer To President Intercepted At Screening Facility

Chinese banks top Forbes Global 2000 list of world's biggest companies | Media | guardian.co.uk - ICBC and China Construction Bank are Nos 1 and 2, ahead of JP Morgan, General Electric and Exxon, last year's biggest firm
Political Animal - Data In the Hands of Ideologues - the Reinhardt-Rogoff fiasco, and its implications for the deficit hawks and austerity fans who relied on this now-tainted study
The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - The Austerians Taking Some Gut Punches - Recent developments have shaken two of the pillars of the austerity consensus
12 Rules of Goldbuggery | The Big Picture

Daily Kos: The NRCC cuts Mark Sanford off; Jenny Sanford & sons steamed at mistress's presence at victory party - Whoa! Absolutely nuclear!

The real Gosnell conspiracy - Salon.com - I take it back, there is one: How credulous media played into the right's strategy to ban all abortion

Pretending To Be A 'Good Nurse,' Serial Killer Targeted Patients : NPR - Charlie Cullen

Vermont House Approves Marijuana Decriminalization | Valley News

041613

U.S. Tortured Detainees And Top Officials Are Responsible: Report - A two-year independent investigation by the Constitution Project released Tuesday said that U.S. forces engaged in torture and senior officials bear responsibility for it ... , Obama has advocated "a belief that we need to look forward as opposed to looking backward." (which is why is has learned nothing)
U.S. Practiced Torture After 9/11, Nonpartisan Review Concludes - NYTimes.com - President Obama decided in 2009 not to support a national commission to investigate the post-9/11 counterterrorism programs, as proposed by Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, and others. Mr. Obama said then that he wanted to “look forward, not backward.”
Post 9/11 Torture Report - The Other Face Of Political Violence - Esquire - the release of a magisterial, non-partisan report concerning the decade of political violence organized and executed by the American government, and concerning the subsequent shameful abandonment by the current administration of its affirmative moral obligation to let the American people know fully what had been done in their name, and too often with their tacit and overt consent, and the degree to which we are all complicit in outright extrajudicial barbarism.

Guantanamo Bay Hunger Strike: 'The Situation Is An Emergency' (video) - "I would say it's probably a lot worse than what's in the op-ed," Brandon Neely, an army veteran who served as a prison guard at Guantanamo Bay

Report: Saudi man questioned in Boston Marathon bombing is a witness not a suspect  - NY Daily News - Cops had scoured Abdulrahman Ali Alharbi's apartment after attack. Roommate and friends say he's shy and quiet. (he was just in "the wrong place" for someone from Saudi Arabia)
Bomb Details Emerge in Boston Case - NYTimes.com
Feinstein: Saudi National 'Not A Suspect' In Boston Bombings | TPM LiveWire
War and Terror: What Shocks Me Most About the Bloody Marathon Bombing Pictures (GRAPHIC) — BagNews - What takes me aback are how graphic the news photos are (#8 especially) as compared to the almost total visual censorship of American war casualties over the past twelve years. (out of sight, out of mind, which is how Obama likes it)
Circuit Board Trigger For Boston Marathon Bombs Reportedly Found
Laura Ingraham Uses Boston Bombing To Stoke Fears About Immigration Reform | Video | Media Matters for America

Lady Thatcher's coffin comes to the Commons: Politics live blog | Politics | guardian.co.uk - The IMF has suggested that George Osborne should relax his austerity plans in the light of Britain's poor growth. (austerity a failure, but screw everyone anyway)
Eschaton: The Beatings Will Continue - As is the case with every other issue, the "stupid or evil" question will never be answered. Do austerians believe in austerity? Or is it just an excuse to kick the poors and olds, which is what they wanted to do anyway.

Eschaton: Bygones - Sorry our clerical error helped to destroy the world. We'll know better next tim
Reinhart-Rogoff coding error: Austerity policies founded on bad coding. - So this is huge. Or, rather, it won't matter even a tiny little bit but it ought to be a big deal anyway (austerity-justifiers can't add or were lying, you decide)
How much unemployment did Reinhart and Rogoff's arithmetic mistake cause? | Dean Baker | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - All because two famous economists whose work is used the world over to justify austerity cuts just got their sums wrong
Researchers Finally Replicated Reinhart-Rogoff, and There Are Serious Problems. | Next New Deal - Countries with debt-to-GDP ratios above 90 percent have a slightly negative average growth rate (they claimed)
Reinhart Rogoff Coding Problems - Math Is Hard - Esquire - I'm still not entirely sure what's really going on, but there is nothing here to disabuse me of my long-held notion that most economists reach their conclusions by cutting up a sheep on a rock and reading the entrails.

Yep, The Immigration Bill’s Path To Citizenship Is The Real Deal | TPMDC

Your Daily North Korea - Esquire - He's right about one thing. The Democrats — unless David Plouffe is hiding something in his basement — have approximately as many missiles capable of reaching Austin as North Korea does.
Envelope tests positive for ricin at Washington mail facility - CNN.com - the letter was addressed to the office of Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi

MLK Jr. Letter From Birmingham Jail Anniversary - Fifty Years On - Esquire - today is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter From Birmingham Jail

The Hell of American Day Care | New Republic - An investigation into the barely regulated, unsafe business of looking after our children By Jonathan Cohn

Circumcision Changes Penis Bacteria Ecosystem, May Explain Lower HIV Risk - Circumcision changes the bacteria ecosystem of the penis, perhaps explaining why the foreskin-snipping procedure reduces the risk of HIV infection, a new study finds.

Pitting Viruses Against Bacteria Yields New Antibiotic for MRSA, Anthrax - Rockefeller University researchers may have found a new way to kill bacteria and prevent antibiotic resistanc
Researchers May Have Finally Detected a Dark Matter Particle

New York Times closes another loophole in its digital paywall — paidContent - The latest casualty is NYClean

041513
Explosions rock Boston Marathon finish line; dozens injured - Pictures - The Boston Globe
Tragedy at the Boston Marathon: One Photographer’s Eyewitness Account - LightBox
Boston Marathon Bombings Update From Boston - "You Are Not Safe Here" - Esquire
Explosion In Boston - HuffPost Live (Obama: "don't jump to conclusions")

Boston Explosion Coverage: Networks Go Wall-To-Wall With Marathon Horror; Reporter Calls It 'Worst Thing I Ever Saw'
Live blog: Explosions in Copley Square
Two explosions near the finish line at the Boston Marathon caused dozens of injuries.
Balloon Juice » Boston Bombing Liveblog Link
Multiple explosions at Boston Marathon finish line - YouTube
Boston.com viral video page - Boston.com
Aerial video shows Boston Marathon finish line aftermath - video | World news | guardian.co.uk
Photos of the Boston Marathon Bombing - In Focus - The Atlantic
Boston Marathon Explosions - Live Update Thread #3 : news

George W. Bush: I'm 'Comfortable' With My Legacy On Iraq War

Summer Ice Melt In Antarctica Is At The Highest Point In 1,000 Years, Researchers Say

Hunger Striking at Guantánamo Bay - NYTimes.com

Mitch McConnell Should Be Slammed For 'Despicable' Content Of Secret Tapes: Kentucky Newspaper
Roy Blunt Raises Specter Of Federal Gun Registry, Despite Explicit Ban

Optimistic Economists Have Incredibly Low Expectations | Beat the Press
Calculated Risk: Builder Confidence declines in April due to higher costs

On the “pity-charity liberalism” critique - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money

Stacking the Deck: The Phony 'Fix the Debt' Campaign | The Nation - Peterson has poured an estimated half-billion dollars into schemes so unpopular, so economically unsound and so obviously self-serving that even conservative politicians run from them, as the implosion of the Simpson-Bowles commission illustrates.

How to steal a billion in taxes — MSNBC - “Delaware is the biggest state provider of offshore corporate secrecy, but Nevada and Wyoming are the most opaque,”

Vaccine and autism: UK measles outbreaks and Andrew Wakefield - Right now, in the UK, the outbreak of measles has reached epidemic proportions. Nearly 700 people have come down with the highly contagious disease in south Wales

One Year Later, Ted Nugent's Presidential Threat Is Still Bullshit

Christina Huffington: Addiction Recovery: Getting Clean At 22

Actor suing IMDb for revealing her age loses landmark lawsuit | Film | guardian.co.uk - Junie Hoang wanted more than $1m from IMDb Pro website, claiming its revelation of her true age branded her 'over the hill' (way to spread the word)

The entire Carreon affair became a long and bizarre story that only got weirder as it lurched along. By the end of it:

041413
North Korea dismisses offer of talks as John Kerry urges dialogue | World news | guardian.co.uk - Communist state says it will not talk unless South Korea abandons confrontational posture
News from The Associated Press
Syria: Jordan to spearhead Saudi Arabian arms drive | World news | The Guardian - Fears over rising power of al-Qaida-linked groups drives move to channel weapons to moderate rebel fighters through Jordan
Somalia supreme court attack kills at least 16 | World news | The Guardian - Militants fire guns and set off explosions during suspected Al-Shabaab assault on main court buildings in Mogadishu
South African police accused of routinely torturing crime suspects | Law | guardian.co.uk - Arrested men say how they experienced police brutality from beatings to suffocation used to extract confessions
Convention votes 79% in favour of referendum on civil marriage for same-sex couples » Inside Ireland
Millions face starvation as world warms, say scientists | Global development | The Observer - World is unprepared for changes that will see parts of Africa turned into disaster areas, say food experts

From heart attacks to maternal care: the human cost of austerity in Greece - Austerity has caused more than just tear gas usage to rise - heart attacks have spiked in the republic.

Guantánamo Bay's last UK detainee: 'people are dying here' in hunger strike | World news | guardian.co.uk - Shaker Aamer's lawyer describes conditions at US prison where one detainee is said to have lost a quarter of his weight

Don't be fooled by the Senate vote to debate gun control | Ana Marie Cox | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk - Despite this simulacrum of adult bipartisan politics, NRA-fearful senators lived to run away another day from meaningful gun laws

The Terrifying Reality of Long-Term Unemployment - Matthew O'Brien - The Atlantic - It's an awful catch-22: employers won't hire you if you've been out of work for more than six months (Obama's "solution" - cut Social Security!)

Daily Kos: Political nihilism - When the best that can be said about the president's proposal is that it has no chance of being enacted, the truth about it is that it is an astonishing failure.
Daily Kos: Remembering the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage debacle: What happens when you piss off seniors - But the number politicians really need to consider: 66 percent. That's the group that will be more inclined to vote against a senator or representative who voted for any kind of deal including chained CPI. (so, naturally Barry proposes chained CPI)

With Tougher Standardized Tests, a Reminder to Breathe - NYTimes.com - As Shael Polakow-Suransky, the city’s chief academic officer, told parents on Staten Island: “Everyone is in the same boat (except for all the rich kids with tutors)


Bitcoin Is No Longer a Currency - Matthew O'Brien - The Atlantic - It's the ultimate dotcom stock.


041313
Salaam Fayyad Resigns: Prime Minister Of Palestine Steps Down
Republicans Mangle Facts To Attack Obama's Missile Defense Budget | ThinkProgress
When Historians Provide Bad Policy Ideas - Lawyers, Guns & Money - University of Texas historian Jeremi Suri, who calls for the United States to bomb North Korea. Hard to see what could go wrong in that scenario!! (your NYT at work)

Barbara Boxer, AIPAC seek to codify Israel's right to discriminate against Americans | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Peru Bans Monsanto and GMOs | Food Renegade
Panel IV - Augmenting Our Influence: Alliance Revitalization and Partner Development - YouTube

Balloon Juice » Gitmo “Dogged by Controversy”v (designed for corruption and failure)
Political Animal - Robert Johnson of Business Insider wrote the worst article on Guantanamo Bay that you will ever read
Obama administration divides over whistleblowers - Josh Gerstein - Politico.com (shoot them or hang them)

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XIII
With Police in Schools, More Children in Court - NYTimes.com
Background Checks Beat Apple Pie, Baseball, Kittens In Americans' Hearts: Poll

Oklahoma governor urged to sign revised Sharia law measure | News OK
Arkansas GOP Votes To Ax Sex Ed In State With Highest Teen Pregnancy Rate | Addicting Info

Rhee Con - Lawyers, Guns & Money - Rhee was completely unqualified to run a school system but certainly accomplished in getting people to lavish her with praise (up to and including the current occupant of the White House), and the consequences were pretty much inevitable:

Balloon Juice » Serious Conor and the Dead Babies - Bring it on, because this discussion cuts both ways, and it’s about time we discussed why it’s so fucking hard for women to have a legal medical procedure performed in this country.

National Disgrace – The New Inquiry - The nearly 700,000 marijuana possession arrests a year in the U.S. are the same kind of scandal. They have gone on for years and harmed millions of people, but big city police departments and prominent politicians, including many liberals, keep making the arrests. And until recently they have been remarkably successful at keeping the arrests out of the public eye.

Google Alert for the Soul – The New Inquiry - Rationalized identity construction and the postauthentic data self
Study Finds New Way to Clear Cholesterol from Blood | Medicine | Sci-News.com - inhibited the action of a gene responsible for transporting a protein that interferes with the ability of the liver to remove cholesterol from the blood in mice.
Ancient creature mixed human, apelike traits - The creature is called Australopithecus sediba, which means "southern ape, wellspring."
Dazzling Northern Lights Anticipated Tonight - AccuWeather.com

So You Want to Be a #Longreads Superstar – The New Inquiry - Turning essays into #longreads isn’t just about the future viability of the form; it’s changing the reasons we read and write
When Dickens met Dostoevsky | TLS - ‘Only two people?’ I asked.” (the inventor of literary polyphony +hoax and detective story with a great ending)
The Fort Bragg murders: is Jeffrey MacDonald innocent? | Film | The Observer

Teens Abandoning Social Networks, Study Says - A dramatic generational shift. Profiles are out, ephemera is in.
Texting, social networking and other media use linked to poor academic performance
Virginia Mall Shooter Apparently Announced Crime in Advance on 4chan | Threat Level | Wired.com

041213
Carville: I Think Obama Likes Angering Liberals (video) | TPM LiveWire (they are his mother as opposed to his Republican daddies)
Obama Meeting With Wall Street Executives - Meeting With All The Wrong People - Esquire - The same week in which he announced his intention to renege partially on eight decades of Democratic social policy, and to do so in the face of ongoing economic neurasthenia brought on by a whopping huge economic collapse, he goes out of his way to meet with the men whose recklessness and marginal criminality brought on the whopping huge economic collapse in the first place, so they will help him sell measures that will hurt the people who already are suffering from the effects of the whopping big recession these guys caused. (re-election unleased his inner asshole)

Paul Ryan On Abortion: 'We Want A Country Where It Isn't Even Considered'
Barry Smitherman, Texas Railroad Commission Chairman, Retweets Noose With GOP Senators' Names
Paul LePage Bullying Maine State Workers - The Reign In Maine - Esquire - Of all the lemons visited upon democracy by the paranoid episode that masqueraded as the 2010 midterm elections, Governor Paul LePage of Maine has to be one of the biggest and roundest and juiciest of them all.

Elizabeth Warren’s Foreclosure Settlement Bombshell: Banks Determined the Number of Victims of Their Own Foreclosure Frauds

This Skill Is Important To Learn. It’s What Separates Us From The Animals. Except the Weasel. - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Shockingly, there is further good reason to believe that implausible immediate gains on test scores made by local schools facing powerful positive and negative incentives to produce them under con artist Michelle Rhee were generated by cheating:
Michelle Rhee Cheating Scandal - Michelle Rhee's Terrible Awful Day - Esquire - Who do you think I am? Superman?
You May Want to Sit Down. And Then Get Your Kid an Application to Bob Jones University. - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Tom Scocca draws our attention to some absolutely shocking revelations that a study commissioned by a winger academic group uncovered when investigating the Maoists at Bowdoin College. Among the terrifying findings about the state of the liberal arts college today:

Organic Eden Foods’ quiet right-wing agenda - Salon.com - A crunchy, natural food company marketed to liberals discreetly sues to stop covering employees' contraception

Study: Listening to Certain Sounds Seems to Improve Sleep - Lindsay Abrams - The Atlantic - Participants played "pink noise" that was synchronized to their brain rhythms slept more deeply and had increased memory retention.
People in the South are not so fat after all -- and they lie less | al.com

Yes, Let’s Talk About Kermit Gosnell | Religion Dispatches - Third-trimester fetuses delivered alive whose spines were then severed by the doctor. This was the Women’s Medical Society in West Philadelphia. This is what illegal abortion looks like.

Baseball Believes Alex Rodriguez Bought Clinic Documents - NYTimes.com
This is why 14 year olds shouldn't have babies. Sadly, this was on my newsfeed. : WTF Study: Listening to Certain So!
041113
Obama urges North Korea to end aggression as US upgrades nuclear threat | World news | guardian.co.uk - Pentagon concludes that North Korea does have nuclear technology but president maintains 'strategic patience' approach
Mysteriously unjailed international terrorist A.Q. Khan is back, and Fox News, for reasons that passeth understanding, seems to have his home phone number while he's under what I am sure is very rigorous house arrest in Pakistan.
Mubarak forces 'had official approval' to fire live rounds at Suez protesters | World news | guardian.co.uk - Latest leak shows high-level sanction for violence in which 24 protesters died – and raises hopes of jailing perpetrators
Egyptian doctors 'ordered to operate on protesters without anaesthetic' | World news | guardian.co.uk - Leaked presidential report recommends an investigation into the highest echelons of the army leadership
French chief rabbi quits over plagiarism | World news | guardian.co.uk - Gilles Bernheim was accused of plagiarism in two books

Cyprus forced to find extra €6bn for bailout, leaked analysis shows | World news | The Guardian - Less than a month after deal was agreed bailout bill has risen to €23bn – larger than entire year's output from country's economy

Gitmo Defense Lawyers Say Somebody Has Been Accessing Their Emails - ProPublica (army is hopelessly corrupt, or just a glitch in the systems?)
How Raymond Davis Helped Turn Pakistan Against the United States - NYTimes.com

Obama Vowed Never To Cut Social Security Cost-Of-Living Before Chained CPI Move (no looking backwards allowed)
Bob Cesca: The President's Social Security Plan Is a Really, Really Bad Idea
Rachel Maddow: Obama losing touch with left in reaching out to GOP? (he's always "compromising" with his inner Republican +Axelrod is full of shit)
Daily Kos: House GOP campaign chief doubles down on attack against Obama budget's Social Security cut (see Alexfuck)
Rachel Maddow Shreds David Axlerod - Very Depressing Television - Esquire - David Axelrod got up to explain why the dung sandwich served up in the president's budget yesterday actually was delicious tuna fish, and the kindly Doc pretty much shredded his whole case on him.
Hullabaloo - Anyway, the key question of why they believe that old people should starve while they hoard every last penny they get their hands on remains obscure. But the fact that they do believe it is indisputable.
Passing 'Grand Bargain' Voters Don't Care About Is Critical To Confidence In Government, Apparently

Rachel Maddow To Rand Paul: Yes, You Did Question The Civil Rights Act | TPM LiveWire - "It's one thing to have a sketchy record on racial discrimination and basic civil rights law that you don't want to defend," Maddow said of his speech at the historic black college. "It's another thing to be condescending enough to think you can get away with flat out lying about it."
Mitch McConnell Video - The Sun Shines Bright For Mitch McConnell - Esquire
Jacob Conway, Kentucky Democrat: Others Knew Of McConnell Tape | TPMMuckraker
Sheldon Whitehouse Interest Group Politics - Sheldon Whitehouse Steps Up - Esquire - And, lo and behold, just as we discovered in the area of giant bank fraud, we discover yet another entire infrastructure of federal laws that are impossible to enforce because justice is too damn harrrrrrd. What were the odds there?
Rove Group Tells FEC To Buzz Off | TPMMuckraker
Michele Presnell, N.C. Lawmaker, Opposes Islamic Prayer | TPM LiveWire
Balloon Juice » That Didn’t Take Too Long - A wise person the other day noted that screwing with Jay-Z and Beyonce might not be the best idea for Republicans. Then this happened:
Jay Z Speaks and the White House Gets Questioned. Obviously. - This Week in Blackness | This Week in Blackness

The pacific garbage patch is an area of trash in the Pacific Ocean that's estimated to be twice the size of Texas.

NHL Announces Support For Gay Rights, Pledges To Fight Homophobia With New Initiative

Balloon Juice » Mothers against drunk testing - the pushback to the school reform industry:
The Troubling Dean-to-Professor Ratio - Businessweek - . “I have no idea what these people do,” From 1993 to 2009, U.S. universities added bureaucrats 10 times faster than they added tenured faculty.

AMAZING Aerial Footage of Arkansas Exxon Oil Spill! - YouTube
Marlins Attendance Problem Is Even Worse Than They Are Willing To Admit - Business Insider (no one goes to taxpayer-funded baseball stadium)

Why Chemotherapy That Costs $70,000 in the U.S. Costs $2,500 in India - Thomas Bollyky - The Atlantic - By rejecting patent applications, developing countries have kept down the costs of much-needed medications. Can they continue to do so without harming efforts to develop new drugs?
Twist in dark matter tale hints at shadow Milky Way - space - 11 April 2013 - New Scientist - Could the universe have a dark side, complete with its own force, a zoo of particles and even a shadow version of the Milky Way?
The Archaeology News Network: Authenticity of the gospel of Judas verified

Bitcoin Bursts: Hacker Currency Gets Wild Ride
Bing Delivers Five Times as Many Malicious Websites as Google

041013

Remembering a once Iron Lady, long rusted - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Four Lessons of the Falklands War | Flashpoints
“These are Our Rocks” - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Senate New Gun Deal - The New Gun Deal And The Poison Of Bipartisanship - Esquire

The Bad Politics of Obama’s Grand Bargain Fetish - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Daily Kos: GOP campaign chairman calls chained CPI 'trying to balance the budget on the backs of seniors' (where Obama has led us) Grover Norquist: Chained CPI Violates Taxpayer Protection Pledge (Grover will save us from Obama, the irony)
They just might save Social Security.
Daily Kos: 'We won't have the White House forever, folks!'
And what kind of a four-toed idiot gives this quote to a reporter, even anonymously?
Let's Spend Some Money and Find Out Once and for All Whether Chained CPI Cheats the Elderly | Mother Jones
» The end of Obama’s illusions

Grassley Proposes Eliminating 3 Seats On Powerful Court To Keep Obama From Filling Them | ThinkProgress
The worst Democratic senator is almost certainly Joe Manchin. And the most disappointing in regard to where their politics vis-a-vis the political leanings of their state is Dianne Feinstein. But the most annoying and most damaging Democratic senator is Max Baucus.
The Right to Privacy and the Rule of Law - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Bill O'Reilly On The 1950s: "White America Was Kind Of Unified" And That "Made It Easier For Society To Function" | Video | Media Matters for America (before the blacks got uppity and the browns invaded and the Asians ate our lunch)

Rising nearly 32 feet high, it has a diameter of about 230 feet. To put that in perspective, the outer stone circle of Stonehenge has a diameter just half that with its tallest stones not reaching that height.

Mr. Mailer, when you dip your balls in ink, what color ink is it? | Corey Robin - No one—not Gore Vidal, not William Styron, not anyone—ever took down Norman Mailer the way Cynthia Ozick did at Town Hall in 1971.


040713
Desperately Seeking "Serious" Approval - NYTimes.com -- So what’s this about? The answer, I fear, is that Obama is still trying to win over the Serious People, by showing that he’s willing to do what they consider Serious — which just about always means sticking it to the poor and the middle class. (still chasing his rejecting daddy, while rejecting his mother - everyone who voted for him)
Destroying the Economy and the Democrats -- Amid disappointing jobs numbers, the president's budget proposal gives away his party's crown jewels: their defense of Social Security and Medicare.
Obama: I’ll Still Cut Retirement Programs -- Daily Intelligencer Obama: I’ll
Hullabaloo Mark this day. For the first time in history, a Democratic president has officially proposed to cut the Democratic Party's signature New Deal program, Social Security:
Obama Climate Change - The Worst Thing Obama Could Say On Climate Change - Esquire Obama Climate Change - The Worst Thing Obama Could Say On Climate Change - Esquire (yeah, he's going to that too ...)
Report: Schilling’s 38 Studios was running out of cash before its move to RI - Boston Business Journal Report (oh, the hypocrisy)
040513
Jim Inhofe On North Korea - Your Daily North Korea - Esquire I know what you all were thinking. You were thinking, "You know, exactly what this very weird international kabuki crisis on the Korean Peninsula needs right about now is the calm, reasoned voice of Senator Jim Inhofe."
Jim DeMint And Cuts To Social Programs - Moochers Incorporated - Esquire Jim DeMint is hopping mad at all you lazy poors out there. DeMint left the Senate, where they kept voting to keep the lazy poors alive, and moved on to head the Heritage Foundation, where they eat the lazy poors for Sunday brunch. (What they do with the blood depends on how many Cheneys happen to be in town.)

Social Programs Face Cutback in Obama Budget - NYTimes.com President Obama next week will take the political risk of formally proposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare in his annual budget in an effort to demonstrate his willingness to compromise with Republicans and revive prospects for a long-term deficit-reduction deal, administration officials say. (he lied when he said he wouldn't; it was always his plan)
Obama Budget: Administration Explains 'Compromise Proposal'

The Republican plan for replacing Obamacare doesn’t replace Obamacare This isn’t a plan to “replace Obamacare.” It’s a plan to do the opposite of replacing Obamacare. It’s as if I said I had a plan to fix the house by replacing the leaky roof, and you said you had a plan to fix the house by getting rid of the roof.

Wonkbook: Gay marriage hasn’t won, but its opponents have lost.
In 2011, only 15 senators backed same-sex marriage. Now 49 do. UPDATE: Now 51!
Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Donnelly Back Gay Marriage Only four remaining Democratic senators have not publicly backed gay marriage: Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.).

Scott Brown New Hampshire Run - Delusions Of Granite State - Esquire Former freakishly elected senator Scott Brown has been listening to those consultants again, and is spoiling to get his leather-shorted ass kicked by another woman in another New England state.

REPORT: Partisanship And Diversity On The Sunday Shows In 9 Charts | Research | Media Matters for America

Charles Krauthammer Stuns Fox News Panel Into Silence With Obama Comments (video) when he said President Obama just wants "cash" instead of new gun control laws.

Morning-After Pill Ordered To Be Available For All Ages Over The Counter By Judge

Jon Stewart Scoffs At 'Fox News' Response To Fired Rutgers Coach (video)


040413
North Korea moves missile with 'considerable range' to coast, says Seoul | World news | guardian.co.uk South Korea's defence minister confirms move, but says North is showing no other signs of preparing for full-scale conflict
US defends military deployments in response to North Korea threats | World news | guardian.co.uk State Department says US has no choice but to respond robustly to North's 'bellicose statements' as John Kerry visits Asia
PLA Navy amphibious task force reaches Malaysia 'to defend South China sea' | South China Morning Post A Chinese amphibious task force sparks jitters around the region by reaching the southernmost waters of its claimed domain
Jon Stewart Risks Jail in Egypt by Satirizing President Morsi, Provokes Diplomatic Incident | Informed Comment
George Osborne parks in a disabled bay: Arrogant Conservative Chancellor sparks outrage at M4 service station near Newport - Mirror Online He was branded selfish and arrogant after allowing his chauffeur to park his £50,000 Land Rover in a space reserved for the disabled (assholes will be assholes)

Secret Files Expose Offshore's Global Impact

IMF sets terms of Cyprus bailout | Business | The Guardian International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde said Cyprus must press ahead with measures to bring the island's budget into surplus by 2018

SNAFU: Pentagon Waste Run Amok | The Progressive Realist The U.S. Army recently discovered $900 million worth of spare Stryker parts, many of which are obsolete or unnecessary, collecting dust in a warehouse. None of the parts appear on the Army’s property books, a $900 million accounting error. (one tiny corner of Pentagon folly and waste)

Aryan Brotherhood Texas Investigation - Terrorism At Home - Esquire
Congress Obsessed with American Muslims, Neglects real threat of White Supremacists | Informed Comment

Obama Tells Donors of Tough Politics of Environment - NYTimes.com Mr. Obama appears to be leaning toward approval of the pipeline,

Sam Harris, the New Atheists, and anti-Muslim animus | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk A long overdue debate breaks out about whether rational atheism is being used as a cover for Islamophobia and US militarism - Sam Harris: "We should profile Muslims, or anyone who looks like he or she could conceivably be Muslim"
Scientific racism, militarism, and the new atheists - Opinion - Al Jazeera English Leading figures in the new atheist movement are heirs to the disreputable scientific racists of the past, argues author.
Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens: New Atheists flirt with Islamophobia - Salon.com A Twitter rant by Richard Dawkins re-exposes a disturbing Islamophobic streak among the New Atheists (+ Chomsky has said that Harris, Dawkins and Hitchens are “religious fanatics”)
Email with Sam Harris
Sam Harris: Bombing Our Illusions
Tennessee May Deliberately Exclude Muslim Schools From New Voucher Program | ThinkProgress

Five Kinds of Crooks in Local Politics - Esquire

Pot Legalization Draws Majority Support Nationwide 52 percent to 45 percent, with 72 percent who say that the cost of federal law enforcement efforts are not worth it.

Unmarried Couples Living Together Is New U.S. Norm - Bloomberg Three of four women in the U.S. have lived with a partner without being married by the age of 30, an increasing trend that suggests cohabitation is now a regular part of family life in the U.S., researchers said. (someone tell the Catholic Church)

US unemployment benefits claims hit four-month high | Business | guardian.co.uk Numbers come as private employers added fewest jobs in five months in March, implying weakening job growth (Obama's lowest priority)

Trojan Horse - NYTimes.com - Beware of conservatives bearing gifts. (gay marriage, this time)
It's a Nice Day for a Gay Wedding Breaking down the odds on possible outcomes for the Prop 8 case
Bill Nelson Backs Gay Marriage Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) all do not support gay marriage.

Hillary Clinton And The Political Class - The Clinton Show, Starring Hillary - Esquire Last night, after taking a little time off to recover from both a concussion and being Secretary Of State, Hillary Clinton gave a speech at the Kennedy Center in DC that pretty plainly was a preliminary exercise in preliminary ecdysiastics in the general direction of New Hampshire and Iowa in 2016.
Summarizing the 2008 Primaries - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money Clinton’s primary campaign was run by idiots and, consequently, full of mistakes. And the poor hires she made capped a career of bad decision making, from mishandling the politics of healthcare reform in 1993 to cozying up to The Family, from generally idiotic hawkery (capped, but by no means limited to, the Iraq War vote) to the idiotic, ex post facto special pleading that extended the 2008 primary campaign far longer than it should have gone (thanks, JosephW, for reminding us what this sounded like upthread).
Republicans' New Welfare Queens | New Republic The Republicans' rapidly expanding definition of welfare

Georgia Teens Fight for Racially Integrated Prom Because It's 2013, for Chrissakes "We're embarrassed, it's embarrassing, yeah it's kind of embarrassing," (because, according to Alito, Thomas, Scalia and Roberts, the South has totally gotten beyond its racism)

China and many countries are greatly underreporting how much they take from Earth’s oceans | Georgia Straight Chinese fishing vessels are catching 12 times more than they are reporting annually

Zuckerberg eyes Android takeover with 'best version of Facebook there is' | Technology | guardian.co.uk Facebook boss announces software system – Facebook Home – designed to push updates directly to users' home screens

Roger Ebert: 1942 - 2013
A Leave of Presence - Roger Ebert's Journal April 2, 2013 (last column)

Inside Apple's Plans for Its Futuristic, $5 Billion Headquarters - Businessweek Few architects will publicly question the judgment of Jobs and Foster, but many privately snicker at the doughnut-shaped design.

040313
North Korea nuclear threats prompt US missile battery deployment to Guam | World news | The Guardian Hagel says Pyongyang poses 'real and clear danger' to US allies as Pentagon deploys missile defence battery to Pacific island
Anonymous: North Korea targeted by hacking group | BGR
N. Korea vows actual military actions | YONHAP NEWS North Korea's military announced Thursday that it would take a series of military actions against the United States.
What you need to know about the mounting bird flu toll in China – Quartz - H7N9, a strain of avian flu that has never infected humans before and for which there is no vaccine + 16,000 carcasses of mysteriously killed pigs and 1,000 ducks floating in waterways near Shanghai and Sichuan province.

Eschaton: You and them fight The Tories have been masterful at turning the middle class against the poor. Take away or ruin the goodies middle class people get from the gov and then point to all the free stuff the poor get (mostly housing benefit). Gonna be a changed country.


The case for expanding Social Security, not cutting it But a big new report (pdf) from the New America Foundation suggests that the conventional wisdom is exactly backward. Congress should be looking at ways to expand Social Security, not shrink it — particularly at a time when traditional corporate pensions are disappearing, and 401(k)s have proved fairly risky
Eschaton: Busting Out Everywhere the big point is that expanding Social Security is necessary. The 401K system has failed. We can argue about precisely what to do about it, but we need to do something. And chained CPI isn't it. (Obama's pet rock)

One thing we don’t know about Hillary - Salon.com will a Clinton 2016 campaign pass the Mark Penn Test? The Mark Penn Test, which I just invented, determines whether or not a person should be trusted with the presidency, based solely on one criterion: Whether or not they pay Mark Penn to do anything for their campaign. Paying Mark Penn means you’ve failed the Mark Penn Test. (let alone Dick Fucking Morris)

Obama's EU Trade Deal Would Include New Political Powers For Corporations
Balanced budgets are overrated. (GOP run by rubes)

Overtime Laws Could Be Loosened Under GOP Comp-Time Proposal (you don't need no steenking overtime, or vacation either)
Felony Charges Dropped Against Colin Small, Republican Accused Of Destroying Voter Registration Forms (one of two cases of "voter fraud")
Carolyn Maloney, New York Democrat, Says She Received Death Threats Over Gun Control Support Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) says she received death threats at her Manhattan office Tuesday over a piece of proposed gun control legislation.
Political Animal - Appalachian Trail to Comeback Trail? So one of the most thoroughly disgraced and humiliated pols of our era (at least among those who have not worn the orange jumpsuit), Mark Sanford, has won the Republican nomination to return to his old gig representing South Carolina’s 1st district in Congress.
North Carolina May Declare Official State Religion Under New Bill
State Religion - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money North Carolina Republicans have filed a bill establishing a state religion of North Carolina that combines ignoring the 1st Amendment with nullification:
Richard Cebull, Federal Judge Who Sent Racist Obama Email, Retires
Oklahoma Agenda 21 Bill Leads To Tea Party Threat Against State Senator An Oklahoma tea party leader has threatened to turn a Republican state senator into a "laughing stock" and "dig into" his family members and associates unless he backs a bill blocking the United Nations' sustainability agenda. (you know, the World Government plot to take away your golf courses)
Indiana Abortion Pill Bill Passed By House, Aimed At Limiting Use
Brad DeLong : Donald Luskin Is No Longer the Stupidest Man Alive: Steven Landsburg Is--and the University of Rochester Has a Big Problem… (photons the same as penises)

Q2 Slowdown: A Spring Swoon - Business Insider

Study Details Injuries to Pedestrians and Cyclists in New York City - NYTimes.com One harrowing take-away from the report is that no area, it seems, can be entirely safe. Six percent of pedestrians were injured while on a sidewalk. Of those injured on the street, 44 percent used a crosswalk, with the signal, compared with 23 percent who crossed midblock and 9 percent who crossed against the signal.

More Diagnoses of A.D.H.D. Causing Concern - NYTimes.com
CDC - ADHD, Prevalence - NCBDDD - By State (yes, the South is sick)

What Makes Rain Smell So Good? | Surprising Science petrichor to help explain the phenomenon, combining a pair of Greek roots: petra (stone) and ichor (the blood of gods in ancient myth)

Iain M. Banks Cancer: Author Announces He Has Only Months To Live Scottish writer Iain Banks said Wednesday he has been diagnosed with late-stage gall bladder cancer and has just months to live.
Iain [M] Banks - A Personal Statement

Bitcoin’s largest market crashes after wild price swing - Quartz
It appears that MtGox is down, I've got nothing on any of the live feeds or API : Bitcoin

040213
'6,000 killed' in bloodiest month for Syria crisis – live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk Upsurge in deaths thought due to heavier shelling
UN approves first global arms treaty | World news | guardian.co.uk Resolution regulating multibillion-dollar international arms trade wins overwhelming backing from members
North Korea announces plans to restart nuclear complex | World news | guardian.co.uk UN secretary general says country has 'gone too far' as it reveals plans to revive Yongbyon reactor

Cyprus finance minister Michael Sarris resigns as blame game begins | World news | guardian.co.uk Formal investigation begins into events leading to €10bn bailout, under which savers are taking financial hit in first for eurozone
Unemployment in Euro Zone Reaches a Record High - NYTimes.com Unemployment in the euro zone rose to yet another record high in the first two months of the year, official data showed Tuesday, providing confirmation that the economy remains in a deep freeze. (so, more austerity!)

Poll: Top Conspiracy Theories, Revealed -- Oswald, Roswell, WMDs - Washington Wire - WSJ On global warming, PPP found 37% of registered voters surveyed believe global warming is a hoax, while 51% don’t — sharply split down party lines ... But almost no one – just 4% of respondents — believes shape-shifting lizard people control the world.


Sequestration Effects: Cuts Sting Communities Nationwide The grips of sequestration are just now beginning to be felt and the effects are already quite dramatic. (Rethugs killing America)

NRA unveils plan for armed guards in schools it says 'will save lives' | World news | guardian.co.uk Gun control advocates denounce organisation's controversial 225-page review of school safety standards after Sandy Hook (the solution: sell guns to schools)
How the NRA's proposal to put guns in schools became credible | Ana Marie Cox | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk After Sandy Hook, a plan for armed guards in schools seemed absurd. But the NRA's moral universe has proved seductive
NRA Armed Schools Plan - What Could Possibly Go Wrong With The NRA's New Plan? - Esquire Well, the NRA has managed to come up with its "Guns For Everybody School Safety Plan" and it contains pretty much what you'd expect it to contain, including whole new markets and increased profits for the guns-and-ammo manufacturers that represent the NRA's primary constituency.
Nelson, Georgia Family Protection Ordinance Approved, Would Make Gun Ownership Mandatory For Some (because, Freedom!)

Another ACA Plan Delayed - The Clumsy And Ill-Fitting Shackles Of Tyranny - Esquire And the problem with the deal that finally got done was that it insisted on keeping health-insurance companies in charge of health-care coverage in this country.

Novartis cancer drug patent bid rejected by Indian court in landmark ruling | World news | guardian.co.uk Healthcare activists welcome landmark ruling they say will give poor patients continued access to cheap medicines

More on Academic Publishing and Blogging - Lawyers, Guns & Money ("publishing" makes sure you don't get "published")
Blogging political science has gotten complicated, man | Daniel W. Drezner
Blogging > Peer Review Publishing?

Secret e-mail searches on Harvard cheating scandal broader than initially described - Boston.com Harvard administrators disclosed at a faculty meeting this afternoon that their secret e-mail search last fall was broader than they initially described it in a statement on March 11

E-mail gets a cold shoulder - Business - Boston.com

040113
South Korea warns it will retaliate if North attacks | World news | guardian.co.uk South Korean president Park Geun-hye promises robust response to 'sudden and unexpected provocations' by North
Iraq rocked by deadly blast in Tikrit | World news | guardian.co.uk Nine killed including seven police officers as insurgents blow up oil tanker packed with explosives inside government compound

Joe. My. God.: IRELAND: Bishops Threaten To Stop Performing Straight Marriages If Gay Marriages Are Legalized (step in the right direction)

So how’s the Senate map shaping up? Not great for Dems.
Supreme Court Weighs In On Race With Affirmative Action, Voting Rights Cases
Todd Akin, Allen West Lavished Government Money On Staff After Losing Reelection

Lessons From a Comeback - NYTimes.com Modern movement conservatism, which transformed the G.O.P. from the moderate party of Dwight Eisenhower into the radical right-wing organization we see today, was largely born in California
284,000 College Graduates Had Minimum-Wage Jobs Last Year

Sen. Casey supports same-sex marriage
Sue Everhart, Georgia GOP Chairwoman, Warns Of 'Free Ride' Gay Marriage Fraud straight people might enter into fraudulent gay marriages to obtain benefits (straight people will gay-marriage!)

Like a business | An und für sich
Helicopter money: Federal Reserve should print money and give it directly to households. - Slate Magazine Fight unemployment by giving money directly to American families.
Health Law Provision for Small Business Is Delayed - NYTimes.com

Daily Kos: Ohio's GOP attorney general fearlessly defends business owners' rights to prevent unfertilized eggs (because, Freedom!)

Wastewater Disposal Wells Proliferate Along with Fracking - NYTimes.com (the end of water in America)
Keystone XL Oil Spill Risk Troubles Nebraskans, Others Who Point To Previous Spills Like Mayflower
Exxon Pipeline Spill - The Keystone XL Pipeline's Bad Week - Esquire t's been a pretty bad week for our old friend, the Keystone XL pipeline, the proposed planetary death-funnel that would bring the world's dirtiest fossil-fuel from an artificially created environmental wasteland in western Canada, across the edges of the most agriculturally important aquifer on the continent, and down to some refineries in Texas, which doesn't care what it does to the planet, and thence to China, which really doesn't care what it does to the Earth. I

Daily Kos: Tennessee Republicans pushing to cut welfare benefits if kids' report cards don't measure up
Atlanta School Reform Scam - Yet Another Education Reform Scam - Esquire We really should all agree now that the American corporate class essentially is made up these days, high and low, entirely of grifting pieces of dickweed who don't have the moral sense possessed by spirochete, and that anything they touch will inevitably become in some way a thieves paradise, and that any education "reform" proposed, developed, and/or modeled for the nation by the members of its corporate class invariably will take on the ethical norms, not of the old American classroom, but of the new American boardroom.

This tipping-point for paywalls does not fix newspapers' larger crisis | Michael Wolff | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Not even the smartest metered model can make up for paltry digital ad revenues and a failure to recruit younger readers
Timothy Noah: Chris Hughes 'might be a young man with more money than sense' - POLITICO.com “Another time, after I wrote a piece about Jim DeMint's departure from the Senate headlined 'Requiem For A Wingnut,' he emailed me to say ... wait, I've got it here: ‘I have little esteem for Jim DeMint, but I also want us to make a rule of not name-calling in headlines. (fired for calling DeMint a "wingnut" - too shrill for Chris Hughes, billionaire)

Political Animal - Sheryl Sandberg, take two one of Sandberg’s PR people sent Losse a startling private tweet that read, “There’s a special place in hell for you.” ... Facebook started out as a site to rate women’s hotness and its bro culture is notorious
Feminism’s Tipping Point: Who Wins from Leaning in? | Dissent Magazine (Facebook, of course)
Can Women Have It All on the Times Obit Page? -- Daily Intelligencer

Will Ware be stuck with the bill? - Salon.com his injury in service to the NCAA’s multimillion-dollar machine could spell the end of his financial aid and massive healthcare bills to boot.

The Political Scientist as Blogger - Lawyers, Guns & Money

My 13 favourite talks from TED 2013 | Sue Gardner's Blog
Reading minds with a brain scanner: Mary Lou Jepsen at TED2013 | TED Blog For a while she took a combination typical of a male in his early 20s, and “I was angry all the time, I thought about sex constantly, and I thought I was the smartest person in the world.” That gave new appreciation of men and what they might go through.


033113
Billion Dollar Baby - By Jeffrey Lewis | Foreign Policy Kim Jong Un scares the Pentagon into blowing a ton of money on its failed missile defense.

Entire library journal editorial board resigns, citing 'crisis of conscience' after death of Aaron Swartz | The Verge Publishers demanded $2,995 for each open-access article
Scholastica: Academic publishing done the right way

The Most Accurate Map of Gay Marriage Support in America (the South is an infection in the body-politic of America)
Douthat on marriage equality: Conservative columnist ignores real marriage hypothetical.

Supreme Court Poised To Upend Civil Rights Policies Has the nation lived down its history of racism and should the law become colorblind?
Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics | Pew Social & Demographic Trends

Political Animal - Scripps Howard writes a puff piece on the KKK. No, really! As local leader of the Loyal White Knights, Edward the Exalted Cyclops organized a barbecue last month to make plans for Saturday’s demonstration to show that white people still have rights. (not the Onion)
The View from Nowhere: Questions and Answers » Pressthink

Watergate's Lessons, Washed Away (Obama, far to the right of Nixon)
David Stockman, Ex-Reagan Budget Director: George W. Bush's Policies Bankrupt The Country
Sundown in America - NYTimes.com (Sundown in America)

Senate Unanimously Votes Against Cuts to Social Security: Media Don’t Notice The battle over the chained CPI provides a great case study in the state of American democracy. We will get to see whether the rich and powerful are able to attack a program that is vital to the security of almost all working people, even when the vast majority in both parties stand against them. (Obama stands for evil)
Eschaton: Democracy vs. the leaderships 80% of the public is, of course, against benefit cuts, because they know it will kill more Americans than Osama bin Laden ever dreamed of ... Chained CPI is nothing but an act of theft and murder. Oh, and, by the way, it will hurt the economy as a whole. (but it's the "sensible" thing to do, says Obama)

How to turn a state liberal - Salon.com Colorado's progressive miracle is a road map to a much brighter America. Here are 9 steps behind the transformation
Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts: We must cut food stamps to save them | McClatchy
Top Republican Warns Of French People Illegally Crossing Mexican Border In South Texas | ThinkProgress Texas Senator John Cornyn (R) claimed that people from all over the world are now entering the country illegally through Texas and insisted that any Congressional effort to reform the immigration system must invest in border security.

Daily Kos: Federal student loan interest slated to rise back to 6.8% (even better than Cyprus)
College affordability is a struggle as state aid drops, tuition rises | McClatchy But from Massachusetts to New Mexico, states on average are spending less per student – about $2,350 a year, or 28 percent – than they did five years ago, the center said
Daily Kos: North Carolina Republicans plan to deregulate charter schools and force them on local communities (uncertified criminals ok)

Foreclosed 'Zombie' Homes Exceed 300,000 Properties: Study

Beneath the surface, the Beltway crumbles - The Washington Post The Capital Beltway, a politically iconic and locally vital highway, is dying beneath your turning wheels. (well, that's one infrastructure project the Beltway elite will fund, anyway)

Slavery and Capitalism - Lawyers, Guns & Money : It can’t be stated often enough that slavery was inexorably tied with the rise of capitalism in the United States.

As OSHA Emphasizes Safety, Long-Term Health Risks Fester - NYTimes.com
OSHA - Lawyers, Guns & Money : But the election of Reagan in 1981 effectively ended OSHA’s potential to reshape the workplace. Suffering from industry complaints, reduced funding, and regulatory capture, OSHA just does not have the ability to enforce all these regulations. Too few inspectors, too little money, too much industry pressure.
Fines Slashed In Grain Bin Entrapment Deaths : NPR (dead worker = $10,000 fine = cheap)

Great Lakes drought has ripple effect on auto industry - CBS News The government reported this week the ongoing drought is getting worse. More than half the country - and virtually all of Texas - is experiencing drought. (what global warming?)
Scientists find the 'missing heat' of global warming 700 meters below the sea "Increasingly in the past decade, more of that heat has been dumped at levels below 700 meters, where most previous analyses stop. About 30 percent has gone below 700 meters in depth,"
Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog : Global warming continues with no slow down | Weather Underground
Summer melt season getting longer on Antarctic Peninsula
Crack is bad for you (and sea ice) - Arctic Sea Ice
Another Misleading Fox News Graphic: Temperature Edition | Blog | Media Matters for America (lies from the mouth of Satan)

Mike McLelland, Kaufman County District Attorney, Found Dead With Wife In Texas Home Two months after an assistant district attorney was gunned down, investigators found the bodies of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, in their home Saturday, Kaufman County sheriff's Lt. Justin Lewis said.
Law Enforcement Officials Gunned Down In Possible White Supremacist Plot | ThinkProgress (Aryan Brotherhood = good; Muslim Brotherhood = bad)

3quarksdaily: “V.” at L: Pynchon’s First Novel Turns Fifty

FallingSnowAngel comments on I'm reading Flowers of Algernon and...

Cesar Chavez Google doodle vs Bing easter eggs.
15 People Who Think Google Is Honoring Hugo Chávez Hugo Chávez was the socialist president of Venezuela; Cesar Chavez was a labor leader and civil rights activist. See the difference?
AT&T Bans Obscene Passwords Which then raises the question as to why AT&T has a requirement that the password is polite - when no one would ever see it. (yeah, they are looking at your passwords)
How to Stop Robocalls Once and For All

033013
North Korea increases tensions with South by issuing threat over factories | World news | The Observer US plays down prospect of war on the peninsula as Pyongyang follows 'state of war' declaration with more sabre-rattling
Could a Korean Armageddon really happen? | Aidan Foster-Carter | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk North Korea's threat to attack the US may be unrealistic, but Seoul is vulnerable. The west should be wary in its response - A wag at South Korea's defence ministry quipped earlier this month that "barking dogs don't bite"
US commandos hand over troubled Nirkh district to Afghan forces | World news | guardian.co.uk President Hamid Karzai demanded US withdrawal amid claims of torture, kidnapping and summary execution of militants
Nato Air Strike Reportedly Kills Two Children, Nine Taliban In South-Eastern Afghanistan | TPM News (well what were children toing hanging out with terrorists?)

Bank of Cyprus depositors could lose up to 60% of their savings | World news | guardian.co.uk Cypriot finance officials say initial losses will be 37.5%, but up to 22.5% more could be taken if bank needs further capitalisation (the 60% solutions)

Obsidian Wings: Reading "The Insurgents" by Fred Kaplan I don't know if Kaplan intends it to be a theme, but I am stunned by his descriptions of the cultivated incompetence of American military planning (old white guy generals learned nothing, made careers out of it)

Daily Kos: GunFAIL XI

Veterans Fight Changes To Disability Payments Veterans groups are rallying to fight any proposal to change disability payments as the federal government attempts to address its long-term debt problem. They say they've sacrificed already. (fuck our troops)

The protection of President Obama's family shouldn't be political football | Tom Rogan | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk There are genuine threats against the president and his family. Conservatives wrongly dismiss those by bashing security costs (sequester the SS)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg must go - Salon.com The GOP could take the Senate in 2014. If the justice wants to be replaced by a liberal, now's the time to resign (yeah, like the Refucks would confirm anyone)
Obamacare Faces Near-Solid Block In The South As more Republicans give in to President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul, an opposition bloc remains across the South, including from governors who lead some of the nation's poorest and unhealthiest states. (keep voting for old white Republicans)

ThinkProgress - Why Marriage Equality Opponents Who ‘Love’ Gays Are Still Bigoted - San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who recently said that gay couples can never achieve the same intimacy as straight couples (he knows all about intimacy with Jesus)

James Inhofe 'Proud' To Be A Target In Climate Change Documentary (proud to be a world-destroying asshole and idiot)
Palin’s SarahPAC Embarrassment: Consultants Are Cashing In - The Daily Beast the current stated purpose of SarahPAC is to raise money ahead of the 2014 election—most of which will be spent on conservative consultants. (grifters will grift other grifters)
Jim Carrey: Fox News 'A Media Colostomy Bag That Has Begun To Burst At The Seams'
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Reports Dick Morris To Help RNC With Latino Outreach | Video | Media Matters for America (beyond laughable)
Daily Kos Republican March to Madness Tournament at Daily Kos (good representative categories of Republican evil)

Sequester Cuts Trickle Down From The Middle Class
This Is What Happens When You Rip a Hole in the Safety Net | Common Dreams . Chana Joffe-Walt’s in-depth exploration of the increase in people getting Social Security Disability benefits at NPR got many listeners buzzing. (always looking for moochers; no jobs and you got all the money, assholes)

North Carolina Lawmakers Seek to Make Divorce Difficult The proposed law "would extend to two years the current one-year waiting period in order for a divorce to be finalized. During that time, the couple would have to complete courses on improving their communications skills and conflict resolution. If the couple has children, they would have to take at least a four-hour class on the impact of divorce on children." (and get trans-anal ultrasounds)

Political Animal - Something to celebrate for workers for a change: paid sick leave in New York City (over Chrisine Quinn's 3-year block)

Ex-Atlanta Schools Chief Charged in Cheating Scandal - NYTimes.com

Some Poor Kid's Mom Wrote a Letter to Princeton's Student Newspaper Begging Girls to Date Her Son

Quantum interaction: 10,000 times faster than light - Science (spooky)
Biological Computer: Stanford Researchers Discover Genetic Transistors That Turn Cells Into Computers
Saturn’s moon Rhea is held in the centre of the...
Infinity Imagined: Archive


032913
Kim Jong-un puts missile units on standby to attack US bases | World news | guardian.co.uk
BBC News - North Korea tensions: Russia's Lavrov fears 'spiral'
North Korea Threats Intensify As Kim Orders Rocket Prep After U.S. B-2 Bomber Drill
Scary Monsters - Esquire - . It is the lingua franca of the End Times, which do not come with monsters and Horsemen, but in the things we build with our own hands.
Undersea internet cables off Egypt disrupted as navy arrests three | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Corporate Cyberattacks, Possibly State-Backed, Now Seek to Destroy Data - NYTimes.com

Study puts total price tag for Iraq, Afghanistan wars at more than $4 trillion - The Hill's DEFCON Hill The final cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will be between $4 and $6 trillion — and most of those costs have yet to be paid, according to a new study out of Harvard University.
Ten years after Iraq war began, Iran reaps the gains - latimes.com The influence of Tehran on its neighbor is growing, while the U.S., Iraqi officials and analysts say, pursues a policy of near-total disengagement.

Did You Know that WMD is DMW Spelled Backwards? » Duck of Minerva the persistence of Bush Derangement Syndrome among liberals, academics, and especially liberal academics makes it “too soon” for a sober assessment of the war.

Opinion: Gay rights opponents' last argument - CNN.com Opponents of gay marriage want everyone to know that they aren't motivated by bigotry, only by a concern for straight people with tender feelings and fragile marriages.
Opinion: Chief justice reveals he's fed up with Obama - CNN.com Chief Justice John G. Roberts' irritation with and contempt for the Obama administration.

JOBS Act falls short of grand promises - The Washington Post (Obama's lowest priority)
John Boehner On Don Young Racial Slur: 'There's No Excuse' (UPDATE) Multiple Republicans strongly condemned Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) on Friday for his use of the slur "wetbacks" to refer to Latino farm workers
"Nasty, Petty, And Ill-Informed": Ben Carson's Johns Hopkins Colleague Responds To His Marriage Equality Attack | Blog | Media Matters for America Johns Hopkins Sexuality Studies Co-Director Compares Carson To Defenders Of Dreyfus Affair ... Carson's recent comments comparing supporters of marriage equality to members of NAMBLA and practitioners of bestiality.
Whiskey Fire: If I Can't Change Your Mind Liberals, or more properly The Real Racists, are in regards to The Gay Marriage The Real Bigots, for reasons that fascinate.

Kansas HIV AIDS Quarentine Bill - The Matter With Kansas Is Who It Elects - Esquire A bill working its way through the Kansas Legislature is getting national attention. The original version of the bill would have allowed the state to quarantine people with HIV or AIDS. (again, Kansas)
Soledad O'Brien Last Day: CNN Anchor Signs Off From 'Starting Point' (fuck you CNN) )

Cheating Our Children - NYTimes.com . It’s as if someone sent out a memo saying that the Chicken Little act, with its repeated warnings of a U.S. debt crisis that keeps not happening, has outlived its usefulness. (but think of the children! by gutting education and social programs)

NPR Adds Clarity To Discredited Disability Report | Blog | Media Matters for America
This American Life Criticized For Defending Misleading Disability Benefits Report | Blog | Media Matters for America (Glass got Breitbart.com to "fack check" every line)
Under Fire, This American Life Stands By Misleading Report On Disability Benefits | Blog | Media Matters for America - " Breitbart.com praised NPR "for reporting the truth--a truth that conservatives have been highlighting for decades."
This American Life Features Error-Riddled Story On Disability And Children | Research | Media Matters for America

Balloon Juice » It’s a Bad Man’s World s it even a little bit surprising that North Dakota, the state with the most “overall freedom” according to the Koch-funded libertarian group Mercatus, just passed a law banning all abortions?

California Beaming - NYTimes.com Following a tax hike backed by voters last year, California is projecting a budget surplus in the near future, and big pockets of the state are national leaders in job creation and population growth. (it could happen in America if all the Rethugs lose)
‘Romney is Wall Street’s worst bet since the bet on subprime’

NPR ending 'Talk of the Nation' - POLITICO.com NPR on Friday announced it is ending “Talk of the Nation” after 21 years on the air.
Changing Skyline: Money for costly roadwork would be better spent on transit But Christie argued that the state couldn't afford its part of the tab, $3 billion to $5 billion, for relieving the rail congestion. Officials say it will take at least $900 million to untangle the South Jersey interchange - a sum equal to 75 percent of SEPTA's entire annual operating budget. Yet it doesn't appear that New Jersey or federal officials ever stopped to ask, "Is this problem just too expensive to fix?"

Soaring Bee Deaths in 2012 Sound Alarm on Malady - NYTimes.com But beekeepers and some researchers say there is growing evidence that a powerful new class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, incorporated into the plants themselves, could be an important factor.
Current Intelligence - Analysis - Cold Rush: Exploring Arctic Myths and Misconceptions Exploring the reality and the hype of Arctic boundary disputes, land grabs, resource races, and the transformation of global shipping

One of the largest ship graveyard : the bay of Nouadhibou

J.S. Bach. St. Matthew Passion. "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded". Choir of King's College. - YouTube

Amazon's fees hike for third-party traders provokes fury | Technology | The Guardian

032813

Cyprus Bailout Shows Strictness but Signs of Disarray - NYTimes.com
Cyprus, Seriously - NYTimes.com So here it is: yes, Cyprus should leave the euro. Now.
Cypriot Parliament Investigates Government after Dubious Transactions - Spiegel Online (the Russian gangstas have already moved their money, being tipped off)

The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Mistakes, Excuses and Painful Lessons From the Iraq War
The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Did the Iraq War Cause the Great Recession?

DOMA At The Supreme Court - Gay Marriage And The Justices: Day Two - Esquire In addition to being a proud demonstration of bigotry, DOMA also was a deliberate bear-trap set for Democratic politicians, which definitely included President Bill Clinton. It passed both houses of Congress overwhelmingly. with quite a few Democrats deploring the law prior to voting for it. Clinton signed it on September 22, just as the homestretch of his walkover campaign against Republican Bob Dole was hitting the homestretch. It was exactly one month to the day after he'd also signed the more-punitive-than-it-had-to-be welfare reform act that essentially ended the federal welfare program. Both acts bore the signature of Morris, the dark genius of triangulation. (thank you Bill Clinton)
The Slow Death of the Anti-Gay-Marriage Movement -- Daily Intelligencer The unusual thing about the campaign to ban gay marriage is that it was dying from the moment it was born. Even at its peak, at the very outset, the portents of doom were visible on the horizon — polls showed that young voters strongly supported gay marriage. The best case for Gallagher and her allies appeared to be holding on for years, or even decades, but eventually gay-marriage opponents would age out of the electorate.
How the War on Gay Marriage Turned Into a War on Adoption - Esquire
Booman Tribune ~ Anti-Gay Base is Feeling Isolated
Anti-Gay Marriage Democrats Dig In Just nine Senate Democrats remain in opposition, a core group that includes some of the party's most socially conservative members: Joe Manchin (WV), Mark Pryor (AR), Bob Casey (PA), Bill Nelson (FL), Tom Carper (DE), Tim Johnson (SD), Mary Landrieu (LA), Heidi Heitkamp (ND) and Joe Donnelly (IN). (remember these names)
Record-High 86% Approve of Black-White Marriages (for comparison)

Gun Violence Costs U.S. Health Care System, Taxpayers Billions Each Year (send the bill to the NRA/Red States)
NRA: No 'Member Relationship' With Adam Or Nancy Lanza | TPM LiveWire after police documents released Thursday revealed that NRA materials were found at the Lanza home ... "a certificate from the National Rifle Association bearing the name Adam Lanza, a receipt from a shooting range in Oklahoma, an N.R.A. guide to the basics of pistol shooting and training manuals on the use of a variety of firearms, including a Bushmaster,"

Republicans Decry Sequestration-Related Airport Closures In Their Own District | TPMDC (Republicans surprised that government actually does shit)

The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - How the Heritage Foundation Manufactured a New Obamacare Myth (always making shit up)
The culture war was never a fair fight - The Week - liberty is murdering virtue

This Week In The Laboratories Of Democracy - Esquire We begin this week in Texas where, realizing that his national political ambitions are still rotting in a ditch beside a highway somewhere north of Nashua, Governor Goodhair has decided to run the Insane Governor Posse for a while.
Quotas get results : Columbia Journalism Review But earlier this month, after MSNBC announced it was giving Chris Hayes his own daily primetime news show, Media Matters published a chart that showed how his weekend show, Up with Chris Hayes, differed from its cable-news competitors: It wasn’t all white dudes.

The Commercialization of Academia: A Case Study - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Amooc Time » Duck of Minerva The recent obsession with MOOCs has its roots in three interlocking trends: the application of business-school speak to higher education, technology fetishism, and the quest to push down labor costs. It wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to say that these are three faces of late-modern capitalism: the colonization of all modes of life by scripts associated with capitalist exchange relations,
Vocationalism, Academic Freedom and Tenure - NYTimes.com

The landscape of abortion bans, in one must-see map
Saying ‘Vagina’ During Biology Class Leads To Investigation Of Idaho Science Teacher | TPM News (but "dick" is perfectly ok ... and "Gateway To Jesusabies." -CP)
Michael Gerson: An America that is losing faith with religion - The Washington Post One theory: The accelerated growth of the nones coincided with the rise of the religious right in the 1990s, leading some scholars to assert a connection. Though causality is hard to establish, many nones hold a very dim view of religious conservatives — asserting that churches are too focused on rules and money and too involved with politics

New Mayor For Boston - Adios, Tom Menino - Esquire First of all, congratulations to former Boston Phoenician David Bernstein for scooping the damn world on the news that Boston Mayor Tom Menino would not be running for a sixth term. You have to love a newspaper that's still breaking big stories two weeks after it folded.

Sucks to Be You, Wal-Mart... | Hillman Foundation What if there was a Wal-Mart and nobody came? That's basically what's happening right now. Wal-Mart stores are in disarray because the nation's largest retailer can't find employees to stock its cavernous new dens of commerce:

'What Is the Deal With Donald Trump?' Or With Buzz Bissinger? - James Fallows - The Atlantic Those ever-droll Scots strike again.

10 episodes that show the best of Mad Men’s many facets | TV | TV Club 10 | The A.V. Club

Microsoft Surface Pro Review | Pocketnow
Razer Edge review | The Verge

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Out of Sight, Out of Mind: A visualization of drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004 (Obama's war on innocent brown people: 1.5% the people they meant to kill, the rest women, children, civilians)
CIA director faces a quandary over clandestine service appointment - The Washington Post But she also helped run the CIA’s detention and interrogation program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and signed off on the 2005 decision to destroy videotapes of prisoners being subjected to treatment critics have called torture. (destroying evidence so ok)
CNN's Contradictions on bin Laden's Shooter - Esquire CIA And Torture - The Rules Are Different - Esquire - Of course, the rules for the CIA are different. The rules for the CIA always are different. If it weren't for the CIA, after all, the sudden collapse of the entire Soviet bloc wouldn't have been such a surprise.
Daily Kos: GunFAIL X

Here Are the 7 Worst Things Antonin Scalia Has Said or Written About Homosexuality | Mother Jones
Profiles in courage: Dems rush to endorse gay marriage before it’s too late - there is only one Democrat in the Senate from a red or swing state right now who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act back in 1996: Sherrod Brown of Ohio.
Kay Hagan Backs Gay Marriage (I was, like totally against gay marriage until the day before they made it legal)
How the Court Could Rule on Same-Sex Marriage - Graphic - NYTimes.com How the Supreme Court May Buck Public Opinion on Gay Marriage, in Charts - Philip Bump - The Atlantic Wire
A Rare Victory Against the War On (Some Classes of People Who Use Some) Drugs - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Roberts and Alito Speak Softly but Carry a Big Gavel Liberals used to think Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia were the scariest justices on the Court. Then came George W. Bush's appointees.

Due to sequester, HUD and EPA to implement agency-wide furloughs — MSNBC (way to destroy functioning government, Republifucks)

Untangling Megan McArdle’s Feelings About The Gays: An Exegesis We Undertake So You Don’t Have To - She’s Peggy Noonan without the semi-redeeming old lady drunkenness.

New Kind Of Supernova? Type Iax Star Explosions Identified In New Research - type Iax,

Half the professoriate will kill the other half for free. | More or Less Bunk “I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half.” (rise of MOOCs)

A photographic journey through Montana’s vanished towns — High Country News (still have their Senators)


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/ Muammar Gaddafi's wife and three children go missing from Algeria | World news | guardian.co.uk Interpol alerted after late Libyan dictator's wife Safia, daughter and two sons flee Staoueli, near Algiers, where they were living

Cyprus bailout deal with EU closes bank and seizes large deposits | Business | guardian.co.uk Draconian terms aimed at keeping Cyprus in eurozone include closure of second-largest bank and big losses for wealthy savers (shave and a haircut for Russian gangstas)
Cyprus Reaches Bailout Deal With International Lenders Deposits above 100,000 euros, which under EU law are not guaranteed, will be frozen and used to resolve debts, and Laiki will effectively be shuttered, with thousands of job losses.
Dijsselbloem: Cyprus Deal Is A Template - Business Insider
Hot Money Blues - NYTimes.com one thing seems certain: for the time being, and probably for years to come, the island nation will have to maintain fairly draconian controls on the movement of capital in and out of the country. (lookin' at you, Caymans/Romney)

California Officials Turn Up The Heat On Secretive 'Dark Money' Groups


Clarifying an Argument - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Glenn Greenwald is a profoundly dishonest person. In his article today, entitled “The Racism that Fuels the War on Terror,” Greenwald uses me as an example of someone who gives cover to the war on terror.
Glenn Greenwald: Neither a Liberal Nor a Progressive | Rooted Cosmopolitan
Of Course You Can Collaborate With Bad People When They’re Offering Something. But What Does This Have to do With Rand Paul? - Lawyers, Guns & Money (GG in comments)

Roe’s Shadow as Supreme Court Hears Same-Sex Marriage Cases - NYTimes.com
Rove loves Ginsburg now? - Salon.com GOP is using the liberal justice's words to justify its anti-LGBT agenda. Here are two reasons they have it wrong

Limbaugh Laments He Can't Ask Whether Chief Justice's Lesbian Cousin Is Obese Or An Alcoholic Because He'll Look "Mean" | Video | Media Matters for America
Former South Carolina GOP Head Loves The Troops So Much He Wishes This One Vet Had ‘Come Home In A Body Bag’
NBC To Air 'Interview' Of Convicted Child Rapist Sandusky

Cholera + Exploitation of Irish Labor = Tragedy - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money This is a pretty amazing story of the discovery of a mass grave of Irish laborers who died in the 1832 cholera epidemic ... When the Irish sought to escape death in their makeshift concentration camp, they were murdered in cold blood. (whoah, +Thoreau in comments)

Jane Goodall book held back after accusations of plagiarism | Books | guardian.co.uk Seeds of Hope, the primatologist's new book, has publication delayed after newspaper finds uncredited sources - after she was found to have lifted some passages from websites including Wikipedia.
Leading writers publish bad reviews of themselves | Books | guardian.co.uk Anne Enright, Richard Ford and Rachel Cusk among authors confessing worst literary sins to Dublin Review

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Morsi Issues Vague Warning After Violence Rocks Cairo "Let us not be dragged into an area where I will take a harsh decision," he warned. (don't make me be really mean)


Pressing Issues: Double Failure The Washington Post killed my assigned piece for its Outlook section this weekend which was mainly on media failures re: Iraq and the current refusal to come to grips with that (the subject of my latest book)--yet ran this misleading, cherry-picking, piece by Paul Farhi claiming the media did NOT fail. (of course they didn't)
Washington Post Defends Not Running Article On Iraq Media Failure (we were right, you were wrong, so shut up)

Wayne LaPierre: Michael Bloomberg 'Insane' On Guns
'The Onion' Calls Democrats 'Cowering Sacks Of Sh*t' For Dropping Assault Weapons Ban (VIDEO) "It is once again a proud time to be a cowering sack of shit," the fake report proclaims. It goes on to mockingly praise dems for failing to "stand up for comprehensive gun control legislation that could save thousands of innocent lives."


Sequestration’s Effects Felt at Nation’s Air Shows - NYTimes.com (endless poof stories, can't deal with the real consequences of Rethug craziness)
Paul Krugman: Matt Yglesias Condo Criticism Shows Conservatives 'Don't Actually Believe In Any Rules At All' (well, not for them, anyway otherwise, get your drugz test and fetal monitor implant)

The story of Washington gridlock seen through the eyes of Bob Dole - News - Boston.com Dole was 89 years old, just out of the hospital, working the phones to win senators’ support. Then, in a dramatic effort, he rolled in his wheelchair onto the Senate floor, all but daring senators to vote against him and, by proxy, anyone with a disability. (so the Republicans convened a death-panel on him)


Scott Fujita - Acceptance by Example, in Locker Room and at Home - NYTimes.com Acceptance by Example, on the Field and at Home By Scott Fujita (in a homophobic sport)

The Top 100 ‘Pictures of the Day’ for 2012 «TwistedSifter

Is newsjacking the ultimate use of media for companies? - The Next Web it’s about two things: taking over a news channel or taking over a message and using it for other purposes.

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Boris Berezovsky Dead: Russian Oligarch And Kremlin Foe Found Dead At 67 In UK

Kremlin 'could punish Europe' in reprisal for Cyprus bailout's bank levy | World news | The Observer Fears mount that Russia could act against European companies if charge on deposits hits €30bn Russian investments (revenge of Russian gangsta money-lanuderers)
Ireland Recovers, and Recovers, and Recovers - NYTimes.com

Phil Donahue on His 2003 Firing from MSNBC, When Liberal Network Couldn’t Tolerate Antiwar Voices | Democracy Now!
Balloon Juice » Tweety’s Ugly Story
Chris Matthews Revises History on His Opposition to the Iraq Invasion During his 'Let Me Finish' Segment | Video Cafe Chris Matthews apparently thinks that no one is going to go back and look at the things he actually said when he had a chance to speak out about the United States invading Iraq
The National Memo » The Siren Song Of War: Why Pundits Beat The Drums For Iraq - The inability of these pundits to think straight may simply be a symptom of narcissism poisoning. For them, invasion and war were all about presenting their preferred face to the world — and to themselves. Henry James once wrote that a writer should be “one of the people on whom nothing is lost.” For these pundits, everything was lost — everything, that is, but their own overgrown egos.
Eschaton: "Decent Left" I'd forgotten about that bit of self-labeling. Was a UK thing, not really an American thing, but was in line with similar branding here. The decent left, you may remember, were the people who supported an invasion which has resulted in the deaths of, at minimum, 100,000 Iraqis and ruined countless lives.
The answer to the rhetorical question is ‘perhaps yes: but only if you don’t invite Michael Walzer’ — Crooked Timber In Spring 2002, Dissent published Michael Walzer’s essay, “Can There Be A Decent Left?,

One Nation Under The Gun: Thousands Of Gun Deaths Since Newtown (NRA terrorist organization)

Even These Republican Women Lawmakers Think ND Went Too Far | Mother Jones
Anti-Choice March Madness: The Worst State for Women | Mother Jones (usual suspects)
The Men Who Kick Down Doors: How Domestic Violence Mirrors War | Mother Jones

Tea Party group boycotting Fox News for becoming ‘too liberal’ | The Raw Story - conservatives are conservative because they are not stupid (QED)


Science: Beef Good, Bacon Not So Bad | Mother Jones - A new European study claims an increase in processed-meat consumption raises the risk of early death. But the real news? Red meat won't kill you
Study: Women Abused As Kids More Likely To Have Children With Autism | TIME.com

Science-fiction turns real: Genetically engineering animals for war - Salon.com Scientific advances have us on the verge of being able to control and manipulate animals. Should we use that power?

Playhaven developer fired for sexual jokes after SendGrid marketer outs him on Twitter | VentureBeat (boys will be assholes)
Breaking: Adria Richards fired by SendGrid for calling out developers on Twitter | VentureBeat
Adria Richards, PyCon, and How We All Lost | Amanda Blum
Donglegate: How One Brogrammer's Sexist Joke Led to Death Threats and Firings | Mother Jones
How To Get Banned From PyCon – reoriginalize
'Sexism' Public-Shaming Via Twitter Leads To Two People Getting Fired (Including The Shamer) - Forbes
Penny Arcade - Smoke it up
When Overreaction is Legitimate - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Twitter sued £32m for refusing to reveal anti-semites (Wired UK)
Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement | Electronic Frontier Foundation The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a secretive, multi-national trade agreement that threatens to extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws across the globe and rewrite international rules on its enforcement. The main problems are two-fold:

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Balloon Juice » All Apologies Haaretz is not Bibi’s paper, but it’s pretty clear that Bibi is the guy who came at the king and missed, and there’s some making up to do.
Obama Sarcastically Asks How Israel Afforded Such A Great Missile Defense System | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Cyprus – just pop the red pill, please | FT Alphaville - Cyprus now has a binary choice: become a gimp state for Russian gangsta finance, or turn fully towards Europe, close down much of its shady banking sector and rebuild its economy on something more sustainable.
Cyprus Update - NYTimes.com
Ireland Recovers, and Recovers, and Recovers - NYTimes.com
Cyprus Bailout - What To Do Now - Cyprus.com

The Media And The Anniversary Of Iraq - Getting Iraq Wrong - Esquire - Getting Iraq wrong cancels your subscription to hubris for the rest of your life.
Fox News Continues Pushing Conspiracy Theory That Iraq Hid WMD In Other Countries | Blog | Media Matters for America
Don’t Talk the Wrong Way About the War - Lawyers, Guns & Money : It’s always worth remembering that MSNBC had to choose between the market and ideology when its most popular host opposed the Iraq War in 2002 and 2003. It chose the latter. Oddly enough, this kind of thing gets airbrushed out of MSNBC’s history of these events. We’re now hundreds of thousands of dead and more than $2 trillion later.
Phil Donahue on His 2003 Firing from MSNBC, When Liberal Network Couldn’t Tolerate Antiwar Voices | Democracy Now! - And if you’re General Electric, you certainly don’t want an antiwar voice on a cable channel that you own; Donald Rumsfeld is your biggest customer.
Ashleigh Banfield Landon Lecture
Political Animal - Costs of a “War of Choice”
Balloon Juice » Open Thread: Forgive, Maybe; Forget, Never
Balloon Juice » It’s in the order of the hedgerows
The Xenophobic Panic of the Aughts: The Lessons Learned - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic Exposing the most egregious examples isn't "gotcha" -- it's an attempt to prevent errors in judgment like the ones that I once made
L'Hôte: where's all the hippie punching? - "the incredible power of personal resentment against antiwar people, or what antiwar people were perceived to be."
Bats Left/Throws Right: A Sugared Turd Is Still Not A Tootsie-Roll YESTERDAY, as you no doubt already know, Pierce introduced Young Ezra to the concept of withering fire in a way America's wars never will.
Ezra Klein Apology Iraq War - Penance Before Absolution - Esquire - No, Ezra. Kenneth Pollack was wrong, too.

This housing boom will be perfect, says Osborne Osborne has reassured Britain that the new housing boom he is trying to create will never, ever end. (idiots running the world, part infinity)

Cardinal Keith O'Brien Had Physical Relationship With Accuser, Report Claims (virulently anti-gay Cardinal was always gay)

How rich “moochers” hurt America - Salon.com The 3-point plan of wealthy landlords, lenders and insurance providers -- the true "takers" threatening the nation
Good news for people who like bad news about inequality So here’s some bad news: The rise in wealth inequality? It’s permanent.
Eschaton: The Bond Vigilantes Are Here!!! Actually people are paying the US for the privilege of it holding onto their money ... At this moment in time, borrowing money at negative interest rates and just dropping it out of helicopters most likely has a greater than -.602% return.
Treasury Sells TIPS at Negative Yields as Buyers Doubt Bernanke - Bloomberg

Political Animal - Trapped By the Base These staunch conservatives, who emerged with great force in the Obama era, represent 45 percent of the Republican base. According to our 2011 survey, they are demographically and politically distinct from the national electorate. Ninety-two percent are white. They tend to be male, married, Protestant, well off and at least 50 years old.
FAA To Close 149 Air Traffic Towers Because Of Budget Cuts
Most Senate Dems Join GOP Push To Repeal Obamacare Tax | TPMDC
The Greatest Retirement Crisis In American History - Forbes We are on the precipice of the greatest retirement crisis in the history of the world. In the decades to come, we will witness millions of elderly Americans, the Baby Boomers and others, slipping into poverty. Too frail to work, too poor to retire will become the “new normal” for many elderly Americans. (thanks for voting Republican, old white people)
Obama Withdraws Caitlin Halligan's Nomination To D.C. Circuit Court
Why Elizabeth Warren is Untouchable

Tom Clements Colorado Murder - Can We Listen To The Right People Now, Please? - Esquire
NRA Robocalls In Newtown Spark Outrage From Local Gun Control Group
Today in Op Eds - The Advice Columns - Esquire Let's start in Detroit, where one Nolan Finley has a big ol' man crush on Dr. Ben Carson, with whom Finley plans to join in an ongoing seminar through which he and Carson will undertake to give all Americans — but especially African Americans — a course of Negro Lessons.

Texas Takes Step Toward Secession With Rick Perry's Plan to Hoard $1 Billion in Gold | Video Cafe (that would be good, we can move the border fence)

Why Immigration Policy Is ‘Sexclusionary’ (and How To Fix It) - colorlines

Departures - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic Yesterday I ate a bad nut on the train to Boston and went into anaphylactic shock.

Michael Calderone: The New Republic Fires Timothy Noah
Daily Caller faces new allegations - The Maddow Blog Well, this would be quite a development, wouldn't it? (Fucker Carlson's little rag unraveling?)


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Cyprus: The Sum of All FUBAR - NYTimes.com

Who was right about invading Iraq? | Stephen M. Walt (FP, reg req)
A decade later and the Iraq debate is still contaminated with myths | Shadow Government (zombie bullshit)
Behold the Hatred, Resentment, and Mockery Aimed at Anti-Iraq War Protesters - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic Few hawks who treated them shabbily have reflected on their behavior in reminisces about the conflict. (shutup, dirty fucking hippie commie terror-symp traitors)
Rising Hegemon: Whoopsy? Well, Fuck you! David Ignatius another in a series of war enablers who comes forth to "apologize" for his cheerleading of Operation Clusterfuck naturally has to undermine it by this concluding paragraph (we saved thousands of lives after we killed hundreds of thousands and unleased terrible sectarian violence!)
David Rees: Cormac Ignatieff's "The Road" Hello everyone! Personal message to all the New Yorkers out there: Did you read Michael Ignatieff's essay in the the NY Times Magazine? If so, contact me ASAP to let me know you're OK. I put your flyer up at Grand Central Station, but have heard no response.
David Rees: My Old Bus Stop Anyway, these days a guy named Michael Ignatieff rules my old bus stop. He's the Carr professor of human rights at the Kennedy School of Government. If you wait for the #66 bus in front of the Kennedy School these days, you pick up a very, very strong human rights vibe. (in one sentence we see the whole problem; you see, we "liberated" the Iraqis and the hawks all got good jobs)
America The Empire - Esquire - David Ignatius does the I-was-so-much-older-then-I'm-younger-than-that-now thing better than most of them, but I'm struck by this one Friedmanesque anecdote that Ignatius cites.
The Iraq Apology Tour, Continued - Esquire - Before we move on to people whose opinions we might actually care about, let's dispense first with some people who ought never be allowed again on a tour bus in the District Of Columbia, let alone in the actual hallways of power. (and really zings Chait)
Bill Moyers - The 'Conspiracy of Silence' on the 10th Anniversary of the Iraq War Ten years ago this week, the United States pre-emptively attacked Iraq igniting a war that would last for eight years, claiming an estimated 189,000 lives, costing over $2 trillion and causing untold economic and emotional devastation for the Iraqi people.
10 Best Replies to Rumsfeld's Disgusting Tweet About 'Liberating Iraqis' | Alternet
Fox's Oliver North Pushes Long-Debunked WMD Conspiracy Theory To Justify The Iraq War | Blog | Media Matters for America (Satan's many mouths spew their lies and never stop)
The WMD Dodge - Lawyers, Guns & Money : As I noted yesterday, several liberal hawks have argued that while they were wrong about the central justification offered for the Iraq War — the alleged threat posed by Saddam’s WMDs — they were wrong only in retrospect. For example, Leon Wieseltier and Jon Chait
What Needless, Xenophobic Panic Looks Like - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic Revisiting a particularly irresponsible column published prior to the Iraq invasion now that its wrongheadedness has been proven (rightwing Asian chick Malkin wanted to lock up all Iraqi-Americans)
Henley Everywhere 2008 § Unqualified Offerings - Anyone who saw invading foreign lands and ruling other countries by force as extraordinary was forearmed against the lies and delusions of the time. It’s a heavy burden, I’ll admit. But the riches and fame make it all worthwhile.

The Other Budget Proposal - The Silent Majorities - Esquire with the results of the latest Gallup Poll, the sub-themes of which latter is, quite clearly, "Why In Hell Are We Listening To Joe Scarborough On This Stuff Anyway?"
The Republican Autopsy Report - NYTimes.com Voters’ belief that “the G.O.P. does not care about them is doing great harm.” Formerly loyal voters gathered in focus groups describe Republicans as “ ‘scary,’ ‘narrow-minded’ and ‘out of touch’ and that we were a party of ‘stuffy old men.’ ”

Bill O'Reilly's Divorce Is So Ugly, God Got Involved

Light pollution in Hong Kong 'worst on the planet' | South China Morning Post It’s 1,200 times brighter over Tsim Sha Tsui than a normal dark sky, three-year study finds, posing a danger to health and wildlife - Unlike major cities elsewhere - including London, Frankfurt, Sydney and Shanghai - Hong Kong has no laws to control external lighting.

Lawyer for Steubenville rapist to appeal conviction - Salon.com It’s an effort to say that rape is OK — as long as it’s a teenager who commits it.

You Have Nothing Interesting to Say About Brooklyn
Lindsay Lohan's Mug Shots, Ranked from 'Ooh, Child...' to 'Damn, Girl!'

This Illegally Made, Incredibly Mesmerizing Animated GIF Is What the Internet Looks Like - a network of nearly half a million hacked computers, chosen from a selection of Linux machines with no or default passwords

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Netanyahu reaffirms US-Israel bond on Obama visit but talks tough on Iran | World news | guardian.co.uk PM reasserts Israel's right to be 'masters of our own fate' over Iran threat as Netanyahu and Obama strive to show new warmth (and fail)
Obama Israel Visit 2013: How the President Can Learn to Speak Israeli | New Republic Advice to the president on his visit
Obama Visits Israel’s Iron Dome Battery - The Daily Beast Israel claims that Iron Dome intercepted nearly 90 percent of Hamas rockets launched during Operation Pillar of Cloud. However, experts are beginning to raise concerns about the effectiveness of the IDF’s rocket defense shield.
South Korea Computer Networks At Banks, Broadcasters Simultaneously Crash But some experts suspected a cyberattack orchestrated by Pyongyang.
Sun deputy editor charged over alleged payments to public officials | UK news | The Guardian Geoff Webster due to appear in court on 26 March after information from Operation Elveden investigation led to charges
Jim Davidson re-arrested over allegations of sexual offences | UK news | The Guardian Comedian is re-arrested in connection with Operation Yewtree, the investigation prompted by Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal

Christine Lagarde's flat raided by French police | World news | The Guardian IMF chief's residence searched amid inquiry into her handling of €285m payout to Nicolas Sarkozy supporter Bernard Tapie (woahh)
Budget 2013: Osborne downgrades UK growth forecasts | UK news | guardian.co.uk 2013 growth forecast cut to 0.6% "This is a budget for people who aspire to work hard and get on," Osborne said. (and it's your own fucking fault if I've ruined the economy)
Cyprus to keep banks shut into next week as it seeks deal to avert disaster | World news | The Guardian Ministers continue negotiations with EU, IMF and Russia as suspicions grow that Kremlin is pressing for stakes in gas fields

Liberal Hawks Learn Nothing - Lawyers, Guns & Money
A Historical Puzzle: The 2003 Iraq War
Former Bush Official Justifies The Iraq War: 'We Shared The Benefits' With The Iraqis | ThinkProgress Yoo, who once said “I was never certain whether the Iraq war made sense as a matter of strategy,” now maintains that “invading Iraq was the best option in light of the information we had then,” and claims that if it weren’t, those who oppose the decision should want to “restore Saddam Hussein’s family and the Baath Party to power in Iraq.” (Torture Yoo)
How to Write an Iraq War Apologia - Elspeth Reeve - The Atlantic Wire
GOP Lawmakers Who Voted Against Iraq War Stand Their Ground 10 Years Later
Iraq War Anniversary: Photos Look Back At 10 Years Of Conflict
black bush dave chappelle - YouTube
Syria Chemical Weapons Claims Prompt Easy Talk Of Hard War On Iraq Invasion Anniversary (same always wrong blood-thirsty fools)
Balloon Juice » Well played, @robdelaney (blood-garling psychopaths)

CIA's Gus Hunt On Big Data: We 'Try To Collect Everything And Hang Onto It Forever'
The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Why Spy When You Can Facebook?

How many filibusters will it take?

The GOP’s Inept Autopsy - The Daily Beast The Republican National Committee’s attempt at self-criticism doesn’t genuinely tackle any of the party’s biggest problems, says Michael Tomasky. (o rly)
Progressive caucus budget: David Brooks versus House liberals.
Paul Ryan wants to cut income taxes. Bobby Jindal wants to kill them dead.

Federal Reserve sticks with stimulus and leaves interest rates unchanged | Business | guardian.co.uk US stock markets rise on news as Bernanke statement says labour market has 'shown sign improvement in recent months'

Large asteroid colliding with Earth probable this century - video | Science | guardian.co.uk (Repubican to defund early-warning system)

Variety Folds Its Daily Print Edition, Kills Dreaded Paywall: Look Out, Hollywood Reporter

The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Why The Prison Population is Falling (30 yrs of tough-on-crime three-strikes-you're-out didn't work and cost a lot)
Why College Costs Too Much by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly (States defund education, AZ and NH in head, admin salaries in 6-7 figures)

Transgender Bathroom Use Debate Emerges In Arizona Arizona lawmakers want to prohibit anyone not associated with their birth gender from using public restrooms, showers and dressing rooms in the nation's latest tussle over equal rights for transgender people.

10 most unhappy states in the U.S. - Slide Show - MarketWatch (most of the South, plus Indiana/Ohio and OK)

Tina Fey Does Sarah Palin Impression On 'Inside The Actor's Studio' With James Lipton (video)


031913
Iraq War Anniversary New York Times - Pleased To Be Shutting The Piehole Now - Esquire The "public editor" of The New York Times tells us today that the paper's coverage of the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War is likely to be less of a hoot than back in the drum-banging days when Judy Miller was standing atop a great pile of stove-piped bullshit while Bill Keller threw roses at her feet ... The Times is playing this on the downlow precisely because it never truly has atoned for its role in a fiasco
Iraq War Media Failure Can Happen Again
Tomas Young, Dying Iraq War Veteran, Pens 'Last Letter' To Bush, Cheney On War's 10th Anniversary
Henley Everywhere 2008alt. § Unqualified Offerings
Where Are The Media's Iraq War Boosters 10 Years Later? | Research | Media Matters for America
Morning Joe Wrong On Pelosi "Beating The Drums Of War" Over Iraq | Blog | Media Matters for America (Joe Scar deliberately lies, NYT loves him)
You Gotta Own That - Lawyers, Guns & Money : I’ve never actually read How Would a Patriot Act, or assessed the claims that Glenn was pro-Iraq War, until today (but read Corey Robin's comment)

Iraq Attacks Across Baghdad Kill 56, Wound Hundreds
Oscar Pistorius case: lead investigator is facing attempted murder charges | World news | guardian.co.uk Detective who gave shaky evidence at bail hearing is on seven charges himself over alleged drunken shoot-up
Swiss Gang Rape Victim, Husband Partially To Blame For Attack, Indian Officials Suggest (they should have known India is full of rapists)

Eurozone crisis live: Cyprus crisis deepens as MPs reject bailout terms | Business | guardian.co.uk Drama as 36 MPs vote against bailout, 19 abstain, 0 in favour • What now? (did Merkel think this through?)
Cyprus Set to Reject Bailout, Citing Tax on Bank Deposits - NYTimes.com
A Cypriot Nobelist Is 'Appalled' by the Proposed Bailout Bank Tax - Businessweek

Iraq War 10-Year Anniversary: What It Was Like to Oppose It in 2003 | New Republic - Eve of Destruction (dirty fucking hippie commie traitor terror-symp)

Aaron Swartz files reveal how FBI tracked internet activist | Technology | guardian.co.uk Firedoglake blogger Daniel Wright publishes once-classified FBI documents that show extent of agency's investigation into Swartz
MIT Officials Subject To 'Pattern of Harassment And Personal Threats' Since Aaron Swartz's Death

Kansas City blast leaves shopping district in flames | World news | guardian.co.uk Gas explosion followed by fire that engulfed an entire block, injuring at least 14 people

Obama's Gun Reform Package Loses One Major Provision, Another In Danger (Reid rolls over the endangered Red-State Demes)

Keystone Pipeline And The Massachusetts Senate Race - The Pipeline Saga, Continued - Esquire - Steve Steyer: "Saying you're for solving climate change while supporting Keystone is like claiming to be a Red Sox fan - except when they play the Yankees." Ruh-roh. That's a low blow.

Food stamps put Rhode Island town on monthly boom-and-bust cycle - The Washington Post


Steubenville Rape Case: Teens Charged With Making Online Threats Against Victim "Let me be clear," DeWine said on Monday in a statement. "Threatening a teenage rape victim will not be tolerated. If anyone makes a threat verbally or via the Internet, we will take it seriously, we will find you, and we will arrest you," he added.
Bats Left/Throws Right: Tales Of Newsroom Diversity ACTUAL quote from actual human being Lisa Green concerning two convictions for rape where charges, let alone convictions, might not have obtained but for the posting of cellphone images:

Reddit Launches YouTube Series, "Explain Like I'm 5," That's Surprisingly Adorable For The Website
ELI5: Don't Panic!

Cyberwar Manual Appeals Laws of War to Cyber Attacks
Who Is Guccifer, the Hacker Who's Terrorizing Politicos? An Illuminati-obsessed hacker is breaking into the email accounts of Washington, D.C.'s political elite, and sharing what he finds. Who is Guccifer, and what's his motive?
Reddit, Craigslist and 30,000 Other Websites Oppose CISPA (they never give up)
Court Backs Student In Textbook Copyright Case : NPR The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that textbooks and other goods made and sold abroad can be re-sold online and in discount stores without violating U.S. copyright law. The outcome was a huge relief to eBay, Costco and other businesses that trade in products made outside the U.S. - "We hold that the 'first sale' doctrine applies to copies of a copyrighted work lawfully made abroad," Breyer said. (should have been obvious, but, Ginsberg dissented)
Jammie Thomas-Rasset Loses Supreme Court Appeal, Must Pay $222,000 For Illegal Downloads
Four months in: Windows 8 adoption is almost at a standstill | ExtremeTech

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Facing Bailout Tax, Cypriots Try to Get Cash Out of Banks - “This is a clear-cut robbery,” said Andreas Moyseos, a former electrician who is now a pensioner in Nicosia, the capital.- NYTimes.com (and find out Merkel has it all, already)
The Rape Of Cyprus By The European Union & The IMF | Zero Hedge People are dancing around the edges while the propaganda machines of Europe are churning out the usual bunk ... Let's be quite clear; the European Union has confiscated the private property of the citizens in Cyprus without debate, legislation or Parliamentary agreement ... A bank account is the private property of a citizen or a corporation and does not belong to the government or at least that was the supposition up until now in Europe.
Cyprus Bailout Tax Worries Fuel Sharp Drop In Global Stocks (confiscating your money and giving it to German bankers is not a "bailout")
Eschaton: From the left Imagine international reaction if Hugo Chavez had taken 10% of bank deposits to bail out the state owned oil company. That's basically what's happening in Cyprus, except in EU bank own state.

Marches of Folly, From Iraq to the Deficit - NYTimes.com Ten years ago, America invaded Iraq; somehow, our political class decided that we should respond to a terrorist attack by making war on a regime that, however vile, had nothing to do with that attack ... So did our political elite and our news media learn from this experience? It sure doesn’t look like it.
As We Near the 10th Anniversary of the Iraq War - James Fallows - The Atlantic 3) Honor. Say this for Al Gore: He was forthright, he was early, and he was right about Iraq. (more than the election was stolen +Israel owns you ass)
10 Years After Iraq - Lawyers, Guns & Money (shockenawe)
Media's failure on Iraq still stings - CNN.com< (not for them, it doesn't) /a>
David Frum, the Iraq war and oil | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The former Bush speechwriter confirms what has long been the most ridiculed claim about a key reason the US attacked Iraq (it was about the oil, after all)
New Evidence: Tony Blair Was Told Before Invasion Iraq Had No WMDs | Crooks and Liars
War For Oil, Ten Years Later | Crooks and Liars
How he got there The press corps' war against Candidate Gore: How George W. Bush reached the White House (elite pundits killing us all)
Brad DeLong : Five Nominations for the Best Weblog Post Ever! - Fibbers' forecasts are worthless
INSTAPUTZ: Putz on Iraq: a timeline. (Instahackery with no regrets or apologies)
Judith Miller's WMD reporting - New York Times war reporting - Hunt for WMD udith Miller’s series of exclusives about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq—courtesy of the now-notorious Ahmad Chalabi—helped the New York Times keep up with the competition and the Bush administration bolster the case for war (in case you forgot)
Could Twitter Have Stopped The Media's Rush To War In Iraq? | Blog | Media Matters for America (Bill Keller was/is an idiot and Twitter would have helped shame him)
Bill Moyers Journal . Transcripts | PBS - APRIL 25, 2007: "Buying the War"
www.mnftiu.cc » war1
http://homeland.gov.safenow.org - what to do in an emergency

BBC News - The Lyndon Johnson tapes: Richard Nixon's 'treason' (Reagan used the Nixon strategy and Bush perfected it)
Richard Nixon Tapes - History's Yard Waste Explored, Continued - Esquire The biggest story in American political history that has broken in many years pretty much died of loneliness over the weekend - There were 22,000 more Americans who died in Vietnam after Nixon sabotaged the peace talks in order to win an election.

Hillary Clinton endorses gay marriage (video)
Poll Tracks Dramatic Rise In Support for Gay Marriage - ABC News Support for gay marriage, though, has gone from 47 percent to today’s 58 percent in just the last three years

GOP: We’ve been lying all along - Salon.com Boehner's admission that we don't really have a debt crisis reveals his party's ulterior, program-cutting motives (yes, we lie about everything, so?)
Florida Cyberattack On Absentee Ballot Site Is First Known Case Of Online Election Tampering: Report

Elizabeth Warren: Why Isn't Min Wage Keeping Up With Productivity? Should Be $22 p/h - Americans Against the Tea Party

Case against Menendez unravels further - The Maddow Blog (Fucker Carlson)
MSNBC Almost Entirely Dominated By Opinion: Pew Study Pew found that Fox News spent 55 percent of the time on opinion and 45 percent of the time on reporting. Critics of that figure would likely contend that the network's straight news reporting tilts conservative (tilt, as in vertical)
"Rack" and Ruin: Rightbloggers Have a Messy CPAC - New York - News - Runnin' Scared

Facing Protective Orders and Allowed to Keep Guns - NYTimes.com The judge’s order prohibited Mr. Holten from going within two blocks of his former wife’s home and imposed a number of other restrictions. What it did not require him to do was surrender his guns. (more women don't count)

Pentagon weapons-maker finds method for cheap, clean water | Reuters The process, officials and engineers at Lockheed Martin Corp say, would enable filter manufacturers to produce thin carbon membranes with regular holes about a nanometer in size that are large enough to allow water to pass through but small enough to block the molecules of salt in seawater.

Why makeup matters? Psychology reveals new sign of aging in perception research - leaving older faces to have less contrast than younger faces.
Blinded by the Light by Bjørn Lomborg - Project Syndicate Notice that you have not been asked to switch off anything really inconvenient, like your heating or air conditioning, television, computer, mobile phone, or any of the myriad technologies that depend on affordable, plentiful energy electricity and make modern life possible. If switching off the lights for one hour per year really were beneficial, why would we not do it for the other 8,759?

CNN's Steubenville Rape Coverage Draws Petition Demanding Apology
Steubenville teens are found guilty but rape culture remains alive and well
The Egregious, Awful and Downright Wrong Reactions to the Steubenville Rape Trial Verdict
Public Shaming

Forget the Cellphone Fight — We Should Be Allowed to Unlock Everything We Own | Wired Opinion | Wired.com - That’s right: typing in a password is considered “reproducing copyrighted material.” (big content owns your life)

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As Syrian refugees pour in, sectarian tensions strain Lebanon's brittle peace | World news | The Observer Beirut faces a crisis, struggling to shelter a vast influx of displaced people
Iraq War Casualties Still Ripple Across The Home Front
Five Men Arrested In Gang-Rape Of Swiss Woman In India

Profile: New pope, Jesuit Bergoglio, was runner-up in 2005 conclave | National Catholic Reporter Bergoglio is seen an unwaveringly orthodox on matters of sexual morality, staunchly opposing abortion, same-sex marriage, and contraception. In 2010 he asserted that gay adoption is a form of discrimination against children, earning a public rebuke from Argentina's President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Cyprus Bank Levy Vote Delayed By Parliament Until Monday, As Nation's Bailout Hangs In The Balance
Facing Bailout Tax, Cypriots Try to Get Cash Out of Banks - NYTimes.com
Cyprus: panic as savings levy is imposed | World news | guardian.co.uk - Cypriots rush to ATMs before savings are docked as part of a bailout deal agreed in Brussels
Eschaton: It Must Be Deliberate They're actually sending the message that people need to pull money out of banks because otherwise they might steal the money to give it to the banks... in order to save the banks ... We are ruled by the stupidest fucking people on the planet.

James Steele: America’s Point Man in Fomenting Sectarian Violence and Torture in Iraq « naked capitalism

Washington “Cancels” Fourth Stage of European Phased Adaptive Approach » Duck of Minerva (defending Poland and Romania from Iran)

Political Animal - Is CPAC the New Republican Party? 2013 may be remembered as the year that CPAC and the GOP came together as one. (the party of clowns, crazies and racists)
CPAC Diary: The Party Report, from "Hunger Games" to Bespoke Suits to Zombies to the Mariachi Band
Balloon Juice » That Word, Libertarian… Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Friday introduced so-called “fetal personhood” legislation that would completely outlaw abortion in the United States. ("principled stand on civil rights" - liberty! for penis-Americans)

You Too Can Live the Galtian Fantasy….12 Miles from San Francisco! « naked capitalism Michael Shedlock (hat tip furzy mouse) described a new gimmick for those who want to skirt international law: live in a fancy ship, 12 miles offshore from San Francisco, with all the tech amenities. He summarizes the pitch:

Two Steubenville football players found guilty of raping teenage girl at party | World news | guardian.co.uk Teen boys face at least a year's detention in juvenile jail in case that roiled close-knit community amid allegations of a cover-up
Steubenville Rape Trial Verdict: Trent Mays, Ma'lik Richmond Found Guilty
Steubenville High School football players found guilty of raping 16-year-old girl - Yahoo! Sports Throughout this trial, the two defendants and a parade of friends who wound up mostly testifying against the defendants, expressed little understanding of rape – let alone common decency or respect for women. Despite the conviction, the defendants likely don't view themselves as rapists, at least not the classic sense of a man hiding in the shadows.
Steubenville Defendant Texted That His Coach 'Took Care of' Rape Allegations (still has his job, of course)

Balloon Juice » Why Does It Hurt When I Pee? That’s right, the paper that recently shut down its environment desk has a new section just for Boomers, covering hot topics like Why Do My Knees Hurt, Low Rise Jeans and Muffin Tops, and how to keep PETA from splattering you with fake blood when you’re wearing the mink Mumsie left you in her will.


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Political Animal - Costs of a “War of Choice” Next week will mark the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, and will naturally spur some assessments of the costs and benefits of that “war of choice.”
Iraq War Totally Worth Its New Six-Trillion-Dollar Price Tag
Iraq War: Who Got It Wrong, And Who Got It Right
BBC News - North Korea tells South to leave islands A North Korean propaganda website has warned of strikes against Southern islands and advised residents to leave.

The Very Confident Jean-Claude Trichet - NYTimes.com And he explains why: austerity is good - Not because it is an elementary recommendation to care for your sons and daughter and not overburden them ... (assholes are always confidently wrong)
The Maestro Speaks - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Saint Alan Greenspan says that we need to make major cuts to treasured social programs before the bond vigilantes strike and the debt becomes a mushroom cloud: (speaking of always-wrong asshole)
Cyprus eurozone bailout prompts anger as savers hand over possible 10% levy | World news | guardian.co.uk Angry Cypriots try in vain to withdraw savings as eurozone bailout terms break taboo of hitting bank depositors (stealing money from the little people to give to corrupt bankers)
The Cyprus bail-out: Unfair, short-sighted and self-defeating | The Economist The euro zone’s bail-out of Cyprus, which was sealed in the early hours of Saturday, did get the bill for creditor countries down from €17 billion to €10 billion, as had been rumoured. But the way it did so was somewhat unexpected.
Cyprus’ Bank Deposit Bail-in « naked capitalism (go to sleep, wake up with no money)

Phone hacking: Rupert Murdoch hit by 600 fresh claims | UK news | The Guardian Suspect turned informant gives new evidence to Met before parliament vote on newspaper regulation

Telecoms firm hails 'significant victory' as judge orders halt to FBI's data demands | World news | guardian.co.uk Credo Mobile speaks out after judge orders US government to stop issuing 'national security letters' to access citizens' data - Last year the FBI sent out more than 16,000 of the letters relating to the private data – mainly financial, internet or phone records – of more than 7,000 Americans.

Drones May Not Attack Banks, says new US Drone Czar - The Satirist "While we are permitted to attack individuals, families, voluntary associations, and especially credit unions with drones, banks are exceptional. Banks are very special corporate persons."

Wildfires rage in Colorado as fears grow over continued drought | World news | guardian.co.uk Two wind-driven blazes char 800 acres and cause evacuations near Lory State Park in signal of early start to wildfire season

Republicans Develop Sequestration Buyer’s Remorse | TPMDC But now that those cuts are creating real consequences, individual members are experiencing buyer’s remorse. The only problem is, until they change their underlying position on replacing sequestration, the only thing they can do about it is whine.

TaxVox » House GOP Would Need $5.7 Trillion in Tax Hikes to Offset Ryan Rate Cuts

The GOP Keeps Getting Whiter - NationalJournal.com While the country is becoming more racially diverse, Republican congressional districts are becoming less.

Rob Portman, Gay Marriage, and Selfishness -- Daily Intelligencer And yet as a window into the working of Portman’s mind, his conversion is a confession of moral failure, one of which he appears unaware.
Former GOP lawmaker Lynne Osterman talks same-sex marriage with Lawrence O'Donnell | MinnPost

Martha Stewart’s Best Lesson: Don’t Give a Damn - The Cut
Who are you going to believe, me or your lying ideology? – The New Inquiry University of Oregon professor, James Olmsted, physically pushes two students after making very racists remarks to all of us. This was after we had asked him to calm down because he was making us feel intimidated.”

Last words: Boston Phoenix closes today after 47 years - Phlog
Memories of the Boston Phoenix : The New Yorker
Longform: The Longform Guide to The Boston Phoenix by Ellen Barry, Jason Gay, Chris Radant, Chris Faraone, David S. Bernstein, Kristin Lombardi, Valerie Vande Panne
Newspapering Is a Business: The Death of the Legendary Boston Phoenix | TPM News

Study Raises Hope for New Anti-Ageing Drugs | Medicine | Sci-News.com a single anti-ageing enzyme in the body can be targeted, with the potential to prevent age-related diseases and extend lifespans.
13 skeletons are found in Black Death pit under Farringdon - and there could be 50,000 more - London - News - London Evening Standard


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Vatican defends Pope Francis against Argentina ‘dirty war’ allegations - The Washington Post

V-Bat drone from MLB Company can conduct urban surveillance, wildlife monitoring.
Top 10 Drones in the world - YouTube

National Security Letter Gag Orders Struck Down As Unconstitutional Concluding that they suffer from "significant constitutional infirmities," a federal district court judge in San Francisco on Thursday struck down sections of federal law that allow the FBI to warrantlessly obtain private information under a gag order in the name of national security.

Shocking New Evidence Reveals Depths of 'Treason' and 'Treachery' of Watergate and Iran-Contra | Alternet New evidence continues to accumulate showing how Official Washington got key elements of two major presidential scandals of the Nixon and Reagan administrations wrong. (read, and weep for America; then curse the Shocking New Evidence Reveals Depths of 'Treason' and 'Treachery' of Watergate and Iran-Contra | Alternet New evidence continues to accumulate showing how Official Washington got key elements of two major presidential scandals of the Nixon and Reagan administrations wrong. (read, and weep for America; then curse the Republican party to hell for all eternity)

Republican deficit insincerity will save Social Security - Salon.com It's probably a good thing that the president is the only person in Washington who actually cares about the deficit (the only real Republican is Obama and his obsession with ignoring jobs)
After the Flimflam - NYTimes.com
Jay Carney Sequestration And Gerrymandering - Sequestration III: The Further Sequestrationing - Esquire
Mitt Romney CPAC 2013 Speech - The Newest New Romneybot 3.0 - Esquire So, for reasons known only to god and whoever books these things, Willard Romney showed up at CPAC today to give a speech
Carl Levin Report on JP Morgan - Going Down Swinging - Esquire check out what Carl Levin of Michigan's been up to as his time in the Senate runs out. He is not interested in looking forward, and not back. Today, he decided to serve up en brochette Jamie Dimon, that smug moocher of the public purse from JP Morgan.
Dianne Feinstein and Ted Cruz Fight About Guns : The New Yorker
Liberals to Dem leaders: Don’t even think about touching Social Security benefits

Rob Portman Supports Gay Marriage - Rob Portman Discovers Decency - Esquire - And Rob Portman removes himself forever from Republican VP short-lists. - It's also the relentless banality through which even "decent" Republicans struggle to come to simple humanity. Does any group of people have dark nights of the soul that are so endlessly boring and transparently insincere? It's like listening to Kierkegaard sell flatware.
Well, If It Affects Me, That’s Different! - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money Rob Portman has decided that he’s only comfortable denying fundamental rights to strangers:
James Inhofe, GOP Senator, Stunned At CPAC Over Learning Of Rob Portman's Gay Marriage Support Anti-gay GOP Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, a staunch opponent of gay marriage who once boasted on the floor of the Senate that he was “very proud” that there’s never been a “homosexual relationship in the recorded history of our family,”

Rachel Maddow Tears Into Ted Cruz (video)
CPAC Live: Watch Video From 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference
Donald Trump CPAC Speech Slammed - Business Insider - Donald Trump Just Gave A Nonsensical Speech, And Even Conservatives Were Dumbstruck
Paul Ryan CPAC Speech Sticks To Same Fiscal Policies, Ignores 2012 Election
Tea Party Event On Racial Tolerance Turns To Chaos As ‘Disenfranchised’ Arrive | TPMDC

Maryland Death Penalty: Lawmakers Approve Measure To Ban Capital Punishment
North Dakota Senate Passes Two Unprecedented Abortion Bans One bill would prevent women from having abortions as soon as the fetal heartbeat can be detected, as early as six weeks into the pregnancy, and the other bans abortions in cases of fetal abnormalities such as Down Syndrome.

The Boston Phoenix Closes - Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye - Esquire
Out On The Weekend - Esquire Hard to get past the sudden death of The Boston Phoenix, my first real home in this business.
homegame: Boston Phoenix 1966-2013 Lost a home today. Hadn't lived there in over 25 years, but when a house goes, it always hurts.
The Ashes of the Phoenix: Saying Good-bye to a Boston Institution - Hollywood Prospectus Blog - Grantland
Thread: Charles Pierce is wrong about Ezra Klein being wrong (Dave Winer thinks he's a journolist too)
I Didn't Think About Being Ripped Off, I Thought About Whipping Ass - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic - The Atlantic not paying for freelance work:
An open letter to The Atlantic regarding the payment of workers


Galaxy S4: Samsung Unveils New Galaxy Smartphone With Bigger Screen, Better Specs, Wild Features

Reporters Without Borders' "enemies of the Internet" list.
The Enemies of Internet - Special Edition : Surveillance
Online Survival Kit | We Fight Censorship

Shock And Awe: Apple Legend Guy Kawasaki Has Become A Hardcore Android Fan – ReadWrite - Kawasaki switched to Android about a year ago and today uses no Apple mobile products.
'Apple fanboy' Robert Scoble switching to Android - Silicon Valley Business Journal
Samsung Galaxy S 4 hands-on roundup | Android and Me
Feedly tops Google Reader in every way possible | Android and Me
Tips for Google Reader users migrating to feedly | Building Feedly

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14 March 2013 - New results indicate that particle discovered at CERN is a Higgs boson
Scientists believe newly discovered particle is the real Higgs boson | Science | The Guardian Results of analysis at Cern in Switzerland show particle behaves precisely as expected

Study: Iraq War Cost U.S. $2.2 Trillion, Claimed Nearly 200,000 Lives | ThinkProgress
Iran and Hezbollah 'have built 50,000-strong force to help Syrian regime' | World news | The Guardian sraeli military intelligence chief says Iran hopes to prolong life of Assad regime and maintain influence after his fall
Egyptian police 'killed almost 900 protesters in 2011 in Cairo' | World news | The Guardian Leaked report commissioned by president is the first time Egyptian police and senior officials have admitted killings in 2011
Baghdad bombings kill at least 22 | World news | guardian.co.uk Co-ordinated attacks in Iraqi capital bear hallmarks of al-Qaida as fears grow that extremist group is regaining strength

Argentine Cardinal Named in Kidnap Lawsuit - Los Angeles Times Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio's spokesman Saturday called the allegation "old slander." (2005)
On the Selection of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francisco | Americas South and North Bergoglio was the head of the Jesuits in Argentina during the military dictatorship of 1976-1983, during which the military murdered upwards of 30,000 people (as well as kidnapping hundreds of children whose parents the regime had tortured and murdered). Unlike Catholic officials in neighboring Chile and Brazil, where priests, bishops, and even cardinals spoke out against human rights abuses and defended victims of abuses, in Argentina, the Catholic Church was openly complicit in the military regime’s repression.
Worst Person in the World - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Erick Erickson for this lovely tweet: "That lefties are accusing the new pope of handing over lefties to the right wing junta for execution makes me adore the new pope." Says just about all you need to know about the hate driving much of the modern conservative movement.
Your Daily Pope — The End - Esquire And we would be remiss if we left the affairs of the past month without checking in with Our Lady Of The Magic Dolphins, who seems to have found the proper mix of absinthe with rocket-fuel because, wow ... I am so starting a meme now. I AM ANNE BOLEYN'S HEAD (yeah, just wow)

Gold Could Be The Next Libor Scandal Believe it or not, the global benchmark prices for gold and silver, the "London spot" prices, are not set by such old-timey folderol as "trading," but by a small cabal of European banks that get together twice a day and decide what they think the price of gold and silver should be.

Obama Rebuffs Democrats On Drone Kill Memos, Asserts Executive Secrecy Prerogative
Balkinization: Sitting at a cafe in Houston... OF COURSE it's constitutionally permissible for executive officials to take actions against a US citizen on US soil that either (a) predictably will lead to the citizen's death or (b) are intended to kill the citizen.

USDA Inspector Furloughs Could Cause Meat Shortages This Summer (Republicans sequestering your hamburger)

Republicans: Obama Is Serious About Cutting Entitlements | TPMDC (he always was "serious")
Obama, House Republicans Meet But Gaps Remain On Taxes, Entitlements

Night of the Living Alesina - NYTimes.com This particular “Path to Prosperity” is, in the short to medium term, very much a path to continued depression. (facts have never gotten in their way)
Night of the Living Alesina, Continued - NYTimes.com OK, I understand that in GOP internal politics we seem to have a principle of survival of the wrongest, in which the less real-world outcomes corroborate the dogma, the more fiercely that dogma is held. But Ryan’s complete lack of self-reflection is nonetheless something wondrous to behold.
Paul Krugman Bashes Paul Ryan's 'Complete Lack Of Self-Reflection' For the third time in as many days, Paul Krugman is slamming Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and his budget plan, which proposes to slash government spending.

Rand, Ashley and Mitch - Salon.com Kentucky used to be known for the Derby, UK basketball and bourbon. How did it become the center of U.S. politics? (center of teh crazy)
Census: Record 1 In 3 Counties Now Dying Off, Hit By Aging Population, Weakened Local Economies (Red States die, will still have plenty o' Senators)

Medicaid Expansion Rejection Could Cost Employers More Than $1 Billion: Study So far, 22 states have either opposed it, spoken out against it or remain undecided. All that's at stake for U.S. employers? Something around $1 billion dollars (maybe they will leave their Red States)
Senate Report Blames JPMorgan Senior Managers For Bad Bets That Led To 'Whale' Loss (there is nothing they can do that will land them in jail)
Steve Rattner: Stop Stealing from Our Kids! | Beat the Press Steve Rattner wants someone to stop stealing from our kids according to the headline of his blogpost in the NYT. The finger should be pointed backwards in Rattner's case because if anyone is going to jeopardize the living standards of our kids it is wealthy people like Mr. Rattner.
US unemployment claims drop in further sign of labor market recovery | Business | guardian.co.uk Claims for state unemployment benefits dropped to 332,000, while the unemployment rate fell to a four-year low of 7.7%

Political Animal - The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves
9 CPAC Events We Initially Thought Were Parodies | Mother Jones
CPAC 2013: Allen West speaks in front of clip-art minorities. (the clown show continues with the same clowns)

Dianne Feinstein Goes To Ted Cruz’s Work, Slaps Tea Party Dick From His Mouth Hole Ho ho, Ted Cruz, you impetuous scamp! Since today is a day of the week, you must have pissed off someone with some sassy backtalk. Who had the “Dianne Feinstein” square for today’s game of “Ted Cruz Mansplains Until _____ Wants to Punch Him in His Cock” bingo?
The Rest of The Feinstein Story | TPM Editors Blog Feinstein was on the scene at one of the biggest American political assassinations of the post-60s era — the murder of George Moscone and Harvey Milk in San Francisco in November 1978. Feinstein was actually the first into Milk’s office and made a momentary and vain effort to revive Milk who was clearly already dead.
Where Is Orly Taitz When We Need Her Most? Wait a goddamn minute. You’re telling us that dreamboat Ted Cruz is a Canadian anchor baby?! (amazing his head doesn't explode)
GOP ‘superstar’ for VP faces eligibility questions ... The non-binding resolution, co-sponsored by then-Sen. Barack Obama, stated that McCain – born to two American citizens on an American military base in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936, “is a ‘natural born citizen’ under Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution of the United States.” ... “Rubio is, quite simply, not a ‘natural born citizen’ by the accepted legal, English-language standard as it has been known throughout American history. He was born in Florida to two non-U.S. citizen parents,”
Chris Hayes Moves Into Primetime At MSNBC | ThinkProgress Up With Chris Hayes is close to booking white men in proportion to their actual presence in the U.S. population, 41 percent to 39 percent. All the other morning weekend shows on other networks are booking mixes of guests that are more than 60 percent white and male.

Domino's Pizza Founder Gets Break In Battle Against Obamacare Contraception Mandate Monaghan is a Roman Catholic who says he considers contraception a "gravely immoral" practice. He offers health insurance that excludes contraception and abortion for employees.

Income Inequality and Democratic Militarism — The Monkey Cage democracies will build larger, highly capitalized militaries as inequality in wealth rises.” (follow the dough)

NFL Owners May Have Misled Players About Team Profits To Pay Them Less | ThinkProgress (shocking)

Rowhouse Livin': The NYTimes "Living With Less" opinion writer is silly, privileged

UnderstandingSociety: What became of Detroit?

Scorpion sting leaves Ahwatukee woman with a big bill Weeks later, she received a bill for $83,046 from Chandler Regional Medical Center. The hospital, owned by Dignity Health, charged her $39,652 per dose of Anascorp. The Arizona Republic reported last year about the pricey markup Arizona hospitals were charging for the antivenom made in Mexico. Pharmacies in Mexico charge about $100 per dose.

Balloon Juice » I Am Anne Boleyn’s Head Which is to say that I stand with Msgr. Charles Pierce, S. J. (for Journalist, by gum): Peggy Noonan is off her meds, big time. (crazy dolphin Jesus lady Nooners will be writing her WaPo column when she's 95)

Boston Schools Adopt New Placement Plan for Students - NYTimes.com

California May Offer College Credit for MOOCs by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly
Eschaton: MOOCed I don't think courses with significant online components are necessarily bad or evil or wrong. I just don't think that they're either going to be significant cost savers or significant revenue raisers
The UVA Aftermath - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money As you may remember, last summer, the Board of Visitors at the University of Virginia attempted to push out UVA President Teresa Sullivan, basically because the corporate hacks on the Board didn’t think Sullivan was committed enough to leveraging synergies and proactive leaderocracy and such. (Helen Dragas, hack, still on board)
Political Animal - Why Law School Doesn’t Work Anymore

Matthew Keys Charged In Connection With Anonymous Hack Of The Tribune Company Web producer Matthew Keys, 26, has been charged by the Justice Department in connection with an attack on the website of his former employer by the group Anonymous. Keys is currently a deputy social media editor at Thomson Reuters.
Google announces Reader’s imminent demise | Ars Technica The RSS aggregator and management system will be turned off in July.
Apple fined for making French staff work nights | Business | The Guardian Ruling could disrupt preparations for new iPad as court imposes damages after trade union complaint

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Delhi Rape Suspect Suicide Casts Shadow On Model Indian Jail
Bodies Exhumed in Murders Tied to Winnie Mandela

BBC News - LIVE: Pope Francis elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina has been elected as Pope Francis I
New Pope Saint Francis I - Meet Your New Pope - Esquire Most important, he's 76-years old which means, quite honestly, that the man's a caretaker, or that there is a real faction within the cardinal-electors arrayed against the idea of very long papacies on the order of that of John Paul II.
Your Daily Pope - Esquire Well, I don't know about you, but I've already stopped finding ChimneyCam charming. Forsooth, I art not entirely opposed to public displays of medievalist entertainment, but showing the Holy Stack when it's not blowing smoke of any kind strikes me as less than compelling video ... and Ms. Parker seems to be confusing the Church with the stick she has up her own ass
Echidne Of The Snakes - The New Pope - In the United States the Catholic Church has a strong influence on government policies concerning women's bodies, and not being a Catholic doesn't release one from that influence.
Pope Francis Kidnapping Controversy: Jorge Mario Bergoglio Accused Of Involvement In 1976 Abductions (blood on his hands, eh?)
Profile: New pope, Jesuit Bergoglio, was runner-up in 2005 conclave | National Catholic Reporter Bergoglio is seen an unwaveringly orthodox on matters of sexual morality, staunchly opposing abortion, same-sex marriage, and contraception. In 2010 he asserted that gay adoption is a form of discrimination against children, earning a public rebuke from Argentina's President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
Pope Francis Against Gay Marriage, Gay Adoption

d r i f t g l a s s: Dudgeons* and Dragons How The 'War On Terror' Became A War On 'Tribal Islam'

FDIC Covering Up Bank Bailouts - And The Banks Get Off Easy - Esquire When the chronicles of this peculiar age of American history are written, I have long maintained, nobody in whatever is left of the reading world that hasn't yet passed under the waves of the steadily rising seas is going to believe a word of them.

The Krugman Times The New York Times By Its Only Columnist
All Me, All The Time - NYTimes.com

Senate Democrats Discuss How To Counter GOP Nominee Obstruction
The Morning Plum: No, the GOP isn’t “winning” the argument over sequester

Paul Ryan Budget 2013: Path to Prosperity Looks A Lot Like Last One | New Republic Paul Ryan Has Learned Nothing From His Loss
Class war budgeting: Paul Ryan and House GOP want more money for the rich, less for the rest.
Paul Ryan’s budget: Social engineering with a side of deficit reduction Here is Paul Ryan’s path to a balanced budget in three sentences:
Flimflam Forever - NYTimes.com I took Paul Ryan’s measure two and a half years ago. All the Very Serious People were very angry with me — Ryan was the Serious, Honest Conservative, the guy centrists demonstrated their centrism by praising. But he was an obvious phony.
What Paul Ryan’s Budget Means for Women | The Nation As with the first rounds of Ryan budgeting, this one would be bad for nearly everyone (except perhaps the wealthy), but it would especially take an enormous toll on the country’s women.
Paul Ryan and the problem with losing - Salon.com Like myriad candidates before him, Paul Ryan is learning how damaging being part of a failed ticket can really be VIDEO

Fox News Anchor Shouts Down Criticism Of Ryan Budget | ThinkProgress (used to be on the "liberal" CNN)
American Bloggers Praised Ukrainian President Before Election At Breitbart, Ben Shapiro also dove into Ukrainian matters around the time of the election
Scott Prouty, '47 Percent' Filmmaker, Reveals Identity On 'The Ed Show'


Bob Woodward and the Rules of Washington Morality - The Daily Beast Why does Bob Woodward get to lie—twice!—and still be Bob Woodward? And why is it that the Republicans can be so intransigent and Barack Obama gets blamed? Michael Tomasky explains.
Fox Guest: I Have Never Met A Group Of People Who Are So Upset That The Economy Is Rebounding Than The Folks Over At Fox - NewsHounds

With Woeful Approval Rating, Pa. Gov. Corbett's Re-Election Hopes Look Dim | TPM LiveWire a mere 33 percent of Keystone State voters approving of the job Corbett is doing. Fifty-eight percent said they disapprove of Corbett.
Florida Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll Resigns Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll announced her resignation Wednesday, a day after she was questioned by authorities investigating an Internet cafe company that she once represented.

Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us - TIME
Steven Brill’s 26,000-word health-care story, in one sentence

Food Faddism - Lawyers, Guns & Money : If there’s one thing Americans love, it’s food faddism.
Gwyneth Paltrow Releasing New Ingredient-Free Cookbook - (I personally feel that it's unlikely that the richest 1% of humans on earth all suddenly and simultaneously developed allergies to every single common food, but that's just me)
“Paleofantasy”: Stone Age delusions - Salon.com An evolutionary biologist explains why everything you think you know about cavemen (and their diet) is wrong
Gluten Goodbye: One-Third Of Americans Say They're Trying To Shun It : The Salt : NPR

Grad Debt Programs | Top Law Schools | US News Graduate Schools
Higher Education Shock Doctrine - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Eschaton: Mysteries What I find rather fascinating is that there's quite clearly no business model for MOOCs. Sure, there's a model in which a bunch of grifters get paid, but there's no model such that prestigious state and private universities actually make money off of them. Institutions are selling a pedigree, credentialing, networking, social experience, education, and a brand. MOOCs pretty much nullify all of those things. But grifters gonna grift, and administrators gotta justify their existence.

News - VHIO. Vall d'Hebron Institute Oncology VHIO scientists eradicate lung tumours in a pre-clinical mouse model
Futurity.org – Moon impact left sea of molten rock 6 miles deep

34 Civil Liberties Groups Speak Out Against CISPA in Lead Up to Hearings | Electronic Frontier Foundation (Big Spying/Content/Censorship rises again from the dead)

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China Calls for Global Hacking Rules - NYTimes.com China has issued a new call for international “rules and cooperation” on Internet espionage issues, while insisting that accusations of Chinese government involvement in recent hacking attacks were part of an international smear campaign.

As cardinals gather to elect Pope, Catholic officials break into a sweat over news that priests share €23m building with huge gay sauna - Europe - World - The Independent - This 76-year-old “prince of the church” enjoys a 12-room apartment on the first-floor of the imposing palazzo, at 2 Via Carducci, just yards from the ground floor entrance to the steamy flesh pot. There are 18 other Vatican apartments in the block, many of which house priests.
MSNBC Charlie Rangel Pope - Your Daily Pope - Esquire Down in St. Peter's Square, Ann Thompson just called The Litany Of The Saints, "The Catholic Family Album." The Clan Of The Red Beanie has gathered itself at last, which is a good thing, because it looks like the people covering the thing have run out of the A material. Thompson just talked about "Biblical" rain. If she brings out the flagellum, I changing the station.

Rand Paul: Republicans rally to oppose domestic drones.

GOP Budget Plan Promises To Repeal Obamacare, Cuts Medicaid (goggle=-eyed granny-starvers at work)
Paul Ryan Unveils Budget, Makes ‘White Rabbit’ Our New National Anthem ... So Paul Ryan’s new budget, to the surprise of absolutely no one, appears to have been written by Lewis Carroll, if Lewis Carroll had spent the late nineteenth century writing budgets in a Shanghai opium den.
The competitive advantage of deficit hacks - Salon.com People who think we need to cut retirement benefits have no problem repeating themselves over and over and over ...
Paul Ryan’s budget: Social engineering with a side of deficit reduction

Ezra Klein Column The Atlantic - Ezra Klein Gets It Very Wrong - Esquire (This is especially true among the folks who got rich running Internet journalism. Hi, Arianna!) ... I do not begrudge Ezra his success ... The problem is that he's so entirely a creature of this exploitative new journalism order that he seems to believe, as Molly Ivins once put it of Camille Paglia, that he is the cosmos.

Koch brothers consider purchasing L.A. Times - Salon.com The conservative donors are reportedly eyeing one of the country's top newspaper companies
Political Animal - Not Just the Facts, Ma’am The reporter in question is Bob Woodward


Voucher school history book: Hippies didn't bathe, worshipped Satan Voucher schools in Louisiana and Indiana are using a “US History” textbook in their eighth grade classes that teaches that the “hippies” of the 1960s were draft dodgers who were rude, didn’t bathe, and worshipped Satan. (Jindal's bright idea, rightwing Christian "schools")

Sadness Abounds: CPAC To Be Less Sexxxxxy This Year
What to Wear to CPAC / Guide to helping you know what to wear at #CPAC. (cover up, Republican sluts!)

Balloon Juice » The Massachusetts Pig Pile Senate Race
Labor's love lost - Talking Politics
Gay GOP activist considers primary against Sen. Lindsey Graham Carroll, who is also a blogger at GayPatriot.net, was recently elected vice chairman of the group. (WaPo punked, again)
A Senate Watchdog of Waning Significance - NYTimes.com Senate Democrats have a problem called Robert Menendez. It may mean that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which the lawmaker heads, will be unable to play an important and much-needed role of overseer.
Not All Evangelical Christians Are Cool with Those Creationism Textbooks by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly

Costco Proves Republicans Wrong By Paying a Living Wage and Watching Profits Soar

New England Compounding Company Steroid Scandal - The Drug Scandal That's Finally Hitting The Big Time - Esquire The massive scandal involving the New England Compounding Company, which sent out vials of contaminated steroids and killed 48 people so far, finally hit the big time last night with Scott Pelley reporting a long piece about the why's and wherefores, one of which goes back to our old friend, Triangulation.

Doubts about Johns Hopkins research have gone unanswered, scientist says - The Washington Post
Big soda wins its day in court

Balloon Juice » Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word n other words, in case you thought being a Harvard dean meant that your bosses wouldn’t snoop through your email if they thought they could gain from it, welcome to the real world.

Gawker "[T]here are no reservations between 7pm and 9pm. Anywhere. Even a dreary spot." Michael Wolff is now Cindy Adams.
GQ’s Michael Wolff Will Never Get A Table At The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe (Updated!)

The New York Times > New York Region > Image > Travel Times on Commuter Rail

EU votes to reject 'porn ban' proposals | Internet & Media - CNET News The European Parliament opts not to adopt a pan-European ban on all forms of porn, including on the Web, at least for now. Such a vote has happened before, and it's worth putting the "porn ban" into some context.
Infographic: How Criminals Guess Your PIN

031013
US sends clear warning to North Korea as Pyongyang declares armistice void | World news | guardian.co.uk Obama security adviser threatens Pyongyang with 'full range of our capabilities' and urges China to act tough on neighbour
In Search of Energy Miracles - NYTimes.com China has seized on discarded American research to pursue a safer reactor based on an abundant element called thorium.

Revealed: Pentagon's link to Iraqi torture centres | World news | The Guardian : General David Petraeus and 'dirty wars' veteran behind commando units implicated in detainee abuse

1.6 Billion Rounds Of Ammo For Homeland Security? It's Time For A National Conversation - Forbes As reported elsewhere, some of this purchase order is for hollow-point rounds, forbidden by international law for use in war, along with a frightening amount specialized for snipers. Also reported elsewhere, at the height of the Iraq War the Army was expending less than 6 million rounds a month. Therefore 1.6 billion rounds would be enough to sustain a hot war for 20+ years. In America. (Obama's plan for dictator for life)
Sig Sauer OEM Firearms - Federal Business Opportunities: Opportunities

The Curse of EconoSisyphus - NYTimes.com That’s the sad thing about economic discourse, and the reason I keep talking about zombies: the same demonstrably wrong ideas just keep coming back, and back, and back (most reality-proof "science")

Dwindling Deficit Disorder - NYTimes.com What’s really remarkable at this point, however, is the persistence of the deficit fixation in the face of rapidly changing facts. People still talk as if the deficit were exploding, as if the United States budget were on an unsustainable path; in fact, the deficit is falling more rapidly than it has for generations, it is already down to sustainable levels, and it is too small given the state of the economy. (must reform Social Security NOW)
Don't be fooled: 7.7% is likely a short-lived low in the US unemployment rate | Dean Baker | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk We've seen seasonal spikes in jobs before. The underlying story is a weak US economy that will be hurt by sequester cuts

Senators agree on how to offer legal status to illegal immigrants - latimes.com Senators crafting a bipartisan overhaul of immigration laws agree on a path to legal status, aides say, but other hurdles remain ("bipartisan" = sucky)

Yellowstone gets real about budget cuts - The Washington Post
Impact of Sequestration on Yellowstone National Park - Out Of The Park - Esquire The Sequestrationing on the iconic big-government program we like to call Yellowstone National Park. It turns out that a lot of those self-reliant, keep-yer-dead-hands-off-mah-sagebrush Western galoots out in Wyoming don't like it much when their pet ideology starts biting them in the regions where they keep their wallets.

The Small-State Advantage in the United States Senate - Graphic - NYTimes.com The Constitution has always given states with small populations a lift, but the scale of the gap has grown in recent decades.
Smaller States Find Outsize Clout Growing in Senate - Interactive - NYTimes.com The disproportionate power enjoyed in the Senate by small states is playing a growing role in the political dynamic on issues as varied as gun control, immigration and campaign finance.

The National Memo » LOL Of The Week: John McCain Hates The Ridiculous GOP He Created If John McCain wants to understand how Republicans so quickly evolved in into a party that elevates its fringe to positions of national prominence, I have two words for him: Sarah Palin.

The undead, unnecessary, unhelpful Grand Bargain - Salon.com Begging Republicans to let us cut Social Security and Medicare is insane (no matter how much pundits lust after it)
Eschaton: Stop The Madness If the grand bargain arrives, we're all going to have to get our dialing fingers ready. Our great and glorious representatives need to be reminded that "cutting Social Security" will come with a 360 degree whirlwind of shit.

Paul Krugman Bankruptcy Story False, Spreads - Business Insider (Boston.com got suckered, of course they didn't second-source or fact-check, because ...)
Breitbarted - NYTimes.com Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go give a lavishly paid speech to Friends of Hamas.

Eighteen For-Profit Companies Fighting to Eliminate the Birth Control Benefit | RH Reality Check
Balloon Juice » We both already know how it goes , no one could have predicted this: Former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) is joining the American Enterprise Institute, the conservative think tank announced Monday.
Predicting Lieberman's Future | New Republic I'm guessing he has a sinecure at a foundation or think-tank dedicated to promoting hawkish foreign policy or centrism. The right-wing version of this career plan would be an AEI fellowship (Chait nailed it in January 2011)

Balloon Juice » » A Man of Constant Sorrow (Jeb Bush praises brother's record)
Jeb Bush praises brother's record in lead-up to decision on 2016 run | World news | guardian.co.uk Former Florida governor tries to mount obstacle of ill-feeling towards George W Bush presidency ahead of his own campaign
The Worst Mistake in U.S. History -- America Will Never Recover from Bush's Great Foreign Policy Disaster | Alternet Ten years ago, George Bush made a decision that this country will regret for a very long time

Telling women to get a gun is not rape prevention
Monstrous | TPM Editors Blog

Bro-gressive Values Revealed: Attacking the Messenger By Any Means Necessary | Alternet Finding himself duped by Rand Paul’s publicity stunt, Salon's David Sirota misrepresents the work of an AlterNet writer
Everything You've Been Told About Personal Finance Is Dead Wrong -- Here's the Truth | Alternet

Antibiotic Resistance Poses 'Catastrophic Threat' To Medicine, Says Britain's Top Health Official Antibiotic resistance poses a catastrophic threat to medicine and could mean patients having minor surgery risk dying from infections that can no longer be treated, Britain's top health official said on Monday.
NASA - Amplified Greenhouse Effect Shifts North's Growing Seasons

New York City soda ban struck down by judge in eleventh-hour ruling | World news | guardian.co.uk Court dismisses plan to outlaw large sugary drinks as 'arbitrary and capricious' just hours before it was set to take effect

The Darkness of an Irish Morning - NYTimes.com

Harvard Hacked Staff E-Mails - NYTimes.com
Harvard issues partial apology to deans over secret email search | Education | guardian.co.uk Administrators apologise but insist emails accounts were searched to maintain school's integrity in wake of document leak
Twitter employees mapped: how are they connected? | News | guardian.co.uk
Guy Builds Solar-Powered Death Ray In His Backyard (Yawn) : Krulwich Wonders... : NPR
Netflix ISP Speed Index | Compare global internet service provider speeds (google wins)

030913
North Korea’s missile arsenal, its potential reach and payloads | Graphics | News | National Post
UN hostages freed in Syria | World news | guardian.co.uk Filipino peacekeepers held by rebels for three days reported to be in good health after being taken over border into Jordan
Taliban suicide bomber attacks Afghan ministry of defence | World news | guardian.co.uk At least nine killed and 14 injured in Kabul attack intended to mar US defence secretary Chuck Hagel's first visit to country
White House brushes off Republican outrage over Bin Laden son-in-law trial | World news | guardian.co.uk Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell adamant that al-Qaida suspect Suleiman Abu Ghaith be interrogated at Guántanamo (Rethugs love torture)

The English Prisoner - NYTimes.com “If this plan is working, what would a failing one look like?” So asks Martin Wolf in response to David Cameron’s speech insisting that his austerity policy was right, is right, and is succeeding. (the Republican plan for America)

AF removes RPA airstrike number from summary - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times As scrutiny and debate over the use of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) by the American military increased last month, the Air Force reversed a policy of sharing the number of airstrikes launched from RPAs in Afghanistan and quietly scrubbed those statistics from previous releases kept on their website. (what drones?)
Bill Maher On Drones: 'Some People Do Need Killing' (and their children and neighbors)

Lawfare › Two Questions for Rand Paul
Rand Paul’s mixed civil liberties track record - Salon.com His filibuster focused on drone strikes against U.S. citizens, but what other positions has Paul taken?

9th Circuit Appeals Court: 4th Amendment Applies At The Border; Also: Password Protected Files Shouldn't Arouse Suspicion | Techdirt (Constitution applies all the way to the border, apparently)

Liberals fret over Obama-GOP talks - The Hill “This argument is false. Social Security, because it is funded by the payroll tax, not the U.S. Treasury, has not contributed one nickel to our deficit,” he said. (Bernie Sanders; Obama wants to use it as a "bargaining chip")

NRA's silence on UN arms treaty surprises gun control campaigners | World news | guardian.co.uk Last year, Wayne LaPierre led the charge to kill the world's first Arms Trade Treaty, but this time the NRA may be spread too thin

I Guess It's a Form of Flattery - NYTimes.com OK, I guess I have to say something about this Sachs and Scarborough piece. Let’s do it by numbers

Eschaton: Finding It Difficult To Make The Point A big point I'm trying to make on Social Security is that the 401K experiment has been a failure. We have a set of policies - including big tax expenditures for tax deductible employer/employee retirement benefit contributions - which are supposed to lead to the majority of seniors being able to retire in relative comfort and security. And what we're seeing now, decades later, is that experiment is a failure. (invest your savings and lose them!)
Dow Jones Hits 'Record High' Thanks To Strong Performances From Smoke, Mirrors Sectors
Wells Fargo Typo Victim Dies in Court - Page 1 - News - Los Angeles - LA Weekly The bank billed Larry Delassus $13,361 owed by his neighbor, then foreclosed

Political Animal - Abandoning Green Coverage Is an Act of Journalistic Malpractice Last week, the New York Times shuttered its Green blog, inviting a volley of criticism, especially after they closed their environment desk in January (don't need no steenking climate-change news)
Global Temperatures Highest in 4,000 Years, Study Says - NYTimes.com
Earth is warmer today than during 70 to 80 percent of the past 11,300 years (La-Di-La, the deficit)

Scientists Identify Gene that Causes Obesity in Mice | Genetics | Sci-News.com deleting a gene called Perilipin 2 (Plin2) in mice prevents them from becoming obese even on a high fat diet.
Stonehenge was ancient rave spot, new theory says
Ex nihilo: Dynamical Casimir effect in metamaterial converts vacuum fluctuations into real photons
Curtains down for the black hole firewall paradox: Making gravity safe for Einstein again Research by scientists at the University of York has revealed new insights into the life and death of black holes.

Time Inc's historic brands hold out hope for rebirth as company crumbles | Media | guardian.co.uk As company spins off its magazine business, insiders and critics try to trace the downfall of a once-great US publishing empire
Elisabeth Hasselbeck Leaving 'The View'? Us Weekly Reports Co-Host Is Being Ousted "People did not watch the show because of Elisabeth. So they told her yesterday her contract would not be renewed," (+she was really dumb)

The Professor, the Bikini Model and the Suitcase Full of Trouble - NYTimes.com

Taylor Swift can send me down to 'special hell' with Tina Fey | Sarah Ditum | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The singer has consigned comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to hell for not subscribing to her smiley-face Stepford feminism


030813
North Korea says 'prepare for war' following fresh UN sanctions - Telegraph China expresses concern and appeals for calm as North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un tells troops to prepare for "all-out war" (the drama-queen of nations)
North Korea Nuclear Weapons: Could Pyongyang Nuke Washington? | New Republic (no)
Court suspends Egypt's parliament election - Yahoo! News

Elemendorf and Spencer: Are the Covered States “More Racist” than Other States? | Election Law Blog The MRP model suggests that the six fully covered states in the South are, by our measure, six of the seven most prejudiced in the nation (Chief Justice prejudiced against reality)

The Drone Lobby Works on Its Image Problem | New Republic Don’t Fear the Reaper Two days with the extremely anxious drone lobby
Drone Poll Finds Opposition To Use Against American Citizens In U.S., Even To Stop A Terrorist Attack
FBI Informant’s Perilous Work In FloridaTaliban Case The FBI’s key informant in a South Florida terrorism case says he spent four years helping agents build evidence against a Muslim cleric who was convicted earlier this week of financially supporting the Taliban.

Bill Clinton Regrets Signing Defense Of Marraige Act - Acts Of Contrition - Esquire Please to be giving me a break. DOMA was discriminatory 17 years ago. It was unconstitutional 17 years ago. It was an offense against human dignity 17 years ago. And Bill Clinton signed it simply to help himself defeat the pathetic candidacy of Robert Dole. (Let's not even get into the welfare "reform" bill he signed for the same reason.)

Rand Paul’s Misleading and Pointless Grandstanding…. — The League of Ordinary Gentlemen
Caitlin Halligan nomination: Three quotes explain why Obama's judicial nominee was just filibustered.

Maureen Dowd / Repent, Dick Cheney - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Vice comes clean: He was the real president, and he stands by all of his mistakes

Gallup Presidential Poll: How Did Brand-Name Firm Blow Election? (they are run by Rpublicans?)

Arkansas GOP not finished restricting abortion - Salon.com Now Republicans in the state want to cut funding to Planned Parenthood (even though they don't do abortions in stupid-land)

Why Can’t Conservatives Write? | The American Conservative (tea-party stupidity is not funny)

Explosives found in Malvern storage facility Sixty pipe bombs were discovered in a storage locker in Malvern, Chester County, on Thursday before being safely disposed of and traced to a unit kept by a man charged in a Ponzi scheme, according to a county law enforcement official.

The Market Speaks - NYTimes.com So the message from the markets is by no means a happy one. What the markets are clearly saying, however, is that the fears and prejudices that have dominated Washington discussion for years are entirely misguided. And they’re also telling us that the people who have been feeding those fears and peddling those prejudices don’t have a clue about how the economy actually works. (lookin' at you, Joe Scar)
GOP on jobs report: What about the debt? – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs (Republifucks change the subject)
Don’t Cut Social Security, Expand It - Bloomberg
Pelosi Backs Bill That Would Raise Minimum Wage To $10 An Hour | ThinkProgress

Conservative activist pays $100,000 to former ACORN worker - latimes.com James O'Keefe says he 'regrets any pain' suffered by a man in a widely seen sting video in which the smuggling of underage prostitutes was discussed. (but he still killed ACORN, so mission accomplished and the Koch Bros will pay his fine)
Andrew Breitbart and James O'Keefe Ruined Him, and Now He Gets $100,000 - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic Former ACORN employee Juan Carlos Vera sued after being wrongly portrayed as a willing participant in an underage sex-trafficking scheme. Breitbart still hasn't corrected the item!
I Am Shocked to Discover That James O’Keefe Is A Con Artist - Lawyers, Guns & Money : The good news is that it’s not as if Breitbart & Co.’s smears would get Senate Democrats to agree to defund ACORN, or cause someone in a Democratic administration to lose their job. (scumbag)
Wonket Sexclusive: Totally Blameless Crime-Stopper James O’Keefe To Pay $100,000 To ACORN Criminal

Jim Hoft Finally Officially Designated As The Dumbest Man On The Internet With Reed Irvine Award
Virginia’s Liberty transforms into evangelical mega-university - The Washington Post

Juan Williams Blames Researcher For Plagiarized Column
Eschaton: Asshole Shorter Juan Williams: I didn't try to pass off CAP's writing as my own, I tried to pass off my intern's writing as my own, which is totally not plagiarism because shutupShutupShutUpSHUTUPSHUTUP.
How Many Big-Time Pundits Are Plagiarists? They pass off other people's words as their own all the time, but since those people work for them, it's supposed to be OK.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck Leaving 'The View'? Us Weekly Reports Co-Host Is Being Ousted

U.S. weighs in favor of right to record police - POLITICO.com The Justice Department is urging a court to affirm individuals’ rights to record police under the First Amendment, filing a statement of interest in support of a journalist suing over his arrest while photographing Maryland officers. (cops still haven't gotten the message)

Chinese physicists measure speed of Einstein’s ‘spooky action at a distance’: At least 10,000 times faster than light | ExtremeTech
Nanoparticles loaded with bee venom kill HIV | Newsroom | Washington University in St. Louis
Updates on Comet PanSTARRS - Observing Highlights - SkyandTelescope.com

I am Rachel Maddow. Ask me anything! : IAmA

Office 2013: Just what on earth has the Office team been doing? | Ars Technica Office 2013 is an incremental update when Microsoft needed a revolution.
2 Ways to Subscribe to Microsoft’s Office, Eternally - NYTimes.com
Tip of the Week: Free Microsoft Office Quick-Start Guides - NYTimes.com
MS Office 2013 Upgrade: 4 Points to Consider - Windows - Microsoft
Google Drive vs. Dropbox, SkyDrive, SugarSync, and others: a cloud sync storage face-off | The Verge
SkyDrive Looks to Compete with Dropbox, Google Drive | PCWorld
Windows 8 deep dive: Get to know your SkyDrive app | PCWorld
How to Unlock GodMode in Windows 8 (All settings via desktop) : Surface
5 Top Windows 8 Features You’ll Love

030713
Worst Chavez Obit - Lawyers, Guns & Money : The coverage of Hugo Chavez’s death has been almost universally terrible. But this piece from Associated Press business reporter Pamela Simpson takes the cake:
Berlusconi convicted in wiretap case The court sentenced him to one year in jail, but issued no orders on the carrying out of the sentence. In Italy, it is rare for anyone to be put behind bars pending a possible appeal except in the case of very serious crimes like murder.
France pursues Saudi princess over €6m bill - The Local Authorities in Paris are to seize assets belonging to a Saudi princess to help cover the cost of an eye-watering €6 million bill she left behind on a recent, no-expense spared visit to the French capital.

Your Daily Pope - Esquire The Clan Of The Red Beanie remains slow to get its show on the road and, with the lack of anything else happening, we're starting to get a whole bunch of stories about how endlessly eccentric and hep some of them are.


America is shamed that only Rand Paul is talking about drone executions | Amy Goodman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Where are the civil libertarians in the president's party that we must rely on a Tea Party Republican to champion this issue? (that didn't work out like they thought it would)
John Brennan Confirmation Battle Stirs Drone Strike Controversy - CIA nominee John Brennan said during Senate confirmation hearings that the U.S. had no evidence of drone strike collateral killings. Noor Behram's photos show otherwise. (don't let evidence get in the way of your lies)
Obama Administration Responds To Rand Paul On Drones | TPM LiveWire "The answer to that question is no," Carney said, reading from a new a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder addressed to Paul. "I'm quite happy with the answer and I'm disappointed it took a month and a half and a root canal to get it," Paul said.
Democrats Absent During Rand Paul Filibuster Of John Brennan Nomination Does the administration believe it has the legal authority to kill an American citizen on American soil with a drone strike? It's a question that seems fairly nonpartisan on its face, but a second one occurred to those watching the C-SPAN broadcast late into the morning: Where are all the Democrats?
McCain, Graham Slam Rand Paul's 'Ridiculous' Filibuster | TPM LiveWire "To somehow allege or infer that the President of the United States is going to kill somebody like Jane Fonda, or somebody who disagrees with the policies, is a stretch of imagination which is, frankly, ridiculous," McCain (then why won't Obama say so?)
Rand Paul Praises Horrendous Supreme Court Decision, Would Let Employers Ruthlessly Exploit Workers | ThinkProgress

The GOP’s easy route to victory in fiscal fight Republicans are not going to get the serious entitlement cuts they say they want unless they agree to new revenues.
The War On Entitlements - NYTimes.com These facts include the following: Two-thirds of Americans who are over the age of 65 depend on an average annual Social Security benefit of $15,168.36 for at least half of their income. (Republicans: "fuck them")

Fetal Pain Law: Federal Judge Strikes Down Idaho Law Banning Abortions After 20 Weeks Of Pregnancy (so Arkansas ups the ante to 12 weeks)

Why I switched from iPhone to Android | TechHive Andy Ihnatko

030613
Revealed: Pentagon's link to Iraqi torture centres | World news | The Guardian General David Petraeus and 'dirty wars' veteran behind commando units implicated in detainee abuse - The Guardian/BBC Arabic investigation was sparked by the release of classified US military logs on WikiLeaks that detailed hundreds of incidents where US soldiers came across tortured detainees in a network of detention centres run by the police commandos across Iraq. Private Bradley Manning, 25, is facing a prison sentence of up to 20 years after he pleaded guilty to leaking the documents ... "I remember a 14-year-old who was tied to one of the library's columns. And he was tied up, with his legs above his head. Tied up. His whole body was blue because of the impact of the cables with which he had been beaten."
Too Much Money Spent in Iraq for Too Few Results - ABC News Ten years and $60 billion in American taxpayer funds later, Iraq is still so unstable and broken that even its leaders question whether U.S. efforts to rebuild the war-torn nation were worth the cost. (of course it wasn't; the Bush/Cheney/Obama people and budget-killing fiasco)
Iraq Reconstruction Cost U.S. $60 Billion, Left Behind Corruption And Waste
Iraq War Failed - The Butcher's Bill - Esquire This is the one event on which the country's chronic historical amnesia cannot be allowed to bring itself into play. The country was lied into a war by a raft of criminals, greedheads, and geopolitical fantasts. These latter were enabled by a cowardly political opposition and a largely supine elite press.
Threat Inflation, Threat Deflation, the Bushes, and Robert Byrd - James Fallows - The Atlantic
26 September 2002 New York Times Advertisement Here is an HTML version of an advertisement from the op-ed page of the New York Times of 26 September 2002, signed by 33 scholars of international relations. (dirty hippies right for the wrong reasons honor roll)

Next Tuesday, The European Parliament Votes To Ban All Your Porn. Yes, Really. Take Immediate Action. - Falkvinge on Infopolicy

UN peacekeepers detained by Syrian fighters | World news | guardian.co.uk Video circulated by Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims to show Syrian rebels detaining peacekeepers in Deraa city
Hugo Chavez Dead - Hugo Chávez Died an Irrelevant Dictator - Esquire Obama is, if anything, more imperialistic than his predecessors. He has explicitly argued that it is legitimate for America to assassinate anybody in the world, without trail, on the suspicion that they are a threat to the United States. America is behaving imperially, just not the way that the diseased imagination of Hugo Chávez believed.
Former Soviet soldier discovered in Afghanistan 33 years after going missing | time.com

Your Daily Pope - Esquire Yes, I am certainly convinced that the Vatican, one of the most secretive operations in the world, and even more so now that it has so much more to hide, didn't lean at all on the American cardinals to stop talking. Besides, the Americans have a spokesnun who defused the whole thing by infantilizing everyone involved.
Mother Teresa Humanitarian Image A 'Myth,' New Study Says (shocking)
Sex Abuse Biggest Problem In Catholic Church, U.S. Catholics Say In New Surveys 34 percent thought the most important was sexual abuse. No other issue, including lower church attendance and loss of faithful youth, got more than 10 percent of responses in the survey. (so get the fuck out)

Eric Holder: Drone Strike To Kill U.S. Citizen On American Soil Legal, Hypothetically (targeted assassinations on American soil now legal)
ACLU Launches Nationwide Police Militarization Investigation

Senate Republicans Open To Gutting Voting Rights Act, Despite Scalia's Analysis
Obama's Charm Offensive: Dinner With Republicans Shows We've Entered A 'Different Environment' (but Obama keeps reaching across the aisle)

Senate Obstructionists Block D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Nominee | ACS
Caitlin Halligan, Appeals Court Nominee, Blocked By GOP Amid Opposition From Gun Industry

Hour 8: Rand Paul filibusters Brennan nomination for CIA director - Washington Times
Rand Paul Filibusters John Brennan Nomination "I will speak until I can no longer speak," Paul said.

Balloon Juice » American Horror Story: Darth Cheney Everything that’s gone horribly wrong with American politics over the last fifty years, embodied in one mostly-human individual.

Elizabeth Warren Takes On Eric Holder's 'Too Big To Jail' Statement
Expand Social Security: Column According to the Pew Research Center, the median household wealth for those aged 65+ is about $170,000. While that sounds like a significant amount of money, as Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research pointed out, this is actually a trivial amount of wealth for people with little or no income other than Social Security benefits. (make the moochers work 'til they are 90)

Pressing Issues: Woodward Was Certain of Iraq WMD Bob Woodward, asked by Larry King on CNN what happens if we go to war and don’t find any WMD, answered: “I think the chance of that happening is about zero. There’s just too much there.”
Reading Bob Woodward | The Nation Continue reading Bob Woodward. But not the prose. You won’t learn much from that. Read the man instead. That way you’ll learn what the people in power think about what you’re supposed to think.
Hannity’s Brand: Slap Ellison, Defend Woodward and Always Mislead | The Nation
Bloomberg Niall Ferguson Vs Paul Krugman - Business Insider (dicks will be dicks)
Balloon Juice » No One Even Mentions My Casserole Niall Ferguson, expert on everything, including Paul Krugman’s psyche, has some hurt fee-fees:
Balloon Juice » B movie, that’s all you’re to me (good summation)


The father of all men is 340,000 years old - life - 06 March 2013 - New Scientist shows that the last common male ancestor down the paternal line of our species is over twice as old as we thought.
The father of all men is 340,000 years old, over twice as old as scientists previously thought : science
Jared Diamond | Savage Minds

Sex may cure a migraine as well as painkillers - Lifestyle - Boston.com - the researchers reported that the male subjects in particular used sex as a "therapeutic tool." (or maybe they used their tool for therapeutic sex)

AAA on parking reform: "Dangerous" to let people build as much parking as they want. This is totally insane. Almost 100 percent of Washington-area residents like to sleep on a soft comforable surface at night. But there's no regulatory requirement that residential buildings contain mattresses.

Taylor Swift says Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will wind up in lady hell for Golden Globes jokes ... Taylor Swift, Nonfeminist, Should Ease Up on Feminist Superstar Amy Poehler

My cat can see the rotating snake illusion! - YouTube

Living With The Surface Pro | Pocketnow
Here’s How Many Apps Work With The Surface Pro | Pocketnow
The Surface Pro’s Handwriting Recognition (Video) | Pocketnow
Hot Virtual Keyboard - Virtual On-Screen Keyboard for Windows-Based Devices
Good Luck, I'm Behind 7 Proxies | Know Your Meme

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Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela, dies in Caracas | World news | guardian.co.uk Death comes 21 months after it was revealed he had a tumour, and he will be given a state funeral in the capital
Hugo Chavez Dead: Venezuela's President Dies At 58
Chavez Cancer Timeline: A Look Back At The Venezuelan President's Struggle With Illness (photos)
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez dead at 58 : worldnews
A veteran's remorse: what have we done to Iraq? | James Jeffrey | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The US and UK betrayed the goodwill of the Iraqis and made too many of us complicit with their crimes

That Settles That - Esquire For a while now, we have been wondering why the administration wouldn't flatly say whether or not the president could order someone killed by a drone strike on American soil. Turns out it was because the answer is, "Of course, he can, you silly people."

Dianne Feinstein: Drone Memos To Be Provided By White House

Gabrielle Giffords' advocacy group to air TV ad targeting Republican senators | World news | guardian.co.uk Former congresswoman's gun control group seeks to increase support for universal background checks in pro-gun states
Free Range Kids » Helicopters Hired, Oregon School Prepares for Active Shooter Drill (cut teacher salaries to zero so they can pay for helicopters!)

Obama: $85bn budget cuts mean unemployment will rise | World news | guardian.co.uk President criticises Republicans' 'empty victory' and tells his first second-term cabinet meeting that tough decisions lie ahead
Six Waltons Have More Wealth Than the Bottom 30 % of Americans - Forbes f you’ve no debts and have $10 in your pocket you have more wealth than 25% of Americans. More than that 25% of Americans have collectively that is.

Dow Hits Record High: Here's Why It Doesn't Matter (because there are no jobs, people will work for free; profit!)
Jeb Bush Disagrees With His Own Book Hours After It's Published | ThinkProgress
This is America, Now: The Dow Hits a Record High With Household Income at a Decade Low - Matt Phillips - The Atlantic Stocks surpassed the nominal record set in 2007, while the last recorded real median US household income was 8% lower than its 2007 peak.

Republican Party ACORN Budget Bill - The Further Adventures Of The New Republican Party - Esquire In the long view now, it's plain that the assault on ACORN was the opening general mobilization in the final assault on minority voting rights that found its way into the Supreme Court last week. (And thanks again, Democrats, for chickening out so thoroughly.)
Conservative News Scandals - Hard Times In The Monkeyhouse - Esquire Last night, it was revealed that Tucker Carlson's vanity project, The Daily Caller, appears to have been caught trying to sucker its audience regarding the tale of New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez's patronizing of prostitutes.
Sarah Palin Not 'Competent Enough' To Keep Fox News Contract, Claims Former Bush Strategist (video)

Fear and the New Deal FDR ascended to the White House 80 years ago. How has his legacy—and the legacy of his landmark legislation—shifted in the years since?

Former DEA Heads: Nullify Colorado, Washington Marijuana Laws (and if that doesn't work, drone them)
Silicon Valley Reportedly Full of Stoners | Alternet Businessweek says tech geeks are heavy medical marijuana consumers.

Stem Cells Freak: Researchers discover a new type of stem cell (ePSC) called "endogenous pluripotent somatic cell" (ePSC).

Phawker.Com – Curated News, Gossip, Concert Reviews, Fearless Political Commentary, Interviews….Plus, the Usual Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll » DEENEY: Let Me Tell You About ‘Being White In Philly’


Librarian of Congress at odds with White House in mobile phone fight | World news | guardian.co.uk James Billington sided with the industry cell phone over cell phone unlocking. But what else does this august custodian do?

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Vali Nasr Criticizes Obama in ‘The Dispensable Nation’ - NYTimes.com detailing destructive turf battles and policy debates that challenge the White House’s claim that its management of the Afghan war is a vital accomplishment. (surge of fools)

Janet Napolitano: Sequestration Already Causing Airport Delays

Obama pushing to diversify federal judiciary amid GOP delays - The Washington Post (Rethugs block everything)
The Washington Monthly - The Magazine - He Who Makes the Rules Barack Obama’s biggest second-term challenge isn’t guns or immigration. It’s saving his biggest first-term achievements, like the Dodd-Frank law, from being dismembered by lobbyists and conservative jurists in the shadowy, Byzantine “rule-making” process. (which is why no bankers have gone to jail, right?)
Obama’s Fault - NYTimes.com If Obama had campaigned on some version of Simpson-Bowles rather than on poll-tested tax hikes alone, he could now claim a mandate from voters to do something big and bold (Bill Keller is an idiot)
Fox Business' Gasparino: Obama Claims He Isn't A Dictator, But "Guess What, He Acts Like One Sometimes" | Video | Media Matters for America
It’s A Half-Truth! - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Calling Jeff Sessions a “wonk McCarthyite” is indeed far too charitable; the former term implies that he knows something about anything. (how about racist dumb-fuck)
Kevin Hart & Seth Meyers Ask 'Really?!' To Antonin Scalia Over 'Racial Entitlements' Claim (video)
Howard Fineman: We Are Living in the World Dick Cheney Made "The World According to Dick Cheney." It's a cautionary tale of unchecked zealotry in action.
Mitch McConnell Senate Race: Incumbent Gearing Up For Tough Re-Election Fight
Welfare Drug Testing Bill Introduced In Congress
Everyone Is Making Money Off Malaysia Except Us And We Are Sad And Mad

Joe Scarborough, Paul Krugman To Debate Debt On 'Charlie Rose'
Jeb Bush Book: Undocumented Immigrants Should Be Ineligible For Citizenship

Theatrical Slut Shaming: Daily Caller Attacks Ashley Judd For Movie Nude Scenes | ThinkProgress
Lawyer: Escort Was Paid to Fabricate Menendez Accusations

Things That Should Not Exist But Do - Esquire William (Lord) Saletan is the official ladyparts correspondent for the highly contrarian Slate, in which capacity he generally advises the ladies to employ their ladyparts in ways that do not frighten the horses, give him the tinglies in his nether places, or severely inconvenience the godbotherers who stalk doctors and glue their heads to the doors of medical clinics. What the hell. It's a living.
Brian Leiter’s slow-motion car crash - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Leiter is indeed frantically striving to identify some of his anonymous critics, so he can expose them to the unspeakable consequences that must surely befall people for having the “insolence” and “impertinence” to criticize Brian Leiter on the internet. (sounds like an asshole)

After Petition, White House Says Unlocking Cell Phones Should Be Legal | TPM LiveWire

Pew: Twitter Reaction Often Diverges Sharply From Public Opinion | TPM LiveWire The reaction on Twitter to political events often bears no resemblance to empirical data, according to a year-long study from Pew Research Center released on Monday.

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Pakistan: car bomb kills dozens outside mosque in Karachi | World news | guardian.co.uk Explosion as people leave evening prayers is latest in string of large-scale attacks on Shia Muslims this year
Israel introduces 'Palestinian only' bus lines, following complaints from Jewish settlers Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper Afikim bus company to have special buses for Palestinian workers commuting from the West Bank to jobs in central Israel; announcement follows complaints from settlers that Palestinians are a security risk. (next up for the apartite state: tattoos for Palestinians)
Ministry launches 'Palestinians only' buses - Israel News, Ynetnews insists lines are for general public, but only Palestinian villages have been advised of their existence
India's Budget Targets Women - NYTimes.com
Hungary Experiments With Food Tax to Coax Healthier Habits - NYTimes.com . Nearly two-thirds of Hungarians are overweight or obese, and the country has the highest per capita salt consumption in the European Union.
Keith O'Brien, British Cardinal, Admits To Sexual Misbehavior

Dick Cheney: Condoleezza Rice Was 'Wrong' For Not Handling Syria Like Iraq (what a dick)
Pressing Issues: Friedman and His 'Popcorn' War of Choice "Watching this Iraq story unfold, all I can say is this: If this were not about my own country, my own kids and my own planet, I'd pop some popcorn, pull up a chair and pay good money just to see how this drama unfolds." (ten years ago today; always being wrong didn't hurt his career)

In Voting Rights Arguments, Chief Justice Misconstrued Census Data : It's All Politics : NPR But a close look at census statistics indicates the chief justice was wrong, or at least that he did not look at the totality of the numbers (they always, always, lie

How budget cuts could affect you - Salon.com Unemployment benefit reductions, fewer food safety checks, freed illegal immigrants and more
Virginia’s Feast on U.S. Funds Nears an End - NYTimes.com While the rest of the country experienced a corrosive recession, unemployment in Arlington County, home of the Pentagon, never rose above 5 percent. Nearby Fairfax County, with a cyberintelligence industry that took off after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, gorged on government contracts to private companies.

This is why Obama can’t make a deal with Republicans There’s no deal even if Obama agrees to major Republican demands on entitlements. There’s no deal because Republicans don’t want to make a deal that includes taxes, no matter what they get in return for it.
Today in Well, Duh - NYTimes.com Ezra Klein mans up and admits he was wrong.

Time to Bury Pew Report on Wealth by Age Group | Beat the Press I realize that Pew is a very prestigious outfit, but Pew's garbage is still garbage. It's report on wealth by age group, or at least the interpretation that it and others have given this report, fits the bill. (old folks are not rich, either, P-U)

Stymied by a GOP House, Obama looks ahead to 2014 to cement his legacy - The Washington Post (shoulda thought of that in 2009, Pres Reach-Across-the Aisle)

Support for Same-Sex Marriage Jumps in California Key findings: 61% say they support same-sex marriage, with just 32% were against. The ban passes in 2008 by a 52% to 48% margin.
Philly Mag cover: Whites must criticize blacks more | Philadelphia City Paper | 03/02/2013

Texas May Restore Some Family-Planning Budget Cuts - NYTimes.com Now, amid estimates that the cuts could lead to 24,000 additional 2014-15 births at a cost to taxpayers of $273 million, lawmakers are seeking a way to restore financing without ruffling feathers.(poor feathers fucked their own budget)

Child born with HIV cured by US doctors | Society | The Guardian
Viruses Can Have Immune System, Study Finds | Biology | Sci-News.com the first evidence that bacteriophages – viruses that infect and replicate within bacteria – can acquire a wholly functional and adaptive immune system.
Our brains, and how they're not as simple as we think | Science | The Observer - Folk Neuroscience Popular misconceptions (rational/creative hemispheres, dopamine pleasure, low serotonin myth created to sell Prozac)

Is Philip Roth a misogynist? Keith Gessen says no. Or deny it altogether, a la Keith Gessen, whose response was simultaneously ponderous and thoughtless: If Philip Roth Hates Women, Why Does He Want To Have Sex With Them, Hmmm?

Legislator to small business owner: bicycling bad for the environment « Cascade Bike Blog – Cascade Bicycle Club – Seattle, Washington State Rep. Ed Orcutt of the 20th District and a constituent about the proposed “bicycle tax” and noting that bicycling was bad for the environment due to all the exhaling of CO2. (they really are that stupid; next, a carbon tax on gyms)

Balloon Juice » The Wages of Sin Chris Dodd made $2.4 million as head of the MPAA in 2011. In other words, $2.4 million a year is what it takes for a former US Senator with a pretty decent reputation to flush it all down the toilet. (Mr SOPA)
Petition asking Obama to legalize cellphone unlocking will get White House response | The Verge (it's not really your cellphone)

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The Holocaust Just Got More Shocking - NYTimes.com The researchers have cataloged some 42,500 Nazi ghettos and camps throughout Europe, spanning German-controlled areas from France to Russia and Germany itself, during Hitler’s reign of brutality from 1933 to 1945.
Two Afghan Boys Accidentally Killed by NATO Helicopter - NYTimes.com Two boys out collecting firewood with their donkeys were killed by weapons fired from a NATO helicopter, Afghan and American military officials announced on Saturday.
O'Brien priest worries that church wants to 'crush' him | World news | The Observer Key figure behind allegations of inappropriate behaviour attacks Catholic church's response to complaints
Quebec language police try to ban 'pasta' from Italian restaurant menu | World news | guardian.co.uk French-language inspectors who claimed menu had too many Italian words forced to back down after public outcry
The United States Heads to the South China Sea | Foreign Affairs Why American Involvement Will Mean More Friction -- Not Less

European Officials Cap Banker Bonuses at Maximum of One Year of Salary - SPIEGEL ONLINE In a bid to address widespread public outrage over greed in the financial sector, European officials have agreed to legislation capping bankers' bonuses at a maximum of a year's salary. Great Britain fought to prevent the measure, but failed to rally enough support.

NYPD lied under oath to prosecute Occupy activist — RT USA Pinto explains how the details provided by the NYPD in this trial have been fabricated to such a degree that the allegations presented by the cops turned out to be literally the opposite of what occurred.
FBI classified information about OWS assassination plot — RT USA Only one month into the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations last year, plans were formulated to identify key figures in the movement and execute them with a coordinated assault using sniper rifles, new documents reveal

Jim Clyburn: Antonin Scalia Rejects Voting Rights Act Because He's 'White And Proud'

Scale of sequestration cuts becomes clear as Obama attacks Republicans | World news | guardian.co.uk Office of Management and Budget report outlines extent of $85bn cuts triggered by failure to reach deal by Friday deadline (Republican terrorists, but Obama wants leverage to cut SS and Medicaid)
Hullabaloo Dispatch from Bizarroworld: "The vast inane" He never says upfront that he's been willing to raise the eligibility age for Medicare. He always says he's willing to make "tough choices" and will do things "his own party won't like." He never comes right out and says what her means about "entitlement" cuts.
Keystone XL pipeline report slammed by activists and scientists | Environment | guardian.co.uk Sierra Club leads angry response to 'deeply flawed' State Department report into proposed oil sands pipeline (Obama rigged the report)

Stacked Deck: How the Dominance of Politics by the Affluent & Business Undermines Economic Mobility in America | Demos

CA GOPer: Pregnancy From Rape Rare Because Body Is 'Traumatized' | TPM LiveWire

What the Malaysians Know - NYTimes.com Funny how Malaysia gets who these people are and what motivates them — while our own press corps doesn’t.
Las Vegas Sands Under Investigation For Corruption, Admits Violations 'Likely' The filing marks the first disclosure by the casino operator, controlled by founder and billionaire Republican donor Sheldon Adelson, that is was under investigation.

Brad DeLong : Ben Bernanke (1999): "Rooseveltian Resolve"

For 20-Somethings, Ambition at a Cost - NYTimes.com the median net worth for householders under 35 dropped by 68 percent from 1984 to 2009, to $3,662
» ‘Steve Wilkos Show’ pulls ad for 65+ hour per week freelance job - jimromenesko.com

Live Blogging the Keystone XL Environmental Assessment Release | DeSmogBlog Yesterday Time Magazine declared that Keystone had become the Stonewall and the Selma of the climate movement -- and today we got a reminder of just how tough those fights were, and how tough this one will be
For 20-Somethings, Ambition at a Cost - NYTimes.com (the new indentured servants)

Experts Want More Studies of Diet’s Role for the Heart - NYTimes.com This is a watershed moment in the field of nutrition, medical experts say. For the first time, researchers have shown that a diet can have an effect as powerful as drugs in preventing what really matters to patients — heart attacks, and strokes and deaths from cardiovascular disease ... Mediterranean Diet ... “Can we do a trial of fruits and vegetables?” he asked. “I think we can.”
England Develops a Voracious Appetite for a New Diet - NYTimes.com the 5:2 diet: five days of eating and drinking whatever you want, dispersed with two days of fasting.
The Average ER Trip Costs 40 Percent More Than What Most Americans Spend On Monthly Rent | ThinkProgress (the Romney Plan)

States With The Highest Teen Pregnancy Rates Lack Adequate Sex Ed Requirements | ThinkProgress (keep them dumb and pregnant)
HIV Infection Is Most Concentrated In The South, Where Students Don't Learn About It In School | ThinkProgress
Amtrak loses a ton of money each year. It doesn’t have to. (Red States demand unprofitable long routes; use them to kill the whole system)

Ancient 'Micro-Continent' Found Under Indian Ocean - Yahoo! News The remains of a micro-continent scientist call Mauritia might be preserved under huge amounts of ancient lava beneath the Indian Ocean, a new analysis of island sands in the area suggests.

Online note service Evernote latest firm to get hacked | Security & Privacy - CNET News Company behind application used by about 50 million people says some user data was accessed, and it requires all users to reset passwords.

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Syria Massacre: Government Forces Accused Of Executing 72 People In Malkiyeh

If the Pope Can Quit, Catholics Can, Too - NYTimes.com AT 8 p.m. last night in Vatican City, Benedict XVI resigned the papacy. Now American Catholics should consider resigning too.
Daily Politics Blog - Charles P. Pierce - Political Blogging - Esquire There is among conservative Catholics a boom industry in constructing virtual sarcophagi for a pope before the poor sod even has had a chance to shuffle off the ruby Pradas. Time now, it appears, to encase Benedict XVI in marble before the supbpoenas begin to fly again
Picking A Pope? Try The 'Sweet Sistine' Bracket Challenge : The Two-Way : NPR

Rachel Maddow To Jon Stewart: Scalia A 'Troll ... The Guy On Your Blog Comment Thread Who's Using The N Word' (VIDEO)

Eschaton: Maybe In About Five More Years We'll get some lengthy thumbsuckers from austerity advocates about how they were, you know, wrong, but wrong for all of the right reasons, and the people who were right were right for all the wrong reasons, so they were actually wrong, really. I don't know how the worst people in the world get to run the planet, but somehow it works out that way.

Massachusetts official challenges Chief Justice Roberts’ claim about voting - News - Boston.com Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. certainly sounded authoritative when he made a striking, though unflattering, declaration about Massachusetts as the high court heard arguments over the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which is ­designed to assure equal access across ­races to polling booths.
Voting Rights Act Hearings Turnout By Race - The Chief Justice And The Pol - Esquire Turns out that the Chief probably was cooking his own argument in a way that was thoroughly dishonest. Turns out that John Roberts may be something of a thumb-on-the-scale charlatan.

Obama Signals He’d Let Cuts Stand to Avoid U.S. Shutdown - NYTimes.com
Obama Reveals A Key Element Of His Sequestration Strategy | TPMDC
Underlying Budget Impasse Is a Deep Philosophical Divide - NYTimes.com
Sequester Deadline All But Blown, Obama Hopes For Big Deal (the grand compromiser at work)
Government Sequester Makes Workers Anxious As Congress Stalls
House Republicans Cheer Boehner’s Refusal to Negotiate on Cuts - NYTimes.com (traitors to America, should have their head on a pike)
Suffering from sequester burnout? You're not alone - CNN.com
Obama To AP's Julie Pace: 'Give Me An Example Of What I Might Do' (VIDEO) "Well, Julie, give me an example of what I might do," Obama shot back. "Just trying to clarify," Pace said ... "So, what more do you think I should do?" he asked the room at large. When there was silence
d r i f t g l a s s: Your Sequester Day Repost of Vintage Stupid
The Monkey Cage Finally, yesterday’s vote helps us to better identify the far right flank of the House GOP. Here, I consider the far right of the conference those Republicans who voted against waiving the debt limit for three months, against Hurricane Sandy relief, and against the VAWA bill. That group sums to 26 GOP (26 exteme nutballs
Women Are More “Election-Averse” Than Men — The Monkey Cage (don't like the competive aggression that defines male politics and media)

Disastrous Predictions and Predictable Disasters - NYTimes.com - Yet European leaders seem determined to learn nothing, which makes this more than a tragedy; it’s an outrage (nothing succeeds like total failure of the elites)
Ben Bernanke, Hippie - NYTimes.com (the folly of the elites)
CFTC Derivatives Proposal Would Weaken Rules Meant To Prevent Another Crisis, Advocates Warn A proposal that would allow continued private trading of derivatives with less transparency for market participants is being pressed by at least three commissioners on the five-member Commodities and Futures Trading Commission -- two Republicans and one Democrat

The Continuing Adventures Of Bob Woodward, Victim - Esquire The problem with Bob Woodward is that, for all his formidable reputation, he's something of a meathead ... If he's ever had an original or interesting thought, it died of loneliness (kapow)
Bob Woodward To Hannity: I Never Called WH Email A 'Threat,' But It Was A 'Coded You Better Watch Out' (peak Woodward)
David Axelrod To Bob Woodward: Why Didn't You Say 'Don't Threaten Me?' (you're so over, Bobby Boy)
Jon Stewart on Bob Woodward “threat” | TPMDC



Jan Brewer Unleashed: White House Freeing Dangerous Immigrants As ‘Payback’ | TPMDC (she's already hallucinating dead bodies)
Don’t Mess with Tex… er, Malaysia - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Joshua Trevino, a conservative pundit, who received $389,724.70 ... Trevino told Politico in 2011 that “I was never on any ‘Malaysian entity’s payroll,’ and I resent your assumption that I was.” (oh, remember "Tacitus?"

Garry Wills - By the Book - NYTimes.com If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be? Garry Trudeau’s “Signature Wound,” to see what damage Obama has done to thousands of our young people with his stupid wars.

At Ice Age End, a Smaller Gap in Warming and Carbon Dioxide - NYTimes.com A meticulous new analysis of Antarctic ice suggests that the sharp warming that ended the last ice age occurred in lock step with increases of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the latest of many indications that the gas is a powerful influence on the earth’s climate.
Study Finds Genetic Risk Factors Shared by 5 Psychiatric Disorders - NYTimes.com schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, major depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Black Hole 'Mystery Wave' Takes Astronomers By Surprise

Racing sausage no longer a missing link Two men - one wearing a hoodie pulled tight over his face - lugged the larger-than-life link into the bar just before 8 p.m. Wednesday, plopped him on a bar stool and warned staff, "You did not see anything," said bartender Jen Mohney. "Like I didn't just see two guys plop a sausage on a bar stool," Mohney said.

Andrew Breitbart Died And That Is Why We Have a Black President | TBogg
The Trials of Nadia Naffe - News Features She could have been the Republican party’s future. Instead, she was abandoned, insulted, abused, and ridiculed by the GOP and its partisans - She says O’Keefe took her to a barn and drugged her, then turned on her — setting off a campaign of intense harassment. For bloggers like Breitbart and his followers, hounding Naffe became a crusade.
The Aftermath of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly

The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Copyright Reform, Right and Left
Schneier on Security: The Court of Public Opinion More and more individuals -- and companies -- are augmenting, even bypassing entirely, traditional legal process hoping to get a more favorable hearing in public.

Kaspersky Lab Identifies ‘MiniDuke’, a New Malicious Program Designed for Spying on Multiple Government Entities and Institutions Across the World
Hackers attack European governments using 'MiniDuke' malware | Technology | guardian.co.uk Kaspersky Lab identifies attempt to steal intelligence from countries including Ireland and Romania using Adobe PDF bug E
'Old School' MiniDuke Malware Targets European Governments Via Adobe | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

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Mido Macia Dragged By South African Police Behind Car Before He Was Found Dead (graphic video)

Your Daily Pope - Esquire At 2 p.m. Eastern time today, Benedict XVI hangs up the ol' pallium and takes it to the ranch, which happens to be a palace at Castel Gandolfo. He is probably too old to get a gig commenting on Church matters at ESPN, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him turn up as an MSNBC political analyst, because it seems that everybody else in the world is these days.

Why Drones Are Just a Sideshow -- Obama's Policy on Targeted Killings - Esquire Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing: "Drones and the War on Terror: When Can the U.S. Target Alleged American Terrorists Overseas?"
Bradley Manning Pleads Guilty To Some Charges In WikiLeaks Case

US Drought Monitor (meanwhile)
Al Gore: Marco Rubio's Climate Change Response To State Of The Union 'Pitiful,' 'Dangerous'
South Carolina Climate Change - Piranha in South Carolina? - Esquire The climate report lists potentially substantial threats to South Carolina - ranging from the invasion of exotic eels and piranha (the state that outlawed the words "sea level")

Scalia: Not Just Offensive, Ludicrously Overrated - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Fables of the Post-Reconstruction, With Antonin Scalia - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Why the Kamikaze Campaign Against Hagel? - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Why did the GOP go down Yamato-style, guns blazing on a suicide mission against impossible odds in the Hagel fight? Conor Friedersdorf’s suggests that part of the answer is information asymmetry, bred by the conservative echo chamber (but it's really about the neocons defending being tragically wrong)

As Sequester Looms, U.S. Set To Repeat Europe's Austerity Mistake
Lindsey Graham Sequestration Reaction - Salty Tears Abounding - Esquire Of all the performances on the Sequester Main Stage today, none were quite as...melodramatic as the four-act opera pitched by our old friend, Huckleberry Closetcase of South Carolina.

Bob Woodward Emails Show White House 'Threat' Was Not So Threatening (insufficient deference to cranky old villager hacks; twitter mocks him mercilessly)
What the Hell Happened to Bob Woodward? -- Daily Intelligencer
Exclusive: The Woodward, Sperling emails revealed - Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei - politico.com
Bob Woodward embodies US political culture in a single outburst | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Washington's most celebrated journalist hails the values of militarism, lawlessness, and presidential omnipotence
Bob Woodward vs Gene Sperling: Veteran reporter trolls Washington.
Bob Woodward Emails With White House - Business Insider +Why The Next Budget Crisis Coming In March May Be Even More Dangerous
Woodward Does Duty With Phony Outrage Machine | Blog | Media Matters for America
Bob Woodward Politico - Things In Politico That Make Me Want To Guzzle Antifreeze, Part The Infinity - Esquire They were summoned to an undisclosed location where Bob Woodward is hiding because someone in the Obama administration pointed out that he might one day regret having been publicly stupid on the subject of the sequester, and Bob knows what that means. So, huddled in his bunker, fiddling with the knobs on the crystal set and eating cold Spaghetti-O's out of the can, Bob summoned two of the only reporters he knows who share the same level of self-delusion that he does.
Conservatives Regret Taking Woodward's 'Threat' Story Seriously | TPM LiveWire "Looks like we were played," The Daily Caller's Matt Lewis wrote Thursday morning.

Political Animal - Why Elizabeth Warren Voted for Jack Lew for Treasury
Political Animal - So Much For Sequester Flexibility So instead of “flexibility,” the administration would be given the option of dropping its standing offer of a revenues-plus-cuts sequester replacement and presenting an all-cuts version, which Congress could then reject. (never negotiate with terrorists)

New Hampshire Republican: ‘A lot of people like being in abusive relationships’ | The Raw Story
Mark Warden, New Hampshire Rep, Apologizes For Domestic Violence Comments (yeah, another teaparty asshole)
N.H. State Rep. Has Refreshingly Non-Judgmental Views On Wife Beating, ‘Cause Some People Are Into That, He Guesses ! The newest contendah is New Hampshire state Rep. Mark Warden (R-Fuck This Guy), who was one of four members of an NH House committee to vote in favor of reducing the penalty for some cases of simple assault from a misdemeanor to a “violation-level offense.
Kansas Democrats force amendment to include lawmakers in welfare drug tests | The Raw Story Democrats in Kansas were unable to kill a Republican bill to drug test welfare and unemployment recipients, but they were successful in adding an amendment that would require lawmakers to also face testing.
University of North Carolina student may be expelled for rape talk | The Daily Dolt UNC is bringing sophomore Landen Gambill before the Office of Student Conduct for speaking to the press about her alleged rape and UNC’s handling of her case. The University asserts Gambill’s behavior amounted to “intimidating” her alleged rapist, whom she never actually named to any media outlet.
Lawmaker Says Homosexuality is an Addiction Minnesota state Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen (R) said that homosexuality is a choice and form of sexual addiction, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Student Debt Nearly Tripled In 8 Years, New York Federal Reserve Reports
Contrary To GOP Rhetoric, Low-Tax States Have Worse Economic Growth | ThinkProgress

The Ghetto, Public Policy, and the Jewish Exception - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic In the 1930s, the U.S. appraisal industry opposed the "mixing" of the races, which it believed would cause "the decline of both the human race and of property values." Appraisers ensured segregation through their property rating system.
Bloomberg Businessweek Should Explain How Its Racist Cover Got Selected And Published | ThinkProgress
Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Ping Pong Balls And Michelle Malkin
Philly Cop Videotaped Punching Woman In Face Found Not Guilty Because Videotape Might Have Missed Moments Where Cop Wasn’t Punching Her In Face Municipal Judge Patrick Dugan finding Josey not guilty. Dugan said that the video was insufficient evidence:

Pediatrician On CNN: Transgender Girls Will Walk Around Bathrooms With Their Genitals Exposed | Blog | Media Matters for America Dr. James Sears, co-host of the CBS show The Doctors. Sears, who is a pediatrician and television personality, warned that Mathis might walk around the girls' bathroom with her penis exposed, like "most boys" allegedly do at that age:

How AT&T Is Planning to Rob Americans of an Open Public Telco Network | Wired Opinion | Wired.com
Andrew Mason, Groupon Founder And CEO, Is Ousted As Foundering Daily-Deals Company Looks For New Chief

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Italian politics in deadlock as Beppe Grillo rules out deal | World news | guardian.co.uk Former comedian says he will not back Democratic party and brands leader a 'dead man talking'
Egypt hot air balloon crash kills 19 tourists | World news | guardian.co.uk British tourist and Egyptian pilot only people to survive after balloon catches fires and plummets 1,000 feet to the ground

Two Popes At The Your Daily Pope - Esquire Details are finally emerging about how the Vatican is planning to handle the fact that in a little over a month, there there will be two popes — one active and one retired — rattling around the halls, bumping into each other on midnight kitchen raids, and staying up until all hours watching Ancient Aliens and speculating about what's really there, deep in the stacks, of the Vaitcan Archives.

Subpoenas For Drone Memos From House Judiciary Committee Has 'Bipartisan Interest'
The Fourth Amendment Doesn’t Apply If Your Rights Are Violated Secretly - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Neil Heslin, Father Of Newtown Victim, Testifies At Senate Assault Weapons Ban Hearing
Missouri Lawmakers Advance Gun Bills To Ban Gun Control A Missouri legislative committee Tuesday passed two bills that would ban the enforcement of any new federal gun control laws in the state.

Voting Rights Act Supreme Court Case: Scalia Condemns The 'Perpetuation Of Racial Entitlement' (there are no words ...)
Chief Justice Roberts' Long War Against the Voting Rights Act | Mother Jones Roberts has been a critic of the Voting Rights Act for 30 years. Now he will help decide whether the law's most important section lives or dies.
A Little More From The Chambers - Esquire It's become clear that Antonin (Short Time) Scalia's "racial entitlement" is going to be the primary noise-bite out of the Supreme Court today.
Fables of the Post-Reconstruction, With Antonin Scalia - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Supreme Court: Racism deniers? - Salon.com If the Scalia wing strikes down the Voting Rights Act, it thinks we're beyond our history of racial bias
Congress Honors Rosa Parks While the Supreme Court Targets the Voting Rights Act | The Nation

Buzzfeed Is So Eager to Smear Michael Moore, They Make Excuses for Racial Profiling | Crooks and Liars
Michael Moore and Buzzfeed Call Each Other Liars - National - The Atlantic Wire
Jackass journalism and the Breitbart bratpack | Ana Marie Cox | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk A year's passed since Andrew Breitbart died, but his combative conservativism lives on with the minions of his 'media of mean'

Chuck Hagel New Secretary Of Defense - Chuck Hagel And The Simple Act Of Being Dickheads - Esquire
Hagel Confirmation Fight Was Really About Bush Foreign Policy—and War - The Daily Beast George W. Bush successfully pushed preventive war over deterrence, which led to disasters like Iraq. Hagel pointed out the heavy costs of such wars, suggesting containment and deterrence might be preferable—which angered hawkish Republicans eager for confrontation with Iran.

Jack Lew Confirmed By Senate As Obama's Treasury Secretary (Wall Street wins)

Congressional Progressive Caucus: "Just cancel the sequester"
Why Obama Refuses to Kill the Sequester « naked capitalism - The only logical inference that can be drawn is that Obama remains committed to inflicting the “Grand Bargain” (really, the Grand Betrayal) on the Nation in his quest for a “legacy” and continues to believe that the Sequester provides him the essential leverage he feels he needs to coerce Senate progressives to adopt austerity, make deep cuts in vital social programs, and to begin to unravel the safety net.
The Establishment’s Obama Derangement Syndrome | TPM Editors Blog Here’s Bob Woodward — again! — on MSNBC Wednsday morning arguing that Obama’s decision not seize imperial powers but instead to follow the letter of the sequestration law amounts to a “kind of madness.”

The Morning Plum: How’s that GOP “makeover” going? The poll finds that Democrats hold a double digit lead over Republicans on many major issues facing the country — and finds solid majority support for key initiatives on Obama’s second term agenda.

The psycho-sexual ordeal of reporting in Washington | New Republic The psycho-sexual ordeal of reporting in Washington

Brad DeLong : American Conservatism’s Crisis of Ideas: Project Syndicate Monarchy, Patriarchy, Orthodoxy Weblogging - Democratic policies work and make people's lives better--that Republicans are losing their campaign to try to make America a worse-off place (except for the helicopter set)

Prominent Republicans Gay Marriage - How To Distinguish "Republicans" and "Prominent Republicans" - Esquire Apparently, we are all supposed to applaud Republicans again for their belated discovery of the existence of gravity and the fact that water is, indeed, wet. (as prominent as Jane Swift)
Abortion Bill Veto Overridden By Arkansas House

Brad DeLong : No, Amity Shlaes Has No Idea What She Is Talking About. Why Do You Ask?: WTF!?!?!?!? Weblogging (conservative historical revisionism, did she even read/understand the book?)

The New 'Friendlier Face' of Conservatism Is an Old-School Homophobe | Alternet You may not know the name Rod Dreher, but you will.

Pat Robertson: Goodwill Sweaters Could Have Demons, No Harm In Praying Over Them (video)

Sugata Mitra: We Need Schools.. Not Factories

Community In A Cube by FAT

Apple's Tim Cook tells investors angry about share price: 'I don't like it either' | Technology | guardian.co.uk He is facing a revolt among shareholders over a 51% rise in his basic salary to $1.4m (£923,000). According to the Financial Times, more than a third of investors have vote against the increase.

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Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » But it’s so hard to refuse Gone will be the red “Prada” loafers, replaced by brown shoes made in Leon, Mexico. (the devil wears ...)

Labour needs an answer to Osborne's charge that it would "borrow more" If the party wants to attack Osborne on this territory, it needs to explain why and how it would borrow for growth.

How to Report From Guantanamo Bay -- Daily Intelligencer

Clapper v. Amnesty International, Warrantless Wiretapping Challenge, Struck Down By Supreme Court (5-4)

Hagel Prevails in Senate After Bruising Bout With G.O.P. - NYTimes.com in a 58-to-41 vote — the smallest margin for a defense secretary since the position was created in 1947 (Repubicans will be assholes)

Poll: Republicans 'Out Of Touch' And 'Extreme' Sixty-two percent of adults said that Republicans were out of touch with the American people, and 52 percent that the party was too extreme. In comparison, 46 percent said that Democrats were out of touch, and 39 percent that they were too extreme ... while a majority viewed both parties as having strong principles, Republicans had a 6-point edge over Democrats on that measure. (strongly idiotic and racist)
The Republican Sequestration Plan -- Daily Intelligencer President Obama is offering up something — hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Social Security and Medicare — that Republicans say they want and which (because of their unpopularity) they have proven unable to obtain even when they have had full control of government.
Do-Nothing Congress Challenges Record For Low Levels Of Legislation In First Weeks Of 2013

The Morning Plum: The false equivalence pundits are part of the problem
Our First Priority Is Upper-Class Tax Cuts. Our Second Priority Is That There Is No Other Priority. - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Christie Backs Medicaid Help From Federal Government - NYTimes.com ("financial" decision)

Ashley Judd’s biggest problem: Her past bizarre comments | The Daily Caller (DC thinks they are bizaare, when they are actually true and intelligent: "This president is a modern day Attila the Hun.”)
What is Mike Leara afraid of? - The Maddow Blog - This story may appear to be some kind of parody, making the Republican protagonist out to be a foolish caricature who couldn't exist in reality, but as best as I can tell, this is real.
Fox News Hosts Breitbart's Shapiro Days After "Friends Of Hamas" Story Implodes | Blog | Media Matters for America (wingnut failure always succeeds)

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon: 'We Actually Benefit From Downturns'
How Atlantic City's Revel casino cost Wall Street $2.5 billion - NYPOST.com
Wall Street’s Bonus Woes Continue Despite Uptick -- Daily Intelligencer (whine)

Po Bronson: How To Tell If A Woman Is Going To Be Successful In Business (ring finger longer)

Mediterranean Diet Can Cut Heart Disease, Study Finds - NYTimes.com ... you can eat a nicely balanced diet with fruits and vegetables and olive oil and lower heart disease by 30 percent,” he said. “And you can actually enjoy life.”

University of Phoenix Accreditation Hits Snag As Panel Recommends Probation

Martha Graham Cracker Invited to Read to School Kids, then Told She's "Inappropriate" for Children | G Philly The drag cabaret legend's invitation to perform at an after-school program is revoked when officials deem her unsuitable for tots


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Afghan president to expel U.S. special forces from key province - Yahoo! News after some U.S. soldiers there were found to have tortured or even killed innocent people, the president's spokesman said on Sunday.
Silvio Berlusconi’s Hedonism : The New Yorker Have Italians had enough of Silvio Berlusconi—and the culture he embodies?
Italian election results: gridlock likely – live coverage | World news | guardian.co.uk As results come in, projections suggest gridlock as Bersani's centre-left seems likely to dominate lower house and Berlusconi's centre-right the Senate
BBC World Service radio being jammed in China | The Verge
The Norwegian prison where inmates are treated like people | Society | The Guardian On Bastoy prison island in Norway, the prisoners, some of whom are murderers and rapists, live in conditions that critics brand 'cushy' and 'luxurious'. Yet it has by far the lowest reoffending rate in Europe

Zero Dark Thirty, the CIA and film critics have a very bad evening | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The stigma attached to the pro-torture CIA propaganda vehicle, beloved by film critics, results in Oscar humiliation
Steve Coll: “Al Qaeda”: What’s in a Name? : The New Yorker (branding is everything and "associated forces" doesn't cut it) )
caferrell comments on How Should We Treat American Jihadists?-the legal answer is not going to help us.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien resigns amid claims of inappropriate behaviour | World news | guardian.co.uk Pope accepts resignation of UK's most senior Roman Catholic cleric, who has been accused of 'inappropriate acts'
Keith O'Brien Resigns: Top UK Cardinal Will Skip Papal Conclave Over Allegations Of Misconduct (virulently anti-gay Cardinal is gay)
UK's top cardinal accused of 'inappropriate acts' by priests | World news | The Observer Last year he was named "bigot of the year" by the gay rights charity Stonewall.
What Pope Benedict XVI Can Pray For : The New Yorker

Austerity, Italian-Style - NYTimes.com What good, exactly, has what currently passes for mature realism done in Italy or for that matter Europe as a whole?
Losing AAA & the complete failure of the Government’s economic strategy | ToUChstone blog: A public policy blog from the TUC The Chancellor who argued that protecting our AAA rating was a central aim of his policy (it never should have been!) and has now turned around and argued that the downgrade proves he is right. This is absolutely staggering. (nothing succeeds like total failure when conservatives govern)
Bruising day for the pound after UK's AAA downgrade - as it happened | Business | guardian.co.uk

DoJ opinions: Known unknown unknowns - Salon.com Not only is the White House keeping kill list opinions secret, it's a secret how many OLC opinions even exist
22 Super Easy Ways To Avoid Getting Killed By Drones

Deepwater trial: US lawyers say BP ignored warnings on 'well from hell' | Environment | The Guardian As 11 teams of lawyers deliver opening statements in trial over 2010 disaster, judge sets out a three-month timetable

As God Is My Witness - Esquire you may not have heard that the F-35, the Flying Swiss Army Knife, aka The Lemon Of The Skies - They have built 43 of these. None of them can fly. So, naturally, we need almost 2500 more. The obscenity for this has not yet been coined.

Sequester Impact On States Detailed In New White House Reports
Budget Cuts, Political Fighting To Hold Back U.S. Economic Growth, 95 Percent Of Economists Agree

What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days? - Esquire Ross Cardinal Douthat, spiritual leader of the Archdiocese Of Smug, for his brave defense of hardworking oligarchs against the encroaching leisure time of poor people everywhere.
The Woodward Myth - Esquire . He was mildly, but seriously, reproved in several quarters for neglecting to point out that the whole spit-and-duct-tape contraption was devised to try and keep the government running despite the best efforts of congressional Republicans to shut the whole thing down and open a tattoo parlor (Katie Graham wanted you to know nothing)

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Campaign Contributions Appeal The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision struck down a prohibition against corporate spending on campaign activities by independent groups but left untouched the ban on direct contributions to candidates.

Sequestration Carries Echoes Of Dem Victory In ‘95 Government Shutdown Fight | TPMDC
Political Animal - Drunk Uncle
Ryan Lizza: Can Eric Cantor Redeem the Republican Party and Himself? : The New Yorker Can Eric Cantor, the Republican Majority Leader, redeem his party and himself?
Political Animal - Calling Out Stupidity it’s worth paying attention now and then to politicians who are willing to make it clear to the public how stupid this process is; how if utilized by, say, a city council, we’d see recall petitions bloom.
No More Mister Nice Blog Brooks was writing a commentary rooted in the Beltway's political religion. In a religious faith, stories are told that are frameworks for belief, even if they're not believed literally.
Grand Old Jurassic Party - Salon.com With its focus on ideological purity, the Republican species is pushing itself toward extinction

They Keep Saying They Aren’t Racist, but… | One of Montana’s leading Tea Party figures has posted a photo for a device she says can lure the President. Here it is–a Tea Party animal trap for a black person. Jennifer Olsen is the leader of Montana’s largest TEA Party faction, the Yellowstone County Montana Shrugged TEA Party. She’s also the chair of the Republican party in Billings, the Yellowstone County Republican Central Committee. (yes, Jennifer, you are now famous on the internets for all eternity for being a racist asshole)
Daily Kos: Montana county's GOP chairwoman proves her tea party bona fides with racist watermelon trap post
The watermelon stereotype | Abagond

Seth MacFarlane and the Oscars' Hostile, Ugly, Sexist Night : The New Yorker
9 Sexist Things That Happened At The Oscars
Seth MacFarlane's Sexist Jokes, Transcribed - The Cut

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg to Assign Us Feminist Homework - The Cut

Shedding a tear for the International Herald Tribune - Salon.com The New York Times kills off a 125-year-old brand. Expats of a certain age raise a sad toast

8 Ways America's Headed Back to the Robber-Baron Era | Alternet We are recreating the Gilded Age, a period when corporations ruled this nation, buying politicians, using violence against unions and engaging in open corruption.
Michael Bérubé - American Airspace Everything changed for me on September 11. I used to consider myself a Democrat, but thanks to 9/11, I’m outraged by Chappaquiddick. (Roger "L" Simon)

"Day of Resistance" and The Case of The Rightbloggers Who Didn't Bark - New York - News - Runnin' Scared
David Mamet and the Irrelevance of the Actual Meanings of Words - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic - this is the kind of writing that would get you bounced out of any decent essay writing class at a credible university. Words have meanings. You cannot change the fact that Thomas Jefferson served in the Virginia House of Burgesses because it's unfortunate for your argument. Unless you have a name like David Mamet.
Some Came Running: How David Mamet gets away with it - Mamet's drawing style, if it could be referred to as a style, made James Thurber look like Gustave Dore.

“The Myth of Persecution”: Early Christians weren’t persecuted - Salon.com The Romans did not target, hunt or massacre Jesus' followers, says a historian of the early church

Generic drug makers get green light to make Reckitt's heroin substitute | Business | guardian.co.uk Company fears loss of profits from low-cost alternative to suboxone, which became a preferred treatment for heroin addiction in America

How IKEA Transformed Home Furnishing : The New Yorker Is the IKEA ethos comfy or creepy?
The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food - NYTimes.com

Scrapbook Nation by Christopher Benfey | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books
The 5 Reasons Girls Type Like Thissss - The Cut
The feminist pornographer - Salon.com

Penny Arcade - The MS Surface Pro
James Surowiecki: Will Apple Keep Thriving? : The New Yorker Since September, the stock has tumbled thirty-five per cent, losing more than two hundred billion dollars from its market cap. (maybe LVMH will buy them)
Internet providers launch controversial Copyright Alert System, promise 'education' over lawsuits | The Verge The new program rolls out with five major internet service providers today, but the bark is worse than the bite

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Afghan forces 'are just like criminals' - Asia - World - The Independent Murder, sexual abuse, drugs and extortion revealed in Panorama investigation

Daily Kos: About that massive cover-up - Three months after the invasion in June 2003, McCain announced: "I remain confident that we will find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq." (fever dreams of conservative assholes)

Wayne LaPierre: Obama Wants National Registry To Take Away Guns (video) | TPM LiveWire

Hullabaloo "Highly sensitive" secrets - "When I went through the process of becoming press secretary, one of the first things they told me was, you're not even to acknowledge the drone program," Gibbs said on MSNBC's "Up With Chris Hayes" on Sunday. "You're not even to discuss that it exists." ... the bottom line in the end is - whose 4-year-old get killed? What we're doing is limiting the possibility that 4-year-olds here will get killed by indiscriminate acts of terror."

Alan Simpson and Bernie Madoff - NYTimes.com
On the sequester, the American people ‘moved the goalposts’
3 reasons why Obama isn't leading on the sequester - The Week
The big sequester gamble: How badly will the cuts hurt? - The Washington Post

Watching the Sunday shows so you don’t have to - Salon.com Today, some centrist pundits and legislators solved the sequester by demanding "balance" and "leadership"
Hullabaloo The best letter from a Congressman you'll read all year (Alan Grayson)
Michael Goldfarb Gleeful Provocateur at Intersection of Many Worlds - NYTimes.com (disgusting, NYT)

Running Chicken: Marissa Mayer's Work-From-Home Ban Is The Exact Opposite Of What CEOs Should Be Doing
Kohen on Yahoo’s Authoritarian turn - Lawyers, Guns & Money

There's More to Life Than Being Happy - Emily Esfahani Smith - The Atlantic (takers are happy, givers have meaningful lives)

‘Southern White’ as an ethnicity — Crooked Timber

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Report: Pope resigned in wake of gay priest scandal Pope transfers top official amid speculation about report on Vatican leaks scandal.
Vatican dismisses reports linking pope's resignation to gay conclave discovery | World news | guardian.co.uk Pope Benedict talks of 'evil, suffering and corruption' in the world in remarks to Vatican Curia as he prepares to vacate papacy

Iran discovers more uranium ore and chooses sites for new nuclear plants | World news | guardian.co.uk Unconfirmed find would treble country's estimated supply of raw uranium
Torrential Rains Flood Athens and Strand Motorists - NYTimes.com The amount of rain that fell was equal to the average rainfall for the whole month of February, meteorologists said.
Flooding forces mass evacuation in New South Wales, Australia - video | World news | guardian.co.uk

LONDON: Moody's downgrades UK rating from AAA to AA1 | Business | ADN.com "Far from weakening our resolve to deliver our economic recovery plan, this decision redoubles it," he said, promising to press on with debt-cutting. (nothing succeeds like total failure)
The condensed Moody's downgrade Taken as a whole, the agency is saying, with a straight face, that "Britain's attempts to cut its debt have harmed its attempts to cut its debt, and this could harm its attempts to cut its debt", and it sees nothing problematic with that.
George Osborne insists he won't change course despite credit rating downgrade | Politics | guardian.co.uk Chancellor says he 'cannot let up' after move by Moody's which opposite number Ed Balls calls 'humiliating'

U.S. Military Personnel Arrive In Niger: Obama In Letter To Congress (droneworld)
US grounds F-35 fighter jets over cracked engine blade | World news | guardian.co.uk Problem discovered at Edwards Air Force Base prompts critics to slam 'gigantically disappointing performance' of new plane

Protests mark WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning's 1,000th day in jail | World news | guardian.co.uk Rallies and events staged around world ahead of former intelligence analyst's return to military court next week

Poll: 27 Percent of People Think It's Too Easy to Vote (it's always the same 27%)

Obama pins cuts blame on Republicans as sequestration looms | World news | guardian.co.uk President uses weekly address to warn that impending budget cuts will 'slow economy and eliminate jobs'
As Sequester Deadline Looms, Little Support for Cutting Most Programs | Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

Thwart assault on voting rights or risk return to 'old poison', NAACP warns | Law | guardian.co.uk Debo Adegbile to go before supreme court to defend Voting Rights Act and argue key provision should not be struck down

Little Statesmen and Philosophers - NYTimes.com The point is that a large part of the reason we’re locked into such a mess is careerism. And yes, that’s quite vile, if you think about it: politicians and pundits alike letting the world burn — probably unconsciously, but still — because their personal position would be hurt if they admitted to past mistakes.
Woodward Misses The Mark | TPM Editors Blog (case in point)

The National Memo » The Fall Of The GOP True Believers At minimum, its strength across the old Confederacy and what Mencken called the “Cow States” should enable the GOP to keep Congress semi-paralyzed and the shrinking Fox News audience in a state of incipient hysteria even as it fights internal battles of surpassing nastiness.
VAWA 2013: House GOP Unveils Bill With No LGBT Protections, Modified Tribal Provision
Go ahead, keep attacking Ashley Judd - Salon.com Even if the actress-activist doesn't win the Kentucky Senate seat, Republicans' attacks will boomerang
Indiana GOP: Your Vagina is Our Village | TPM Editors Blog

Pa. Supreme Court justice convicted of corruption Justice Joan Orie Melvin was just the second known Supreme Court justice to be convicted in nearly three centuries, and her conviction may soon set in motion political campaigns by would-be justices vying to replace her.
Montana Lawmaker Would Give Corporations a Vote Montana state Rep. Steve Lavin (R) has introduced a bill that would allow property owners in Montana to vote and run for office in municipal elections even if they are not residents of the municipalities in which they're voting ... Even more startling, Lavin's bill can be construed as giving the out-of-state corporate owners of property a vote.
Rand Paul Warns of Hellfire Missiles Raining Down on Boston, NY Cafes | Video Cafe (only in Rebublican wet dreams)
Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Wingnuttiest of Them All? - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Quite a contest for today’s craziest person. Here’s three nominees:

FBI battling 'rash of sexting' among its employees - CNN.com
Spooky Sex | New Republic Inside the randy culture of the CIA

Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us | TIME.com
Brill on health care: Steven Brill's opus on hospital prices - The framing device, which is clever but wrong, says we spend too much time debating who should pay for U.S. health care and not enough time debating why the prices are so high.
Hikes in health insurance premiums fall; administration credits healthcare law - The Hill's Healthwatch
Florida's Medicaid retreat a 'tipping point' in health battle, reformers say | World news | guardian.co.uk Obamacare supporters say Rick Scott's decision to back expansion of Medicaid is likely to pressure others to follow suit

Conservatives declare war on college - Salon.com Bobby Jindal doesn't want the GOP to be the "stupid party," but fellow governors are plotting to wreck higher ed
The Real War on Higher Education by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly But what if education innovation can also be a means to destroy higher education? Why are the politicians so excited about technology-based education innovation so often the same ones who seem to hate college?

Cape Wind: Regulation, Litigation And The Struggle To Develop Offshore Wind Power In The U.S. (Teddy K's legacy)

CNN Finds That Pot Smokers Are Actually Pretty Good Drivers

The Next Front in the Republican War on Women: The War on Orgasms - Lawyers, Guns & Money (a real winner for old white guys)
» Allegheny College Church of Sex and Masturbation - Col·lege In·sur·rec·tion

WWE Invents Odious Tea Party Character As Part of Publicity Stunt, Suckers Glenn Beck
Superman comic's anti-gay writer faces backlash from major media | Culture | guardian.co.uk

Surface | STL+ (Surface Pro Review)
This is my next: Windows 8 | The Verge
Microsoft Surface Pro review | The Verge
Outlook.com Tips | Outlook.com content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows Ease the transition to Outlook.com with this great set of tips
Windows 8/RT App Pick: Skype | Skype content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows

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Pope Benedict XVI Resigned Partly Because Of Powerful Vatican Gay Lobby, Italian Paper Claims
La Repubblica Pope - Your Daily Pope - Esquire What gives me a little pause is that the "secret gay cabal" theory is an old favorite among those curial powerbrokers for whom Machiavelli was something of a wimp
Papal resignation linked to inquiry into 'Vatican gay officials', says paper | World news | The Guardian Pope's staff decline to confirm or deny La Repubblica claims linking 'Vatileaks' affair and discovery of 'blackmailed gay clergy'
Pope Benedict And VatiLeaks - Business Insider

European Commission Offers Grim Prediction for Economy - NYTimes.com growth would be just 0.1 percent in the 27-nation European Union in 2013 and that the 17-nation euro zone would shrink 0.3 percent over the same period. (well, the solution is more of you-know-what)
UK's credit rating downgraded from AAA to AA1 by Moody's | Business | guardian.co.uk George Osborne says decision is 'stark reminder of the debt problems facing our country' (actually, it's a stark reminder that conservative assholes wreck economies)

George Will: The torture of solitary confinement - The Washington Post

Thin Snowpack Signals Summer of Fire and Drought - NYTimes.com

White House To Give Benghazi Documents To Senators The White House has said it has already turned over more than 10,000 pages of Benghazi-related documents, along with witness interviews, staff briefings and hours of testimony.
Jon Stewart Hammers John McCain On Hagel, Benghazi Outrage; Calls Out Iraq Hypocrisy (video)
The wisdom of…Newt Gingrich? - Salon.com His warnings about the futility of Karl Rove's newest project prove that even a broken clock is right twice a day
Senator Ted Cruz, Communists, Harvard Law School, and Joe McCarthy. : The New Yorker “There were fewer declared Republicans in the faculty when we were there than Communists! There was one Republican. But there were twelve who would say they were Marxists who believed in the Communists overthrowing the United States government.” (Harvard Law full of Communists, who knew?)

Sequester of Fools - NYTimes.com They’re baaack! Just about two years ago, Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, the co-chairmen of the late unlamented debt commission, warned us to expect a terrible fiscal crisis within, um, two years unless we adopted their plan. The crisis hasn’t materialized, but they’re nonetheless back with a new version.
Pelosi to GOP: You oppose minimum wage hike at your peril

Brad DeLong : Ezra Klein Smacks Down David Brooks: "Centrism" Weblogging At this point David Brooks has a choice: he can say "I am an idiot who does not know what I am talking about"; or he can change the subject. Guess what he does?
David Brooks, Obama Plan Birther [Updated] -- Daily Intelligencer - Ultimately he's just displaying a kind of sloppy thinking. He conceives of politics in grand ideological archetypes, rather than building his beliefs on the basis of facts and evidence. He's inadvertently displaying how a generalized belief in moderation unmoored in deeper policy grounding leads you badly astray. (Chait)
Soledad O'Brien: CNN Transition A 'Win-Win,' Morning Show 'Didn't Have A Lot Of Support' Meanwhile, Chris Cuomo -- and, likely, Erin Burnett -- will take her place. (neglected and then Zuckered)

How The Voting Rights Act, Now In Danger, Came To Pass And Shaped History | TPMDC

Echidne Of The Snakes: Meanwhile, in Oklahoma. Who Is Dr. Dominic Pedulla? Women are worse off with contraception because it suppresses and disables who they are, Pedulla said. “Part of their identity is the potential to be a mother,” Pedulla said. “They are being asked to suppress and radically contradict part of their own identity, and if that wasn’t bad enough, they are being asked to poison their bodies.”
Today’s Crazy State Winner - Lawyers, Guns & Money : It’s Oklahoma, for its bill that would ban teachers from failing students if they turned in homework in biology or other classes that pushed creationist ideology.
Oklahoma Education Bill - The Dare To Be Ignorant Protection Act of 2013 - Esquire The Oklahoma legislature passed the Dare To Be Ignorant Protection Act of 2013 this week, by which students can feel free to give preposterous answers in science class without fear of being graded poorly by the teacher, who very likely is going to start keeping a pint of Virginia Gentleman and a glassine bag of downers in the top drawer of the desk, next to the stapler.'
Well, The First Part Is Somewhat Surprising - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Shorter House Republicans: we will reluctantly agree to a bill to combat violence against women so long as it does nothing to help gays and lesbians.

New York Times Co. puts the Globe up for sale — again | Media Nation
Split in two: How The Boston Globe, up for sale, is navigating its free/paid strategy » Nieman Journalism Lab
The newsonomics of The Boston Globe’s sale » Nieman Journalism Lab Will The New York Times Co., in a final act of stewardship, take less money for the Globe if it means selling to a buyer who’ll keep its journalism strong?
Times exec - Boston.com - outlines Boston Globe sale process to employees

Lean in. Have it all. Burn your bra. How semantics have taken over the women’s movement - Quartz

Microsoft Hacked: Intrusion Was 'Similar' To Apple And Facebook Attacks (got their Macs, heh)
One Site May Be Responsible for Recent Hacks - Mike Isaac - Social - AllThingsD
Hedge Funds Love Apple Stock Less And Less These Days

022113
UN will not compensate Haiti cholera victims, Ban Ki-moon tells president | World news | The Guardian World body invokes legal immunity to rebuff claims despite studies identifying UN peacekeepers as source of the outbreak (Haiti's second disaster killed 5,000 more but it's not part of of their mission not to bring a plague to nations) )
Chinese environment official challenged to swim in polluted river | Environment | guardian.co.uk Bao Zhenming, who declined to take up the challenge was offered over £20,000 to swim in the contaminated waterway
Chinese Environment - Lawyers, Guns & Money : And remember, a major part of why China developed this way was that American companies decided that labor and environmental regulations in the United States were cutting into profits too much and so decided to replicate the paradise of the U.S. Gilded Age somewhere else.
Chinese cyberspies have hacked most Washington institutions, experts say - The Washington Post

Why did 1,701 people apply for just eight barista jobs? | Life and style | The Guardian Times are hard and coffee culture is on the rise, but does the story of this Nottingham branch of Costa Coffee point to bigger changes in British society? (like, no jobs?)

Cardinal Dolan Abuse Scandal - Your Daily Pope - Esquire As I said, Dolan, the avuncular authoritarian, is bad enough, but Mahony's another story entirely. Among those 12,000 pages of documents — forcibly pried loose, I would note, in 20-freaking-13 — there is not an ounce of sympathy for any of the victims

Matt Sledge: Omar Deghayes, Former Guantanamo Prisoner, Speaks Out On Camp Obama, he said, has been "a real big disappointment to many of the human rights groups and people who care about justice."
Strategy Seeks to Ensure Bid of Brennan for C.I.A. - NYTimes.com

Pew Is Not Just The Name On A Poll - Esquire Now just 22% of Americans, nearly a record low, consider themselves Republicans. (but the deficit propaganda is working!)

Climate Change Poll: Americans Think Government Can Affect The Climate A week after Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) responded to President Barack Obama's climate change push by arguing that "the government can't change the weather," a new poll shows that most Americans think the U.S. government can make some difference in combating climate change.

Republican Strategists Doubt Wisdom Of Hammering Obama Over Benghazi
Republicans Letter on Chuck Hagel Nomination - Chuck Hagel Took Shrapnel For These Clowns? - Esquire - Of course, the number of signatories jumps to 25 if you count all the phantoms hiding under Lindsey Graham's divan. Many of whom appear to speak to him in Farsi ... "Absolutely not," Carney told reporters at Thursday's daily briefing when asked whether there's any chance the Hagel nomination will be withdrawn. "Any suggestion to the contrary might have been found in the minutes of the meetings of the Friends of Hamas."
Chuck Hagel Cabinet Spot: Former Senator Appears To Have Enough Support For Defense Secretary Job "This waste of time is not just meaningless political posturing because we firmly believe that Sen. Hagel will be confirmed. The waste of time is of consequence," Carney told reporters.

Joe Biden: Gun Control Views Have Changed Since Newtown
Alex Jones’ pro-gun tirade at Piers Morgan on British presenter’s own show - video | Media | guardian.co.uk (Alex Jones, in case you wondered how nuts he was)
Today in Crazy Land - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Utah wins Crazy State of the Day, as a bill allowing people to carry concealed weapons without a permit–that’s right, without a permit–passes through a House committee. It’s real hard to see what could go wrong:
Double Ultrasound Bill In Indiana Passes Out Of Senate Committee
Arkansas 12-Week Abortion Ban Advances In House
Limbaugh: "Sarah Palin Wasn't Wrong About Anything" But She "Embarrassed Some People So They Had To Get Rid Of Her" | Video | Media Matters for America
Scott Walker Budget Proposes Cutting Public School, Healthcare Funding To Pay For Tax Cuts
Georgia rushes to carry out executions before lethal drug supply runs out | World news | The Guardian State's entire supply of pentobarbital runs out on March 1 with Georgia seeking permission from courts to block legal delays

Policymakers shouldn’t assume that a full recovery is four years away (and always will be) | Economic Policy Institute

022013
Bulgarian government resigns amid growing protests | Reuters joining a long list of European administrations felled by austerity during four years of debt crisis.
Syria crisis: Mortars hit Damascus stadium -Wednesday 20 February | World news | guardian.co.uk Footballer reported killed, several injured
China 'aiding hacker attacks on west' | Technology | guardian.co.uk Study claims military unit based in Shanghai has stolen vast amounts of data from companies and defence groups
Senior Pakistani Taliban commander captured in Afghanistan | World news | guardian.co.uk Ambush of Maulvi Faqir Mohammad seen as major progress, showing that Islamabad and Kabul are capable of joining forces
Oscar Pistorius case police admit investigative blunders | World news | guardian.co.uk Detective gives uncertain performance under cross-examination at Paralympic and Olympic sprinter's bail hearing

Rachel Maddow Documentary: Hubris - Selling the Iraq War - Little Green Footballs (in six parts for easy watching)

Cardinal Sean O'Malley Massachusettes Pope Contender - Your Daily Pope - Esquire OK, so the optics are good, although it's necessary to point out that O'Malley's lack of interest in the trappings of wealth may have something to do with the fact that the Archdiocese of Boston doesn't have any more of those, having hocked most of them to pay for the settlements arising from the crimes and malfeasance that occurred on the watch of the fugitive Cardinal Law, now the maitre d' at the Basilica Of Our Lady Of The Clean Getaway in Rome

Eurozone crisis as it happened: Day two of Iberia strikes after clashes with police | Business | guardian.co.uk Five-day strike by Spanish airline workers enters day two

Kerry comes out swinging on climate change - The Hill's E2-Wire John Kerry used his first major speech as secretary of State to make that case that failing to confront climate change means missing big economic opportunities — and worse
Climate Trolling - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Andrew Revkin of the New York Times continues his climate trolling, this time complaining about people just being so unreasonable about climate change (NYT don't need no steenking "climate desk" when they got Revkin)
The virtues of being unreasonable on Keystone | Grist I know Andy Revkin of The New York Times writes posts like this in part to bait people like me
Obama Golfed With Oil Men As Climate Protesters Descended On White House

Supreme court to consider lifting caps on donations from individuals | World news | guardian.co.uk Justices agree to hear challenge by Republicans to limits on how much individuals can donate to political campaigns
Supreme Court Citizens United - When They Say It;s Not About The Money... - Esquire The majority of the Court already has decided plainly that the "potential for corruption" is not a factor to be considered. Corporations are people and money is speech. It is the way corporate people speak power to power. Period.
A Mixed Day for the Fourth Amendment What does the Supreme Court's current makeup mean for civil liberties? (Alito worse than Scalia, Breyer hates civil liberties +dogs trained to always find drugs are always right +Obama's Kagan hates civil liberties as much as he does) )

Obama's Immigration Plan Far Harsher than Reagan's | Mother Jones - under Obama's proposal, those undocumented immigrants who are eligible for legalization would likely have to wait around 13 years for full citizenship (why does he do this shit?)

Stupid The Afflicted, Afflict The Stupid - Esquire The lost children at Breitbart's Marble Coffin-Post-Intelligencer are more to be pitied than chastised. (Hell, they're more to be pitied than read, but that's another bubbling vat of herring.) ("friends of Hamas")
Mayor Bloomberg makes a small step toward a rational policy on marijuana | Sadhbh Walshe | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk It's welcome news that people caught in possession of marijuana in New York City will no longer be jailed

Simpson-Bowles and the mythical, arbitrary “center”
Simpson and Bowles release lame “Simpson-Bowles” sequel - Salon.com Politico loves it, but the new Simpson-Bowles plan is just a waste of everyone's time
Snark That Writes Itself - NYTimes.com Erskine Bowles tells a Politico event — now that’s a match made in heaven — that The idea of a grand bargain is at best on life support. OK, is there anyone whose immediate reaction isn’t, “Let’s convene a death panel!”

Sequester Would Chop Long-Term Unemployment Insurance
Senate Minority Leader Fooled by Report in Military Version of The Onion | Danger Room | Wired.com “I am writing on behalf of a constituent who has contacted me regarding Guantanamo Bay prisoners receiving Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits,” McConnell wrote in a letter acquired by Danger Room. “I would appreciate your review and response to my constituent’s concerns.” (Turtleface not the brightest bulb in the Congressional chandelier)
Hullabaloo The deficit fetishists take yet another stab at it - Who would have guessed that a corporate front group doesn't actually represent the people? Fix the Debt (where is "Fix the Jobs?"
2 out of every 3 Americans lost Fourth Amendment protections to DHS | Computerworld Blogs Two out of every three people reading this could have your electronic devices searched, without there being any reasonable suspicion, because the Department of Homeland Security has decided that such search and seizures do not violate your Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

Political Animal - Hurricane Rick Florida provides an excellent example of a state governed by ideologues who may talk about fiscal responsibility and unfunded mandates, but whose most powerful motive seems to be to make sure their own people—mostly those people, to be sure—do not get public-sector help, on the apparent theory that it will simply enslave them and/or empower the enemies of “liberty.”
Rick Scott Reverses Course, Becomes 7th GOP Governor To Accept Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion | ThinkProgress Scott’s decision comes after intense lobbying by Florida’s hospitals, who would benefit greatly from treating low-income Floridians with actual insurance as it would substantially lower their uncompensated care costs.
What's It Like to Wake Up From a Tea Party Binge? Just Ask Florida! | Mother Jones Kids locked up in nursing homes. Leaky sewers. Mosquitoes unleashed. The Sunshine State has buyer's remorse.
Wisconsin nursing homes fail to report deaths, injuries | WisconsinWatch.org Investigation finds operators sometimes ignore federal law (Scott Walker's Wisconsin)
North Carolina Unemployment Benefits Cut - North Carolina Takes A Turn As Mississippi - Esquire Oh, sure, there was the time when the Republicans in the legislature passed that bill that made it illegal for the oceans to rise in contradiction to Jesus's expressed wishes, but we took that as a kind of prank, really. Now, though, Governor Pat McCrory has made it clear that, by cracky, he's not going to be out-peckerwood-ed by those folks one state down 95.
My Governor Is Cooler Than Your Governor - Esquire This is Sun Ra. He once said this. And then when I went to Chicago, that's when I had these outer space experiences and went to the other planets ... Deval Patrick's father used to work for him. (nya-nya)

Brad DeLong : Wednesday Hoisted from the Archives from Four Years Ago: Technological Regress in the Thinking of Federal Reserve Bank President William Poole Sigh. 82 years of progress in monetary economics thrown away:

New York Times Company : Investors : Press Release he New York Times Company Announces Plan to Sell the Boston Globe and Related Properties (now a shadow of its former self)

Why Gender Equality Stalled - NYTimes.com Out of nearly 200 countries studied by Jody Heymann, dean of the school of public health at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her team of researchers for their new book, “Children’s Chances,” 180 now offer guaranteed paid leave to new mothers, and 81 offer paid leave to fathers. They found that 175 mandate paid annual leave for workers, and 162 limit the maximum length of the workweek. The United States offers none of these protections.
When Prostitution Wasn't a Crime: The Fascinating History of Sex Work in America | Alternet From the Louisiana colony to the California Gold Rush, prostitutes were some of the first women in early American settlements.

Drug overdose deaths up for 11th consecutive year (legal painkillers)

19 February 2013 Media Release, University of Otago, New Zealand - Excessive TV in childhood linked to long-term antisocial behaviour (Republican babies watch a lot of Fox news)

Republican Brains Differ From Democrats' In New FMRI Study But the way the brain processed risk worked differently between the groups, with Republicans showing more activity in an area linked with reward, fear and risky decisions and Democrats showing more activity in a spot related to processing emotion and internal body cues.
The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Republican Brain Smash Risk Democrats tend to use the insula, which is used in the monitoring of one’s internal feelings, when assessing risk, while Republicans tend to use the amygdala, which is the brain’s threat response center, for the same task.
The Surprising Brain Differences Between Democrats and Republicans | Mother Jones "It's not that conservative people are more fearful, it's that fearful people are more conservative," as she puts it. (a distinction without a difference)

Astrochemists Decipher Mystery Molecules Discovered in Distant Galaxies - diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs)
Dolphins Call Each Other By Name : Discovery News

World's first 3D printing pen smashes Kickstarter goal in a few hours | The Verge

China, MTV and Burger King: this week in cyber attacks | World news | guardian.co.uk Anonymous and the Chinese government have been blamed for cybersecurity breaches – here's a guide to this week in hacks
Germans can’t see meteorite YouTube videos due to copyright dispute | Ars Technica German rights group wants $0.005 per stream and Google says nein.

021913
China’s Army Is Seen as Tied to Hacking Against U.S. - NYTimes.com
China Suspected Of Hacking Attacks Against The U.S.
Apple Computers Were Hacked By Same Hackers Who Targeted Facebook: Reuters

The Right to Bear Drones -- Tom Junod on Obama's Drone Policy and Handguns - Esquire - Drones don’t kill people; disposition matrices kill people.

Supreme Court Takes Campaign Finance Case, Will Rule On Contribution Limits

The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Dad’s Army for Freedom (another conservative inversion: instead of protecting the state from invaders (1792) they are "protecting" themselves from the state)

Daily Politics Blog - Charles P. Pierce - Political Blogging - Esquire Without the involvement of government, the planes don't fly. Or, at best, they fly into each other, which is bad for business
Scott Brown's Adventures In Nonsense - Esquire Former U.S. senator and onetime Transformational Political Figure Scott Brown took to the local Fox affiliate up here over the weekend to explain the bizarre episode in which he got into a Twittery wrangle with some of his followers that ended up with former senator McDreamy exclaiming, "Bqhatevwr!" out into the cyber-ether, which caused more than a few people to wonder whether or not he was a bit sockless at the time. His explanation for what happened is quite remarkable in its sub-plausibility.
Simpson-Bowles Failed - The God That Failed - Esquire The main non-drone gripe I'm going to have with the president when he leaves office is the muscle he put behind the preposterous Simpson-Bowles Commission. The basic problem was that he handed the administration's credibility over to a former bagma...er...lobbyist and to the single most unpleasant member of the Republican Undead.
Ted Kaufman: The Cruz Missile Gift to Democrats The people of Texas have sent their very own Cruz missile to the Senate, set to destroy any remaining vestiges of moderate Republicanism and just about certain to alienate Republican-leaning independents everywhere.
John Duncan On VAWA: Most Men Can Handle Violence Better Than Most Women
The third party fever dream : Columbia Journalism Review Why do some journalists keep predicting a major challenge to the two-party system?

Planned Parenthood Wisconsin Closes Four Clinics Due To State Funding Cuts
Mary Sue McClurkin, Alabama GOP Lawmaker, Claims A Baby Is The 'Largest Organ In A Body'
Richard Cohen Loves Sexual Harassment


Universe Has Finite Lifespan, Higgs Boson Calculations Suggest

021813
Syria War Crimes Suspects Have Been Identified, UN Panel Says
Papua New Guinea 'Witch' Burning: 2 Charged In Murder Of Kepari Leniata

Guards seized Guantanamo defendants' legal documents - World News The seizures happened while the camp's top legal adviser was on the witness stand giving assurances that no one was reading those private legal documents, said Cheryl Bormann, an attorney for defendant Walid Bin Attash (military "justice" completely corrupt)

How the Bush administration sold the Iraq war — MSNBC (Cheney, lies, lies, dirty hippies, traitors and more lies)

Wall Street Blocked Elizabeth Warren From Her Consumer Protection Board And This Is What They Got

White House Press Corps: 'Extreme Frustration' With Lack Of Obama Access The White House press corps expressed "extreme frustration" at the Obama administration Sunday after it was barred from being able to report on President Obama's golf outing with Tiger Woods.
Fox Business' Gerri Willis: It's "Immoral" For Obama To Propose Preschool Education For All Since "We Don't Have The Money" | Video | Media Matters for America (and where did the money go, Gerri, you idiot?)
Obama's SOTU Riles Rightbloggers Less Than Jokes About Thirsty Marco Rubio - New York - News - Runnin' Scared

The Second-Mortgage Shell Game - NYTimes.com IN January, federal regulators announced an $8.5 billion agreement with 10 mortgage servicers to settle claims of foreclosure abuses, including bungled loan modifications and the wrongful evictions of borrowers who were either current on their payments or making reduced monthly payments.

BATRAVILLE AND LEW: DoD plans are shortsighted, unethical | Yale Daily News As early as this April, Yale plans to welcome a training center for interrogators to its campus. (will re-brand as Torture U)

Sheriff Joe’s posse invades Guadalupe - Salon.com The controversial sheriff puts his "good guys" with guns around Arizona schools. They might be the real threat

For the First Time in Over Six Years, Adult Women’s Unemployment Rate Above Men’s, NWLC Analysis Shows | National Women's Law Center
Opportunity Costs: The True Price of Internships | Dissent Magazine
Unpaid Internships Are a Rich-Girl Problem—and Also a Real Problem - Phoebe Maltz Bovy - The Atlantic
Are Interns the New Housewives?

Joe Rickey Hundley, Accused Of Slapping Toddler On Plane Flight, Now Out Of A Job Joe Rickey Hundley, 60, of Hayden, Idaho, is no longer an employee of AGC Aerospace and Defense, Composites Group

Voters testify in fraud hearings | Cincinnati.com | cincinnati.com Explanations for errors range from bad postage to bad advice
3 Questions: Charles Stewart ranks the voting systems in the 50 states - MIT News Office A new Pew Center project, spurred by MIT research, studies how well states run their elections.

Your Daily Pope - Esquire Everybody's a cleric these days, especially at The New York Times, where Ross Cardinal Douthat and Bill Keller both took the opportunity this weekend to weigh in on the soon-to-be-vacant Chair Of Peter, and the upcoming process to fill it.

After Christopher Dorner’s rampage, how to build community trust in police - The Washington Post The solution? Abolish internal affairs units and outsource their work to external civilian agencies. (cops have never, never will be able to police themselves)

Joe Scarborough doesn’t know much about history « Media Nation If you’re going to try something as cheeky as letting cable blowhard Joe Scarborough review a serious book about political history, you should at least make sure you’ve got a safety net in place. But the New York Times Book Review doesn’t even bother, letting Scarborough step in it repeatedly in his review of Jeffrey Frank’s “Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage.” (NYT continues its descent)
What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days? - Esquire Lovely. They should let Barnicle review the next Royko anthology. (oooh)

about | electric sheep

021713
Pakistan Market Bombing Death Toll Rises 81 people were killed in a massive bombing that a local official said was a sign that security agencies were too scared to do their jobs.
World: World News, International News, Foreign Reporting - The Washington Post (ever the same)

'Forward On Climate' Rally Brings Climate Change Activists To National Mall In Washington, D.C. (VIDEO) An estimated 40,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C. on Sunday for the Forward on Climate Rally on the National Mall.

Congress' Gun Ban Would Protect More Than 2,200 Firearms "What a joke,"

Marco Rubio Rejects Obama Immigration Reform Plan: 'Dead On Arrival'

Don’t Blink, or You’ll Miss Another Bank Bailout - NYTimes.com Still, last week’s details of the undisclosed settlement between the New York Fed and Bank of America are remarkable. Not only do the filings show the New York Fed helping to thwart another institution’s fraud case against the bank, they also reveal that the New York Fed agreed to give away what may be billions of dollars in potential legal claims. (Obama always has their backs)

Sen. Lindsey Graham: Sacrifice Obamacare To Avoid Sequester The blame, Fox News anchor Chris Wallace pointed out on Sunday, would likely fall on Republicans, who are digging in their heels to protect tax cuts ... Graham said the blame should fall on President Obama, who "came up with the idea of sequestration." (for those of you with very short memories)

Almost Verbatim Emory University President James Wagner: “The 3/5 Compromise is a Model to Which We Should Aspire. Also, the Liberal Arts are Like Slaves and Should Be Treated As Such” - Lawyers, Guns & Money : The president of Emory University evidently lacks people to make sure he doesn’t say insane, horrible things.

Scientists Identify Protein that Blocks HIV, Ebola, Nipah, Other Pathogenic Viruses | Medicine | Sci-News.com a natural protein with broad virus-fighting properties that could be used against deadly pathogenic viruses such as HIV, Ebola, Rift Valley Fever, Nipah and others.
Neuroscientists Locate Fear Memory in Brain | Biology | Sci-News.com The findings show that a particular class of neurons in a subdivision of the amygdala plays an active role in these processes.
Imgur - 200 calories of different foods)

Creating Hipsturbia in the Suburbs of New York - NYTimes.com
Village Life — Crooked Timber This classic piece of New York Times Style Section trolling on “Hipsturbia” wrestles with the bitter fact that while “Brooklyn no longer feels as carefree as it did”, to “pull up stakes in Brooklyn

Why Social Movements Should Ignore Social Media | New Republic Future Perfect:? The Case for Progress in a Networked Age ?
Up for Debate: Can Social Media Solve Real-World Problems? | New Republic

Facebook Hacked In 'Sophisticated Attack,' Company Reveals The Russian security company Kaspersky Lab has said that Oracle's Java software was responsible for about half of all cyber attacks last year.
AT&T And Other Internet Providers Still Not Delivering Advertised Speeds: FCC

021613
Meteor vid - YouTube
Meteor (or UFO) Spotted Over Bay Area -- Daily Intelligencer

Political Animal - Karzai to ban Afghans from using NATO airstrikes; expected decree highlights drone deficiencies
Obama's Guantanamo Is Never Going To Close, So Everyone Might As Well Get Comfortable

Pope will have security, immunity by remaining in the Vatican | Reuters "(If he lived anywhere else) then we might have those crazies who are filing lawsuits, or some magistrate might arrest him like other (former) heads of state have been for alleged acts while he was head of state," one source said. (those "crazy" rape victims)

G20 Vows To Avoid 'Currency War', Defers On Debt Reduction

Hullabaloo What do they really believe? Who knows? ... Again, for all I know the Obama administration truly believes that deporting more immigrants bought them something politically that simply being more humane didn't. I cannot see what it was. (the strange, pointless soullessness of the Obama Administration)

Why Democrats Should Fear Budget Sequester Cuts - Businessweek Democratic congressional districts will be harder hit by the military cuts than Republican ones, and that eight of the top 10 districts that will experience the deepest cuts are represented by Democrats
Incomes Flat in Recovery, but Not for the 1% - NYTimes.com

Separated at Birth - James Fallows - The Atlantic Ted Cruz can't help it that his voice, his intonation, his posture at the microphone, and his overall style of speaking are so strongly reminiscent of Joe McCarthy's, who died long before Cruz was
Ted Cruz Runs Counter to the Senate’s Courtly Ways - NYTimes.com

As Obama Confronts Corporate Tax Reform, Past Lessons Suggest Lobbyists Will Fight For Loopholes
Obamacare 'Uninsurables' Program Quietly Winds Down As Funding Dries Up

Joe Scarborough Makes Up Economist Alan Blinder's Defense Of Joe Scarborough | Blog | Media Matters for America Joe Scarborough dishonestly cited Princeton economist Alan Blinder to bolster his campaign to undermine Nobel laureate Paul Krugman and accuse Democrats of being anti-math (Squint's idiocy burns)
Political Animal - Joe Scarborough Is a total hack (but don’t take my word for it)

The Case for a Higher Minimum Wage : The New Yorker (same old scare tactics by factless ideologies)
OOPS: GOP Rep. Inadvertently Makes The Case For Nearly Doubling The Minimum Wage | ThinkProgress Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R) (Republican idiot never heard of "adjusted for inflation")

'Ongoing, severe epidemic' of STDs in US, report finds - Vitals Although people age 15-24 account for only 25 percent of the nation’s sexually experienced population, Satterwhite’s study estimates they account for about half of all sexually transmitted infections.
Are Atheists The New Campus Crusaders? | (A)theologies | Religion Dispatches

Dress codes for girls: They don’t teach self-respect. Only respecting girls does that.

50 Years Ago: The World in 1963 - In Focus - The Atlantic
Rare Historical Photos with descriptions - Imgur

How Brainless Slime Molds Redefine Intelligence [Video]: Scientific American Single-celled amoebae can remember, make decisions and anticipate change, urging scientists to rethink intelligent behavior

021513
Meteor Streaks Across Russian Urals, Leaves At Least 750 Injured (video)
Asteroid DA14 Passes Near Earth (VIDEO) A 150-foot asteroid hurtled through Earth's backyard Friday, coming within an incredible 17,150 miles and making the closest known flyby for a rock of its size. In a chilling coincidence, a meteor exploded above Russia's Ural Mountains just hours before the asteroid zoomed past the planet.
Earth remains safe for now – but what about next asteroid?
The Tunguska Impact--100 Years Later - NASA Science

World Press Photo Of The Year (Graphic) | TPM LiveWire Paul Hansen's image of two young children being carried through the streets of Gaza City to a mosque for burial after being killed in an Israeli missile strike in November 2012.

Ben Zygier, Israel’s ‘Prisoner X,’ may have revealed how Mossad used foreign passports
Not Safe For Work Corporation | The War Nerd: It Ain’t Easy Being a Jihadi Middle Manager

Vatican Secrets: After Pope Benedict Resignation Bombshell, Talk Of Head Injury, Retirement Residence, Pacemaker
Pope Sick Before Resignation - Your Daily Pope - Esquire he rest of the Church — which, as the Council Fathers at Vatican II is made up of the entire People Of God — was kept in the dark because Divine Truth wants its church to cover up things like injuries to the papal melon and the rape of children in Catholic institutions, and because Divine Truth doesn't have the time to spend over the next two millenia answering depositions from you silly people, thank you very much, ya heathen bastids.

How the NRA Hobbled the ATF | Mother Jones Rules pushed by the gun lobby and its allies in Congress have left the agency unable to enforce the law.
Survivalist Nation - Esquire zombie-apocalypse op-ed by the NRA's Wayne LaPierre in which he warned us of the nightmarish world our children will inherit if the Congress mandates background checks at gun shows, and/or as a result of the president's executive suggestions regarding various epidemiological studies of gun violence, and Sam Tanenhaus's long exegesis in the new, now-with-50-percent-less-fabulism-we think-and-100-percent-less-Marty-Peretz New Republic of the Republican party long, slow, and deliberate slide into racial backlash, secession, nullification, and other ideas that were bad in 1860 and look even worse in retrospect. I

Brad DeLong : When Did Martin Peretz Become This Crazy? (like, forevah)

Financial Crisis Cost Tops $22 Trillion, GAO Says (and, of course, no one went to jail)
Wall Street Setting Itself Up For Next Derivatives Crisis, Market Participants Warn

Rubio and the Zombies - NYTimes.com For Mr. Rubio is a rising star, to such an extent that Time magazine put him on its cover, calling him “The Republican Savior.” What we learned Tuesday, however, was that zombie economic ideas have eaten his brain. (Republicans ARE zombies)
Elizabeth Warren Embarrasses Hapless Bank Regulators At First Hearing (video) (too connected to Obama to jail)
Elizabeth Warren's Aggressive Questioning Prompts Anger From Wall Street
Matt Taibbi Tweets Elizabeth Warren Will Be President Some Day
Gangster Bankers: Too Big to Jail | Politics News | Rolling Stone How HSBC hooked up with drug traffickers and terrorists. And got away with it
Wall Street wins again - Salon.com The secret truth: There never was a “task force” dedicated to ferreting out mortgage fraud (another Obama financial program designed to do nothing)

The minimum wage and the doom of the GOP.
New York Times Called To Abolish The Minimum Wage In 1987 - In 1987, when the NYT urged policy makers to "put this hoary debate behind us," the minimum wage was $3.35 an hour. (the Rosenthal days)

John McCain: Chuck Hagel Opposition Stems Partially From Attacks On Bush (Hagel was right, Bush/Cheney was wrong, the country was screwed, so bad! Hagel)
Rand Paul Is Right - In Which I Agree With Senator Aqua Buddha - Esquire Regulars at this shebeen here on the docks of Blogistan are familiar with House Rule No. 1, which concerns Crazy Uncle Liberty (!), his son, the senator, and their various and motley fans. This is the Five Minute Rule

Howard Dean On Sequester: 'Let It Happen' - . It is tough on things that I care about a lot, but the fact of the matter is, you are not going to get another chance to cut the defense budget in the way that it needs to be cut."
Terry Branstad: Karl Rove's Conservative Victory Project Is A 'Mistake' urmoil deepened among leading Republicans over efforts to ward off controversial candidates in the next election, as Iowa Republican Gov. Terry Branstad blasted a new candidate-steering plan by Karl Rove and warned him to stay out of state and congressional races.

Who's Who In The Conservative Movement | TPM Media

Paul Krugman: 'We're Halfway To A Lost Decade'
Joe Scarborough Just Proved That Paul Krugman Is Right About the Debt - Derek Thompson - The Atlantic (Squint is really stupid)
Walmart Struggles With Payroll Taxes - Business Insider Wal-Mart shares are tanking after the company's executives called February sales a "total disaster."

Bill Hemmer Needs To Be Cockpunched - Esquire Let's convey our enthusiasm today for mocking a 102-year old woman who had to wait an entire day to vote! Good dog, Bill. Fetch. Creep. (Bill Hemmer, formerly of CNN, of course)
Former CNN Producer: Network's Obsession With Fox Hurting Environmental Coverage | Blog | Media Matters for America Will New CNN Regime Make The Same Mistakes? (is Jeff Zucker an idiot?)
Eschaton: Drawing The Fox Crowd It isn't exactly what this producer is talking about, but it was fascinating when CNN made a bid to be the Tea Party Network.

The Understandable Desperation of Cod Fishers - Lawyers, Guns & Money : –the industrialization of fishing has been a massive disaster except for a few capitalists

Carnival Cruise Tells Passengers They Can Keep The Bathrobes In Total PR Fiasco (they've learned nothing)

Brad DeLong : Hoisted from Comments: Tom Redburn on Elon Musk of Tesla Motors vs. the New York Times

Alcohol And Cancer: Just One Drink A Day Can Raise Risk, Study Suggests Researchers from the National Cancer Institute found that alcohol-related cancer accounted for 3.5 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States in 2009 — and even light and moderate drinkers were at significant risk.
Alcohol is a significant contributor to cancer deaths in the US, say researchers | National Monitor Alcohol contributes to approximately 3.5 percent of cancer deaths.
MIT creates LED that cools its surrounding environment | News | Lighting

The Who-Won't Get Fooled Again@Concert For New York City 4/4 - YouTube

Facebook Paid No Income Taxes In 2012: Report (you've been fuckerberged)

021413
Elite Iranian general assassinated near Syria-Lebanon border | World news | guardian.co.uk Syrian rebels claim responsibility for killing of General Hassan Shateri, a senior figure in the Revolutionary Guards

Eschaton: Fortunately There's A Policy For That More human sacrifices should do the trick. - The European Union statistics agency Eurostat said the economy across the 17-nation shared-currency bloc shrank 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2012, coming in below analysts’ expectations of a 0.4% decline.

Military Medals For Drone Operators - Heroism At A Safe Remove - Esquire I hope this won't be taken as a slap at our troops, but I'm rather old-fashioned in my belief that combat military citations are best earned on the battlefield. I'm not convinced that you should get a medal for what you did in Waziristan from your cubicle in Kansas City or Langley. But here we are anyway. (dronewars)

Secret funding helped build vast network of climate denial thinktanks | Environment | guardian.co.uk Anonymous billionaires donated $120m to more than 100 anti-climate groups working to discredit climate change science

Republicans block Chuck Hagel's nomination for defense secretary | World news | guardian.co.uk GOP senators pin vote on Obama nominee to the release of more information about attack on US consulate in Benghazi

State Of The Union 2013 Ratings: 33.3 Million Tune In, Lowest-Rated Since 2000
Hullabaloo Best SOTU analysis (Gloria Borger, CNN, tell us that miminum wage is responsible for teh deficit!)
Fox Claims That Declining Minimum Wage Is "Growing Exponentially" | Blog | Media Matters for America

FreedomWorks Made Video of Fake Giant Panda Having Sex With Fake Hillary Clinton | Mother Jones The video included a scene in which a female intern wearing a panda suit simulates performing oral sex on Hillary Clinton. [Author's note: The previous sentence contains no typos.]

Justice Details ‘History Of Abusive Behavior’ At Wisconsin Supreme Court | TPMMuckraker Bradley said the “factual inaccuracies and denials of some of my colleagues… continue to this day.” (Republican liars at work)

A Most Peculiar Test Drive | Blog | Tesla Motors You may have heard recently about an article written by John Broder from The New York Times that makes numerous claims about the performance of the Model S. (maybe, maybe not)

David Prosser Wisconsin Supreme Court - Disorder In The Court - Esquire Rule Number One about the Wisconsin Supreme Court — never talk about the Wisconsin Supreme Court

Studying the Effects of Playing Violent Video Games - NYTimes.com Shooting in the Dark

Microsoft Surface tablet torture testing - YouTube
Will There Ever Be a Surface Mini? Sounds Like It. - John Paczkowski - News - AllThingsD
Forget about difficult Surface Pro repairs, Microsoft Complete coverage is just $99 | ZDNet

Adobe investigating attacks on PDFs using zero-day flaw • The Register
Information Technology Services

021313
BBC News - EU and US free-trade talks launched The European Union and the US will begin formal talks on a free-trade agreement, paving the way for the biggest trade deal in history.

Your Daily Pope - Esquire Happily, Garry Wills popped up in The New York Times today to harsh the mellows of Ms. Jansing and the endless parade of other TV news stars who are going to be sniffing the Chair Of Peter over the next couple of months.
New Pope? I’ve Given Up Hope - NYTimes.com So people who want to alter things in Catholic life are told to wait for a new pope. Only he has the authority to make the changeless church change, but it is his authority that stands in the way of change.
Pope John XII: The Product of Wickedness and Immaturity - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Climate Happens Anyway - Esquire
Sunlight stimulates release of carbon dioxide in melting permafrost - latimes.com
Surface exposure to sunlight stimulates CO2 release from permafrost soil carbon in the Arctic (Republicans eat their, and everyone elses, children)
Obama Climate Change Poll Finds Majority Supports 'Significant Steps' To Tackle Problem (Republicans will filibuster climate itself)

Seven Other Targeted-Killing Memos Still Undisclosed

Obama's Audacity of Hope That the GOP Can Be Shamed - Esquire Last night, the president delivered a State Of The Union address that was so wonkishly progressive, and so policy-laden, that he sounded like LBJ under the influence of some truly fine exotic mushrooms. My favorite line came when he was looking at a chamber full of climate-change denialists and half-baked creationists, and he started telling them all about the wonders of science.
A visual statement of progress, followed by the same old story At a moment when the Republican Party needs rebranding, Rubio offered nothing new. The thrust of his speech was “government bad, capitalism good.” Yet he recounted how beneficial government assistance has been to his own success. I expected him to resolve the contradiction, but he didn’t even try.
One of the Many Actual Reasons to be Contemptuous of Marco Rubio - Lawyers, Guns & Money : He voted against the VAWA. And, needless to say, his pretext for voting against it is a really terrible reason in its own right. It also seems worth noting that no woman in Senate voted against the bill.
Marco Rubio On Climate Change: 'The Government Can't Change The Weather' (Rubio hates science, like all Republifucks)
Paul Krugman Tears Apart Marco Rubio's SOTU Response "Every piece of the government-did-it thesis has been refuted," the Nobel Prize-winning economist wrote. "[And Republican politicians] have responded by rewriting history to defend their prejudices."
Marco Rubio's Personal Finances Don't Match His Rhetoric

Jack Lew Faces Benghazi Grilling At Treasury Secretary Confirmation Hearing
Scott Brown Joins FOX News | RealClearPolitics

The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Reforming the American Welfare State the modern American welfare state currently helps the well off much more than the poor, and that making it better would involve learning from other countries.

Wayne LaPierre: More Guns Needed For 'Hellish World' Filled With Hurricanes, Kidnappers, Drug Gangs (not to mention Federal government and the UN)

Mississippi Maintains Hold as Most Religious U.S. State Vermont is the least religious

DrDiv comments on 6 decades of love.

How to turn living cells into computers : Nature News & Comment Genetic system performs logic operations and stores data in DNA.
ScienceShot: Sea Slug Sports Detachable Penis - ScienceNOW
Low-hanging fruit: targeting Brdt in the testes : Article : The EMBO Journal

Google 'flaw' puts users' details on display | Information, Gadgets, Mobile Phones News & Reviews | News.com.au With Google customers' details just sitting in developers accounts, all it would take is a half decent piece of malware software for that information to be accessed. These personal details could then be used to access the users' bank details.

021213
State of the Union Address

Obama to Announce Troops’ Return - NYTimes.com
Final Days of the War in Afghanistan - Veterans of the Afghanistan War - Esquire Will Afghanistan be better without us? Worse? And who cares, anyway? Not the American people, as long as they're told they're being kept safe from terrorism
5 things to watch after North Korea's nuclear test - The Week
North Korea nuclear test: Pyongyang threatens 'stronger response' | World news | guardian.co.uk China joins global condemnation of nuclear tests as North Korea warns it will take stronger action unless US hostility ends
French MPs approve gay marriage bill | World news | The Guardian Bill passed in lower house of parliament by 329 votes to 229 and now goes to the senate

Hullabaloo Papal cuts: why is he really resigning?
Your Daily Pope - Esquire an intriguing historical item relevant to the doctrine of papal infallibility, a misbegotten notion that has had all the salubrious effect on the institutional church as a gallon of absinthe. Locked in the Vatican in the middle of summer, on the brink of the Franco-Prussian War, and led by Pius IX, a true prince of fools, the doctrine got rammed through formally as a loud shout against the tides.
The Catholic Church Shifted Southward Over the Past Century - Graphic - NYTimes.com Over the last century, much of the growth of the Roman Catholic Church has been outside Europe, and there are now more than 200 million more Catholics in Latin America than in Europe. Still, European cardinals hold more than half of the votes that will choose the next pope. To be elected, the new pope will need two-thirds of the votes of 117 cardinals.

John Rizzo, Former Top CIA Lawyer, Says John Brennan Never Objected To Waterboarding

Petition to fire Aaron Swartz prosecutor reaches threshold for White House response | The Verge (Heymann and Carmen getting some heat)

The Big Speech Of The Week - Esquire Senator Aqua Buddha is a crank. More to the point, he's a crank without the charming crankitude of his father, Crazy Uncle Liberty (!). He's a grim, humorless little drone who is fully convinced of his own superiority and his own immutable destiny

Voting Should Be Easy - Modernize Registration - NYTimes.com President Obama has a long agenda for his State of the Union address, but it is important that he not forget the most fundamental democratic reform of all: repairing a broken election system that caused hundreds of thousands of people to stand in line for hours to vote last year.

The state of our union is … dumber: How the linguistic standard of the presidential address has declined | World news | guardian.co.uk How the linguistic standard of the presidential address has declined (Obama dumber than Bush)

Political Animal - On Equality Front, From “Why?” to “Why Not?” It’s a token of how rapidly the political dam against LGBT equality has broken that the Pentagon’s announcement that it is extending family benefits to gay men and women serving in the military made relatively few waves.

Hearsay Economics - NYTimes.com Jonathan Chait is boggled by Joe Scarborough’s latest rant. (Dear Jon: I am not “prickly”: I’m aggressive and annoying. But that’s by design, and I only do it when the situation calls for it.) What’s really striking is Scarborough’s certainty that we’re experiencing “explosive” spending growth, which is very much not the case (Squint and Mikadroid are wrong and are too dumb to understand "facts")
Joe Scarborough Hates Moms, PowerPoint -- Daily Intelligencer

Imbalance of Power - Graphic - NYTimes.com In the 2012 election, seven states had a severe imbalance between their popular vote and the party makeup of their House delegations; three others hadmoderate imbalances.

‘The deficit chart that should embarrass deficit hawks’ (austerity is here)
CHART OF THE DAY: Fed's Balance Sheet Hits NEW RECORD $3 Trillion - Home - The Daily Bail
The Dark Side Of QE: The Next Chapter In Our Story | The Future Tense
Quantitative Easing Simplified - YouTube
Your New Landlord Works on Wall Street | New Republic Hedge funds are snatching up rental homes at an alarming rate (that will certainly work out well)

WaPo Corrects Story That Reported Sarah Palin Was Joining Al Jazeera | TPM LiveWire (not the bright bulbs over at Kaplan Test Prep)

State Representative Under Fire for Letter - KGWN - Rep Hans Hunt, wants guns in schools and if you don't, just leave WY)
Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » Love It or Leave It The notion that there’s some innate virtue in staying true to the accident of your birth is a hallmark of close-minded stupidity, so I’m not surprised that a 4th generation resident of one of the states with the widest streets and the narrowest minds would brag about it.

Religion And Science: Is There A Conflict? (Fluffpo glosses over the 47% of Americans who believe in Creationism)
Why We Don’t Believe In Science : The New Yorker The numbers were a stark blow to high-school science teachers everywhere: forty-six per cent of adults said they believed that “God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years.” Only fifteen per cent agreed with the statement that humans had evolved without the guidance of a divine power. (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex - D.L.P.F.C)
Half of Americans believe in creationism and just 15 percent accept evolution | Mail Online
Only 15 Percent of Americans Believe in Godless Evolution, Says Gallup | CNS News Only 3 percent of Americans who attend church weekly believe in Godless evolution, and only 10 percent of those who attend church almost weekly or monthly (churches of fools)

Balloon Juice » Daylight Comes, Our Heaven Turned to Hell - "And they have found that with women who are on the birth control pill, there are these little tiny fetuses, these little babies, that are embedded into the womb. They’re just like dead babies. They’re on the inside of the womb. And these wombs of women who have been on the birth control pill effectively have become graveyards for lots and lots of little babies." (Keven Swanson, archetypal wingnut idiot)

Jane Goodall on climate change: ‘We’ve just been stealing, stealing, stealing from our children, and it’s shocking’ | The Raw Story (Republicans looting the future)

Researchers say AI prescribes better treatment than doctors — Tech News and Analysis

How to Adjust Windows 8 Display Settings for High DPI/PPI Screens
BlueStacks brings official, Surface Pro-optimized Android App Player to Windows 8 (video)
BlueStacks brings official, Surface Pro-optimized Android App Player to Windows 8 (video) : Surface (Win8 just ate Android)
Scaling to different screens - Building Windows 8 - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

Google Could Pay Apple $1 Billion Next Year To Remain Default Search Engine On iOS, Report Says | TechCrunch
Office 365 Home Premium: This Is as Good as Word Gets

021113
Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign - NYTimes.com (cult of the Red Beanie: Benedict wants to appoint the new rockhead)
Next pope's in-tray: five key issues for the Catholic church | World news | guardian.co.uk With Pope Benedict XVI announcing his intention to step down, we look at the pressing matters awaiting his successor (#2: pedophilia in the church of pedophila)
Pope Benedict Resigns - We May Never Know Why the Pope Resigned - Esquire - One assumes, given the history of Popes being old and not resigning for the past 600 years, that the Vatican has figured out a system of ensuring the survival of the church while being led by people who are close to death
Here Is The Church That Benedict XVI Leaves Behind - Esquire Weigel had the audacity to mention Ireland as a place where the Church has fallen into disfavor because of the prevalence of what he calls "Catholic-lite: when, in fact, the Church has fallen into disfavor because it operated for six decades as a organized crime entity and then stonewalled the secular authorities when they tried to get after the criminals.
Adios To The Pope - Esquire Nothing became the papacy of Joseph Ratzinger like his leaving it

Syrian minister offers to meet opposition leader overseas | World news | The Guardian Ali Haidar raises prospect of free elections in response to surprise change of line by Syrian National Coalition leader
Icelandic MP who released WikiLeaks video plans US visit despite legal threat | Media | guardian.co.uk Birgitta Jónsdóttir says she has held back from visiting long enough and plans tour to express support for Bradley Manning
Mali conflict: French-led forces retake Gao after surprise attack by rebels | World news | guardian.co.uk Soldiers conduct house-by-house search in northern city for last remaining Islamist fighters after two days of heavy fighting

Navy SEAL lost health insurance after killing Osama bin Laden (support our troops with slogans)

Drones Memo Extends Executive Power, So Let's Just Let Skynet Decide From Now On (our not that smart and strangely incurious Pres mapping the future)
Barack Obama is pushing gun control at home, but he's a killer abroad | Gary Younge | Comment is free | The Guardian President Obama's appeals to respect human life in the US are at odds with his backing for drone strikes in foreign parts (US needs drone-control)
Obama Worse Or No Better Than Bush At Protecting Civil Liberties, Poll Finds Amid Drone Debate
5 Practical Ideas To Rein In The Presidential Power To Kill Americans | ThinkProgress
Gitmo and the Ongoing NIMBY Revolt In Congress.

Adam Lanza’s Arsenal and What It Says About the Nation's Relationship to Freedom and Fear -- New York Magazine The guns he carried embody the nation’s evolving relationship to freedom. And fear. (Nancy was nuts)
Armed Pro-Gun Protesters Occupy Oregon State Capitol | ThinkProgress (it's what they wanted, and now they got it)

“Of Course, Second-Rate Was A Massive Improvement.” - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Shorter Verbatim Dick Cheney: “Frankly, what [Obama] has appointed are second-rate people.” This is a case where the jokes write themselves.
Welcome To The Hackocracy | New Republic OCTOBER 17, 2005 (Bush's fifth-rate appointees)

Medicare Eligibility Age Off The Table In Sequestration Talks, White House Says
Don’t worry, kids. Obamacare is a good deal. (Ben Smith's hackery refuted)
Calculated Risk: Fed's Yellen: "A Painfully Slow Recovery for America's Workers"

New Rove Group Could Backfire on G.O.P. - NYTimes.com

Quietly Killing a Consumer Watchdog - NYTimes.com
Lawyers, Guns & Money - Senate Democrats who prioritize their individual prerogatives over the good of the country and the long-term interests of their party by preserving the filibuster. Again, whether the relevant senators are obscenely self-centered, hidebound by “traditions” that are transparently unworthy of preservation, or are just conservatives given the effects of establishing new equilibria that make the country progressively less governable it’s all the same in the end.

Recovery Has Brought More Jobs for Men Than Women - NYTimes.com SINCE the job market in the United States hit bottom more than three years ago, men have benefited from the recovery far more than woman have, with middle-aged women doing particularly poorly.
‘Suicide Conservatives’ - NYTimes.com Democrats have learned to fall in love and fall in line. Republicans are just falling apart.

Bloomberg - Lawyers, Guns & Money : I’m not sure that giant giveaways of the playgrounds of public housing units to wealthy developers in order to build luxury housing is the best way to change New York City. Unless you are Michael Bloomberg and want Manhattan to be an exclusive island for the residence of the 1%. (well?)
Is Building Luxury Housing on the Playgrounds of Public Housing the Worst Idea Ever? Yes. Yes It Is. During his time in office, Michael Bloomberg has been pretty "Don't Give a Fuck" when it comes to making sure poor and middle class people feel welcome in New York City. His newest plan for the cash-strapped city housing authority (NYCHA), however, might just be his most DGAF move ever.
Why New York’s Housing Projects May Be on Their Way to Extinction -- New York Magazine (the disaster of public housing in Bloombergville)

The Ignorance Caucus - NYTimes.com Last year the Texas G.O.P. explicitly condemned efforts to teach “critical thinking skills,” because, it said, such efforts “have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.” One side believes, at least in principle, in letting its policy views be shaped by facts; the other believes in suppressing the facts if they contradict its fixed beliefs.

Lawmaker invites Ted Nugent to Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday - The Hill's In The Know Ted Nugent will be Rep. Steve Stockman’s guest Tuesday night at President Obama’s State of the Union address.
The first forty-five were mistakes, the forty-sixth an accident - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Ted Nugent Accuses Civil Rights Leaders Of Speaking "Ebonic Mumbo-Jumbo" | Blog | Media Matters for America (they can say anything)
New Castle County Courthouse Shooting: Delaware Police Say 3 Dead, 2 Injured Dick Lawyer works part time across the street at the law office of Casarino, Christman, Shalk, (rly)
Sheriff Arpaio and Steven Seagal Train Posse at Simulated School Shooting - ABC News (fuck)

Saudi Aramco World : Pasta’s Winding Way West

Microsoft Surface: "The Vibe" (Full Song Remix) Stay Classy Studios - YouTube

Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » New World Order In response, Paul filed a complaint to with the WIPO, the organization that deals with domain name disputes, or as ronpaul.com’s authors call it, a UN Tribunal: (you know, the same UN he says is coming to confiscate your assault rifles and golf courses)

021013
Historical snowfall totals - Weather Wisdom - Boston.com
Boston's all-time biggest snowstorms - Boston.com

Tunisia prime minister warns of chaos amid crunch talks to save coalition | World news | The Guardian Prime minister Hamadi Jebali seeking reshuffle to prevent 'swing into chaos' after murder of opposition leader Chokri Belaïd
The hanging of Afzal Guru is a stain on India's democracy | Arundhati Roy | Comment is free | The Guardian Despite gaping holes in the case against Afzal Guru, all India's institutions played a part in putting a Kashmiri 'terrorist' to death
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran ready for nuclear talks with US | World news | guardian.co.uk President admits effect of sanctions and says West must 'pull away the gun from the face of the Iranian nation'
Violent tide of Salafism threatens the Arab spring | World news | The Observer A series of repressive dictatorships have been brought down in north Africa, but the ensuing struggles for power have left a vacuum that has allowed the rise of an extremist movement that is gathering both force and supporters
Vatican hopes secret files exonerate 'Hitler's pope' | World news | The Observer Author uncovers evidence on Pius XII's wartime efforts to save Jewish refugees
The dilemma of al-Jazeera English for American journalists | Bob Garfield | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The Qatari-owned cable news operator is almost the only US media outlet hiring. But should reporters take the emir's riyal?
New Focus in Mali Is Finding Militants Who Have Fled Into Mountains - NYTimes.com

National Security and the News - NYTimes.com In what a federal judge has described as an Alice in Wonderland situation, with a little Catch-22 added for good measure, the secrecy around the drone program is self-perpetuating. The government, until very recently, had not even acknowledged its existence, even though the unmanned aircraft have killed thousands of people in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan — tragically including many civilians, some of them children, and even some American citizens. The government prefers to describe the dead, sometimes inaccurately, as militants or terrorists (drone-boy and his veil of secrecy and lies)

US Air Force veteran, finally allowed to fly into US, is now banned from flying back home | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Secret, unaccountable no-fly lists are one of many weapons the US government uses to extra-judicially punish American Muslims

It’s Not Easy Being Green - NYTimes.com The stronger argument for a major government response to climate change is the more obvious argument: climate change. The continental United States endured its hottest year on record in 2012, and the planet’s 13 hottest years have all occurred since 1998.

The Death Of Protectionism - NYTimes.com But now that protectionism is a trivial issue, what will economists inveigh against?

Obama’s Turn in Bush’s Bind With Defense Policies - NYTimes.com
House Democrats Have More Power in New Congress - NYTimes.com

Lindsey Graham Plans To Block Chuck Hagel, John Brennan To Get Answers On Benghazi (go Huckleberry)
New Winger Conspiracy Theory Takes Flight | TPM Editors Blog From ground zero of Obama era conspiracy theories comes the conspiracy theory to top them all: that CIA nominee John Brennan is himself a Muslim. (and actually born in Iran; no crazy too far)
Political Animal - “The Party of Calhoun” As expected, The New Republic has under its new owner, ex-Facebooker Chris Hughes, developed a keener grasp of the web. Several days ago the magazine leaked the cover of the forthcoming issue — entirely white, in a nod to the Republican Party — and conservatives flipped out.
Original Sin | New Republic Why the GOP is and will continue to be the party of white people (angry, old, not-that-smart, racist)

Will Saletan's Weaselly Case for Torture | Hillman Foundation
Today in Passive-Aggresive Torture Apologias - Lawyers, Guns & Money (Saletan has always loved torture and war)

Echidne Of The Snakes: On The Reauthorization of VAWA (Republicans love violence towards women)
Virginia General Assembly displays state’s exceptionalism and its exceptional weirdness - The Washington Post In recent years, talk show hosts and others have held up the General Assembly as a national laughingstock for considering measures that would outlaw vulgar truck ornaments and droopy drawers, prohibit implanting “Mark of the Beast” microchips and confer lifetime hunting licenses on infants. Lawmakers also have tried to order women to undergo invasive ultrasounds before abortions (there you go)
Daily Kos: Drug tests for welfare bills come to three more states Both Ohio and Kansas legislators are trying to pretend the goal is to help people rather than to associate welfare recipients with drug abuse in the public debate, claiming that they just want to be sure people get the help they need. Bear in mind that in Florida, just 2.6 percent of applicants didn't pass their drug tests.
Arkansas law jails tenants who don’t pay their rent | The Raw Story

Cardinal Mahony used cemetery money to pay sex abuse settlement - latimes.com The Archdiocese of L.A. took $115 million from its cemeteries' maintenance fund in 2007, nearly depleting it. The move seems legal, but it was not announced, and relatives of the dead were not told.

Police seeking Dorner opened fire in a second case of mistaken identity - latimes.com Torrance police say the man was driving a pickup resembling the fugitive's. The incident happened just after the LAPD fired on women delivering newspapers nearby. ("resembling" = had four wheels)

Fairfax homeowners group humbled by court battle with residents - The Washington Post (they didn't like the Obama sign, which was 4" too high and would "destroy their property values," ended up losing their town sq, ha-ha)

New report defends Joe Paterno over Jerry Sandusky child abuse case | World news | guardian.co.uk Report commissioned by Paterno family says original findings regarding Penn State scandal were 'fundamentally flawed' (the family absolves themselves)

Indiana soybean farmer sees Monsanto lawsuit reach US supreme court | Law | guardian.co.uk Who controls the rights to the seeds planted in the ground? A 75-year-old farmer takes the agricultural giant to court to find out


020913
Boston Blizzard: Northeast Snowed In As 'Nemo' Barrels Through
Climate Change And The Blizzard: Nor'easters More Fierce With Global Warming, Scientists Say

Egypt court suspends YouTube over anti-Islam film | Reuters An Egyptian court ordered the suspension of online video service YouTube for a month on Saturday for broadcasting a film insulting the Prophet Mohammad, state media reported.
The Queen's finances to be investigated by powerful Westminster committee - Telegraph The Queen is facing a tough inquiry into her finances and expenses by the most powerful watchdog in government, it emerged last night. The amount of public funds going to the Royal Family soared last year, despite Government cuts. (austerity at work!)

Julian Assange Bill Maher Interview: WikiLeaks Founder Slams Drones, Targeted Killings
Aaron Swartz: He wanted to save the world. Why couldn’t he save himself? - Slate Magazine
xs
Why Are Conservatives Trying to Destroy the Voting Rights Act? | The Nation
The Old South's Last, Desperate Stand | Alternet Hysteria, aggression and gerrymandering are a fading demographic's last hope to maintain political control - n understanding the polarization and paralysis that afflict national politics in the United States, it is a mistake to think in terms of left and right. The appropriate directions are North and South. (the South shall fall again, this time permanently)
Religion-in-the-US-Evangelical-Protestant-Rates-of-Adherence-County-Map.png
Ancestry_Nugget.jpg (America is mostly German by territory, while the South says they are "Americans")
The white South’s last defeat - Salon.com Hysteria, aggression and gerrymandering are a fading demographic's last hope to maintain political control
‘Southern White’ as an ethnicity — Crooked Timber

The Constitutional Roadblock to Efforts to Fix Federal Elections | The Nation - There is no federal right to vote for Congress to guarantee (you just thought you lived in a democracy)
Religious Fanatics on Texas State Board of Education Rewrite Teaching,Textbook Standards | Occupy America (keeping the South stupid is a high priority)

InvestingChannel - Does Obama Have Stockholm Syndrome, Or Is Greg Sargent Misreading Obama’s Press Conference Comments?
Senate Democrats Sequester Offer A 10-Month Replacement With $120 Billion In Savings

Paul Krugman: Tom Friedman 'Much Too Close To Beltway Conventional Wisdom' (video) Krugman said that Friedman was often very wrong about the economic issues currently facing the country.

Anonymous anti-Hagel sources: An ever-changing tune. Carl Levin is pushing past the GOP's request for a proctology-level examination of Chuck Hagel's foundation ties. The anti-Hagelians don't miss a step. Today's meme, as CTRL+F'd by Jennifer Rubin, is that Hagel is probably hiding something—"a host of shadowy figures whose identities Hagel is so insistent on concealing."
Mr. Menendez’s Ethics Problem - NYTimes.com (dirty NJ Dem politician is dirty)
Hullabaloo The impending closing of the Post Office is about politics, just as the attack on teachers is about politics. These are two constituencies, largely minority and female, that the right is determined to break, for obvious reasons. Any Democratic complicity in doing that, on both a moral as well as political level, is malpractice.
Political Animal - Goldilocks On Acid a couple of days ago, I mocked Rand Paul’s inscrutable national policy “vision” speech at the Heritage Foundation as advancing a policy of “aggressive non-interventionism, or belligerent neutrality, or something.” Not being a national security expert, I didn’t know if there were maybe subtleties I was missing. But according to a WaPo op-ed from the Brookings Institution’s Robert Kagan (the ex-neocon who if nothing else wields a very sharp pen), Paul’s speech was even more incoherent than it first appeared:
A Faith-Based Opportunity for Obama | Religion Dispatches DuBois has his admirers, to be sure. For many of them, his daily emailed devotionals to the president—which Obama took pains to highlight yesterday—are frequently cited as evidence not only of the president's piety but also to counter conservative claims that the White House is somehow hostile to religion, or insufficiently committed to the country's "Christian heritage." (yeah, disgusting)

Germany has five times as much solar power as the U.S. — despite Alaska levels of sun (and Fox lies)

Details emerge in LAPD's mistaken shooting of newspaper carriers - latimes.com The women were victims of 'a tragic misinterpretation' by officers working under 'incredible tension,' LAPD Chief Charlie Beck says. (shoot first, look later)
Federal Prison Population Soars By 790 Percent Since 1980: Report (prison-state America)

Dick Morris' Piers Morgan interview, as told in four lies
alicublog: ...THAN SCHMUCK FOR A LIFETIME. Whittle has now been responsible for alt-wingnut movie studio Declaration Entertainment, alt-wingnut fantasy community Ejectia, and this. He should enlist the guys working on that gun nut planned community The Citadel, PopModal ("the conservative alternative to YouTube"), PJ Lifestyle and other such simulacra, pick up Rod "Benedict Option" Dreher while he's at it, and they can all fuck off to some remote land where they can recreate a new paradise far, far, far from us. They can start here. (Bill Whittle always was a conservative asshole)

U.S. high-speed rail map: Artist Alfred Twu's alternate reality.
Japanese Flying Squid's Abilities Confirmed, Speed Measured By Scientists
Dinosaur extinction: Was an asteroid the only cause of the Cretaceous mass extinction? - Slate Magazine “An asteroid 65 million years ago” is no longer enough.

cinematic corner.: 48 hidden images in "Black Swan"
George W. Bush’s paintings and self-portrait: Critics weigh in.

False Memories of Fabricated Political Events by Steven Frenda, Eric Knowles, William Saletan, Elizabeth Loftus :: SSRN - Study asks 5000 people about fabricated political event. 50% remember the false event, 27% saw it on the news
Should algebra be in curriculum? Why math protects us from the unscrupulous. - Slate Magazine - Ironically, in a recent op-ed in the New York Times, social scientist Andrew Hacker suggested eliminating algebra from the school curriculum as an “onerous stumbling block,” and instead teaching students “how the Consumer Price Index is computed.”

williamshatner comments on Turning off private messages. (the problem of community norms and regulation)
Ask the ladies of reddit about all things feminine
West Wing - Dr. Jacobs - Bible References - Owned by Prez. - YouTube ("Dr." Laura Schlessinger)
In One Fell Swoop, Facebook Deep-Sixes the Web - Mike Isaac - Social - AllThingsD (just say no to evil)
Surface Pro already sold out at MicrosoftStore.com, BestBuy, and Staples, hours into its launch | WinBeta
Surface Windows 8 Pro first impressions, it’s going to be worth every penny | WinBeta
FBI Employees Download Pirated Movies and TV-Shows | TorrentFreak New data reveals that employees at the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division are sharing movies and TV-shows with the rest of the world. Is the FBI gathering information on BitTorrent users, or could it be that the feds harbor in-house pirates?
Reddit: Best of 2012

020813
Iraq: Bombings Kill 36, Wound Dozens

Boston bears the blizzard - Boston.com
Boston’s top 10 snowstorms - Boston.com
MAweatherboy1's Blog : Why TWC Is Wrong To Name Winter Storms | Weather Underground (hype! panic! ratings! and the commercialization of weather
Northeast Blizzard Warnings Posted As Region Braces For Up To Several Feet Of Snow

Checks and Balances on the Western Front The president's domain in the realm of foreign policy has ballooned for decades, but especially since the War on Terror started. Will Congress reassert its authority? (they have the authority to obstruct, which they will do)
Reforming U.S. Drone Strike Policies - Council on Foreign Relations
Unmanned Oversight | New Republic How Congress whiffed on drones
Jon Stewart Realizes Obama Released Drone Docs Before He Mocked Him On 'The Daily Show' (video)
Bill O'Reilly Defends NBC Drone Errors By Attacking 'Far Left Loons' (video)

Levin: GOP Demands Of Hagel Unreasonable | TPM LiveWire Republican requests for further financial disclosure "far exceed the standard practices of the Armed Services Committee and go far beyond the financial disclosure required of previous Secretaries of Defense.”
There’s No Such Thing as Political Capital - NationalJournal.com The idea of political capital—or mandates, or momentum—is so poorly defined that presidents and pundits often get it wrong - Consider this: Three months ago, just before the November election, if someone had talked seriously about Obama having enough political capital to oversee passage of both immigration reform and gun-control legislation at the beginning of his second term—even after winning the election by 4 percentage points and 5 million votes (the actual final tally)—this person would have been called crazy and stripped of his pundit’s license (it doesn't exist, but should).

Kick That Can - NYTimes.com But aren’t we facing a fiscal crisis? No, not at all. The federal government can borrow more cheaply than at almost any point in history, and medium-term forecasts, like the 10-year projections released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office, are distinctly not alarming. Yes, there’s a long-term fiscal problem, but it’s not urgent that we resolve that long-term problem right now. The alleged fiscal crisis exists only in the minds of Beltway insiders. (who are wrong about everything, all the time)

Political Animal - Medicaid Tipping Point? The recent decisions of three Republican governors—Jan Brewer of Arizona, John Kasich of Ohio, and Rick Snyer of Michigan—to go along with the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion provisions has convinced some observers that the states collectively are reaching a “tipping point” where the remaining holdouts will be under terrible pressure to follow.
Republican governors embrace part of health-care law Several Republican governors have embraced a key pillar of President Obama’s health-care law: Extending Medicaid to 17 million Americans.

Political Animal - Race, Income, Gender, and Family Structure (whites are the new blacks)
The US should grow the deficit, not shrink it | Dean Baker | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The US economy is too fragile to reduce spending and raise taxes. Fiscal austerity is a recipe for worse pain. (if Obama had given the money to the people, instead of the bankers, the economy would be zipping right along)
Hullabaloo "We're from the Tea party and we've come to take our country back ... zzzz" - Tea party leaders are turning to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, to deliver their message following President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, a speech that will compete with the official Republican response. (SOTU "competes" with Rand Paul's idiocy)

Down The Pipeline - Esquire What will happen if the president and Secretary Kerry put the kibosh on the pipeline is going to be the mother of all hissy fits. The pipeline is an article of faith on the Republican right, not because it will necessarily improve this country's energy policy, but because refusing to build it would be a triumph for almost everyone the Republican right hates, and that hate is what propels conservative politics.

Outrage Over 'Illegal Immigrant Hunting Permit' Bumper Sticker In Colorado ... Intended as a joke for people who find the idea of killing immigrants funny, the sticker reads “illegal immigrant hunting permit” over a map of the continental United States. “No bag limit -- tagging not required,” the sticker says.
Balloon Juice » From the Kentucky coal mines to the California sun Would Ashley Judd really have a chance against Mitch McConnell? I would have thought “no” but maybe she does:
Progressive Change Campaign Committee Expands Anti-Mitch McConnell Advertising
Virginia Lawmakers Propose Creating Their Own Money (create your own air-force, you crazy fuckers)
Things In Politico That Make Me Want To Guzzle Antifreeze, Part The Infinity - Esquire Over at Tiger Beat On The Potomac, there's a real buyer's market for the Brooklyn Bridge, Florida swampland, knockoff Rolexes, and large bags of magic beans (the myth of Republican "moderates")

North Dakota Personhood Measure Passes State Senate North Dakota has only one abortion clinic and has been rated the worst state in the country for women, but the State Senate passed two bills on Thursday will make it even more difficult for women in the state to access abortion care. (Republicans stand for tax-breaks for the rich, gunz, zygotes and gunz)
Baby Talk | New Republic - Do low fertility rates spell economic collapse?
Political Animal - No Smiley-Face For Southern Republicans The latest step towards shutting down access to abortion services in Alabama, for example, is about as subtle as a transvaginal ultrasound probe, per this report from (all Republican men should be required to have trans-anal ultrasound probes)

Manhunt: Newspaper carrier, 71, in ICU after being shot by police - latimes.com "The problem with the situation is it looked like the police had the goal of administering street justice and in so doing, didn't take the time to notice that these two older, small Latina women don't look like a large black man," Jonas said. Jonas said the women's vehicle was also "the wrong color and the wrong model" compared to Dorner's.
Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » Stop-and-Frisk? There’s an App for That …

Enough Is Enough - Esquire currently wearing my eyeballs, the Clan Of The Red Beanie has decided that the latest concession by the administration on the matter of contraceptive coverage is not sufficient to answer its demands that the Presbyterian charpeople in its employ be held to a cockeyed doctrine that most Catholics have been ignoring since 1965 ... Now, they want the Hobby Lobby loophole, too. This is coming from Dolan, the clown in New York who has a more-than-cameo role in Alex Gibney's new HBO movie about the horrendous abuse scandal that took place at a school for the deaf in Milwaukee

Inside the Law School Scam: Trust (they just lie, like all good Repubicans)

Tawana Bourne, Connecticut Woman, Allegedly Pulled Loaded Gun At Chuck E. Cheese Newington, Conn., police arrested a woman at a Chuck E. Cheese on Monday evening after she allegedly pulled a loaded gun during an argument with another parent.

Sam Mullet Sentenced for Beard Attacks - A Federal Trial for Amish Beard-Cutting Cult Ends - Esquire

Audacious Hack Exposes Bush Family Pix, E-Mail | The Smoking Gun Hacker breached AOL account of ex-president's sister, other victims
Bush Email Hacking Being Investigated By Secret Service - The hacker apparently posted material on an online account, labeling them with a watermark that read "Guccifer,"
Bush Family Emails Hacked (paintings!) | TPM LiveWire

Girls Lead in Science Exam, but Not in the United States - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com (where stupidity is an American value)
Childless Women The Final Female Taboo Childlessness is on the rise worldwide. But why does it bother so many people.

TV reporter discovers Onion stories are fake | jimromenesko.com (again. and again.)

Finally confirmed: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs | ExtremeTech
Mars Rover Spots Metallic 'Arm' Sticking Out Of A Rock (uh-oh)

Learn Windows 8 in 3 minutes (OK, it's really 4) - YouTube
The Missing Windows 8 Instructional Video - Who moved my Windows 8 Cheese? - YouTube
How to Connect Laptop to TV with Intel® Wireless Display (WiDi)
Apple watch: has its time come? | Technology | guardian.co.uk (Apple moves in fashion)

020713
Tsunami Debris On Alaska's Shores Like 'Standing In Landfill' : NPR Refrigerators, foam buoys and even ketchup bottles are piling up on Alaska's beaches. Almost two years after the devastating Japanese tsunami, its debris and rubbish are fouling the coastlines of many states — especially in Alaska.
'Dafne,' 9-Year-Old Girl, Gives Birth To Baby Girl In Mexico The girl was 8 years old when she became pregnant. "This is a rape or child sex abuse case," Corona added, according to the Agence France-Presse. The age of sexual consent in Mexico is 12, according to UNICEF.

John Brennan CIA Hearings - John Brennan Says High Mass - Esquire - The man whom the administration has put up to head the CIA would not say whether or not the president of the United States has the power to order the extrajudicial killing of a United States citizen within the borders of the United States. (And a thousand heads on conspiracy websites explode.) And the hearing, remarkably, went on as though nothing untoward had happened.
John Brennan White Paper Hearings — A Question For John Brennan - Esquire Most of the people killed by the Lethal Presidency have not been American citizens. Most of the people killed by the Lethal Presidency have not been Al Qaeda leaders. Most of the people killed by the Lethal Presidency have not warranted a white paper. (World Court will extradit the fucker in 2020)
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed Eats Chicken With New York Times - Pakistan Terrorist Lives Freely As Drones Fall - Esquire As America pelts Pakistan with drone strikes at an increasing rate behind the veil of secret legal justification (which excludes Pakistan), killing hundreds, including children, the nation's most prominent jihadi leader, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, is eating chicken with the Times' Pakistan bureau chief.
John Brennan: CIA Wouldn't Keep Congress 'In The Dark' (and if you believe that ...)
John Brennan Confirmation Hearing: Obama CIA Director Pick Faces Senate Intelligence Committee
Drones Memo Not Shared With Senate Staffers: Dianne Feinstein - Brennan said. “It is rather exceptional, as I think you know, that the Office of Legal Counsel opinion, or advice, would be shared with you. (we didn't have to show you anything)
Obama And The Drone Awakening The release of Justice Department documents is an exercise in “CYA.” “It's not clear that they have fully obeyed their own guidelines.”
Jon Stewart Takes On Leaked Drone Strike Memo: 'Do We At Least Yell Fore?' (video)
Joe Scarborough: Obama's Drone Program Is 'More Chilling' Than George Bush's Foreign Policy (video)

Hot New Conspiracy Theory: Wimpy Gun-Fearing Tyrant Obama Sending Death Squads To Murder Gun Fondlers (Russia will save us the Obama's death squads, or something)
Gayle Trotter: The Woman Who Called Gun Control Sexist - The Daily Beast She also opposes the Violence Against Women Act—and women in combat. (suburban mom ready to defend children with assault rifle)
Gun Issue May Drive Women To 2014 Polls | TPMDC

Analysis: Even brief spending cuts could hit U.S. economy hard | Reuters The U.S. economy could take a big hit from automatic government spending cuts even if Congress only leaves them in place for a month or two. (Republicans destroying the economy, as usual)
Congressional Budget Office Is Pessimistic About the Economy | CEPR Blog potential growth over the decade at just 2.2 percent annually
North Carolina Unemployment Bill Would Lose State $600 Million In Federal Benefits extended jobless compensation paid entirely by the federal government. (because, Teaparty Time!)

The plot to derail Chuck Hagel - Salon.com The demands Republicans are making -- and the threat behind them -- create a troubling precedent
Karl Rove, Steve King Set To Fight Bitter Battle In Iowa
Dick Morris To Piers Morgan On Fox News Firing: 'I Was Wrong At The Top Of My Lungs' (video)
I Am Totes Defriending You, Bitch! - Esquire When assessing the ongoing conservative crack-up, it is a capital mistake to overlook the pure middle-school drama queen aspect that has become such a part of the modern conservative personality.

Transvaginal Ultrasound Bill Introduced In Michigan | TPMDC (Republicans love raping women)

THE GURGLING COD: On Trucks and Cows So, one thing that happened is that Dodge blew off the atheist truck market, and ran an advertisement using an old Paul Harvey monologue that begins:

Men and women are basically the same: New study says our personality traits overlap.
Complementarian views of gender are both wrong and destructive - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Miami-Dade Police Kendall Squad Caught Ignoring Emergency Calls, Shopping On Camera (VIDEO) CBS Miami reports is one of the worst dereliction of duty cases in the department's history

Largest Prime Number Known Is 17-Million Digits Long, Mathematician Says


020613
Syria Crisis: Damascus Sees Worst Fighting In Weeks
Chokri Belaid, Tunisian Opposition Leader, Shot And Killed In Tunis A Tunisian opposition leader critical of both the Islamist-led government and of violence by radical Muslims was gunned down as he left home Wednesday – the first assassination in post-revolutionary Tunisia.

Canadian penny’s days are numbered—but there are still 30B of them | Canada | News | National Post

CIA Drone Base In Saudi Arabia: Location Disclosed By The New York Times
Eschaton: Adapted From "True Lies" America: Have you ever killed anyone? Obama: Yeah, but they were all bad. (and their children and all the people who came to their funerals, also)
Drone Strike Limitations Considered By Congress After Justice Department Memo Surfaces
Obama Drone Program Secrecy Reaches 'Alice-in-Wonderland' Extremes
White House Drone Response To Media Harks Back To Bush Years
Drone Strike Information To Be Provided To Congress By Justice Department
What Would Orwell Make of Obama's Drone Policy? - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic (1984 arrives 30 yrs late)
White Paper Targeted Killings - What's So Terrifying About the White Paper - Esquire (drone-boy gives himself unlimited powers to kill you)
Drones And Presidential Powers - Welcome To Droneworld - Esquire (drone-boy just lets you live in it, at his imperial discretion)
Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov | The White House (the famous "transparency promise)

401Ks are a disaster: Column Recent and near-retirees, the first major cohort of the 401(k) era, do not have nearly enough in retirement savings to even come close to maintaining their current lifestyles.
Eschaton: The Republican Agenda I can't believe anyone is pretending to believe their 100th rebranding exercise. They care about cutting taxes on rich people, funneling money from poor and middle class people to rich people, and occasionally kicking the poors.
Political Animal - The Big Trade-Off Anyone not wearing ideological blinders had to read yesterday’s updated economic outlook from the Congressional Budget Office and kinda nod along (America's post-jobs era because austerity necessary because Republicans ruined the economy but debt!)

Massachusetts Republicans can't find a Senate candidate - The Week
Political Animal - Darkening the Sky the grim news that Florida Gov. Rick Scott is planning to spend up to $100 million to hang onto his gubernatorial position in 2014.
This Is The Matter With Kansas - Esquire It has started to drawn some notice that Kansas Governor Sam Brownback is using the people of his state as lab rats in an ongoing bench test of a whole bunch of ideas that already have died in flaming failure at the national level, but which Brownback believes are his ticket back to the Show. (stupid, white and racist; doesn't believe in evolution either)

Unemployment Stories, Vol. Six: 'If It Weren't For My Children I Probably Would Have Killed Myself By Now' (Republicans at work eliminating jobs)
In the long run - Lawyers, Guns & Money (no jobs for lawyers, either)

Why Don't White-Collar Criminals Get Equal Time? | The Nation (Obama's got their backs)

Holy Mother Church Revisited - Esquire I would like to take this opportunity to apologize on behalf of the church of my birth for a whole array of Papist clowns who seem to be running amuck in public these days. (I make no apologies for the fact that I believe the unspeakable Roger Mahony should be doing a 25-year bid at Folsom already.)

Postal Service To Cut Saturday Mail Delivery To Save $2 Billion Per Year

New York Dems Shouldn't Make Political Hay of Brooklyn College's Panel on BDS | The Nation

Soledad O'Brien, Tony Perkins Clash Over Boy Scouts' Policy On Gay Members (video)

The End of Cod - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Cod fishery of the North Atlantic and the livelihoods it sustained for 300 years are basically finished ... A lot of fishermen are angry–but what can we do? There’s just no fish left.

A Son 'Cuts,' and a Father Struggles - NYTimes.com Research on nonsuicidal self-injury generally known as cutting is in its infancy.

8th century gamma ray burst irradiated the Earth, study finds A nearby short duration gamma-ray burst may be the cause of an intense blast of high-energy radiation that hit the Earth in the 8th century,

Internet ‘Under Assault’ by Censoring UN, Regulator Says - Bloomberg International proposals to control the Internet will continue after a United Nations conference in Dubai and the U.S. should be ready to fight such efforts, lawmakers and a regulator said. (China, Russia and Muslim countries want to control your internrnetz)
Cable companies make 97% margin on internet services and have no incentive to offer gigabit internet

020513
Kill Him Silently - Al Jazeera World - Al Jazeera English The story behind Mossad's bungled bid to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.
Exile the Obama way - Opinion - Al Jazeera English Through utilisation of the federal No-Fly list, authorities are increasingly subjecting individuals to de facto exile. (you can leave but you can't come back)
The paranoia of the superrich and superpowerful - Opinion - Al Jazeera English From Pakistan to Mali, Washington's drones and special ops are blindly pushing the process of destabilisation forward.
North Korea, poised to conduct a nuclear test any day now, has posted a video on YouTube depicting a US city resembling New York engulfed in flames after an apparent missile attack. : worldnews
From Arab Spring to global revolution | Paul Mason | World news | The Guardian n an excerpt from his book Why It's Still Kicking Off Everywhere, Paul Mason argues that a global protest movement, based on social networks, is here to stay
Report: Catholic laundries enslaved women and girls in Ireland as recently as 1996 | The Raw Story
Divorce Case in China Is a Victory for Women and Weibo n a victory for women and Weibo, an American has won a landmark divorce case against her wealthy Chinese celebrity husband, whose vicious beatings she chronicled in visceral detail on the country's largest social network in 2011.
Chris Huhne's career destroyed by a 10-year lie | UK news | The Guardian Behind her in the packed public gallery sat Carina Trimingham, the PR adviser for whom Huhne left her in 2010 after 26 years of marriage, who had arrived at the court with the former minister. The politician's father was also in court.

Sadly, No! » Likud It Or Not, Syria Had To Be Blown Up Elliott Abrams — also known by his nom de criminel Mr. Kenilworth — has written an account of Israel’s bombing of Syria’s al Kibar nuclear reactor. At the time, Abrams was one of George W. Bush’s deputy NSAs and so his version of events is an insider’s. Since Abrams is a self-described “gladiator,” a patron of butchers in Central America, a smear merchant and liar, husband of a genocidally-minded homophobic fascist, brother-in-law to one of same sentiments, son-in-law of a certifiable madman, and author of a book which demands of his co-tribalists a more ethnic purity by denouncing Jewish-gentile intermarriage in the strident tone of an old Southern anti-miscegenation tract, his story of the strike on Syria, published in his family’s magazine Commentardy, is bound to betray a certain authorial slant. And he doesn’t disappoint. (the return of HTML Mencken)

Voter Waiting Time Disparities Draw Democrats’ Scrutiny - NYTimes.com
Voting Rights and Republican Party - The Simplest Way To Fix Our Voting System - Esquire

CIA rendition: more than a quarter of countries 'offered covert support' | World news | guardian.co.uk Report finds at least 54 countries co-operated with global kidnap, detention and torture operation mounted after 9/11 attacks
Extraordinary Rendition Report Finds More Than 50 Nations Involved In Global Torture Scheme The number of nations and the names of those detained provide a stark tally of a program that was expanded widely -- critics say recklessly -- by the George W. Bush administration after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and has been heavily condemned in the years since.
DOJ Drones Paper: Obama's Second-Term Cabinet, Agenda Faces New Scrutiny the Obama administration believes that high-level administration officials -- not just the president -- may order the killing of “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or an associated force even without evidence they are actively plotting against the U.S. ... the U.S. would be able to kill a U.S. citizen overseas ... “A lawful killing in self-defense is not an assassination,” states the Justice Department white paper quoted by Isikoff. (and we just made it legal, ha-ha)
The Powers Of The US President - The Pulpit's Bully - Esquire "A lawful killing in self-defense is not an assassination,"
Obama Targeted Killing Document: If We Do It, It's Not Illegal | Mother Jones
Chilling legal memo from Obama DOJ justifies assassination of US citizens | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The president's partisan lawyers purport to vest him with the most extreme power a political leader can seize (even Bush didn't try this)
License to Kill A newly released memo shows the Obama administration's justifications for extrajudicial killings
All the King's Drones -- Obama's Drone White Paper - Esquire On January 23, 2009 -- or three days after he took office -- President Barack Obama began killing people deemed to be enemies of the United States. (and hasn't stopped, or wondered about the consequences) - Are “informed, high-level officials” acting in the interests of the state ever liable to the accusation that they have committed murder? (no)
White House Reporters Pepper Jay Carney With Questions About Drone Memo
Politics, Power, and Preventive Action » Targeted Killings and Signature Strikes
Wyden Statement on DOJ Memo on the Killing of Americans During Counterterrorism Operations | Press Releases | U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (Americans have the right to know if their President thinks he can kill them)
Michael Isikoff To Rachel Maddow: DOJ Drone Memo Shows Obama Has 'More Elastic' Concept Of Imminent Threats (video)
Zero Farce Thirty | Foreign Policy The man who nearly stopped 9/11 tells FP why Kathryn Bigelow's movie about the hunt for Osama bin Laden gets it wrong.

John Brennan to answer to drone strike memo as senators demand clarification | World news | guardian.co.uk Senators angered by White House's lack of transparency plan to question nominee for CIA director at confirmation hearing

Poll: Plurality Of Voters Less Likely To Support An NRA-Endorsed Candidate | TPM LiveWire
Mass Shootings More Lethal Than Homegrown Islamist Terrorism | Mother Jones

GOP to Filibuster Obama's Consumer Watchdog Pick | Mother Jones
Eschaton: Huzzah!!!! The CBO has announced that they predict that Teh Deficit is falling! Everybody cheer!!! Also, too, unemployment will remain above 7.5% all year. Only dirty hippie bloggers on the internetz will point out that these things are actually related. Contractionary policy is contractionary.
Austerity Has Harmed The Economy According To CBO | TPMDC (Rethugs and deficit hawks: "can't hear you!")
Obama Sequestration Request Calling For Short-Term Budget Fix To Delay Automatic Cuts

Pennsylvania Republicans To Introduce New Election-Rigging Plan
Not-So-Universal Health Care | New Republic - Slipping through the cracks of Obamacare
Exit everyman: How the Jersey Democratic bosses destroyed Dick Codey and unleashed Chris Christie | Capital New York (big money fucked NJ, opened door for Christie)

Democrats Slam Republicans Over Opposition To The Violence Against Women Act As top Republican begins rebranding push, Democrats look to keep focus on opposition to Violence Against Women Act
Rove’s Move Into Republican Primaries Enrages Tea Party - Bloomberg

Why Nicholas Kristof Gets My Goat
The White House’s curious silence about Obama’s claim of skeet shooting - The Washington Post No matter how many times you update this blog, the fact remains that you have embarrassed yourself and your organization. It's the height of stupidity for a reputable organization like the WaPo to be devoting time to something so stupid as whether or not the president has ever shot a gun. (Glenn Kessler fact-fucking)
Obama's "Skeetgate," Explained | Mother Jones

City workers tow car after painting ‘handicapped parking’ markings around it | The Raw Story “This was indeed a serious error, and schlemielism that is unacceptable to the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality,” a statement from the city said. (schlemielism!)

Sony world photography awards - professional shortlist | Art and design | guardian.co.uk

What is the purpose of the Universe? Here is one possible answer. Cosmological Natural Selection and it was conjured by Lee Smolin
Students with autism gravitate toward STEM majors : Nature News & Comment
The Disgusting Consequences of Plastic-Bag Bans - Bloomberg plastic bags from retail establishments, the target of the ban, accounted for only 0.6 percent of litter. Most alarmingly, the industry has highlighted news reports linking reusable shopping bags to the spread of disease.
Neanderthals Went Extinct Much Earlier Than Previously Thought, Fossil Study Suggests If true, the study, casts doubt on the idea that modern humans and Neanderthals co-existed – and possibly even interbred – for millennia, because humans aren't believed to have settled in the region until 42,000 years ago.

Silent Circle's latest app democratizes encryption. Governments won't be happy. - Slate Magazine Meet the groundbreaking new encryption app set to revolutionize privacy and freak out the feds - Silent Circle
Sexual violence and the paradox of anonymity in the digital age - Opinion - Al Jazeera English
Instagram users begin fightback against stolen photos | Technology | guardian.co.uk Many users are finding their photos on other sites – and critics say Instagram is not doing enough to prevent image theft
Deleting Google Voice, Extra Groceries, and Gmail in IFTTT - Just as exciting is the ability to port your Google Voice number to your carrier. Google don't make a big deal of this either but the instructions are here
How IFTTT is Changing the Way We Do Things on the Web (If This Then That)
IFTTT / Put the internet to work for you.
Phone Size - Phone size comparison made easy! (set your screen size!)
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone or iPad

Unclock/volt profile for long battery life - xda-developers
Batch file utility to create ad-hoc network or hotspot in Windows 8 - xda-developers
Surface Tips - Tips & Tricks for your Microsoft Surface tablet
Increase Surface storage space | USB recovery drive for Surface
Download: Surface Pro Getting Started Guide, everything you need to know about the device | WinBeta
Microsoft Surface Pro Review - YouTube Lisa Gade reviews the MS Surface Pro Windows 8 tablet.
MobileTechReview Forum, News and Reviews: Microsoft Surface Pro First Look, and Yes it has a Wacom Digitizer
Surface Pro review: It's clunky, it's chunky but it's Microsoft's best hope - GadgetBox on NBCNews.com
Surface Pro versus MacBook Air: Who's being dishonest with storage space? | ZDNet Summary: Microsoft has been pummeled by critics this week over supposedly inadequate storage space in its new Surface Pro. But those criticisms are horribly flawed. Big surprise: when you do the disk space math, Surface Pro and MacBook Air are practically twins.
Welcome to the Surface Blog
A compilation of the IAmA questions & answers : Surface
I am Panos Panay with the Surface Windows 8 Pro Engineering Team AMAA. : IAmA
Baig: Microsoft Surface Pro packs a punch
Microsoft’s Surface Pro Works Like a Tablet and a PC - NYTimes.com
Microsoft Surface Pro Review: Too Much Future?
Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro Review - Watch CNET's Video Review
AnandTech - Microsoft Surface Pro Review
AnandTech - Microsoft Surface Pro Review - Display: Awesome if Calibrated
Microsoft Surface Pro review
Microsoft Surface Pro review | The Verge
Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro Review | Windows 8 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows
Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro Unboxing | Windows 8 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows
Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro: Hotter, Thicker, Faster, Louder | Ars Technica
Surface Pro is PC and tablet in one; it just needs modern apps - Chicago Sun-Times
Microsoft Surface: From Idea To Pro | TechCrunch
This hasn't got much attention: Surface pro has a Wacom digitizer with 1024 pressure points!! : Surface
AnandTech - The iPhone 5 Display: Thoroughly Analyzed
Amazon.com: Mini Displayport To Displayport Splitter Male To 2 X Female 1FT: Electronics
SurfaceTeam comments on I am Panos Panay with the Surface Windows 8 Pro Engineering Team AMAA. you run Sketchbook Pro or even the free version from Autodesk you have the same tool set professional artists use.
Twitter / cwgabriel: Whoa whoa whoa, the MS surface ...
SurfaceTeam comments on I am Panos Panay with the Surface Windows 8 Pro Engineering Team AMAA. I personally use 125% scaling.
Surface Pro Photoshop Support: Status Update | Ubergizmo
Amazon.com: Kensington Soft Carrying Case for for iPad 4/3/2/1, MicroSoft Surface and Nexus 10: Computers & Accessories
[Release] RT Jailbreak Tool - xda-developers
A List of Playable Games For The Microsoft Surface Pro | Leviathyn
Welcome to diablotek - Solid State Drive [SSD] to USB 3.0 SATA Adapter
Amazon.com: Anker® Uspeed USB 3.0 4 Port Compact Hub with Power Adapter and USB 3.0 Cable - Matte Black, VIA VL812 Chipset, 18 Months Warranty: Computers & Accessories
Surface Online Service Center - Welcome
Learn Windows 8 in 3 minutes (OK, it's really 4) - YouTube
The Missing Windows 8 Instructional Video - Who moved my Windows 8 Cheese? - YouTube (24 minutes)
Tablets - Nothing but the latest and greatest in Tablet PC news.

020413
Syria conflict: Assad ignores call for talks - Monday 4 February 2013 | World news | guardian.co.uk yria 'capable of repelling aggression' Assad tells Israel

Spanish corruption scandal and Italian election spook markets - as it happened | Business | guardian.co.uk

US control is diminishing, but it still thinks it owns the world | Noam Chomsky | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The United States has long assumed the right to use violence to achieve its aims, but it is now less able to implement its policies

NYPD surveillance of Muslims violates anti-spying rules, lawsuit claims | World news | guardian.co.uk Lawyers accuse NYPD of creating climate of fear and call for independent monitor to oversee counter-terrorism efforts (Bloomberg's racist police state)

Assault Weapons Ban Likely To Die So That Broader Gun Policy Legislation Can Live
Joe Scarborough: NRA Making 'Stupid' Arguments About Guns (VIDEO)

Daily Politics Blog - Charles P. Pierce - Political Blogging - Esquire Holy god, this is some motherfcking crazeeeeee shee-it right here! - Thiessen formerly was a speechwriter in the employ of President C-Plus Augustus (Fred Hiatt so longs for the '90's and the chase after Clinton's dick)
Lindsey Graham Can Start Being Sane Again (Maybe) - Esquire Davis was considered the primary prospect for making the life of Huckleberry Closetcase miserable over the next year or so. With him out, it is entirely possible that Graham will stop yapping on television about Greece and go back to his previous career of pretending to be a moderate. It is also entirely possible that I will flap my arms and fly to the moon.


What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days? - Esquire I've had several people call me and ask about Ann Romney," Ron Kaufman, a longtime friend and aide to the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 presidential candidate nominee, told the Herald. And we would have spoken further, except that somebody in the background hollered, "There he is! Get the net!" and then the line went dead.
Tagg Romney Now To Maybe Run For Ann Romney’s Senate Seat: Full Eyes Clear Hearts Can’t Lose
Fox's Rove And Erickson Go To War Over Direction Of GOP | Blog | Media Matters for America
Ohio Medicaid Expansion Backed By GOP Gov. John Kasich

Anonymous OpLastResort Claims Hack On Government Site, Posts 4,000 Bank Exec Credentials
Anonymous posts over 4000 U.S. bank executive credentials | ZDNet Anonymous appears to have published login and private information from over 4000 American bank executive credentials its Operation Last Resort, demanding US computer crime law reform.
S&P To Face Charges From States, U.S. Over Wrongdoing Before Financial Crisis: Report
JPMorgan Joins Rental Rush For Wealthy Clients: Mortgages - Bloomberg - is giving its wealthiest clients the chance to invest in the single-family rental market after other investments linked to the U.S. housing recovery jumped in value. (this can't end well)

APNewsBreak: Effort building to change US pot laws (Obama wil veto and send in drones)

Student loans: The next housing bubble - Salon.com College students accrue hundreds of thousands in debt with little hope of paying it back. It's a cruel game

Send in the clones | john hawks weblog The Attack of the Neanderthal Clone Baby Stories".

Do We Really Know That Cats Kill By The Billions? Not So Fast : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture : NPR (Fluffy fights back)

Dinosaur-killing asteroid was a twin terror - space - 01 February 2013 - New Scientist Asteroids 2, dinosaurs 0. The infamous space rock that slammed into Earth and helped wipe it clean of large dinosaurs may have been a binary – two asteroids orbiting each other.
Caffeine Jitters | February 4, 2013 Issue - Vol. 91 Issue 5 | Chemical & Engineering News

Oregon Bakery Owner Aaron Klein Denies Lesbian Couple A Wedding Cake While he denies the lesbian couple's charge that he referred to them as "abominations unto the Lord," he said he'd rather close down his business than "be forced to do something that violates my conscience," according to KATU. (famous on the internets for all eternity for being a homophobic jerk, Aaron, have fun, your kid will be pround of you when he grows up)

020313
Russia and Iran meet Syrian opposition leader | World news | guardian.co.uk Rare sign of progress as foreign ministers meet Moaz al-Khatib for first time, but death toll in Syria continues to rise
Egypt tensions rise as footage emerges of police beating protester | World news | guardian.co.uk Film of Egyptian man being beaten by riot police outside presidential palace sparks calls for 'an end to this regime of tyranny'
Iraq rocked by suicide car bomb | World news | guardian.co.uk At least 15 people killed and 70 injured after explosion at police headquarters in northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, say officials
Blair: fight against al-Qaida could last a generation | World news | guardian.co.uk Former PM likens battle to struggle against communism and warns that cost of standing aside would be far greater (the war they created will never end)
Fayhan Al Ghamdi, Saudi Cleric, Reportedly Beats 5-Year-Old Daughter To Death, Receives Only Light Sentence The reports said he questioned the child's virginity.
“Burkas for babies”: Saudi cleric’s new fatwa causes controversy (too sexually attractive to Saudi men)
The “Defunct Economist” And The Psychopathology Of Stephen Harper. - Vive “Is there no limb too long, no lie too outrageous?” (not for Conservatives, anywhere, but Stephen Harper is very bad for Canada)
France Debates Gay Marriage - NYTimes.com
US military expands its drug war in Latin America - Yahoo! News (Obama's war on drugz supersized)

3quarksdaily: The League of Authoritarian Gentlemen It turns out, however, that the autocrats haven't been asleep at the wheel, either. And nowhere is this truer in Eurasia, where Russia, China, and the Central Asian states have been busy discovering the virtues of alliance in a common cause. They've been working hard to forge an international front of anti-democrats, developing a new set of counter-strategies and regional legal tools.

Fighting Maritime Piracy: Mission Accomplished? | The Progressive Realist (not quite)
Top 5 Naval Battles of the Asia-Pacific

Open-Sourcing the Global Academy: Aaron Swartz's Legacy by Rebecca Gould :: SSRN

The Future by Al Gore – review | Books | The Guardian Al Gore's alarming new guide to what needs to change in world politics is essential reading - six drivers of global change

Wayne LaPierre: Obama Is 'Trying To Take Away' Americans' Guns On Sunday, he said it was the fault of the "mental health lobby" that gun laws do not work.
This gun rights backer, armed with his Glock and his blog, is always on alert - The Washington Post
Balloon Juice » Something that someone else is going to do to them
Krugman: The NRA Is An 'Insane Organization' | TPM LiveWire
GOP Strategist Urges Republicans To Support Universal Background Checks | TPM LiveWire Fiorina said the NRA "overplayed their hand" by coming out against universal checks.
Hullabaloo - Sheepdogs and wolves
Dangerous Gun Myths - NYTimes.com The debate over what to do to reduce gun violence in America hit an absurd low point on Wednesday when a Senate witness tried to portray a proposed new ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines as some sort of sexist plot that would disproportionately hurt vulnerable women and their children ... Gayle Trotter, a fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum, a right-wing public policy group that provides pseudofeminist support for extreme positions that are in fact dangerous to women.
NRA Head Fearmongers About Background Checks: 'I Just Don't Think You Can Trust These People' | ThinkProgress I think what they’ll do is they’ll turn this universal check on the law-abiding into a universal registry of law-abiding people, and law-abiding people don’t want that.
Gun Safety Ad Will Air During The Super Bowl | ThinkProgress

Leon Panetta attacks senators' questioning of Chuck Hagel at hearing | World news | guardian.co.uk Outgoing defense secretary 'disappointed' by combative questions from Republicans who focused on Israel and Iraq war
Meet Ted Cruz, attack dog - Salon.com Fact-checkers had a field day with the Tea Party darling's false charges against Hagel, but the far right ate it up
Ted Cruz Goes After Hagel Over Al Jazeera Appearance (video) | TPM LiveWire
Anti-Hagel Groups Emboldened After Confirmation Hearing - NYTimes.com The sense that Chuck Hagel performed poorly in his confirmation hearing has buoyed the outside groups that have been working to defeat his nomination, many of them financed by donors who refuse to identify themselves (and are not legally compelled to do so). (like Israel)

Gang of Eight immigration reform: Why Republicans and Democrats agreeing to compromise is less bipartisanship than one party caving into pressure. - Slate Magazine Why today’s political dealmaking comes from headlocks, not hugs.
Paul Krugman: GOP's Immigration Reform 'Problem Is Their Base Is Old White People'

Al Gore: US democracy has been hacked | World news | guardian.co.uk Former VP tells Andrew Marr Show the internet provides a means to rekindle democracy and purge it of corporate influence
Top Donors to Republicans Seek More Say in Senate Races - NYTimes.com The biggest donors in the Republican Party are financing a new group to recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts who Republican leaders worry could complicate the party’s efforts to win control of the Senate.

Paul Krugman Destroys GOP's Talking Points On Government Jobs | ThinkProgress (mostly teachers we've dumped, and failed politician Carly Fucking Fiorina is an idiot)
Paul Krugman: Rise Of Machines Partially To Blame For Income Inequality - companies’ preference for investing in machines instead of workers is partially to blame for income inequality in the 21st century. That’s a shift from the last two decades of the 20th century when income inequality was mostly about the differences between high-skill and low-skill workers. (video)
Robert P. Stoker: Social Security Does Not Add to the Debt (oh, are the CW fact-fuckers out in force)
Social Security Does Not Add to the Debt — The Monkey Cage
Americans Closest to Retirement Were Hardest Hit by Recession - NYTimes.com (work 'til you're 90, moochers!)

Our Dumb Senator - Tea party-backed Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)

Report: Border guards made wrongful arrests for rewards - Salon.com Promise of bonus pay, vacation time may have led agents to arrest hundreds of legal travelers, say researchers

Should we medicate parents to prevent divorce? - Salon.com An Oxford ethicist argues taking "love-enhancing" drugs could be a moral imperative for modern parents (Ecstacy)

Brooklyn College's academic freedom increasingly threatened over Israel event | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk New York politicians join the Alan Dershowitz-led campaign to dictate to colleges what academic events they can hold
Threats to Academic Freedom, Based On “Principles” Nobody Believes - Lawyers, Guns & Money (Israel rules)
BDS BS — Crooked Timber
Brooklyn College BDS event will go forward
Brooklyn College stands behind BDS event as pressure from elected officials comes down hard | Mondoweiss - the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement (Israel is your daddy)
Up w/ Chris Hayes: New York politicians threatening academic freedom?

Political Animal - William Saletan, torture apologist If you ever wondered why so many liberals and lefties have a visceral loathing for that plague upon humanity known as journalistic contrarianism, you need look no further than the work of William Saletan. (he's better than you)

Hullabaloo - The ultimate symbol of elite failure - And what was the course? The students were accused of collaborating on the last of four take-home exams in the spring 2012 lecture Government 1310: Introduction to Congress.

Bats Left/Throws Right: Abortion Rights Have Nothing To Do With Women, Says Noted Catholic Man Ross Douthat, "Divided by Abortion, United by Feminism". January 26 (Pope Douthat will always be 17 years old)

Kevin Riordan: Home, suite home: Time for a little zoning flexibility Cherry Hill ordinances lump "mother-in-law suites" with auto-salvage businesses, junkyards, and heliports as impermissible in residential areas

Why Police Officers Lie Under Oath - NYTimes.com Not just because the police have a special inclination toward confabulation, but because, disturbingly, they have an incentive to lie. In this era of mass incarceration, the police shouldn’t be trusted any more than any other witness, perhaps less so.
Ramarley Graham's family sues NYPD on anniversary of teen's shooting death | World news | guardian.co.uk In lawsuit targeting police tactics and training, family says officer threatened to shoot dead unarmed teen's grandmother (Bloomberg's facsist cops)

Dan Slater’s Love in the Time of Algorithms, reviewed. - Slate Magazine
Husbands who do housework may have less sex, study says (small, 15 year-old sample, just shows men who do housework all day have "headaches" at night)

Bats Left/Throws Right: Jonah Goldberg Agrees With You. 'Nuff Said. (cats are super-predators and the decline of the NYT science pages +Natalie Angier rose to the top of most-emailed bullshit)
DailyTech - Kitty Cameras Find U.S. House Cats Killing More Prey Than Previously Known Of the total critters killed, 41 percent were lizards, snakes, and frogs; 25 percent were mammals like chipmunks; 20 percent were insects and worms, and 12 percent were birds. In fact, house cats are one of the reasons that one in three American bird species are becoming endangered.

Speak, Memory by Oliver Sacks | The New York Review of Books

Knome’s New Machine to Aid Labs in Genomic Analysis - NYTimes.com
UCI team finds new target for treating wide spectrum of cancers | UCIrvine News Research reveals rare and promising binding site on mutant p53 protein
News Release Archives > Nanoparticles that look and act like cells By cloaking nanoparticles in the membranes of white blood cells, scientists at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute may have found a way to prevent the body from recognizing and destroying them before they deliver their drug payloads.

Schneier on Security: Power and the Internet

020213
Egypt protests galvanised by video of police beating naked man | World news | guardian.co.uk Opponents of Mohamed Morsi say the footage proves that the president has chosen to order a brutal crackdown
François Hollande visits Timbuktu as Mali intervention declared successful | World news | guardian.co.uk With the key phase of France's campaign over, it is unclear whether lasting peace or a simmering guerrilla war will follow
US can talk to Iran, says Joe Biden | World news | guardian.co.uk Vice-president tells Munich conference that US can talk to Tehran over alleged nuclear programme if Iran gets serious
French General Assembly votes to make same-sex marriage legal - PinkNews.co.uk

Chinese hackers targeted Washington Post in 2011, newspaper says | Technology | guardian.co.uk Post says it was the victim of a 'sophisticated cyber-attack' two years ago but that the breach was dealt with 'promptly'
Twitter Hacked: Company Says Data From 250,000 Accounts May Have Been Accessed, Stolen By Hackers

US military struggling to stop suicide epidemic among war veterans | World news | guardian.co.uk Last year, more active-duty soldiers killed themselves than died in combat. And after a decade of deployments to war zones, the Pentagon is bracing for things to get much worse

U.S. Gun Deaths Since Sandy Hook Top 1,280 (NRA is terrorist organization)
Political Animal - Meet Shirley Chambers. She has lost every one of her four children to gun violence.
10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down | Mother Jones
NRA-ILA | National Organizations With Anti-Gun Policies (everyone is on their hit list)

Clinton: Benghazi Critics Don't Live In 'Evidence-Based World' | TPM LiveWire
Hillary Clinton Interview: Secretary Of State Says Benghazi Critics Have Refused To 'Accept The Facts' (lookin' at you, Volcano John)

Right-wing media fails again! - Salon.com The conservative echo machine wants to compare Chuck Hagel to a failed Bush nominee, no matter the reality
When he ran for president, John McCain said he wanted Chuck Hagel as his Secretary of Defense - whom he now opposes for that same position - Stabley Times (don't expect consistency from Volcano John)
Mike Johanns To Support Chuck Hagel For Defense Secretary: Report (R-Neb.)
The Hagel Follies: 'Even My Low Expectations Went Unmet' - James Fallows - The Atlantic
More on the Unfortunate Hagel Encounter - James Fallows - The Atlantic (weak, ineffectual and not that smart; just what Obama wanted, apparently)

Immigration Reform Plan Splits GOP Down National-Local Line

This Is How Filibuster Reform Comes Back To Life | TPM Editors Blog In the spirit of the bipartisan, but toothless rules reforms the Senate passed last week, Senate Minority Mitch McConnell and over 40 of his members are vowing to block confirmation of a permanent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director unless Democrats agree to pass legislation dramatically weakening the agency. (Reid caves on filibuster; Turtle Face uses filibuster to say ha-ha, fooled you again)

White House Issues Compromise On Birth Control | TPMDC (always compromising with fanatics)
Political Animal - The Obama administration’s birth control cave-in: bad policy, bad politics
Obama Administration's New Birth Control Rules Already Gaining Support Among Catholic Leaders | ThinkProgress
Mississippi's Last Abortion Clinic Sends A Message: 'We're Here, And We're Not Going Anywhere' | ThinkProgress
FDA Allows College Campus To Make Contraception More Accessible With Plan B Vending Machine | ThinkProgress (now, that's progress)

Orrin Hatch Defends Costly Amgen Provision In Fiscal Cliff Deal Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch angrily defended the inclusion of a controversial provision in the fiscal cliff deal that will pay major dividends to a single biopharmaceutical company, Amgen.
Paul Krugman Battles 'Beltway Deficit Feedback Loop,' And Not By Himself

Conservatives Shocked to Discover Healthcare in America is Really Expensive | Mother Jones
Almost Two-Thirds Of Older Workers Plan To Delay Retirement | ThinkProgress (so let's get rid of this "entitlement" that workers paid for)
alicublog: A Classic Case (a whole $300 bucks and it drives wingers nuts)

The Washington Post Co. explores the sale of its downtown headquarters - The Washington Post

New York Times Revises Ed Koch Obit To Include AIDS The New York Times revised its Friday obituary of former New York City mayor Ed Koch after several observers noticed that it lacked any mention of his controversial record on AIDS.

The Connection Man The mourners at the funeral of New York Post editorial-page editor Eric Breindel ran the gamut from Bobby Kennedy Jr. to David Dinkins to Rudy Giuliani to Rupert Murdoch to Norman Podhoretz. How did a right-wing ideologue (with a heroin bust on his résumé) become the power elite's favorite journalist?
Bay Buchanan trades politics for real estate | WashingtonExaminer.com - "I can't just live my life going on TV and being angry all the time."
Rick Sheehy Resigns: Nebraska Lieutenant Governor Steps Down Sheehy resigned after questions were raised about improper cellphone calls to four women, none of which were his wife, during the past four years ... "I thought I was the only one," she said. "Apparently, I was grossly mistaken."

Pro-Life Celebrities: Jack Nicholson, Mel Gibson And Other Stars Who Are Anti-Abortion
Rick Perry: Boy Scouts Should Keep Anti-Gay Policy
Clinton could win Texas - Public Policy Polling Support for secession in the state has increased since President Obama's reelection. 20% of voters say they'd like to leave the country to 67% who support staying in the union. That's up from 14% who wanted to secede when we polled on the issue in September of 2011. 35% of Republicans support exiting.

Whole Foods CEO caught lying about costs of ObamaCare, boycott ensues - Stabley Times ohn Mackey outed himself as a radically anti-Obama conservative during an interview with NPR on Wednesday, equating ObamaCare with “fascism” as he attempted to falsely claim that the upcoming health care reform package will cost his corporation money.

Amazon Users Pen Sarcastic Drone 'Reviews' For Children's Unmanned Aircraft Toy

Local Coffee Chain Starts Charging Customers a 1.5 Percent "Sick Leave Surcharge" | Slog Cherry Street Coffee
Tips are not optional, they are how waiters get paid in America | Chelsea Welch | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk I was a waitress at Applebee's restaurant in Saint Louis. I was fired Wednesday for posting a picture on Reddit.com of a note a customer left on a bill. I posted it on the web as a light-hearted joke
Pastor Apologizes For Snide Remark On Meal Receipt | The Smoking Gun (infamous now on the interests for all eternity as a hypocritical jerk: God works in mysterious ways)
Alois Bell: Top 10 Facts You Need to Know | HEAVY
XNsQoB6.jpg ("Pastor" Alois Bell's website hacked)

Billion Euro supercomputer to 'simulate entire human brain' - Yahoo! News UK The research could lead to computers and robots that think like people - and unlock the secrets of depression and Alzheimer's.
Rotten Egg Gas May Be Key to Human Longevity | Medicine | Sci-News.com A gaseous compound called hydrogen sulfide may play a wide-ranging role in staving off aging, according to a team of scientists from University of South China, Hunan.

Clicking Online Ads More Likely To Deliver Malware Than Surfing Porn Sites, Report Finds | ThinkProgress
House Of Representatives Bans Spotify Because P2P Tech Must Be Evil!! | Techdirt the IT folks in the House of Representatives have banned the use of the perfectly legal and authorized music service Spotify because it's P2P technology.

020113
Noura Bint Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, Bahrain Princess, Accused Of Torture
Mexico Vigilantes 'Charge' 53 Prisoners

The true cost of national security : Columbia Journalism Review From the perspective of taxpayers who must bear the burden, total national security costs are as much as 2.5 times the base Defense budget. Reporters might want to take a look at the true costs, and not just at the way the White House prepares the budget and Pentagon spins it ... the fiscal 2013 cost of national security comes to more than $1.3 trillion—two and a half times the basic Defense budget.

Obama Deportation Toll Could Pass 2 Million At Current Rates (they shall be known by their deeds)

Hillary Clinton's Best Moments Abroad (photos)

Citizens United To Supreme Court: Landmark School Desegregation Case Was Wrong | ThinkProgress (the return of slavery)

Why We Like The President - Esquire It was that the Republican party establishment was overwhelmed by the abandoned wrath aimed at a very centrist Democratic president and the wrath burned out the party's impulse control. And the president, seeing this, shrewdly found a way to lock the Republicans inside their own monkeyhouse while he went about trying to govern the country ... It was that the Republican party establishment was overwhelmed by the abandoned wrath aimed at a very centrist Democratic president and the wrath burned out the party's impulse control.
Brown Out - Esquire Well, I'll be bqhatevwr-ed. McDreamy, y'all are just full of surprises.

“It Gets Better” pulls 49ers’ PSA after players deny their involvement - Salon.com

A 36" Water Pipe From 1915 Bursts, Causing Subway Havoc At 23rd And Broadway [photo] - Business Insider

With The Fox News Empire In A Ratings Slump, Where's Roger Ailes' Magic Touch? | Blog | Media Matters for America
Piers Morgan Enrages Chelsea Handler (VIDEO) Morgan wondered aloud about Handler's appearance. "You either had plastic surgery or make up, because you look really hot today," he said. "You're so annoying! You're so obnoxious, you wonder why everybody hates you. I specifically covered up so you couldn't look at me and undress me with your molester eyes," Handler said. (wow)

U.S. Carbon Emissions In 2012 Lowest Since 1994 | TPM LiveWire (coal to natural gas, recession, kids not driving)

Where the Wingers Won The 2012 election's progressive victories didn't stem the tide of conservatives flooding state legislatures. (Red states will get nuttier)

All states except Oregon now limit abortion access (Red states )
This Week in the War on Women, Arkansas Edition - Lawyers, Guns & Money : The good Sen. Rapert is indeed an open racist as well. (next up, mandatory implants to report pregancy states to Republican headquarters)

Owner Sends 'Gay' Dog To Be Euthanized (PHOTO) A Facebook campaign was set up to try and save the "gay" dog, according to the Atlantic. A Facebook post detailing the troubling situation called for immediate action (consciousness spreads via social media to save dog's life from idiot homophobe)

The Intro To The Sci-Fi Movie Contact (1997) - YouTube
Reddit Enhancement Suite
Tom Haverfoods

013113
France backs plan for UN peacekeeping force in Mali | World news | guardian.co.uk Defence minister says France would play role in UN force as troops capture airport in last rebel-held town
Israel faces repercussions of air strike on Syria | World news | guardian.co.uk Jewish state maintains its traditional silence in the face of accusations that it violated Syria's sovereign territory
Russia condemns Israeli air strike on Syria | World news | guardian.co.uk Russian foreign ministry says reported attack would violate UN charter and can not be justified
UN Panel: Israeli Settlements Are Illegal (Israel: fuck you, world)

Mental Health Solutions Alone Can't Thwart Gun Violence, Experts Say (NRA wants to know if you are taking Prozac)

Hagel Confirmation Hearing Opens With More Deflection Than Defense
Chuck Hagel, John McCain Clash Over Iraq Surge (video) And one of McCain's favorite parts of the Bush strategy was the surge, which sent 20,000 additional troops into Iraq .. "Our war in Iraq I think was the most fundamentally bad, dangerous decision since Vietnam," Hagel said. (volcano John loves his disasters)
Israel, Israel and Israel Some More | TPM Editors Blog I understand how politically popular Israel is on Capitol Hill, but its still somewhat amazing just how completely questions about Israel have dominated the Hagel confirmation hearings (too much light, turn it off)
Chuck Hagel's Senate hearing: testy exchanges on key foreign policy issues | World news | guardian.co.uk Republicans and Democrats expressed varying degrees of concern over Hagel's positions on Iran, Iraq and Israel (it's always Israel, isn't it?)

Debt Limit Increase Approved In Senate Vote

Price Middle School Shooting: Multiple Injuries In Attack At Southeast Atlanta School (NRA says more guns is the solution)
Background Checks Overwhelmingly Supported By Gun Owners In 4 States (NRA says 95% is a small minority)
Orrin Hatch: Gun Background Checks Could Destroy Liberty, Cause Persecution (liberty to kill other people and revolt against the government)
AB 202: CA Schools Could Arm Teachers, Principals, Janitors If Republican Bill Passes (video)
Duck Hunting, Gun Nut Logic, and Other Gun News - Lawyers, Guns & Money - As everyone should know by this point, there’s absolutely no logical or historical basis for the idea that people have the right to walk around fully armed without any restriction at all. The NRA only took up this position as part of white backlash in the 1970s, Ronald Reagan supported gun control when guns meant armed Black Panthers, the American West of the 19th century was filled with towns that banned guns except for law control, there’s zero evidence that the Founders believed anything even remotely approaching what the NRA is arguing, etc., etc. Among the laws that restrict guns are hunting laws.
The Ultimate Guide To The Gun Safety Debate | ThinkProgress
The Day In Hackery - Lawyers, Guns & Money : TNC on Mamet (you know, David Mamet, angry white gun-nut who also writes plays)

80 Percent of Senate Republicans Opposed Sandy Relief | Occupy America (and, of course, wanted it for their own states)

John Kerry And Chuck Hagel Iraq War Votes - Echoes of Iraq - Esquire As an answer, I went back to a story from three years ago in The New York Times about some declassified documents regarding different lies that helped launch a different war, Some of the dialogue is intriguing (the lies we were told, and believed)
Chuck Hagel Nomination Hearings - Today In Hagel Bashing - Esquire - There really shouldn't be as much low farce in confirming a Cabinet appointment than was on display today as the Senate Armed Services Committee got its chance to blow off steam and posture in front of Chuck Hagel today in Washington

Political Animal - The Divergent Fates of Sarah Palin and Shirley Sherrod (the Grifter from the North vs real virtue and modesty)
Bonus Quote of the Day "All of this, if they are infractions as they are reported, it's too bad." -- Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), quoted by the Newark Star Ledger, on the controversy surrounding Sen. Robert Menendez's trips to the Dominican Republican and prostitutes
Corbett son-in-law under federal investigation The Philadelphia Police department confirmed that a narcotics officer was taken off the street and placed on administrative leave Thursday, following the results of an FBI and Internal Affairs investigation.

Elizabeth Warren, Elijah Cummings, Maxine Waters Call For More Transparency On Failed Foreclosure Reviews (which is why Obama didn't want her)

NY Times: Chinese Hackers Attacked Us For Months
CNN Blacked Out In China For Reporting On New York Times Hacking (this could get interesting)
What the New York Times hack tells us about the layer cake of hacking | Technology | guardian.co.uk The infiltration of the American newspaper by hackers reckoned to be working for the Chinese government is a demonstration of the layered model of hacking: from noisy to silent, amateur to professional

Jon Stewart To Al Gore On Current TV Sale To Al Jazeera: 'I Thought It Was An Odd Move' (Jon Stewart doesn't know that much)
James Carville, Mary Matalin Explain Leaving CNN (VIDEO) James Carville and Mary Matalin spoke out about their split with CNN on Thursday's "CBS This Morning." They are two of the network's most prominent pundits. It was announced on Tuesday that they, along with contributors Erick Erickson, Bill Bennett and Maria Cardona, are leaving CNN.

Torture Advocate Decries, Joins Campaign to Suppress “Immoral” Political Discourse - Lawyers, Guns & Money : We’ve already discussed the campaign to suppress political speech at Brooklyn College. Dershowitz’s argument now is that the event could be acceptable…if it included him:

Catholic diocese boots anti-Muslim speaker - Salon.com A diocese in Massachusetts disinvites Robert Spencer (anti-Muslim Park51 crackpot)

Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » Ironic Goatees For Everybody Observation: If you want to know what Nate Silver would be like if he decided to use his powers for “soft jazz glibertarian concern trolling of liberals” instead of for good, then the Freakonomics franchise is about as close as you can get. It’s what happens when a Village Centrist and a Chicago school social economist team up for maximum totebagger nonsense.
Why extroverts fail, introverts flounder and you probably succeed - The Washington Post (ambiversion is best)

Law and Economics - Lawyers, Guns & Money : New York Times has a front-page story about the ongoing collapse in the number of people applying to law school (from 100,700 in 2004 down to about 54,000 this cycle, with a 38% total decline over the last three years alone) (the law school scam bubble collapses)

Macworld's Apple celebration opens amid fears of tech giant's decline | Technology | guardian.co.uk Observers voice fears Apple is losing its edge after falls in share price, damaging reports and Maps app fiasco (subtle shift in public opinion)
Applebee’s fires waitress for exposing pastor’s ‘give God 10%’ no-tip receipt | The Raw Story

013013
Not Safe For Work Corporation | Glenn Greenwald Vs The War Nerd
Lessons From Mali
Zimbabwe's Diamond Heist -- Robert Mugabe's Racket - Esquire After years of trying to understand how Zimbabwe works, we finally have the answer: it's a diamond heist.
Putting people off coming to Britain: your pictures | UK news | guardian.co.uk (#6: Britain is sinking: being underwater is not one of the things you look for in a country)

Harry Reid On Guantanamo: 'Nobody's Fault' Prison Camp Hasn't Closed (no one at all, Harry, you idiot)
Tom Menino Speaks Out On Guns - Rising To The Occasion - Esquire
John Brennan, Obama Nominee For CIA Director, Had Detailed Knowledge Of Torture (Obama loves torture)

GDP Shows Surprise Drop for US in Fourth Quarter (green shoots are turning brown)
2013 Sequestration Likely To Happen Despite Ominous GDP Report

The Confirmation of John Kerry - Secretary Kerry - Esquire
John Kerry Massachusetts Senate Replacement - Replacement Players - Esquire it is very unlikely that Deval Patrick, one of the president's oldest political allies, is going to appoint someone to the Senate that will complicate the president's life in any substantial way. (Obama didn't want a real fight against Repubicans and bankers)

The Truth About Little Women Carrying Big Wounded Men in Combat - Politics - The Atlantic Wire Conservative pundit George Will made this case on ABC's This Week Sunday, claiming: "You're 6'4", 240-pound Marine, and you're injured, and you need a Marine next to you to carry you back to safety, and the Marine next to you is a 5'4" woman who weighs 115 pounds. It's relevant." (bow-tied twerp enforcing sexist stereotypes)

Gun Control Hearing Features Gabrielle Giffords, NRA Official Wayne LaPierre
Lindsey Graham On Gun Violence: High-Capacity Magazines Needed To Protect Families (video)
Lamar Alexander Says Video Games Are 'A Bigger Problem Than Guns' But No, They Aren't (please, no facts)
Senators gripe: We can't bring guns to hearing - Ginger Gibson - politico.com
Gayle Trotter Testimony Captivates Senate Gun Control Hearing - "And the peace of mind she has ... knowing she has a scary-looking gun gives her more courage when she's fighting hardened violent criminals." More than once during her testimony, Trotter seemed to imply that five-on-one firefights ... Trotter is an outspoken opponent of the Violence Against Women Act, a law designed to aid women faced with domestic violence
Gun control coverage in the Great Lakes : Columbia Journalism Review How did the region’s reporters tell the story of Obama’s January 16th proposal? (always "both sides")
Tom Menino Speaks Out On Guns - Rising To The Occasion - Esquire - Boston Mayor Thomas Menino
Phoenix Office Shooting: Multiple Injuries Reported In Attack At Arizona Workplace
Pressing Issues: Girl Who Performed for Obama's Inaugural Slain in Chicago

The Problem With Preachers - Esquire - This is going to come as a shock, I know, to the people who insist that we find "common ground" with the Bible-bashers, or to people like His Eminence, Cardinal Douthat, of The New York Times, who maintain there is something actually spiritual in the political ambitions of the Jeebus-drunk masses on the starboard side of the aisle, but they're all about power — specifically, the power than can be gained by the public exercise of their massed personal paranoias. It has been a wonder to behold

BREAKING: Virginia Senate Committee Overwhelmingly Kills Electoral Vote Rigging Scheme | ThinkProgress
Republicans In Key States Drop Plans To Alter How Electoral College Votes Are Awarded | TPMDC
George Packer: The Political Isolation of the American South : The New Yorker (the root of evil in the US)
Dumb America by Garry Wills | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books
Southern Problems - Lawyers, Guns & Money (Eric Loomis is wrong with his false equivalence)

Sarah Palin, Queen of the Northwoods - "She Was Hot and Got Ratings" | New Republic

Too big to prosecute? Can the government bring serious criminal charges against banks?
Political Animal - The Racial Wealth Gap Gets a Lot Worse Whatever slow progress the country made in reducing the “wealth gap” during the late 1990s into the 2000s was largely wiped out and even reversed during the Great Recession.

Tennessee 'Don't Say Gay' Bill Is Back, Now Requires Teachers To Tell Parents If Child Is Gay

Political Animal - Premiums Under Obamacare: Who Pays More Or Less? - We sometimes tend to forget that the whole idea of “insurance” is to spread risk. Some people will always be financial losers in any insurance pool because they are medical winners. That’s important to keep in mind when looking at how this or that category of Americans will fare under a system designed to reduce risk for everybody.
Carrots for Doctors - NYTimes.com
Viagra as Diet Pill? - NYTimes.com

That Cuddly Kitty Is Deadlier Than You Think - NYTimes.com

For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of World War II | History & Archaeology | Smithsonian Magazine

Perhaps Alan Dershowitz Should Not Be the Arbiter of Who Speaks on American University Campuses - Lawyers, Guns & Money (weasel-speaks the anti-semitic card, again)


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Syria Massacre: Group Says At Least 65 Found Shot In Head, With Hands Bound In Aleppo

Eschaton: Hey Business, Why Don't You Help!!! We are ruled by stupid horrible people. Last week's appalling jobless data – showing 60% of young Spanish people out of work – even sent alarm bells ringing at Davos last week, with Angela Merkel calling for help from businesses to reverse the trend. Businesses can't help because people have no money to buy stuff because they have no jobs.

Why Guantanamo Bay Still Isn't Closed - Esquire The institutions failed because the politicians failed, and the politicians failed because we let them. The prison is still open because, fundamentally, and in the only way open to us, we as a nation expressed a desire that it stay open. Period.

Aaron Swartz Case Draws Letter To Eric Holder From Darrell Issa, Elijah Cummings Swartz would have faced up to 35 years in prison if convicted of hacking charges stemming from mass downloads of academic journal articles from the online database JSTOR. Although Swartz had legal access to all of the articles, he was accused of violating the database terms of service by downloading so many at once. JSTOR had opposed his prosecution. (time to subeona Carmen the Terrible)

NRA: More Gun Control Not A Serious Proposal
Neil Heslin, Father Of Newtown Victim, Heckled By Pro-Gun Activists (video, PHOTOS) Pro-gun activists responded by calling out: "Second Amendment!" (NRA thugs at work)

Obama Immigration Reform Speech: 'The Time Is Now'
GOP Immigration Reform Politics Turned 'Upside Down' (talk about moochers)
Progress Kentucky, Democratic Super PAC, Targets Mitch McConnell For Defeat In 2014
John Kerry Confirmed As Secretary Of State
Sarah Palin and the End of an Era - NationalJournal.com The former Alaska governor's split from Fox News highlights the fade of the Tea Party as well as her own diminishing role.
Roxanne Rubin, Nevada Republican, Accepts Plea Deal After Committing Voter Fraud

Opinion: Paul Krugman vs. the world - Joe Scarborough - politico.com
Joe Scarborough and the Beltway Deficit Feedback Loop To summarize, Krugman went on Morning Joe the other day and reiterated his view that the deficit is mostly a function of the bad economy (Joe Scar, idiot)
Paul Krugman: Republicans Contradict Themselves With Latest Tax Proposal
10 People Who Disagree With Joe Scarborough - Business Insider

Fox News Ratings Hit 12-Year Demo Lows In January Cable News Figures
Rush Limbaugh Is Accusing President Obama Of Orchestrating Media Boycotts | ThinkProgress
Chris Cuomo Moving To CNN To Host Morning Show; Soledad O'Brien's Role Unclear

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Inside the war for Syria's mountains | World news | guardian.co.uk Rebels are occupying Alawite houses in a region known for its tradition of sectarian coexistence in an offensive that looks likely to determine the fate of the country's cosmopolitan heart
Egypt's transition to democracy put in doubt as 'militias' add to polarisation | World news | guardian.co.uk With Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood distrusted by secularists, order and political life is breaking down in Egypt (they always over-reach)
Timbuktu mayor: Mali rebels torched library of historic manuscripts | World news | The Guardian Fleeing Islamist insurgents burnt two buildings containing priceless books as French-led troops approached, says mayor
Destruction of Timbuktu manuscripts is an offence against the whole of Africa | Jonathan Jones | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk This was an assault on world heritage comparable with the demolition of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban in 2001
Santa Maria fire: Brazilian police detain two nightclub owners | World news | guardian.co.uk Amid growing anger about the catalogue of fatal errors and negligence that led up to the disaster in Santa Maria, investigators are also questioning two members of the band whose pyrotechnic stage show is believed to have sparked the blaze early on Sunday morning.
Queen Beatrix To Abdicate Dutch Throne April 30

U.K. Economy Shrinks - WSJ.com Surprisingly Large Fourth-Period Decline Has Some Economists Worried About 'Triple-Dip' Recession (austerity wins!)

Bush's Greatest Lie Ten Years Ago Today | MichaelMoore.com This nation fights reluctantly, because we know the cost and we dread the days of mourning that always come. (when they were planning it before 9/11 to compensate for W's small dick)

U.S. Plans Base for Surveillance Drones in Africa - NYTimes.com
State Dept. Closes Office Working on Shutting Guantánamo Prison - NYTimes.com (forget justice)
No point attending Guantánamo terror trial, says accused 9/11 plotter | World news | guardian.co.uk Walid bin Attash protests against prosecution's secrecy and accuses government of intruding into attorney-client privilege

Pentagon's new massive expansion of 'cyber-security' unit is about everything except defense | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Cyber-threats are the new pretext to justify expansion of power and profit for the public-private National Security State
More On Aaron Swartz - The Hijacking Of Aaron Swartz's Case - Esquire There is nothing more dangerous than a law-enforcement establishment that thinks it's outnumbered and outgunned. This case should have been left to the good offices of the Middlesex DA, which doesn't much care about using the office to frighten the daylights out of bearded computer geniuses all over the country because...cyberterrorists, aieeeeeeeee! If the case had just stayed up in Woburn, both Aaron Swartz, and Carmen Ortiz's promising political career, might still be alive.

A Response to David Mamet on Gun Control - The Daily Beast I know that the right’s list of secret Obama evil plans for America is virtually endless, but I don’t think the state withering away is on the list. (right winger David "Me Angry White Man" Mamet loves guns, knows nothing of history)
Suicide is a gender issue that can no longer be ignored | Jane Powell | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Suicide rates among men have risen again. It's time to address the root causes of men's depression and inability to talk

Saddam Hussein Weapons of Mass Destruction Anniversary - An Anniversary That You Will Not See On Television - Esquire Let's talk some more about Susan Rice Misled The American People because she was wrong on the Sunday showz, shall we?

TARP Pay Czar Patricia Geoghegan Permitted Excessive Executive Pay At Bailed-Out Companies: Report (same old story)

Bipartisan immigration reform proposal: Path to citizenship, higher skilled immigrants, new border security (if you have a PhD)
What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days? - Esquire Then, one day, when all hope is nearly lost, they see their elusive quarry and force it, by degrees to come on camera for all the world to see. They have sought, and they have found...John McCain (the elusive John Fucking McCain, so hard to get on a Sunday Show)
The D.C. Circuit Court's Chaos Theory In Washington, dysfunction prevails.
The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Recess is Over? (Repubican judges wrecking democracy)
Sonia Sotomayor Debate: Should Unhappy Lawyers Blame Themselves? | time.com (she's upper class elite now, and completely out of touch with the present realities of legal education)
Scenes from the Conservative Bunker | New Republic (they are doing pretty well on their own)

What did Republicans win in the immigration deal? It’s has been widely assumed this morning by some immigration advocates (and by yours truly, too) that the new immigration reform plan’s process of citizenship for the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants is contingent on a commission of Southwestern officials declaring the border secure. Not true. (Jan "dead bodies" Brewer will not have veto power!)
Daily Kos: Republican National Committee members decide to stay the course (they just need to polish their bigotry message a little)
Daily Kos: When GOP complains about 'takers versus makers,' they're complaining about their own base Of the 15 states that have more than seven percent of the population on disability, 10 are Red states. The two states with the biggest percentage of the population on disability—Kentucky and West Virginia—are both VERY Red at the federal level. (and, obviously, the stupidest states in the country)

Women in combat aren’t an “experiment” anymore. They’re a success. - Slate Magazine Putting women in combat isn’t a dangerous “experiment” anymore. It’s a success.
Tucker Carlson Confused About Women in Combat -- Daily Intelligencer (idiots in bow-ties dept.)
George Will: Women in combat ‘dumbing down the standards’ because of ‘anatomical facts’ | The Raw Story (more idiots in bow-ties; Will hates the IDF)
Twitter / rogerkimball: Women in combat: another really ... @rogerkimball Why do you hate the Israeli Defense Forces? (probably wears a bow-tie)

Makers, Takers, Fakers - NYTimes.com In the 2012 election, however, that didn’t work: the picture of the G.O.P. as the party of sneering plutocrats stuck, even as Democrats became more openly populist than they have been in decades ... it’s important to understand the extent to which leading Republicans live in an intellectual bubble. They get their news from Fox and other captive media, they get their policy analysis from billionaire-financed right-wing think tanks, and they’re often blissfully unaware both of contrary evidence and of how their positions sound to outsiders. (Jindal is a faker)
Sen. Ron Johnson on "Atlas Shrugged": "I Guess I Identify With Hank Rearden"
Political Animal - Knee-Slapper The answer, always after much rumination, is that one can’t be sure, “But I don’t think Aristotle Onassis would have married Mrs. Khrushchev.” We were told it brought down the house. Maybe it’s just what George W. Bush referred to as the “soft bigotry of low expectations.”

Boy Scouts Of America Consider Dropping Ban On Gay Members And Participants: Report (welcome to the 21st century, BSA)

We’ve Now Officially Jumped the Shark on Online Courses by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly Tom Friedman is apparently really excited about online courses. As he wrote in his New York Times column on the weekend (if 'ol Flathead is for it ...)
‘Irrational exuberance’ over MOOCs (the next bubble)

Taco Bell Pulls Ad That Mocked Vegetables

Antarctic lake mission reports historic breakthrough : Nature News Blog At 05.00 a.m. local time, the WISSARD (Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling) field team hit the shallow waters of Lake Whillans, a small subglacial lake beneath 800 metre-thick ice at the margin of the West Antarctica’s Ice Sheet.
The A-Bomb Kid - Page 1 - News - New York - Village Voice Don't try this at home: The end of the world as we know it is just a term paper away
20 amazing facts about the human body | Science | The Observer (+neoteny)
What does it feel like to fly over planet Earth? - YouTube

Wireless fee, contract guidelines proposed by CRTC - Technology & Science - CBC News Carriers would be required to unlock phones, cap monthly bills
Reformatting Windows 8 on a tablet? : Surface To create a USB recovery drive for your Surface
Microsoft Testing Outlook App for Windows RT
Twitter Killer App.Net Launches Cloud File Storage For Photos, Video, Etc. | TPM Idea Lab

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Brazil Nightclub Fire Kills At Least 232 People
Venezuela Prison Riot: More Than 60 Reportedly Killed
Israeli Official Hints Pentagon Plans May Make Lone Strike on Iran Unnecessary - NYTimes.com

Davos: The Crisis Is Over - Business Insider (that's a relief)

Political Animal - The trouble with the Stuxnet leak investigation - But does the Obama administration contemplate its own policy? No. It investigates those who talk about it ... A President who once declared the Iraq War to be a grave mistake and that his would be the most transparent administration in history declares that ignorance is strength as his administration plays a dangerous game with Iran.
Kiriakou and Stuxnet: the danger of the still-escalating Obama whistleblower war | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The only official punished for the illegal NSA program was the one who discussed it. The same is now true of torture
FBI is increasing pressure on suspects in Stuxnet inquiry - The Washington Post (ignorance is strength)
Political Animal - When liberty beat security at the airport A Virginia man named Aaron Tobey, detained for 90 minutes by the Transport Security Administration in 2010 for revealing an abridged version of the fourth amendment scrawled on his chest, was awarded $250,000 in a civil suit against the TSA. (judicial push-back against Obama's security state)

Swartz didn't face prison until feds took over case, report says | Politics and Law - CNET News The late Internet activist was facing a stern warning from local prosecutors. But then the U.S. Attorney's office, run by Carmen Ortiz, chose to make an example of Aaron Swartz, a new report says ... The Boston U.S. Attorney's office was looking for "some juicy looking computer crime cases and Aaron's case, sadly for Aaron, fit the bill" ... Heymann, Peters says, thought the Swartz case "was going to receive press and he was going to be a tough guy and read his name in the newspaper." (Carmen wanted his scalp for her photo-op)
More on the Swartz Prosecution - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Choice of Mary Jo White to Head SEC Puts Fox In Charge of Hen House | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone I thought to myself: Couldn't they have found someone who wasn't a key figure in one of the most notorious scandals to hit the SEC in the past two decades? And couldn't they have found someone who isn't a perfect symbol of the revolving-door culture under which regulators go soft on suspected Wall Street criminals, knowing they have million-dollar jobs waiting for them at hotshot defense firms as long as they play nice with the banks while still in office?
xs
Secret Donors Finance Fight Against Hagel - NYTimes.com Another freshly minted and anonymously backed organization, Use Your Mandate, which presents itself as a liberal gay rights group but purchases its television time through a prominent Republican firm, is attacking Mr. Hagel as “anti-Gay,” “anti-woman” and “anti-Israel” in ads and mailers.

Barack Obama is Not Pleased | New Republic
Putting the President on the Couch | New Republic
Political Animal - Paul Ryan: We won’t shut down the government So Republicans won’t use suicide bomber negotiation tactics. That can only be a good thing.
How Republicans could take control of the Senate in 2014 - The Week
The End Of Sarah Palin As We Never Wanted To Know Her | TBogg Granny Grifter is well past her freshness date and Fox News gives her the Naughty Monkey boot:

Eschaton: Still Think Lucy Holds On To The Football The obvious area for Republicans to actually agree to do something is with immigration. Sure their base hates it, but their base hates everybody and everything. Can they bring themselves so support a path to citizenship that isn't so difficult/expensive/punitive as to be meaningless?
From Welfare Queens to Disabled Deadbeats - NYTimes.com - If you want to understand the trouble Republicans are in, one good place to start is with the obsession the right has lately developed with the rising disability rolls.

Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » “Bqhatevwr”: The Senate Dance in Massachusetts
Are Frat Brothers Natural Conservatives? - National Review Online

Orlando Sentinel frustrated voters: Analysis: 201,000 didn't vote because of long lines - Orlando Sentinel (Republicans destroying democracy)

Krugman: 'Right-Wing Intellectuals And Politicians Live In A Bubble'

But Allen West Seems Very Troubled! - Lawyers, Guns & Money (why does anyone care what this idiot thinks?)
Women in combat: See Jane shoot | The Economist The Nazis surely would have preferred a Soviet army with no such female combat troops.

It's All in the Nuance: a Literary Tale | Vanity Fair
Jean-Paul Sartre's Blog : The New Yorker

Ito: Think twice about immortality and the singularity | Cutting Edge - CNET News Ray Kurzweil's vision of the "singularity" -- when nanobots make humans immortal and computer progress is so fast that the future becomes profoundly unknowable -- is a bad idea.

The Most Ridiculous Law of 2013 (So Far): It Is Now a Crime to Unlock Your Smartphone - Derek Khanna - The Atlantic - first time offenders may be fined up to $500,000, imprisoned for five years, or both. For repeat offenders, the maximum penalty increases to a fine of $1,000,000, imprisonment for up to ten years, or both. (wait til Carmen Ortiz heawrs about this!)
The Most Ridiculous Law of 2013 (So Far): It Is Now a Crime to Unlock Your Smartphone : politics
How Newegg crushed the “shopping cart” patent and saved online retail | Ars Technica - Then they pop up and say "Hello, surprise! Give us your money or we will shut you down!" Screw them. Seriously, screw them. You can quote me on that.
Al Gore on How the Internet is Changing the Way We Think - Al Gore - The Atlantic
Microsoft: Cheaper Windows 8 devices coming in the future | BGR Microsoft did not announce sales figures for the device, however analysts have estimated that the company sold around one million Surface RTs during the quarter.
GoPro Hero3 Teardown - iFixit

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Egypt death sentences over football riot spark lethal clashes in Port Said | World news | guardian.co.uk At least 30 killed in rioting prompted by death sentences for 21 defendants over clashes between rival fans last year
Algeria made mistakes over hostage crisis, foreign minister admits | World news | guardian.co.uk Mourad Medelci also tells delegates at Davos that Algeria needs international help in its efforts to combat terrorism
'Too many foreigners in France', French say - The Local A survey in France published this week revealed 70 percent of the population believe there are too many foreigners living in the country and 74 percent believe Islam is not compatible with French society.

Hillary Clinton Turns The Tables On John McCain's Benghazi Grandstanding (and other Repubican assholes)
Hillary Clinton Adjusting Her Glasses -- Daily Intelligencer

Anonymous takes down US Sentencing Commission website | Technology | guardian.co.uk Hacking collective threatens to make public classified material and that when Aaron Swartz killed himself 'a line was crossed'

The Untouchables: How the Obama administration protected Wall Street from prosecutions | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk A new PBS Frontline report examines a profound failure of justice that should be causing serious social unrest

The Dumbest Thing I Heard This Week | Recess Appointment Well that’s probably anyone who used the words “Harry Reid” and “leadership” in the same sentence.
John Boehner: Ending Abortion Is 'One Of Our Most Fundamental Goals This Year' Boehner said he will make it a national priority to "help make abortion a relic of the past." (yeah, that's the most important thing to Republifucks)

Sen. Tom Harkin Decides Not To Run In 2014 | TPM LiveWire
“Worth Looking At” | TPM Editors Blog Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) says he’s open to considering the GOP electoral college vote rigging scheme.
Republicans' Effort To Rig Electoral College Gets National Backing | ThinkProgress
Paul Ryan Breaks Down Under Wonkterrogation -- Daily Intelligencer Here Ryan is descending into word salad, which impresses observers because he is using terms that pertain to tax policy — “statically,” “Joint Tax Committee” — but he is not using them in a way that makes any sense. (he never has)
3 tensions that are breaking apart the Republican Party - The Week
Nevada Lawmaker Held for Psychiatric Evaluation Police said Brooks "was exhibiting what was described as bizarre behavior" and seized a sword from him. The detainment is the latest development since last weekend, when Brooks was arrested on charges of threatening the life of Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick.

How To Convince The NRA That Assault Weapons, Not The Media, Are Responsible For Gun Massacres | ThinkProgress Stephen King — best selling author of the very kind of violent books that gun advocates say contribute to gun violence — has penned Guns, a 25-page essay dismissing their criticism, while calling for universal background checks for gun purchases, and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Daily Kos: The NRA's Wayne LaPierre is back, and as crazy as ever Apparently that earlier list of dangerous, unbalanced Americans LaPierre suggested we create was merely supposed to be a list the NRA could use for their next membership drive.
For The Sixth Time In One Week, Man Shot At Gun Show | ThinkProgress

Arizona Bills Require Public School Students To Recite Loyalty Oaths | ThinkProgress
John Roberts bankrupts law students - Salon.com The Supreme Court justice is paid thousands to "teach" in Europe -- and his law students are footing the bill
Palin Pledges to Remain a Political Force Although Sarah Palin just lost her platform at Fox News, she tells Breitbart News that she's been able to "free up opportunities" to "share more broadly" her message.

Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa? | Joanna Blythman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Ethical consumers should be aware poor Bolivians can no longer afford their staple grain, due to western demand raising prices

Data Storage in DNA Becomes a Reality : 80beats DNA is the building block of life, but in the future it may also be the standard repository for encyclopedias, music and other digital data. Scientists announced yesterday that they successfully converted 739 kilobytes of hard drive data in genetic code and then retrieved the content with 100 percent accuracy.
Evolution inspires more efficient solar cell design: Geometric pattern maximizes time light is trapped in solar cell


Web inventor says governments stifling net freedom (Update) The inventor of the World Wide Web warned Friday that government control is limiting the possibilities of the Internet, as dozens of countries and businesses signed a cybersecurity deal at the Davos forum. (where the elites get together to fuck over the world)
Apple no longer most valuable company - San Jose Mercury News The tortoise passed the hare Friday when Apple (AAPL) fell from its lofty perch as the world's most valuable company, returning Exxon Mobil to the top. (big oil will always win)
Child labour uncovered in Apple's supply chain | Technology | The Guardian Internal audit reveals 106 children employed at 11 factories making Apple products in past year (Appple is a dark company)
Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Facebook say they require warrants to give over private content | The Verge While the policies are somewhat reassuring, they don't have the full force of the law yet
Facebook and Instagram Users Being Asked To Upload IDs To Regain Access | TPM Idea Lab (emulates Nigerian scammers)

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Throughout election, Israel became anti-Netanyahu country - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper ‘I used to be Bibi, now I’m Lapid,’ Likud politicians kept hearing. (wingnuts being fed bad information by other wingnuts)
My God, Could This Be True? | TPM Editors Blog Much like with Mitt Romney, it seems that Benjamin Netanyahu had no idea of the electoral drubbing headed his way, despite the fact that independent pollsters very much did see it coming. Yes, you guessed it: Netanyahu’s pollsters were apparently skewing his poll data.
The Nightmare From Which We Try To Awaken - Esquire On Wednesday, in a house in Malahide, north of Dublin, a 61-year old woman named Dolours Price was found dead in her bed, possibly from a drug overdose.
Game to destroy CCTV cameras: vandalism or valid protest? | World news | The Guardian Activists in Berlin are teaming up to trash surveillance cameras. Points are given, with bonus scores for the most innovative modes of destruction

Britain heading for triple-dip recession as GDP shrinks 0.3% in fourth quarter | Business | guardian.co.uk UK economy not expected to regain peak level for another two years – marking slowest recovery in a century (Conservative ideology wrecks the economy, as predicted)
Dave, George and Boris 'out for pizza' night before GDP woe - Telegraph David Cameron and George Osborne appeared to be in high spirits over dinner at a pizza restaurant last night just hours before figures showed the economy is slipping back towards recession (not their problem)
Britain's 'Triple Dip' Recession Perilously Close As Economy Shrinks (oh, how did that happen?)

Ex-Officer for C.I.A. Is Sentenced in Leak Case - NYTimes.com The sentencing was the latest chapter in the Obama administration’s unprecedented crackdown on government officials who disclose classified information to the press. Since 2009, the administration has charged five other current or former government officials with leaking classified information, more than all previous administrations combined. (Obama loves darkness)
Dean Baker: Aaron Swartz, Financial Fraud and the Justice Department - Dean Baker

Hannity Attacks Sec. Clinton's Testimony With Benghazi Conspiracy Theory | Blog | Media Matters for America (she should drive her tank over this asshole)
Sen. Johnson Blasts WaPo For Awarding Him 'Worst Week In Washington' | TPM LiveWire

Carmen Ortiz's Very Bad, Awful Month - Esquire (speaking of assholes)

Eschaton: The Horrible People Who Rule The World Over the last few years we've learned that people who make $250,000 are poor, but people who make $50,000 are rich. Cutting aggregate demand in the middle of a recession leads to prosperity, except for cuts to defense. The Great Recession is really just The Great Shirk as the unemployed are just lazy benefits taking moochers. The financial crisis was caused by mandatory lending to poor minority borrowers. etc.

Deficit Hawks Down - NYTimes.com Mr. Obama’s clearly deliberate neglect of Washington’s favorite obsession was just the latest sign that the self-styled deficit hawks — better described as deficit scolds — are losing their hold over political discourse. And that’s a very good thing.
Congratulations, America: Austerity, Not Default, Is the Only Threat Now - Matthew O'Brien - The Atlantic The debt ceiling showdown is essentially over. But another manufactured crisis is stalking the recovery. (see the UK)
Alan Blinder on the Lessons of the Financial Crisis - NYTimes.com He argues that many Americans still do not understand what went wrong, and he contends that the government still does not get enough credit for the successes of its policies. (damn right they don't Obama wrecked the econmony in 2007)

What The 2012 Election Would Look Like Under The Republicans' Vote-Rigging Plan (President 47%)
Key Republicans Back Away From Electoral Vote Scheme | TPMDC Momentum for an RNC-backed plan to rig blue state electoral votes in favor of GOP presidential candidates appears to be stalling as more Republicans come out against the idea.
Can Republicans Change Their Spots? - NYTimes.com The Republican Party brand has steeply eroded since Election Day. Half of all voters (51 percent) now give the Party a negative rating and a third rate the party very negatively (under 25 on our 100-point scale).

McConnell Brags About Defeating Filibuster Reform | TPMDC
Saxby Chambliss Retires: GOP Senator Announcing He Won't Run For Re-Election In 2014: Report (good riddance)
Poll: Scott Brown Crushes Ed Markey In Hypothetical Special Election Matchup | TPM LiveWire
Sarah Palin Parts Ways With FOX News | RealClearPolitics

Opinion: Avoiding Wall St. shuffle's perils - Elizabeth Warren - politico.com By Elizabeth Warren
Neoconfederate Judges Rule NLRB Recess Appointments Unconstitutional - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Of course, also important here that between Obama’s strange inattention to federal judicial appointments and Republican filibusters he’s the first president in at least 50 years not to get a single nominee confirmed to the D.C. Circuit.

Millennials Don't Know Roe, And That's Okay | RH Reality Check 56 percent of Americans under 30 don’t know what Roe v Wade is
“No, I don’t know why women are fleeing the Republican Party in droves.” - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Shorter Bill Kritsol: “Biology proves that the IDF is a hopelessly deficient combat force, what with all those unfit women and all. You’d have to be a grade-A moron to think that women are capable of serving in combat roles. Ask this scientician. In conclusion, gender equality is contrary to common sense, decency, and honor.” The Silly Conservative Freak-Out Over Women in Combat | Mother Jones
Whiskey Fire: Keep the Home Covering Fire Blasting


PSC chief Twinkle Cavanaugh wants to block formal rate review to "exclude the environmentalists" | al.com Alabama Public Service Commission President Twinkle Cavanaugh has said it emphatically, pointedly, with gusto: (Twinkle?)

Hero Dad Stands Ground Against Daughter’s 3.6 GPA

Potential AIDS Cure, Discovered By Australian Medical Researchers, Modifies HIV Protein (video)
The 'Ferrari of viruses' has a new model: It's sweeping the world and taking over in US | StarTribune.com : "Remember, if you're in public and have the winter vomiting bug, be polite and vomit into your elbow."
After Giant Squid, Search Turns to its 'Colossal' Counterpart - US News and World Report Unlike its giant squid cousin, which is a silvery or gold metallic color, the colossal squid has its own lighting system,

BBC News - Microsoft's Skype pressured to offer privacy reports
I Bought Three Fake Girlfriends on the Internet - The Cut

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Faction Splits From Ansar Dine in Northern Mali - NYTimes.com at least the sixth group to be fighting in an increasingly complex battle to control northern Mali.
North Korea Issues Blunt New Threat to United States - NYTimes.com A blunt and explicit threat from North Korea on Thursday that its missile and nuclear programs would “target” the United States poses a stark challenge to the Obama administration
Women form special cab service in Delhi -- catering exclusively to women | PRI.ORG

UN Launches Drone Investigation Into Legality Of U.S. Program (bring drone-boy before the World Court)

Labour makes official complaint over Cameron's debt lies Rachel Reeves writes to the UK Statistics Authority after Cameron claimed in a Conservative Party political broadcast that the coalition "was paying down Britain’s debts"
IMF advises UK to ease austerity measures | Business | guardian.co.uk Chief economist says George Osborne should use March budget to reassess fiscal policy and help struggling economy (but austerity is their favorite thing)

Women in Uniform - Esquire - Israel's Front-Line Female Fighters
Pentagon's Top General: Women in Combat Help Cut Down on Military Sexual Assaults | Mother Jones
Dick Durbin: Benghazi Was Not A Coverup, Iraq WMD Intelligence Was [I have] five words for [critics] to reflect on: Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. We were told by every level of government here there were Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that justified a war. The invasion of the United States. We are still searching for those weapons. They didn't exist. Thousands of Americans lost their lives. We could have a hearing on that if you like.
Soledad O'Brien Grills Ron Johnson Over Reaction To Hillary Clinton Benghazi Testimony (video) Johnson suggested that Clinton grew emotional while discussing the four Americans who were killed in Benghazi as a way to avoid answering certain questions.

Hacktivists cry foul over US government's 'ludicrous' cyber crackdown | Technology | guardian.co.uk Andrew Auernheimer, a 'trailer-park troll' from the same web community as Aaron Swartz, faces 10 years in jail for data breaches. Why is the US prosecuting in such draconian fashion? (Obama hates the internets, pwned by Big Content and Lawn Order)
Julian Assange savages film about WikiLeaks | Herald Sun "It is a mass propaganda attack against WikiLeaks the organisation," the 41-year-old Australian told students in Oxford via a video-link from the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

Feinstein Unveils Bill to Limit Semiautomatic Arms - NYTimes.com

Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell Reach Filibuster Reform Deal [UPDATE] Under the agreement, the minority party will be able to offer two amendments on each bill, a major concession to Republicans. This change is made only as a standing order, not a rules change, and expires at the end of the term. (Dems block reform)
Tom Harkin: Filibuster Reform Failure Hamstrings Obama Agenda Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) warned President Barack Obama that he "might as well take a four-year vacation" if the Senate fails to pass real filibuster reform -- and the plan being unveiled Thursday by Senate leaders doesn't qualify, the veteran lawmaker said.
The World’s Worst Deliberative Body Retains Its Title - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Filibuster reform is dead. Why? Harry Reid and senior Democrats flat out don’t want it.
Harry's Not-So-Big Deal - Esquire I think Reid got the best deal he could, and I think he got it within the parameters of what he thought was acceptable, and he did get actual changes in the rules, and not some good-old-boy transaction that the Republicans can ignore the first chance they get. That's progress, anyway. You want more? Elect different senators.

Obama faces Keystone dilemma after Senate urges pipeline approval | Environment | guardian.co.uk No reason to deny project, bipartisan majority says, but others in Congress press Obama to back up climate change commitment (he won't)
Balloon Juice » Riding on the Range, I’ve Got My Hat On Again, this should be viewed as a long-term project, and expecting to see immediate results in 2014 would be silly. But think of the payoff- if Dems could flip Texas, there won’t be another Republican President for generations.
New Mexico Bill Would Criminalize Abortions After Rape As 'Tampering With Evidence' “The bill turns victims of rape and incest into felons and forces them to become incubators of evidence for the state,” he said. “According to Republican philosophy, victims who are ‘legitimately raped’ will now have to carry the fetus to term in order to prove their case.“
Welfare Drug Tests Sought By New Hampshire GOP
Catholic Church And Fetuses - A Person's A Person...Or Not - Esquire One thing you have to give the lads in The Clan Of The Red Beanie. They certainly know how to thrive in what many of their pet politicians call Our Litigious Society.

Washington Post Editorial On Keystone Pipeline - Get Ready For The Pipeline - Esquire I really hate to make the whole morning about the intellectual monkeyhouse that Fred Hiatt's running at The Washington Post, but the paper's lead editorial today, pushing the president to sign off on the Keystone XL pipeline rather forces us to enter the hallways of flung poo one more time ... Alas, though, the fix seems to be in. The wheels of the giant Not Giving A Damn machine in our nation's capital seem thoroughly greased

Mob prosecutor Mary Jo White to be nominated to lead SEC | Business | guardian.co.uk White would become the first prosecutor to lead the SEC in its history, showing Obama's commitment to Wall Street reform (which has been zero)
The Decline of Unions - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Not a good day for a labor person.

New Study Finds Brain Damage in Living Ex-NFL Players | Concussion Watch | FRONTLINE | PBS Dozens of former players — including 34 who played in the NFL — have been diagnosed with CTE, a neurodegenerative disease linked to dementia, memory loss and depression. The disease, which researchers say is triggered by repeated head trauma, can be confirmed only by examining the brain after death. CTE was discovered earlier this month in the brain of former Chargers linebacker Junior Seau, who committed suicide last May by shooting himself in the chest.
Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste: Scientific American By burning away all the pesky carbon and other impurities, coal power plants produce heaps of radiation
Older Brain Is Willing, but Too Full for New Memories - NYTimes.com - Learning becomes more difficult as we age not because we have trouble absorbing new information, but because we fail to forget the old stuff, researchers say.
New Mutations Discovered in Melanomas - NYTimes.com The changes are in regions that control genes, not in the genes themselves. The mutations are exactly the type caused by exposure to ultraviolet light, indicating they might be among the first DNA changes in a cell’s path to melanoma.
Why New Research Showing that Day Care Isn't Linked to Behavior Problems Isn't Making Headlines - NYTimes.com Time spent in day care doesn’t link to problems for older children — at least, not when that day-care time is separated from the socio-political context in which the care is provided ... the United States, they argue, is a lousy place to study the impact of early child care on children.

Distressed dolphin seeks out diver for help | The Raw Story
Monster Squid: Looking for the Giant Squid : Video : Discovery Channel

Apparently it’s National Sanctimommy Week on the internet Did you know that All Moms judge you if you’re a mom and consider abortion? Or that All Moms think you’re a whiny selfish narcissist who reminds them of their kindergartner if you haven’t had babies yet? No? Well, these moms, who speak for All Moms On The Internet, would like you to know that they’re judging you.
Not Safe For Work Corporation | The AVN Adult Entertainment Expo Is Decadent, Not Depraved

Scientology members 'duped into donating millions' - Telegraph Two former members of the Church of Scientology have filed a lawsuit claiming the church and its affiliates deceived members into donating millions to misrepresented causes.

Letters of Note: How could you go ahead of me?

Learning to love cereal was key to the evolution of dogs - The Washington Post Learning to love grains, potatoes was key to the evolution of dogs

Google Tells Cops to Get Warrants for User E-Mail, Cloud Data | Threat Level | Wired.com
Actual Advice Mallard - instead of pressing ctrlaltdel then clicking the task mana
Someone tried to claim my greatest achievement as their own for karma, but alas, it’s still in the basement (details/ pics/ kickstarter in comments) : pics

012313
Women In Combat: Leon Panetta Removes Military Ban, Opening Front-Line Positions

Hillary Clinton, Ron Johnson Engage In Heated Exchange At Benghazi Hearing (asshole Republicans)
Chris Stevens' Family: Clinton Has Reached Out To Offer Sympathies
Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi hearings: Republicans missed their best chance to question the secretary of state on the death of four Americans in Libya. - Slate Magazine
Benghazi Wednesday, Part Two - Esquire

Fox News Obama Second Term -- Ailes Fox News Trouble - Esquire The network once thought to be integral to Karl Rove’s “permanent Republican majority” now has to live down the election-night memory of Rove standing in the schoolhouse door between Megyn Kelly and the announcement that Barack Obama had won a second term. Roger Ailes created a news network designed to elect presidents, but he built it upon his own immortal and immortalized sense of injury, and now that he “lost” the election, the sense of injury is all that’s left.
The Dirtiest Trick Since Robert Bork’s Stated Views Were Discussed in the Senate! - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money Shorter Michael Gerson: “I am outraged that Barack Obama would suggest that Republicans support any of the consequences of the long-held policies of the Republican Party.”
Booman Tribune ~ Michael Gerson: Concern Troll
Paul Ryan Changes His Story on "Makers and Takers" | Mother Jones Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is taking back what he said about "takers"—well, kind of. (if you count the defense budget as a "personal benefit")

Obamacare Medicaid Expansion Could Put GOP Governors In Awkward Position On Immigration
CHART: US government spends more on health care than the Canadian government. The United States spends more. And that's not more per person who gets government health insurance, it's more per resident. And yet Canada covers all its citizens, and we don't.
Jeffrey Young: Mississippi's GOP Governor Says No American Lacks Health Care - "There is no one who doesn't have health care in America. No one. Now, they may end up going to the emergency room. There are better ways to deal with people that need health care than this massive new program."
Political Animal - The House GOP’s Strange, Hollow “Victory” So today the House passed their ultra-gimmicky temporary debt limit bill today that threatened not a global economic collapse but a congressional pay suspension, in the pursuit of a demand not for vast reductions in federal domestic spending but for a Senate budget resolution
The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Why Did Normal Order Go Away? Normal order (House and Senate doing their thing and having conferences) really stopped with the release of the Simpson-Bowles plan in Decmeber, 2010
Virginia State Senate Moves Ahead on Electoral College-Rigging Bill
Virginia Is For Losers, Again - Esquire

Creationist Louisiana: Legislators show contempt and cluelessness about science.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: New science book of web comics

Ted Yoho: Uphold Second Amendment 'Birthright' (with a name like that ...)

The Impending Death Of Pro Football - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic Brain scans performed on five former NFL players revealed images of the protein that causes football-related brain damage -- the first time researchers have identified signs of the crippling disease in living players.

Social housing crisis calls for a new vision for architecture | Housing Network | Guardian Professional Semi-detached houses were a revolution in affordable 20th century modernity, but social diversity and high density housing must be part of a new future

Screening for teen suicide: The four questions to ask at risk youth.

The Shining original ending: Read the screenplay for Stanley Kubrick’s lost hospital scene.

Google Transparency Report for July-December 2012 shows law enforcement surveillance requests on the rise.
The horrifying persistence of annoying, privacy-invading, unwanted software. - Slate Magazine
Texxxan.com and GoDaddy lawsuit: Women fight back against revenge porn.

012213
Israel election setback for Binyamin Netanyahu as centrists gain ground | World news | guardian.co.uk Exit polls indicate narrowest of victories for prime minister's rightwing-religious block - Yair Lapid, was predicted to come second with 18 or 19 seats. It concentrated its election campaign on socio-economic issues and removing the exemption for military service for ultra-orthodox Jews.
Why Netanyahu failed and Lapid surprised - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
With King Bibi's ship of state sinking in Pyrrhic victory, the sharks begin to circle Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper In the space of a few hours, Netanyahu watched as the American people formally gave their president four more years, and the people of Israel gave their prime minister six more weeks. (Obama's revenge on openly partisan Romney supporter and general asshole)

US drone strikes publicly criticised by Yemeni cabinet minister | World news | guardian.co.uk Human rights minister Hooria Mashhour voices rare public opposition to use of drones to target al-Qaida militants
Armed Drones Could Target President: Former U.S. Intelligence Chief Retired Adm. Dennis Blair, who served as President Obama's first director of national intelligence, told reporters he was concerned that the proliferation of armed drones -- a potential outgrowth of the U.S. reliance on drones to attack and kill terrorists -- could well backfire.
President Obama Drone War - Obama Inauguration Speech - Esquire the war that is currently being prosecuted in countries where we are not supposed to be at war, like Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. I am speaking of the perpetual war, the shadow war, the invisible war against invisible enemies, the war whose latest manifestation came just two days ago, when three men identified as militants, names unknown, were killed by an American drone.

Hillary Clinton Benghazi Testimony Shouldn't Contain 'Bombshells,' Bob Corker Says (after promising bombshells)

Lone Star College Shooting: 4 Injured In Texas College Shooting, 2 Persons Of Interest Detained - Americans are split evenly on the question of whether people with proper permits should be allowed to carry concealed guns on college campuses, with 43 percent for and 43 percent against the idea. (and 14% clueless)
Shep Smith On Guns: 'If We Stuck With The Polls, We'd Have Had Slavery A Lot Longer' (video)

Obama's Startling Second Inaugural - James Fallows - The Atlantic This was the most sustainedly "progressive" statement Barack Obama has made in his decade on the national stage.
The Two Most Powerful Allusions in Obama's Speech Today - James Fallows - The Atlantic
Obama’s Progressive Second Inaugural Address -- Daily Intelligencer
A speech that shows how Obama has changed In 2009, Barack Obama came to change Washington. Today’s speech showed how much Washington has changed him
Barack Obama accused of giving partisan inauguration speech | World news | guardian.co.uk Senator John McCain among Republicans blasting US president for failing to offer a hand across the political divide (shut up, John)
Paul Ryan: Obama Inauguration Speech Used 'Straw Man' Argument
Chris Matthews: Republicans Will Have To 'Rig The Elections' To Win From Now On - "It's almost like Lebanon — we've got to fake the census now, y'know?" (stating the obvious, party of crooks)
Senate Republicans Revive Obamacare Repeal Push | TPMDC - Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch (UT) and Lamar Alexander (TN) (Minions, Satan)
Live-Blogging The Second Inauguration Of Barack Obama - The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast
Mitch McConnell On Obama Inauguration Speech: 'The Era Of Liberalism Is Back' (zombie Liberalism rise from the grave)

Virginia Election Scam - Virginia Is For Losers - Esquire Virginia ran a scam to which Henry Marsh was remarkably central. Marsh, a state senator, was in Washington to celebrate the president's second inauguration. In his absence, the Republicans in the legislature rammed through a redistricting plan that would have embarrassed Elbridge Gerry. (they are so beyond shame)

'Roe V. Wade' Turns 40, But Abortion Debate Is Even Older : Shots - Health News : NPR
5 Myths About Roe v. Wade - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Roe v. Wade turns 40 today.
More on Roe and the Law - Lawyers, Guns & Money
What's Left of Roe Barack Obama's re-election might make the landmark decision safe for now, but its meaning has eroded over the years.

Seneca, Selma, and Stonewall - NYTimes.com Republicans pine for the glory days of Ronald Reagan — but that was a different country, a county with a lot more raw racism, a country in which only a minority of Americans found interracial marriage acceptable. And yes, that had a lot to do with GOP political strength.
Keystone XL: Nebraska governor Heineman approves pipeline route.

History Of The Citadel Project | TPMMuckraker

Air Force Uses Martin Luther King Jr. to Promote Nuclear Warfare
Jill Kelley Says Paula Broadwell Tried to ‘Blackmail’ Her - The Daily Beast Dee Dee Myers, Broadwell’s spokeswoman, says “the Justice Department thoroughly looked at this and declined to prosecute.”

Doctors Are Diagnosing More Kids With ADHD : Shots - Health News : NPR Overall, almost 5 percent of the 830,000 children studied were being treated for ADHD.
Aspirin May Raise Risk Of Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Study Suggests the more severe "wet" form of age-related macular degeneration (dose-dependent)


012113
Inauguration Live 2013: Obama Sworn In For Second Term
Obama sets out goals in inauguration speech: 'We are made for this moment' | World news | The Guardian
Obama Inaugural Address: The Unapologetic President (he should aplogize for what?)
An expansive case for progressive governance, grounded in language of Founding Fathers Halfway through President Obama’s inaugural address, James Fallows tweeted: “I believe this is the most ‘progressive’ speech he’s ever given.”
Obama Second-Term Agenda: Everything, All at Once - Bloomberg Yet many Republicans remain committed to opposing Obama regardless of policy

The Speech -- A Primer - Esquire
What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days? - Esquire Let us begin with Bob (The Watergate Replacement Replicant) Woodward, who told Schieffer that Obama declines to work and play well with the feral children and is thus spitting on the grave of the Venerable Katie Graham, the Patron Saint Of Social Climbing ... The thoroughness with which the lunatic conservative war against Bill Clinton has been shoved down the memory hole is truly remarkable. (and Tom Fucking Brokaw is an idiot)

Obama Takes Aim At Paul Ryan In Inaugural Address President Obama took direct aim in his inaugural address at the Randian rhetoric that animates the politics of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and his conservative followers in the House and around the country, arguing that the United States is "not a nation of takers."
Paul Ryan Booed By Inauguration Crowd
Obama Inauguration Speech Makes History With Mention Of Gay Rights Struggle, Stonewall Uprising
Climate Change In Obama's Second Inauguration Speech: 'We Must Lead'
Obama’s Big Deal - NYTimes.com Consider, in particular, three areas: health care, inequality and financial reform.
Girl on Fire | EMILY's List
Michelle’s Homage | TPM Editors Blog

Embracing the Legacy of Torture John Brennan's nomination for head of the CIA shows the appalling extent to which the worst abuses of the post-9/11 security state have become institutionalized.
CIA to exempt strikes on Pakistan from drones codification – reports | World news | guardian.co.uk Nominated spy chief John Brennan reported to have agreed exemption over extra-judicial assassinations

Binyamin Netanyahu rejects calls for Palestinian state within 1967 lines | World news | guardian.co.uk sraeli prime minister says border would be impossible to defend and allow 'Hamas 400 metres from my home' (in case you were wondering where they we going with this for the past ten years ...)
Algeria hostage crisis: claims of Canadian leader raises fears | World news | The Guardian Reports of foreign involvement in In Amenas attack appears to confirm fears that region has become magnet for radicals
French and Malian troops enter Diabaly after jihadists retreat | World news | guardian.co.uk Malian army officers warn local population may still be loyal to Islamist fighters taking refuge in surrounding forests
Attempted military coup in Eritrea shuts down state TV: reports | Al Bawaba
The Top 5 Navies of the Indo-Pacific

Colin Powell: 'Birther Nonsense' Is 'Killing The Base' Of The GOP
House Debt Ceiling Vote Scheduled For Wednesday: GOP Officials




Inside the Law School Scam: Further research confirms sky blue Prof. Steven Diamond, Santa Clara Law School, disputing the claim that law schools in general, and his own in particular, advertised misleading 90+% employment rates for their graduates, and asking for further research assistance on the matter:

Lance Armstrong's Oprah PR disaster: polls show confessing is for losers | Harry J Enten | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk If Armstrong had studied the popularity of steroid-using baseball stars, he would have known: better to keep lying than come clean
The Real Problem With Armstrong - Lawyers, Guns & Money (fucking bully)



012013
Algeria says siege death toll likely to rise after 23 hostages confirmed killed | World news | guardian.co.uk Three British nationals among those confirmed killed, three more missing, presumed dead, and 107 foreign hostages freed
Algeria Hostages Death Toll: 25 Bodies Found In Gas Facility
David Cameron: fight against terrorism in north Africa may last decades | World news | guardian.co.uk Prime minister highlights growing problem of terrorism in the region and likens situation to Pakistan and Afghanistan ... he fight against terrorism in north Africa would go on for years or "even decades" (or maybe "centuries")
UN report condemns increasing use of torture in Afghan jails | World news | guardian.co.uk Intelligence service may have created secret prisons and hidden detainees from international observers, survey finds (just following Bush policies)
Mali's army suspected of abuses and unlawful killings as war rages | World news | The Observer Amnesty International says it has evidence of civilian executions and indiscriminate shelling of nomadic Tuaregs' camp

Board running Voice of America, Radio Free Europe is condemned in hard-hitting probe - NY Daily News EXCLUSIVE: Board of Broadcast Governors member Victor H. Ashe, a friend of George W. Bush, is criticized

Obama's inauguration carries symbolic resonance on Martin Luther King Day | World news | The Guardian America's first black president will be sworn in on the day devoted to its most famous civil rights leader

Gun control opponents hold rallies across the US | World news | guardian.co.uk 'High noon' events held in 47 states to protest against legislative proposals announced by Barack Obama
Murderous 'monster' acquires an arsenal | StarTribune.com Christian Philip Oberender, then 14 years old, had murdered his mother in a shotgun ambush in the family rec room in 1995 ... deputies found in the home was chilling: 13 guns, including semi-automatic rifles, an AK-47, a Tommy gun, assorted shotguns and handguns, including a .50-caliber Desert Eagle. (no problem)
Albuquerque Shooting: Teenager Kills 5 People, Including 3 Children
Steven Brooks Arrested: Nevada Lawmaker Jailed For Threatening To Shoot Marilyn Kirkpatrick

Two Days Before MIT and Cambridge Cops Arrested Aaron Swartz, Secret Service Took Over the Investigation | emptywheel (Obama's fingerprints?)
Daily Kos :: What Aaron Swartz did at MIT
Carmen Ortiz’s Case Didn’t ‘Kill’ Aaron Swartz | Cognoscenti But no one can read Swartz’ blog post from 2007 and not wonder whether Lessig has his emphasis in exactly the wrong place, and whether the strain of his impending trial only exacerbated the more pronounced, underlying causes of Swartz’ suicide. (see, it wasn't Carmen "The Hammer" Ortiz, it was his depression)

New York Times Dismantles Its Environment Desk | InsideClimate News Times says demise of the nine-person team, created in 2009, won't affect climate coverage. (the end of the world just isn't that important to the NYT)
The Changing Newsroom Environment at The New York Times - NYTimes.com the decision by The New York Times to shut down its standalone environment “pod” and redistribute that able team of reporters and editors to other desks (not necessarily other duties). (they think they "excelled" at climate coverage, uh-huh)

Barack Obama’s second inaugural address: The president should declare war on the Republicans. - Slate Magazine Why if he wants to transform American politics, Obama must declare war on the Republican Party. Obama’s only remaining option is to pulverize (the fuckers)
Deficit Deal Must Close Tax Loopholes To Generate Revenue, Says David Plouffe
Timothy Geithner Accused Of Alerting Banks To 2007 Interest Rate Cut For 2nd Time

The Coming Shrinking Of The Deficit - Business Insider By 2015, we expect the federal deficit to be down to $500bn, or just under 3% of GDP. If this forecast is correct, concerns about the federal deficit are likely to diminish over the next few years. (someone tell Obama, the Republicans, Simpson-Bowles and all the VSPs, pundits and deficit scolds who've been lying for 3 years)
Inequality Is Holding Back The Recovery - NYTimes.com (ReThugliPigs destroying America)
Political Animal - Joseph Stiglitz: Inequality is preventing a recovery
Inequality and Recovery - NYTimes.com But — you knew there was a “but” coming — I’ve thought about these issues a lot, and haven’t been able to persuade myself that this particular morality tale is right.

Political Animal - Catholic Church round-up: Connecticut’s “Monsignor Meth,” plus, a devastating report on sexual abuse in German Catholic Church is released the same week German Catholic hospitals refuse to treat a rape victim
Bishops investigating US nuns have poor records on sex abuse cases | National Catholic Reporter

Pregnant woman hogtied by officers gets $250,000 settlement - Los Angeles Times Tamara Gaglione was pulled over for talking on her cellphone while driving on the freeway. A video captured her being hurled to the ground and tied up. (cops still have their jobs, natch)

Whole Foods CEO: Obamacare-Fascism Comparison Won't Hurt Profits

10 Questions Oprah Winfrey Should Have Asked Lance Armstrong | Cognoscenti 1.) “Why me? Why not a real journalist?”

Galactic Center Mosaic by Stéphane Guisard/ESO, Los Cielos de Chile
Gigagalaxy Zoom
Implicit Race Bias Increases the Differences in the Neural Representations of Black and White Faces - Association for Psychological Science Racial stereotypes have been shown to have subtle and unintended consequences on how we treat members of different race groups. According to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, race bias also increases differences in the brain’s representations of faces.
Flu vaccine attitudes abroad differ from U.S. - CNN.com Only the U.S. and Canada actually encourage everyone older than 6 months to get the flu vaccine.
More lives being saved: Cancer death rates drop 20% - CNN.com The death rate from cancer in the United States has dropped dramatically in the last two decades, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society.

How to call a catfisher's bluff | HLNtv.com
HTML5 vs. Apps: Here's Why The Debate Matters, And Who Will Win - Business Insider
Tax Avoidance Accusations Scaring Away Some Investors From Apple, Google

011913
Algeria Launches 'Final Assault'; State News Agency Reports Some Hostages Dead at least 23 hostages dead and killed all 32 militants involved, the Algerian government said.
Algerian crisis over after assault ends with death of seven remaining hostages | World news | The Observer Details of dramatic final attack by special forces on In Amenas gas plant begin to emerge after bloody operation
Yemen Drone Strikes: Suspected U.S. Attack Kills At Least 8
Ahmed Dogan Assassination Attempt: Gunman Aims Gun At Turkish Politician's Head (photo, video)

Plan To Offer Drug War Training To Mexican Commandos Raises Red Flags As the U.S. military seeks to embark on a project to train Mexican commandos to fight the drug war there, security and Latin America experts are pointing to a tortured history of special-operations training gone wrong, aswidespread abuses by the Mexican military (Obama's tragically stupid war on pot merges into the War on Terror)

Brookings' Bruce Riedel urges intensified US support for Saudi despots | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Every now and then, leading mavens of the Foreign Policy Community have an uncharacteristic outburst of candor

BBC News - Oxfam seeks 'new deal' on inequality from world leaders It reported that while the world's 100 richest people enjoyed a net income of $240bn (£150bn) last year, people in "extreme poverty" lived on less than $1.25 (78p) a day. "We can no longer pretend that the creation of wealth for a few will inevitably benefit the many - too often the reverse is true," said Oxfam chief executive Barbara Stocking.
Snow could put UK in a triple-dip recession | World news | The Observer Unprecedented third slump in four years looms as shoppers stay at home and vital transport links grind to a halt (snow, not the austerity!)

Report Details Sexual Abuse of Children by German Priests - NYTimes.com priests carefully planned their assaults and frequently abused the same children repeatedly for years. The priest who abused her “told me that I was now ‘closer to God,’ ” (Satan, he meant)
German Bishops Cancel Study Into Sexual Abuse by Priests - NYTimes.com
Predator priest returns to duty A leading Australian priest who sexually preyed on a disabled and vulnerable woman on Sydney's north shore for 14 years has been allowed to return to preaching and running community groups at one of the nation's busiest churches.

Gun Show Shootings: At Least 5 Hurt In Accidental Incidents In Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina (perfectly safe)
Yep, Big Liars | TPM Editors Blog “Sidwell Friends security officers do not carry guns.” (gee, now everyone knows that)
Bill Maher On Gun Rights vs. Privacy: Second Amendment Isn't Under Attack, Everything Else Is (video)

Kansas GOP House Speaker 'Prays' That Obama's 'Children Be Fatherless And His Wife A Widow' | ThinkProgress

Blue Mass Group | Not how the news was supposed to go for Carmen Ortiz I think it’s fair to say that any political career that Carmen Ortiz may have been contemplating is, as Margery Eagan wrote yesterday, “done. Finished. Forever linked to bringing the full and frightening weight of the federal government down upon a 26-year-old computer genius — and a suicide risk.”
The Prosecution of Aaron: A Response to Orin Kerr | The Public Domain |
Essay on role of academe in the tragedy of Aaron Swartz's death | Inside Higher Ed it’s odd that MIT should have been the bagman for the ancien regime: its online presence and institutional thinking about digitization have otherwise been quite forward-thinking in many respects. If MIT allowed itself to be used by federal prosecutors looking to put an intellectual property head on a pike, that is less an extraordinary gesture by MIT and more a reflection of the academic default.
The Prosecution of Aaron Swartz Paints Obama's Justice Department as Needlessly Cruel and Capricious | Alternet A powerful indictment of our justice system, the Swartz case exemplifies the sick hypocrisy of persecuting information activists while corrupt corporations and bankers get off easy.
Margery Eagan: Ortiz is done | Boston Herald Statement too little, too late (when you've lost the Herald ...)
Opening arguments in the court of public opinion after Aaron Swartz’ death | Ars Technica You don't have to follow tech to find lessons in the young activist's suicide. (Ortiz and Heymann sentenced to infamy for all eternity, no appeal)
Dale Cooper: Bullying Aaron Swartz By extension, the Obama administration, in refusing to intercede, should be held accountable, as well. This administration has made the policing of information and "protection" of intellectual property a priority, appointing many trademark hawks and keeping an unnerving record of prosecution of whistleblowers in an attempt to stymy government leaks. (drone boy and killer of children hates whistle-blowers, loves big-content)
How the Legal System Failed Aaron Swartz--and Us : The New Yorker Today, prosecutors feel they have license to treat leakers of information like crime lords or terrorists
Aaron Swartz suicide: Prosecutors have too much power to charge and intimidate people for their crimes. - Slate Magazine Why was a prosecutor allowed to intimidate Aaron Swartz for so long? (law and order Barry)
Towards Learning from Losing Aaron Swartz | Center for Internet and Society

Not With A Bang But With A Whimper - NYTimes.com
Ayn Rand is for children - Salon.com
Humble Maryland Bureaucrat Has Catheter, Will Make You Tend To It

You Know Nothing Of Our Work - NYTimes.com Some readers may have noticed a recent op-ed by King and Soneji alleging that Social Security projections understate life expectancy and are therefore far too optimistic. This claim will, I’m sure, become part of what all the serious people think they know.

Balloon Juice » McPaper Dumps McPollster After twenty years together, USA Today kicked Gallup to the curb yesterday, probably because Gallup blew the Presidential race and people are starting to expect pollsters to do better.

Why Boeing's 787 Dreamliner was a nightmare waiting to happen | Business | guardian.co.uk Aviation debacle is a result of battery and outsourcing problems exacerbated by a relaxation of government oversight

Animated travels through subway history on a map :: Second Ave. Sagas
ThinkGeek :: DNA Molecule Plush

Kim Dotcom’s new file locker “Mega” opens to the public | Ars Technica
Porn-trolling failure: Prenda Law can’t ditch unhappy judge | Ars Technica Judge had a legitimate concern about copyright troll abusing subpoena powers.

011813
Algerian hostage crisis: militants retain part control of gas plant | World news | guardian.co.uk Jihadist group surrounded by government forces after fierce battle that reportedly cost the lives of some 30 hostages
British intelligence team flies to Algeria to help with hostage release | World news | guardian.co.uk MI6 and MI5 analysts, and consular staff, go to Algiers to help secure release of Britons being held at gas plant
Algeria's bloody history forged brutal response to Sahara camp raid | World news | guardian.co.uk Harsh decades before and after independence explains uncompromising stance on jihadi extremism
Mali refugees have witnessed horrific abuses, says UN agency | World news | guardian.co.uk UNHCR says 700,000 are expected to flee Mali, with those already leaving telling of killings and amputations
9 questions about Mali you were too embarrassed to ask (it's not in the Middle East like Romney said)
Michael Krepon • Portents of a Difficult Year Prospects for arms control in 2013 look bleak on most fronts, with a few important, potential exceptions.
What child soldiering tells us about trafficking, child labor, and enslavement | Chris Blattman
Pakistani anti-corruption official found hanged | World news | guardian.co.uk Mystery surrounds death of Kamran Faisal, who led investigation into claims that prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf took bribes
Nato stops sending prisoners to Afghan jails after reports of torture | World news | guardian.co.uk UN report expected to confirm problems persist in jails a few months after Britain dropped plans to transfer prisoners
Bolivian Lawmaker Caught Raping Unconscious Colleague on the Parliament floor on December 20th

Eurozone crisis live: Greece to probe ex-finance minister over tax scandal | Business | guardian.co.uk Athens votes to investigate George Papaconstantinou for allegedly tampering with 'Lagarde list' of potential tax evaders

President Obama Killing - Is President Obama Evil? - Esquire the idea that evil can be identified as that which kills even one innocent child. He will also be man who has killed innocent children himself, by the dozens and perhaps by the hundreds, as a direct consequence of his orders.

Balloon Juice » An Update on History’s Greatest Monster There are now only 542 known cases of Guinea worm left worldwide, as of 2012, representing a 48% decrease from 2011, officials said Thursday at a news conference. “We cannot rest until we get and contain the very last case,” said Dr. Donald R. Hopkins, affiliated with the Carter Center in Atlanta, which has been instrumental in the effort to wipe out Guinea worm. -- They hate Carter, and loved Bush. That really says everything, doesn’t it?

Gun laws in the US, state by state – interactive | World news | guardian.co.uk (deadly states in America)
I Have No Words | TPM Editors Blog
DN Editorial: Looney Goons: Thoughtful gun proposals vs. reaction from paranoid nuts
Eschaton: Jargon
NRA Ad Stuns Conservative Pundits Into Speechlessness Followed By Really Articulate Rage (Mike: "some of the people who run this (NRA) are sick")
Daily Kos: School's new armed security guard forgets gun in school bathroom
Balloon Juice » Son of a Gun In addition to Blam-Blam Junior’s legal travails, current NRA President Keene’s ex-wife pleaded guilty last year to embezzling $400K from the ACU. The Keenes sound like exactly the sort of people who need access to a vast arsenal. Honest to god, you can’t make this shit up.

US Attorney Carmen Ortiz’s office went too far in its pursuit of Aaron Swartz - Editorial - The Boston Globe
US Attorney Carmen Ortiz says she’s ‘terribly upset’ about computer activist’s suicide - Boston.com (and that her career is ruined)
Carmen Ortiz should offer answers on Aaron Swartz case - Metro - The Boston Globe
The Globe turns up the heat on Carmen Ortiz « Media Nation
The Truth about Aaron Swartz’s “Crime” « Unhandled Exception
Prosecutor Gives Emotional Defense In Hacker Case | WBUR
John Cornyn Criticizes Eric Holder Over Aaron Swartz's Death Cornyn, the Senate minority whip, joins House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) in speaking out against the Swartz case.
Aaron Swartz's Father: MIT Put 'Institutional Concerns Ahead Of Compassion'
Bostonian of the Year: Carmen Ortiz - The Boston Globe By targeting corruption and white-collar crime, the US attorney is restoring our faith in the system (that worked out really well)

An Update on the Presidential Square Wave | voteview blog President Obama is the most ideologically moderate Democratic president in the post-war period (turns out Obama is a Blue Dog; well, that explains a lot)

Eric Cantor Makes Debt Ceiling Offer "The principle is simple: no budget, no pay," he added. (Rethugs to Senate: you don't get paid unless you do what we say)
The Republican Debt Ceiling Gambit Is Unconstitutional | ThinkProgress (never stopped them before)

Balloon Juice » GOP Discusses Minority Outreach at a Hotel Where a Plantation Used to Be (they just can't help themselves)

David Brooks Now Totally Pathological -- Daily Intelligencer - What Obama should be doing in response, Brooks argues, is push for policies that provoke no opposition even from the craziest of the Republicans:

Real interest rates are negative: Taxing is more costly than borrowing. A remarkable Damon Linker article about the "worrying rise of reckless liberal pundits" disparages the fiscal policy views of Paul Krugman and Damon Linker without bothering to mount any counterarguments to them.

The Dwindling Deficit - NYTimes.com The deficit scolds dominating policy debate will, of course, fiercely resist any attempt to downgrade their favorite issue. They love living in an atmosphere of fiscal crisis: It lets them stroke their chins and sound serious, and it also provides an excuse for slashing social programs, which often seems to be their real objective. (+Bush fucked America)
Constant Deficit Panic Bumming Americans Out, For Some Reason: Seven And A Half Things To Know - Thing One: The Paniconomy
More Young Americans Moving Out Of Mom's House
Darrell Issa No Longer Believes GOP's Debt Ceiling Proposal Is Unconstitutional | TPM LiveWire
Daily Kos: Republiclownery, continued
Four More Years Of Rove On Fox: What To Expect (Hint: Not The Truth) | Blog | Media Matters for America

Biden Getting an Autobiography From The Onion (Whether He Wants It or Not) - NYTimes.com (The President of Vice)

No More Mister Nice Blog So, on New Year's Eve, The New York Times gave us a story titled "Giuliani Ready to Use Muscle to Put His Man in Mayor’s Seat." Giuliani's "man" is the recently departed head of the much-relied-upon, much-reviled Metropolitan Transporation Authority, Joe Lhota, previously a Giuliani advisor and Wall Streeter.

The roof! The roof! The roof is on fire! (fracking from space)

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey Forgets To Say His Employees Get A Version Of Obamacare the organic grocery chain offers its workers some of the best health benefits in the U.S. The new health care law won't change that. (Republicfuck)
Whole Foods CEO: 'Climate Change Is Not Necessarily Bad' | ThinkProgress (100 million people could die in next 15 years, that's ok with Mackey because he has a helicopter)

What The Daily Beast's Absurd Vaccine Truther Screed Tells Us About Journalism | ThinkProgress
Virginia Mandatory Ultrasound Law's Repeal Blocked By State GOP Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia and a top anti-abortion lobbyist, also testified at the hearing. She accused abortion providers of "hiding the picture" of the ultrasound from women in order to prevent them from changing their minds and to increase profits

Washington Post Suspends Mexico Bureau Chief for Plagiarism | The Wrap Media

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Confessed Manti Te'o Hoax To A Friend: REPORT a report by ESPN's Outside the Lines on Friday appeared to bolster his case that he was a victim
Obama Called On ABC The Most During First Term Conferences; Fox News Comes In Ninth
Manti Te'o's 'Catfish' Story: How the Media Bought It Hook, Line and Sinker | The Wrap Media
Manti Te'o Gay? Girlfriend Hoax Leads To Speculation On Sexuality Of Notre Dame Star (Gay Mormon??)
Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax: Revisiting the interview - College Football - Pete Thamel - SI.com (no fact-checking at SI)
Manti T'eo Haox - The Lessons Of The Manti T'eo Scandal - Esquire - What is the significant difference between the actual reality of Manti Te'o's dead imaginary girlfriend and the actual reality George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford?
Manti Te'o's eHarmony Ad Explains Everything (video)

Nicole Kidman On Her Children And Scientology: 'I Utterly Respect Their Beliefs' (doesn't bother her that they are indoctrinated in an insane facisistic cult)
Shane Snow: What the sponsored-content business can learn from Scientology » Nieman Journalism Lab
The Atlantic’s Scientology problem, start to finish
The Atlantic apologizes Someone at the offices of The Atlantic has studied crisis management. Approximately 12 hours after it took down an online advertorial presentation for the Church of Scientology in response to a social media outcry, the publication has issued an apology

Is Lance Armstrong the world’s biggest liar? - The Washington Post

MOOCs for Credit (and a Fee) by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly
Balloon Juice » A Get Off My Lawn for the Ages The publisher of Harper’s somehow thinks Google is responsible for the death of print. (why your "internet strategy" is teh suck, dude)

Women like their men tall, but not too tall: study - Lifestyle - Boston.com found that in only one out of 720 couples was the female taller than the male. Because women are on average shorter than men, chance predicts that the occurrence of couples in which the female is taller is two out of 100, 14 times higher than the findings observed in that study
Alexander Tsiaras: The Beautiful and Efficient Anatomy of Pregnancy


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Eschaton: News That Barely Makes The News 310 US troops died in Afghanistan last year. 54 died in Iraq.
106 dead in new Homs massacre, says Syrian monitor | World news | guardian.co.uk British-based group says women and children among victims after army or pro-Assad militia stormed Basatin al-Hasawiya
Algeria Hostages Freed: 25 Escape, 6 Killed In Operation At Gas Plant Occupied By Al-Qaeda-Linked Group
Algeria Rescue Operation Ends
Fears for hostages as Algeria attacks gas complex – as it happened | World news | guardian.co.uk Reports of deaths of hostages and kidnappers
Algeria hostage crisis sparks fears of escalation across region | World news | The Guardian ahel and Sahara region is home to a tangled mix of social and economic problems which shift seamlessly across borders
Pakistan's envoy to US faces potentially deadly blasphemy accusation - World News Police were directed on Thursday to investigate allegations against Sherry Rehman, who has already faced death threats from militants after calling for reforms to the country's anti-blasphemy law, according to court documents. (questioning blasphemy laws is blasphemy subject to the death penalty)

DOJ sends bundle of completely censored documents in response to ACLU lawsuit | The Raw Story the Department of Justice (DOJ) turned over a bundle of documents that are completely blacked out. (fuck you and your steenking FOIA)

Why Germany wants its 674 tons of gold back So, essentially, the Bundesbank is offering a sop to the conspiracy theorists by relocating the gold to German soil. The nation just has to hope that nothing goes wrong during the journey.

Bradley Manning denied chance to make whistleblower defence | World news | guardian.co.uk Judge rules that Manning will not be allowed to present evidence about his motives for the leak – a key plank of his defence (Obama hates you know whos)

Aaron Swartz: US attorney says she only sought six-month jail term | Technology | guardian.co.uk Carmen M Ortiz responds to pressure over death of Reddit co-founder by saying her office acted reasonably (fuck you, Carmen)
Still More About The Death Of Aaron Swartz - Esquire United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz, who still has political ambitions beyond her current station, and her husband, and some unfortunate media enablers, have finally organized a response to the torrent of criticism she and her office have received in regard to her breaking-a-butterfly-on-a-wheel prosecution of activist Aaron Swartz, whom Ortiz's office tried to throw in prison for the crime of stealing stuff the actual owners eventually said that they didn't care that much about ... Unfortunately, Joan Vennochi (supports the "power of money" to kill people)
Dan Kennedy: Aaron Swartz, Carmen Ortiz and the American System of Justice

US environmentalists challenged to get climate change laws through Congress | World news | guardian.co.uk Harvard professor urges leaders to be 'realistic' about politics and organise into a broader coalition that includes conservatives (who deny its existence completely)

Obama Gun Violence Measures Strike A Nerve With Skeptical Sheriffs, State Lawmakers
alicublog: Presidential Trolling. I see Obama proposed some weak-ass gun rules, including executive orders such as "Starting a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign," "Issuing a presidential memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations," and (my favorite) "Nominating an A.T.F. director." This may or may not save any lives, but it has definitely achieved this:
NRA Warns Obama Gun Proposal Is 'Fight Of The Century' In Fundraising Push
Joe Carr, Tennessee Legislator, Proposes Gun Control Law Ban (send in the Marines)
Steve Toth Proposes Banning Federal Gun Bans In Texas
Rand Paul To Challenge Obama's Gun Control Executive Actions
Political Animal - Some “King” “I’m against having a king,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) said in an interview with CBN News. (teh crazy)
Is Obama losing public support on guns? Putting the polls in context | Harry J Enten | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk A new CNN poll shows Americans' support for gun control is falling. It isn't – but that doesn't necessarily mean CNN is wrong
Tell Congressman John Barrow (D-GA-12th) to Reject NRA Blood Money - YouTube ("these are my guns and ain't nobody gonna take them away")
Recreational assault weapons fire riddles Ohio home, narrowly misses officer | The Raw Story

Republicans Rigging the 2016 Election - Lawyers, Guns & Money : RNC Chair Reince Priebus is encouraging Republicans who control the government in Democratic-leaning states–PA, OH, WI, MI especially–to overhaul their electoral systems and end winner-take-all distribution of electoral votes.
Republicans Rigging 2016 Redux - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money if you lose the popular vote by nearly 4% nationally, even with your best attempt at voter suppression in place, you have to get creative in your brazenness.

Political Animal - About Those House GOP “Moderates” and “Pragmatists” Calling any House Republican in a competitive district a “moderate” is both dangerous and wrong.
Paul Krugman: Thomas Friedman 'Wrong' About Budget Deficit - , Krugman wrote that he "respectfully" disagrees with Thomas Friedman's comparison of the budget deficit to climate change. (well both were created by Repubicans but one is not the other)

Political Animal - If Not Pro-Choice, What? There’s been some buzz the last week or so about the announcement by Planned Parenthood that it’s dropping use of the term “pro-choice” to describe its position on abortion and related issues. ("weakly for something else" or Katie "please shut up" Roiphe's "Pro Freedom")
Political Animal - The Anti-Choicers’ Fascination With Rape This issue is, of course, only the tip of a crazy jagged iceberg. The same folk that oppose interfering with pregnancies caused by rape have a strong tendency to believe tens of millions of Sovereign Citizens of this country are murdered every year via methods of “contraception” that in theory or practice interfere with the growth and the opportunity for eternal salvation of fertilized ova.

The Real Notre Dame Scandal - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Less than a day into the Manti Te’o revelations, we’ve heard more about a fake dead girlfriend of a Notre Dame football player than a real dead girl. Lizzy Seeberg committed suicide, not long after being intimidated by Notre Dame football players for reporting a sexual assault by one of their teammates.
Crying for Manti Te'o | The Nation - The only conclusion one can draw is that he was either the victim of an insanely elaborate grift whose ingenuity would humble David Mamet, or something stinks in South Bend ... Te’o, a devout Mormon
This Is What Happens When You Accuse A Notre Dame Football Player Of Sexually Assaulting You
Notre Dame Won't Talk About Woman Who Killed Herself After Reporting Football Player Sexually Assaulted Her
Inspiring Tale of Notre Dame Hero Totally Fake -- Daily Intelligencer The story is utterly shocking, unless you’re familiar with the history of the mythology of Notre Dame football.
Notre Dame’s real dead woman - Salon.com Manti Te'o's bizarre soap opera moves the school's president to tears, while Lizzy Seeberg's suicide is ignored
Why do we keep getting suckered by stories like Manti Te’o? - Salon.com On the heels of the Notre Dame scandal, a few guidelines for journalists reporting on inspirational stories
Fake Girlfriends by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly
Twitter / daveweigel: My girlfriend was so devastated ... My girlfriend was so devastated at the Manti Te'o news I had to pick her up from work, at the Jukt Micronics office.
The 5 Ballsiest Lies Ever Passed off as Journalism | Cracked.com
What does Jukt Micronics teach us about fact-checking? « Gotham Skeptic
Hack Heaven by Stephen Glass (The Realist No. 140, Autumn 1998)

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey Says He Regrets Comparing Obamacare To 'Fascism'
Balloon Juice » Whole Fool - the latest from the CEO of Whole Foods - This guy compared unions to herpes and is a climate change denier, in addition to his Palinesque views on Obamacare, so it’s not like his latest comments are out of character. Is the produce so much better at Whole Foods that it’s worth ignoring the fact that it’s run by this asshole?



The Road To Hell Is Paved With Graffiti Penises

Manti Te'o's Dead Girlfriend, The Most Heartbreaking And Inspirational Story Of The College Football Season, Is A Hoax

011613
China’s Ambitious Goal for Boom in College Graduates - NYTimes.com (while America defunds education and doesn't believe in science)
Creationism spreading in schools, thanks to vouchers — MSNBC creationist vouchers aren’t just a Louisiana problem—they’re an American problem. (you can see where this is going)

London Helicopter Crash: Aircraft Bursts Into Flames After Hitting Construction Crane On Top Of Building (videos/photos)

MIT and Aaron Swartz — Crooked Timber
Lessig Blog, v2 - Prosecutor as bully (the everlasting shame of Carmen Ortiz and Steve Heymann)

Obama to announce most expansive gun-control agenda in generations - The Washington Post
Where Congress Stands on Guns - ProPublica (see Massachusetts)
What are Obama's gun control proposals? - CBS News
Obama Executive Orders On Guns - The Executive Orders Translated - Esquire
Will Congress Pass Obama's Gun-Control Legislation Proposals? He signed an executive order with 23 new measures, but the really difficult stuff will require legislation
NEA Supports Obama’s, Not The NRA’s, School Guns Plan | TPMDC
NRA Is Simply a Disease on the Body Politic | TPM Editors Blog It takes a lot for the NRA to shock. But this is just beyond disgusting. The NRA has launched a new ad campaign calling President Obama a ‘hypocrite’ for allowing armed Secret Service agents to protect his school aged daughters.
The Mahablog » Gun Culties vs. Everybody Else Why we need gun control — a man who sheltered some Sandy Hook elementary students on the day of the mass shootings is being harassed by Sandy Hook truthers.
Anderson Cooper Rips James Tracey For Newtown Conspiracy Theories (video) Professor James Tracey questioned whether Sandy Hook even happened. Because of his conspiracy theory, families in Newtown who suffered losses have been inundated with hate mail and prank phone calls. One family even had to remove its online memorial page when it was attacked with hateful messages.
NRA Video Criticizes Obama For Stance On Armed Guards In Schools
Political Animal - Opening Shot Obama is an “elitist hypocrite” for accepting armed protection for his kids but not yours (We need guns so that we can resist the government when it becomes tyrannical. And when does the government become tyrannical? When it comes to take our guns away.)
More on the NRA’s Fascinating Argument That We’re All At Constant Risk of Being Assassinated - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money What an elitist, that Barack Obama, thinking he’s somehow above ordinary people, like he has some particularly critical job or something, and he and his family might be unique targets for violence requiring special protection! It’s almost like he thinks he’s the president!
Eschaton: Not Sure How To Say This But one doesn't have to travel very far on the internet to find some very angry slightly unhinged people for whom gun ownership and fetishization is a major part of their identity. I do not think bringing the president's daughters into this conversation in any way was a good idea.
Political Animal - The Unequalizer Let’s be clear what this means. To “protect the citizenry from even their own government” may sound reasonable as an abstraction. But what it means is that Erick wants Americans to be able to keep an assault rifle at home in order someday to use it to shoot police officers dead if the laws they seek to enforce represent “tyranny.”
Daily Kos: Blame for Diminished Gun-Violence Federal Research
Too Simple « The Weekly Sift The most extreme part of the gun debate isn’t about hunting or home-defense at all. It’s about the right of the People to overthrow the government by force — even if it’s the government the People just elected. (the right to commit treason)
Gun control: The right to commit treason | The Economist
The Strangest Conservative Priority: Prepping a '2nd Amendment Solution' - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic
Edwin Meese: Obama Can Be Impeached Over Guns | TPMDC Former Reagan Attorney General Edwin Meese, now a prominent emeritus official at the Heritage Foundation (rises from the crypt)
Another Lawmaker Suggests Obama Impeachment Rep. Trey Radel (R-FL) told The Shark Tank that President Obama could be impeached over his executive actions on gun control (that will go over really well)

Zoe Lofgren Introduces 'Aaron's Law' To Honor Swartz On Reddit
Westboro Baptist Church Drops Aaron Swartz Funeral Protest After Anonymous Vows Action (video)

Sandy Relief Passes House Despite Conservative Opposition The full $51 billion relief bill passed the House 241-180, with 179 Republicans opposed. (the hard core of Republican teapartiers)

Wall Street Journal Fiscal Cliff - Les Insufferables - Esquire

Checkmate: No Good Moves For Boehner In Spending Fight | TPMDC
Daily Kos: Poll: Public overwhelmingly opposes Republican position on debt limit Should be separate issues: 58 - Debt limit should be tied to spending cuts: 36
Another GOP Senator recognizes the inevitable The latest: GOP Senator Susan Collins.
Political Animal - The Dog That’s Still Not Barking Know what’s not a problem? Inflation.
Daily Kos: Murdochgate: News Corp. Hemorrhaging 1,000's of Stores from its Supermarket Ad Division
Daily Kos: Whole Foods CEO: Obamacare “more like fascism” than socialism Whole Foods CEO John Mackey calls Obamacare fascism in a NPR interview. (rich assholes will be assholes)

Dana Milbank: Steve Stockman, a radical gone mainstream - The Washington Post
Folk hero freshman congressman ignorant in addition to inexperienced - Salon.com Inspiring story: Rep. Ted Yoho used to be a veterinarian. Now he's another of the House's right-wing cranks ("the problem with Congress is too much expertise and experience" - rise of teh stupid)
Political Animal - The Rotten Core of the Lost Cause journalist and historian Colin Woodward argues that the very ideologies of white supremacy and state’s rights that make the Confederacy possible ultimately destroyed it from within:
Rick Scott Disavows Role In Controversial Early Voting Law: 'It Was Not My Bill' | TPM LiveWire (lying Republicans will lie)

More and more Americans want pot legal - CNN.com

The powers that be hate Social Security: Here's why. the mere fact of not sending your grandma those checks is good for The Economy. (Dems hate SS too)

Insecticide 'unacceptable' danger to bees, report finds | Environment | guardian.co.uk Campaigners say the conclusion by the European Food Safety Authority is a 'death knell' for neonicotinoid pesticides (Bayer warned against "over-interpretation of the precautionary principle".)

Maureen Dowd: Why Didn't Obama Appoint That Female Candidate I Criticized in My Columns?

High school graduation rates and lead.

Pregnant? That Might Get You Arrested | Mother Jones

Esquire's Interview with Megan Fox Is the Worst Thing Ever Written | VICE
Bats Left/Throws Right: Dopes (Starbuck "Blonde" "a weaker coffee for a nation of pussies)

Ancient Egypt: The beautiful one has come | The Economist | The bust of Nefertiti

Hindu holy book coming to a nightstand near you – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs It’s about to get crowded in your hotel room nightstand. The newest addition could soon be a sacred Hindu text called the Bhagavad-Gita.

Visualizing the Death of Print—as a 3D Tyrannosaurus Rex - Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg - The Atlantic
Michael Geist - Ontario Court Rejects U.S. Government Demand for Full Access to Megaupload Servers Seized in Canada (more Justice Dept is agent of multi-national corps dept)

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Bombs Away - Esquire ests of the 30,000-pound (13,600-kilogram) Massive Ordnance Penetrator made by Boeing Co. (BA) demonstrated the redesigned weapon "is capable of effectively prosecuting selected hardened, deeply buried targets,"

Everything We Know So Far About Drone Strikes - ProPublica
Here Are Seven (Very) Short Stories About Drones by Award-Winning Author Teju Cole

On humanity, a big failure in Aaron Swartz case - Metro - The Boston Globe
Breaking Someone With The Law - Esquire The Boston Globe went long this morning on the death by suicide of Aaron Swartz -- most of which, ironically, is behind the newspaper's paywall -- including a close examination of the relentless breaking-a-butterfly-on-a-wheel pursuit of the young activist by the office of United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz up here in Boston, as well as a deep look into the complicity in that pursuit by the administration at MIT.
Prosecution’s Case Against Swartz Draws Scrutiny | WBUR
Darrell Issa Probing Prosecution Of Aaron Swartz, Internet Pioneer Who Killed Himself
Aaron Swartz's Father Says Reddit Co-Founder Was 'Killed By The Government'
Prosecution’s Case Against Swartz Draws Scrutiny | WBUR “Stealing is stealing,” Ortiz announced on the day two years ago that Swartz was indicted ... Swartz was charged with multiple felonies exposing him to 35 years in prison, if convicted.
Petition To Remove Carmen Ortiz, Aaron Swartz Prosecutor, Reaches Threshold For White House Response
Aaron Swartz, Carmen Ortiz and the meaning of justice « Media Nation

Obama Will Push For Assault Weapons Ban, Says White House
New York State Gun Laws The First In Country Since Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting In Newtown
The NRA’s Democratic helpers - Salon.com It's not just Republicans who stand in the way of President Obama's gun control push
Balloon Juice » One More On Swartz (and MIT)
Joe Biden and the Gun-Control Debate : The New Yorker
Political Animal - The “More Guns” Reaction to Newtown
St. Louis Business School Shooting: Police Respond To Stevens Institute of Business and Arts
NRA Membership Spike May Be Driven By Huge Discounts

Sandy Relief Passes House Despite Conservative Opposition The full $51 billion relief bill passed the House 241-180, with 179 Republicans opposed. (the hard core of insanity and greed)
The Sandy Vote and the GOP House's Wobbly Spending Stance The Club for Growth issued a "key vote" alert -- meaning, voting the wrong way would go on the member's permanent record, and risk a primary challenge -- for the first tranche of Hurricane Sandy relief. (Club for Rich Fuckers)

Fitch: Debt Ceiling Debate Puts U.S. Credit Rating At Risk Of Downgrade (Repubicans: "fuck everybody")
Eschaton: F The Deficit The additional maddening thing is that if you fix the jobs problem you largely fix the deficit problem. The reverse is not true. If you "fix" the deficit you kill the job

Political Animal - Under the Surface of the “Status Quo Election” - This continued racial/ethnic polarization should in theory provide a marginal boost to House Republicans in 2014, when a midterm electorate disproportionately including older white voters typically shows up, while helping Democrats in 2016 and (of course) in the longer run.

Chuck Schumer says he’ll support Chuck Hagel's nomination - Manu Raju - politico.com

Lisa Murkowski: Debt Ceiling Shouldn't Be Used As Leverage - became the first Republican senator to come out against using the debt ceiling as leverage for spending cuts, contradicting Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Republicans who favor such a tactic.
Arizona Medicaid Expansion Urged By Gov. Jan Brewer, Obamacare Foe Brewer said that if she did not accept the Medicaid funds for Arizona, other states could claim those federal dollars and create jobs that otherwise would be created in Arizona. (crazy lady caves)
Eschaton: Reagan In case there was any doubt Rick Scott was a supervillain.
Drunky Maryland Pol: Gay Marriage Crashed That Boat, Injured That 5-Year-Old Girl

Faster and Faster: The Same-Sex Marriage Momentum By the end of the year, marriage equality may be the law in five more states. Illinois, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Minnesota, and Delaware. All have Democratic majorities, supportive governors, and good odds (suck it up, haters and the Catholic Church)
Taming Phil Gingrey's GOP: Susan B. Anthony List to help Republicans talk nice about rape.

GAO: Mileage Fee Could Be More “Equitable and Efficient” Than Gas Tax | Streetsblog Capitol Hill
Eschaton: Bad Ideas That Never Die It's politically impossible to increase the gas tax, but voters will love an expensive privacy-invading exciting new tax which won't be mostly invisible like the gas tax is. One more monthly bill to pay. Exciting!!!

Hollywood's Real Bias Is Conservative (but Not in the Way Liberals Often Say) - Elias Isquith - The Atlantic

Where It All Began - Esquire Those of you afflicted with the stereotype of Lutherans as lugubrious bores will have to confront, as we all do eventually, the irrefutable fact that the Intertoobz are a place of wonder and delight.

Humility - Lawyers, Guns & Money : If you haven’t seen David Brooks’ syllabus for the class he’s teaching at Yale this semester, entitled “The Humility Course,” well, you are in for a treat. Here’s a few choice sessions: (elite white male studies, an idea whose time has come)
David Brooks Humility Class Yale - David Brooks Is A Very Funny Fellow - Esquire New York Times columnist David Brooks is teaching a course at Yale on "Humility." ...with a duck on his head.



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Malian rebels overrun garrison town and advance towards capital | World news | guardian.co.uk Islamist insurgents 250 miles from Bamako, as French ministers say their forces have met more resistance than expected
Mali: high stakes in 'Hollande's war' | World news | The Guardian Unpopular in the polls and accused of dithering on the economy, Mali has shown the French president in decisive mode
The bombing of Mali highlights all the lessons of western intervention | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The west African nation becomes the eighth country in the last four years alone where Muslims are killed by the west
Hamid Karzai: Afghans will decide on scale of US post-2014 presence | World news | The Guardian President holds out prospect small force could stay on, and urges Washington to keep up current spending levels (keep shoveling the dough into my corrupt pockets, suckers)
India Gang Rape Suspects To Appear At Hearing

Eurozone showing signs of recovery, says IMF chief | Business | The Guardian Christine Lagarde predicts return to growth, thanks to measures taken by individual countries to stabilise single currency union

In Gun Control Debate, Several Options Draw Majority Support | Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Posse Just Lousy With ‘Bad Guys With Guns’
Ted Nugent: Obama 'Psychotic' For Plan To Address Gun Violence “It is psychotic, it is crazy, it's illogical -- I believe it's clearly and dangerously anti-American, anti-humanity.”
Balloon Juice » Proceed, Whack Jobs (Citadel)

Anonymous attacks MIT websites after death of internet activist Aaron Swartz | Technology | guardian.co.uk Apologising for 'temporary use' of institution's sites, hacker collective accuses US government of overzealous prosecution
Legal Case Strained Troubled Web Activist - WSJ.com
Making Light: Aaron Swartz The public servants responsible for the case against Aaron Swartz as of July 2011: (U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz ... Cambridge cops ... MIT cops)
A List of People Who Should Never Be Democratic Nominees For Office - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Balloon Juice » MIT on Aaron Swartz’s death

Embracing the Legacy of Torture John Brennan's nomination for head of the CIA shows the appalling extent to which the worst abuses of the post-9/11 security state have become institutionalized.
Brennan and the Whitewash of Torture - Lawyers, Guns & Money

President Obama Press Conference - The President Meets The Press - Esquire When he talks about The American People, and the Middle Class thereof, he ought not to convince himself that he was re-elected because he's the guy who'll best bring down The Deficit. He got re-elected because the other guy convinced America that he wouldn't much care if people ate grass by the side of the road.
Obama stands firm over debt ceiling and criticises GOP as 'irresponsible' | World news | guardian.co.uk President says Republican threat to refuse to raise the debt ceiling is 'absurd' and dares GOP to shut down the government
Obama: 'We Are Not A Deadbeat Nation' | TPM LiveWire (Boehner: "we'll see about that")
Behind the Curtain: House GOP eyes default, shutdown - politico.com
Political Animal - Paying the Bills Obama is seeking to promote a different and much more technically accurate analogy: threatening to deny a debt limit increase, regardless of the rationale, is like refusing to pay those credit card bills altogether.
Howard Fineman: The Long Road Forward: Obama's Second-Term Challenges
Congress is Killing Medical Research - Forbes While the ridiculous posturing about the U.S. budget deficit drags on, seemingly without end, biomedical research in the U.S. is crumbling. (isn't that the point?)

Bats Left/Throws Right: Thank God. We're Saved! (Feminists and Cowboys, Jon Huntsman)
Paul Krugman: Jon Stewart Is 'Ruining His Brand' By Belittling The Trillion Dollar Coin (Stewart has always been a "centrist")

The Nuttiest Post About Chuck Hagel - Esquire The voices inside the head of Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin are unanimous in their dislike for Chuck Hagel, the former Republican senator from Nebraska who is the president's nominee for Secretary Of Defense

Foreclosure Review Insiders Portray Massive Failure, Doomed From The Start (Obama's programs designed to fail and protect the crooks)
Robert P. Stoker: Saving Social Security by Cutting Middle-Class Taxes
America’s Productivity Climbs, but Wages Stagnate - NYTimes.com Take Caterpillar, long a symbol of American industry: while it reported record profits last year, it insisted on a six-year wage freeze for many of its blue-collar workers. (redistribution upwards)

Michelle Rhee, the education celebrity who rocketed from obscurity to Oprah - The Washington Post So Rhee’s premise is faulty, he said. “But it’s a simple idea, and in the media, it’s powerful to have heroes and villains,” Kahlenberg said. “The fact that evidence doesn’t back her up doesn’t seem to prevent her from getting wide notoriety.” (simple-minded MSM)
The Failure of Rheeism - Lawyers, Guns & Money : As Kahlenberg notes, Rhee provides the media a nice simple message they can repeat without research, thinking, or questioning their own privilege. Unfortunately, our children and our middle class suffer as a result.

Accidental Exposure: More Than 700 Patients May Have Been Exposed To HIV, Hepatitis At Buffalo VA Hospital because of accidental reuse of insulin pens (cost-savings)

Longing for the Days of Megan McArdle - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money You thought McArdle was as low as The Atlantic could go? Oh no. Not even close. How about allowing Scientology to write a “Sponsor Content” that looks just like a news article but is in fact a self-written story about the awesomeness of Scientology leader David Miscavige?

A List Of 2012’s Best “Best Of 2012” Lists · NYU Local

Facebook UK loses 600,000 users in December | Technology | guardian.co.uk Numbers dropped by 1.86% over festive period, fuelling speculation that site is reaching saturation point in core markets

011313
Not So Fast on the Rise of Israel's Far Right - Jeffrey Goldberg - The Atlantic Despite this shifting within both the left and the right, the polls indicate an absence of movement between the two poles. The result, rather startlingly, is that despite the churn, the right-left balance is forecast to remain precisely as it currently stands (polarization, same as America)
Mali Intervention: French Planes Bomb District Capital Of Gao
Vatican Paper Criticizes Gay Adoption After Italy Ruling He went on to reaffirm the Vatican's view that no one has the "right" to children that he said gay couples who want to adopt are claiming.
The Kurdish situation in Iran Iran’s Kurds make up roughly 11-15% of the country’s 75 million population, situated largely in its north eastern provinces.
Russia Adoption Ban: Thousands March To Protest Law Banning Americans From Adopting Russian Children

India Gang Rape: Woman Assaulted By Bus Driver, Conductor

Marshalling the Real: War and Simulation « The Disorder Of Things
Why are Bob Woodward's WH sources - or Woodward himself - not on trial next to Bradley Manning? | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The extremist prosecution of Manning, accused of 'aiding and abetting al-Qaida', poses a real threat to US press freedom

Political Animal - Prosecutorial Overreach and the Death of a Genius
Aaron Swartz, Internet Activist, Dies at 26 - NYTimes.com
danah boyd | apophenia » processing the loss of Aaron Swartz

The National Memo » The 5 Hottest U.S. States — And Their Legislators Who Deny Climate Change - Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming
Fox News Does Its Part In War On Science, Demands ‘Recount’ Of Weather Temperatures

NRA President: Americans Are Buying Firearms Because They Fear Obama | ThinkProgress
NRA President David Keene Rejects Outline Of White House Gun Control Recommendations (video)
How NRA’s true believers converted a marksmanship group into a mighty gun lobby - The Washington Post
Gun-death tally: Every American gun death since Newtown Sandy Hook shooting (INTERACTIVE). - Slate Magazine it’s open. You can download it here. Deaths by City Click a circle to filter deaths by location. Deaths since Newtown: 734
Hero Patriot Dad Will Shed Blood Again If School Nazis Wreck Pledge Of Allegiance - Colin M. McGroarty MBA, MCSE, Wingnut, Loonball
Crazy Time - Lawyers, Guns & Money - Montpelier, Ohio decides to arm their school custodians.
Conservatives Declare War On New Miss America Mallory Hagan Over Gun Comments | National Confidential

RFK Junior: The Truth Is Out There

Gates wanted to know just how many blanking Kagans there are (good question)

Daily Kos: The problem is not John Brennan: It's us - let's just forget that the new CIA nominee was considered too controversial for Democrats at the end of the Bush era, because of his activities during the Bush era. This is 2012, not the late-2000s, which is ancient history. The statute of limitations on outrage over abuses of human rights apparently is less than a handful of years.
Politics, Power, and Preventive Action » John Brennan as CIA Director: What It Means - claim of no collateral deaths by drones "preposterous and in no way supported by reality."
You Can Order Hundreds of Drone Strikes and Still Be Called 'Wet Nurse' of Terrorism | Danger Room | Wired.com Brennan withdrew as Obama’s choice to head the CIA once before, in 2008, when he came under criticism for alleged involvement in the CIA’s Bush-era torture efforts.
New study proves falsity of John Brennan’s drone claims - Salon.com Claims by Obama officials about civilian deaths in Pakistan are, put simply, false and misleading (2011)
Politics | Potential CIA chief cites critics in ending bid | Seattle Times Newspaper John Brennan, a 25-year CIA veteran and career analyst who became the first head of the National Counterterrorism Center in 2004, preemptively declined to take any intelligence post in the new administration in a Nov. 25 letter sent to Obama. (2008)

Obama Plans to Push Congress on Immigration Overhaul - NYTimes.com

The Fed Killed The Trillion Dollar Coin — And That's Slightly Disturbing - Business Insider (they shouldn't be bossing Treasury around +it was at least legal)
NYT Nails It on Social Security and the Chained CPI | Beat the Press "Chained CPI" is the new magic phrase going around Washington these days. This is how the government can cut Social Security and pretend it is not really cutting Social Security
Eschaton: It's Just A Cut People who argue that the chained CPI is more accurate for the purpose of calculating cost of living changes for the elderly are just lying, and they know they're lying.

Colin Powell: GOP Holds 'Dark Vein Of Intolerance' - "When I see a former governor say that the president is 'shuckin' and jivin' -- that's a racial-era slave term," Powell said, referring to Palin's words on Obama's response.
Richard Blumenthal: Chuck Hagel Will Be Confirmed As Secretary Of Defense (video)

Congress is awful because members spend all day long talking to rich people - Salon.com Why is Congress so dumb? They spend their days hounding donors rather than researching the bills they vote on - a PowerPoint presentation given to incoming Democratic freshmen legislators by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the DCCC’s recommended schedule for House members includes four hours spent on the phone begging rich people for money and one hour spent begging rich person for money in person.

The Two Sentences That Should Be Part of All Discussion of the Debt Ceiling - James Fallows - The Atlantic 1) Raising the debt ceiling does not authorize one single penny in additional public spending. 2) For Congress to "decide whether" to raise the debt ceiling, for programs and tax rates it has already voted into law, makes exactly as much sense as it would for a family to "decide whether" to pay a credit-card bill for goods it has already bought.

Paul Krugman: GOP Debt Ceiling Strategy Is 'Hostage Taking' Republicans have said they won't authorize an increase in the country’s spending limit without major spending cuts. "We should not allow this to become thought of as a legitimate or normal budget strategy," Krugman said on ABC's "This Week." “This is hostage taking.” (Republican terrorists at work)
Why Republicans should watch their language - The Washington Post - ; it starts with abandoning ugly phrases such as “a hostage you might take a chance at shooting” to describe budget negotiations.
Income Tax Could Be Eliminated By Many Republican-Controlled States * Single-party rule in 37 states paves way for big changes (it's a Republican nation)

Independence Park to be Glenn Beck's 'Galt's Gulch' | Right Wing Watch (just when you thought ...)

GOOD magazine lays off most of its editorial staffers | Poynter. (Good is Bad)
When Labor Becomes Justified in Hating Environmentalists - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money this post from Good promoting the idea of online grocery stores makes me want to hold my head in my hands

Law school dean’s salary may be nation’s highest - News - Boston.com (grifters will grift)

7 Secret Ways America's Stealth Armada Stays Off the Radar | Danger Room | Wired.com

UFO Sightings At International Space Station On The Rise (And You Can Help Find Them) (video)

Ohio Religious School Devises Fun Science Project About Dangers Of Asbestos Students as young as 13 who attend the Buckeye Education School spent several weekends removing asbestos-filled materials without any protective gear at the former YWCA on Smith Road in Middleburg Heights (Christian school doesn't believe in asbestos poisoning)

My Wedding Speech - YouTube

The Science of Why Comment Trolls Suck | Mother Jones The online peanut gallery can get you so riled up that your ability to reason goes out the window, a new study finds.

011213
Netanyahu government is Israel's most anti-Zionist ever, says Amoz Oz Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper Speaking to about 30 academics who are considering voting for Meretz, Oz compared Israel to an apartheid state and made angry predictions about its future. (oh, Haaretz, how's that paywall working out for you?)
Beijing, China Air Pollution Hits Hazardous Levels
'Mexsicko City' Turns a Corner in Its Clean Air Marathon - NYTimes.com

RIP, Aaron Swartz - Boing Boing
Aaron Swartz | The Nation
Aaron Swartz - Lawyers, Guns & Money : More on the federal prosecution brought against him here and here . The fact that the federal government isn’t willing to prosecute torturers but will prosecute you for making obscure academic articles authors generally weren’t directly compensated for available says a lot, none of it good. (another casualty in Obama's war on the truth)
Aaron Swartz Suicide: Reddit Co-Founder Dead At 26

Effects of climate change will be felt more deeply in decades ahead, draft report says - The Washington Post (when will Limbaugh and the WSJ go before the Climate Crimes Court? Obama fiddles ...)
Extreme Weather Grows in Frequency and Intensity Around World - NYTimes.com
Climate assessment delivers a grim overview - latimes.com A draft version of a national report details the accelerated effects of climate change across the U.S., describing battered coastlines, devastating rainfall and drought.

Gun Advocates Warn That New Safety Measures Could Foment 'The Next American Revolution' | ThinkProgress
As U.S. Weighs New Rules, Sales of Guns and Ammunition Surge - NYTimes.com
Armed Janitors Approved By Montpelier, Ohio, School Board To Stop School Shootings
Texas Dad Arrested, Accused of Causing Security Panic at School - ABC News A Texas dad terrified his child’s elementary school when he decided to conduct a “rogue” security drill to see how the school would respond in the event of an emergency, according to the school district. (gun owners insane to begin with)
Joe Scarborough: NRA, Gun Makers Profiting Off 'Slaughter' In Newtown (video)
Bonus Quote of the Day "Assault weapons is a misused term used by suburban soccer moms who do not understand what is being discussed here." -- Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (R), quoted by the Missouri News Horizon, on efforts to ban assault weapons. (a twofer)

RFK Jr: 'Very convincing' evidence that JFK wasn't killed by lone gunman - U.S. News

The Eternal Folly of the Bipartisan Debt Fetish -- Daily Intelligencer vast swaths of commentary by the most respectable members of the mainstream media. It all runs together, day after day, an endless repetitive drone of elite sentiment ... the long-term deficit a problem worth solving, though I would argue that mass unemployment and, especially, climate change are more urgent problems ... And so, when figures like Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson are invited on to programs like Meet the Press, they are treated as disinterested wise men rather than political advocates.
Krugman: Recession ‘gratuitous’ because if Congress created jobs program it ‘would all be over’ | The Raw Story (and we could have moved on the climate change; Repubican terrorists at work destroying America)
Paul Krugman Explains the Keys to Our Recovery | Moyers & Company | BillMoyers.com

Eschaton: Treasury Says This Isn't Change We Can Believe In Treasury sez no platinum coin. On to the illegal alternatives.

The Washington Post's Chuck Hagel Opposition Just Shifted 180 Degrees | The New Republic Maybe the Washington Post editorial board just really, really doesn't like Chuck Hagel, doesn't care if its argument for opposing him shifts 180 degrees in a matter of weeks, and doesn't think its readers will notice. (the confused mind of Fred Hiatt)
BOR: Former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison Being Considered for Transportation Secretary (another Repubican, he just can't help himself)

Meet The House GOP’s Anti-Science Committee | TPMDC

Bill O'Reilly Complains We Took His Asian-Americans Comments Out Of Context | Blog | Media Matters for America ("out of context" the lamest defense)

The Oldest Rock In The World Tells Us A Story : Krulwich Wonders... : NPR So, all of a sudden, here was evidence that the red hot, lava-laced, boiling, lifeless Earth of 4.4 billion years ago had water on it! What's more, Watson says, "we feel our results point more strongly toward the idea of surface water."
The Largest Structure in Universe Discovered --Quasar Group 4 Billion Light-Years Wide Challenges Current Cosmology The Largest Structure in Universe Discovered --Quasar Group 4 Billion Light-Years Wide Challenges Current Cosmology

Verizon Copyright Alert System Would Throttle Internet Speeds Of Repeat Online Pirates
Cloud Backup Services - Best Cloud Backup Provider List

011113
Afghanistan Withdrawal: U.S. To Shift To Supporting Role, Obama Says
Fayez Al Kandari, Guantanamo Bay Detainee, Awaits Justice On 11th Anniversary
Fox News History: Bolling Claims Saddam Hussein "Financed" 9/11 Attacks | Blog | Media Matters for America
BBC News - The tourists held by Greek police as illegal migrants tourists have also been picked up in the sweeps - and at least two have been badly beaten.

France launches air strikes on Mali | World news | The Guardian President François Hollande responds to advance south by Islamist rebels by sending armed forces to aid Malian troops
China Sends Fighters To East China Sea - Business Insider
Jimmy Savile abused children at 14 hospitals across six decades - report | Media | guardian.co.uk Savile's offending footprint was vast, predatory and opportunistic as he 'groomed the nation', say Met police (and no one suspected the creepy pervert was a creepy pervert)
Pakistan's politicians smell plot to derail polls in cleric's march plans | World news | guardian.co.uk Parties fear that Tahir-ul-Qadri's million man march to protest against corruption could threaten first peaceful transfer of power
Pakistan also has a rape problem Days after the Delhi gang-rape victim died, a 9-year-old in Pakistan was beaten and raped by three men. In Pakistan, however, no one is talking about it.

Key witness in Bradley Manning WikiLeaks trial defends Reddit thread | The Raw Story

Drones are fool's gold: they prolong wars we can't win | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | The Guardian New appointments in the White House hail an era of hands-free warfare. Yet these weapons induce not defeat, but retaliation (Obama's incredibly short-sighted policies)
Rachel Maddow On Drone Strikes: 'One Of The More Orwellian Things' About 21st Century America
DCAS Reports - Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Wounded in Action

If you aren’t alarmed about climate, you aren’t paying attention | Grist (humans have screwed the pooch, rightwinger denialists have helped a lot)
Climate change set to make America hotter, drier and more disaster-prone | Environment | guardian.co.uk Draft report from NCA makes clear link between climate change and extreme weather as groups urge Obama to take action
Australian Dust Storm Photos Suggest Fearsome 'Red Wave' Off Continent's Western Coast
Onslow Dust Storm Photos | Facebook

Balloon Juice » Gun Nuts are Sometimes Really Nuts
State suspends gun permit for CEO who said he would ‘start killing people’ over gun control | The Raw Story
Political Animal - Who Gets To Decide?
Portland residents panic as men armed with assault weapons ‘educate’ the city | The Raw Story
David Gregory Prosecution Over Gun Magazine Not Happening, D.C. Attorney Says
Martin Luther King Makes Everything Better - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic So I guess it's true that blacks wouldn't have been slaves if they had guns, much like it's true that blacks wouldn't have been slaves if there was no such thing as American slavery
Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. So keep dangerous people away from guns. - Slate Magazine

Will Obama's 'war on weed' really ride roughshod over American voters? | Naomi Wolf | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The White House seems stuck in its failed 'war on drugs' policy, even as voters in states approve marijuana legalisation

Coins Against Crazies - NYTimes.com But if we aren’t ready to mint that coin or take some equivalent action, the joke will be on us — and a very sick joke it will be, too.
Top Senate Dems to White House: If you unilaterally raise debt ceiling, we’ve got your back
Business leaders to GOP: No more debt limit hostage taking! Another key moment in the debt ceiling fight: On MSNBC this morning, the head of the powerful U.S. Chamber of Commerce called on Republicans to stop using the threat of default to get the spending cuts they want.

Daily Dot | The war for Elizabeth Warren's Wikipedia page
The Marietta Daily Journal - Gingrey says he’s open to certain gun control measures and agrees with Todd Akin about "legitimate rape")

Balloon Juice » Breaking: 75 Year-Old Man to Retire Jay Rockefeller shocks the world by planning not to die in office after almost 40 years in the Senate.
The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Senate Reform 101: The Case Against the Constitutional Option

This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For | We the People: Your Voice in Our Government The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn't on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:

Not Safe For Work Corporation | If Andrew Sullivan Is The Future of Journalism Then Journalism Is Fucked Even after his own magazine recanted the article, in 2007, Sullivan, while admitting "I was aware of the piece’s flaws but nonetheless was comfortable running it as a provocation," defended his failure, and the catastrophic consequences to millions of Americans, with all the aggressive conviction of a sociopath: (truly vile record +Obama thinks he's great)
Balloon Juice » The Omnibus Anti-Sully Post

Michelle Rhee's Failing Report Card | Beat the Press Incredibly, she also claims not to have realized that high stake testing would provide incentives for teachers or administrators to cheat on the scoring of exams. In short, Rhee's report card means that states get credit for making their teachers more financially insecure without saving the government a penny. This position might coincide with a business agenda to eliminate defined benefit pensions, but it is very difficult to see how it will improve our children's education. (scammers will scam and lie)

Balloon Juice » America’s Favorite Fascist Strikes Again - Apparently Mayor Bloomberg is now a doctor (they love inflicting pain on other people)
Flu Outbreak 2013: Many Americans Caught Off-Guard; CDC Unveils Updated Numbers The bigger problem, according to experts, is how few people have chosen to get the shots. As of the latest survey in late November, only 37 percent of the U.S. had been vaccinated.
Flu Myths: 7 Common Beliefs, Busted

Einstein Was Right: Space-Time Smooth, Not Foamy | Space.com
Galaxy's centre tastes of raspberries and smells of rum | Science | guardian.co.uk The hunt for chemicals in deep space that could seed life on other planets has yielded a large, fruity molecule
Air conditioning: No sweat | The Economist Artificial cooling makes hot places bearable—but at a worryingly high cost

NY Times Layoffs Looming; Jill Abramson 'Begging' Top Editors To Take Buyouts: NY Mag

300 Cats and Counting - NYTimes.com

CES 2013 journal: the death of 3D? | Rory Carroll | Technology | guardian.co.uk Last year's big thing flopped in stores, and TV makers have got the message. But just like Freddy Krueger, it never quite dies
Samsung: Windows RT tablets cancelled in the U.S. | BGR
Six Hidden Windows 8 Features You Can't Live Without | Gizmodo UK

011013
Pakistan bombings kill at least 100 | World news | guardian.co.uk Attacks in city of Quetta, including two bombs in ten minutes at snooker club, come at time of heightened political tension
Afghan MPs warn against total pullout of US troops | World news | guardian.co.uk Disaster and civil war will follow if all US forces leave after 2014, leaders warn, as Obama and Karzai prepare to hold talks
Three Kurdish Activists Killed in Central Paris - NYTimes.com Three Kurdish women, including a founding member of a leading militant group fighting for autonomy in Turkey, were shot to death at a Kurdish institute in central Paris, police officials said on Thursday, potentially jeopardizing efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the decades-old conflict.
The Rise of Israel's Far-Right - Jeffrey Goldberg - The Atlantic

Australian heatwave nears 50C inland as severe fire threat declared | World news | The Guardian Danger rating is two levels down from 'catastrophic' warning after two days of relative cool, but temperatures rising again
Drought-damaged states face poor outlook as dry weather persists | Environment | guardian.co.uk Obama administration declares large areas of mid-west a natural disaster area due to long-lasting drought conditions
Why I Get More Than One Newspaper, Cont. - James Fallows - The Atlantic

As Crisis Drags on, a Loss of Hope - NYTimes.com

New Evidence to Be Introduced Against Bradley Manning - NYTimes.com Military prosecutors preparing to try Pfc. Bradley Manning said on Wednesday that they would introduce evidence that Osama bin Laden requested and received from a Qaeda member some of the State Department cables and military reports that Private Manning is accused of passing to WikiLeaks. (yeah, he didn't have a fucking internet connection)
The C.I.A.’s Double Standard on Secrecy - NYTimes.com , a former deputy director of the C.I.A., Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., defended the use of waterboarding and said that operatives used small plastic bottles, not buckets as depicted in the film
Below the Line: The Light and Dark of 'Zero Dark Thirty' - NYTimes.com

Biden promises to offer gun control recommendations by Tuesday | World news | guardian.co.uk Vice-president says background checks and high-capacity magazines are key issues mentioned in gun control taskforce
Political Animal - Limits of Executive Action on Guns
Political Animal - Splits in the Gun Club T]he White House’s emerging strategy, according to the Washington Post, includes this possible gambit: “rallying support from Wal-Mart and other gun retailers for measures that would benefit their businesses….”
Taft High School Shooting: Suspect In Custody In Taft, California
Bill Clinton: High-Capacity Magazines Are 'Nuts' (video)
Jake England Pleads Not Guilty In Tulsa Shooting Spree in an April shooting rampage that killed three black people and wounded two others in Tulsa.
Melinda Herman, Mom Who Shot Intruder, Inspires Gun Control Foes

More Inaugural Sermons From Anti-Gay Preachers - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Why, Obama, why? - First Rick Warren and now this guy. How about a nice Unitarian? Or a progressive-minded Lutheran? Or just someone who is nice and non-controversial on the matter? (advocates murdering gay people, just Obama's bi-partisan style)
Anti-Gay Pastor Withdraws From Inaugural Program | ThinkProgress (WH never bothered to check, they say; what rightwing hater will he choose next?)
Political Animal - Benediction and Outreach the anger about the Giglio invitation fed on residual unhappiness with Obama’s decision to give Rick Warren the same role in the 2009 Inauguration, and among progressive Christians, frustration at the White House’s stubborn insistence on showering attention on Christian Right types in the name of a patently ineffective outreach.

Americans Under 50 Fare Poorly on Health Measures, New Report Says - NYTimes.com (Republican killing America)
Political Animal - No Country For Young Men (Or Women) (Republican have turned America into a third-world country, health-wise)

The Mostly Solved Deficit Problem - NYTimes.com - while you weren’t looking, and the deficit scolds were doing their scolding, the deficit problem (such as it was) was being mostly solved. Can we now start talking about unemployment?
Eschaton: But They Don't Care About The Deficit I'm sure Krugman knows this, but it's good to regularly point out that the deficit scolds don't care about the deficit. They care about tax cuts for rich people, stealing from Social Security, and kicking the poors and the olds, all while taxing poor and middle class people enough to keep the defense industry rich. In other words, the Republican agenda. (and they see their chance for fucking everyone over slipping away)

An Escape Hatch for the Debt Ceiling - NYTimes.com He should threaten to issue scrip — “registered warrants” — to existing claims holders (other than those who own actual government debt) in lieu of money. Recipients of these I.O.U.’s could include federal employees, defense contractors, Medicare service providers, Social Security recipients and others.
McConnell Says No to More Tax Increases - NYTimes.com made clear on Sunday that he would oppose any effort by the Obama administration to raise more tax revenue and that he remained focused on finding ways to cut spending as the government grapples with its debt. (we will destroy American with our fake hysteria, muhahaha")
Campaign to Cut Deficit Has Deep Business - NYTimes.com Fix the Debt, a group of business executives and onetime legislators who have become Washington’s most visible and best-financed advocates for reining in the federal deficit. (big-corp/Republican lobbyists scam)
Fix The Debt New York Times Article - The Bagmen Are Upon Us - Esquire The Obama administration doesn't get off easily here, either. After all, it was the president who made Erskine Bowles the co-chair of the useless commission that has now been turned into a cargo cult by the courtier press, and, well... Erskine B. Bowles, a co-founder of Fix the Debt, was paid $345,000 in stock and cash in 2011 as a board member at Morgan Stanley... And it was the president who tried to make this guy the Secretary Of Commerce.

The Inside Story Of How Obama Could Have Gotten A Better Tax Deal Without Biden | The New Republic (AHem, HE didn't want a better tax deal)

Iraq War Chuck Hagel - It's Time To Right The Colossal Blunder That Is The Iraq War - Esquire One of the more subtle benefits of the nomination of Chuck Hagel for Secretary Of Defense is that it has required in our political discourse that we re-litigate — or, arguably, litigate honestly for the first time — the sweeping criminal fraud that was the selling of the war in Iraq by the administration of George W. Bush ... And hello to you, too, Andrew Sullivan ... the more right you were, the less credibility you had (look forward!)
Rachel Maddow: Chuck Hagel Has 'Akin-esque' Views On Women's Health (video) Hagel's repeated votes against measures that let women in the military pay for abortion services out of their own pockets -- let alone to have abortion covered in their health insurance -- as well as his opposition to abortion in general, even in the cases of rape or incest. (Obama willing the throw any ideal under the bus)
Hagel’s Senate Confirmation Will Be Short on Old Allies - NYTimes.com

Jack Lew: Union-Buster - Lawyers, Guns & Money (Obama hates unions)

The Obama Coalition vs. Corporate America - NYTimes.com The slow implosion of the Republican Party — along with the growing strength of a Democratic coalition dominated by low-to-middle-income voters — threatens the power of the corporate establishment and will force big business to find new ways to reassert control of the policy-making process.

Republican Party Path Back From 2012 Election Requires Shift In Culture, Not Just Tactics "Our party is dead unless there's a shakeup," said Carlos Sierra (one can hope)
Political Animal - More on Democrats’ Mid-Term “Fall-off” Problem
The Washington Monthly profile of freshman U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR) as exemplar of what they call the “hell no caucus” of the House GOP.
Women Don't Like Libertarianism Because They Don't Like Libertarianism - Forbes (because it's stupid and Libitards hate women and children)

Six facts you need to know about Jack Lew 1. Jack Lew’s college adviser was … Paul Wellstone
Political Animal - Never Say Never What language would Sessions deploy had Obama nominated Paul Krugman, whom I imagine Jeff Sessions considers evil incarnate? (heh, so does Obama)

More on the Rhee Fraud - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money Rhee’s approach made the rampant cheating that Rhee refused to investigate inevitable. (grifters first)
McDonald’s $8.25 Man and $8.75 Million CEO Shows Pay Gap - Bloomberg
The Banks Win Again It’s a pittance. With 3.8 million homeowners covered by the settlement, that works out to less than $2,000 per homeowner. (profit! Obama will always let us off free!)

Flu Outbreak In 2013 Earliest, One Of The Worst In A Decade; At Least 18 Children Already Dead
During The Worst Flu Season In A Decade, Workers Across The Country Can't Stay Home Sick | ThinkProgress

The Iron in Our Blood That Keeps and Kills Us - Bradley Wertheim - The Atlantic How the most common disease you've never heard of is unearthing our evolutionary roots - hereditary hemochromatosis, a genetic disease leading to a toxic accumulation of iron in his organs.
F.D.A. Requires Cuts to Dosages of Ambien and Other Sleep Drugs - NYTimes.com requiring manufacturers of popular sleeping pills like Ambien and Zolpimist to cut their recommended dosage in half for women, after laboratory studies showed that they can leave people still sleepy in the morning and at risk for accidents.
Bones and jars of the dead unearthed in 3,000-year-old Egyptian tombs - Cosmic Log
Ex-CIA analyst finds mysterious Chinese complex on Google Earth (Wired UK)

Michael Nodianos Receives Threats, Drops Out Of Ohio State After Steubenville 'Rape' Video
Traci Lords, Former Porn Star, Speaks About Her Own Rape In Steubenville, Ohio
The Real Cowboy, the Real Feminist - Noah Berlatsky - The Atlantic The week after the release of her new book extolling their relationship, Alisa Valdes reveals that her cowboy abused her.

Would Legalizing Marijuana Be Too Hard on Simpletons? - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic That's the latest argument offered by a prominent critic of legal cannabis. And it fails even if you accept the need for paternalism.
Police drug search intrudes on husband's final moments with deceased wife | Deseret News - "I don't believe the public would intend for the government to be rummaging through your cupboards while your wife is lying in the next room being prepared to be taken to her final resting place. That's an extraordinary violation of privacy," said Andrew Fackrell, Mahaffey's attorney.

Gay Would-Be Eagle Scout's Application Rejected For Violating 'Duty To God' | ThinkProgress

IBM's Watson Memorized the Entire 'Urban Dictionary,' Then His Overlords Had to Delete It - Alexis C. Madrigal - The Atlantic

010913

Unemployment Continues to Climb in Euro Zone - NYTimes.com (what the Republicans want to do to America)

After Being Raped, I Was Wounded - My Honor Wasn’t - NYTimes.com - Thirty-Two years ago, when I was 17 and living in Bombay, I was gang raped and nearly killed.
Man accused of filming himself raping unconscious girlfriend | UK news | The Guardian A man filmed himself raping his unconscious girlfriend the night before she had a hysterectomy, Preston crown court has heard.

NCDC Announces Warmest Year on Record for Contiguous U.S. | National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)
2012 Was Hottest Year Ever in U.S. - NYTimes.com
Bureau Of Meteorology Weather Chart | Deep Purple Temperatures off the charts as Australia turns deep purple
Study: Warmest Year On Record Received Cool Climate Coverage | Research | Media Matters for America
Australia Climate Change Proof - Australia Is Melting And Burning - Esquire
Heatwave: Australia's new weather demands a new politics | George Monbiot | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Climate change clashes with the myth of a land where progress is limited only by the rate at which resources can be extracted (home of the denialists will melt first)
PressTV - Climate change ended ancient Egyptian kingdom 4,200 years ago

Escalating Transparency | TPM Editors Blog Fox News show, ticked that Gawker published the names of NYC gun owners, airs phone number and email address of Gawker founder Nick Denton:
Opponents Play The Hitler Card On Gun Control | TPMDC

The Clear Legality of the Platinum-Coin Solution When choosing between unprecedented innovations, ending a constitutional crisis is infinitely preferable to making constitutional crises an entrenched institutional feature that may result in economic disaster.
9 Faces For The $1 Trillion Platinum Coin | TPMDC
Why The 'Mint The Coin' Debate Could Be The Most Important Fiscal Policy Debate You'll Ever See In Your Life - Business Insider
Jay Carney Gives Platinum Coin Debt Limit Solution New Oxygen | TPMDC

Democracy, Disdain, and the Roberts Court Taking issue with George Will's arguments against Pamela Karlan's essay on the Supreme Court's contempt of Congress.

Politico Lays Off Staffers Amid Restructuring [how's that rightwingy fluffling thing working out for you?)

Paul Krugman Warns: 'We Are Crippling Our Future'
Noahpinion: Why the multiplier doesn't matter (infrastructure is the solution: Rebuild America)

How extreme is U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton? update | Arkansas Blog

New Jersey governor's school budget ruled unconstitutional - CNN.com (Christie will always be an asshole)
Rhode Island Bishop: Marriage Equality Sanctions 'Immoral Activity' | ThinkProgress Another day brings another anti-gay condemnation from a Catholic bishop. Over the weekend, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence (LBGT people don't really exist, and if they did, they should have rights)

Filmmaker Tom O’Brien found fair haven down in Fairhaven - Movies - The Boston Globe

Titanoboa: Monster Snake - (Full Episode) - YouTube
A Life Time supply in the palm of your hand?! (Thorium Reactor) : videos A Life Time supply in the palm of your hand?! (Thorium Reactor)
Titanoboa: Monster Snake - (Full Episode) - YouTube
PLOS ONE: Trustworthy-Looking Face Meets Brown Eyes

Transgender Time Lapse Video Shows Three-Year Male To Female Transition

Microsoft has sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses since launch - Yahoo! News
XBMC4XBOX » Paypal “guilty until proven innocent” account freeze

010813

U.S. Drone Strikes Increase With Start Of New Year
Bradley Manning Ruling: Judge Reduces Sentence For Army Private In WikiLeaks Case

Stanley McChrystal: Gun Control Requires 'Serious Action'

Why Platinum Coin Opponents Are All Wrong - Bloomberg
Booman Tribune ~ Still With the Platinum Coin?

NYPD's controversial 'Stop and Frisk' policy ruled unconstitutional - NY Daily News A Manhattan Federal Court judge has ordered police stop making trespass stops outside private residential buildings immediately. The tactic was decried by some as infringing on civil liberties. (Bloomberg's police-state set back)

Greedy Ungrateful Bastards Who Should Be Hung By Their Thumbs - Esquire The notion of "looking forward and not backwards" is at the top of that list. As applied to the architects of the constitutional depravities at the heart of the "war" on terror, the nomination of John Brennan to head the CIA is a classic example.

Why Hagel Matters - The Daily Beast- If the former senator is confirmed over Republican objections as Obama’s new secretary of defense, it could signal the beginning of a new era in American foreign policy, says Peter Beinart.
Why Hagel Matters - The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast
Chuck Hagel Iraq War 2002 - Chuck Hagel On The Iraq War - Esquire

Elizabeth Warren Slams Possible AIG Lawsuit: 'It Would Be Outrageous'

Notre Dame and Penn State: Two Rape Scandals, Only One Cry for Justice | The Nation

9 Facts That Prove Joe Stiglitz Is Right About Climate Change Hurting The Economy
2012 Hottest Year On Record For Lower 48 States, NOAA Confirms

Rheeocity - Lawyers, Guns & Money
At long last, Michelle Rhee's funders revealed | MinnPost
The Education of Michelle Rhee | FRONTLINE | PBS

Steubenville, Ohio, schools placed on lockdown amid increased interest in controversial rape case - NY Daily News

> Editing the genome with high precision | KurzweilAI New method allows scientists to insert multiple genes in specific locations, delete defective genes

Two men jailed for ‘looking gay’ after ordering Bailey’s Irish Cream acquitted by court after a year behind bars | World | News | National Post (that drink is so gay)


010713
Assad's call for talks dismissed as 'a waste of time' by Syrian opposition | World news | The Guardian Rebels say Syrian president offered no meaningful concessions in his first public speech in seven months

Indian gang-rape accused appear in Delhi court | World news | guardian.co.uk Five men accused of rape and murder of 23-year-old woman hear charges against them amid rowdy courtroom scenes
Delhi gang-rape: look westward in disgust | Emer O'Toole | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The coverage of Damini's death strikes a particularly ironic note following recent media controversy over a rape in Ohio
Steubenville fights growing furore over alleged high-school football rape | World news | guardian.co.uk Town authorities and police set up website in attempt to counter criticism over events surrounding Big Red football team ... Similarly, the Wall Street Journal decries the fact that in India just over a quarter of alleged rapists are convicted; in the US only 24% of alleged rapes even result in an arrest, never mind a conviction. This is the strange kind of reportage you tend to get on the issue.
14-year-old GIRL RAPED by SEVEN men. Aggressors FILMED their abuse
Soraya Chemaly: Rape Has a Purpose
Steubenville High School Students Joke About Rape In Video Leaked By Anonymous
Kent State University reviewing incoming freshman student's involvement in Steubenville rape case One publication notes the senior's mother is a county prosecuting attorney, and that the alleged rape happened at their house
The Steubenville Files | LocalLeaks Charlie is the son of the County Prosecuting Attorney Jane Hanlin and a member of the Big Red football team. He is also a well known member of the “Rape Crew”. One of the parties to which the unconscious victim of this horrible crime was dragged to took place at the Hanlin house ... Local law enforcement had been advised of the existence of this video, but claimed they could not retrieve it. (cops covering up bigtime)
Michael Nodianos is... | Facebook Michael Nodianos is no longer a student at The Ohio State University.
Case Dismissed! « Prinniefied.com On behalf of myself and the John Doe defendants, we are very pleased to announce that the defamation lawsuit filed against us has been dismissed with prejudice (rape-supporting Cody Salsman forced to apologize)

Indonesia's US-funded anti-terror police accused of fuelling terrorism | World news | guardian.co.uk Human rights groups fear suspected militants killed during raids were victims of 'extrajudicial killings' and call for investigation into police tactics ... US-funded police anti-terror squad has killed seven suspected militants recently

Death of Paeta Hess-von Kruedener - A Strange Story From North Of The Border - Esquire n 2006, while serving as a United Nations observer, a Canadian soldier named Major Paeta Hess-von Kruedener and three other UN soldiers were killed when Israeli forces struck the outpost along the Israeli-Lebanon border at which the four of them were stationed. (Netanyahu is Harper's boss, also)
Widow of Canadian soldier killed by IDF says government protecting Israel | The Canadian Jewish News

Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal formula for News Corp renaissance | Michael Wolff | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Never mind that the Journal has yet to yield him profit, Murdoch is convinced his transformation of the newspaper is a success (even with the paywall)

General McChrystal on Drones: 'They Are Hated on a Visceral Level' - Alexis C. Madrigal - The Atlantic
US drone attacks 'counter-productive', former Obama security adviser claims | World news | The Guardian US reliance on drones to target terrorists undermines rule of law, is ineffective and has strategic drawbacks, argues Michael Boyle (strangely unthoughtful Obama)

Eschaton: They're Still Very Serious - I imagine in 15-20 years from now, the Iraq war will basically be forgotten. It won't linger in the background like Vietnam, it'll just kinda disappear. And all of the monsters who made it happen will still be respectable, rich, and happy.

After Pinpointing Gun Owners, Journal News Is a Target - NYTimes.com - “The people have as much of a right to know who owns guns in their communities as gun owners have to own weapons,” he said.
Buy back guns, boost the economy - Washington Post
Conn. Lawmaker to Giffords: 'Stay Out!' - DebraLee Hovey didn't take kindly to Giffords' visit On the day of Giffords' visit, State Rep. DebraLee Hovey posted, "Gabby Gifford [sic] stay out of my towns!!" on her public Facebook page

37 Congressional Republicans Opposed Sandy Relief After Supporting Aid - Former U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY) blasted the opponents, telling the New York Daily News, “They’re a bunch of jackasses. Every one of the 67 who voted no are nothing more than pawns of a philosophy that is not backed up by facts.”
Senator David Vitter In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused 1,833 deaths and over $108 billion in damage. Hurricane Sandy has caused 131 deaths and $65 billion in damage. These numbers are according to the National Hurricane Center.

Can Hagel Be Confirmed? "What message would it send if Hagel -- a decorated war hero, a Vietnam vet, a two-term senator who served in office without scandal -- doesn't get confirmed?" (fuck you Obama?)
Hagel pick challenges bipartisan national security consensus If the Washington consensus on foreign policy leans heavily toward intervention and expansion of the national security state, then Hagel is one of a small handful of lawmakers in recent memory who have questioned the assumptions underlying both ... He was a vocal critic of the Iraq War and the Bush administration’s adoption of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” and has shown real independence on how the United States should approach its relationship to Israel. (why the Neocons hate him)
John Brennan, Counterterrorism Aide To President Obama, To Be Nominated As CIA Director
Why Hagel Matters - The Daily Beast If the former senator is confirmed over Republican objections as Obama’s new secretary of defense, it could signal the beginning of a new era in American foreign policy, says Peter Beinart.
Bill Kristol’s big plans start with Chuck Hagel nomination - Kenneth P. Vogel - politico.com (Israel is taking over the Republican party)
Log Cabin Republicans Criticize Chuck Hagel's Gay Rights Record In Full-Page Ad The group's stance against Hagel appears to be far stricter than it was against GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, whom it endorsed in the presidential race. Romney also opposed same-sex marriage and took hardline positions against gay rights during his campaign.
Hullabaloo Haggling over Hagel
Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense: Republicans wants to block him from the Pentagon because of their worries about Barack Obama’s foreign policy beliefs. - Slate Magazine It has more to do with President Obama than the former senator from Nebraska.
The Chuck Hagel Controversy - Jeffrey Goldberg - The Atlantic
The Emergency Committee for Israel Goes All In - James Fallows - The Atlantic

John Brennan, Counterterrorism Aide To President Obama, To Be Nominated As CIA Director

The Big Fail - NYTimes.com So what went wrong? The answer, mainly, is the triumph of bad ideas ... For example, the president of the European Central Bank confidently asserted that “the idea that austerity measures could trigger stagnation is incorrect.” And here in America, Republicans insist that they’ll use a confrontation over the debt ceiling — a deeply illegitimate action in itself — to demand spending cuts that would drive us back into recession.

Cagle Post - Political Cartoons & Commentary - » Tax Avoidance On the Rise: It’s Twice the Amount of Social Security and Medicare The wealthiest Americans save $3 trillion dollars a year through a system of subsidies and tax avoidance schemes, which totals three times more than our annual deficit. That’s enough for a full-time job for every middle-class household in America. Here are the distressing details:

Republican Senator Calls For Repeat Of 1995 Government Shutdown: 'If We Hold Strong We Can Do That Again' | ThinkProgress (if we stick together, we can ruin the US credit rating and the world economy)
Obama Seen as Clear Winner in Fiscal Cliff Fight A new Pew Research survey finds President Obama is viewed as the clear political winner in the fiscal cliff negotiations, 57% to 20%, "but the legislation itself gets only a lukewarm reception from the public ... more say it will have a negative than positive impact on the federal budget deficit, the national economy and people like themselves." (everyone thinks they are a billionaire)
Fiscal Cliff Vote May Lead To Tough Primaries, Worry Republicans "The ones that voted for it, I think they will rue the day," Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby said after opposing the bill. (Republicans going over insanity cliff)
6 facts about the 14th Amendment - Bobby Cervantes - politico.com (#6: Texas Sen. John Cornyn, now the Senate’s No. 2 Republican
The Platinum Coin Would Be Legal - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money Krugaman argues that the Obama administration needs to be ready to use the platinum coin. Drum argues that this would be illegal. Lizardbreath correctly notes that Drum is wrong:

The conservative movement is still an elaborate moneymaking venture - Salon.com The story of FreedomWorks' big Glenn Beck payout encapsulates the right-wing media - 80,000 people donated money to FreedomWorks in 2012, and it seems likely that only a small minority of those people were hedge fund millionaires. And what are people who donate to this grass-roots conservative organization funded mostly by a few very rich people getting for their hard-earned money? In addition to paying Dick Armey $400,000 a year for 20 years to stay away, FreedomWorks also apparently spent more than a million dollars paying Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh to say nice things about FreedomWorks, in order to convince listeners to send FreedomWorks money that FreedomWorks would then give to Limbaugh and Beck. It’s a pretty simple con. (grifters grifting each other and stupid teaheads)

Silent Paul Ryan
Sunday Talk Shows Heidi Heitkamp - What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days? - Esquire - First, there is the inimitable Ms. Dowd who, in the course of praising Joe Biden for being a hale-fellow-well-met just like her beloved departed Irish cop daddy — The memories ring in her mind like spittoons And then there Ross Cardinal Douthat, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese Of Shambala, who assesses the recent fiscal unpleasantness in the Congress, and thanks God, with Whom he shares a Twitter account, for the strong and steady leadership of...John Boehner ... Heitkamp is a lifetime member of the NRA with a 100 percent rating from those folks.
Political Animal - The Crux of the Matter on Voting Rights In a way, Chief Justice Roberts has a point; the South is no longer all that different from the rest of the country. But that’s not so much because the South is now better—the open racism of the years before 1965 is gone—as because the rest of the country is now worse.
Immigration Enforcement Cost Higher Than FBI, Policing Drugs, Guns Combined: Report
Tea Party Hits Record Level Of Unpopularity In Public Opinion Poll just three in 10 voters holding favorable views of the movement. Half of respondents said they view the party unfavorably.

Lazy Corporate Monopolies Are Why America Can’t Have Nice Things « naked capitalism - America is one of two countries where the person receiving the call has to pay for the call. A rough calculation shows that up to 80% of the cost of your cell phone service comes from corruption.
Bank of America to pay $10bn in Fannie Mae mortgage settlement | Business | guardian.co.uk CEO Brian Moynihan says deal is 'significant step' in resolving legacy mortgage issues as BoA shares edge up in early trading (no jail for the crooks)

Rhee Finances - Esquire - The Empire Michelle Rhee Built (grifters, etc)
Bats Left/Throws Right: Michelle Rhee Is Not The Lance Armstrong Of Education - She's the BALCO of Education.
When standardized test scores soared in D.C., were the gains real? - usatoday.com (no)
Documentary examines Michelle Rhee’s legacy in D.C. - The Washington Post

Presidents pay tribute to Billy Graham - Patrick Gavin - politico.com (even looks like Satan)
Rand Paul’s son arrested, report says - Bobby Cervantes - POLITICO.com A teenager who told police that he was the son of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was arrested at a North Carolina airport on disorderly conduct and public intoxication charges, according to police.

Are the Los Roques islands the new Bermuda Triangle? | World news | The Guardian The archipelago off the coast of Venezuela, where fashion designer Vittorio Missoni's plane disappeared mid-air, has a growing reputation for mysterious vanishings
Giant squid filmed in Pacific depths, Japan scientists report

Micro preemie parents decide whether or not to save premature baby | Tampa Bay Times (micro-preemies)
Infographic: Statistics related to preemie babies and neonatal care | Tampa Bay Times

Vocal fry and valley girls: Why old men find young women's voices so annoying. “creaky voice” or “vocal fry,” a gravelly lowering of the voice that conjures the sounds of “a door creaking or a hinge that needs oiling.

Republican staffer fired for copyright memo talks to Ars | Ars Technica Khanna's memo advocated several common-sense reforms to the copyright system, including reducing the term of copyright protection and reining in "statutory damages" that can be as high as $150,000 per infringemen

010613
Syria's Bashar al-Assad calls on foreign countries to end support for rebels | World news | guardian.co.uk Opposition denounces president's peace plan as 'empty rhetoric' as Assad pledges to stay and continue fighting 'terrorist' violence
Binyamin Netanyahu fights surge from rightwing opponent before poll | World news | The Observer Naftali Bennett's Jewish Home party could gain powerful leverage after this month's vote in Israel
India gang-rape victim's blood 'found on clothes of accused' | World news | The Observer Prosecutor says five men charged with murder of 23-year-old student tried to destroy evidence by burning their clothes

Ex-Officer Is First From C.I.A. to Face Prison for a Leak - NYTimes.com (Obama loves torture, hates whistleblowers)

Constitution? What Constitution? Paul Ryan Refuses to Provide for the General Welfare | The Nation It is difficult imagine a recent crisis that more precisely fit the definition of “calamity” than Superstorm Sandy and its aftermath, which has left hundreds of thousands of Americans with destroyed or damaged homes and made it impossible for thousands of businesses to operate along the East Coast of the United State. Whole communities are struggling simply to return to something resembling normal.

Eschaton: Don't Mention The Oil The more amusing (if anything from that era can really be thought of as amusing) moments from the Iraq and pre-Iraq war eras were when conservatives would occasionally explain THE REAL REASON FOR THE WAR which was always more "insane" than any liberal conspiracy theory. All the warbloggers would applaud it for like a day or two and then go back to talking about WMDs and crazy treasonous liberals who would dare to suggest that maybe it was about oil.
Dear Bill Kristol: More People Than You Thought Are Vulgar, Disgusting and Far-Left | MichaelMoore.com

White House squares up for fight with NRA over sweeping gun reforms | World news | guardian.co.uk Biden taskforce will aim to strengthen federal monitoring of gun sales, close loopholes and ban semi-automatic weapons
Heidi Heitkamp: Reported White House Gun Control Plans 'Way In Extreme' (here we go again with the Blue-Dog jerks)
Gwen Ifill, Greta Van Susteren Clash Over Gun Control On 'This Week' George Will likened his position on gun control laws to his feelings about climate control policy. "It's been well said that the only policy question about climate change is how much money do you want to spend on climate change to have no effect, discernible effect on the climate?
Ted Cruz: New Gun Control Proposals 'Unconstitutional' (high-capacity magazines are in the Constitution)
Whiskey Fire: Rifle Games for 7-Year-Olds, What a Drag

Sen. Graham blasts Hagel pick as an ‘in your face nomination’ from Obama - The Hill's DEFCON Hill
Balloon Juice » I Want to Have This Fight, Too Maybe Graham isn’t clear that we aren’t nominating Chuck Hagel to be Israel’s Secretary of Defense, but our own. That’s how messed up this situation has become with us as Israel’s client state.
Chuck Hagel and liberals: what are the priorities? As Obama prepares to nominate the controversial former senator, the key question is whether Democrats will help neocons oppose him - Hagel's comment came only two years after the overwhelming majority of Democratic Senators voted in favor of the truly odious and discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act - including Joe Biden, Patty Murray, Pat Leahy and Paul Wellstone - which was then signed into law by Bill Clinton (and supported by "No Moral center" Obama)

14th Amendment Option: Nancy Pelosi Urges Obama To 'Just Go Do It' (ya wimp)
Will 2013 be Joe Biden’s year? A Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll conducted in early September found “good,” “honest,” and “OK” to be among the most common single-word descriptions of Biden. But “clown,” “funny,” “a joke,” “goofy,” “buffoon” and “comical” were also frequently mentioned.
Big Battles Ahead, Divided G.O.P. Begins Soul-Searching - NYTimes.com (but can't find a soul to search)
Dana Milbank: Republican gerrymandering makes the difference in the House - The Washington Post (Rethug terrorists destroying America)
Daily Kos: Consumer bureau not the monster the Right warned against, but they still hate it It would seem there's nothing the CFPB could do, other than cease to exist, to convince Republicans that it doesn't want to destroy the financial industry
Maddow schools Fox’s Dick Morris after getting angry letter from his lawyers | The Raw Story In the last 100 years, there have been only 3 Democratic presidents who were elected to second terms, Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Pres. Bill Clinton and Pres. Barack Obama ... Morris has gone on the become a far-right conservative who “writes books about how sleazy the Clintons are,” Maddow said, “which is ironic.” (toe-sucker fucker)

Social Security - It’s Worse Than You Think - NYTimes.com Social Security Administration underestimates how long Americans will live and how much the trust funds will need to pay out — to the tune of $800 billion by 2031, more than the current annual defense budget — and that the trust funds will run out, if nothing is done, two years earlier than the government has predicted. (therefore, Republicans will react to this "crisis" by cutting the shit out of it)

Is David Brooks Teaching Humility at Yale the Most Pretentious Moment In History? | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone

Happy New Year: Pick Up a New Skill : The New Yorker The basic premise was that the scientific evidence for a widespread view called the “critical-period effect” was far weaker than widely supposed.
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor: Does Our Planet Need a Stroke of Insight? What this means is that the mean little voice inside my head, the one that is critical of self or others and judges everyone and everything in a negative way, is a part of my neurocircuitry (and had nothing, to do with my mother)
The Blessings of Atheism - NYTimes.com

Doomsday on the Cheap | Restricted Data Everything regarding the reading and writing of DNA is getting phenomenally cheap, really quickly. There’s been a blink-and-you-missed-it biological revolution over the last five years ... We’re still probably a few decades away from your average med school student being able to cook up biological weapons, much less biological Doomsday Machines, in a standard university research laboratory.
Titan holds clue to faint young sun paradox - environment - 04 January 2013 - New Scientist For the first two billion years of the Earth's existence, the sun was up to 25 per cent dimmer than it is today, making Earth's average temperature up to 25 °C colder. But the geological evidence is that Earth had liquid water at this time, even though the average surface temperature should have been around -10 °C.

Jesus Wife: Harvard Theological Review Postpones Publication For More Testing


010513
Two Swedes Renditioned To The US, Possibly To Death Penalty, In Secrecy And Without Lawyers’ Knowledge - Falkvinge on Infopolicy
Mazen Alotaibi, Saudi Air Force Sgt., Accused Of Vegas Child Rape

Daily Dot | Cyberwar: How scared should we really be? Given that “a state is 600 times more likely to be the target of a terrorist attack than a cyberattack,” such attention to cyberattacks borders on paranoia. And that paranoia is hardly relegated to the backwaters of the Internet. In October, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta warned of a “cyber Pearl Harbor.”

Secret and Lies of the Bailout | Politics News | Rolling Stone The federal rescue of Wall Street didn’t fix the economy – it created a permanent bailout state based on a Ponzi-like confidence scheme. And the worst may be yet to come

FBI Surveillance Of Occupy Wall Street Detailed

'Stand Your Ground' Linked To Increase In Homicides : NPR Now, researchers who've studied the effect of the laws have found that states with a stand your ground law have more homicides than states without such laws.
Political Animal - More gun murders in Aurora hours after Gov. Hickenlooper talks gun control
More Guns = More Killing - NYTimes.com

Senators say no to storm aid — after their states received it | The New York World FEMA funding to protect against future disasters proves popular in states now resisting Sandy relief package in Congress - The top five spenders of the FEMA money per capita are Louisiana, North Dakota, Iowa, Mississippi, and South Dakota. New York State has received some $380 million, much of it for recovery following 9/11. (shameless Republifucks)
Charles Krauthammer: Larger Sandy Relief Bill Was 'Rape Of The Treasury' (Christ, what an asshole)

Quote of the Day "One thing I will not compromise over is whether or not Congress should pay the tab for a bill they've already racked up. If Congress refuses to give the United States the ability to pay its bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy could be catastrophic." -- President Obama, in his weekly radio address, warning Republicans about the next round of budget negotiations. (Republican terrorists holding the world hostage)
Political Animal - Saturday Evening Reads Sanders said that the White House is all too eager to offer welfare state downsizing in talks with the GOP. “We’ve got to make the president and Republicans and any Democrats that want to cut Social Security an offer they can`t refuse, and that is tens of millions of people have got to make it very clear to Congress — Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit,” the only socialist in Congress said ("will not compromise" = make me an offer)

Calculated Risk: Default Ceiling: Bluffing into the Nuts I prefer "default ceiling" because "debt ceiling" sounds like some sort of virtuous limit, when, in reality, the vote is about whether or not to the pay the bills - and voting for default is reckless and irresponsible.
The Morning Plum: Media shouldn’t get rolled by GOP debt ceiling spin (but they will, because it's too complicated for their little brains)
Debt Ceiling Crisis 2013: The Media Needs To Be Trained
Republican Party Seems As Divided, Angry As Ever

Eschaton: Everybody Agrees: There Isn't Enough Suffering I do wonder just where this streak of sadism comes from. Is it older people jealous of youth wanting younger people to take a few good kicks from the boot just because? Is it just people who can't be happy unless somebody else is miserable? Do people really believe that the poors and olds in this country have it too good?

Eschaton: Contractionary Policy Is Contractionary Concern about the details has dropped focus on the macroeconomy, but we are entering the age of American austerity, and the Fed is still at the zero bound. And if the economy reverses direction, odds are the solution to austerity's failure will be more austerity. Because that's how it works.
America's December jobs report: Cliff? What cliff? | The Economist
Ideology and Economics - NYTimes.com

All-Female State Delegation Among Firsts in New Congress - Bloomberg New Hampshire’s all-female congressional delegation -- the first in history -- is among the fresh cracks in the “marble ceiling” that Nancy Pelosi described six years ago when she became the first woman chosen as speaker of the U.S. House.
Daily Kos: It's not just the 'greedy geezers,' millennials support Social Security, too (at least the millennials don't vote Republican like the geezers)
Barney Frank for Senate! If you're a progressive, and a Senator Frank is a three-month possibility, you'd hate to settle for Sen. Random Guy Who's Seen As Pretty Inoffensive. Because the other side of that debt debate is going to be highlighted by Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio,
Scott Lively gets his day in court - Guest Voices - The Washington Post The theology of hate, which blames LGBT people for disasters, natural and man-made, for the destruction of the family and everything in between, has to stop.

Food safety law set to go into effect | NJ.com Almost 48 million people contract foodborne illnesses in the U.S. each year, leading to 130,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths, (one in six Americans/yr will almost die of food)
Stem Cell Research: Cells Grown By Japanese Researchers Kills Cancer

22 Attacks On Obama And The Left From BuzzFeed's Newest Editor | Blog | Media Matters for America BuzzFeed Turns To Glenn Beck's The Blaze For New Hire
Dick Armey Dishes On FreedomWorks' Deals With Beck & Limbaugh | Blog | Media Matters for America Former chairman says group wasted money paying Beck $1 million last year for fundraising (wingnut welfare grifters)

Steubenville Rape Case: Ohio Sheriff Confronts Protesters "It's a disgusting video," he said. "It's stupidity. But you can't arrest somebody for being stupid."

Absolute Zero? Scientists Push Atoms Colder, To Record-Setting 'Negative Temperature' Realm (to infinity)

Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., Wears Awesome Outfit To Congressional Photo Opp (photos)

The entire world is increasingly using Facebook

010413
Purity Culture Is Rape Culture The shocking assault in India reveals that rape isn't about sex—it's about controlling women's lives.
Republicans Against ... the Violence Against Women Act?
Ending Rape Illiteracy | The Nation

Soldier Suicides Exceed Casualty Count in 2012 | Crooks and Liars

Al Jazeera in America - NYTimes.com (NYT splits the difference; Globe, for once, was better: let the consumer decide))

Sandy Flood Insurance Aid Bill Sails Through House After Outcry
Congress passes $9.7 billion in Sandy aid, with some House GOP dissent - The Washington Post approved in the House on a 354 to 67 vote. (67 Rethugs)
Club for Growth will punish members voting for Sandy flood aid - The Hill's On The Money
Bats Left/Throws Right: Cakeholes CHRIS Christie is not a nationally-elected official, an oversight on the part of God and Republican primary voters, many of whom take their marching from God's Own Crystal Set ... It should not take until Christie's fiftieth birthday and the distinct aroma of his own lard roasting for him to come to terms with the idea of society rescuing its citizens in need
Worst Rep in the World? | TPM Editors Blog Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-MS), who represents coastal Mississippi, at the heart of Katrina devastation, voted ‘No’ for Sandy relief. (total assholes)

Bats Left/Throws Right: Can They Be Serious? But Mrs. Clinton at Foggy Bottom? Can they be serious? (crazy Jesus lady Peggy Noonan from 2008, just so you can laugh)

White House Looks To Overwhelm NRA With Rapid Victory | TPMDC “The broad solutions are there and if Congress doesn’t act I think theyre going to be digging themselves further into a big hole,” he said.

HHS approves healthcare exchanges in 8 states - The Hill's Healthwatch Thursday's announcement brings the total number of states approved to fully or partially operate their marketplaces to 20, with 18 running state-based exchanges and two planning to partner with the federal government.

Political Animal - The Deeper Problem With Media Acceptance of Republican Irresponsibility
Debt Ceiling Crisis 2013: The Media Needs To Be Trained

Debt Ceiling Showdown: GOP Pledges To Extract Cuts From Obama (who will cave, having giving away his bargaining power)
Why We Must Go Off the Platinum Coin Cliff - Bloomberg
No, a $1 Trillion Platinum Coin is Not Legal | Mother Jones (but it doesn't matter)
Former Head of U.S. Mint Says Trillion Dollar Coin is Legal He added: "One of the ironies in this story is that a GOP Congress passed the legislation over the objections of a Democratic Treasury, and now, today, Treasury may well be in a position to use the law as leverage to neutralize the GOP's threat to hold the debt limit hostage."
Harry Reid Would Back Obama If He Bucks GOP On Debt Ceiling: Source
Political Animal - Ridiculous Times Call for Ridiculous Platinum-Based Measures
Nancy Pelosi: My Support For Social Security Cut 'Was Really To Call The Bluff' Of Republicans
Balloon Juice » Call the question… The wingnuts have very little leverage when it comes to the Sequester and a Government shutdown, but they have convinced themselves that taking the global economy hostage might improve their chances. And even here they are a deeply silly and insane group of grifters.

It's Official: Romney Got 47% of the Vote - Politics - The Atlantic Wire the man behind the 47-percent video won over exactly 47.2 percent of America.

Strong December Job Growth | TPMDC suggesting a continuing economic recovery ... The unemployment rate is now 7.8 percent (same as it was)

Barney Frank Would Welcome Interim Appointment To Fill Kerry's Senate Seat (video) | TPM LiveWire
Balloon Juice » Oh Yes, Please! Please, Please, Please! Come on, Deval. You know you want to:
Barney Frank Senate Return - Barney Frank Wants To Unretire For A While - Esquire two things I concluded early on: one was that Frank never avoided a political fight when he could go out of his way to get into one, and the second was that he never does anything by accident ... Also, too, something struck me just this morning. As soon as Kerry gets confirmed, Elizabeth Warren is the senior senator from Massachusetts.

Just How Incredibly Incompetent Was the Anti-Boehner Coup Attempt?
Boehner the Survivor - Robert Costa - National Review Online Their coup attempt had collapsed, and a handful of conservatives had killed it.
Bonus Quote of the Day "It's a little bit like being the head caretaker of the cemetery. There are a lot of people under you, but nobody listens." -- Rep. Hal Rodgers (R-KY), quoted by the New York Times, describing House Speaker John Boehner's grip on power.
O'Reilly: "Asian People Are Not Liberal, You Know, By Nature. They're Usually More Industrious And Hard-Working" | Video | Media Matters for America O'Reilly: "Asian People Are Not Liberal, You Know, By Nature. They're Usually More Industrious And Hard-Working"
Eschaton: "By Nature" Time for certain members of generation lead to retire. (O'Reilly is a violent lead-head)
Sen. Crapo pleads guilty to DWI, seeks 'forgiveness and repentance' - U.S. News (rich, drunk, Mormon teetotler)
Frequent Fox Guest McCall Claims Current's Sale To Al Jazeera Means Al Gore Is "Now Associating Himself With Al Qaeda" | Video | Media Matters for America
Virginia Abortion, Contraception Bills Proposed In New Legislative Session
Ann Coulter Loses It On Guns; Wants List Of Women Who Had Abortions So Mothers Know Who Would 'Murder A Child' (video)

WATCH: Joe Biden's wackiest one-liners from swearing in the 113th Congress - The Week

Powerful Tea Party Group's Internal Docs Leak—Read Them Here | Mother Jones FreedomWorks bills itself as a grassroots outfit, but it's bankrolled mostly by big-money donors.

America's Real Criminal Element: Lead | Mother Jones New research finds Pb is the hidden villain behind violent crime, lower IQs, and even the ADHD epidemic. And fixing the problem is a lot cheaper than doing nothing.
The Lead/Crime Connection - Lawyers, Guns & Money (Republican lead-heads)

Those College Savings Plans: Mostly for Rich People by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly the tax benefits accruing due to 529 plans amount to $1.6 billion every year, which could pay for another 288,000 students to receive Pell Grants, federal money available for low-income students to attend college.

Does Let’s Move stigmatize fat children? - Lawyers, Guns & Money (Sasha and Malia are fat)
Back to basics - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money (c) Obesity does not appear to even correlate with increased mortality risk until weight levels that are higher than those of most people in America defined as obese
BBC News - Obese who refuse to exercise 'could face benefits cut'

Democracy, or vigilante justice? History says steroids should not be a consideration for writers in Hall of Fame voting
Steroids Moralizing and Cooperstown - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money That’s really the issue here — players of the 90s were able to obtain records that properly belong to baby boomer icons. That’s primarily what the steroid freakout is about.

Steubenville High Rape Suspects May Not Get Fair Trial After Video Leak: Ma'lik Richmond's Lawyer

Milky Way Could Contain 100 Billion Planets (via CP: "there's gotta be one without talk radio")

Timeline Photos | Facebook - NY vs Boston (exactly)
SimplyNoise - The Best Free White Noise Generator on the Internet.


010313
Syria’s Rising Death Toll: The Darkness Before the Dawn or Sign of a Grinding Stalemate? | TIME.com
Delhi gang-rape accused face rape and murder charges | World news | guardian.co.uk Attack fuels calls for tough new rape laws and better police protection for women across India
US drone strike kills Pakistan Taliban commander | World news | guardian.co.uk Mullah Nazir from the Wazir tribe killed when missiles hit house near Wana, South Waziristan

Al-Jazeera buys Current TV in bid to expand in US | Media | guardian.co.uk Acquisition of Al Gore's cable channel gives al-Jazeera chance to establish a presence where it has had only limited reach (backlash against terrorist network begins with Time-Warner)

Gun control: After Connecticut shooting, could Australia's laws provide a lesson? (how to stop the madness)
Gun control AR-15 rifle: The NRA claims the AR-15 rifle is for hunting and home defense. Not exactly. (unless your home is being invaded by UN Zombies)
The Journal News gun map: The first amendment and state law gave the New York paper every right to publish the names and addresses of local gun owners. - Slate Magazine Why a New York paper had every right to publish the names and addresses of local gun owners

The Return of The Clinton Crazies | Blog | Media Matters for America The news of Clinton's blood clot condition simply highlighted the cavalier and uncaring way her critics reacted to the concussion news, insisting it was fabricated to keep her from testifying before Congress about the terrorist attack in Benghazi. But the blood clot disclosure has done little to spark introspection or remorse among her detractors ... Ingraham loved the tasteless "Immaculate Concussion" quip so much she went on The O'Reilly Factor that same night and shared it with a national television audience, delighting in the phrase.
Eschaton: She Still Makes Them Crazy After All These Years Recent events should be a little reminder that the weird recent semi-embrace of Hillary Clinton by conservatives will not prevent them from being completely crazy if she runs for president. The "accuse them of literally anything" rule seemed to have been suspended, but it will return.
Caine Mutiny - Capt. Queeg Loses It - YouTube

Elizabeth Warren joins Senate after some Republicans tried to keep her out of Washington - Boston.com In May 2011, 44 Republican senators signed a letter to President Obama, vowing to block his nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau without changes to the consumer watchdog agency created by the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory act ... Warren will take a seat alongside Shelby not just in the Senate chamber, but as a member of the Senate Banking Committee. (that worked out really, really well)

Why We Must Go Off the Platinum Coin Cliff - Bloomberg

The President Goes Back On Another Promise - Esquire t the president signed the new National Defense Authorization Act today, despite a previous promise to veto the measure if provisions that prevented him from closing the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay were included

Boehner Wins New Term as Speaker, in Maximally Humiliating Fashion
The Passion Of The Boehner - Esquire
John Boehner’s F-Bomb at Harry Reid Plunges D.C. Incivility to New Low - The Daily Beast The House speaker’s four-letter blast at the Senate majority leader is the latest ugly twist in the nasty back-and-forth between warring Washington pols.
Twitter / MicheleBachmann: At noon today, I introduced ...
Good Riddance to Rottenest Congress in History - Bloomberg
The Worst Moments Of The 112th Congress | ThinkProgress

Politicians Should Learn Bigger Lessons From Their Pet Causes | Mother Jones “I will look much more carefully at the Illinois Medicaid program to see how my fellow citizens are being cared for who have no income and if they suffer from a stroke,” Kirk said. He said in general a person on Medicaid would be allowed 11 rehab visits in Illinois. “Had I been limited to that I would have had no chance to recover like I did. So unlike before suffering the stroke, I’m much more focused on Medicaid and what my fellow citizens face.”
Eschaton: Missing the Empathy Gene there is something about members of the Republican party who just can't even begin to grasp what it's like to face a problem until they face that particular problem themselves.
Why The ‘Violence Against Women Act’ Died | TPMDC
Crime Is at its Lowest Level in 50 Years. A Simple Molecule May Be the Reason Why. | Mother Jones (always explains Republicans)

Steve Case on Avis, Zipcar, and the Sharing Economy - Businessweek Case says he bought Zipcar back in 2005 because he sees “a generation shift from ownership to shared use and experience and community.” That belief has informed much of his investment strategy over the past decade as Case believes the ease of connecting online will disrupt a range of industries.

Our Imaginary Weight Problem - NYTimes.com - all adults categorized as overweight and most of those categorized as obese have a lower mortality risk than so-called normal-weight individuals ... Don’t expect those who have made their careers on fomenting panic to understand that our current definition of “normal weight” makes absolutely no sense.
The obesity myth revisited - Lawyers, Guns & Money ... Still, it’s an encouraging sign that the obesity racket continues to be exposed as a product of an invidious combination of cultural obsession, and the economic interests that obsession generates.
Inevitable Follow-Up On the Obesity Myth - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Healthy Weight: Assessing Your Weight: BMI: Adult BMI Calculator: English | DNPAO | CDC
Mortality associated with body fat, fat-free mass and body mass index among 60-year-old swedish... - Abstract - Europe PubMed Central
Correlation does not imply causation: How the Internet fell in love with a stats-class cliché. - Slate Magazine - Don't confuse statistical and substantive significance!
Seth's Blog » Preventive Stupidity Exists

Steubenville, Ohio rape: Anonymous gets involved, and the case gets even more complicated.
Inside the Anonymous Hacking File on the Steubenville 'Rape Crew' - National - The Atlantic Wire

How to think like Sherlock Holmes: See and observe to fight attention blindness; be happier. - Slate Magazine

Why Intel's New IPTV Service Will Do What Google, Apple, and Microsoft Can't - Forbes
Google cleared of search bias after two-year investigation | Technology | The Guardian US regulators force internet giant to agree to change how it presents some search results but exonerated over bias
Buzzfeed announces $19.3m in funding as it transforms internet advertising | Media | guardian.co.uk Adding serious journalism in between the cat pictures is paying off for Jonah Peretti's popular social site – and its advertisers

010213
New York Times Loses Lawsuit To Uncover Drone Strikes Information (don't have to tell you that)

Chris Christie On Sandy Aid: House Republicans Were 'Disappointing And Disgusting To Watch' (video)
Rep. Peter King Bashes GOP Over Sandy Relief | TPM LiveWire
Watch Chris Christie Tear House Republicans a New Asshole | Slog I'm sure we're about to see Democrats announce their undying love for Chris Christie after this video spreads far and wide. Those Democrats should remember that Chris Christie is a dick. Just because he's on the right side this time doesn't make him any less of a dick. He's just a dick who happens to be right.
Peter King: My Wife Would Knock Off Grover Norquist's Head
John Boehner Yelled At Frank LoBiondo Over Sandy Aid
FEMA Says Flood Insurance Program Will Be Broke By Next Week Without New Aid Bill
Eschaton: What Club Did You Think You Joined It's a bit amusing watching Peter King and Christie freak out because the assholes in their asshole club are acting like assholes. And it's too much to ask for them to generalize their current situation - sometimes people are down and need help, even without a hurricane.

Being Hillary Clinton’s Aide Officially Most Baller Job Ever ... If government work means we can call people unmitigated assholes AND tell them to fuck off AND tell them they’re terrible at their job, we want in.
Concussion-Gate Part Deux: The Clottening

Please Don’t Shoot At The Pizza Delivery Guy If You Think Your Pie Is Too Small – The Consumerist Luckily, the driver wasn’t hit by any of the shots and he was able to get away. He contacted the police who arrested the customer. (next: armed guards in pizza delivery cars)

Thanks To Gerrymandering, Democrats Would Need To Win The Popular Vote By Over 7 Percent To Take Back The House | ThinkProgress

That Bad Ceiling Feeling - NYTimes.com The only thing that might save this situation is the fact that Obama has to be aware just how much is now riding on his willingness to finally stand up for his side; if he doesn’t, nobody will ever trust him again, and he will go down in history as the wimp who threw it all away ... But even that may not be enough. I guess we’ll see.
Fiscal Cliff Debacle A Sad Epitaph For A Historically Bad Congress | TPMDC | Brian Beutler (good background)
The Fiscal Cliff Deal, By The Numbers | ThinkProgress ... – The first major tax increase for the wealthy in 20 years ... The Bush tax cuts expire for just 0.7 percent of taxpayers
Fiscal Cliff Averted - And The Debt Deal Winner Is...Somebody - Esquire
Political Animal - From the Other Side of the Looking Glass American Conservative ideology has evolved steadily over the last few decades from a loose set of habits and prejudices to a system of Hegelian specificity, rigidity, and self-validation. They’re not going to abandon it or even modify it due to mere trifles like a national emergency, much less a fiscal conflict.
Daily Kos: Breaking down the House fiscal cliff vote
Congressional Bills and Votes - NYTimes.com (the Confederacy votes no)

Scott Brown Boston Talk Show - Scott Brown Steps On A Rake Again - Esquire
No More Mister Nice Blog Scott Brown, hypocrite: (he just can't keep himself out of his own gutter)

Filibuster reform is in serious trouble

Balloon Juice » House GOP Blocks Violence Against Women Act Continuing their fine tradition of doing fuck-all to help the American people, the House GOP blocked the Violence Against Women Act. Why? Because they’re assholes. That’s the long and short of it.

Leading Conservative Religious Organization Warns That Christians Will Soon Be Treated Like Blacks In Jim Crow Era | ThinkProgress

The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - The Left and Right Myths of Affordable Care Act’s Path to Law

Arizona Losing Millions As A Result Of Anti-Immigration Law | ThinkProgress The city projects about 184,300 convention guests, down from a high of about 275,400 in the 2009 budget year — a difference of about $132 million in direct spending, according to the city.

New Year, New Dish, New Media - The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast (Sully goes independent; will charge money for his writing, but no ads)
Al Jazeera Acquires Current TV - NYTimes.com - Current is available in about 60 million of the 100 million homes in the United States with cable or satellite service. (Olbermann's wish; wingnut heads explode)

Amtrak Seeks Safety Changes to Allow U.S. Bullet Trains - Bloomberg

Daily Kos: The World of 1913

Year Of The Map: How 2012 Changed Google, Apple, Nokia and OpenStreetMap’s Plans | TPM Idea Lab
Ubuntu Operating System For Smartphones Unveiled | TPM Idea Lab

010113
Scores killed in Ivory Coast fireworks stampede | World news | The Guardian At least 60 dead and estimated 200 injured after New Year's Eve crush at Abidjan stadium (caused by "security forces")
Gunmen kill seven Pakistani aid workers | World news | The Guardian Shooting of six female aid workers and a male doctor appears to be latest attack by militants on public health teams
Indian bus rape: Delhi sees rush for guns | World news | The Guardian Hundreds of women inquire about gun licences following woman's murder, showing the lack of faith in law enforcement
Israel's Jewish population passes 6 million mark | World news | guardian.co.uk Symbolically significant figure, equivalent to number of Jews killed in Holocaust, is 'a great joy', says historian
Oil ship runs aground in Alaska | Environment | guardian.co.uk Drill ship, the Kulluk, carrying about 155,000 gallons of fuel, drifted in stormy weather before being driven on to rocks

Chris Buckley, New York Times China Correspondent, Forced To Leave China (predictable)

Balloon Juice One hundred and fifty years ago today, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Should Auld Civil Liberties Be Forgot - Esquire This latest thing was to reauthorize the truly spooky FISA Amendments that were passed in 2008 when the president, in one of the actions he's taken that really was a naked sellout of his previously enunciated principles, joined with a Senate majority to immunize the telecommunications companies ... This wasn't a flip-flop he took because he wanted to be elected. This was a flip-flop he took because he wanted to do some things once he was elected.
Senate Passes Intelligence Bill Without Anti-Leak Measures | Secrecy News The provisions that were removed from the final bill included restrictions on background briefings for the press, limits on media commentary by former government officials, and authority for the DNI to unilaterally revoke the pension of a suspected leaker. (“Anti-Leak Measures in Senate Bill Target Press, Public,” Secrecy News, July 31, 2012).

Americans Say Politics is Hurting Country A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds that 77% of Americans say the way politics works in Washington is causing serious harm to the country.
Fiscal Cliffs Notes » Duck of Minerva Having elected a president with a reasonably coherent platform, the American people are about to receive a policy compromise that perhaps not a single American voter would have chosen if left to his or her own devices.

Fiscal Cliff Vote: House Republicans Caving, Senate Deal Coming To A Vote
Obama's tax threshold concession bodes ill for debt ceiling talks | Dean Baker | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The president won re-election promising to raise taxes on those earning more than $250,000. Now he's already capitulating
Fiscal cliff deal in balance as House of Representatives weighs options | World news | guardian.co.uk Hopes of avoiding tax rises for majority of Americans reside with Republicans as prospect of Tea Party rebellion lingers
Perspective on the Deal - NYTimes.com The right wants to roll the clock back to 1930, if not to the 19th century ... If Obama stands his ground in that confrontation, this deal won’t look bad in retrospect. If he doesn’t, yesterday will be seen as the day he began throwing away his presidency and the hopes of everyone who supported him.
Democrats' Cliff Compromise Is Bad; But The Strategic Consequences Are Disastrous | The New Republic
The case for the Dems’ negotiating strategy
We're Over the Fiscal Cliff, But Don't Panic : The New Yorker
View From the Left - Obama ‘Kept Giving Stuff Away’ - NYTimes.com
Fiscal cliff: Legislative earmarks, pork, and backroom deal-making was ugly, but the absurd, protracted negotiations that finally led to an agreement between the White House and Congress was certainly worse. The fiscal cliff fiasco is a reminder that there are worse things than earmarks and pork.
Daily Kos: House GOP could do Obama and Democrats a huge favor The ONLY leverage Democrats have in this fight is tax rates. And this deal takes those off the table. So how crazy is it that House Republicans appear hell bent on blowing up this deal?
Daily Kos: Early reports: House likely to kill fiscal cliff deal with amendments
Political Animal - Will the House GOP Blow Up the Deal? - Retiring Rep. Steve LaTourette of Ohio asked House Republicans why the House would “heed the votes of sleep deprived octogenarians,” according to a source in the meeting.
Fiscal cliff reveals how dysfunctional Republican nihilism makes US politics | Michael Cohen | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk How ironic: 150 years after emancipation, a party that abolished slavery is dedicated to saving wealthy Americans from taxes
Lawyers, Guns & Money - Of course, I had no hope for Obama when I voted for him and I’m not sure why anyone would. We all knew what Obama was by November 2012 and there’s no reason to think what we don’t like about him will change. (slightly less evil)
Daily Politics Blog - Charles P. Pierce - Political Blogging - Esquire . It is impolitic -- and severely damaging to one's social schedule -- to point out that one half of the national legislature is controlled by a political party afflicted by self-inflicted dementia. In this context, "compromise" becomes less a goal than it does an anesthetic, lest the rest of us wake up and realize what has become of our self-governing republic

Brad DeLong : I Do Not Understand the Obama Administration... That is only 40% of the way back from the "austerity bomb" to where we want to be. That isn't enough to make it worthwhile to make a deal before the new congress. After Boehner's reelection as Speaker and after the expiration of the Bush tax cuts eliminates the U.S.'s structural deficit, the politics become very different ...

Hey Extraverts: Enough is Enough | The American Conservative - group productivity is an illusion. (but extraverts love meetings)

She Can’t Sleep No More | Jacobin The political economy of Marissa Mayer. (sorry, girls, no sleep for you)

Houston, we have another problem: Study shows space travel is harmful to the brain a new study out today in the journal PLOS ONE shows that cosmic radiation – which would bombard astronauts on deep space missions to places like Mars – could accelerate the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
Higgs boson was just a start for Cern's atom smasher – other mysteries await | Science | The Guardian The Large Hadron Collider will shut down for an overhaul in preparation for exploring questions of dark matter, extra dimensions and other universes

The crossed destinies of the marijuana legalization debate by Juan Carlos Garzón Vergara - Project Syndicate
Why Pot Is Illegal Everywhere in the World | Mother Jones

Precarity and “affective resistance” – The New Inquiry Precarity applies to a specific subjectivity, the lived experience of ambient insecurity. (pre-cariousness)
Liberalism all the way down? …. six hours on a plane with Judith Butler’s Frames of War » Duck of Minerva

Amazon hack highlights customer service security weakness - CSO Online - Security and Risk
Has Facebook Ruined Love? - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com