Rich vs. Poor, Elections, Polling, Suffrage, Voter Fraud: IOIYR edition, Rmoney, 'Legitimate Rape', Republicans

Rich vs. Poor

• Mitt Romney and the myth of self-created millionaires--"The parasitical ultra-rich often deny the role of others in the acquisition of their wealth – and even seek to punish them for it."
• Sudden Wealth Syndrome? Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mocks Complaints of Obscenely Wealthy
• Mitt Romney: Free Speech Is for Billionaires, Not School-Teachers
• I am a job creator: A manifesto for the entitled
• Prison For Wealthy Seattle Couple Who Took Welfare--"A Seattle couple who collected welfare while living in a $1.2 million waterfront home are headed to prison."

Elections

• Teen Admits To Vandalizing Rep. Grimm's Campaign Office--The Republican congressman said it was an "assault on democracy" (NYT).
• Cherokee Nation Demands Scott Brown Apologize For 'Downright Racist' Taunts
• Music Video: I can't get erection from the election--Can this help?

Polling

• Fox & Friends: The Polls Are Rigged!--"One problem with the theories: FOX's own polling also shows Obama surging in swing states."
• Catholics Flee Romney-Ryan-Dolan
• Undecided voters lean from Romney toward Obama
• Poll Averages Have No History of Consistent Partisan Bias--"Presidential elections are high-stakes affairs. So perhaps it is no surprise that when supporters of one candidate do not like the message they are hearing from the polls they tend to blame the messenger." NYT
• Colbert Mocks Right-Wing Freakout Over Polls Showing Obama Up

Suffrage

• Google Civic Information API--"If you want to build apps that make use of voting information on the web, there’s a new Google API that lets you incorporate the information."
• Facebook Adds 'Registered To Vote' Life Event Option
• Governor Brown (D-CA) Signs Same-Day Voter Registration Law
• Democrats' effort to register students angers Pasco Republicans
• South Carolina: Laziness Not An Excuse Under Voter ID Law 0
• 'Jim Crow'-Type Voter-Suppression Laws to Bar 10 Million Latinos from Voting, Study finds
• Nebraska G.O.P. Draws a Tougher Map for Obama--"After President Obama carried Nebraska's Second District in 2008, Republicans redrew the district lines to make it even more Republican-leaning in 2012."

Voter Fraud: IOIYR edition

• TYT: Republicans And Voter Fraud
• RNC Cuts Off Firm Over Voter Registration Fraud Allegations--They thought they could get away with hiring this firm that's under investigation?
• Romney Campaign Volunteer Says She Works For Clerk's Office, But Only Registering Romney Voters--She's apparently connected to the voting firm the GOP just fired.
• Suspicious voter registration forms found in 10 Florida counties
• GOP Volunteer Calling FL Voters: 'I Don't Know if You've Done Any Research on Obama… He Is a Muslim'
• Thousands of Fake Republicans Are Being Registered by Romney and the GOP
• Why Isn't Fox News Covering Florida "Voter Fraud" Story? Hint: It Involves The GOP

Rmoney

• Fareed's Take on Mitt Romney and the GOP
• Mitt Romney's Real Agenda--"If you want to understand Romney's game plan, just look at what Republicans have been doing in Congress."
• What Romney's Hiding: 'It's the Amnesty, Stupid'
• The Poetic Justice of Romney's Self-Immolation
• Romney Says Camp Has Corrected False Ads, Camp Can't Name An Example
• Ten WSJ Ed Writers Forgot To Say They're Romney Advisers
• Satire: Romney in final push to alienate remaining voters

'Legitimate Rape'

• Akin's wife says pressure to quit over 'legitimate rape' comment is also like getting raped
• 'Women For Akin' Site Pulled, 'Supporter' Revealed As Dem Tracker
• 'Legitimate rape': two words that could cost Republicans everything

Republicans

• The American People Seem to Be Realizing that Republicans Aren't on Their Side
• A Gaffe Is When a Republican Tells the Truth
• The Republican brain drain--"Focusing on Romney’s faults misses the party's real problem."
• The Republicans will massacre each other after Mitt Romney loses--If he loses. November is still a few weeks away.
• Don't Forget: Hardcore Conservatives Sold the GOP on Mitt Romney

Eurozone Crisis, China vs. Japan, Japan vs. China, PRC, Canada, Catalonia, Corruption, Politics

Eurozone Crisis

• Spain: Protesters defy ban with anti-government rallies--Rubber bullets, tear gas, agent provocateurs, and more budget cuts... oh my.
• Most Greeks feel new austerity measures are unfair: poll--And things are turning ugly.
• Crisis in social care costs Britain over £5bn a year
• Angela Merkel: Europe must stay the course with painful reform
• Germany's big worry is China, not Greece
• Depression, Suicides Rise as Euro Debt Crisis Intensifies
• Everything you wanted to know about the euro crisis (but were afraid to ask) --Or you can do it Twilight-style.

China vs. Japan

• Mainland tells UN Japan 'stole' disputed islands
• China's Brainwashed Youth - Manufacturing Hate in the 21st Century
• Hong Kong: Japanese couple attacked--"Anti-Japanese sentiment turned physical after a Japanese couple, walking along the Tsim Sha Tsui East waterfront, were battered by a Chinese man who quickly fled the scene."
• Anti-Japan Protests Reach Fever Pitch as Panetta Visits Beijing
• China cancels diplomatic event with Japan over islands
• China launches aircraft carrier amid rising tensions with Japan
• Audi Asked China Dealership to Remove Anti-Japan Banner--It said, "Even if the whole of China is covered with tombs, [we] must kill all Japanese; even if no grass grows in China…."

Japan vs. China

• Could Asia really go to war over these?--"The bickering over islands is a serious threat to the region's peace and prosperity."
• Japanese firms closing China plants--As a temporary measure to wait out the protests.
• Japan wants China to compensate for damages from protests
• Hundreds in Tokyo rally against China in island row
• Japan tried but failed to avert disaster in China dispute

PRC

• In Hong Kong Election, Democrats Gain Despite Pro-Beijing Rebound--Beijing was also trying to ram down patriotism classes down their throats.
• China is flexing its muscles: time to worry
• China: For Many Expats, It's Not Worth It
• Mural draws fire from China--The mural is in Oregon.
• Chinese protester opposing government takeover of village land 'is crushed to death by state-controlled road-flattening truck'

Canada

• In Quebec It's Official: Mass Movement Leads to Victory for Students
• Stephen Harper's democracy award a sad joke on Canadians--Half of them have given Harper a thumbs down.
• Canadian gets three months in jail for not serving in Israeli army

Catalonia

• Huge turnout for Catalan independence rally
• As Spain sinks, many in Catalonia want out
• Why Catalonia Isn’t Likely to Leave Spain Anytime Soon

Corruption

• Statistical model suggests widespread fraud in Russian election
• Thai Deputy PM resigns amid corruption probe
• Police chief at heart of Bo Xilai scandal jailed for 15 years--A man reportedly being groomed for the country's leadership has been booted off the party.
• Indian cartoonist arrested on sedition charges after criticizing government corruption
• Vietnamese anti-corruption bloggers jailed--"Three prominent dissident bloggers have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for 'conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam'."

Politics

• German parliament bans laptops; members bring a typewriter
• A new breathalyzer law drives anger in France
• UK: Secret royal veto powers over new laws to be exposed--"Information commissioner orders release of guide to how Queen and Prince Charles must be consulted before laws are passed."

#MuslimRage, Freedom of Expression, Moderation, Online, Mali, On the Offensive

#MuslimRage

• Libyan president to NBC: Anti-Islam film had 'nothing to do with' US Consulate attack
• Pakistan disowns bounty on anti-Islam filmmaker
• From Nigeria to Athens, Muslim protests rumble on
• Push to call blasphemy a crime--Courtney Radsch, program manager for the Global Freedom of Expression Campaign at the non-profit group Freedom House: "Human rights are not about protecting religions; human rights are to protect humans. Who is going to be the decision-maker on deciding what blasphemy is?"
• US must respect Arab values, says Egypt's Morsi--Because debasing women and jailing and even murdering homosexuals are normal.

Freedom of Expression

• President Obama to United Nations: 'We Do Not Ban Blasphemy'--The Arab League disagrees.
• Blasphemy: an indispensable human right--"Blasphemy is an indispensable human right. Without the right to engage in blasphemy, there can be no freedom of inquiry, expression, conscience or religion."
• Freedom To Criticize Religion Is A Touchstone Of Free Expression
• Rosen: A blasphemy on free speech
• Islam must embrace reason and responsibility--"Too many in the Islamic world are quick to condemn the west while ignoring the sins that beset their societies."

Moderation

• Bill Clinton on anti-Islam film: "You can't react every time you're insulted"
• Moderate Muslims must stand up for their values
• Suburban Muslims use positive campaigns to counter anti-Islam messages

Online

• State of the Web: Online speech is only as free as Google wants it to be
• Actress in anti-Islam film sues YouTube on copyright grounds--"Says Google ignored five DMCA takedown notices." What copyright grounds?
• 27-Year Old In Greece Arrested For Blaspheming A Monk On Facebook

Mali

• Francois Hollande condemns 'stupidity' of Islamic rebels in Mali
• Mali Islamists 'increasingly repressive'--"[A]mputating limbs, whipping people in the streets and stoning to death a couple accused of adultery...."
• 16 moderate Muslim preachers killed in Mali--"Early reports indicate that the men's long beards aroused the suspicion of Mali's military, which confused them for the extremists who have taken over the nation's north."

On the Offensive

• Offended--"Offending people is a necessary and healthy act. Every time you say something? That's offensive to another person you just caused a discussion. You just forced them to have to think."
• Offended vs. Offensive
• What Being Offended Really Means

Dear Leaders, Wikileaks, War on Terror, Adnan Latif, Iran, Surveillance, TSA

Dear Leaders

• Savvy authoritarians: Meet the modern strongmen
• Brazilian police arrest Google exec over online videos
• Man sentenced to one year in prison for insulting Turkish president on Facebook

Wikileaks

• Assange speaks from via satellite from London, calls for end to 'persecution'--Mocks Obama's calls for freedom of speech while attacking Wikileaks.
• US labels Assange 'enemy of state'
• Putin: Assange case a definite example of double standards, trial politically motivated

War on Terror

• Appeals Court Blocks Indefinite-Detention Ruling
• Americans have a right to see Senate report on 'enhanced interrogation'
• Italy Court Upholds American Convictions--" Italy's highest criminal court on Wednesday upheld the convictions of 23 Americans in the abduction of an Egyptian terror suspect from a Milan street as part of the CIA's extraordinary rendition program, paving the way to possible extradition requests by Italian authorities." NYT
• Taliban-linked Afghan recounts prison abuse--"Mohammad Nasim tells CNN's Anna Coren his torturous story after being accused by the U.S. of involvement with the Taliban."
• No fix for 'Jesus rifles' deploying to Afghanistan
• Troops dying to defend US prestige: Tanner--"Australian troops are dying in Afghanistan to "defend American prestige" and it is difficult to justify continued involvement in the war, former finance minister Lindsay Tanner says."
• Afghanistan bans Pakistan newspapers over Taliban support

Adnan Latif

• Dead Gitmo detainee was cleared for release in 2009 --"The Guantanamo detainee found dead in his prison cell last weekend had been cleared for release three years ago by an Obama administration task force that concluded that his detention was no longer necessary...."
• Guantanamo prisoner's tragic letter Salon.
• Chronicle of a death foretold--"Latif had placed his faith in the fairness and impartiality of the US legal system and it failed him utterly, inventing new grounds to keep him incarcerated and in the words of the dissenting judge, 'moving the goalposts' in order to ensure that no matter what evidence existed regarding his innocence he would remain behind bars."

Iran

• Simulated War Between U.S.-Iran Has Grisly End
• Iran Moves to Isolate Its Citizens Online
• Iran's Ali Akbar Javanfekr, Ahmadinejad adviser, jailed
• Iran unveils long-range drone - state TV
• Iran Test-Fires Missiles At Target Near US Naval Drills
• Ahmadinejad tells U.N. that Iran is threatened--And that Israel trying to spook the U.S.
• Vitol trades Iranian fuel oil, skirting sanctions
• Israelis shrug at Netanyahu's urgent warnings on Iran--Bibi has denied accusations that he's trying to influence the US presidential elections.
• Canada's last Iran ambassador: Cutting off Tehran looks like a mistake
• WINEP's Director of Research: U.S. Needs A False Flag to Start A War With Iran

Surveillance

• Be careful, she might hear you--"Attorney-General Nicola Roxon wants unprecedented access to the private lives of Australians, writes Philip Dorling."
• CCTV cameras being used in more than 200 schools changing rooms and toilets across Britain
• ACLU sues to get U.S. agencies' license plate tracking records

TSA

• Smoke Screening--"Heaps of federal money, endless bureaucracy, and constant travel delays are the most visible by-products of the Transportation Security Administration. Too bad 'increased safety' doesn't fit on that list."
• Appeals Court Caves to TSA Over Nude Body Scanners
• GOP to TSA: Eleven years after 9/11 attacks, it's time to change

Religion and Ivory, Ecology, Environment, Drilling, Mining and Fracking, Climate Change

Religion and Ivory

• Religious Ivory Demand Killing Elephants by Thousands, Report Says
• Christian, Muslim and Hindu religious leaders unite to help stop slaughter of elephants, rhinos
• Philippines investigates priest's 'links to ivory trade'

Ecology

• India tiger killed by poachers inside Itanagar zoo
• How the world's oceans could be running out of fish
• Bolivia enacts law to protect Amazon pink dolphins
• Poll: Should the giant panda be allowed to go extinct?
• Russia's Vladimir Putin admits wildlife stunts are staged--"[T]hey drew the public's attention to important conservation projects."

Environment

• Journalist Found Murdered--"The body of a Cambodian reporter who uncovered illegal logging is found in the trunk of his car."
• Helium shortage prompts scientist's balloon use warning
• Microsoft wasted 'millions of watts of electricity' to evade power usage penalty

Drilling, Mining and Fracking

• How Big Coal Keeps America Stupid--"The New York Times has a good piece today about the 153 million ad blitz the fossil fuel industry is running to oust President Obama."
• The trillion-gallon wastewater loophole--"State and federal regulators often do little to confirm what pollutants go into wells for drilling waste." Salon
• New test results due from Wyoming fracking zone
• Ancient site needs saving not destroying--"Documentary-maker Brent Huffman is battling to save from destruction an ancient Afghan Buddhist site, Mes Aynak, that sits on copper reserves."
• Shell sues Greenpeace to stop Arctic protests

Climate Change

• August 330th Month Above 20th-Century Average Temperature
• Climate change is already damaging global economy, report finds
• Report warns of global food insecurity as climate change destroys fisheries
• Scientists shocked after Harper government assigns IT staff to monitor ozone data
• SHOCKER: Fox News Misleads Audience on Climate Change --The edict came from the top.

iPhone 5, Bad Apple, Maps, FaceTime, Telcos, Google, Search Results, YouTube, Facebook, Tech Death

iPhone 5

• First Look: iPhone 5
• iPhone 5 Problems: Users' Biggest Issues With Apple's New Handset
• How AT&T paid me $173.82 to go to Verizon
• Verizon iPhone 5 Unlocked Thanks to FCC?--Their units have been confirmed to work with AT&T SIMs.
• UPS to iPhone 5 buyers: You're not getting it early--The stench of self-entitlement.
• Here's the Chip Apple Is Using to Stop You from Buying Cheap Cables--That's for the new "Lightning" connectors.
• 5,000 police sent to quell mass Foxconn brawl

Bad Apple

• Apple granted a patent to wirelessly disable cameras on iPhones in certain locations--"Recording, communicating during protests, political events could be restricted."
• Apple's secret plan to join iPhones with airport security
• Apple patents universal iBattery charging system, forgets all about USB--More proprietary lock-in.

Maps

• New iOS 6 Apple maps app angering users and upsetting business owners--Check out the amazing maps.
• Apple Maps App Takes Reality Distortion to a Whole New Level
• Why Apple pulled the plug on Google Maps--Why they didn't release the app as "beta" is a mystery.
• Google exec: not yet offered new map to Apple--Isn't this considered a duplicate functionality that has led to apps being rejected before?
• Google Maps War With Apple Is Over - Google Won--This was written before the troubles with iOS Maps started.

Facetime

• AT&T's FaceTime Blocking Hurts the Deaf
• Verizon to allow cellular FaceTime use across all data plans
• AT&T's FaceTime blocking draws formal complaint to FCC from interest groups

Telcos

• Verizon CFO buries his head in the sand, claims unlimited data is 'going by the wayside'
• Verizon must allow Android tethering apps, can't charge fee, FCC rules
• Google Fiber Issues Public Challenge: Get Up To Speed!

Google

• Meet the Man Who's Rewiring Google From the Inside Out
• Tech Confessional: The Googler Who Looked At The Worst Of The Internet
• Google is Planning to Penalize Overly Optimized Sites--Sites that have been SEO'd to death, that is.
• As Google Tinkers with Search, Upstarts Gain Ground
• Has your G+ account been suspended? Don't seek shelter from Google
• Banned From Google & No Support in Sight
• Acer pull device launch press conference following Google "concerns"

Search Results

• Google sued for not removing ugly photo of Miami Heat owner
• Tycoon sues Google on defamation claim
• Why Suing Google to Remove Results About Your Alleged Orgy Will Never Work
• Defamation Case By Bettina Wulff Highlights Double Standard At Google
• Japanese man sues Google over rape reference
• Plaintiff Unhappy With Search Results Can't Sue Yahoo
• Emma Watson Is 'Internet's Most Dangerous Search Term'

YouTube

• YouTube Brings Its Skippable Video Ads To Mobile
• How To Unlink Your YouTube Channel Name From Your Google Plus Profile
• Video: YouTube complaints

Facebook

• Is Facebook dying?--"Sure, it's got nearly a billion members. But I for one am dealing with a serious case of Facebook burnout. And I know I'm not alone."
• Facebook stock plunges 9.1% as doubts rise again
• Facebook Reveals the Sleazy Business of Fake 'Likes'
• Reality Check: 10-15% Of Brand' Social Media Fans, Likes And Reviews Will Be Fake By 2014, Says Gartner
• Developers say Facebook could face mobile disruption--A survey may point to why Facebook bought Instagram and dumped HTML5.

Tech Death

• RIM's BlackBerrys Losing Shelf Space, Mindshare Among Carriers
• Oracle Makes More Moves To Kill Open Source MySQL
• The scale of startup ambition--Buzzword bullshit bingo.

Bank Heists, Wall Street, Bailouts, International, Debts

Banks Heists

• Dear Bankers: Thanks for Wrecking Our Lives ... NYT
• Money-Laundering Inquiry Is Said to Aim at U.S. Banks--"Federal and state authorities are investigating a handful of major American banks for failing to monitor cash transactions in and out of their branches, a lapse that may have enabled drug dealers and terrorists to launder tainted money, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity." NYT
• Inquiry on Tax Strategy Adds to Scrutiny of Finance Firms--"The New York attorney general is investigating whether some of the nation’s biggest private equity firms have abused a tax strategy in order to slice hundreds of millions of dollars from their tax bills, according to executives with direct knowledge of the inquiry." NYT
• Peregrine Financial Group boss admits $100m fraud
• Barclays bank clerk stole £46,000 and spent it on boob job, liposuction and wild shopping sprees to fulfill her dream of becoming a model

Wall Street

• How Wall Street creates criminals--"When 16% of people working in financial services readily admit they would commit a crime if they could get away with it, alarm bells should be going off at the Securities and Exchange Commission and other financial regulators."
• A Rare Look at Why The Government Won't Fight Wall Street
• Top Bank Lawyer's E-Mails Show Washington's Inside Game
• FDIC's Hoenig Says Banks May Revisit Pre-2008 Risky Behavior
• Four Years Since Lehman Brothers, 'Too Big To Fail' Banks, Now Even Bigger, Fight Reform
• How Citigroup stays fraud-proof Salon
• The Payoff: Why Wall Street Always Wins - An Excerpt

Bailouts

• The Fed's $16 Trillion Bailouts Under-reported
• AIG Stock Sale Repays Bailout as U.S. Government Profits
• Taxpayers still owed more than $200 billion from bailouts

International

• EU Considers Splitting Up Major Banks--"EU Commissioner Michel Barnier has asked experts to examine the possibility of splitting up major European banks to avoid future bailouts at taxpayers' expense. But even less radical intervention in the banking sector could have drastic consequences for the industry, and its powerful lobby is resisting any such change."
• Opinion: Where the Mob Keeps Its Money NYT
• RBS could be fined £300m to settle Libor probe--"Royal Bank of Scotland could be fined up to £300m later this year to settle allegations traders sought to manipulate the libor interest rate, according to reports."
• Barclays makes £500m betting on food crisis--"Outrage as bank revealed to be major speculator while millions face starvation."
• Deutsche Bank turns screw on bonuses
• Iceland Shows Other Europeans How to Survive Bankruptcy--"Small Atlantic nation enjoys growth and employment gains after failing to rescue its banks. Mainland Europe remains stuck with stagnation, decline, and ruinous 'rescue' packages."
• Swiss banks to suffer big withdrawals over tax: UBS--"UBS expects Swiss banks to see European clients withdraw "hundreds of billions of francs" as a result of steps to stop foreigners using secret accounts to evade taxes."

Debts

• A Harvard MBA's radical quest to erase his debt
• The other foreclosure crisis: Losing a home over $400 in back taxes
• In Prosecutors, Debt Collectors Find a Partner--"In exchange for a fee, district attorneys' offices have been allowing debt collectors to use their letterhead when going after people behind on their bills." NYT

Voting Resources, The 47%, Rmoney, The Lyin' Ryan, Elections 2012, Voter IDs, Vote Machinations, Economy

Voting Resources

• Register to Vote
• RockTheVote.com
• Can I Vote?
• Voter ID
• Vote Smart

The 47%

• Today, Mitt Romney Lost the Election
• Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He REALLY Thinks of Obama Voters
• Brooks: Thurston Howell Romney NYT
• The Real Romney Captured on Tape Turns Out to Be a Sneering Plutocrat
• What Romney doesn't understand about personal responsibility
• The 47 Percent, In One Graphic
• The Daily Show: Chaos on Bulls**t Mountain - The Entitlement Society

Rmoney

• How Mitt Could Win: Overconfidence Could Still Lose the Day for Obama
• Mitt Romney Blames The 'Victims'--"REMINDER: People on welfare didn’t cost us 15 million jobs and trillions in savings. People on Wall Street did."
• Romney full tax history still a mystery
• Maddow: Romney deliberately, retroactively inflated taxes to avoid hypocrisy--He paid more than he had to, but he can get the money back by amending his returns.
• Mitt Romney: The GOP's Very Best

The Lyin' Ryan

• Paul Ryan Tells Florida Seniors That Obamacare Includes Death Panels
• Paul Ryan Talks Space Exploration, Accuses Obama of 'Dismantling'’ the Program--"The Obama campaign reacted to Ryan’s comment this afternoon by noting that Ryan voted against NASA funding twice in the 2008 and 2010 NASA Authorization Acts...."
• Secret Ryan Transcript: Social Security and Medicare are the Target--Here's the truth he's been hiding.

Elections 2012

• Senate Forecast: What Has Gone Wrong for G.O.P. Candidates? --This election is not just about the Presidency but of Congress (Senate and the House) and, over the next four years, the Supreme Court. NYT
• When the Ballot Hits the Bone--"Obama’s plea that he 'can’t change Washington from the inside' isn’t a surrender. It’s a declaration of war." Kick out the bums at this year's elections.
• Democrats Retreat on Civil Liberties in 2012 Platform
• "West Wing" Cast Reunites To Campaign For Michigan Court Candidate
• Eaton, McCormick Have Confrontation Over Campaign Signs--"Frank Eaton, Democratic candidate for the House District 27 seat, charged Saturday that House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick pulled up two of his campaign signs. Rep. Floyd said the signs were illegally placed 'and I was doing the guy a favor.'"
• Sarah Silverman's new political project, 'Let My People Vote'
• The Simpsons on Elections 2012--Death Panels and Taxes... and Voter IDs too.

Voter IDs

• Conservative Groups Focus on Registration in Swing States NYT
• Married, divorced women at risk of being disenfranchised on Nov. 6
• Voter ID Laws Take Aim At College-Student Voters
• Voter ID Laws Are Based On Fictitious Fraud
• Commissioners approve issuance of voter ID cards at county nursing home--"Gov. Tom Corbett Friday came out against counties taking such action."

Vote Machinations

• Voting Wrongs-"The Republicans’ plan is that if they can’t buy the 2012 election they will steal it."
• Harvey Wasserman: Will the GOP Steal America's 2012 Election
• The League of Dangerous Mapmakers--"Who's most to blame for our divisive politics? How about the gerrymanderers quietly deciding where your vote goes. Inside the dark art and modern science of making democracy a lot less democratic."
• Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: Karl Rove and the Republican Dark Art of Election Theft
• Koch Group Kicks Off Massive Voter Mobilization Effort; Summons Tea Party to Country Club, Outsourcing Center

Economy

• Who Will Save the Middle Class?--"After three decades of policies that have undermined the country's global competitiveness and bargainingthe position of its workers, the United States economy can no longer provide the means to support its three most politically important American dreams: Wall Street's dream of subsidized limitless profits; the military-industrial complex's dream of global supremacy; and the middle class's dream of rising incomes."
• Obama: 'top-down' economics never works
• Income Inequality Is Worse Now Than It Was During Slavery

Your Rights Online, Censorship, Surveillance, UK, Tech Tracking, Facebook and Your Privacy, Net Neutrality

Your Rights Online

• Tech Giants Form Internet-Freedom Lobby to Counter MPAA, RIAA Clout
• The Future Of The Internet Is Meshnet: Decentralized Internet Being Built to Thwart Censorship
• The Internet Is Not Free: We're In The Filter Bubble--"This is about technology-more specifically about the Internet. And how it's now it's turning into an undemocratic place, without you even realising."
• Why Twitter Caved and Handed an "Occupy" Protester’s Data to the Government--"I can’t put Twitter or the little blue bird in jail, so the only way to punish is monetarily."
• Why is the UN Trying to Take over the Internet?

Censorship

• UK Online Safety Bill Prompts Iceland ISPs to Consider Options for Questionable Sites
• New Internet censorship rules take effect in Gaza
• Indian Government now mulls over Cyber Surveillance Agency to monitor web
• Malaysia's New Internet Law
• New Philippine law outlaws cybersex

Surveillance

• Freedom Not Fear: Creating a Surveillance-Free Internet
• EU funding 'Orwellian' artificial intelligence plan to monitor public for "abnormal behaviour"
• EU Officials Propose Internet Cops On Patrol, No Anonymity & No Obscure Languages (Because Terrorism!)--They want to Clean IT.
• Watch Your Tongue: Law Enforcement Speech Recognition System Stores Millions of Voices
• House Approves Sweeping, Warrantless Electronic Spy Powers--And the news was swept under the rug.
• Cops might finally need a warrant to read your Gmail
• xkcd: License Plate

UK

• Sir Tim Berners-Lee accuses government of 'draconian' internet snooping--"The inventor of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has accused the government of invading the privacy by monitoring internet use."
• Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales attacks government's 'snooper's charter'--"Jimmy Wales says his website would encrypt all connections with Britain, and called the plans 'technologically incompetent.'"
• Google engineer finds British spyware on PCs and smartphones--"FinSpy turning up in dictatorships across the world."

Tech Tracking

• How the top 100 most-visited websites in the United States track your every move online (and how you can opt out, if it's possible)
• Google Finally Adds Do-Not-Track Support in Latest Test Version of Chrome
• Wajam's Clever Workaround Inserts Its Content in iOS Apps
• Don't Be LAZY! when it comes to your online privacy
• WhatsApp is using IMEI numbers as passwords
• "Log in to unsubscribe from this e-mail": annoying, possibly illegal
• Privacy over profanity: Survey reveals annoying online habits

Facebook and Your Privacy

• This Is How Facebook Is Tracking Your Internet Activity
• Demanding A Student's Facebook Password A Violation Of First Amendment Rights, Judge Says
• Facebook Confirms Surveying Users About Friends' Fake Usernames
• Facebook suspends photo tag tool in Europe
• Facebook to start keeping track of track of your searches

Net Neutrality

• Libertarians make the case: net neutrality is unconstitutional
• FCC Defends Net Neutrality, Says Verizon Is No Internet Editor
• Why Monopolistic Telecoms Threaten Internet Equality

#MuslimRage, Freedom of Speech, Australia, Pakistan, Schism, Religion Under Attack, Intolerance of Religion

#MuslimRage

• Egypt's mufti urges Muslims to endure insults peacefully--"Muslims angered by cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammad should follow his example of enduring insults without retaliating...."
• Rage, but also self-criticism--"Though most Muslims felt insulted by a film trailer that disparaged the Prophet Muhammad, many were embarrassed by the excesses of protesters and preachers."
• A Letter from a Scared "Innonce of Muslims" Actress
• British woman among those killed in Afghanistan suicide bombing
• Comedy Ensues as Twitter Users Hijack Newsweek's #MuslimRage Hashtag

Freedom of Speech

• On the Freedom to Offend an Imaginary God
• To ban or not to ban? German right-wing group to show anti-Islam film.
• U.N. Chief: Mohammed Filmmakers "Abused" Freedom Of Expression
• French weekly fuels Mohammad row with nude cartoons- Foreign Ministry shut down everything
• Danish Mohammad cartoonist rejects censorship
• Judge Refuses to Order YouTube to Remove Anti-Islam Film
• The Onion: No One Murdered Because Of This Image

Australia

• Video captures 8-year-old 'Jihad girl' urging Islamic uprising
• Middle East protests: mother of toddler who held 'beheading' sign turns herself into police
• Non-Australian protesters face deportation if charged
• Activists 'hijack' plans for peaceful pro-Islamic protest
• Muslim leaders call to 'stop all protests'--"Islamic leaders in Western Australia have urged local Muslims not to rally as Sydney prepares for possible further demonstrations after last Saturday's riots."

Pakistan

• Friday Will Be A Holiday To Protest Film Mocking Islam
• Pakistan businessman accused by film protesters of blasphemy for not closing shops--"[F]ollowing an argument that broke out when he refused to join their protest...."
• Pakistani teachers lead children to chant 'Death to America'
• Pakistan blocks cell phone service amid ongoing protests over anti-Islam video
• Pakistani Protester Burns American Flag and Dies From Smoke

Schism

• Christian monastery is target of political vandalism in Israel--"A Christian monastery near Jerusalem was defiled overnight by vandals, who set the front door on fire and spray-painted insults to Christianity, including 'Jesus is a monkey' on the outside walls."
• Vatican official says Israel fostering intolerance of Christianity
• Catholics call for Israeli hate-crime crackdown

Religion Under Attack

• Religious intolerance on the rise worldwide, says US report--"Pew Research Centre report says the US and UK are among countries showing a worrying rise in religious discrimination."
• Some Religious Leaders See a Threat as Europe Grows More Secular NYT
• Christians should 'leave their beliefs at home or get another job'

Intolerance of Religion

• Fox News host wants 'South Park' investigated for blasphemy
• Mormons Baptized Obama's Mother: CONFIRMED--In the name of the FSM, I baptize all dead Mormons as Satanists.
• Salman Rushdie: Satanic Verses 'would not be published today'--He also talks about how the fatwa changed his life
• Iranian woman may be deported and stoned to death — despite new evidence in her case
• Rick Perry Blames Satan For Separation Of Church And State
• Fired for My Family--A teacher at a Catholic school in Indiana was fired after the school discovered that she used IVF to try to become pregnant.
• Girls beat up Iran cleric over dress code--We only get the man's side.

War on Drugs, Big Pharma, Armstrong, 420, Cases, Mexico, Cartels, International

War on Drugs

• So who's winning the war on drugs?--"President Nixon's declared war on drugs is more than thirty years old. It's time to ask who's winning."
• Roseanne Barr: The War on Drugs is Just Plain Crazy
• The Throwaways--Police enlist young offenders as confidential informants. But the work is high-risk, largely unregulated, and sometimes fatal."
• Florida Deputy Uses Spidey-Sense to Establish Probable Cause--"Last May, Sarasota, Florida Sheriff's Deputy Dominic Fornal followed Joseph McNeal's Jaguar out of a parking lot, then pulled McNeal over. The reason? Dep. Fornal claimed he could smell marijuana coming from the car. Even though the car was traveling at 35 mph. And the windows were up. Oh, and there was no marijuana in the car. Fornal did arrest McNeal and charge him with a DUI, though, even though McNeal's BAC was about half the legal limit."
• Fast And Furious Report: No Evidence DOJ Leadership Knew Of Gunwalking Tactics

Big Pharma

• Drug giants fined $11bn for criminal wrongdoing--"Fines are not enough to reform drug industry, warn lawyers."
• How Big Pharma Hooked America on Legal Heroin
• As Obamacare dawns, Big Pharma rides into the sunset

Armstrong

• USADA says it will ban Lance Armstrong, strip 7 Tour titles--Does the USADA even have any authority over the International Cycling Federation or the Amaury Sport Organisation that runs the Tour?
• Lance Armstrong drops fight against doping charges
• Lance Armstrong joins Md. cancer benefit triathlon

420

• Former DEA Heads Push Holder to Oppose State Marijuana Initiatives
• Romney plans to smoke medical marijuana laws
• Yale study: Alcohol's gateway effect much larger than marijuana's
• Young cannabis smokers run risk of lower IQ, report claims--"If cannabis impairs the IQ of those who smoke as teenagers, then legalising it is the best way to mitigate that harm."
• Bid to overturn L.A. pot shop ban qualifies for ballot

Cases

• New Hampshire Jury Nullifies its First Felony Marijuana Case
• Pot-smoking driver in Saskatoon deemed not impaired
• Riverside: Judge says city can't ban medical marijuana clinic
• Montana Supreme Court: No constitutional right to medical marijuana
• Wal-Mart worker fired over medical marijuana loses case

Mexico

• Devastated Mexican father asks: Why did my son have to die for the US's failed "war on drugs"?
• Mexicans see a losing battle in the war on crooked police
• US drug addiction impedes Mexican growth – President Calderon

Cartels

• Marines vs. Zetas: U.S. Hunts Drug Cartels in Guatemala
• "Cocaine godmother" Griselda Blanco gunned down in Colombia, media reports say
• Top Colombian drug lord captured in Venezuela
• Fritanga Arrest Puts Dangerous Drug Cartel Leader in Police Custody
• Mexico navy says it captured Gulf cartel leader--"Mario Cardenas Guillen, alias El Gordo, is accused of being one of the two top leaders of the Gulf cartel of Mexico."

International

• Australia: Report urges rethink on illegal drugs--"A report has recommended Australia consider decriminalising cannabis and ecstasy in a bid to tackle the country's drug problem."
• UK: Drugs policies are not working, believe 75% of MPs
• Canada: Border guards told to forget about illegal drug exports
• Uruguay takes 'war on drugs' in new direction: The state as dealer
• Thailand: Are our drug policies really working?
• Why Washington's War on Drugs in Afghanistan Isn't Working
• What the world thought: Should drugs like cocaine and heroin be legalised?

Talk Like a Pirate Day, Language, Tech Effect, Curses, Irony, Cleverest Letdowns Barbarise, Penny Arcade

Talk Like a Pirate Day: 10th Anniversary

Language

• Vanishing Languages--"One language dies every 14 days. By the next century nearly half of the roughly 7,000 languages spoken on Earth will likely disappear, as communities abandon native tongues in favor of English, Mandarin, or Spanish. What is lost when a language goes silent?"
• English language 'originated in Turkey'
• Language X is essentially language Y under conditions Z
• Vowel Movement--"How Americans near the Great Lakes are radically changing the sound of English."
• xkcd: Cautionary Ghost

Tech Effect

• Using YouTube comments, tweets and IMs to teach English composition
• Tu and Twitter: Is it the end for 'vous' in French?
• Google Translate vs. Latin Dummy Text

Curses

• Behind the killing of a pregnant woman--"We have yet to be convinced that the policeman was really trying to stop a citizen from using indecent language and that upholding the law in this case was of such paramount interest to him that not even her state of defenceless and of advanced pregnancy could have deterred him."
• F-bomb makes it into mainstream dictionary
• How America Swears: Here's a Heatmap Tracking Twitter Profanity
• Dear Apple, please will you let me say s***?
• Sex, violence and swearing on film: 100 years of the BBFC--"From counting f-words to examining hours of graphic gore, the British Board of Film Classification reveals the secrets of a century of rating, cutting and occasionally banning movies."

Irony

• Isn't It Ironic? Probably Not
• Americans don't appear to have a clue about irony
• Ed Byrne slates Alanis Morissette

Cleverest Letdowns Barbarise

• Group: Scrabble Player Caught Cheating at US Event--"One of the top young Scrabble players in the country has been kicked out of the game's national championship tournament in Florida after he was caught hiding blank letter tiles..." Scrabble is sirius bizness.
• Poem which uses all 100 Scrabble tiles
• With Or Without U - IS THAT A WORD?--Sesame Street-worthy.

Penny Arcade

• The Globfather
• The Brute Force Method
• Adjudicator

Fat Tuesday, Obamacare, Health Care Reform, Issues, Bad Medicine, Tobacco, Diseases, Good For You, Sicko

Fat Tuesday

• Anti-Obesity Is Not the New Homophobia
• Big Government, Small Bellies: What Japan Can Teach Us About Fighting Fat
• New York health board approves ban on large sodas
• Obesity more common among rural residents than urban counterparts, study finds
• Doctor Who fan who dropped from 17st to 10st spends the money he would have blown on junk food on a £2k Tardis
• Living Larger By Downsizing: How Radio's Big Boy Dropped 300 Pounds
• Obese woman loses weight through marathon sex

Obamacare

• Obamacare Has Saved Consumers $2.1 Billion--And 3.6 million more people are covered.
• Even Evangelicals Sorta Kinda Like Obamacare Now
• Republican Officials Work 'Under The Radar' To Implement Obamacare In Their States
• Aware of 'no options,' woman dies fighting for medical coverage--"Except there were options. The Affordable Care Act, which takes full effect in 2014, was supposed to save people like Elder (with pre-existing conditions and no medical coverage) in the interim by way of high-risk pools, also known as the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan or PCIP."
• Health Care Reform Beyond Obamacare NYT

Health Care Reform

• Challenged on Medicare, G.O.P. Loses Ground--"President Obama and his campaign are arguing that the Romney-Ryan approach to Medicare would leave older Americans vulnerable to rising health care costs." NYT
• Tweeting for Student Health Care Coverage NYT
• Mexico chalks up success in health-care reforms

Issues

• Genetically engineering 'ethical' babies is a moral obligation, says Oxford professor
• US court sides with gene patents
• How an Indian Patent Case Could Shape the Future of Generic Drugs--"[T]he Indian Supreme Court will hear a landmark case that could limit Indian companies' right to make inexpensive generic drugs."
• Canada: Ad for herbal whooping cough remedy ordered retracted
• A virus that kills cancer: the cure that's waiting in the cold--"Sitting in a refrigerator in a Swedish laboratory is what promises to be a cheap and effective cancer treatment. So why are the trials to bring it to market not going ahead?"

Bad Medicine

• Dirty Medicine--"How medical supply behemoths stick it to the little guy, making America’s health care system more dangerous and expensive."
• Doctors, others billing Medicare at higher rates
• The Bullying Culture of Medical School NYT
• 'Wall of Shame' exposes 21M medical record breaches--"Notification, reporting part of new rules under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act."
• Hospitals 'Unaccountable,' says surgeon in new book

Tobacco

• Crisis looms as industry lights up Asia--"The west is winning the smoking war, but in our region, the fight has just begun."
• Australia: Big tobacco loses High Court battle over plain packaging
• Tasmania considers cigarette ban for anyone born after 2000--"The Australian state of Tasmania is considering a ban on cigarette sales to anyone born after the year 2000 in an attempt to create a smoking-free generation." But there's already been some opposition to the idea months ago.
• Costa Rica tries to go smoke-free--"Congress approved sweeping smoking bans. Philip Morris and British American Tobacco are not happy."
• Tobacco on Pace to Kill 1 Billion People This Century
• Fake cigs: Human excrement, asbestos, dead flies and billions in lost tax revenues
• Study: Electronic cigarettes do not damage the heart

Diseases

• The Black Death is dead (thanks to evolution)
• US teen invents advanced cancer test using Google
• Resistance to Backup Tuberculosis Drugs Increases
• New immune-system disease found in Asians; causes AIDS-like symptoms in people without HIV
• Sri Lanka kidney disease blamed on farm chemicals
• WHO: Ebola outbreak in DRC risks spreading to towns
• Man steals phone from Ebola patient at Uganda hospital, gets Ebola--Karma.

Good For You

• 87-year-old doctor charges $5 for a visit
• Vatican newspaper gives seal of approval to bald Barbie
• Alzheimer's Disease: Dutch Village Doubles as Nursing Home

Sicko

• The 6 Most Terrifying Medical Malpractice Cases Ever
• Man dies after doc takes lunch during kidney op
• The Hidden Truths about Calories
• Eating egg yolks as 'bad as smoking'--"Without further study, there is no firm evidence that egg yolks are as bad for you as smoking."
• Sitting straight 'bad for backs'
• Blast from the Past: Student finds toilet water cleaner than ice at fast food restaurants
• Yoga mat for sale. Used once. $1

Online Customers, Free, Reviews, Lost & Found, Patent Trolls, Apple, Techie

Online Customers

• Has adaptive design failed? Of course not
• The Web Is a Customer Service Medium
• Tech Companies Leave Phone Calls Behind--"Increasingly, social technology businesses are taking an antisocial attitude to callers, making themselves available to customers via e-mail, Twitter messages and Web sites." NYT
• eBay bans 'intangible' items including spells, curses and advice
• Uber Screwed Me (But At Least It Bought Me Breakfast!)--It's also having problems problemsx setting up in NYC.
• PayPal Screws Over a Small Businessman
• Why I Hate Buying Tickets

Free

• The Cost Of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years Of Regret
• People Who Pay For A Service Are A Lot Nicer Than Those Who Don't
• Going broke with success: how an app with 200,000 downloads led to developer homelessness

Reviews

• Authors Behaving Badly: How I Pissed Off Legions of Emily Giffin Fans
• The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy--"Mr. Liu estimates that about one-third of all consumer reviews on the Internet are fake. Yet it is all but impossible to tell when reviews were written by the marketers or retailers (or by the authors themselves under pseudonyms), by customers (who might get a deal from a merchant for giving a good score) or by a hired third-party service." NYT
• Three Arrests In China Over Baidu "Post-Deleting" Services--"It is alleged that the employees accepted money in exchange for removing negative feedback left on Baidu's forum service. The company had already fired four people for misconduct before three of them were arrested."

Lost & Found

• David Pogue Has Lost His iPhone--And how it was found.
• Bike Thief Gets Owned
• Australia: Court ponders 'trespass' by triggering iPad alarm--"A court has been asked to decide whether a man trying to find his allegedly stolen iPad was acting unlawfully when he tracked it down to a north Canberra townhouse using Apple's anti-theft app and a GPS."

Patent Trolls

• Chinese company uses leaked photos to copy, patent iPhone 5 design--And they're already on sale.
• Eolas strikes again: sues Facebook, Wal-Mart, and Disney over UC patents
• Cost of the Uniloc Lawsuit

Apple

• Confessions from the Most Corrupt Apple Store in America
• Will Apple's Tacky Software-Design Philosophy Cause A Revolt?
• Am I An Outlier, Or Are Apple Products No Longer Easy To Use?

Techie

• To Recruit Techies, Companies Offer Unlimited Vacation
• Vizio reboots the PC: a quiet American success story takes on sleeping giants
• Digg's new look shows the virtues of slowing down and savoring the Web--And while they're working on restoring its archives for its old users, seven years of Internet history are down the toilet.