Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Fat Tuesday; Vaccination; HIV/AIDS; Abortion and Birth Control; Obamacare; Brain; Smoking; Psych

Merry Christmas...

• Dropkick Murphys: The Season's Upon Us
• Hark! The Herald Angels Didn't Sing --"It takes a strong imagination to approach Scripture literally." NYT
• Science explains Rudolph's red reindeer nose
• 25 Ridiculous "Sexy Santa" Stock Photos
• Penny Arcade: Santa

...and a Happy New Year!

• 2012 Person of the Year: Barack Obama, the President
• Nate Silver: Person of the Year
• Why 2012 was the best year ever--"Never in the history of the world has there been less hunger, less disease and more prosperity."
• 2012's Biggest Rule Breakers: 'Walking Dead,' Psy, Quentin Tarantino and 7 Others Who Rocked the Status Quo
• Facebook, Google release 2012 trends
• The Worst CEOs of 2012
• The Onion's Top Movies Of 2012

Fat Tuesday

• Global report: Obesity bigger health crisis than hunger
• Big Food Corporations Are Making The World Fat
• Which Europeans are fattest, laziest and drink most, in charts
• Chris Christie Weight Comments: 5 Presidents Over 200 Pounds
• Obesity and Overeating During Menopause Together Promote Breast Tumor Growth and Progression

Vaccination

• Karachi polio killings: Vaccination workers shot
• Girl, 8, to get vaccination shots after court overrules mum
• Congress Holds An Anti-Vaccination Hearing
• Australia: Minister orders anti-vaccination group to change its name
• How anti-vaxxers see the world

HIV/AIDS

• Hillary Clinton launches blueprint for eradication of Aids
• Obamacare Will Now Include HIV Testing, Saving Millions of American Lives
• EU scientists develop gel to prevent HIV transmission

Abortion and Birth Control

• Culture Wars: After a Decade of Debate, the Philippines Passes Reproductive Health Bill
• Ireland to legalise abortion--"Ireland is to legalise abortions when the mother's life is at risk, including when she is suicidal, in an historic move expected to spark a major battle with the Roman Catholic church."
• Colin Powell Urges Congress To Remove Abortion Restrictions For Military Women
• In France, Free Birth Control For Girls At Age 15
• Likely Increase in Births Has Some Lawmakers Revisiting Cuts--"Moving $73 million away from family planning services seemed prudent to state lawmakers last year, but the cost of that decision is now clear: more babies born into Medicaid."NYT
• No-cost contraception reduces unintended pregnancies
• Better Than A Condom? Discreet Nanofabric Protects Against Pregnancy and HIV

Obamacare

• 'Obamacare' saves consumers nearly $1.5 billion--"Health insurance companies passed $1.5 billion in savings mandated by 'Obamacare' on to consumers in 2011, a new analysis shows."
• Obama Administration: States Will Not Receive Full Federal Funding For Partial Medicaid Expansions
• Anti-Obamacare Rants Hurting Restaurant Brands--Just ask Red Lobster among others.
• Obamacare architect leaves White House for pharmaceutical industry job
• Frank Morrocco, Ex-Convict, Claims He Intentionally Got Arrested To Receive Healthcare

Brain

• Brain's 'reading centres' are culturally universal
• Study: Biking Restores Brain Connectivity in Parkinson's
• Scientists Solve Mystery of Human Brain's Chandelier Cells
• More cases of brain disease found in football players
• Canadian scientists create a functioning, virtual brain

Smoking

• Tobacco companies ordered to admit they lied over smoking danger--"US judge says tobacco firms must spend their own money on a public campaign admitting deception about the risks of smoking."
• Smoking 'rots' brain, says King's College study
• Australia: Plain packaging leaves bad taste in smokers' mouths
• Are Electronic Cigarettes A Genuine Threat To Big Tobacco?
• The lungs that Jennifer Wederell was given to save her life brought only agonising death--"A young newlywed was never told that the organs needed for her transplant had come from a heavy smoker."

Psych

• Anger as French psychiatrist is found guilty after patient hacks man to death
• Viewpoint: How happiness changes with age
• Why Old People Get Scammed
• Holiday suicide myth persists, research says--"Suicide-prevention experts say stories perpetuating the myth are not only wrong but dangerous."
• The Power of Negative Thinking--"Both ancient philosophy and modern psychology suggest that darker thoughts can make us happier." WSJ

Your Rights Online, Copyfight; Broadband; Netflix; Facebook, Instragram; Apple, Apps; Tech Death; Crapware

Your Rights Online

• Obama likely to issue executive order on cybersecurity as early as January
• Congress Defeats E-Mail Privacy Legislation — Again
• Behind closed doors at the UN’s attempted "takeover of the Internet"--"Conflicting visions for the future of the Internet collide in Dubai."
• Will the internet end up controlled by big business and politicians?--"Its birth heralded a new age of intellectual freedom. Now the internet is under siege."
• What Turned Jaron Lanier Against the Web?--"The digital pioneer and visionary behind virtual reality has turned against the very culture he helped create."

Copyfight

• Secrecy the Standard as Canada Enters Trans Pacific Partnership Talks
• Why the entertainment industry's release strategy creates piracy--"If companies refuse to release films or TV shows in US and UK at same time, they only have themselves to blame for piracy."
• IP Diplomat Sob Story: It's Hard To Push The US Agenda When The World Listens To Reason
• Australia: ISP Walks Out of Piracy Talks: "We're Not The Internet Police"
• Intellectual property crime unit to be set up by City police
• Canadian ISP Defends Decision Not To Oppose BitTorrent Copyright Trolls
• Pirate Bay Censorship Backfires as New Proxies Bloom
• Google Starts Reporting False DMCA Takedown Requests
• Google search now gets 2.5 million copyright removal requests a week, up from 250,000 in May
• Italy finally acquits Google execs convicted over user-uploaded video--"Decision that set a dangerous precedent for Internet freedom is overturned."

Broadband

• It’s Time to Fix the Pitifully Slow, Expensive Internet Access in the U.S.--Seattle's going gigabit.
• Report: data caps just a "cash cow" for Internet providers--"Caps have remained steady even as costs of delivering data have plunged."
• Google Fiber announces five more "fiberhoods" for KC--Dear Google, come forth and deliver us from evil.
• Time Warner Cable: Demand Not There for Google Fiber: Insists That if People Want 1 Gbps, They'll Provide it.-When or do they even have the infrastructure for it?
• UK village gets government-funded super-fast broadband

Netflix

• House approves Netflix-backed changes to video privacy law
• Disney anoints Netflix as its exclusive distributor starting in 2016
• Netflix settles with deaf-rights group, agrees to caption all videos by 2014
• Netflix Being Investigated By The SEC For CEO Reed Hastings' Public Facebook Posts
• Netflix Margins Are Doomed

Facebook

• Four years later, Facebook votes disappear for good
• Why are Dead People 'liking' stuff on Facebook?
• Facebook’s Poke App Is a Snapchat Clone Built in Just 12 Days
• German privacy regulator orders Facebook to end its real name policy
• Facebook trials charging $1 to send certain messages

Instragram

• Instagram Users Appalled To Learn That Instagram Is a Business
• Instagram says it now has the right to sell your photos
• No, Instagram can't sell your photos — what the new terms of service really mean
• How to download your Instagram photos and delete your account
• Instagram co-founder: "It is not our intention to sell your photos"

Apple

• Upgrading RAM on new iMac practically impossible--That's for the 21.5" one. The 27.5" iMac's RAM can be boosted to 32GB, but best to buy from a third-party like Crucial.com where the difference is $40 for 16GB versus Apple's $200.
• Key Apple patent used against Samsung under fire
• Microsoft balks at Apple's 30% fee, leaving SkyDrive and apps that integrate with it in the lurch on iOS--"Microsoft has persisted in trying to work out a compromise with Apple, but has thus far failed to come to an agreement. The company offered to remove all subscription options from its application, leaving it a non-revenue generating experience on iOS. The offer was rebuffed."
• Apple lifts block on combo 30-pin+Lightning charging accessories--"The Kickstarter campaign that was "shut down" now has a green light."
• The Onion: New iPhone Geared Towards College-Aged Girls Comes With Pre-Shattered Screen

Apps

• Half of all app store revenue goes to just 25 developers
• Most app developers make less than $500 a month
• As Boom Lures App Creators, Tough Part Is Making a Living NYT
• Going For "Pretty First" Is Wrong: A Designer’s Take On App Development
• Sneaky Apps That Track Cellphones NYT

Tech Death

• The mighty downfall of Japan's tech giants--"Credit ratings for Sony and Panasonic were recently downgraded to 'junk' status, showing how far the firms have fallen."
• RIM app market analysis: still behind, iOS, Android, Windows Phone--"It's stil scrambling to catch yesterday's hottest mobile app."
• CNET Top 5: Tech flops

Crapware

• Here's all the crapware that comes with new Windows 8 PCs
• Windows 8's crapware-induced premature death – and it’s all our fault
• Blowing away bloatware: a guide to reinstalling Windows on a new PC

Reckoning, Libor; Just Business; Monsanto, Big Food; Big Pharma; Diamonds; Consumer Protection; Yelp; Trumped

Reckoning

• Banks See Biggest Returns Since '03 as Employees Suffer
• Citigroup cuts 11,000 staff worldwide
• Deutsche Bank offices raided amid tax evasion inquiry--"German authorities investigate 25 Deutsche Bank staff, including co-chief executive Jürgen Fitschen, on suspicion of tax scam."
• Queen questions financial crisis
• EU strikes deal for eurozone banks watchdog

Libor

• Leniency Denied, UBS Unit Admits Guilt in Rate Case--Fined to the tune of over $1 billion.
• UBS and LIBOR: Horribly rotten, comically stupid
• Geithner Was Told of Libor Fears in 2008

Just Business

• Corporate Wrongdoers Must Be Held Personally Responsible for Their Crimes
• Google boss Eric Schmidt: I'm proud of our tax avoidance scheme...it's called capitalism
• Federal Judge Allows Corporation To File Secret Lawsuit--Holy corporatocracy, Batman.

Monsanto

• DOJ Mysteriously Quits Monsanto Antitrust Investigation
• Dirty white gold--"Monsanto's claim that it's a 'sustainable agriculture company' doesn't hold water."
• Will Monsanto destroy Mexico's corn?--"Introducing GE corn to Mexico would sound the death knell for the country's precious ecology, argues author."

Big Food

• What's a Food Industry to Do?
  
• Big Food And The Big, Silent Salt Experiment
• Open Letter from World Scientists to All Governments Concerning Genetically Modified Organisms

Big Pharma

• Supreme Court to hear "pay-for-delay" drug case--"The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether brand-name drug companies may pay money to generic drug rivals to keep their lower-priced products off the market, a practice estimated to cost consumers and the government billions of dollars each year."
• How Big Pharma Prevents The Poor From Accessing Life-Saving Medicines
  
• Big Pharma Company Mocked Patients Who Got "Jawbone Death" from Drug: "Ma Toot Hurts So Bad"

Diamonds

• Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?
• Russia reveals shiny state secret: It's awash in diamonds--"'Trillions of carats' lie below a 35-million-year-old, 62-mile-diameter asteroid crater in eastern Siberia known as Popigai Astroblem. The Russians have known about the site since the 1970s."
• Astronomers discover planet made of diamond

Consumer Protection

• Victory For Man Who Took Cold Caller To Court
• China's Toxic Milk Whistleblower Murdered
• Blast from the Past: The Everyman Who Exposed Tainted Toothpaste NYT

Yelp

• Virginia woman sued for $750,000 over her 1-star Yelp! review--She's getting help from the ACLU.
• Yelp Outs Companies That Pay for Positive Reviews
• Peregrine Espresso Informs Yelp That No, It Isn't Closed--Corporate sabotage?

Trumped

• Scottish farmer who stood up to Donald Trump given Scotsman of the Year award
• Donald Trump's Scottish love affair on the rocks after whisky award slight--"Furious Trump bans all whiskies by distiller that sponsored Top Scot award given to his obstinate neighbour."
• MSPs dismiss Donald Trump's wind farms warning

English, Language, Speaking in Tongues, Dead, Typography

English

• Learn English online: How the internet is changing language
• Britishisms and the Britishisation of American English
• Jerry Seinfeld (Really!) Riffs About ... Something NYT
• "Like... you know."
• Oxford American Dictionary names "GIF" word of the year Salon

Language

• Where does language come from? Salon
• Speech 101 Prank
• The 25 Funniest AutoCorrects Of 2012

Speaking in Tongues

• Music Video: ÆØÅ (Size Matters)
• Trim Poster
• Amazing: Microsoft turns spoken English into spoken Mandarin – in the same voice
• Better than English--"We post words and phrases that don't have direct English translations."
• Duolingo Intro

Dead

• New York, a graveyard for languages
• Most European Languages Face 'Digital Extinction', Say University Of Manchester Researchers
• Breakthrough in world's oldest undeciphered writing
• Cromarty fisherfolk dialect's last native speaker dies
• Blast from the Past: Last 2 Speakers Of Dying Language Won't Speak To Each Other

Typography

• K is for King, Q is for Queen
• The power of the letter "o" Salon
• Word as Image
• "The Manual of Linotype Typography" is Now Online
• Opinion: Why Won't Helvetica Go Away?

2012 Phenomenon; Educamation; Higher Learning, Lower Earning; International; Kids These Days; Schooled; Bullying

2012 Phenomenon: It's the end of the world as we know it

• 'Mayan day of apocalypse' arrives
• No apocalypse is coming — Another Maya calendar has been found
• C&H: Mayan Calendar

Educamation

• How Charter Schools Fleece Taxpayers
• Jindal voucher overhaul unconstitutionally diverts public funds to private schools, judge rules--Another part of his plan got shot down.
• Downward mobility haunts US education
• The Decline of the 'Great Equalizer'--"Massachusetts, home to America's best schools and best-educated workforce, has seen income inequality soar. Why? The poor are losing an academic arms race with the rich."
• Why You Can Kiss Public Education (and the Middle Class) Goodbye
• Profiting From a Child's Illiteracy--Parents deliberately debilatating their kids for cash. NYT
• US students far from first in math, science--First comment already won the thread: "US ranked 17th in math and science. Hey at least we're still in the top 10."

Higher Learning, Lower Earning

• Growth In College Tuition Vs. Growth In Earnings For College Graduates
• From Master Plan to No Plan: The Slow Death of Public Higher Education
• The Troubling Dean-to-Professor Ratio--"Why is it that we can't find any money for more faculty, but there seems to be an almost unlimited budget for administrators?"
• Higher education: Not what it used to be
• Saying No to College NYT

International

• Best Education In The World: Finland, South Korea Top Country Rankings, U.S. Rated Average--They're schilp-a-schlap-a vay.
• Why the Fate of Humanity Rests on a Chinese Middle-Schooler's Test Scores--Did you know failing your mid-terms can lead to an extinction-level event?
• Brazil education standards contribute to learning crisis--"Brazil's dismal education standards are too low for the world's No. 6 economy and threaten to stunt the nation's development."

Kids These Days

• Psychopathy's Double Edge--"Many people see the current group of college students, sometimes called 'Generation Me' as one of the most self-centered, narcissistic, competitive, confident, and individualistic in recent history."
• 'I sneak boys in at 3am and disrespect my parents': Girl, 15, forced to stand by side of the road with humiliating sign--Now that's parenting.
• Jake Evans, 17, tells 911 he shot and killed mother, sister — charged with murder--"I am pretty, I guess, evil ... whatever." And that's not.

Schooled

• French teacher suspended over 'suicide assignment'
• Teacher's Reward Program Charges Second-Graders for Bathroom Breaks
• Austin Kinder Teacher to Afterschool Class: "You Kids Don't Believe in Santa, Do You?"
• Vancouver Island teacher suspended for showing Grade 4 students Christmas video featuring drag queens
• Teacher says student spiked her coffee with butt-enhancing pills

Bullying

• After 42 years, North Vancouver school bullying victim gets closure
• Pupils hiding talents from bullies, survey suggests
• High school superheroes help younger schoolmates stand against bullying

HSBC: Drug Money Launderer, 420, Medical Marijuana, Legalization and Decriminalization, War on Drugs, Law and Disorder, Mexico

HSBC: Drug Money Launderer

• HSBC to pay $1.9bn in US money laundering settlement
• HSBC blasted for 'stunning failures over oversight'
• HSBC, Too Big to Indict? NYT
• Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves the Drug War is a Joke
• Matt Taibbi: You Can Go to Prison for Pot, While Big Banks Get Away With Laundering Drug Cartel Cash --It's a horrible injustice.

420

• The end of the war on marijuana
• How the War on Drugs Caused the Fake Pot Problem
• The Truce On Drugs--"What happens now that the war has failed?"
• D.A.R.E., America's Most Famous Anti-Drug Program, Will No Longer Talk to Children About Marijuana
• New Data Cast Further Doubt on Drug Czar's Theory That Marijuana Reform Makes Kids Smoke Pot
• Fox News busted reporting drivers on Cannabis
• Video: Breaking The Taboo--Come for the message. Stay for Morgan Freeman's voiceover.

Medical Marijuana

• 25,900 People Want Obama to Pardon a Medical Marijuana Provider Facing Life in Prison. Will He?
• If Oakland’s Medical Pot Is Illegal, Why Are the Feds Trying to Patent It As Medicine?
• San Francisco: Medical Marijuana Users Can Get Booted From Public Housing at Any Time
• Medical marijuana law sponsors surprised Christie wants to impose sales tax on it
• Ireland: Medicinal cannabis available here in the next year

Legalization and Decriminalization

• Obama's Pot Problem--"Now that states have started legalizing recreational marijuana, will the president continue the government’s war on weed?"
• Obama Won't Go After State Marijuana Legalization: 'We Have Bigger Fish To Fry'
• 3 Reasons Not to Take Obama's Pot Prosecution Comments Too Seriously
• Administration Weighs Legal Action Against States That Legalized Marijuana Use NYT
• Washington Post: Marijuana's foot in the door--"For now, the federal government does not need to stage an aggressive intervention, one way or the other. It can wait, watch and enforce the most worrisome violations as they occur."
• Washington state lights up as smoking marijuana becomes legal
• Indiana State Police chief advises lawmakers to legalize and tax pot
• Marijuana: A Winning GOP Issue?
• Speaker won't stop Vermont House pot debate--"Shap Smith says he's open to a dialogue on marijuana decriminalization, despite his own misgivings about the idea."
• Why Legalizing Pot Won't Curb the Drug War--"Advocates may think their recent initiatives have set Mexican traffickers back, but the cartels have already moved on."

War on Drugs

• Clinton: Drug war 'hasn't worked'
• Quentin Tarantino Says Drug War, Justice System Are Modern-Day Slavery
• Branson: War on drugs a trillion-dollar failure
• Video: Is The War on Drugs "All About the Money"?
• The War on Drugs is a war on human nature--"America's been fighting this battle for decades. It can't be won, and it's costing us upwards of $20 billion a year." Salon
• Government will not change drugs policy despite critical report--"The Government tonight ruled out any shift in drugs policy despite a damning report by an influential group of MPs which said Britain was failing to tackle drug barons or the multi-billion pound global profits of their illegal trade."
• Nick Clegg calls for royal commission on drugs reform--Says there's a 'conspiracy of silence.'

Law and Disorder

• Police In Colombia Seize 1.5 Tons Of Cocaine In A Container That Was To Be Shipped To The US
• Brazil: Dozens of police officers arrested, accused of taking bribes--From drug traffickers.
• Spain arrests woman with cocaine filled breast implants
• Pakistan: 13 die after drinking cough syrup--"The victims were all drug addicts who apparently drank the cough syrup in an attempt to get high...."
• Man loses drug money, asks Tucson police for help

Mexico

• More than 25,000 people disappear in six years--"Unpublished official figures show cost of chaos and violence enveloping country in fight against drug gangs."
• 'Please spare my little girl': How Mexico's fearless female mayor sacrificed herself to save her daughter's life as she was abducted by drug gang, tortured and executed
• Mexico beauty queen had gun in her hands, was used as a human shield

Gun Control, Educamation; War on Terror, Civil Liberties, Wikileaks, TSA: Theater Security of America; School-to-Prison, Prison Privatization, Jail Tales

Gun Control

• Obama Supports New Bid To Ban Assault Weapons, Close Gun Show 'Loophole'
• Case studies for Sandy Hook? Australia, Scotland and Finland changed gun laws after mass shootings
• Michigan's Snyder Vetoes Bill Allowing Concealed Guns In Schools
• All 31 Pro-Gun Senators Refused Invitations To Appear On 'Meet The Press'
• Gun Control Momentum Is Real, Just Don’t Ask The House
• Report: Fox News producers told not to address gun control
• NRA's Facebook page shuttered, Twitter activity halted--But they haven't gone completely dark.

Educamation

• Sixth Grader Brings Gun to School for Protection, Does Not Act Totally Responsibly
• Oklahoma Will Consider Law Allowing Teachers To Bring Guns To School
• Umbrella mistaken for gun at Upper Dublin High School

War on Terror

• Zakaria: End the war on terror and save billions
• US Muslims to GOP: If You're Trying to Lose Our Votes, You're Doing a Good Job
• Military Judge Orders Guantánamo Prisoners not to Talk in Court about being Tortured
• U.S.: dismiss lawsuit over Americans killed by drones--" The administration also threatened to invoke the State Secrets..."
• Rendition, Zero Dark Thirty and the brutal reality of Britain's secret services--"Kathryn Bigelow's film about the killing of Osama bin Laden does not touch the reality of what occurred in the 'war on terror'"

Civil Liberties

• CIA 'tortured and sodomised' terror suspect, human rights court rules--"Landmark European court of human rights judgment says CIA tortured wrongly detained German citizen."
• State Secrets Defense Corners Judge in 'Catch-22' Predicament
• Judge OKs Warrantless Cell-Site Data in Landmark Privacy Case

Wikileaks

• Pirate Party Presses Charges Against Banks For WikiLeaks Blockade
• Julian Assange to run for Australian Senate under WikiLeaks party
• Bradley Manning's long quest for justice--"History will judge harshly the US military's mistreatment of the alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower...."

TSA: Theater Security of America

• TSA Detains "Explosive Laced" Girl In Wheelchair--And they come out with a so-called apology.
• TSA to Commission Independent Study of X-Ray Body Scanners
• TSA revising security screening at some airports

School-to-Prison

• Private Prison Company Used in Drug Raids at Public High School
• The Shocking Details of a Mississippi School-to-Prison Pipeline
• Groundbreaking Senate Hearing Shines a Light on the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Prison Privatization

• One way to trim the budget: Prison reform.
• Prison Price Gouging Costs Us All In The End
• Stupid and Unjust: The Highway Robbery of Prison Phone Rates
• Private Prison Company Exec Thomas Weirdsma: Lying To Federal Agencies 'Happens All The Time'
• Prison labor booms in US as low-cost inmates bring billions

Jail Tales

• For Lesser Crimes, Rethinking Life Behind Bars--"Many scholars say mandatory sentencing policies lock up nonviolent, low-level offenders for too long and are no longer a cost-effective way to reduce crime in the United States." NYT
• 31 percent of correctional officers have PTSD Salon
• Jailers worry about inmates using dental floss as a weapon

Fiscal Cliff, Defense Cuts, Republicans, Elections, Racism, Right-to-Work, Walmart

Fiscal Cliff

• Obama Makes Boehner A New Offer
• Krugman: That Terrible Trillion--Republicans "use the deficit to argue that we can't afford to maintain programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid." NYT
• Taxing the rich: why $250,000 became the benchmark

Defense Cuts

• Right, left call for defense cuts
• Generals: Get real and cut Pentagon spending
• The Hidden Costs of Empire--"The Pentagon's budgetary accounting conceals $170 billion in spending."
• Defense Bill Likely to Mention East Coast Missile Site
• The Culture of War Must be Ended by Cutting Military Spending
• How to cut $100B from the defense budget
• 7 Shocking Ways the Military Wastes Our Money

Republicans

• We Have To End Republican Nihilism
• Krugman: The G.O.P.’s Existential Crisis--"This is worth repeating: We'e not having a debt crisis. What we're having is a political crisis." NYT
• How Republicans Are Duping Members of Their Own Party--"GOP intransigence reflects the views of rank-and-file Republicans, right? Wrong. Michael Tomasky on the poll that exposes a party devoted to ignoring the voice of its own voters."
• House Republicans Have Nothing To Lose But Primaries
• Why Republican Efforts to Block Obama Won't Work This Time

Elections

• The GOP's Effort to Siphon Votes Away From Blue States
• How the Republican Party is planning to marginalize urban voters in the next election
• Yet More Republican Attempts to Game the System
• Angry Over Gay Mayor's Election, Florida GOP Leader Wants To Stop College Kids From Voting
• U.S. should automatically register voters: attorney general--Good luck getting that through Congress while the Repulicans keep obstructing.

Racism

• Va. college punishes 4 in racial protest over Obama win
• North Alabama player tweets racist Obama comment after speech pre-empted NFL game, now gone from team
• Sirota: Time to profile white men? Salon

Right-to-Work

• Michigan Republicans Re-Pass Anti-Union Law That Voters Repealed Just Six Weeks Ago
• The misleading framing of 'right-to-work'
• Josh Eidelson: Right-to-Work Laws Are Good for Corporations, Not Workers
• Right to Work Laws and Why Labor Unions Are in Crisis
• Video: What Have The Unions Ever Done For Us?

Walmart

• Walmart Bails On Obamacare-Sticks Taxpayers With Employee Healthcare Costs
• Walmart Tells Workers Who Ask About Unions That Benefits And Vacation 'Might Go Away'
• India MPs in parliament uproar over Walmart lobbying
• How Wal-Mart Used Payoffs to Get Its Way in Mexico NYT
• Global Day of Action Hits Walmart in 10 Countries

Your Rights Online, Free Speech, Surveillance, Privacy; Net History, Old Tech, Inventions, Predictions, Computers, Gadgets

Your Rights Online

• ITU has 'failed,' says ITU's former policy chief--They tried to be sneaky about the process.
• US and UK refuse to sign UN's communications treaty
• The U.N. Fought The Internet -- And The Internet Won; WCIT Summit In Dubai Ends

Free Speech

• Peers vote to remove law banning insulting language--"Peter Tatchell, David Davis, Rowan Atkinson and Keir Starmer are among those who have campaigned against the rule."
• India's Battle for Freedom in Cyberspace--"The arrest of two young women over Facebook comments has renewed a much needed debate over internet censorship."
• China: Cyber anti-corruption campaign proves free speech

Surveillance

• Massive New Surveillance Program Uncovered by Wall Street Journal
• Government seeks to shut down NSA wiretapping lawsuit--"Suit over domestic surveillance will reveal state secrets, say DOJ lawyers."
• Stop Congress from Reauthorizing the FISA Amendments Act, a Warrantless Spying Bill--Hope discussions aren't kept in the dark.
• UK: Draft Communications Data Bill to be redrafted - No 10
• Public Buses Across Country Quietly Adding Microphones to Record Passenger Conversations

Privacy

• Op-ed—A plea to Google: Protect our e-mail privacy
• FTC To Investigate Apps For Children Over Privacy Lapses
• Shamed by Mugshot Sites, Arrestees Try Novel Lawsuit

Net History

• Video: The BBS Documentary
• Internet Archive: 10,000,000,000,000,000 bytes archived!
• The disappearing web: Information decay is eating away our history
• Dark Social: We Have the Whole History of the Web Wrong
• The State Of The Web 2012

Old Tech

• Return to Antikythera: Divers revisit wreck where ancient computer found
• US Air Force's 1950s supersonic flying saucer declassified
• Witch at Bletchley: 'World's oldest working digital computer'--Watch it boot.

Inventions

• Best Inventions of the Year 2012
  
• The 50 Worst Inventions--"From the zany to the dangerous to the just plain dumb, here is TIME's list (in no particular order) of some of the world's bright ideas that just didn't work out."
• Wi-fi, dual-flush loos and eight more Australian inventions
• Mine Kafon--"A short documentary portrait on a designer who has created a low cost solution to landmine clearance."
• How A Foot-Powered Washing Machine Could Change Millions Of Lives

Predictions

• 5 fearless tech predictions for 2013
• Popular Mechanices: 110 Predictions For the Next 110 Years
• 19th Century French Artists Predicted The World Of The Future In This Series Of Postcards

Computers

• ThinkPad turns 20: how IBM's 'black box' defined the laptop industry
• What happens when computers are cheaper than LEGO blocks?--Take a bite of some Raspberry Pi, the cheapest way to play Minecraft.
• Learn By Building Your Own Computer

Gadgets

• Long range WiFi antenna from Illy coffee can
• Brain-controlled helicopter takes mental concentration to new heights
• How to Use a [BUSTED] Cell Phone to Meet 5 Basic Survival Needs
• How To Rescue Wet Gadgets
• xkcd: Home Organization

Marriage Equality, Conservatives, Islamists, Blasphemy, Atheism, Europe, Science Under Siege, Creationism, Evolution

Marriage Equality

• Pope Says Gay Marriage Poses A Threat To 'Justice And Peace' In World Day Of Peace 2013 Address--Says the man obstructing justice by protecting pedophiles.
• George Takei: We Are Not Murderers, Mr. Scalia
• Popularity of tiny Dutch Caribbean island soars following gay marriage

Conservatives

• America Isn't as Decadent as Social Conservatives Think It Is
• Biblical Economics--"An irony of modern politics is that many conservative Americans view themselves as devout believers in the Bible yet they ascribe to right-wing, dog-eat-dog economic theories that Jesus and other Biblical figures would condemn. The contradiction has pushed Biblical economics out of mainstream debate, says Rev. Howard Bess."
• Two and a Half Men 'filth', says show star Angus Jones--"The 19-year-old explained that the show's raunchy humour conflicted with his recent bible studies." He did end up apologizing to the cast and crew.

Islamists

• Mass rape, amputations and killings – why families are fleeing terror in Mali
• Blues for Mali as Ali Farka Toure's music is banned
• Egyptian Islamists: 'We've Won Elections, Now Democracy Isn't Good Enough?'
• Group of Christian women banned from voting in Egypt’s referendum
• Moroccans Fear That Flickers of Democracy Are Fading NYT

Blasphemy

• Kuwait introduces death penalty for 'cursing God and prophets'
• Debunking 'weeping Jesus' forces exile--When drinking sewer water is valued over rational thinking.
• Egyptian Copt Alber Saber jailed for blasphemy
• Dutch parliament to abolish blasphemy law
• Ireland's blasphemy laws condemned

Atheism

• Add This Group To Obama's Winning Coalition: 'Religiously Unaffiliated'
• UK: Census 2011 religion data reveal there are 4m fewer Christians and 1 in 4 is now an atheist
• Atheists around world suffer persecution, discrimination: report
• When a Church Partners with a Public School to Raise Money for a Christian Charity, an Atheist Steps In
• Why I Don't Want to Be a West Point Graduate--"[T]he tipping point of my decision to resign was the realization that countless officers here and throughout the military are guilty of blatantly violating the oaths they swore to defend the Constitution... through unconstitutional proselytism, discrimination against the non-religious and establishing formal policies to reward, encourage and even at times require sectarian religious participation." Emphasis mine.

Europe

• Polish ritual slaughter illegal, court rules--"Poland's top court has ruled that the religious slaughter of animals is illegal, weeks before an EU law allowing the practice takes effect."
• Italian church to be stripped of tax exemption from 2013
• Vatican disciplines Austrian dissident priest

Science Under Siege

• Dinosaurs and Denial--"Senator Marco Rubio created quite a stir with comments about the age of Earth, but his answer was in line with the consensus of the Republican Party." NYT
• Lamar Smith, Global Warming Skeptic, Set To Chair House Science Committee--This is Texas' fault
• Anti-Evolution Rep. Broun Wants to Stay on Science Committee

Creationism

• Pat Robertson admits Biblical creationism is false--He says "the earth is much older than Biblical creationists are willing to admit.
• Debate on Islam and evolution has to be called off after revolt by student societies--"Muslim opposition highlights growing influence of creationism and literalist interpretations of the Koran."
• Rubio: "There is no scientific debate on the age of the earth"--"The Florida senator clarifies that he believes the Earth is 'at least 4.5 billion years old.'" Salon
• After creationism bill failed, Indiana senator will push 'truth in education' measure
• Say What? Kentucky Legislator Mike Wilson Won’t Push Creationism?
• A Marshall McLuhan moment with creationist Paul Nelson
• The Top 10 Claims Made by Creationists to Counter Scientific Theories

Evolution

• New contender for oldest dinosaur
• The Real Tree of Life
• xkcd: Feathers

Cavemen, Discoveries, When in Rome, History, Nazism, Communism, WWII

Cavemen

• Europeans did not inherit pale skins from Neanderthals
• Mesolithic man find could rewrite Stone Age history
• Neanderthal Me
• Homo Heidelbergensis as Skilled Hunter
• Cave paintings are older than we thought
• Cave paintings were Stone Age animations
• Cavemen were better at drawing animals than modern artists

Discoveries

• 'Britain's Atlantis' found at bottom of North sea - a huge undersea world swallowed by the sea in 6500BC
• Lost Egyptian Pyramids Found?
• Drilling discovers ancient Antarctic rainforest
• Tomb of Maya Queen Found—"Lady Snake Lord" Ruled Centipede Kingdom
• Mysterious elk-shaped structure discovered in Russia
• Stonehenge up close: digital laser scan reveals secrets of the past--"Most detailed analysis yet of prehistoric stone circle shows how masons spent more time making key areas look the best."
• They Cracked This 250 Year-Old Code, And Found a Secret Society Inside

When in Rome

• Treveri Versus Romans In The Conquest Of Celtic Gaul
• Roman cavalry helmet makes £2.2 million at auction
• Colosseum in Rome is leaning, officials say
• A hotel? An archaeology site? Or both?
• Roman ship found laden with cargo
• Roman jewellery found in ancient Japan tomb
• First-time Berkhamsted metal-detector finds one of UK's largest Roman coin hoards, worth £100,000

History

• The Most Spectacular Mutation in Recent Human History--"How did milk help found Western civilization?"
• Researcher finds slaves quarried sandstone used to build Smithsonian Castle
• Historian mashes up historical images with modern-day reality
• Oliver Stone's 'untold American history'
• People Celebrated 12/12/12 100 Years Ago by 'Writing a Great Many Letters'

Nazism

• How fiction fooled Hitler--"Pulitzer Prize-winner Tina Rosenberg discusses the novelist who helped defeat the Nazis." Salon
• "I liked to shoot women pushing prams": Secret Nazi tapes shocking Germany
• Britain favoured execution over Nuremberg trials for Nazi leaders--"Declassified account shows Britain would have preferred to see Nazi leaders executed or imprisoned at end of second world war."
• D For Deception: Tina Rosenberg on the British spy novelist who hoodwinked Hitler
• Norway's police apologize for deporting Jews
• Secretly taped Nazi PoWs reveal the banality of war
• xkcd: Kill Hitler

Communism

• New dig launched in Poland for victims of communist terror
• Declassified documents add to proof that US helped cover up 1940 Soviet massacre
• Solzhenitsyn's One Day: The book that shook the USSR

WWII

• Reporter's untold story of Pearl Harbor attack is finally published--"On Dec. 7, 1941, Elizabeth McIntosh was a reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. She wrote a first-person account of the attack on Pearl Harbor, but editors thought it was too graphic. Now, it is finally published."
• Eric Lomax, World War II Prisoner Who Forgave, Dies at 93 NYT
• Weighty memento: war veteran's secret revealed after his death
• Can you crack the code?--"A dead pigeon discovered recently in a chimney in Surrey may be able to provide new answers to the secrets of World War II."
• Postcard mailed during WWII arrives at NY home

The Hobbit, TV, Music, Videogames, Comics, Art and Literature, Signs of the Times

The Hobbit

• 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey': Inside Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' Prequel
• The Hobbit Box Stacking--Doin' it right.
• The Onion: Highlights Of 'The Hobbit'

TV

• Breaking Bad : Reflections On Heisenberg - The Uncertainty Of Walter White
• The 'Mad Men' Economic Miracle--"Television's golden age is an artistic feat built on a disturbing economic model." Note: Has TV plot spoilers right on the first paragraph.
• The CALM Act finally puts the muzzle on loud TV commercials

Music

• The greatest blessing: R&B legend gets a second chance--[Lester] Chambers had been worked over by Columbia Records during his heyday, a 10-year era that included the making of such hits as 'Time Has Come Today,' Love, Peace and Happiness,' and a remake of Otis Redding's 'I Can't Turn You Loose.' He never saw a penny in royalties from 10 of the 17 albums that the Chambers Brothers released."
• Teen Titan: The man who made Justin Bieber.
• Meet the Late Night Barbershop Quartet: The Ragtime Gals--"Jimmy fulfills an audience request to fuse both reggae music and a barbershop quartet

Videogames

• Atari Teenage Riot: The Inside Story Of Pong And The Video Game Industry's Big Bang
• Games are art: Rock Band, and its history, prove it
• These 14 Video Games Have Been Definitively Declared Art By The New York Museum Of Modern Art
• All-TIME 100 Video Games
• Spike VGA's 10 Best Videogames of the Last Decade

Comics

• Full 'Batman: Dark Knightfall' Short Delivers Intense Stop-Motion Animated Action
• World's Finest Film [Thanks legion!]
• Cool DC Posters
• Bazooka Joe and pals laid off as gum company discovers kids don't like comics
• All The Skottie Young Marvel NOW! Baby Variant Covers

Art and Literature

• I'm Sick Of Pretending: I Don't "Get" Art--He's got a few follow-ups to this article.
• Local historian finds Hans Christian Andersen's first fairy tale
• A Hunger for Tales of Life in the American Cul-de-Sac--"Russians are making a surprise hit out of a book that explains the minutiae of life in the United States, including the phenomenon of teenage baby sitters and unfortunate aversions to vodka." NYT

Signs of the Times

• "No motorboats"--Just in case, you're at a loss.
• "Alcoholism. There is hope ahead."
• "Trespassers..."
• "Is there life after death?"
• "Warning: Depression on highway"--Seems to be contagious.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Law and Disorder, International, Recording, Shooting Spree, Injustice

Planes...

• Horror in Himalayas: Seven Britons on way to climb Everest among 19 killed after their jet strikes VULTURE and bursts into flames
• Snakes on a Plane: cobra forces plane into emergency landing
• Delta kicks musician out of SkyMiles program
• American Airlines to fix seats in 48 757s
• Ach! No End In Sight For Berlin Airport Woes

Trains...

• Woman feels 'disrespected' after being kicked off train--She was talking loudy for hours on her cellphone in the 'quiet' car.
• Thief who robbed Swedish man after he fell onto subway tracks sentenced to prison, deportation
• Railway guard Christopher McGee jailed for manslaughter after 'seconds of negligence' caused death of drunk teenage girl who fell underneath train

and Automobiles

• Report details Traffic Court awash in favoritism
• Amir Khan KOs six yobs trying to steal his £100,000 car
• Deputies: Spring Hill woman tries to bail on $161 cab fare--"He escorted her to his vehicle with the intention of calling law enforcement and she started to resist. At one point, she threatened to 'call rape' if he didn't let her go...."
• Melissa Miller Drives 100 MPH After God Tells Her To
• Police: Driver called for tow but not 911 after deadly crash
• U.S. Postal Service Asking Floridians To Drive Carefully After 14 Vehicles Have Struck Post Offices in 2012
• Russian Insurance Scams--Why are they becoming so prevalent?

Law and Disorder

• Accused shoplifter dies after Walmart security place him in choke hold
• Judge suspended after 'getting a witness pregnant' - months after sending topless picture of himself to married colleague
• Weird news: "Cleaning fairy" sentenced with one year probation--"An Ohio woman dubbed the 'cleaning fairy' after she broke into a home, cleaned it and left a $75 bill has been put on probation for one year." Salon

International

• British engineer hacked to death on his South African farm
• Pakistan: 'Gangster' lawyers of Lahore, from heroes to hooligans
• Naked statue man charged with possessing offensive weapon

Recording

• Supreme Court rejects plea to ban taping of police in Illinois
• California Man Jailed Four Days for Recording Cops
• NYPD cop secretly records evidence of a ticket and arrest quota system
• Miami-Dade School Officials Force Student to Delete Footage of Security Guard Abuse
• University police fire officer after video of altercation goes viral on YouTube

Shooting Spree

• Gun Enthusiast Kills 17-Year-Old for Playing Loud Music; Lawyer Says He Acted "Very Responsibly"
• Florida Man Shoots Unarmed Black Teen After Argument Over Music
• Police Shoot 137 Times Into Car After Chase, Killing Unarmed Couple

Injustice

• The Dark Dangers of Tunnel Vision--"Why police and prosecutors suspect the wrong person—and then dig in."
• A Check on Bad Eyewitness Identifications--"An Oregon Supreme Court ruling shifts the burden of proof to prosecutors to show that eyewitness identification is sufficiently reliable to be admissible as evidence at trial." NYT
• Louisiana death row inmate freed after 15 years – with a little help from DNA

Marriage Equality & DOMA, International, Religion; Conversion Therapy, Politics, Media

Marriage Equality & DOMA

• Supreme Court to Hear Two Challenges to Gay Marriage--And Scalia tips his hand early. NYT
• The Marriage Plot: Inside This Year's Epic Campaign for Gay Equality
• Seattle: A license to marry: It's official--"Just after midnight, as hundreds rejoiced, King County issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples for the first time."
• Women Marry At West Point Chapel, First Same-Sex Couple To Wed There
• Federal judge says 'perpetuation of the human race' justifies Nevada gay marriage ban--Infertile couples who don't plan to raise kids, your marriage licenses have been revoked.
• Boeing Won't Offer Pension Benefits To Same-Sex Couples
• Soldier's last wish: Let DOMA die before I do
• George Will: 'Quite Literally, The Opposition To Gay Marriage Is Dying'
• Poll: Plurality supports gay marriage [H/T Hector]
• Possibly the most beautiful ad for marriage equality we've ever seen

International

• Gay marriage to be illegal in Church of England--"The Church of England and Church in Wales will be banned in law from offering same-sex marriages, the government has announced." David Cameron was for allowing it.
• French protests against gay marriage bill
• Experts: Mexico Ruling Opens Door to Gay Marriage
• Uruguay's Lower House Approves Gay Marriage Law
• Israel gets same-sex divorce before same-sex marriage

Religion

• Christian's year of living 'gay' leads to dramatic change, sparks controversy
• 'Europe's first gay-friendly mosque' sparks controversy
• Gay And Muslim: The Challenge Of Homophobia In Islam
• Is Mormon Teaching About Gays Evolving?
• Rick Warren: Churches Are 'Probably' Responsible For Negative Attitudes Towards Gays--And he's 'probably' trying to deflect blame.
• Christian group says demon sex makes you gay--"A Christian magazine warns that homosexuality is caused by sex with succubi -- and that's just the beginning." Salon
• Berkeley students seek Christmas ban on Salvation Army bell ringers--"The student government at the University of California-Berkeley (CAL) passed a resolution last month that would ban Salvation Army bell ringers and their iconic red kettles from campus this Christmas because of the Christian organization's alleged bias against homosexuality."

Conversion Therapy

• UK government: Gay "cure" therapy is harmful--"The Department of Health does not condone the concept of therapists offering 'cures' for homosexuality. There is no evidence that this sort of treatment is beneficial and indeed it may well cause significant harm."
• Judge temporarily blocks California's ban on gay conversion therapy Salon
• 'Gay Conversion' Therapy Is Not Protected Free Speech--"Just because a treatment is carried out through words doesn't mean it's safeguarded by the First Amendment."

Politics

• President Obama nominates first openly gay Latina judge to U.S. District Court
• When Barney Frank announced he was 'coming out of the room' (er… the closet)
• Republican Pa. lawmaker announces he's gay
• Marco Rubio Says Homosexuality Is A Sin — But Not In A Judgmental Way--No homo.
• Cuban transsexual elected to public office--"Adela Hernandez, jailed for 'dangerousness' in the 1980s, becomes first transgender person to hold public office in Cuba."

Media

• 'I Couldn't Accept Being Gay Because I Was too Afraid'--An interview with first openly gay boxer Orlando Cruz
• Major Corporate Foundation Suspends Support For Boy Scouts Over Anti-Gay Discrimination
• Passengers left stranded on bus after driver refuses to board because of gay rights advert on the side
• South Lyon teacher suspended for playing song about being gay
• AP bans the word "homophobia"
• Where masturbation and homosexuality don't exist
• Scientists May Have Finally Unlocked Puzzle of Why People Are Gay [H/T Hector]
• APA Revises Manual: Being Transgender Is No Longer A Mental Disorder
• Dear Prudence: Follow-up letters from the twincest writer and the minister's wife
• My husband's secret gay life Salon