Trayvon Martin, Stand Your Ground, Greece, Germany, Unemployment, Eurozone

Trayvon Martin

• Sanford cops sought warrant to arrest George Zimmerman in Trayvon Martin shooting--"The State Attorney's Office held off pending further review, the Herald reported."
• Mayor says police resisted release of 911 tapes
• Spike Lee apologizes for retweeting wrong Zimmerman address
• In Trayvon Martin case, it’s not about the hoodie--Tell that to Allan West.
• Rush to judgment in Trayvon Martin case

Stand Your Ground

• George Zimmerman Unprotected By Self-Defense Law in Trayvon Martin Killing, Florida Lawmakers Say
• Miami judge decides fatal stabbing was self-defense
• ALEC Has Pushed The NRA's "Stand Your Ground" Law Across The Nation

Greece

• It's Time To End the Greek Rescue Farce
• Greek Deal Leaves Europe on the Road to Disaster--"If Europe’s new plan for Greece succeeds, nobody will be more surprised than the politicians who designed it."
• Investors who bet Greece would default collect $2.5 billion

Germany

• In Germany, a Limp Domestic Economy Stifled by Regulation NYT
• Why Germany Isn't Benefiting from Euro's Woes
• German stands up for Greek wine--"The Greek financial crisis has generated a lot of resentment between Greece and its richer eurozone partners, especially Germany. But not all Germans are fed up with the Greeks. Near Athens, one German is standing up for the Greek wine industry."

Unemployment

• The 51% Tragedy: A Majority of Young Greek Workers Are Now Unemployed
• Spain's youth unemployment surges above 50%.
• Unemployment and Inflation Rise in Euro Zone NYT

Eurozone

• Wikileaks: The IMF's Fault for Balkan Wars--The Statfor document says, "Do not forget, the IMF austerity measures imposed on Yugoslavia were in part to blame for the start of the war there. We need to be aware of any economically motivated social discontent."
• In the slow lane--"New economic forecasts from the OECD show how bad austerity has been for growth."
• Iceland puts former PM on trial over financial crisis
• Hunt for Skilled Labor: Germany Woos Portugal's Lost Generation
• Portugal hit by general strike against austerity
• Working Women Are the Key to Norway's Prosperity NYT
• MPs call for eurozone collapse plan

Occupy Movement, Protests, Snake Oil, Money Talks, Accountability, Bad Company, The 1%

Occupy Movement

• A Violent Weekend Recharges Occupy Wall Street--TheYoungTurks take a look.
• As Occupy Arrestees Arraigned, Iris Scans Affect Bail
• You Can't Occupy This--"The government says the anti-protest bill was just a small tweak of the existing law. Don't believe it."
• In Georgia, Tea Partiers And Occupiers Unite To Fight Corporate Assault On The First Amendment
• Documents show NYPD infiltrated liberal groups

Protests

• The myth of freedom in the land of the free--"The US touts itself as the land of free, but it has laws which are designed to crush criticisms of the state."
• Go to Trial: Crash the Justice System NYT
• Jury nullification a danger, judge says--Really? Then you should read all about it.

Snake Oil

• Senate defeats measure to nix ‘Big Oil’ tax breaks, 51-47--As expected.
• GOP Votes to End Medicare In Order to Finance Giveaways to the Wealthy, Big Oil
• Senate GOP Try To Shift Blame From Big Oil For Rising Gas Prices With Blatant Falsehoods

Money Talks

• 'Big Government' Isn't the Problem, Big Money Is
• America’s bankrupt morality--"It's not just Wall Street. Every profession from medicine to academia has been corrupted by our money obsession." Salon
• Report: Lawmakers Opposing Volcker Rule Receive Four Times As Much From Financial Sector As Those Supporting It
• Bully Nation--"Rockwell does not pay a single dollar of state taxes on almost 5 billion in annual revenue. To the contrary, the Citizens of Iowa pay Rockwell Collins $14 million in annual tribute to keep the Rockwell jobs in town."
• Lessig: An Open Letter to the Citizens Against Citizens United

Accountability

• SEC Inspector General Probes Khuzami's Role in Citi Settlement--"The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's internal watchdog is reviewing an allegation that Robert Khuzami, the agency's top enforcement official, gave preferential treatment to Citigroup Inc. executives in the agency's $75 million settlement with the firm in July."
• Wells Fargo Should Be Forced to Meet Subpoenas, SEC Says--"Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) failed to hand over documents demanded in U.S. subpoenas and should be forced to cooperate with a probe into its sale of almost $60 billion in residential mortgage-backed securities, regulators said."
• Congressional Panel Finds Former MF Global CEO Ordered JPM Fund Transfer
• Ex-SEC Chairman Defends Goldman: 'Nobody Really Puts Customers First'--If these guys don't care about your business, move your money.
• Giant banks are the problem Salon

Bad Company

• The Age of Double Standards--"American Airlines can declare bankruptcy and wipe away debt. But you can't—and that's just the beginning."
• Newspaper Giant Gives CEO $32 Million Severance Package After Laying Off 20,000 Workers In Six Years
• Bank of America Chief’s Pay Jumps to $8.1 Million NYT

The 1%

• The rich are different; they get richer
• The rich will pay the lowest taxes since the Hoover Administration over 80 years ago
• You can tell Monopoly is an old game...

Marriage Equality, Religion, Educamation, Politics and Media, International, Teh Gay

Marriage Equality

• Gay Marriage: Nothing to be Afraid of Anymore
• Group sought wedge between blacks, gays to fight same-sex marriage
• The Catholic Hierarchy's Quest To Erase Same-Sex Marriages From The Universe
• Rick Santorum says he'll try to unmarry all same-sex married couples if he's elected
• How the New Hampshire GOP voted to keep gay marriage--It's a good thing or else left-handed people would've been left hanging. Salon
• Gay Marriage Effort Attracts a Novel Group of Donors NY
• Romney: Fag Hag?

Religion

• D.C. archdiocese: Denying Communion to lesbian at funeral was against 'policy'--It was his perogative not to give communion, but it was inexcusable that he "did not come to the grave and made no arrangements for another priest to be there."
• Suicide Leads to Calls for Improved Treatment of LGBT Mormons
• Dutch Catholic church abuse: at least one youth castrated for 'homosexuality'
• Robertson: Satan Behind Homosexuality, Abortion Rights
• Protesters gay the pray away

Educamation

• How Anoka-Hennepin Failed Its Bullied LGBT Students--"In most of the cases, the district placed burdens on the bullied student rather than take steps to interrupt the harassment"
• Minnesota school district drops anti-LGBT policy that spawned national controversy
• Judge Slaps School for Blocking Gay Websites--"A federal judge ordered a central Missouri school district to stop using Internet filtering software that blocks access to gay, lesbian and transgender issue-related websites."
• Principal Who Condemned Gay And Pregnant Students Resigns--She told them they were going to hell.
• Iowa school assembly devolves into surprise anti-gay and anti-choice bash fest
• Alabama's First Gay Legislator Teams Up With Republican To Repeal State's Anti-Gay Sex-Ed Law
• Yanked Student Body President Gives His High School a Lesson--"The student body president claims in court that Alpharetta High School stripped him of his office because he asked the Student Council to change the title of "Prom King and Queen" to "Prom Court," "so that a same-sex couple could be elected," if students voted for them."

Politics and Media

• Sen. Mike Lee: Employers Have Right To Fire People Because They're Gay Or Transgender
• Why CNN Suspended Liberal Roland Martin For Offensive Comments But Not Conservative Dana Loesch
• Gay Marine's Kiss Was 'Four Years Of Pent-Up Emotion And Secret Love'
• Is homophobia disappearing? Salon
• Paul Babeu's Mexican Ex-Lover Says Sheriff's Attorney Threatened Him With Deportation--Well, there's a little silver lining.
• Anti-gay Conservative Radio Host Accused Of Hit-And-Run After Visiting Gay Bar
• Wang's, Chicago Gay Bar, Investigated Over Reports That It Bans Women During Busiest Hours

International

• WATCH: The Speech You’ve Been Waiting For--Hillary Rodham Clinton's address before the United Nations in Geneva
• Malawi to review homosexuality ban after US aid threat
• African Union: Ban Ki-moon urges respect for gay rights
• Boycott St. Petersburg
• What It's Like To Be Gay in Tajikistan .
• Nobel peace prize winner defends law criminalising homosexuality in Liberia
• Proving you're gay to the Turkish army

Teh Gay

• 5 Myths About Gay People Debunked by Science
• Blizzard's swear filter banned 'homosexual' and 'transsexual' but let through 'faggot'
• Marvel Invites You To The Wedding Of Northstar And Kyle
• My Grindr love affair Salon
• Ooooh Canada--Just lovely.

Energy, Oil, Environment, Spills, Logging, Ecology

Energy

• President Obama Compares GOP to Flat Earth Society
• AP Fact Check: In 36 Years Of Data, Not A Shred Of Evidence That Drilling Reduces Gas Prices
• Inching Toward Energy Independence in America NYT
• Georgia Power Monopoly Hurts Georgians, Economy
• Why power generators are terrified of solar--"Deutsche Bank solar analyst Vishal Shah noted in a report last month that EPEX data was showing solar PV was cutting peak electricity prices by up to 40%...."

Oil

• Bam Goes After Big Oil
• Bill ending oil company tax cuts clears Senate hurdle--"Legislation repealing tax breaks for major oil companies passed its first hurdle in the Senate on Monday, but is unlikely to become law, as Republicans and Democrats seek to score political points over rising gasoline prices."
• Shell boss took home £10m amid oil price surge
• Exxon Mobil's Tax Rate Drops To 13 Percent, After Making 35 Percent More Profits On Rising Gas Prices In 2011
• Alec Baldwin Attacks 'Oil Whore' James Inhofe

Environment

• PA Passes The Most Anti-Democratic, Anti-Environmental Law in The Country
• For Pennsylvania's Doctors, a Gag Order on Fracking Chemicals--"A new provision could forbid the state's doctors from sharing information with patients exposed to toxic—and proprietary—fracking solutions."
• Obama administration sets limits on power plant emissions
• Counting the cost: the hidden price of coal power--"Melissa Ahern of Washington State University described some of the environmental impacts that have resulted from the mountaintop removal process in Appalachia: over 500 peaks gone, 2,000 miles of streams eliminated, and over 140 billion gallons of coal slurry currently held in storage ponds."
• As eco-terrorism wanes, governments still target activist groups seen as threat
• Scientists call for fundamental governance overhaul to ensure Earth's sustainability
• The Himalayas and nearby peaks have lost no ice in past 10 years, study shows

Spills

• BP's Influence Peddling In Congress Bears Fruit Two Years After Gulf Spill
• Chevron executives barred from leaving Brazil over spill
• Shell Sued in U.K. Over 'Massive' 2008 Nigerian Oil Spills

Logging

• Illegal logging makes billions for gangs, report says
• The rigged illegal logging game--"The World Bank reports that corrupt officials and gangs profit while poor workers face prosecution." Salon
• Logging blamed for Philippine flood deaths--"Two months after floods in the southern Philippines killed more than 1,000 people, the illegal logging that exacerbated the disaster continues unabated."

Ecology

• Dugongs cruelly slaughtered in illegal meat trade
• Appetite for shark fin soup 'causing decline of blue sharks in UK waters'
• Japan ends whaling season short of quota

Trayvon Martin; Obamacare, Health Scare, UK, Work and Stress, Abortion and Birth Control, War on Women

Trayvon Martin

• Gun Owners Of America Head Defends Shooter: Trayvon Was 'Assailant'
• Police: Zimmerman says Trayvon decked him with one blow then began hammering his head
• What Everyone Needs To Know About The Smear Campaign Against Trayvon Martin (1995-2012)

Obamacare

• Obamacare is Now Officially Obamacare
• Good News! Obamacare Will Cost Less than Projected
• Mary Brown, 'Obamacare' foe -- and broke
• Legal experts predict a Supreme Court win for 'Obamacare'
• A Technicality That Might Save Obamacare: The Anti-Injunction Act
• What Happens to the Uninsured If Health-Care Reform Is Dismantled?
• The truth about healthcare reform--"The Affordable Care Act has already changed the lives of millions of Americans for the better. The problem is, most people don't understand the reforms."

Health Scare

• Discussion by Florida lawmakers on insurance premiums illustrates government at its worst--"Our comment:It's bad policy for lawmakers to pay the same insurance premiums as rank-and-file state employees? Incredible."
• GOP Slams Dems For Medicare Cuts Republicans Support
• Woman demanding care at St. Mary's hospital is arrested for trespassing, dies in jail
• PTSD diagnoses at Lewis-McChord reexamined--"The Army initiated an investigation following an Army ombudsman's memo indicating that hospital officials were encouraging psychiatrists to limit diagnoses of PTSD in order to reduce costs."
• Chronic fatigue syndrome researchers face death threats from militants

UK

• Health chief warns: age of safe medicine is ending
• David Cameron gloats as hated Health Bill passed to allow private firms to cash in on NHS
• Osborne 'raiding' NHS budget to fund income tax cuts--"Chancellor George Osborne has been accused of 'raiding' the NHS budget to help fund the cut in the top rate of income tax."

Work and Stress

• Stress Makes You Sick: Exploring the Immune System Connection
• Deaths spotlight Taiwan's 'overwork' culture
• Why We Have to Go Back to a 40-Hour Work Week to Keep Our Sanity--"One hundred fifty years of research proves that shorter work hours actually raise productivity and profits -- and overtime destroys them. So why do we still do this?"

Abortion and Birth Control

• Springfield schools approve condom policy
• Governor Herbert Vetoes Sex Education Bil
• Tennessee Abortion Bill Would Make Abortion Providers' Names Public
• Alaska Rep Says Women Should Have To Get Man's Permission To Obtain an Abortion
• The pope’s controversial visit--"Benedict XVI bypasses Mexico City to go to an ultra-conservative town where women are imprisoned for abortions." Salon

War on Women

• Sandra Fluke: Slurs won't silence women
• Women troll 'Rick Perry for President' page over State Rape bill, hilarity ensues
• Wisconsin Lawmaker to Spousal Abuse Victims: If You Are Being Beaten, Just Remember the Things You Love About Your Husband

War on Terror, Israel/Iran, Torture, Homefront, Bales, Military Industrial Complex, TSA

War on Terror

• CNN Runs Segment On 'Terrifying New Reason' To Be Worried About Iran
• Nuclear watchdog chief accused of pro-western bias over Iran
• Shell Scrambles to Pay Huge Bill for Iran Oil: Sources
• Iran to increase cash handouts--"Monthly payments to citizens to be boosted by more than 50 per cent as inflation soars and currency depreciates."
• The case for bombing Iran is quickly collapsing

Israel <3 Iran

• Some Israelis reach out to Iran amid fears of war
• Iranians respond to Israeli Facebook initiative: Israel, we love you too
• 'Israel Loves Iran' Campaign Gains Force--Can't we all just get along?

Torture

• Judge Refuses to Sanction CIA for Destroying Torture Tapes--Where's the accoutability?
• UN Torture Chief: Bradley Manning Treatment Was Cruel, Inhuman
• DOJ Wants American Contractor's Torture Suit Against Rumsfeld Dismissed

Homefront

• Iraqi Woman Severely Beaten in Calif. Home Dies
• Poll: New Yorkers Approve Of NYPD's Treatment Of Muslims
• Americans Are Getting Tired Of Trumped Up Terrorism Charges Against Their Innocent Neighbors
• Friedman: A Festival of Lies--"Tribalism, oil, and Islamic fundamentalism are a bad mix that leaves Americans sick and tired of the Middle East — both when they get in it and when they try to stay out of it." NYT
• Five Ways US National Security Policies Will Erode Civil Liberties in 2012--"Brace yourself: Drone killings of US citizens will continue, more government whistleblowers will be brought to trial, and Washington will become even more secretive."
• Congress OKs 30,000 flying drones spying on Americans across U.S. cities
• Tom the Dancing Bug: Hello! You've been targeted for a U.S. drone assassination!

Bales

• Army Tried to Delete Bales From Web After Arrest
• Defense official: Staff Sgt. Robert Bales to face 17 murder counts in Afghanistan massacre
• Greenwald: Discussing the motives of the Afghan shooter Salon

Military Industrial Complex

• Jack Cafferty: Military-industrial complex has this country by the throat
• The United Bases of America - An overview of the extent of U.S. bases around the world
• Pentagon: Trillion-Dollar Jet on Brink of Budgetary Disaster

TSA

• Father's outrage as TSA subjects his wheelchair-bound three-year-old son to humiliating search... on his way to Disney
• Sanford, Fla. airport wants to opt out of TSA
• TSA Precheck: $100 application fee to skip the song and dance
• TSA body scanners’ apparent flaw raises airport security concern
• Ctrl+Alt+Del: Fly the friendly stars

Religion and Politics, Sex Abuse Scandal, Public Schools, Creationism, Atheism, Military, International

Religion and Politics

• The Politicization Of Catholicism
• Leaps of Faith NYT
• Georgia bill calls for Ten Commandments in gov't buildings
• Preacher introduces Rick Santorum, tells non-Christians to "get out" of the US.
• Pew survey: Americans think politicians are talking too much about religion
• How Republicans Are Trying to Force You to Pay for Others' Religious Beliefs
• Evangelicals voting in record numbers in GOP primaries

Sex Abuse Scandal

• 200 priests suspected of abuse living in California, victims' lawyer says
• Catholic Church Puts Legal Pressure on Survivors’ Network NYT
• Vatican reports on Irish child abuse scandals

Public Schools

• How religion is infiltrating public schools
• The Religious Right's Plot To Take Control Of Our Public Schools--"The people who brought you 'Jesus Camp' are moving into your neighborhood school. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it."
• Good News Clubs seek to expand Gospel outreach in Twin Cities public schools

Creationism

• Richard Dawkins celebrates a victory over creationists--UK Government bans creationist schools
• Creationist School Bill Looks Doomed in Indiana--It got as far as the senate panel.
• Stealth creationism at geology meetings
• Tennessee Passes ‘Monkey Bill’ (HB 368)To Teach The ‘Controversy’ On Evolution And Climate Science
• Alabama: Credit-for-creationism scheme passes committee

Atheism

• Atheism in America: Godlessness is the last big taboo in the US, where non-believers face discrimination and isolation
• Lenoir City High School won't publish atheist student's editorial on religion in schools
• Pennsylvania Judge Throws Out Charge For Harassing Atheist While Calling The Victim A Doofus--Is this a case of judicial misconduct?
• Man Arrested for "Being Atheist"
• Is Christianism Breeding Atheists?

Military

• America's Atheist Warriors--"Like Pat Tillman before them, up to 40,000 US soldiers don't believe in God. Meet the man who would bring secular wisdom to their ranks."
• Atheist Soldier Stands Ground in Spite of Threats for Refusing to Participate in Military Graduation Prayer
• Body found in North Texas identified as soldier--"Brittany Green allegedly told authorities that her brother said he had shot Ramirez twice because he 'did not believe in God and alleged that Ramirez reached for a gun.'"

International

• Norway convicts 2 over Muhammad cartoon bomb plot
• Denmark charges 4 suspects in terror plot against Prophet Muhammad cartoons--"Danish prosecutors charged 4 people with terrorism for allegedly planning a shooting attack on a newspaper that had printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad."
• Thousands in Tunisia protest Islamist extremism
• Destroy all churches: Obama silent while Saudi grand mufti targets Christianity
• Iraqi teens stoned to death for wearing 'emo' clothes

Trayvon Martin; Surveillance Says, DOJ, FBI, NSA, Tech Privacy, Facebook

Trayvon Martin

• Trayvon Martin and dangerous times for black men
• Trayvon Shooter's 911 Calls: Potholes, Piles of Trash—and Black Men
• Fox's Geraldo Rivera: "I Think The Hoodie Is As Much Responsible For Trayvon Martin's Death As George Zimmerman"

Surveillance Says

• Canadian cops want to add a spying tax to phone bills to pay for warrantless wiretapping
• Japanese surveillance system scans 36 million faces in seconds
• Peter Sunde: We need cash for anonymous transactions

DOJ

• Senators Demand DOJ Release Secret Spy Court Rulings
• DOJ Signs New Rules To Let Intelligence Officials Access, Store And Search More Info About US Citizens
• Feds Argue Using a Fake Name Can Deprive You of Rights WSJ

FBI

• The ex-FBI informant with a change of heart: 'There is no real hunt. It's fixed'
• FBI Still Struggling With Supreme Court's GPS Ruling
• Unknown Tech Company Defies FBI In Mystery Surveillance Case--FBI claims that 'lack of accountability helps fights terrorists.'
• FBI, stumped by pimp's Android pattern lock, serves warrant on Google
• Wondering If Your "Jihadist" Friend Is With the FBI?

NSA

• The NSA Is Building the Country's Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say)
• NSA Chief Denies, Denies, Denies Wired's Domestic Spying Story
• Shocker: NSA Chief denies Total Information Awareness spying on Americans

Tech Privacy

• The Right to Be Forgotten
• As Google acts, the question is: have we lost our privacy to the internet?
• Microsoft and Skype set to allow backdoor eavesdropping
• Facebook strips 'privacy' from new 'data use' policy
• When tone-deaf techies run the show, this is what you get

Facebook

• Your Facebook Password Should Be None of Your Boss' Business
• ACLU sues Minnewaska schools, Pope Co. Sheriff's Office over student Facebook incidents
• Facebook says it may sue employers who demand job applicants' passwords
• Facebook: Protecting Your Passwords and Your Privacy
• Senator drafting bill to prevent potential employers from requiring Facebook logins

Budget and Taxes, Congress, Jobs, Wall Street, Mortgages and Foreclosures

Budget and Taxes

• Jon Stewart to Grover Norquist: Your Pledge Is a Failure
• Boehner Backs Out Of Debt-Limit Deal
• Republican budget proposal to be unveiled--It could "spark threats of a government shutdown just weeks before the November elections."
• The Worst Part of Paul Ryan's Budget--"Even if you like Ryan's Medicare and Medicaid reforms, his budget is essentially a plan to demolish every other government program outside of Social Security and defense."
• Club for Growth rejects Rep. Ryan’s budget

Congress

• Study Shows House Members Profit--"One accusation long directed at Congress is that lawmakers come to this capital city not just to serve the American people but also to enrich themselves and their families." NYT
• Insider Trading Ban for Lawmakers Clears Congress--Now that it's been rendered toothless. NYT
• Ex-Lobbyist Jack Abramoff on Wash DC Corruption

Jobs

• Opinion: Are jobs obsolete?
• Right-to-Work Laws, Explained
• Romney Admits GOP Education Policy is Intended to Kill Unions

Wall Street

• Another Hidden Bailout: Helping Wall Street Collect Your Rent
• We Now Know With Near-Certainty That Wall Street Execs Committed Felonies--"The greatest moral hazard now confronting the nation is what appears to be increasingly brazen criminal activity by financial industry executives. With each decision not to prosecute, Wall Street executives justifiably conclude that they are immune to the rules."
• Former Merrill Worker: Greg Smith Was Right And It's Not Just Goldman
• Paul Ryan wants to repeal rules meant to stop Too Big to Fail
• The Dallas Fed Is Calling For The Immediate Breakup Of Large Banks

Mortgages and Foreclosures

• When Will the Obama Administration Recognize that MERS Destroyed the Chain of Title Making All Foreclosures Suspect?
• Rep. Issa Confronted By Protesters At Foreclosure Hearing, Blames Bank Fraud On Homeowners--"Before the GOP took control of the House in 2011, Issa promised not to investigate the fraudulent acts committed by Wall Street banks, instead vowing to focus his attention on home loans made to poor people."
• Texana Hollis Returns To Detroit Home, Thanks To Mitch Albom

Trayvon Martin; Language, English, Spelling, Word Play, What's in a Name?

Trayvon Martin

• The Sham Investigation Into Trayvon Martin's Killing--"What angers people is not simply that Zimmerman might get off, but that the Sanford police would conduct a shoddy investigation, claim it was thorough, and then claim that all who objected were compromised by prejudice."
• 16-year-old girl recalls last phone conversation minutes before Martin was shot dead--Essentially discrediting Zimmerman's self-defense claim.
• Police withhold 911 tapes of Trayvon Martin's killer using a possible racial slur
• Trayvon Martin: civil rights leaders call for Florida police chief to resign--Local officials in Sanford passed a vote of no confidence in Police Chief Bill Lee who said, not long after, that he would 'temporarily remove' himself from duty.
• Beck's Website Calls Trayvon Martin "The Aggressor"--Keeping it classy.

Language

• Evolution of the Alphabet
• 10 Common Words You Had No Idea Were Onomatopoeias
• Morse code operators bid adieu to dying language
• If You're Fat, Broke, and Smoking, Blame Language
• Strip-Search That Man, 'Scrabble' Player Demands
• Computer learns language by playing games
• Following Brazil's lead mortifies some Portuguese
• Fuck and the law
• Pandyland: Cans
• SMBC: Abusing

English

• What's the language of the future?--"As English takes over the world, it's splintering and changing -- and soon, we may not recognize it at all." Salon
• Academics vote 'shitstorm' as German's best English loanword
• Learn English the Israeli way

Spelling

• Auto correct error causes lockdown at high school
• Literacy
• What does it spell?

Word Play

• Crossword
• Ambigram
• Spreads

What's in a Name?

• The Atlas of True Names--I want this. Until then, this is a good start.
• The Origins of State Names
• How 10 American Towns Got Their Weird Names
• How some baseball teams got their names
• How some tech companies got their names

Rearing, Misbehavin', Tech, Law and Disorder, Teens

Rearing

• Age Space Between Siblings Contributes to Academic Success
• Mom's Love Good for Child's Brain--"School-age children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus, a key structure important to learning, memory and response to stress."
• Self-Control In Kids Predicts Future Success
• 5 Unusual Ways to Raise Successful Children
• DNA swab tests kids' athletic ability

Misbehavin'

• Lying children will grow up to be successful citizens
• Study: Popular Children Meaner
• China: The rise of the 'Precious Snowflakes'
• Airline grounds family for fussy toddler
• A body on Google Street View? Don't worry it's just me playing dead, says girl, ten

Tech

• Students learn to be better 'digital citizens'
• Teen whines about parents on Facebook, dad shoots laptop--Did this really warrant a visit from the police?
• Penny Arcade: Naked Terror

Law and Disorder

• Police Department Shut Down After Officer Accused Of Using Taser On 9-Year-Old Boy
• Charlton Library Sends Police To Collect Overdue Books From 5-Year-Old
• 12-year-old boy jailed for 30 years--"Even though he didn’t pull the trigger — or know that he was going to be a part of the murder plot — Gingerich was sentenced to 30 years in jail."

Teens

• Teen Impersonates Physician's Assistant, Examines Patients in Florida Hospital
• Teen photographer shocked by power line suing TECO--"A teenager who climbed up an electric pole to take a picture and was shocked is suing TECO for not posting warning signs or anti-climb shields."
• Parents of teen who died texting and driving: 'Kids think they're invincible'
• Judge Imposes Lifetime Driving Ban On 17-Year-Old Boy
• Boy Dies After Masturbating 42 Times

Trayvon Martin; Elections 2012, Campaign Finance, Voter Suppression, Vote Machinations, Conservatives, Racism

Trayvon Martin

• Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable Police Conduct--Why has the shooter of Trayvon Martin who acted as judge, jury and executioner not been charged?
• What Everyone Should Know About Trayvon Martin (1995-2012)
• FBI monitoring fatal Florida shooting case, as police criticized
• Killing Of Florida Teen Trayvon Martin Becomes National Story About Race
• Trayvon Martin Killing Puts 'Stand Your Ground' Law In Spotlight
• The Trayvon Martin Killing, Explained
• DOJ, FBI Opens Investigation Of Trayvon Martin Death

Elections 2012

• Illinois GOP results posted on local news affiliate… the day before the election--Is this for real?
• How to Tell It's Time to Quit the Presidential Race--Buh-bye Newt.
• Drift away from GOP by women voters may give Obama advantage in fall
• The Power of Recalls in Wisconsin
• The real danger to US Democracy: Incompetent People Too Ignorant to Know It

Campaign Finance

• Poll: 69% of Americans want to outlaw super PACs
• Unveil Corporate Money in Politics: Gomory, Hindery
• Are Corporations Claiming Tax Breaks for Super PAC Donations?

Voter Suppression

• The Voting Wars Could Get Bloody
• Justice Dept. Blocks Texas Voter ID Law
• Judge Temporarily Blocks Wisconsin Voter ID Law
• Proposed voter ID bill has stirred up plenty of controversy in PA
• Tea Party Spawns New Effort Against Voter Fraud

Vote Machinations

• Absolute Proof Diebold Voting Machines Are "Criminally" Rigged
• Kaptur Defeats Kucinich 94% to 4% on 100% Unverifiable E-Vote Systems in Toledo, OH?
• US e-voting system cracked in less than 48 hours: "We successfully changed every vote and revealed almost every secret ballot."

Conservatives

• Poll: Obama's a Muslim to many GOP voters in Alabama, Mississippi
• How the South became too Republican for Republicans--Can the immigrants help?
• Why Conservatives Are Still Crazy After All These Years

Racism

• College Kids Demand To See U.S. Citizen's Green Card While He's Playing Basketball
• Federal Judge Sent Joke Email Implying Obama's Mother Had Sex With Dog
• Miss. lawmaker: 'Gulf of America' bill was a joke--In this case, it really was.

Copyfight, ACTA, North America, Europe, ANZ, Movies, Music

Copyfight

• RIAA CEO Hopes SOPA Protests Were a 'One-Time Thing'
• RIAA (sort of) responds to SOPA critics, says copyright "offers little real protection"
• Copyright Math: The lies MPAA/RIAA are saying to convince politicians to pass their bills
• Copyright kings are judge, jury and executioner on YouTube
• The Pirate Bay's Peter Sunde: It's Evolution, Stupid

ACTA

• Dutch Parliament Rejects ACTA On Human Rights Violations
• Danish Trade Minister Apologizes For Using Bogus Industry Numbers To Support Pro-ACTA Argument
• Bulgaria Withdraws From ACTA, following Poland and Germany
• Michael Geist's magisterial ten-minute ACTA takedown
• European Commission Blames Social Networks For ACTA Failure; Worried About Its Imminent Directive On Copyright Enforcement

North America

• Verisign Seizes .com Domain Registered via Foreign Registrar on Behalf of US Authorities
• Uncle Sam: If It Ends in .Com, It's .Seizable
• American ISPs to launch massive copyright spying scheme on July 12
• Canadian Music Industry Wants Its Own Lawful Access: Subscriber Disclosure Without a Court Order
• Canadian Music Industry Takes Aim At Google, Facebook, Reddit & Tech Startups With Bill C-11 Demands

Europe

• Copyright wars heat up: US wins extradition of college kid from England
• SOPA, meet SOCA - British Police Take Down Website, Threaten Visitors
• BT and Talk Talk lose file-sharing appeal.
• Ireland Signs Controversial 'Irish SOPA' Into Law; Kicks Off New Censorship Regime
• Hactivistas protest brutal Spanish copyright law with flood of complaints

ANZ

• Australian Govt holds second secret anti-piracy meeting
• Blackout: Govt piracy meeting completely censored
• Megaupload Seizure Order "Null and Void" Says High Court

Movies

• MPAA: Ripping DVDs Shouldn't Be Allowed Because It Takes Away Our Ability To Charge You Multiple Times For The Same Content
• Stop innovating, please: Kaleidescape loses DVD ripping case
• BitTorrent doesn't hurt US box-office
• Fox, Warner want secure, high-def film players--DRM rears its ugly head.
• Heavy Hangs The Bandwidth That Torrents The Crown--"The Oatmeal made an unintentional point that was just as important as the first, however: The single least-attractive attribute of many of the people who download content illegally is their smug sense of entitlement."

Music

• UK Manager Says Major Labels Steal More Music Than Filesharers
• Massive Copyright Shitstorm Brewing, And iTunes Is Involved
• RIAA Insists That, Really, The Music Industry Is Collapsing; Reality Shows It's Just The RIAA That's Collapsing
• Paper Lions gets fed up with not being paid for their Album, Releases for free.
• iPass away – do my digital downloads die with me?

Google Goes Evil, AT&T, Syntax Error, Passwords and Security, Swindle, Phones, Printers

Google Goes Evil

• Gmail users accuse Google of sending e-mails in their name
• Google leans on developers to use payment service
• Google, Please Stop Prefilling My Email Into Ad Widgets
• Why I left Google--"The Google I was passionate about was a technology company that empowered its employees to innovate. The Google I left was an advertising company with a single corporate-mandated focus." And it became all about social.
• Google exec: We won't break users' trust

AT&T

• AT&T's Dual-Sided Pipe is Bad for Developers--Should they be investigated for double-dipping?
• Guess who'd like to 'throttle' AT&T now?
• AT&T Clarifies Data Limitations on "Unlimited" Data Plans
• AT&T offers to settle quietly with iPhone user who won small-claims case over data slowdown--But they want to make sure to keep him quiet about it.
• How Filipino phreakers turned PBX systems into cash machines for terrorists--"A quartet of hackers based in the Philippines have allegedly bilked AT&T and possibly other telecommunications companies out of millions, which they channeled to their own bank accounts and to accounts associated with a terrorist organization. And apparently, AT&T helped them collect the money."

Syntax Error

• The BSA's "nauseating" anti-piracy tactics
• Sorry, you can't buy our time from shifty startup Allthis
• Americans more susceptible to online scams than believed, study finds
• For $2 a Star, a Retailer Gets 5-Star Reviews NYT
• Verisign hacked, data stolen

Passwords and Security

• Teenagers Sharing Passwords as Show of Affection NYT
• Parents' snooping teaches kids to share their passwords with each other
• Password Check NYT
• Electronic Security a Worry in an Age of Digital Espionage NYT
• Four year olds used to steal their parents' data
• Passphrases suck less than passwords, but they still suck
• SMBC: Password hacking

Swindle

• Not wasteful, but unethical: why we hate crippled products
• Dell’s misleading graphics card buying advice--Dell apologises for misleading graphics card advice
• Cnet Apologizes for Nmap Adware Bundling

Phones

• Violinist interrupted by Nokia ringtone, plays the ringtone
• Mahler marimba man: The iPhone has an alarm?
• Rider Jams Cell Phones on SEPTA Buses

Printers

• The Best, Most Disgruntled Ink Cartridge Description You'll Ever Read
• The laser unprinter
• College Humor: Your Printer is a Brat

Politics, States, Ethics, Public-Private Partnerships, Lobbying, For Richer, Or Poorer

Politics

• Olympia Snowe Quit Senate to Protest GOP Agenda
• McConnell: I'm Filibustering Seventeen Judges Because Reid Made Republicans 'Look Bad'--They got to compromise on 14.
• Partisans ignoring stimulus's success
• How Conservatives Attack the Small-Town, American Values They Pretend to Love: The Right's latest freak-out over the Girl Scouts of America is beyond hypocritical.
• Star goalie snubs White House--"A statement by the 37-year-old Thomas posted Monday on the team website said he opposed the 'out of control' growth of the federal government that threatened 'the rights, liberties, and property of the people.'" Can't tell if he's conservative or liberal just from this, to be honest.

States

• Gay groups denied permission to march in St. Patrick's Day parade in South Boston
• Upset in Ohio: Rep. Jean Schmidt (R) loses primary to Brad Wenstrup--Ding dong, the witch is gone.
• Assembly spends nearly $200,000 to fight public-records suit
• Lawmaker Caught Voting for Absent Member
• On the horrors of getting approval for an ice-cream parlour in San Francisco
• Texas town that's run out of water was shipping it out just weeks before well went dry--"[T] here's a lot of confusion among the town's residents, a lot of anger, because the town must now pay about $200 for each 4,000 gallon load it imports to replace the well water."
• State budget cuts hit small-town Ohio--"In the western part of the state, a Republican stronghold where forgotten barns with peeling paint sit atop flat fields, many who supported Kasich say they didn't expect the cuts would reach their small hamlets."

Ethics

• Despite Cantor's 'Zero Tolerance' Policy and leadership pledges, More Than 10 GOP Congressmen Embroiled In Ethics Scandals
• S. Carolina lt. gov. quits, pleads guilty to ethics charges
• After loss, Schmidt can ignore ethics ruling

Public-Private Partnerships

• Michigan's Hostile Takeover--"A new 'emergency' law backed by right-wing think tanks is turning Michigan cities over to powerful managers who can sell off city hall, break union contracts, privatize services—and even fire elected officials."
• Utah Rep. Introduces Bill To Make Filming Farm Abuse A Major Crime, Praises Industry Donor "Friends" At Hearing
• Democratic Congressman Who Blasted "Corporate Control Of Our Democracy" Attends Fundraiser Hosted By AT&T Lobbyist

Lobbying

• Lobbyists Call On Barack Obama To Tone Down Anti-Lobbyist Rhetoric
• Elected Officials Get An Average 1,452% Salary Increase When They Take A Lobbying Job
• GOP freshmen, big-bucks donors hobnob at resort

For Richer

• The Widening Wealth Divide, and Why We Need a Surtax on the Super Wealthy
• Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager Backs Romney, Says Rich Need More Power
• The Brothers Koch: A Guide to the Billionaire Brothers and Their Conservative Causes
• How Ayn Rand's Bizarre Philosophy Made the New Right so Toxic--"Rand's psychopathic ideas made billionaires feel like victims and turned millions of followers into their doormats."
• The One Percent's Lack of Ethics
• The Art of the Filthy Rich
• Hilarious: Mad Asks ... Who Said It? Mitt Romney or Mr. Burns?

Or Poorer

• The Middle Class Really is in a Three-Decade Slump
• Harder For Americans To Rise From Lower Rungs NYT
• Majority of American Workers Have Less Than $25,000 in Savings

Occupy Protests, Law and Disorder, Bank Heists, Reckoning, Republicans, Whistleblowing, Goldman Sucks

Occupy Protests

• 10 "Occupy" Candidates Running for Congress--"Meet the progressive insurgents who are riding a wave of energy from the Occupy Wall Street movement."
• Al Gore with Sean Parker at SXSW: 'Occupy democracy!'
• Michael Moore: The Purpose of Occupy Wall Street Is to Occupy Wall Street
• Outlawing Occupy: H.R. 347 Makes Free Speech A Felony--Not only covers protests on federal ground but protests near indivudals protected by Secret Service.
• Occupy’s Tentacles: The nomadic political movement returns after a hiatus — and finds a purpose in Virginia women's rights
• Valentine's Day Money Drop--No money, no honey.
• Resistance takes genius

Law and Disorder

• Twitter turns over Occupy user's data to police
• NYPD Treating Protesters Like Muslims
• OPD spies on and beats protesters
• Judge drops charges against 88 Occupy Albany protesters
• Jury Reaches Verdict In First Occupy Protester Case--"A Polk County jury reached a verdict Friday in the first trespassing trial for an Occupy Iowa protester. The jury found Ed Fallon not guilty of trespassing."

Bank Heists

• Bank of America: Too Crooked to Fail--"The bank has defrauded everyone from investors and insurers to homeowners and the unemployed. So why does the government keep bailing it out?"
• Feds promise tough oversight in mortgage deal--"The government released the fine print of its landmark $25 billion mortgage settlement, and promised to closely police the banks' pledges to bring widespread housing relief, even while letting them dodge admission of wrongdoing." Emphasis mine.
• Why the Fed Ignored Warnings and Let Banks Pay Shareholders Billions
• Reckless: The Inside Story of How the Banks Beat Washington (Again)--"Why the Fed caved to the nation's largest financial institutions, and how Wall Street still owns the place."
• Credit-default swaps: How Wall Street is gaming the Greek bailout

Reckoning

• Saving the Street From Itself--"The problem isn’t excessive greed. If you took the greed out of Wall Street all you’d have left is pavement. The problem is endemic abuse of power and trust." NYT
• Fannie and Freddie execs to get pay cut
• Lynn Szymoniak, Foreclosure Victim, Receives $18 Million For Investigating Mortgage Crisis--"Szymoniak, an attorney and renowned expert in foreclosure law, was suspicious of the way foreclosures were being conducted in Florida, so she started looking at documents. Eventually she made headlines when she found that the paperwork in tens of thousands of other foreclosure cases seemed to be fraudulent."
• Errors found in 84% of SF mortgages in foreclosure--Maybe Ms. Szymoniak can help out.
• The Case for Treating Big Finance Like Big Pharma--"A pair of University of Chicago law professors say the federal government needs to regulate new financial products the same way it tests new drugs for safety."

Republicans

• House Republicans Again Vote Against Fully Funding Wall Street Watchdog, Giving The Money To Banks Instead
• Why Are The Republicans Planning To Give Hedge Funds A 20 Percent Tax Break?
• The Real Moral Problem--"If there's a moral issue here, it's the Republicans using misleading rhetoric about the effects of tax cuts on growth, trickle down economics, tax cuts paying for themselves, and so on to obscure what, at its essence, is a large transfer of income to those at the top of the income distribution."

Whistleblowing

• Meet the Whistleblowers Who Warned of the Impending Financial Crash But Were Ignored--"Whistleblowers may often be praised in the abstract, but Americans ignore or even vilify them when they dare to stir up trouble in their own workplaces."
• The whistleblowers Washington ignores--"Reporters of corporate malfeasance aren't imprisoned. Their complaints are just brushed under the rug." Salon
• Whistleblower Claims Bank Of America Intentionally Blocked Homeowners From Getting Federal Mortgage Help
• CitiGroup Whistleblower: 'Brute Force' Used To Hide Bad Loans
• Terminated CBO Whistleblower Shares Her Full Story With Zero Hedge, Exposes Deep Conflicts At "Impartial" Budget Office

Goldman Sucks

• Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs--"I truly believe that this decline in the firm’s moral fiber represents the single most serious threat to its long-run survival." NYT
• Goldman Roiled by Op-Ed Loses $2.2B for Shareholders
• Public Rebuke of Culture at Goldman Opens Debate NYT