Workers and Welfare; Wall Street, Accountability, Europe; Public-Private Partnerships, Sports Subsidies; Syria; Your Rights Online, Surveillance and Privacy; Bugs, Malware & Hacking

Workers and Welfare

• Set Back by Recession, and Shut Out of Rebound—"A lower unemployment rate for older workers masks troubling trends of reduced pay and longer job searches." NYT
• The 5% recovery: Why most are still in recession
• Welfare fraud: 'Damned if you do, doomed if you don't'—"When it comes to violating welfare rules, recipients sometimes do so after suggestions from caseworkers."
• Low-wage Workers Are Older Than You Think—"88 Percent of Workers Who Would Benefit From a Higher Minimum Wage Are Older Than 20, One Third Are Over 40."
• Supreme Court sides with bar staff forced to pay cash shortages with tips—"[Uptown] Drink countered that employees voluntarily paid the shortages rather than be written up for failing to properly handle cash."

Wall Street

• Wall Street's Rental Bet Brings Quandary Housing Poor—"Private-equity firms, hedge funds and real estate investment trusts have bought more than 100,000 U.S. homes, becoming dominant single-family landlords in markets hardest-hit by the housing crash such as Atlanta. As the companies seek thousands of tenants to fill newly renovated properties, their decision whether to lease to low-income Americans with Section 8 vouchers stands to affect both their profitability and poor residents who have been longtime renters."
• Bank Executive Admits to Using Bailout Money to Buy Condo
• Wall Street's greatest enemy: The man who knows too much—"What Michael Winston knows about corporate crimes will horrify you. That's why financial giants want to destroy him." Salon

Accountability

• Five years since Lehman's collapse the unthinkable has become reality—"Our systems of governance have yet to properly address these previously unthinkable outcomes and their profound implications for current and future generations."
• The DOJ Has Corrupted the Rule of Law by Not Prosecuting Wall Street Financial Looters
• Federal Reserve Employees Afraid To Speak Put Financial System At Risk
• Government mortgage fraud lawsuit against BofA headed to trial
• US demands more than $6 billion from JPMorgan to settle claim

Europe

• Spanish police arrest ex-JPMorgan trader wanted in US on fraud charges
• Currency Spikes at 4 P.M. in London Provide Rigging Clues
• Swiss banks to divulge names of wealthy US tax avoiders, pay billions in fines

Public-Private Partnerships

• Some Filthy Facts about the Rich—"Republicans in Congress want to cut the $4.35 a day food benefit to hungry Americans while two-thirds of tax subsidies and loopholes continue go to the top quintile of taxpayers."
• Private lobbyists get public pensions in 20 states
• 50% Of 'Retiring' Senators Now Become Lobbyists, Up From 3% A Few Decades Ago
• Taxpayer Dollars Paid A Third Of Richest Corporate CEOs
• Jindal Poll pipeline, is Louisiana Governor at 50 or 35 percent?—"According to Greg Hilburn of the Monroe News Star, that [50%] poll was conducted by Jindal’s best- buddy and top campaign consultant (Timmy Teepell’s) employer OnMessage."

Sports Subsidies

• Do cities gain from subsidizing sports teams?—"Funding is often cut for parks and libraries to help teams pay their bills."
• Clarke seeks slice of soccer team for Orange taxpayers—"If Orange County taxpayers chip in $20 million for a new downtown stadium to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to Orlando, then taxpayers should become part owners of any new team, Commissioner Pete Clarke says."
• Spending taxpayer dollars on sports stadiums will not help Detroit

Syria

• Syria chemical weapons attack killed 1,429, says John Kerry
• Putin says US should present Syria chemical weapons evidence to UN Security Council
• 'War-weary' Obama says Syria chemical attack requires response
• Some Context for Our Upcoming Bombing Campaign—"Nearly every American president eventually lets the bombs fall."
• France's Hollande backs US on Syria action
• Syria: Napalm-Like Burns After School Attack
• CNN Caught Staging News Segments on Syria With Actors

Your Rights Online

• US won't let Microsoft, Google reveal more data on FISA orders—"They now suing the government to get trust back from their users.
• EFF Amicus Asks Supreme Court to Review Warrantless Smartphone Searches
• Sec. of State John Kerry Bashes the Internet, Says it's Harder to Govern People with Internet

Surveillance & Privacy

• Feds Back Away From Forced Decryption … For Now
• Cyberspying: Indian Government may ban Gmail for official communication
• It's 2013. We're all being spied on. Why do security software websites not use HTTPS?—"People say that using HTTPS is a performance hit. Locking your car door is also a performance hit, and so is putting on clothes in the morning. Security and privacy is worth a performance hit."

Bugs, Malware & Hacking

• "thereisnofatebutwhat­wemake" – Turbo-charged cracking comes to long passwords—"Cracking really long passwords just got a whole lot faster and easier."
• True story behind Joburg's online security problems—"The City of Joburg said that a 'malicious hacking' was behind its security woes, and a police investigations is underway, but what is the true story?"
• Google confirms critical Android crypto flaw used in $5,700 Bitcoin heist—"Java Crypto weakness could affect security in hundreds of thousands of apps."

Dinosaurs, Cavemen, Evolution, Life; Damn Nature, You Scary; Syria, NSA Spying

Dinosaurs

• Giant Dinosaurs Got a Head Start on Growth
• Dinosaur in the Drawer: New Species Found in Museum
• T. rex at 20: 'Jurassic Park' then and now
• T. Rex Tooth Found in Dinosaur's Tail Proves Tyrannosaurus Was a Predator
• New Dinosaur Species Found In Utah Totally Looks Like A Cow—Say hello to the Nasutoceratops.
• Archaeologists discover dinosaur tail in northern Mexico
• Clive Palmer gets green light for world's biggest dinosaur park

Cavemen

• "Paleofantasy": Stone Age delusions—"An evolutionary biologist explains why everything you think you know about cavemen (and their diet) is wrong." Salon
• Neanderthal large eyes 'caused their demise'
• First Love Child of Human, Neanderthal Found
• The father of all men is 340,000 years old
• German researchers publish full Neanderthal genome—As full as it can be for now.

Evolution

• Why Do Grandmothers Exist?
• Monogamy May Have Evolved to Prevent Infanticide
• Why Are We the Last Apes Standing?—"How childhood let modern humans conquer the planet."
• What Happened When Humans Met An 'Alien' Intelligence? Sex Happened
• Redheads Direct Descendant Of First Redhead, Scotlands DNA Says
  

Life

• Was life inevitable? New paper pieces together metabolism's beginnings
• Craig Venter close to creating synthetic life
• Smithsonian Announces Discovery of New Mammal: Olinguito—Warning: Un-pausable, un-muteable autoplaying video advertisement. Turn off your speakers before clicking.
• Woolly mammoth DNA may lead to a resurrection of the ancient beast—"Technical and ethical challenges abound after first hurdle of taking cells from millennia-old bodies is cleared."
• 4-Billion-Year-Old Fossil Protein Resurrected, Thioredoxin May Have Lived On Mars
• Rock solid proof of alien life? Scientists claim fossilized algae inside meteorite
• SMBC: The Experiment

Damn Nature, You Scary

• Swedish men told to beware testicle-munching fish
• Beaver Bites Man To Death In Belarus Attack
• Mutant Cockroaches Have Learned to Evade Sugar Traps
• Evolution in Action: Lizard Moving From Eggs to Live Birth
• How to Lose Your Phallus (If You're a Bird)
• 8 ton orca jumps 15 feet in the air chasing after dolphin—Om nom nom nom.
• World's Biggest Virus May Have Ancient Roots

Syria

• Obama's Syria plans in disarray after Britain rejects use of force—"White House forced to consider unilateral strikes against Assad after British PM unexpectedly loses key motion on intervention."
• Spectre of Blair haunts Syria war—Case of "fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again"?
• Rumour: Syrians In Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack
• Alan Grayson On Syria Strike: 'Nobody Wants This Except The Military-Industrial Complex'
• Stephen Harper: Canada has no plans to join Syria military mission
• Joe Biden's Case That Waging War Without Congress Is an Impeachable Offense—"He took that position after years as a U.S. senator, and taught it during lectures on the separation of powers."
• Lapdog media learns nothing, beats war drums again—"Have we forgotten Judith Miller already? Or Colin Powell at the U.N.? Before attacking Syria, let's know the truth." Salon

NSA Spying

• U.S. spy network's successes, failures and objectives detailed in 'black budget' summary—Documents leaked by Snowdown show they're spending more than they did during the Cold War
• Edward Snowden awarded with German 'whistleblower prize'
• Obama's NSA Panel Is Dead Before It Even Starts, Lacks Tech And Telco Execs
• NSA intimidation expanding surveillance state—"We need protection from intelligence-gathering run amok."
• Charles Stross on why the children of tomorrow are the NSA's biggest nightmare FP

In Syria's Condition; Politics, Republicans, Racism, Vote Machinations, Teh Ghey, Marriage Equality, Church and State, Media; NSA Spying

In Syria's Condition

• Syria resolution dies at U.N., and British lawmakers balk—"The moves are a setback for the U.S. bid to strike Syria militarily for its alleged chemical weapons use."
• Russia sending warships to the Mediterranean: report
• State Dept Admits It Doesn't Know Who Ordered Syria's Chemical Strike
• Obama: 'No decision yet' on Syria
• Why America cannot live without wars

Politics

• Bill Moyers Essay: The End Game for Democracy—"Bill Moyers says the parody and satire of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert pay Washington the disrespect it deserves, but in the end it's the city's predatory mercenaries who have the last laugh."
• The real threat to our way of life? Not terrorists or faraway dictators, but our own politicians and securocrats—"Convinced national security is for ever at risk, western governments mimic the fanaticism they claim to despise."
• Invoking God in America—"The language of civil religion has been invoked to justify every dark chapter in U.S. history, from the slaughter of Native Americans to discrimination and nativism to our periodic military misadventures."
• Welcome to the Age of Denial—"Our society no longer values the integrity of scientific fact and instead embraces pseudo-scientific ignorance such as climate change denial and creationism."
• The Leveraged Buyout of America—"Giant bank holding companies now own airports, toll roads, and ports; control power plants; and store and hoard vast quantities of commodities of all sorts. They are systematically buying up or gaining control of the essential lifelines of the economy. How have they pulled this off, and where have they gotten the money?"

Republicans

• But can the GOP revise the party?—"The reason for that is that many Republican candidates are outside the mainstream on issues like climate change and evolution and contraception and immigration and rape and safety net programs."
• McCain: Republicans Need To Debate The Direction Of The Party
• Embracing misinformation on Obama
• Jack Lew's Debt Ceiling Offer to the GOP: "Nothing"—Their saber-rattling might get them bupkis this time.
• Republicans absent from March on Washington—"Not a single Republican elected official stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday with activists, actors, lawmakers and former presidents invited to mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington — a notable absence for a party seeking to attract the support of minority voters."

Racism

• Maine Town Official Visited By Secret Service For Racially Charged Obama Post—'David Marsters, a retired Massachusetts police officer and a candidate for selectman in Sabattus, Maine, posted a photo of Obama along with a link to a story about a Republican push to impeach the president at 8:17 p.m. Friday, writing 'Shoot the Nigger' above it, according to the newspaper."
• Chris Matthews Unloads: Obama's Critics Are Driven By Racism
• Tea partier at Ted Cruz town hall: 'Canada is not really foreign soil
• Bobby Jindal Claims that GOP Obama Racism is Ok because Democrats Did It To Bush
• DHS employee behind website promoting race war on paid leave
• Woman brutally beaten by group of teens in North Side says attack was 'racially motivated'—More bitches behaving badly.
• Parting And Leaving You With Some Obvious S**t

Vote Machinations

• Govt sues Texas over voter ID law
• North Carolina: Losing the argument
• Colin Powell: Voting restrictions 'are going to backfire' on Republicans
• Conservatives Are Finally Admitting What Voter Suppression Laws Are All About
• Bill Clinton: 'A great democracy does not make it harder to vote than to buy an assault weapon.'

Teh Ghey

• Cory Booker on Gay Rumors: So What Does It Matter If I Am?—His opponent is rather odd himself.
• Republicans Say It's Unfair To Compare Civil Rights To LGBT Rights
• The right's big gay dilemma: A movement divided in 2016—"While Democrats are now united on LGBT rights, Chris Christie and Rand Paul foretell a juicy GOP reckoning in 2016." Salon

Marriage Equality

• N.M. Republican Said Gay Men Should Stop 'Whoring' And Marry Women
• Pa. attorneys: Gay couples are like kids, can't marry
• Marin County GOP breaks ranks, backs gay marriage
• Ousted Illinois Republican chairman hired to lobby on gay marriage bill
• Alabama GOP Won't Remove Member For Supporting Gay Marriage

Church and State

• AL Chief Justice Roy Moore reflects on Ten Commandments removal decade later
• New Jersey rejects 'ATHEIST' vanity plate for being offensive—After the bad press the NJ DMV got, they've reversed their objectionable stance.
• Texas Pastafarian Wins Battle At DMV, Becomes First In U.S. To Wear Colander In License Photo—Ramen.

Media

• 'Vitriolic coverage': Study examines why Fox News viewers hate Obama
• Want to Reduce Polarization? You Need to Improve Political Journalism—"Ideologically extreme members of Congress are more vulnerable to defeat when voters can learn about their in-office activities through traditional media."
• TIME to Americans: You are stupid, vapid, self-absorbed narcissists.

NSA Spying

• As a Democrat, I am disgusted with President Obama—"I voted for Obama reluctantly, but never did I imagine he would become another Richard Nixon."
• Sorry, Obama. There Were No "Other Avenues" for Snowden's Whistle-Blowing.
• NSA Has Been Spying On Members Of Congress For A Long Time
• Voters mad about NSA spying face uphill battle
• The parody shirt the NSA doesn't want you to wear

Syria's Business, War on Terror, Collateral Damage; MLK's I Have a Dream; Surveillance and Privacy, NSA Spying, Whistleblowers

Syria's Business

• US readies intelligence, legal justification for possible military strike against Syria
• Britain will seek UN clearance for military action—"David Cameron says UK will put forward resolution at security council 'authorising necessary measures to protect civilians.'"
• Saudis offer Russia secret oil deal if it drops Syria—"Saudi Arabia has secretly offered Russia a sweeping deal to control the global oil market and safeguard Russia's gas contracts, if the Kremlin backs away from the Assad regime in Syria."
• Hans Blix: Whether Obama in Syria or Bush in Iraq, The US Is Not the World Police
• Remember bogus U.S. excuses for Iraq war before attacking Syria: China's Xinhua
• Syria crisis: Where key countries stand
• Syria military action could lower temperature in U.S. budget battles—How convenient.

War on Terror

• Obama DOJ Asks Court to Grant Immunity to George W. Bush For Iraq War
• CIA Files Prove America Helped Saddam as He Gassed Iran
• As an American, I question the US travel alerts and embassy closures—"We've seen this before where US presidents cite terrorism concerns in an effort to win back public opinion."
• Internal Documents Reveal How the FBI Blew Fort Hood—"Nearly a year before the massacre, the bureau intercepted emails between Nidal Hasan and radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki that officials called 'fairly benign.' They are anything but."
• U.S. Air Force can't find enough people willing to be drone pilots—They're not looking hard enough.
• NYPD designates mosques as terrorism organizations
• Blast from the Past: Das Boot: The Unsinkable Warmonger—"After the way they goaded us into an epic military disaster, why do media warmongers still have jobs?"

Collateral Damage

• Court Rejects Military Contractor's Attempt to Avoid Trial for Human Trafficking
• Guantanamo Bay Prisoner: Guards Withhold Food When I Meet With Lawyer
• Hindu Man Describes Mistreatment After False-Positive Hand Swab
• Troubled veterans may suffer from something other than PTSD
• No, thanks: Stop saying "support the troops"—"Compulsory patriotism does nothing for soldiers who risk their lives -- but props up those who profit from war." Salon

MLK's I Have a Dream

• US marks Martin Luther King 'I have a dream' speech
• Thousands turn out at march, rally honoring MLK's legacy, organizers say
• Those Who Marched On Washington 50 Years Ago Reflect On MLK's Legacy
• Obama To Outline Unfinished Work, Decades After King's Dream
• The Misremembering of 'I Have a Dream'—"Fifty years after the March on Washington, Dr. King’s most famous speech, like his own political legacy, is widely misunderstood."

Surveillance and Privacy

• The Dark Side of "I Have a Dream": The FBI's War on Martin Luther King—"MLK.'s historic speech represented a high point in US history—and intensified J. Edgar Hoover's ugly covert crusade against the civil rights leader."
• Holder pressed on U.S. drug agency use of hidden data evidence—"Eight Democratic senators and congressmen have asked Attorney General Eric Holder to answer questions about a Reuters report that the National Security Agency supplies the Drug Enforcement Administration with intelligence information used to make non-terrorism cases against American citizens."
• Ohio Started Using Driver's License Photos for Facial Recognition Software Two Months Ago Without Informing the Public
• Government requests to Facebook outlined in report—"Governments around the world requested information on about 38,000 Facebook users in the first six months of 2013."
• Just Because I Value Privacy Doesn't Mean I Have Something to Hide

NSA Spying

• Greenwald: Ongoing NSA work—"Anti-journalism journalists, US/UK attacks on press freedom, and candidate Obama on non-authorized military attacks."
• In ACLU lawsuit, scientist demolishes NSA's "It's just metadata" excuse—"The power of metadata: Addiction, sex, and accusations can all be discovered."
• NSA surveillance program violates the constitution, ACLU says—"In a detailed court motion filed Monday as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the NSA, ACLU says program has 'chilling effect.'"

• Yes, Greenwald is a journalist—"The First Amendment doesn't discriminate against being anti-establishment, activist or working for a foreign outlet." Salon
• Terrifying expansion of the definition of terrorism—"[A]nyone who opposes the extension of state power is a terrorist."

Whistleblowers

• Obama administration asks court to force NYT reporter to reveal source—"Previous ruling said reporters have no privilege to safeguard confidentiality leaving Risen to reveal his source or go to jail."
• War on Leaks Is Pitting Journalist vs. Journalist—With shills like Toobin and Grunwald, who needs enemies? NYT
• FBI whistleblower says he was fired for reporting sexual misconduct

Bill of Health, Obamacare, Shutdown Showdown; Immunization; Smoking; Medical Marijuana, War on Drugs; Healthscare; Psychology; NSA Spying

Bill of Health

• Bamboozled: Life-saving transplant denied, health insurance canceled over 26-cent shortfall—Fortunately in the end, the "Department of Labor said the company will reinstate him from May till now."
• How to Charge $546 for Six Liters of Saltwater—"Exploring saline's secret costs." NYT
• Merchants of Meth: How Big Pharma Keeps the Cooks in Business—"With big profits on the line, the drug industry is pulling out campaign-style dirty tricks to keep selling the meds that cooks turn into crank."
• Florida Pharmacists Win $597 Million Blowing Whistle on Scheme
• Man robs bank of $1, sits and waits for cops

Obamacare

• Newt to GOP: We've got a problem—"I will bet you, for most of you, you go home in the next two weeks when your members of Congress are home, and you look them in the eye and you say, 'What is your positive replacement for Obamacare?' They will have zero answer."
• Crowd Calls 'Bullsh*t!' On GOP Congressman's Obamacare Lies
• Ken Cuccinelli : 'Human beings will adjust'—To the loss of Obamacare and the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.
• UPS won't insure spouses of many employees—"UPS will follow thousands of other companies this fall in ending health insurance coverage of employees' spouses if they can get coverage elsewhere."
• 'Obamacare' enforcement measures help set $4.2 billion record in recovered fraudulent Medicare charges last year
• Ex-GOP Operative’s Cancer Struggles Make Him An Obamacare Supporter
• Krugman: One Reform Indivisible NYT

Shutdown Showdown

• New Conservative Plan: Repeal Obamacare or We'll Default on the National Debt
• More than a third of House Republicans prefer a government shutdown over implementing Obamacare
• Conservatives Revolt As GOP Tries To Calm Obamacare Shutdown Mania
• Tea party groups to target skeptical GOP senators on defunding Obamacare
• Eugene Robinson: GOP in Fantasyland—"The make-believe crusade by publicity-hound Republicans to somehow stop Obamacare is one of the most cynical political exercises we’ve seen in many years. And that, my friends, is saying something."

Immunization

• Decision to close immunization clinics shows Bloomberg administration's ill will
• Australia: Labor to cut tax benefit for parents who don't immunise children
• Texas Megachurch Changes Vaccination Stance After Outbreak

Smoking

• Doctors Asked to Counsel Teens About the Dangers of Smoking
• Pensioner campaigns to stop smoking outside hospital
• Bert Fish Medical Center: Smokers need not apply
• Smoking ban erodes Sun’s gaming profit
• Ban E-Cigarettes? The Anti-Smoking Lobby's Clueless Crusade

Medical Marijuana

• Holder Asked To Testify On Marijuana Legalization Before Senate Committee
• Obama Does Not Support Changes To Medical Marijuana Laws 'At This Point,' White House Says
• Leaked: Cops Obtain 'Confidential' Colorado MMJ Patient Registry—"Participants in Colorado's medical marijuana program were shocked this week to discover that, according to a June 2013 investigation by the State Auditor's Office, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CODPHE) had leaked confidential patient and caregiver information to law enforcement officials."
• Marijuana: DEA Bans Armored Cars From Picking up Pot Shop Cash
• In marijuana policy, the confusing smoke signals continue to burn—"In a city that hosts a pot expo, Tony Jalali thought renting space to medical marijuana outlets was perfectly legal. Guess again."

War on Drugs

• Canada's police chiefs suggest tickets, not charges, for pot possession
• Drug addiction not a criminal issue, says chief medical officer—""Sally Davies says drug addiction should be seen as a medical problem and admits eating hash cookies at university."
• Mother Wins Settlement after Child Welfare took away her Baby because she ate Poppy Seeds in Pasta Dressing

Healthscare

• Vegetarian diagnosed with Mad Cow Disease and told he has just months to live—"Doctors believe the illness – which can lie dormant for years – came from beef he ate before safety laws changed."
• UC Davis surgeons resign after bacteria-in-brain dispute—"Two UC Davis neurosurgeons who intentionally infected three brain-cancer patients with bowel bacteria have resigned their posts.... All three patients consented to the procedures in 2010 and 2011. Two of the patients died within weeks of their surgeries, while the other survived more than a year after being infected."
• US behavioural research studies skew positive—"US behavioural researchers have been handed a dubious distinction — they are more likely than their colleagues in other parts of the world to exaggerate findings...."

Psychology

• Psychotherapy Lags as Evidence Goes Unheeded
• Soft Drinks Consumption Is Associated with Behavior Problems in 5-Year-Olds
• LSD And Other Psychedelics Not Linked with Mental Health Problems

NSA Spying

• UN says it will contact Washington over NSA spying report
• NSA leaks: David Cameron's response is intimidation, says world press body—"World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers tells the UK government its actions could threaten press freedom."
• NSA and GCHQ: the flawed psychology of government mass surveillance—"Research shows that indiscriminate monitoring fosters distrust, conformity and mediocrity."
• NSA row: Merkel rival threatens to suspend EU-US trade talks—"Peer Steinbrück says he will delay negotiations until US comes clean on bugging of German government offices."
• NSA: Listening to everyone — except oversight

Microsoft; Facebook; News You Can Lose; Cable Wars; Copyfight; Privacy; Trolling and Tough Guys; Aaron Swartz; Censorship; NSA Spying

Microsoft

• Steve Ballmer to retire as Microsoft CEO
• Why Steve Ballmer Failed—He calls the development of Microsoft Vista the biggest regret of his tenure.
• Pogue: How Ballmer Missed the Tidal Shifts in Tech NYT
• If Steve Ballmer Ran Apple—To the ground, creativity- and innovation-wise that is.
• The Poisonous Employee-Ranking System That Helps Explain Microsoft's Decline

Facebook

• Facebook use 'makes people feel worse about themselves'
• Florida fraternity censured, loses national charter over Facebook posts
• Using Facebook is about to get a lot more annoying
• Addicted to Facebook? Try Shock Therapy
• Hacker posts bug report to Zuck's wall after security team blew him off—"Facebook refuses to pay $500 to hacker who reported bug because he 'violated the TOS.'" Because of that, the Palestinian programmer received $10,000 from the community.

News You Can Lose

• Extra, Extra! Newspaper Crisis Hits Germany—"It came to Germany almost a decade later than America, but the newspaper crisis is sweeping the country, with plummeting circulations and revenues. The German news media must reinvent itself in order to retain readers."
• SF Chronicle Releases Statement Confirming That All Chron Content Is No Longer Behind A Paywall
• Craigslist has cost U.S. newspapers $5 billion—And saved users $5 billion.

Cable Wars

• Kevin Spacey urges TV channels to give control to viewers—"Give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price, and they'll more likely pay for it rather than steal it."
• Americans are starting to cut the cable TV cord, and here’s what it looks like
• Time Warner Cable Sued Over CBS Blackout
• Time Warner Cable offers antenna to customers who want CBS
• Apple reportedly blows off cable companies, talks directly with HBO, ESPN for iTV service

Copyfight

• SOPA Has Returned, Time to Kill it Again
• Cross a border, lose your ebooks—Ones that were legally bought.
• Newest YouTube user to fight a takedown is copyright guru Lawrence Lessig—"EFF has filed a second lawsuit over a "bogus" takedown, hoping for better results."
• Reddit's gay gamers knock out "gaymer" trademark
• Getty Just Made 4,600 Incredible Images Free to Download and Use

Privacy

• Geek Squad Accused Of Stealing, Distributing Customer's Naked Photos. Yes, Again
• Comcast letter said to confirm that Prenda, Steele planted porn torrents—"Hard to claim copyright infringement if you create and seed the torrent."
• Webcam spying goes mainstream as Miss Teen USA describes hack
• Report: Teens Actually Do Care About Online Privacy
• 'Boyfriend Tracker' app raises stir in Brazil
• Paysafecard Begins Banning VPN Providers

Trolling and Tough Guys

• Huffington: Trolls uglier than ever, so we're cutting off anonymous comments
• Dear Internet Tough Guys: Cut it out—"The plague of ridiculous "do you know who I am" threats has to stop." Salon
• BioWare writer received death threats to family—More Internet fuckwads.
• "ebayisajoke" BUSTED By Fox2 News HALL OF SHAME Rob Wolchek
• Comment threads? They're a fight to the death. Look, you know I'm right—"The reason why we can't quite let go of those online arguments turns out to have psychological roots that go a long way back. Don't argue, just read."

Aaron Swartz

• DOJ Decided To Ratchet Up Case Against Aaron Swartz Because He Spoke Out Publicly About Being Innocent—And that the "Internet community rallied on his behalf."
• Documents show Secret Service kept tab of Swartz
• Changing IP address to access public website ruled violation of US law—"CFAA forbids easy method of evading IP blocking used by 3taps (and Aaron Swartz)."

Censorship

• British Library's wi-fi service blocks 'violent' Hamlet—"A man using the British Library's wi-fi network was denied access to an online version of Shakespeare's Hamlet because the text contained 'violent content.'"
• Wikipedia Co-Founder Refuses to Comply With China's Censorship—And China retaliates with grounding Wikipedia's China editor until 2016.
• Finnish Court Censors Website That Criticizes Censorship
• Web-based apps pose tricky problem for Saudi monitors—"Saudi Arabia is seeking to tighten control over web-based applications that offer a freedom to communicate that is impossible for most Saudis in the real world, and may even seek to ban such apps altogether."
• On Day of Suicide, Blogger Launches Site About His Life and Death—And the increasingly irrelevant Yahoo takes the pre-paid site down, claims TOS breach.

NSA Spying

• Obama Was Wrong: NSA Employees Have Deliberately "Abused" Their Power
• Corker: Congress in the dark on NSA—"The American people want to know that those of us who are elected... understand fully what's happening here. I don't think we do. [...] I would imagine there are even members of the [congressional] intelligence committee themselves that don't fully understand the gamut of things that are taking place."
• Matt Damon: Snowden did a great thing
• Former Salt Lake mayor: NSA snooping is the scandal of the century
• NSA hacked into encrypted UN communications, leaked documents show
• How to Decode the True Meaning of What NSA Officials Say—"A lexicon for understanding the words U.S. intelligence officials use to mislead the public."
• A Guide To The Latest Flurry Of NSA Revelations
• NSA Snooping Was Only the Beginning. Meet the Spy Chief Leading Us Into Cyberwar

Church and State, Law and Disorder, On Bad Faith, Sex Abuse Scandals, Extremists, Marriage Equality, Religion, Peas and Christ

Church and State

• North Carolina, Your Anti-Sharia Law Takes the Cake
• Priest to legislators: I will campaign against you from church
• Yglesias: We Should Be Taxing Churches—They're getting $82.5 billion a year.
• Separation Of Church, State Is An Alien Concept To Islam
• Obama administration backs prayer at local government meetings—"In a potentially far-reaching case on separation of church and state, the Obama administration and Republican lawmakers tell the Supreme Court they support easing limits on prayers at meetings."
• Feds say OK to atheists on religion tax break—"'We are not a church,' atheists say. Government lawyers disagree, saying atheist leaders can be considered ministers."
• Blast from the Past: It's the End of the World as We Know It: Celestia—"By deeding the land, essentially, to God, Celestia was unique in its time period." It was "intended the land to be considered sacred, thus not subject to property tax. Unfortunately, the Sullivan County government disagreed with this idea."

Law and Disorder

• Hackney woman told to remove burka by crown court judge—"The 21-year-old from Hackney, who is charged with intimidating a witness, said she could not remove the veil in front of men because of her religion. Judge Peter Murphy said however, she could not stand trial in the veil, which only reveals her eyes, because her identity could not be confirmed."
• Atheist Parolee Finally Sees Justice After Being Sent Back to Prison for Refusing a Religious Drug Treatment Program
• Cocke County judge orders 7-month-old's name changed from 'Messiah'

On Bad Faith

• Judge won't drop murder charge against Pa. faith-healing parents; victim was 2nd child to die
• Ohio hospital: Force Amish girl to have chemo
• Pentecostal Minister Convinces HIV Patient To Refuse Medicine, Leading Him To His Death Bed

Sex Abuse Scandals

• Cardinal Keith O'Brien 'blocked church sex abuse report', says archbishop
• Michigan appeals court: Pastors don't have to report child abuse—"A western Michigan pastor who was told about suspected child abuse can't be prosecuted for failing to report it, the state appeals court said today, citing a law that gives clergy protection in cases dealing with confidential information."
• Gordon Leighton: Jehovah's Witness whose child abuse was covered up by church elders is jailed—"He broke down and admitted the abuse to three church elders but they refused to co-operate with a police probe, a court heard."
• Priest draws 8-year prison sentence for molesting a girl
• Southwest Houston church reeling from pastor's sex abuse arrest

Extremists

• Police In Zanzibar Shoot Radical Imam Wanted In Acid Attack On Two British Women—"A radical Muslim preacher wanted for questioning over the acid attack on two British tourists in Zanzibar was shot on Saturday night as he fled police trying to arrest him."
• Muslim Brotherhood leader Gomaa Amin is in hiding in London—"The new spiritual leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is living in hiding in London in fear of state-sponsored assassination, it can be disclosed."
• Nigerian Islamists accused of cutting throats of 44 villagers—"Official says attackers gouged out eyes of some survivors of raid on Dumba village."
• Mustache elicits Taliban death threats—"Even being kidnapped and exiled by militants hasn't scared Malik Afridi into shaving his impressive bristles." Salon
• Danish Muslim leader regrets role in cartoon rage—"A Danish Muslim leader who seven years ago traveled the Muslim world fueling the uproar over newspaper caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad is back in the headlines in Denmark after doing an about-face on the issue."

Marriage Equality

• A Conservative Catholic Now Backs Same-Sex Marriage—"Joseph Bottum, in an essay in Commonweal magazine, writes about his change of heart on the issue, citing the 'natural law' theology of Thomas Aquinas." NYT
• Churches changing bylaws after gay marriage ruling
• After same-sex couple victory in Collegedale, church ousts gay detective's family
• Mexican politician says gay people should not be allowed to marry because 'they don't face each other during sex'—"'A marriage should only be considered amongst people that can look at each other in the eye while having sexual intercourse,' Jiménez Ortiz said."
• NZ holds its first same-sex weddings

Religion

• Rowan Williams tells 'persecuted' western Christians to grow up—"Former archbishop of Canterbury says UK and US Christians exaggerate 'mild discomfort', and gay friends may feel let down."
• New meta-analysis checks the correlation between intelligence and faith
• Andrew Sullivan: This Extraordinary Pope

Peas and Christ

• 'Monkey Christ' fresco boosts tourism
• Worker struck by lightning while operating Creation Museum zip line attraction
• Lion Attacks an Intruder in Its Den at Taipei Zoo—"A lion attacked a man who jumped into its zoo enclosure here Wednesday and shouted, 'Jesus will save you!' at the animal, an eyewitness said."
• People pray at tree outside St. Johns Cathedral in Fresno, California, say tree weeps God's tears—"Experts: Tree drips with bug excrement, not tears."
• Kenyan lawyer looks to sue Israel over Jesus' death

Workers and Wage Slaves, Minimum Wage, Wal-Mart; Economy; Wall Street, Accountability, Housing; Class War; NSA Spying, Your Rights Online

Workers and Wage Slaves

• Fast-food workers call for nationwide walkout Aug. 29
• Elderly More Likely to Be Employed Than Teens WSJ
• Abracadabra, You're a Part-Timer: How Corporate America Used the Great Recession to Turn Good Jobs Into Bad Ones
• BofA intern dies after reportedly working 3 straight days—"A 21-year-old intern who worked grueling hours at Bank of America's London office died just a week before his internship was to conclude."
• Plutocrats' New Pitch: Let Us Rob You Now So You Can Plan Ahead for Poverty—"Pete Peterson & Co. kindly want to take your Social Security away to prevent you from imagining a dignified future."
• How Much You Should Save for Retirement, Based on 139 Years of Data
• Flipside: Ad agency gives workers 500 paid hours to pursue passions

Minimum Wage

• Study: Welfare pays more than minimum wage in most states
• How low can you get: the minimum wage scam—"Wonder why benefit spending is rising? Simple: corporations get away with crappy wages, so government has to make up the rest."
• Campaign seeks to push Seattle minimum wage to $15
• Ex-McDonald's CEO: Raising The Minimum Wage To $15 Would 'Absolutely' Kill Jobs
• Cyprus: President pledges a 'Guaranteed Minimum Income—Phasing out welfare.

Wal-Mart

• Why I'm standing up to Wal-Mart—"For six years, I worked for the company. But when I decided to strike, they fired me. Now I'm firing back." Salon
• No, Walmart doesn't create jobs
• Walmart 'Suspends' 10 Workers For Taking 5 Minute Break In 90+ Degree Weather
• Walmart's Latest 'Buy America' Sham—"In a way, Walmart's Buy America program represents the home stretch of the economic transformation the company set in motion decades ago."
• Flipside: Meet the Low-Key, Low-Cost Grocery Chain Being Called 'Walmart's Worst Nightmare'

Economy

• Dems have an ace in the hole in coming battle—""Republicans will face a fundamental question. Do they care more about preventing deep cuts to defense, or protecting special interest tax breaks for big oil companies and hedge fund managers?"
• Reich: Here's Why America Stopped Caring About The Public Good
• Prisons, Post Offices and Public Schools: Some Things Should Not Be For Profit
• The CIA Is Closing the Office That Declassifies Historical Documents—Another victim of sequestration.
• Texas Converts 80 Miles Of Paved Road To Gravel Thanks To Lack Of Funds

Wall Street

• Lobbyist Secretly Wrote House Dems' Letter Urging Weaker Investor Protections—"Thirty-two liberal Democrats signed onto a letter drafted by a financial-industry lobbyist that aims to block protections for millions of Americans' retirement accounts."
• Congressman Doesn’t Believe White Collar Crime On Wall Street Exists—"Well first of all, for a criminal practice there has to be a gun. It’s pretty simple."
• Obama Presses Regulators to Finish Financial Rules—"Meeting at the White House Comes as Many Dodd-Frank Measures Still Not in Place." WSJ
• A mayor who puts Wall Street first—Bloomberg the billionaire. NYT
• Why Wall Street & Co. Will Do Anything to Stop Eliot Spitzer from Championing the Public Interest
• Secrets of a former high speed trader—"High speed trader turned whistleblower David Lauer explains why he left the industry and how certain practices at computerized trading firms negatively affect the markets."
• Goldman Sachs banker charged with rape in New York state

Accountability

• Greg Palast: The Confidential Memo at the Heart of the Global Financial Crisis
• The Great Bubble Era Was Caused by Financial Deregulation, Not Easy Money
• The SEC is now demanding that companies admit wrongdoing. That's a big deal.—"For certain violations, the agency would no longer allow financial institutions to simply pay a fine without admitting wrongdoing (also known as a 'nolo contendere' plea)."
• Ex-JPMorgan Traders First Charged in $6.2 Billion Loss—"Two former JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) employees were charged by federal prosecutors with attempting to conceal trading losses at the largest U.S. bank last year as part of a probe of its $6.2 billion loss on derivatives bets."
• JP Morgan in US probe over links to influential Chinese—"US authorities are investigating investment bank JP Morgan over claims it hired children of influential Chinese officials [NYT] to gain business."

Housing

• Eric Holder Owes the American People an Apology—"The Justice Department made a long-overdue disclosure late Friday: Last year when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder boasted about the successes that a high-profile task force racked up pursuing mortgage fraud, the numbers he trumpeted were grossly overstated."
• Elizabeth Warren says mortgage settlement too lax on banks
• Unsealed court-settlement documents reveal banks stole $trillions' worth of houses
• New Fraud Evidence Shows Trillions of Dollars in Mortgages have No Owner
• Bank of America Employees We Were Told To LIE To Struggling Home Owners
• Denver family evicted after mom murdered—"Federal housing officials are condemning a decision by the Denver Housing Authority to evict the relatives of a mother killed by a rampaging gunman three days after her slaying, saying there is room for compassion in federal law."
• Why the 30-Year Mortgage Could Be Coming to an End

Class War

• Does Wealth Breed Narcissism: The New 'Mirror, Mirror on the Wall' Study
• Girl parks Maserati in middle of the road, says those who complain are just jealous
• Upper West Side condo has separate entrances for rich and poor

NSA Spying

• The NSA is losing the benefit of the doubt
• New York Times Partnering With Guardian On Snowden Reporting
• Snowden suspected of bypassing electronic logs—Making it very difficult for the NSA to determine what and how much he has taken.
• NSA Officers Sometimes Spy on Love Interests—"The practice isn’t frequent — one official estimated a handful of cases in the last decade — but it’s common enough to garner its own spycraft label: LOVEINT." And a movie!
• Lawmakers Probe Willful Abuses of Power by NSA Analysts—And are any of these lawbreakers going to jail?
• Why Nobody Cares About the Surveillance State—"When you've been groped by the TSA, what's a little NSA spying?" All part of the program to stamp out dissent.
• Three Illusory "Investigations" of the NSA Spying Are Unable to Succeed
• The More Likely Reason for Spying: It's For Protecting the Profits of the Oligarchs—And the Corporatocracy.

Your Rights Online

• Schneier: U.S. enables Chinese hacking of Google—"In order to comply with government search warrants on user data, Google created a backdoor access system into Gmail accounts. This feature is what the Chinese hackers exploited to gain access."
• Julian Assange: Google and the NSA—"Google is not only getting paid by the U.S. Government to provide them with surveillance information, it is more or less an arm of the U.S. State Department. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange explains."
• Why NSA Snooping Is Bigger Deal in Germany
• New Zealand appears to have used NSA spy network to target Kim Dotcom—"'Everything goes into the US-based spy cloud,' Kim Dotcom tells Ars."
• NSA paid millions to cover Prism compliance costs for tech companies
• Obama pick for NSA review panel wanted paid, pro-government shills in chat rooms—There's definitely for astroturfing activity going on in forums and comment sections.
• justdelete.me—"A directory of direct links to delete your account from web services."

Gender in Politics, Sexism; Abortion and Birth Control, Sexcrime; Middle East; Girls; India, Rape Culture; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

Gender in Politics

• Rick Perry Vetoed Texas Equal Pay Bill Under Pressure From Macy's, Kroger
• GOP Super PAC's idea for fun and fundraising: 'Slap Hillary' game
• Why you shouldn't underestimate Elizabeth Warren
• Why Wendy Davis should run for governor of Texas—Hope to see more of her.
• Erick Erickson calls Wendy Davis an "abortion Barbie"—"The conservative commentator just may have something to do with his party's 'woman problem.'"
• Clear Channel pulls ads for women's health clinic, calls them "indecent" Salon
• Filner: I Never Received Sex Harassment Training, So City May Be Liable—Hooters even blackballed this guy who finally resigned.

Sexism

• Sexed up and smart: Women debate Marissa Mayer's Vogue photo
• Hobbs CEO: 'Women prefer a male boss because female leaders lack personality'
• I understood gender discrimination once I added "Mr." to my resume and landed a job

Abortion and Birth Control

• Fetal pain is a lie: How phony science took over the abortion debate—"New laws banning abortion after 20 weeks are based on pseudoscience -- and real research proves it conclusively." Salon
• Federal judge blocks new Wisconsin abortion law
• Judge blocks new Oklahoma law that restricts women's access to morning-after pill
• Susan B. Anthony List Petitions Supreme Court for Right to Lie in Political Ads—"The anti-choice group wants the Supreme Court to strike an Ohio law that prevents lying in political ads, claiming it's a violation of their political speech rights."
• Undercover footage reveals more crazy "crisis pregnancy center" lies—""'If you have an abortion, you will see that child's soul again in the future,' said one counselor." Salon

Sexcrime

• Virginia governor GOP candidate Ken Cuccinelli launches website that pushes for reinstatement of state's anti-sodomy law
• Ken Cuccinelli's Sodomy Obsession
• O'Donnell Talks A Lot About Sodomy And Oral/Anal Sex And… You Know What? Just Watch

Middle East

• Iran's President Nominates Female Vice President
• Pakistan ex-leader Musharraf charged over Bhutto murder
• Afghanistan: MP Fariba Ahmadi Kakar abducted in Ghazni

Girls

• 'Some girls have been married 60 times by the time they turn 18'
• Girls escape forced marriage by concealing spoons in clothing to set off metal detectors at the airport
• Indonesian city to require female schoolgirls to pass virginity test—"The virginity test, a response to the high rate of 'adultery' and 'prostitution' among female students, is slated to start next year."
• Judge calls victim, 13, a 'sexual predator': Outcry as 41-year-old man walks free after admitting sex with girl—The judge has been kicked off similar cases.
• Rescued children shouldn't be in handcuffs—"Treating a child as an offender breeds mistrust in a legal system that ought to protect him or her, and traffickers and pimps exploit this, threatening their victims with arrest and criminal records if they try to seek help."

India

• 11-year-old set on fire for resisting rape dies in Kolkata
• Indian youth killed after stopping attempted rape of sisters
• India rape: Police hunt attacker of 7-year-old
• Female photographer, 23, gang raped in Mumbai
• India sexual harassment: American student shares horrific experiences—"American college student Michaela Cross says she was relentlessly sexually harassed while studying in India. Her story reverberated online."
• Asaram Bapu booked for sexual abuse—Same guy who said that "the Delhi gangrape victim could have saved herself by addressing her violators as brothers and asking for mercy."
• Meet India's Red Brigade: The teens fighting back against rape

Rape Culture

• Twitter Apologizes To Victims Of Online Abuse, Updates Its Policy For Reporting Rape Threats
• Mark Millar on The Use of Rape in His Comics: "I Don't Think It Really Matters"
• Rape Victim Sues State Of Massachusetts To Prevent Rapist Request for Visitation with Child
• Virginia city's rape policy was 'Assume the victim is lying' until last week—Tricky balance considering that there are those who have lied.
• USC Mislabels Sexual Assault To Keep Crime Numbers Low, Clery Complaint Says

NSA Spying

• Snowden: UK government now leaking documents about itself—"The NSA whistleblower says: 'I have never spoken with, worked with, or provided any journalistic materials to the Independent.'" The paper attributed to Snowden a leak regarding the UK's secret Middle East internet surveillance base.
• Daniel Ellsberg: NSA leaker Snowden made the right call
• Obama: No Allegations NSA Is Trying to 'Listen in On People's Email'
• Obama's "outside experts" surveillance review panel has deep ties to gov't
• Saying Boo To A Ghost: It's No Secret Why Congress Fears Crossing The NSA
• NSA promises transparency by launching new Tumblr blog
• Lavabit founder: 'My own tax dollars are being used to spy on me'—"Since shuttering his email service, which was used by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, Ladar Levison has been stuck in a Kafkaesque legal battle – and that's about all he can say."
• NSA domestic spying: Mathematicians should speak out

Surveillance and Privacy

• The Real, Terrifying Reason Why British Authorities Detained David Miranda—"The scariest explanation of all? That the NSA and GCHQ are just showing they don't want to be messed with."
• German government denies Windows 'back door' claims
• NZ police affidavits show use of PRISM for surveillance