Workers and Wage Slaves, Black-Eye Friday, Walmart; Minimum Wage, Poor; Financial Shenanigans; Economy; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy, Your Rights Online

Workers and Wage Slaves

• Sorry, Folks, Rich People Actually Don't 'Create The Jobs'
• IRS To Count Automatic Gratuities As Wages, Not Tips
• Interns who sued now can't find jobs
• I Tried to See Where My T-Shirt Was Made, and the Factory Sent Thugs After Me
• The Workers Who Bring You Black Friday—"My life as a temp in California's Inland Empire, the belly of the online shopping beast."

Black-Eye Friday

• Several injured as retailers open doors earlier than ever on Thanksgiving, sparking brawls between bargain hunters nationwide
• NBPD confirm woman trampled at Wal-Mart
• Infant left in car at Waterford Lakes while parents shopped
• Black Friday 2013 Kohl's shooting charges filed
• #WalmartFights is the Surefire Way to Destroy Your Faith in Humanity
• Black Friday Turns Dark as Twitter, Websites Track Injuries, Fights, Deaths
• Black Friday 'Doorbusters' Don't Always Hold Up—"Many Black Friday bargains were available at lower prices at other times of the year, an analysis of this year's deals found." WSJ

Walmart

• Activists Are Arrested Protesting Walmart's Low Wages
• Senators blast Wal-Mart "trampling" workers' rights as dozens of activists are arrested on Black Friday Salon
• Sen. Grayson: Wal-Mart arrests could fuel "a new political movement of the disenfranchised" Salon
• Wal-Mart's bizarre self-defense: Retailer defends activists' firings to Salon—"What's the difference between punishment for striking, and punishment for 'attendance'? Corporate semantics." Salon
• Debunking Wal-Mart's latest lie: "Unions paid $50 to anyone who protested" Salon

Minimum Wage

• A Conservative Millionaire's Quest to Raise California's Minimum Wage to $12 an Hour
• Push for minimum wage hike led by localities, Democrats WaPo
• Secretary Of Labor Says Raising Minimum Wage Will Grow Economy

Poor

• This Is Why Poor People's Bad Decisions Make Perfect Sense
• Why Do Poor People 'Waste' Money On Luxury Goods?
• Democratic Hawaii lawmaker pounded for taking sledgehammer to homelessness
• Offers of support flood in for N.J. man who lost his benefits after good deed
• Research Finds Outright Grants of Cash Are Surprisingly Effective Form of Aid to the Poor

Financial Shenanigans

• Under cover of Thanksgiving, SEC postpones "final" lobbying ethics rule
• How Wall Street Has Turned Housing Into a Dangerous Get-Rich-Quick Scheme—Again—"Hedge funds and private equity firms have quietly bought 200,000 cheap, mostly foreclosed houses in cities hardest hit by the economic meltdown."
• Mortgages Without Risk, at Least for the Banks—"A part of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law is being challenged by a coalition that wants to drop risk retention for mortgage loans." NYT
• RBS accused of pushing small businesses to the edge to boost profits—"Dossier claims business assets were seized cheaply amid call to end turnaround arm's 'conflict of interests.'"
• Cayman Islands agrees to report US citizens' offshore assets under controversial law

Economy

• Do-Nothing Congress Dithers on Budget as Deadline Nears
• We're Not Broke — We've Been Robbed—"Slashing government spending now is just going to make our nation poorer."
• Is Capitalism in Trouble?—"CEOs are growing nervous. Can they help save our system from its worst excesses?"
• Crisis in America: a crumbling infrastructure—"America gets a D+ for its crumbling roads, bridges, other infrastructure. The Transport Secretary is calling for a gas tax to help pick up the tab."
• New tax law driving expats to renounce U.S. citizenship—What is FATCA?

NSA Spying

• BBC HARDtalk interview with Glenn Greenwald
• Could Your Embarrassing Porn Habits Be Used Against You by the NSA?
• Wall Street Journal Columnist Repeatedly Gets His Facts Wrong About NSA Surveillance
• Microsoft, Yahoo Upgrades Shows Snowden Won, Obama Failed
• Techies Vs. NSA: Encryption Arms Race Escalates
• Judge Suspends Sentencing Of Would-Be Bomber After NSA Revelations
• NSA Spying Risks $35 Billion in U.S. Technology Sales

Surveillance and Privacy

• New Snowden docs show U.S. spied during G20 in Toronto
• Obama's overhaul of spy programs cloaked in more secrecy
• The FBI's Digital Surveillance Might Be More Wide-Ranging Than the NSA's (Or, Delegating the Spying)
• Obama's Justice Department asks court to keep key spy opinion secret—"The Obama administration should be permitted to keep a legal opinion secret that allows the FBI to obtain certain telephone records without any formal legal process, a Justice Department lawyer told a U.S. appeals court Tuesday."
• Disabled woman denied entry to U.S. after agent cites supposedly private medical details—"A Toronto woman is shocked after she was denied entry into the U.S. because she had been hospitalized for clinical depression."

Your Rights Online

• Vietnam announces fines for citizens who criticize the government on social media
• Dutch intelligence agency AIVD hacks internet fora
• Canada: Feds seeking firm to 'continuously' monitor tweets, Facebook posts

Family, Feud; Relationships, Sex; Parenthood; Exes; Missing

Family

• The Changing American Family—"Same-sex parents. Cohabiting couples. Voluntary kin. Children with parents in prison. Immigrant-Americans. What we thought of as the typical American family is being rapidly redefined. It is more diverse than it was even half a year ago." NYT
• Brazilian Mother Names All 15 of Her Children 'Walter'
• McDonald brothers team up with Pats—"[W]hat makes the McDonald brothers' story special is that they are now reunited after being adopted by separate families as teenagers."
• Glenview couple reflects on 15 years as foster parents to teens
• Mike Rowe narrates a family gathering

Feud

• Ohio man, 92, allowed to buy back his home after his own daughter tried to evict him —Scumbag daughter.
• Judge allows Colorado soldier's defense of citing twin as potential suspect
• Mo' Money, Mo' Problems—"My husband is young, rich, and retired—and it's driving me nuts."
• Man Successfully Sues Wife Over Ugly Children and Judge Orders Wife to Pay $120,000
• The Secret of La Chancla

Relationships

• Can't Buy Me Love: How Romance Wrecked Traditional Marriage
• Millions shop for a spouse...and much more: Bare branches
• Online dating users more open to interracial relationships, study finds

Sex

• How Disney Ruined Sex For Everyone
• Modern life 'turning people off sex'
• What is the average number of sexual partners for men and women in the UK?
• Why have young people in Japan stopped having sex?—"What happens to a country when its young people stop having sex?" Or have they?
• Women less likely to achieve orgasm during casual sex

Parenthood

• Make fatherhood a man's choice!—"The burden of pregnancy will never be fair. Child support can be -- but men need to have a chance to opt out." Salon
• Custody Battle Raises Questions About the Rights of Women—"After a brief affair with the skier Bode Miller left her pregnant, a former firefighter moved across the country, prompting a battle over parental rights and legal jurisdiction." NYT
• Kansas judge hears arguments in case of sperm donor sued for child support
• Mother can have dead son's sperm harvested, Texas judge rules
• Sperm-donor children: Finding your biological father

Exes

• Man throws away $500K in gold to spite ex-wife—"A Colorado man was so angry at his ex-wife for divorcing him that he had the couple's life savings of $500,000 converted to gold — then tossed it in a dumpster so she couldn't have any of it...."
• Man buys house next to ex-wife, erects giant middle finger statue
• Tiny House Divorced Woman Built for 'Spite' Turns Massive Profit

Missing

• For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of World War II
• Father and son missing for 40 years after Vietnam War found in forest
• Missing woman found 52 years later living with new family 1,000 miles away

Take Back Thanksgiving; Customer Ain't Always Right; Consumer Protection; Bad Company; Dealerships; Unfriendly Skies; Obamacare, Healthcare.gov

Take Back Thanksgiving

• The War on Thanksgiving—"The right always whines about its contrived war on Christmas. But this year, the real assault is on Thanksgiving, when retail stores will be open—depriving thousands of their holiday."
• Man says he was fired for refusing to work Thanksgiving—Pizza Hut corporate, superceding the franchise, offered his job back if he wanted it.
• Don't Go Shopping on Thanksgiving
• Wal-Mart Workers Have Little To Be Thankful For This Black Friday
• Maryland Judge bars protesters from Walmart—"Order would block Black Friday demonstrations." Also in Florida.

Customer Ain't Always Right

• How To Not Be An Asshole Customer At A Restaurant
• Thousands defend Wegmans employee with Asperger's syndrome after customer yells at him for being too slow
• Dear Crabby: Java jerk

Consumer Protection

• Shocking cost: Utility middle men charge renters inflated prices
• Credit-Card Rewards Programs Examined by U.S. Consumer Bureau
• Sprint is the worst cellphone service provider, Consumer Reports says

Bad Company

• Caterpillar probed for dumping train parts into sea: WSJ—"A unit of Caterpillar Inc is being probed by federal investigators to determine if it had dumped train parts into the ocean off California as part of a scam to charge customers for parts they didn't need, the Wall Street Journal reported."
• Tesco accused of carrying rubbish in food trucks to cut costs—"Supermarket insists that move causes no risks to hygiene and that new routines are cutting carbon emissions.".
• Double Glutton Challege—Restaurant owner acts like a douchebag to make the guy lose.
• Xtra-vision reverses policy on pre-ordered Xbox One consoles—They were holding pre-ordered purchases hostage unless customers paid for an Xtra game.
• Utah Couple Fined $3,500 by Online Merchant KlearGear Retains Lawyer, Turns Tables

Dealerships

• Mazda Dealer That Overcharged Mentally-Disabled Woman Loses Franchise
• Man buys car from dealership, then police tell him it's reported stolen—"Lee and an officer went to dealership, but Lee said employees there told him he was still on the hook for payments until police and the DMV sorted the issue out." After the newspaper talked to the dealer's parent company, "[t]hey apologized for Lee’s troubles and promised they would refund him for everything he's put into the car."
• US charges Romanians with making $3M in fraudulent online car deals—"Deals posted to eBay, Cars.com for cars 'that did not actually exist.'"

Unfriendly Skies

• Man sues Virgin America after being accused of not flushing—"A Virgin America passenger is suing the airline for $500,000 after being detained by federal agents following an in-flight tiff. After his soft-drink order went awry, flight attendants reported to the police that the passenger went to the lavatory, cursed, and left the toilet unflushed." Not flushing makes you terrorist!
• Air Canada Loses Woman's Dog, Spokesman Dismisses Inquiries In Accidental Email
• United Airlines Refuses to Pay Veterinarian Bill Without NDA
• Southwest Airlines boosting fee to fly pets
• United Slapped With $1.1 Million Fine Over Tarmac Delays
• Yes, airplane seats are getting even smaller—"Making seats smaller means more passengers – and more money – for airlines such as Delta, United and American."
• Bharti Airtel to shell out Rs. 50,000 for harassing customer

Obamacare

• Poll: Majority Optimistic That Obamacare Problems Will Be Fixed
• Is Obamacare turning the corner? WaPo
• US healthcare sign-ups jump at state level in promising sign of turnaround
• Republicans are absolutely certain Obamacare has already failed—Getting loud in the echo chamber. WaPo
• The real fix for Obamacare's flaws: Medicare for all

Healthcare.gov

• Can Porn Sites Fix the Obamacare Site?—"Pornhub's publicity stunt has a point."
• Healthcare.gov will soon be hosted by HP rather than Verizon
• Inside the Company That Bungled Obamacare—"Hard to believe, but Healthcare.gov might not be CGI’s biggest headache."

US Politics, Filibusted, Iran, Benghazi, Israel and Palestine; Protests; Civil Liberties; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy; Whistleblowers; Online Crackdowns; Typhoon Haiyan

US Politics

• John F. Kennedy's Prophetic Rebuke of Tea Party Politics—"In the speech he never got to give, the slain president spoke out against right-wing irrationality."
• Obama: I'm 'not a particularly ideological person'—"The House of Representatives is 'not focused on getting the job done for the American people,' the president said." WaPo
• Author Dinesh D'Souza: I'm Thankful America Survived 'Grown-Up Trayvon In The White House'—A cowardly deletion ensued.
• Right vs. Left in the Midwest—"Minnesota and Wisconsin are good places to compare modern progressivism and the new right." NYT
• Obama administration proposes new limits on tax-exempt political groups—Might not have the desired effect [Politico].
• GOP Candidate To Request Recount In Virginia AG Race—At 165 votes, it's too close to call.

Filibusted

• Sen. Sanders: Bills Blocked by Republican Filibusters
• Five Reasons We're Better Off Without The Filibuster
• How Republicans Can Still Block Obama's Judges: Blue Slips

Iran

• The Iran nuclear deal could have been done eight years ago, if Bush and Blair hadn't blocked it
• Republicans mindlessly oppose Iran nuclear deal WaPo
• Americans back Iran deal by 2-to-1 margin: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Benghazi

• Lara Logan Taking Leave Of Absence From 60 Minutes
• CBS News' Benghazi Review Leaves Several Big Questions Unanswered
• Lara Logan's Mystery Man—"The discredited '60 Minutes' report on Benghazi has kicked off an intriguing game of Whodunit."

Israel and Palestine

• Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan says he spied for Israel—"A Hollywood producer behind hit films such as Pretty Woman and Fight Club has said he spied for Israel in support of its nuclear programme."
• Gaza becoming uninhabitable as blockade tightens, says UN—"Destruction of smuggling tunnels and renewed ban on import of construction materials have exacerbated humanitarian crisis."
• Israeli government split over joining prestigious EU science programme—"Officials seek compromise on clause requiring settlement boycott but hardliners say Israel should not give in."

Protests

• Egypt bans gatherings of more than 10 people with government approval
• Ukraine alarm at becoming EU-Russia 'battlefield'—Protestors don't want their country to be Russia's bitch.
• Thailand protesters back on the streets—What's behind the protests?

Civil Liberties

• Japan secrecy law stirs fear of limits on freedoms
• UK Prime Minister Wants To Block British People From Seeing 'Extremist' Web Sites
• Canada's Conservatives Are Using Cyberbullying to Normalize Online Surveillance

NSA Spying

• Report: NSA Director Offered To Resign In Wake Of Snowden Leaks—Obama declined, didn't want to give Snowden a win [WSJ].
• Senators Wyden, Udall & Heinrich: End the N.S.A. Dragnet, Now NYT
• FISA court, which approves FBI, NSA surveillance, faces reform challenge from Oregon senators
• Why Care About the N.S.A.?—"A short film explores whether ordinary Americans should be concerned about online surveillance." NYT
• N.S.A. May Have Hit Internet Companies at a Weak Spot—"Security experts said they believe that government spies bypassed Google and Yahoo and targeted the fiber-optic cables that connect their data centers." NYT
• NSA surveillance: Europe threatens to freeze US data-sharing arrangements—"After Edward Snowden revelations, EU executive underlines US compliance with European law and 'how things have gone badly.'"
• Spies worry over "doomsday" cache stashed by ex-NSA contractor Snowden
• Top-Secret Document Reveals NSA Spied On Porn Habits As Part Of Plan To Discredit 'Radicalizers'
• Microsoft, suspecting NSA spying, to ramp up efforts to encrypt its Internet traffic
• Busting Eight Common Excuses for NSA Mass Surveillance

Surveillance and Privacy

• U.N. committee calls for end to excessive electronic spying
• The FBI's Files on Camus and Sartre Confirm the Utter Meaninglessness of It All
• German politicians to get encrypted phones

Whistleblowers

• Edward Snowden a 'hero' for NSA disclosures, Wikipedia founder says—Vote for Snowden for this year's Person of the Year. (Ironically, you need to log into either Facebook or Twitter.)
• 'Say NO to surveillance state!' Buses thanking Snowden cruise Washington
• Guardian wins Liberty award for articles about GCHQ and NSA spying—"Newspaper named Independent Voice of the Year in recognition of 'ethical journalism essential to the rule of law.'"
• What Chelsea Manning is thankful for this Thanksgiving
• Julian Assange unlikely to be charged in US

Online Crackdowns

• Microsoft Confirms That "Excessive Profanity" In Xbox Upload Studio Videos Can Cost You Account Privileges
• Google busts child pornographer through Picasa library search
• Twitch cracks down on inappropriate PS4 streamers

Typhoon Haiyan

• Typhoon Haiyan: Rebuilding costs are going to be 'huge'
• Prisoners return after Yolanda typhoon mass escape
• You Won't Be Seeing Coca Cola Ads For A While. The Reason Why Is Amazing

TPP, Copyfight; Patents; Broadband and Bandwidth, Cord-Cutters; Online Scams, Bad Companies, Reviews, Spam; Obamacare

TPP

• Jailbreaking and unlocking might be restricted in treaty pushed by Obama—"International ban could make it difficult to change US law for the better."
• Want 'free trade'? Open the medical and drug industry to competition—"Agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership distribute wealth upward. Real 'free trade' can lower medical costs for everyone."
• For Free Trade's Sake, Get IP Out of the TPP
• Australia: Outrage after TPP leak reveals piracy criminalisation
• Civil Society Groups Demand Transparency and User Protections in TPP

Copyfight

• Why pressing 'upload' means losing your rights—"If you store your precious photos and documents online, then you may be disturbed to discover the rights you give away, says Tom Chatfield."
• Photojournalist gets $1.2 million in damages for images cribbed from Twitter—"Jury maxed out statutory damage awards for eight photos."
• Automattic files two lawsuits and strikes back at fraudulent DMCA takedown notices on WordPress.com

Patents

• Software patent reform just died in the House, thanks to IBM and Microsoft
• Judge rejects patent troll's request for no-media "gag order"—"FindTheBest has the right to tell others about a $50,000 patent demand."
• Newegg on trial: Mystery company TQP rewrites the history of encryption—"Once-secret details of a mass-lawsuit operation are revealed in Texas courtroom."
• Jury: Newegg infringes Spangenberg patent, must pay $2.3 million—"Determined lawyers—and the father of modern crypto—couldn't stop TQP patent."
• FindTheBest destroys "matchmaking" patent, pushes RICO case against troll—"The patent is found abstract, six months and $200,000 after the suit was filed."

Broadband and Bandwidth

• We're About to Lose Net Neutrality — And the Internet as We Know It
• How Verizon's Lawsuit Could Kill Netflix, YouTube
• Netflix, YouTube gobble up half of Internet traffic in North America
• Looks like Comcast is quietly pushing a 300 GB cap and overage charges
• Big Cable may have felled Seattle's mayor, but it couldn't stop this Colo. project WaPo
• Comcast seeks advice on possible Time Warner Cable bid: Sources
• Verizon Hit By Too Much LTE Demand, Pushing Some Customers Down To 3G
• Fed up with slow and pricey Internet, cities start demanding gigabit fiber—"Google Fiber can't do it all, so city governments start taking charge."
• Bill would make it illegal for ISPs to slow down online video services—"Data caps and deceptive pricing would also be regulated by proposed law."

Cord-Cutters

• Time Warner doesn't want you to know you can get HBO without cable
• Netflix is killing television to keep it alive
• Charter CEO 'Surprised' More Users Want Broadband With No TV
• Cord-cutting: Pay-TV companies lose 113,000 customers in quarter
• TV market continues worldwide decline in 2013
• TV Is Dying, And Here Are The Stats That Prove It
• This politician wants to blow up the cable industry's stranglehold on what you can watch

Online Scams

• Wikipedia names Texas PR firm over false manipulation of site entries
• Model sues Match.com for $1.5B over fake profiles
• FBI: Be wary of Cyber Monday scams

Bad Companies

• LG Admits Its Smart TVs Collected Info, Promises Fix So Customers Can Actually Opt Out—Future customers should opt out form buying LG.
• How far the once mighty SourceForge has fallen…—The new owners foisting adware-infested installers on unsuspecting users.
• The Dirty Secret Behind the Salesforce $1M Hackathon

Reviews

• Fined For Posting A Negative Review Online
• So much for my Yelp revenge—"When I posted a negative review, the shop owner threatened to smear me — but that was only the beginning." Salon
• Nasty online reviews can lead to lawsuits: Roseman—"If a company gives bad service, you might write an online review telling others to stay away. Make sure your comments are factual first."

Spam

• Why Did 9,000 Porny Spambots Descend on This San Diego High Schooler?—"A voyage into the strange underworld of spambots, shady marketing, and non-human intelligence."
• Firm That Sent 42 Million Texts Settles in Spam Case—"Rentbro and its principals, Daniel Pessin and Jacob Engel, agreed to turn over all remaining assets and to repay up to $377,321." NYT
• Ban on most robocalls and text message spam gets stronger

Obamacare

• Obamacare Cutbacks Shut Hospitals Where Medicaid Went Unexpanded
• Reich: How the Republican Tempest Over the Affordable Care Act Diverts Attention from Three Large Truths
• Ted Cruz Bristles At CNN Anchor's Obamacare Questions
• In rural Kentucky, health-care debate takes back seat as the long-uninsured line up WaPo
• Seven reasons Obamacare isn't facing a "death spiral" WaPo

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women; Rape and Sexual Assaults; Sexism and Politics; Abortion and Birth Control; Obamacare

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

• Pakistan: 'I am Malala' banned in private schools
• Kuwaiti woman arrested in Saudi Arabia for driving her diabetic father to hospital—"Arrest comes a week after Saudi women staged a protest against the country's female driving ban."
• Female Genital Mutilation Cases Should Be Treated As Child Abuse: Report
• 'Honour killing': Case initiated against brother for murder
• Moroccan teen, forced to marry her rapist, commits suicide

Rape and Sexual Assaults

• Pakistan: Four-year-old sexually assaulted 'by cleric'
• 93 schoolgirls sexually harassed aboard Patna train
• NZ lawyer gives advice to rape victim, says you should have closed your legs
• If you can't stop rape, enjoy it, says CBI director Ranjit Sinha—"Sinha later told Hindustan Times he 'was just making a point, that it is very difficult to enforce a ban on betting, that you can make a law but there are already so many and it is difficult to enforce. Lotteries are already legal. So I said betting could be legalized, it can be taxed. To make this point, I just used a proverb.'" Culturally depraved statement.
• Kirsten Gillibrand: John McCain Was Wrong Then, And He's Wrong Now—Wrong on DOMA; wrong on military sexual assaults.
• Alabama Man Won't Serve Prison Time for Raping 14-Year-Old—"Austin Smith Clem raped a teenager three times. His punishment: supervision and probation."
• Los Gatos man gets probation for sex crimes; girls' parents outraged

Sexism and Politics

• Wendy Davis files for Texas governor—I wholeheartedly expect her vagina will not be an issue. /s
• Army Disciplines Two Involved In Email About 'Average Looking Women'
• Panel Led By NV GOP Chair Questions Women's Role In Workforce
• Scandal's Lisa Kudrow on Sexism in Politics (and That Epic Rant)
• Egypt 'worst for women' out of 22 countries in Arab world
• Women among the biggest losers in Arab Spring
• In Colombia, no sex till the road's fixed

Abortion and Birth Control

• Wendy Davis Slams Texas Republicans After Supreme Court Upholds State Abortion Restrictions
• Albuquerque voters reject 20-week abortion ban
• Vaginas Are Like "Little Hoover Vacuums," and Other Things Abstinence Lecturers Get Paid to Tell Teens
• The Tea Party's Attack on Women's Rights Politico
• Unsafe abortions: Haiti's abortion crisis
• Abortion in Tasmania is decriminalised, but it wasn't an easy battle—"Tasmania has removed abortion from its criminal laws after seven months of deliberations in parliament – but politicians have had to face a barrage of anti-choice tactics in the process."
• Bill Gates funds creation of thin, light, impenetrable graphene condoms

Obamacare

• Why Is Maternity Care Such an Issue for Obamacare Opponents?—"The ACA demands insurers fully cover 22 different women's health tests and visit types—yet few have raised conservative ire like covering expectant mothers."
• Corporations are claiming personhood to block Obamacare's contraception mandate
• Got Insurance? Obamacare ad outrages Rush Limbaugh and crew, who call women "prostitutes" for having sex

Iran; Filibusted, Politics, Vote Machinations; Press Freedom and Transparency; NSA Spying, Your Rights Online, Cybersecurity, Tech Tracking, Surveillance and Privacy

Iran

• Iran agrees to curb nuclear activity at Geneva talks
• We Have a Deal With Iran. A Good One.—"It's everything Obama hoped to achieve in Geneva."
• Republicans Attack Iran Deal Before It's Announced—"Texas Senator John Cornyn suggests the late-night announcement from Geneva is a Wag The Dog moment, aimed at saving the President from the messy Obamacare rollout."

Filibusted

• Don't Believe the Republican Cries of Vengeance—"They would have gotten rid of the filibuster at the first chance they got, regardless of what Democrats did today."
• Stop whining, centrists: Bipartisanship is a myth that's never existed—"While Beltway elite pine for the "good old days" and condemn filibuster reform, they're wrong on the history." Salon
• GOP: Ending Filibusters Is Unconstitutional and Un-American—and We'll Do it, Too
• Why The Filibuster Change Is Fantastic News For Obama—Will make him less of a lame duck [WaPo].
• Harry Reid and filibuster reform: The nuclear option is a huge victory for progressives

Politics

• Utah Attorney General Blames 'False Allegations' For Forcing Resignation
• Blow by Blow: 10 Politicians Linked to Cocaine—"Congressman Trey Radel isn't the first politician to make headlines from white lines."
• Drug testing is a great idea. Thanks, Rep. Radel.—"Rep. Trey Radel voted in favor of drug-testing the folks who get food stamps. In that case, why don’t we drug-test all people who get federal money? Let's start with members of Congress!" WaPo

Vote Machinations

• Bill to end gerrymander huge reform
• Georgia GOP dusts off Jim Crow tactic: Changing election date
• It's The Fundamentals, Stupid: Elections Aren't Determined By Short-Term 'Game Changes'

Press Freedom and Transparency

• White House blocks access to Obama events, news groups say
• Focal shift: Press photogs riled by White House social media—"Even if the Obama administration mollifies angry photojournalists, the news media now has to earn its place alongside direct communications through Twitter and Facebook."
• Muzzling the Freedom of Information Act—"Government to authors: We're not showing you public records because you're not journalists."

NSA Spying

• Government Claims Americans Have No Right To Challenge NSA Phone Surveillance
• N.S.A. Report Outlined Goals for More Power—"The top-secret document described strategies to keep pace with rapidly changing technology and stay ahead of adversaries in intelligence collection." NYT
• NSA and metadata: How the government can spy on your health, political beliefs, and religious practices
• NSA Mass Surveillance Has Already Been Used For Ordinary Police Work—"[O]nce mass surveillance of ordinary people is used for everyday police work, we are past the event horizon to a surveillance dystopia."
• NSA infected 50,000 computer networks with malicious software
• Report: NSA also had the green light to spy on UK residents—"NSA has unfettered access to metadata about UK residents' communications."
• House intel bill adds $75 million to NSA budget to stop future Snowdens—"Senate version also adds money to NSA's budget to stop 'insider threat.'"
• NSA bulk data collection violates constitutional rights, ACLU argues—"Civil liberties group tells New York court that program breaches first and fourth amendments and NSA is overreaching its powers."
• NSA deputy director skeptical on sharing data with FBI and others—"John Inglis appears at University of Pennsylvania to argue legality of bulk surveillance and indicates stance on Feinstein bill."
• Former Blackwater CEO: The NSA Is Turning America Into North Korea

Your Rights Online

• Tim Berners-Lee says 'surveillance threatens web'And it's worse than outright censorship.
• Internet co-creator: 'Privacy may be an anomaly'
• Lavabit Strikes Back at Feds in Key Internet Privacy Case
• Twitter upping security to thwart government hacking—"The microblogging site adds a new security measure designed to make it harder for organizations like the National Security Agency to uncover its data."
• Google Can Bring an End to Censorship in 10 Days. Here's how.

Cybersecurity

• Rockefeller attaches cybersecurity bill to NDAA 2014—CISPA returns.
• President's tech council plays sad trombone for federal cybersecurity—"Report finds that government 'rarely follows accepted best practices.'"
• Repeated attacks hijack huge chunks of Internet traffic, researchers warn—"Man-in-the-middle attacks divert data on scale never before seen in the wild."

Tech Tracking

• LG smart TVs send viewing habits, filenames back to manufacturer—"Businesses may want to think twice before plugging that USB device into the boardroom smart TV as a UK blogger has found that his TV has been sending back the names of files on his devices."
• Google pays $17m to settle Safari cookie privacy-bypass charge
• Microsoft video attacks Google's Chrome as surveillance technology

Surveillance and Privacy

• Meet the Spies Doing the NSA's Dirty Work—"This obscure FBI unit does the domestic surveillance that no other intelligence agency can touch."
• US Working Overtime Behind The Scenes To Kill UN Plan To Protect Online Privacy From Snooping
• The surveillance state: How Australia spies on its own
• Mexico Uses Deaf People to Monitor Surveillance Cameras
• A Vote for Privacy is a Vote for Security

Workers, Wage Slaves, Walmart, Thanksgiving; Class War, Food Stamp Fight; Wall Street; On the Job; Obamacare, Sabotage

Workers

• Husband Sues Hospital, Saying It Worked His Wife to Death—"Jim Jasper says understaffing led to his wife being overworked, causing her to crash her car." (Turn off your speakers before clicking the link.)
• Caught in unemployment's revolving door—"Economists are concerned that joblessness lasting more than 6 months is a key factor preventing people from getting rehired, with grave consequences."
• Tennessee GOP trying to pressure Volkswagen to fight union it doesn't oppose
• The Robots Are Here—"Not only are they taking our jobs—they're harbingers of a new libertarian age."
• U.S. Retailers Decline to Aid Factory Victims in Bangladesh—"Walmart, Sears, Children's Place and other American companies that were selling goods produced at the site of two disasters are not joining in efforts to compensate victims' families." NYT

Wage Slaves

• Wages Stagnate as U.S. Manufacturers Reap Record Profits
• McDonald's Website Tells Underpaid Employees to Eat Smaller Meals and Sell Holiday Gifts on Ebay
• Why Are Children Working in American Tobacco Fields?—"Young farm workers are falling ill from 'green tobacco sickness' while the industry denies it and government lets it happen."
• How McDonald's and Wal-Mart Became Welfare Queens—"According to one study, American fast food workers receive more than $7 billion dollars in public assistance."
• From fast-food strikes to efforts to raise minimum wage, low wage workers' movement appears on the rise
• Houston crackdown: City defies Texas corporate crime wave—"'If you can win it in Houston, you can win it in Atlanta or Dallas,' advocate says of landmark new 'wage theft' law." Salon
• Flipside: 11 Reasons To Love Costco That Have Nothing To Do With Shopping

Walmart

• That Time Stephen Colbert Created A Public Relations Nightmare for Walmart—"Earlier this week, a Walmart associate shared a photo from a Canton, Ohio store showing empty bins with a sign that read 'Please donate food items so associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.'"
• Ashton Kutcher vs. Wal-Mart: Epic Twitter clash rages over poverty wages—"Kutcher slams retailer: 'You should be proud of your associates but I'm not sure if they should be proud of you.' Salon
• Wal-Mart Food Drive Unwittingly Fuels Talk Of Minimum Wage Hike
• Walmart Still Hasn't Paid Its $7,000 Fine For 2008 Black Friday Death
• Labor Board Sides With Workers: Walmart Can't Silence Employees Any Longer—"A landmark ruling by the National Labor Relations Board says Walmart unlawfully harassed and fired employees for protesting."
• WikiLeaks: Walmart bid Stratfor to investigate rival CEO's alleged affair

Thanksgiving

• Walmart: Plans to make Black Friday biggest worker mobilization ever—Including allegedly cutting down on holiday pay.
• Tim Cook vetoes Apple Retail plan to open additional stores on Thanksgiving, gives workers holiday off
• These stores won't be open on Thanksgiving

Class War

• This Is What It's Like to Be Poor
• The State With The Most Rich People Also Has The Highest Poverty Rate
• Fed Nominee Janet Yellen: Income Inequality Is 'A Very Serious Problem'
• Sen. Sherrod Brown: Strengthening Social Security for generations yet to come
• Elizabeth Warren Nails It On Social Security
• Platinum-Plated Pensions—"In the current budget debate, the loudest calls for Social Security cuts are coming from two lobby groups led by CEOs who will never have to worry about their own retirement security."
• Right-wing pension-cutters get humiliated by their own survey data—"Conservative ploy to slash public employee benefits runs into trouble when its own poll shows an unexpected reality." Salon

Food Stamp Fight

• See How Food Stamp Cuts Are Hitting Across The U.S.
• Paul Ryan: Poor People Need Jesus, Not Food Stamps
• The GOP's Cruel Crusade Against Food Stamps—"Want to reduce the culture of entitlement? Fine. But blindly cutting essential aid without additional job training makes no sense."
• Food Stamp Cuts Leave Rural Areas, And Their Grocers, Reeling
• Food Stamp Costs Swelled by States Spending $1 for Heat
• Support Grows In House to Save Food Stamps by Killing Farm Bill
• Cut Corporate America's Free Lunch, Not Food Stamps—"Simply eliminating the business meals and entertainment tax deduction could raise nearly as much revenue as the Senate farm bill cuts from food stamps."

Wall Street

• With Ongoing Criminal Investigation, JPMorgan's $13B Deal Won't End Its Legal Troubles
• Tim Geithner and the Revolving Door
• The House GOP's Hypocrisy on "Too-Big-To-Fail"—"Republicans in the House worry Dodd-Frank financial reforms won't prevent future bank bailouts. Meanwhile, they're trying to make it easier for banks to get bailouts."

On the Job

• They're Watching You at Work—"What happens when Big Data meets human resources? The emerging practice of 'people analytics' is already transforming how employers hire, fire, and promote."
• Offices For All! Why Open-Office Layouts Are Bad For Employees, Bosses, And Productivity
• Americans are leaving more than half a billion vacation days on the table

Obamacare

• HealthCare.gov contractor had high confidence but low success—"Contractor CGI displayed high confidence about HealthCare.gov features that proved not ready." WaPo
• Sen. Franken: We Should Consider Extending Individual Mandate Deadline If Website Isn't Fixed
• Bill Maher: Single-Payer Advocates: It Hurts To Say I Told You So
• No, Callous Americans, Private Giving Can't Replace Obamacare
• Nearly 80,000 Californians sign up for Obamacare plans
• If canceled, not even 1% will pay more for Obamacare: Study—"A 'tiny fraction' of people will lose their health plans and pay more for Obamacare coverage, a new study found."
• Here's Every Argument You'll Need To Win Your Obamacare Debate This Thanksgiving

Sabotage

• CNN obtains GOP playbook to target Obamacare
• Milbank: The GOP's scary-movie strategy—"The party is using fear against Obamacare." WaPo
• The Biggest Problem With Obamacare's Rollout Is Being Caused Intentionally by Republicans
• Republicans Refuse to Cover the Poor, Then Complain that Obamacare Isn't Covering the Poor
• Oops! John Boehner's Obamacare stunt backfires

'JFK, blown away'; Police State, Recording; Prison, Hoosegowed jovenes, Nonviolent Crimes; Racism; War on Drugs, Marijuana, Mexico; War on Terror, Military Money

'JFK, blown away'

• JFK anniversary: The myth and reality
• JFK The Most Popular President In Last 50 Years
• Then and Now: The Assassination of JFK
• Grace Kelly in 1965 interview on JFK: "I felt personally involved" in the presidency Salon
• Stabilized Footage of the JFK Assassination Is Unsettlingly Real
• How JFK Conspiracy Theorists Are Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of His Assassination
• Why The Study Of The JFK Assassination Will Continue -- And Should

Police State

• How License-Plate Scanners Are Eroding Our Privacy—"Police officers don't respond kindly to being videotaped, yet law enforcement agencies on every level are tracking out comings and going via cameras that ID our license plate numbers. Here, PopMech contributor and Instapundit blogger Glenn Reynolds takes on the slow erosion of our privacy."
• North Texas Drivers Stopped at Roadblock Asked for Saliva, Blood—"Fort Worth police apologize for its role in federal survey."
• Lawsuit: Cops forced man to undergo enemas, colonoscopy on invalid warrant

Recording

• In Miami Gardens, store video catches cops in the act—"Saleh was so troubled by what he saw that he decided to install video cameras in his store. Not to protect himself from criminals, because he says he has never been robbed. He installed the cameras — 15 of them — he said, to protect him and his customers from police."
• Police chief seeks to contain 'rumor mill' regarding accident—"Just minutes before Cincinnati Police Officer Orlando Smith struck a pedestrian in Over-the-Rhine Saturday night, the camera on his cruiser stopped filming."
• Boston policemen complain about new plan to watch their movements—"Anon officer: 'No one likes it. Who wants to be followed all over the place?'" Gee... I dunno.
• New Video Shows D'Paris Williams Screaming in Pain, Unable to Walk Following SFPD Beating
• S.F. police seek cameras to capture whole picture

Prison

• Vicky Pryce: 'Prison clearly does not work'—"Fresh from jail, the economist and author of Prisonomics explains why the system costs too much, locks up the wrong people and does not prevent reoffending."
• Celebs talk mass incarceration in new ad campaign
• Humans shipped across the country!: How America exports inmates to private prisons Salon
• Why America Has a Mass Incarceration Problem, and Why Germany and the Netherlands Don't
• Sweden closes four prisons as number of inmates plummets—"Decline partly put down to strong focus on rehabilitation and more lenient sentences for some offences."

Hoosegowed jovenes

• Half a Life in Solitary: How Colorado Made a Young Man Insane—"A young man was sentenced to life in prison without parole after a dubious trial. And then things got worse."
• Teenager spends 3 years in jail and charges dropped—"20-year-old Kalief Browder may be physically free, but mentally he is still trapped behind bars on Rikers, where every day was a battle to survive."
• Troubled Youth Prison Company Wins Even More Contracts

Nonviolent Crimes

• Over 3,000 US prisoners serving life without parole for non-violent crimes—"ACLU report chronicles thousands of lives ruined by life sentences for crimes such as shoplifting or possession of a crack pipe."
• These 32 People Are Spending Their Lives In Prison For Nonviolent Crimes
• Sentenced to a Slow Death—"A report highlights thousands of prisoners serving life without parole for nonviolent crimes." NYT

Racism

• Being White Is Best Defense Against Marijuana Arrest, Recent Studies Prove
• Profiling In Action: Community Leader Alex Peay Handcuffed, Questioned By Police At Train Stop
• Texas court denies appeal to death sentence determined by race—"Testimony from a psychologist in 1997 said Duane Buck posed a risk to society because he was black." Salon

War on Drugs

• 53 Drug Convictions Thrown Out By Philadelphia Judge—"Fifty-three drug dealers, convicted of selling everything from 'crack' cocaine to heroin, have been thrown out by a Philadelphia judge, because testimony and actions of an allegedly corrupt cop may have tainted the cases."
• Boehner Won't Punish Trey Radel After Guilty Plea For Cocaine—Ding, ding, ding.
• 4 charged with severing pot clinic owner's penis
• Stop-and-frisk: only 3% of 2.4m stops result in conviction, report finds—"Report by New York attorney general is first detailed examination of policy deemed unconstitutional earlier this year."
• Uruguay's First Lady and Senator Affirms Drug War Is Lost

Marijuana

• Epilepsy Patients Flock To Colorado After Medical Pot Gives Them Hope
• Poll: Medical Marijuana Favored By Floridians
• Maryland gubernatorial hopeful Heather Mizeur to propose legalization of marijuana WaPo
• Maine pot advocates using momentum for statewide legislation
• Medical Marijuana Raids in Colorado Raise Questions About Federal Forbearance

Mexico

• Mexico mayor 'killed for standing up to drugs cartel'
• Mexico Supreme Court overturns drugs lord's release
• Mexican vigilantes, battling cartel, take over another town
• Mexican drug cartels exploit asylum system by claiming 'credible fear'
• 'Narco Cultura' Is A Disturbing Look At The Mexican War On Drugs & The Idolatry Within

War on Terror

• Terrorism Could Never Threaten American Values—the 'War on Terror' Does
• Pact May Extend U.S. Troops' Stay in Afghanistan—Up to 2024. NYT
• Blackwater Founder Unapologetic on Company's Role in Iraq
• Rand Paul Aids Surprise Guantanamo Bay Win For Obama—"Three Republicans join most Senate Democrats in a vote to loosen restrictions on transferring detainees out of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, potentially opening the door to closing it."
• US publicises $10m reward over Benghazi attack—"State department reveals reward for information on killing of ambassador Chris Stevens and three others in Libya."

Military Money

• Accounting fraud is business as usual at the Pentagon, Reuters reports
• Pentagon tries sequester guilt trip—"Pentagon leaders are drafting a plan to cut education, healthcare and housing benefits in an effort to get Congress to end the sequester."
• Another US Navy Officer Implicated In Bribery Scandal, Sacked
• Department of Defense: The Price is Wrong
• Americans Want Improved Social Security and Medicare and Less Military Spending

Shutdown Aftermath, Obstructionism; Voter Suppression, Campaign Finance; Racism; Obamacare, Healthcare.gov; Surveillance and Privacy

Shutdown Aftermath

• Cruz: Shutdown was worth it
• Insight: As U.S. default threatened, banks took extraordinary steps
• Deal to avoid another government shutdown struggling in Senate
• How McConnell Is Bracing GOP For Next Shutdown Fight
• Another government shutdown unlikely, Obama tells CEOs—Another "promise"?

Obstructionism

• Warren: Republican Senators Are Trying to 'Nullify' the 2012 Election
• Obama Pick for Court Is 3rd in a Row Blocked by Republicans—"In blocking Judge Robert L. Wilkins's nomination, Senate Republicans on Monday denied President Obama his third pick in recent weeks to fill a vacancy on the nation's most powerful and prestigious appeals court." NYT
• Op/Ed: It's time to go nuclear in the Senate—"It's pretty simple to see what's happening in the Senate right now with judges. Republicans are blockading three seats on the DC Court of Appeals with no other real excuse than 'because we can.'" Personally, I think this will backfire badly. WaPo
• Boehner: We Have 'No Intention Of Ever' Taking Up Senate Immigration Bill
• The Party of Zilch—"With Democrats sagging, Republicans are missing an opportunity to fill the leadership void."

Voter Suppression

• Voter suppression the new GOP strategy WaPo
• Wisconsin Republicans move to cut early voting hours—According them, they're totally not doing that (even though they really are). WaPo
• Wisconsin GOP aims to scrap weekend voting—"Wisconsin Republicans are pushing a bill that would make it harder for people in the state's most populous areas to vote—and would hit blacks especially hard."
• Politifact: There were a few problems with voter ID law during early voting in Texas—Mostly false.
• If You're a Millennial, Black, or Latino, Good Luck Voting Quickly in 2016

Campaign Finance

• Reports shed light on how Koch brothers' money flows to campaigns
• Michigan GOP split over disclosing ad funding sources—"Hours after Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson proposed requiring political parties and other interests to disclose individual donors who pay for certain election ads, the state Senate moved quickly to keep intact the existing rules so contributors stay anonymous."
• Stephen Colbert's Lawyer Explains Why All Hope Is Not Lost—"Some people think getting money out of politics is a hopeless cause given our current Supreme Court, but as Trevor Potter (of Colbert SuperPAC fame) explains, there are still plenty of things we can do to end corruption and get America back on the right track."

Racism

• Oprah Winfrey: The Butler, racism and Obama
• DHS Still Hasn't Fired Black Supremacist Who Called for Mass Murder of Whites—"Almost four months after he was unmasked as a militant black nationalist who called for murdering 'Uncle Tom race traitors,' Ayo Kimathi is still employed."
• University Of Texas Students Cancel 'Catch An Illegal Immigrant Game'
• White Supremacist Craig Cobb Targeted With Graffiti For African Descent
• America's angriest white men: Up close with racism, rage and Southern supremacy—"Up close with small-town white rage, with bitter, scary men who feel left behind by economic and cultural change." Salon

Obamacare

• Terrible Polls for Obamacare, But Some Good News on Policy
• Officials: Slower health spending growth may boost jobs—"Health care spending since the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act has risen by 1.3% a year, the lowest rate ever recorded."
• Obamacare and the Republican War on Competence—"The efficacy of government, now the lonely responsibility of Democrats, used to be the province of both parties."
• How Republicans Lost the Chance to Win Obamacare—"Conservatives had the chance to test their favorite health-care ideas in state-run exchanges. They decided bullying Obama was a better use of their time than ideological consistency instead."
• New anti-Obamacare ads are Classic Koch—"Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse talks with Rachel Maddow about the state level campaign by the billionaire Koch brothers to discourage sign-ups for health insurance."
• Koch Brothers Use Actress To Portray Disgruntled Voter In Mark Begich Attack Ad
• Obamacare Shows How Americans Are Becoming Jerks
• GOP Tweets Altered Image Of Grimes As 'Obama Girl'

Healthcare.gov

• Why Healthcare.gov Sucks? Because They Hired Political Cronies, Not Internet Native Companies To Build It—And they've got lots of catching up to do [NYT].
• HealthCare.gov Greets Sebelius With Error Message While Touting Law In Miami—Why aren't more heads rolling?
• Healthcare.gov and the Gulf Between Planning and Reality

Surveillance and Privacy

• Sobriety Checkpoints Paved Path to NSA Email Spying
• Bob Woodward Disappointed That Snowden Didn't Go To Him—Laughable.
• U.S. Army to Track Employees' Web Activity to Thwart Future Snowdens
• A Russian GPS Using U.S. Soil Stirs Spy Fears—"American spy agencies fear that allowing monitor stations in the United States for Russia's version of GPS could compromise American intelligence." NYT
• Surveillance is not about protecting us. It's about control.