Jobs, Economy, Occupy Wall Street, New York

Jobs

• President Obama goes on the attack, to Democrats' delight
• Cantor to Obama: Let the economy suffer
• Nuclear Option?! What Really Happened On The Senate Floor, And Why It Matters--So that's what Reid was up to when he was 'blocking the bill' beforehand.

Economy

• Lawrence Lessig on How Money Corrupts Congress - and How to Stop It
• Study: Income inequality kills economic growth.
• Our Hidden Government Benefits--"A 2008 poll of 1,400 Americans by the Cornell Survey Research Institute found that when people were asked whether they had 'ever used a government social program,' 57 percent said they had not. Respondents were then asked whether they had availed themselves of any of 21 different federal policies, including Social Security, unemployment insurance, the home-mortgage-interest deduction and student loans. It turned out that 94 percent of those who had denied using programs had benefited from at least one; the average respondent had used four."
• The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class--A lecture delivered by Elizabeth Warren in 2007.
• Six True Things Politicians Can’t Say

Occupy Wall Street

• 'Occupy Wall Street': Drawing the Battle Lines
• Rescuing America from Wall Street
• Think Occupy Wall St. is a phase? You don't get it
• Why I'm in Solidarity with #OccupyWallStreet
• Jon Stewart Lampoons Tea Party Criticism Of Occupy Wall Street

"Then they ridicule you..."

• Herman Cain On Occupy Wall Street: 'If You Don't Have A Job And You’re Not Rich, Blame Yourself!'
• Bill O'Reilly on Occupy Wall Street: They're Jobless Because They Don't Want to Work
• White House Chief Of Staff Disses 'Occupy Wall Street'

New York

• This Is Only Getting Bigger: 20,000 Rally in New York to Support Occupy Wall Street
• Wall Street Protesters Sue City as Demonstration Continues--" [O]fficers from the New York City Police Department lured them onto the bridge’s roadway to trap and arrest them."
• NYPD's 'White Shirts' Take On Enforcer Role NYT
• NYPD and FBI Are Trying to Infiltrate Wall Street Protest to Discredit It
• JPMorgan Chase donates millions to NYPD prior to mass arrests at Occupy Wall Street

420, War on Drugs, Fast and Furious, Mexico

420

• Gary Johnson: 'Pot Smokers May Be The Largest Untapped Voting Bloc'
• Marijuana Arrests Driving America's 'Drug War,' Latest FBI Report Shows--2010 was the second biggest year for arrests in history.
• Drug Czar Says 'Young People' Smoke Pot Because They Saw Grandma Do It When She Was Getting Chemotherapy
• IRS hits Oakland pot shop with $2.4M tax bill--"The federal government has found a new weapon in its war on marijuana - the tax man."
• Medical marijuana dispensaries close after ruling--"The day after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that medical marijuana dispensaries can be considered a public nuisance and could be shut down, two facilities in Ann Arbor have been raided and facilities all over the state have closed, including the Mt. Pleasant dispensary at the center of the turmoil."
• Study: Crime in surrounding area increased after closure of LA medical marijuana dispensaries
• New Jersey Medical Marijuana Patient Sent to Prison
• 'Legal highs' prevalence makes ban policy 'ridiculous'
• American Idiocy: Binge Drinking A-OK, Zero Tolerance on Pot
• Dutch city bans foreign tourists from cannabis coffee shops

War on Drugs

• Experts back Liberal Democrat calls for drugs decriminalisation--"Drugs Policy Commission says proposal to scrap criminal penalties for personal possession would not increase use."
• New Mexico couple says no to DEA drug raid--"You're not coming in this house without a warrant."
• Woman has to pay $1k for forced cavity search--"A woman in the state of New Mexico is asking cops to cover her medical bill after she was ordered by the Metro Narcotics Agency of Las Cruces, NM to undergo a costly cavity search — at her own expense."
• The War on Drugs Is Senseless
• SWAT Team Raids: Overkill Fit Only for a Police State --"You need not have the brainpower of an Einstein to see that this reprehensible development has been an outgrowth of the 'war on drugs' and has only received further impetus from the "war on terror.'"
• Rick Perry Wants to Send the Military into Mexico to Fight Drugs
• Colombia Supreme Court decriminalizes drugs for personal use

Fast and Furious

• ATF Fast and Furious: New documents show Attorney General Eric Holder Lied To Congress--Should he be indicted or not?
• A 'Furious' revelation: Feds sold guns to drug gangs
• ATF chief removed over border guns scandal
• Bombshell: DOJ Considering Elimination of ATF
• Mexico still waiting for answers on Fast and Furious gun program

Mexico

• Calderón Hints at Drug Legalization Again
• Bodies hanging from bridge in Mexico are warning to social media users
• Mexico: 35 bodies dumped on roadway
• Five severed heads found outside school in Acapulco, Mexico
• Mexico Turns to Twitter and Facebook for Information and Survival NYT

War on Terror, Cashing in on the War, A Real Cost of War, TSA, Politics

War on Terror

• The FBI again thwarts its own Terror plot Salon
• How the State Department Came After Me For telling the truth about what I saw in Iraq
• Even Those Cleared of Crimes Can Stay on FBI's Terrorist Watch List NYT
• Shoshana Hebshi, Airline Passenger, Says She Was Strip-Searched Over Her 'Appearance'
• A Decade After 9/11: We've Become What We Loathe
• Al-Jazeera chief's surprise resignation raises fears for channel's independence
• Judge rules part of Patriot Act unconstitutional
• Doctors in bid for Kelly inquest
• 9/11 Media Overkill
• Why let facts ruin the story? Norwegian comments on US coverage of the Norway terror 

Cashing in on the War

• Deficit-cutting Democrats depend on Pentagon contractors, data shows Salon
• What The Neocons Don’t Ask: How Much Will It Cost To Stay In Iraq?
• Iraq: We Lost $1.2 Billion in Equipment Going in; How Much Will We Lose Getting Out?

A Real Cost of War

• Facing Ninth Deployment, Army Ranger Kills Himself. 'No Way' That God Would Forgive Him For What He'd Seen, Done, He Told Wife--Help spread awareness of PTSD in military personnel.
• More troops lost to suicide--"For the second year in a row, the U.S. military has lost more troops to suicide than it has to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan."
• More U.S. Soldiers Killed Themselves Than Died in Combat in 2010
• Male Veterans Have Double the Suicide Rate of Civilians
• Air Force suicide rate highest in 17 years

TSA

• TSA Creator Says Dismantle, Privatize the Agency--That doesn't help.
• Airport Security Officers And Cops Snared In Multistate Oxycodone Ring, U.S. Attorney Says
• TSA Gives Breast Cancer Survivor Invasive Patdown After She Goes Through Scan

Politics

• Orwell Rolls in his Grave
• 8 Ways Young Americans' Resistance to Domination Has Been Subdued
• The DOJ's escalating criminalization of speech--"[T]he FBI announced the arrest and indictment of Jubair Ahmad, a 24-year-old Pakistani legal resident living in Virginia, charged with 'providing material support' to a designated Terrorist organization (Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT))" in the form of "a 5-minute video to YouTube featuring photographs of U.S. abuses in Abu Ghraib, video of armored trucks exploding after being hit by IEDs, prayer messages about 'jihad' from LeT's leader, and -- according to the FBI's Affidavit -- 'a number of terrorist logos.'" Salon
• Michael Moore: I was the most hated man in America
• Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: Psychological Engineering

Occupy Wall Street, Taxes, Koch, Bought the Vote, Debit Card Debacle

Occupy Wall Street

• Busted on Brooklyn Bridge: Hundreds arrested as Wall Street occupation claims a new public space Salon
• Bernie Sanders Is The First US Senator To Support Occupy Wall Street
• Occupy Wall Street - Navy Veteran Expresses His Support
• Government Orders You Tube To Censor Protest Videos
• Thousands of Occupy Wall Street Protesters March to NYPD Headquarters
• NYC Transit Union Joins Occupy Wall Street
• 3,000 protestors march towards Bank of America in Boston--The movement "was initially treated as a joke, but after a couple of weeks it’s gaining traction." (NYT)
• Anthony Bologna Petition: Remove Mr. Mace From NYPD Force
• What's behind the scorn for the Wall Street protests? Salon
• Pictures from the Scene

Taxes

• Poll Shows Strong Bipartisan Backing for "Buffett Rule"--"In somewhat of a surprise, a majority of Republicans and Tea Party supporters say they favor Obama's proposal."
• Americans reject the right’s bogus 'class warfare' charge
• Rich Folks Don't Like It When You Make Them Feel Guilty for Being Rich
• Meet The 4 Democratic Senators Who Are Refusing To Raise Taxes On The Rich
• Ahhh...so THIS is why they don't want to tax millionaires

Koch

• Koch brothers spooked by forthcoming story Salon
• List of million-dollar-plus donors to Koch Brothers fund leaked
• Charles Koch to Friedrich Hayek: Use Social Security!--"In a 1973 letter, the right-wing billionaire urged the libertarian philosopher to collect Social Security and to use Medicare coverage when visiting the United States."

Bought the Vote

• Meet the Wealthy Men Trying to Buy Our Upcoming Election
• Sen. Dick Durbin: Koch brothers spearheading voter suppression effort
• Koch money aids Scott Walker in Wisconsin voter suppression--Even Stephen Colbert talked about it.
  

Debit Card Debacle

• Bank of America to charge $5 monthly fee for debit card purchases
• Did Congress Kill the Debit Card?
• Bank of America faces outrage over debit card charge

Stuxnet, Surveillance, Facebook and Your Privacy, My Voice Is My Password, Identity Theft

Stuxnet

• How Digital Detectives Deciphered Stuxnet, the Most Menacing Malware in History
• Mossad's Miracle Weapon: Stuxnet Virus Opens New Era of Cyber War
• From the man who discovered Stuxnet, dire warnings one year later

Surveillance

• Federal Appeals Court Allows ACLU Challenge to Warrantless Wiretapping Law to Proceed!
• Freedom Not Fear: Ending A Decade Long Legacy of International Privacy Erosion
• The Government Might Know You're Reading This--"If you're not doing anything wrong, why is the government snooping on you?"
• They're watching at the Mall of America: In an effort to thwart terrorists, Mall of America guards feed reports to the police.
• ACLU: Michigan cops stealing drivers' phone data
• Judge says warrant required for cell phone location data

Facebook and Your Privacy

• Facebook: We do track logged-out users, but trust us
• Facebook says they've "fixed" cookies that could track users after they log out of the site
• Privacy groups and Congress want Facebook investigated for 'super cookies'--As does the ACLU.

My Voice Is My Password

• Cutting the Gordian Knot of Web Identity
• The science of password selection
• The best password is a sentence, says expert
• The Usability of Passwords
• How to make a sysadmin snap with a single sentence
• The Real Lessons Of Gawker's Security Mess
• 10 most common iPhone passcodes
• "Okay! All we need now is the passcode!"
• Password Strength

Identity Theft

• Catching Identity Theft: Watching for Unusual Activity
• Three years undercover with the identity thieves
• Catching Identity Thieves True Stories: "I've Got to Follow Her"
• Fake teacher used lover's wife's name to teach in Victoria
• LifeLock CEO’s Identity Stolen 13 Times--He asked for it.
• Your home could be stolen--Via Identity theft. For it can be just outright stolen.

Vote Machinations, Electoral College, Tea Party, Local Politics, Republicans

Vote Machinations

• One Thing Can Stop Corporations From Buying the 2012 Election: Transparency
• Vote suppression in the US revs up--"In recent years, the Republican Party has accelerated its efforts to make voting more difficult for Americans."
• The Republicans' Latest Ploy to Keep the Economy Lousy through Election Day
• Stupid voters enable broken government
• Diebold voting machines can be hacked by remote control Salon

Electoral College

• The GOP's Genius Plan to Beat Obama in 2012
• The GOP is trying to rig the electoral college
• GOP 2012 Strategy: Disenfranchise Democrats, Rig Electoral College
• Despite Internal GOP Opposition, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett Stands By His Election Rigging Scheme
• Why the GOP's electoral college scheme is probably doomed Salon

Tea Party

• Jon Stewart Puts the Blame Where it Belongs – The Republican Base
• Americans Dislike the Tea Party More Than Ever Before
• Morgan Freeman: Obama Made Racism Worse, Tea Party Will Do 'Whatever [It] Can To Get This Black Man Outta Here'

Local Politics

• Wisconsin news: Unions' recall drive falls short; GOP holds state Senate
• Lawyers say Gould ordinances violate Constitution--The city council gets fascistic.
• All charges dropped against Julie Bass, the Michigan gardcener threatened with jail time for growing vegetables in her own yard
• Post A Picture That 'Causes Emotional Distress' And You Could Face Jailtime In Tennessee--These pics could get you locked up.
• Ohio House Passes Bill Allowing Guns Into Bars, Bar Owners Reply 'Guns And Alcohol Don’t Mix'

Republicans

• Judge Can’t Figure Out Why Deadbeat Dad Rep. Joe Walsh Won’t Appear In Court
• Married Ohio Family Values Republican Rep. Gets Busted With A Stripper
• Christian conservative group calls on Sen. David Vitter to follow Rep. Weiner's lead and resign from office.
• Beat up your girlfriend, receive an award
• Hinkle: I paid young man $80 for encounter
• Another Anti-Gay GOP State Senator Caught With His Pics on Gay Hook Up Site
• Anti-Immigrant New Mexico Governor Reveals Her Grandparents Were Undocumented Immigrants

Occupy Wall Street, Bad Cops, Retaliatory, Canada, Don't Tase Me, Bro

Occupy Wall Street

• Wall Street protesters cuffed, pepper-sprayed during 'inequality' march--The man responsible has been identified as Anthony Bolgona who's been accused of civil rights violations before, but information about his wife and children were published as well.
• Lawrence O'Donnell on Police Brutality at the protest
• Newsworthy? Determining the Importance of Protests on Wall Street
• Gunning for Wall Street, With Faulty Aim NYT
• Occupy Wall Street rediscovers the radical imagination--"The young people protesting in Wall Street and beyond reject this vain economic order. They have come to reclaim the future."

Bad Cops

• Let's Stop Assuming the Police are on Our Side--From mass arrests to surveillance, confidence in the Metropolitan police is at an all-time low
• Policing The Police: U.S. Steps Up Enforcement--"Federal civil rights lawyers are investigating 15 departments from Arizona to New Jersey, asking whether officers are discriminating against minorities or using too much force."
• 'That stupid b**** got what she deserved (I'll bet she was fat and black too)'. Shocking emails of Texas police hacked and dumped online
• "Sheer Insanity" as Reporters Arrested at Taxicab Commission Hearing--You can see for yourself.
• Infographic: Police Brutality

Retaliatory

• Cartoonist Targeted With Criminal Probe For Mocking Police
• Key witness in Tulsa police trial arrested on traffic misdemeanors--She is set to testify against the police in another case.
• North Carolina Man gets his leg broken by cops, then goes to jail because he wouldn't stand in court--" A man who was eating a taco at a Raleigh bus stop says a cop swept-kicked him to the ground, broke his leg and arrested him, then hauled him before a judge who sentenced him to 30 days in jail for contempt, because he could not stand on his broken leg."

Oh, Canada

• 'Courageous' judge takes on Halton cops--"A provincial court judge in Halton has taken on police in the region, releasing two bold rulings in less than a month rebuking officers for excessive force."
• Harper plans to bring back extraordinary anti-terror powers for police
• Canada mulls warrantless internet info-gathering powers for police
• Toronto police swear off G20 kettling tactic
• RCMP missed evidence in 911 call probe: documents--"The RCMP missed crucial evidence in its review of a bungled 911 call that left a victim clinging to life for four days before she died... ."

Don't Tase Me, Bro

• Police shelve Tasers for now after another suspect dies
• Cops Tasered Vietnam Vet 16 Times, Widow Says
• Taser Death Lawsuit Results in $10M Award
• Autopsy Results Revealed in Mountain Police Releated Death
• Taser's youngest victim dies from cop attack

Incarcerating Kids for Cash, Prison for Profit, Innocence, Self-Defense, Casey Anthony

Incarcerating Kids for Cash

• Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit
• Mom Lashes Out At "Scumbag" Judge That Was Found Guilty Of Sending Kids To Jail For Payola--She says she got justice.
• A former judge who orchestrated a massive kickback scheme involving for-profit youth detention centers was sentenced Friday to 17 1/2 years in federal prison

Prison for Profit

• ACLU: Charging for Prison Visits is Bad Business--"[T]he Arizona Dept of Corrections is charging people money to visit their loved ones in prison."
• Sheriff Saves $1 Million By De-Privatizing County Jail
• Ohio becomes 1st in nation to sell state prison to private company; 4 others not sold
• Canada's crime plans bewilder international observers--More prison privatization.
• Federal Offenses: As U.S. Federal Criminal Laws Proliferate, More Are Ensnared--Connecting the dots.

Innocence

• Trial by Fire: Did Texas execute an innocent man?--The story of Cameron Todd Willingham, the man killed by Rick Perry
• Former inmate Anthony Graves: 'I'm tired of state kicking me'--Credit goes Gov. Perry who promised help him out.
• Cory Maye Freed After 10 Years In Prison: The Back Story
• Murder charges dropped against teens held for 2 years
• Finding Happily Ever After

Self-defense

• Right to self-defence in homes to be 'much clearer'
• Gatecrashers flee whip-wielding dad--A father rightfully defends his home from hooligans, but the police were called in to see if what he did was "excessive".
• 'We did the right thing - we didn't want to die'
• Shed owners warned wire on windows could hurt burglars
• "A wealthy company boss arrested for allegedly stabbing to death a burglar yelled 'Get out, get out, get out!' to try to prevent his wife and son being attacked..."

Casey Anthony

• Why States Should Think Twice About 'Caylee's Law'
• One man's curse: His name is Casey Anthony--How stupid can some people be to not even realize that this Casey is a MAN?
• The threat of Nancy Grace--And once again, The Onion nails it.