LEGO Day, LEGO-lution, LEGO Movies, LEGO Builds, LEGO Tech; Data Privacy Day, NSA Spying

LEGO Day

• Beautiful Lego
• Lego advert in 1981
• A LEGO a Day
• Challenge accepted
• Showcase of PH tourism spots in Lego map
• Picture This: Lego That Purse

LEGO-lution

• What Happened with LEGO
• Lego, you are dead to me—"Give Lego credit for innovating after losing patent protection on its bricks. It's now a $4 billion company built on brilliant licensing deals and increasingly expensive, specialized sets. Which is exactly why I'm starting to hate it so, so much."
• Legos Are Getting Angrier And That's Not Funny, Study Says
• Girls' Legos Are A Hit, But Why Do Girls Need Special Legos?
• Lego building expert says he's sad for the children after helicopter destroyed at Cairns Central
• Lego thief pleads guilty—"Prosecutors say 67-year-old John Strang shoplifted as much as $600,000 worth of goods since 2007." Salon

LEGO Movies

• This LEGO Hogwarts includes everything from Snape's classroom to the Chamber of Secrets
• James Bond LEGO concept sets
• Lego Serenity
• Lego Casino Royale

LEGO Builds

• Behold an amazing 200,000-piece Lego alien city—"Artist Mike Doyle has created an absolutely jaw-dropping extraterrestrial Lego city called K'al Yne."
• A New Eiffel Tower Building Set for Paris-Loving LEGO Fanatics
• Lego tower measuring 11 stories claims Guinness record
• A Lego Set for Budding Architects, With No Instructions

LEGO Tech

• LEGO Mindstorms EV3
• Lego machine removes DRM from Kindle e-books—"Lego Mindstorms, a Kindle, and a laptop combine into an art project that is an automated system for scanning e-books and creating DRM-free versions."
• The 7 Most Ridiculously Advanced Machines Built Out of LEGOs
• LEGO Hot Rod: 500,000-Piece Working Replica Runs on Air
• Apple Engineer Creates Elaborate Drawing Machine, Using Legos
• Lego prosthetic leg

Data Privacy Day

• If You Used This Secure Webmail Site, the FBI Has Your Inbox—"While investigating a hosting company known for sheltering child porn last year the FBI incidentally seized the entire e-mail database of a popular anonymous webmail service called TorMail."
• Spy Agencies Probe Angry Birds and Other Apps for Personal Data—Plug those leaks.
• Tech Giants, Telcos Get OK to Release Stats on NSA Spying—Ploy to have their lawsuits dropped?
• Here's Why Obama's Surveillance Transparency Deal With Tech Companies Doesn't Matter
• British Judge Rules Google Can Be Sued In UK Over Privacy Case
• Apple's Tim Cook: 'There is no backdoor. The government doesn't have access to our servers'
• Joy of Tech: Google buys Nest

NSA Spying

• German TV: Edward Snowden says NSA is involved in industrial sabotage
• Wanted dead by US officials, Snowden tells German TV
• The NSA's Losing Argument
• On Children's Website, N.S.A. Puts a Furry, Smiley Face on Its Mission NYT
• Democrat Dianne Feinstein proves an obstacle to Obama’s push for changes at spy agencies WaPo
• Republicans Blast Their Own—"Bush era Republicans are making their anger known after the RNC passed a resolution denouncing the NSA's blanket surveillance.'"
• Andrea Mitchell Had To Interrupt An NSA Discussion With Breaking Bieber News—Mainstream media eats up all-too convenient distraction.

World News, Ukraine; Environment, China Air Pollution, West Virginia Spill, Fracking, Ecology; Obama, NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

World News

• Thailand declares state of emergency in Bangkok
• Catalonia Pushes For Independence From Spain—235,000 signatures collected in one weekend.
• Scottish independence: Economy matters most, says social attitudes survey

Ukraine

• Ukraine protests: 'Two people' killed in Kiev clashes
• After another night of violence, Russia tells Europeans not to interfere in Ukraine
• Maybe the Most Orwellian Text Message a Government's Ever Sent

Environment

• Russia cracks down on green activism ahead of Sochi Olympics—"Russian courts sentence Evgeny Vitishko, a critic of the Sochi Olympics construction projects, to three years."
• Palm Oil Company Fined Millions for Burning Sumatran Forest
• Judge sides with company in asbestos fight, cuts liability by more than $1 billion
• Halliburton manager gets probation for destroying Deepwater Horizon evidence—"Oil company's cement technology expert deleted data uncovered by inquiry into fatal oil well blowout in April 2010."
• California official: utilities would like to "strangle" solar

China Air Pollution

• China's smog now 20 times worse than safe levels
• China's exports linked to western U.S. air pollution
• Westerners are so convinced China is a dystopian hellscape they'll share anything that confirms it—"Take, for instance, the reports about pollution being so severe in Beijing that residents now watch radiant sunrises broadcast on a huge screen in Tiananmen Square."

West Virginia Spill

• Freedom Industries files for bankruptcy, owes $2.4 million to IRS—Looks like West Virginians will be stuck paying for the clean-up.
• Chemical-Related Hospital Admissions In West Virginia Have Doubled Since Water Deemed Safe—Not so fast.
• Elk River leak included another chemical—"Federal and state investigators learned Tuesday that an additional chemical that wasn't previously identified was in the tank that leaked Jan. 9 at the Freedom Industries tank farm, just upstream from West Virginia American Water's regional drinking water intake."
• West Virginia Governor On Safety Of Water Supply: 'It's Your Decision… I'm Not A Scientist'
• West Virginia politicians consider chemical regulation after spill

Fracking

• Are you opposed to fracking? Then you might just be a terrorist—"From North America to Europe, the 'national security' apparatus is being bought off by Big Oil to rout peaceful activism."
• Livestream captures violent arrest of anti-fracking protester
• Fracking Chemicals In North Carolina Will Remain Secret, Industry-Funded Commission Rules

Ecology

• Drugs, Death, Neglect: Behind the Scenes at Animal Planet—Our exclusive investigation reveals how animals suffer on the network's top reality show."
• BBC admits filming nature scenes in 'controlled conditions' as cameraman claims small animal footage was 'faked'
• Reward offered for whooping cranes illegally shot in Western Kentucky
• Japanese fishermen begin annual slaughter of hundreds of dolphins—Anonymous gets involved.
• India's forest man—"Lauded for growing an entire forest over thirty years, Jadav Payeng shows the way forward to afforestation."

Obama

• Obama's NSA Speech Fails To Register With Americans, Poll Finds
• Five Criticisms of Obama's NSA Speech
• 'The USA knows that for us spying is a crime'—"German reaction to President Barack Obama's much-anticipated speech on Friday on the future of NSA spying has veered from skepticism to veiled threats with politicians suggesting legal action is a possibility."
• Human Rights Watch annual report 2014 criticises NSA mass surveillance—And that Obama has not gone far enough on NSA reforms.
• Stewart Skewers Obama's NSA Speech: Privacy Is Important!… Unless We Decide It Isn't!

NSA Spying

• New documents: NSA provided 2-3 daily "tips" to FBI for at least 3 years—"Secret 2007 court order mentions 'approximately three telephone identifiers.'"
• US withholding Fisa court orders on NSA bulk collection of Americans' data—"Justice Department refuses to turn over 'certain other' documents in ACLU lawsuit meant to shed light on surveillance practices."
• Legislators in 6 States Want to Pull the Plug on NSA Spying—Some Literally
• Google's Eric Schmidt denies knowledge of NSA data tapping of firm—"Executive chairman says search company has 'complained at great length' to the US government over intrusion."
• Reddit co-founder: NSA supporters offering 'false choice'
• Snowden to ask Russian police for protection after US threats – lawyer
• NSA files: Snowden says 'I acted alone' and rubbishes Russian spy claims—"Former spy agency contractor tells magazine that attempt to link him to FSB are 'absurd.'"

Surveillance and Privacy

• The Big Brother bargain: How government surveillance became easy and cheap—"It used to be that intelligence gathering was painstaking and expensive. Not anymore!" Salon
• China cracks down on web anonymity with new regulations
• Google should have been fined $1B over privacy policy, says EU justice chief
• Privacy tools used by 28% of the online world, research finds—"Concern about privacy, and frustration over censorship and content blocking is driving millions to use anonymity tools."
• Camouflage from face detection

Obama and the NSA, Surveillance and Privacy, Your Rights Online; Police State, War on Terror, Pakistan, Military, Scams; Net Neutrality

Obama and the NSA

• Obama's NSA speech: 53 years after Ike's warning
• The 4 numbers you need to know for President Obama's NSA speech WaPo
• Obama wants to end NSA holding of metadata

Surveillance and Privacy

• NSA collects millions of text messages daily in 'untargeted' global sweep
• Report: Usefulness of NSA Mass Surveillance 'Overblown'
• A Free Society Cannot Escape All Terrorism—"An NSA official illustrates the totalitarian temptation in bureaucracies charged with stopping 100 percent of attacks."
• The NSA Can't Tell Bernie Sanders If It's Spying On Him, Because That Would Violate His Privacy
• NSA spying? 'We've seen this movie before'—"Legislators seeking to reform the NSA may not have the votes they need. But their opponents are running out of reasons to justify the agency's activities."
• Secret surveillance court judges oppose reform ideas—"Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court jurists are all against a presidential task force's ideas for increasing transparency and oversight."
• I Spent Two Hours Talking With the NSA's Bigwigs. Here's What Has Them Mad
• Snowden hailed as hero at University of Guelph discussion about online privacy issues
• The more I listen to American intelligence officials, the more I edge toward Snowden Foreign Policy
• Must-see morning clip: Stephen Colbert wants to fix the NSA surveillance program with (surprise) more spying! Salon

Your Rights Online

• UN: Online Privacy Now Considered a Human Right
• Online privacy: 'Big data' is watching, and building your digital profile'
• Online Privacy: We Are The Authors Of Our Own Demise
• Sync Your Files without Trusting the Cloud
• How to disappear online

Press Freedom and Transparency

• Snowden to Join Board of the Freedom of the Press Foundation—"The foundation set up by Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon Papers leaker and a supporter of Edward J. Snowden, encourages publishing government secrets in the public interest." NYT
• Navy Mistakenly Sends Reporter Strategy To Dodge FOIA Request
• How to contact The Globe Mail securely

Police State

• Voluntary government checkpoints spark backlash—"Checkpoints, which the government insists are voluntary, are creating a backlash because of the presence of uniformed police officers. Some police departments won't participate anymore."
• Insane Clown Posse Defends Fans, With F.B.I. Lawsuit—"The rap group Insane Clown Posse filed suit against the government, charging that it unlawfully classified fans of the band as criminal gang members." NYT
• Student arrested after buying bottled water mistaken for beer files lawsuit against state
• NYPD Seized an Innocent's Man Cash, Used It to Pad Their Pension
• The absurdly dangerous militarization of America's police Salon
• Police Becoming More Militarized As Wars Wind Down
• Supreme Court Lets Stand Ruling Bolstering Gadget Privacy at U.S. Border

War on Terror

• After 12 years, £390bn, and countless dead, we leave poverty, fraud – and the Taliban in Afghanistan
• Devastating dossier on 'abuse' by UK forces in Iraq goes to International Criminal Court
• U.S. ambivalence runs deep as Iraq violence revives
• Falluja's Fall Stuns Marines Who Fought There NYT
• I helped destroy Falluja in 2004. I won't be complicit again—"The media accepts the overly simple narrative that al-Qaida took over. The reality is Maliki is crushing dissent with US-made arms."
• Close Guantánamo prison, says first US commander on 12th anniversary
• Senate Report Debunks Key Benghazi Conspiracy Claims, Says Attack Preventable
• 9 Huge Government Conspiracies That Actually Happened
• Scholar Wins Court Battle to Purge Name From U.S. No-Fly List
• Manufacturing Terrorists—A look inside "The Terror Factory."

Pakistan

• Aitzaz Hasan: Tributes to Pakistan teenager killed when he stopped a bomber—"My son made his mother cry, but saved hundreds of mothers from crying for their children." May his sacrifice be always remembered as a call for peace.
• 'One in four US drone deaths in Pakistan are civilian'
• Drone strikes are illegal according to a prominent Pakistani lawyer
• US fighting 'wrong war' against 'wrong people'
• Utah gun maker turns down $15M deal with Pakistan—"... citing concerns they could eventually be used against U.S. troops."

Military

• Cost to US of Iraq and Afghan wars could hit $6 trillion—"The cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could reach as high as $6 trillion dollars – or $75,000 for every household in America – a new study from Harvard University has found."
• The Startling Size of US Special Forces—"A TomDispatch investigation reveals America's secret military operates in over half the nations on the planet."
• Big money behind war: the military-industrial complex
• An Unholy Alliance Is Forcing Veterans To Pay For 12 Years Of War
• Feds in Ajo for Border Patrol home cost audit—"Feds in Ajo for Border Patrol home cost audit,Following an uproar by residents and some members of Congress, the Department of Homeland Security has opened an investigation into whether $15 million in tax dollars to build housing for Border Patrol agents here was improperly spent."

Scams

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren working with Sen. Marco Rubio on amendment to protect veterans from scams
• The Charity Swindle—Brian Thompsan sentenced to 28 years, "including solitary confinement on every Veterans Day during that span." NYT
• Wounded Warriors Project A Legal Scam

Net Neutrality

• Government regulators who killed net neutrality became top cable industry lobbyists— "The LA Times points out something worth repeating: net neutrality was really killed back in 2002, when the FCC Chairman Michael Powell reclassified cable modem services as 'information services' rather than 'telecommunications services.'"
• Why you should care about Net neutrality
• Winning and Losing in the Net Neutrality Decision
• FCC will find new way to prevent ISP abuse after net neutrality loss—With today's Congress, common carrier reclassifcation is a pipe dream.
• The Feds Lost Net Neutrality, But Won Control of the Internet

Comply! Censorship; Law and Disorder; Educamation; Parenting; Surveillance and Privacy

Comply!

• Rutherford Institute Defends 10-Year-Old Suspended for Shooting Imaginary Arrow, Threatened with Expulsion Under Weapons Policy
• 6-year-old Colorado boy suspended for kissing a girl—"The suspension of a 6-year-old boy for kissing a girl at school is raising questions about whether the smooch should be considered sexual harassment." The boy was already told to stop before on multiple occasions, which he didn't heed, and the suspension was perhaps warranted, but calling his actions "sexual harrasment" is wrong.
• A.D.H.D. Seen in 11% of U.S. Children as Diagnoses Rise—Me-dic-ate, me-di-cate. NYT

Censorshp

• When you censor student speech, you're mostly teaching kids to live with censorship.
• Tampa 5th grader's religion speech sparks controversy
• Creativity is rejected: Teachers and bosses don't value out-of-the-box thinking.
• Decision to keep 'The Color Purple' on shelves is appealed again; hearing set
• Book bannings on the rise in US schools, says anti-censorship group—"The Kids' Right to Read Project investigated 49 book bannings or removals from school shelves in 29 states...."

Law and Disorder

• Girl resisting officer hit with Taser—"Investigators say the seventh grade girl hit a Cleveland ISD officer on the bus, and things escalated from there."
• Finger case is 'compensation culture gone mad', says judge
• Report: Oregon suspends TE Pharaoh Brown for snowball fight
• Parents stunned that union is seeking a $10K severance for teacher who molested their son
• Harvard Student Arrested For Bomb Threat Tried And Failed To Hide Identity With Anonymous Browser

Educamation

• Newly-proposed 'read-or-flunk' law for 3rd graders would have held back more than 39,000 students last year
• Sorry, Michelle Rhee, but our obsession with testing kids is all about money Salon
• Better-looking high schoolers have grade advantages—"An analysis of almost 9,000 high school students that follows them into adulthood finds those rated by others as better-looking had higher GPAs."

Parenting

• Have a kid who's out of control? A new therapy offers a kind of parental empowerment. WaPo
• This is not a selfie. This is an act of war against women.—Over-the-top rant of a mother-cum-blogger complaining about a fitness blogger's post-pregnancy photos.
• Blast from the Past: One-armed presenter is scaring children, parents tell BBC

Surveillance and Privacy

• Edward Snowden Christmas message: End mass surveillance
• Sorry, RSA, I'm just not buying it—The RSA's non-apology apology, that is.
• Judge Rules That NSA Can Only Spy On Phone Records Of 6.7 Billion Non-Americans
• A New Twist in International Relations: The Corporate Keep-My-Data-Out-of-the-U.S. Clause
• REAL ID Enforcement Begins in 2014, 21 States Compliant

Pr0n, Blocked, Revenge, Cases; Law and Disorder; Sex Offenders, Vigilante Injustice; Rape, Sexual Assault; Swordfight, Male Factor; Quirks

Pr0n

• Porn Is Dead, Long Live Sex
• Fired for doing porn: The new employment discrimination—"Adult performers who get work elsewhere can be fired if their past comes out -- and there's no legal recourse." Salon
• "How do I become a male porn star?"—"After I wrote about the adult film industry, I got emails from men all over the globe with one common request." Salon
• Los Angeles County condom law leads to steep drop in porn film permits
• The US now watches the majority of its online porn on mobile phones

Blocked

• UK: New ISP customers will have porn filters turned on automatically—And, unintentionally(?), block sex education websites. How long before other topics are censored? In the meantime, UK Google Chrome users can tell Cameron to go away.
• Conservative MP, radical feminist and evangelical Christian come together to block online porn in Canada
• Google and Microsoft agree measures to block abuse images
• Document Reveals Conservative Plot For "Abolition" Of Porn
• Blanket Censorship Will Lull Parents Into a False Sense of Security

Revenge

• Revenge porn sought to be outlawed
• 'Revenge porn' site owner arrested in San Diego
• Christian school places teacher on leave after photos from stolen phone post to revenge porn website—"The school has refused to comment further on the case 'due to the sensitive nature of the circumstances.'"
• Angry, Abusive Men Still Have Free Speech Without Revenge Porn
• RIP Al Goldstein, Original Revenge Porn King

Cases

• Supreme Court Won't Hear Appeal over VA Sodomy Law
• 'Topless paparazzo' wins $40,000 from NYC over illegal arrests
• Supreme Court strikes down Canada's anti-prostitution laws as Charter breach

Law and Disorder

• Calif. youth admits Miss Teen USA 'sextortion' plot
• 'Rape porn' possession to be punished by three years in jail, David Cameron to announce
• Penn State to pay $59.7 million in 26 cases of Jerry Sandusky abuse
• Innocent man commits suicide after paedophile accusation
• Anonymous Vs. Steubenville—"Online vigilante Deric Lostutter helped expose the cover-up in the Steubenville rape case. Now he's facing more jail time than the convicted rapists."

Sex Offenders

• The village where half the population are sex offenders
• NameTag releases first face recognition app for Google Glass, recognizes 450K sex offenders
• Facebook helped apprehend sexual predator
• Gov. Rick Snyder signs bill to require registered sex offenders to pay annual $50 fee
• Pa. law requiring lifetime registration for juvenile sex offenders is unconstitutional, York County judge rules
• Alabama Lawmaker Re-Introduces Castration Bill For Sex Offenders
• A Court Has Ruled It's Not OK To Arouse Sex Offenders and Measure Their Erections

Vigilante Injustice

• Entrapped! When Craigslist predator stings go too far
• Vigilante paedophile hunters ruining lives with internet stings—"Police say the actions of the vigilantes can be damaging to abuse victims as well as innocent people wrongly suspected."
• Innocent man burned to death after vigilantes branded him a paedophile—Three cops suspended.

Rape

• Somali woman who reported rape sentenced—"Nineteen-year-old will be confined to home for six months and journalists who reported the story are to go to jail."
• Delhi rape: one year on, has anything changed for India's women?—"One year after the vicious assault of a student on a Delhi bus, protests and reports of abuse in India have increased. But is it any better to be a woman there today?"
• The rape victim that India forgot—"Bereft of media attention, minor girl fights lonely battle and awaits 20th surgery after being gang-raped 16 months ago."
• Four cops arrested for minor's gang rape
• Chicago girl's rape near a school 'Safe Passage' route alarms parents
• Kicked out of high school for 'public lewdness' after reporting rape—"When Rachel Bradshaw-Bean claimed she had been raped in the band room of her high school in Texas, school officials sprang into action—and kicked her out of school."
• 'Cruel' policewoman who HUGGED rape victim as she lied about the reason for her case being dropped is jailed
• Japanese lawmakers demand removal of California World War II memorial
• 'Huge win for victims of sexual assault': Congress sends defense bill to Obama

Sexual Assault

• Female Guards Are Frequently Abusing Young Males In Juvenile Detention
• College men accused of sexual assault say their rights violated—Are men more likely to be deemed guilty until proven innocent?
• Project Unbreakable

Swordfight

• Is Male Circumcision a Form of Genital Mutilation?—"Representatives from Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Greenland all recently met in Norway with doctors and surgeons who agreed on one thing: the fight for the right to keep foreskin."
• Woman fined $140 a day for refusing to circumcise son
• The 10 strangest facts about penises Salon
• Patrick Moote Has a Penis Problem—"The 'Unhung Hero' star on why size doesn't (always) matter."
• Embrace your small penis, men: Everyone else is lying anyway!—"Only one man in 100 reaches beyond the 5-to-7-inch average. Why are men lying, and why do women expect more?" Salon
• Average penis size: Human penises are huge compared to other primates.
• Which State Is the Biggest?—"On this list, Texas doesn't even make the top 40."
• Testicle size 'link to father role'—"A link between the size of a father's testicles and how active he is in bringing up his children has been suggested by scientists."
• Concrete Posts Shaped Like Male Genitalia The Talk Of Scott Township
• 'Fig leaf coming soon': Church replies to 'penis-shaped' comments after picture goes viral

Male Factor

• America's obsessed with naked men Salon
• Beefcakes are the new cheesecakes Salon
• How Nudity Impacts Our Perception Of Others: Are Naked Men Objectified Just As Much As Women?
• Charlie Hunnam's buff bod in 'Pacific Rim'—I'd kaiju all over that.
• Men Do Makeup With Michelle Phan

Quirks

• Sexual deviancy is normal—"Even in extreme cases, there's 'some tension' about whether sadism indicates mental illness. Not for the squeamish." Salon
• What It's Like to Be Kidnapped—'Why on earth would someone pay hundreds of dollars to fly halfway across the country for the pleasure of being abducted by thugs, handcuffed in a basement for hours, and forced to pee into a Gatorade bottle? GQ made Drew Magary go find out. (Sorry, Drew)"
• The Strange Sexual Quirk of Filipino Seafarers—"How the pressures of the shipping industry have shaped everything about this maritime culture. Right down to their penile implants."
• British experts warn of rise in genital cosmetic surgery
• 15 "naughty" tips to guarantee awful sex—"A compendium of the worst magazine sex advice ever, from Cosmo to Men's Health." Salon

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

Government Shutdown Day 8, Default Denialists, Debt Ceiling, GOP, Tea Party, Obamacare, Exchanges, Politifact; Citizens United II, Surveillance and Privacy

Government Shutdown Day 8

• 19 Times Democrats Tried to Negotiate With Republicans—"The GOP's biggest talking point of the shutdown is only true if you ignore everything that happened before last week."
• Reid says Dems will not give in to GOP demands.
• Votes are there to break shutdown, but not the will
• Shutdown Costs at $1.6 Billion With $160 Million Each Day
• Get your fiscal house in order: China warns US as superpower expresses concern for $1.3tn of investments
• Singapore PM criticizes U.S. 'game of chicken'
• Carl Bernstein Slams Media's '50/50' Shutdown Coverage: 'This Is About The Republican Party'—Shooting down the false equivalancy of the "both sides do it" rhetoric.
• Don't slam D.C. for the shutdown, America: You sent these wackos here—"You sent these lawmakers here, voters. That imported brand of cuckoo is what's causing this shutdown." WaPo
• Colbert on shutdown: Republicans already compromised on 'having Mitt Romney be president'
• The Government Shutdown, Told in LEGO

Default Denialists

• Crisis? What Crisis?—"How House Republicans are convincing themselves that defaulting on the country's debt wouldn't be the disaster everybody claims it'd be." The first stage is denial [NYT].
• Meet Nine Republicans Down For Defaulting On The National Debt
• Here Are Three Debt-Ceiling Lies You'll Hear From the GOP This Week
• Behold the GOP's Terrifying New Debt Ceiling Theory: Default is Inevitable
• Right-wing nutjobs' last stand: The debt limit endgame arrives—"As the debt limit deadline approaches, conservatives are trotting out the real nonsense. The fantasy is almost over." Salon

Debt Ceiling

• Shutdown Merges With Debt Debate as Senate Seeks Strategy
• Don't want to raise debt ceiling? Get ready for austerity
• Government shutdown unlikely to damage economy, but debt limit could be catastrophe WaPo
• GOP will be dared to filibuster debt ceiling: Harry Reid makes his move—"Majority leader will force GOP to give up their debt limit extortion dream -- or filibuster America into default." But Republicans are angry and desperate to get something "big" out of this debacle. Salon
• Josh Marshall: What I Think Is Happening

GOP

• Shutdown Poll: GOP Disapproval High Politico
• Post/ABC News poll: GOP is getting blamed for the shutdown—And rightly so. Their frame game is failing. WaPo
• Peter King: GOP Is Responsible For The Government Shutdown
• 8 Flagrant Examples of Republican Shutdown Hypocrisy—"They claim they didn't want a shutdown, but these GOP politicians have been clamoring for one since 2010."
• The House GOP has nothing to show for its government shutdown WaPo
• A G.O.P. Moderate in the Middle ... of a Jam WaPo
• What John Boehner's ambition has to do with the shutdown
• Opinion: Boehner is leader in name only
• Harry Reid: 'Speaker Boehner Has A Credibility Problem'
• GOP Rep Apologizes For 'Shameful' Remarks, Asks To Have Salary Withheld

Tea Party

• Tea party Republicans blame Obama for the shutdown they planned
• Bill Moyers: Tea Partiers 'have sucked the last bit of soul' from GOP
• Tea Party's Strategy Is a Proven Loser
• Republicans fighting back against the tea party WaPo
• GOP Rep Blames Cruz For Shutdown: 'He Took A Lot Of Folks Into The Ditch'
• Devin Nunes accuses Ted Cruz of lying about shutdown—Though Nunes's still a bit confused on what he wants to do.
• Ex-GOP insider unloads: Blame "neo-Confederate insurrectionists" for shutdown Salon

Obamacare

• Obamacare is here. Get used to it.—"It will get better over time, but already, the act is a beautiful thing." WaPo
• GOP's latest shutdown delusion: They missed the Obamacare negotiations!—"They ignore a year of hearings and desperate bargaining on Obamacare. Plus: The worst shutdown punditry ever."
• Study Confirms Fox Used GOP-Friendly Language To Try To Stop Health Care Reform
• Jon Stewart: Republicans can’t take advantage of Obamacare's problems because 'they're f*cking nuts'
• Ted Cruz: Destroying Entire Planet Best Way to Stop Obamacare—A satire piece.

Exchanges

• The real story behind all those Obamacare waivers
• Health insurance shoppers suffer sticker shock—Single payer, single payer, single payer.
• Why It Doesn't Matter If People Aren't Signing Up for Obamacare Yet

Politifact

• Tweets and bloggers say Obama used government shutdown to close Amber Alert system—False.
• Did Obama shut down the ocean as part of the shutdown?—False.
• Ted Cruz says 'a strong bipartisan majority' in the House of Representatives 'voted to defund Obamacare'—False.
• GOP Rep. Jeb Hensarling assails "sweetheart" deal for lawmakers, staff under Obamacare—Pants on fire.
• A man opted out of Obamacare after the marketplace launched on Oct. 1, 2013, and was informed he owed a $4,000 fine.—Pants on fire.

Citizens United II

• 'Citizens United II' could open floodgates
• This Supreme Court Case Could Usher In a "System of Legalized Corruption"
• Supreme Court Hears Another Challenge To Campaign Finance Law—"What is needed in the modern political system, argues lawyer Bopp, is more money, not less."

Surveillance and Privacy

• Another victim of US gov't shutdown? Obama's surveillance review panel
• NSA inundated by FOIA requests after Snowden leaks
• Australia prepared briefing on US global internet spying program PRISM before Snowden revelations
• Former NSA contractor designs 'surveillance-proof' font
• Mugged by a Mug Shot Online—"Web sites are publishing arrest photos of millions of Americans and often charging fees to remove the pictures." NYT
• 'Revenge porn' outlawed in California—"Fines and jail sentences may be imposed on people who post naked photos of their former partners without permission."
• Halle Berry backed anti-paparazzi bill becomes law

Government Shutdown Day 6, GOP, Tea Party, Obamacare, Repercussions, Church and State, Racism, Corruption; Tor and the Silk Road, Spying and Surveillance

Government Shutdown Day 6

• Yes, the White House Is 'Winning'
• Why Obama Doesn't Care If He's Winning or Losing the PR Battle—"Now that he doesn't have to face voters again, it's about fixing the government."
• The Shutdown Prophet—"Washington couldn't have gone dark without a radicalized Republican Party. Or maybe it was destined to all along."
• Shutdown's roots lie in deeply embedded divisions in America's politics WaPo
• The Triumph Of The Ratfuckers—"Let us raise a morning glass to Donald Segretti, the ratfucker."
• If America is the world's greatest power, why the infantile politics?—"The US is on the brink of disaster, brought to it by a movement unique in its startling lack of realism and rigour."
• Dem Rep Blasts GOP Shutdown Stalemate: 'So We Sit Here Until They Figure Out They F*ck*n' Lost'

GOP

• Dennis Ross, GOP Rep: 'Pride' Is Why Republicans Won't Budge On Government Shutdown—Their idea of 'compromise' is anything but.
• House GOP flounders to explain shutdown
• Republicans, Over the Cliff
• The shutdown is a Republican civil war WaPo
• Mitch McConnell's vanishing act WaPo
• Boehner's Shutdown Fallback Plan Is Doomed
• Fool me with a budget commission once, shame on you. Fool me eight times …
• GOP floats six-week funding and debt ceiling extension
• Republicans in California greet government shutdown with worry—It's not all sunshine.
• SNL skewers John Boehner and Michelle Bachmann Hilarious Miley Cyrus Parody 'We Did Stop (The Government)'

Tea Party

• For Rep. Ted Yoho, government shutdown is 'the tremor before the tsunami'—"I’m not going to raise the debt ceiling. [...] I think, personally, it would bring stability to the world markets." Freaky scary stupidity.
• Reid: Boehner Has Been 'Waylaid' By Tea Party
• Obama: Unlike Cruz, I Didn't Seek Media Attention As Senator
• Riding the Tea Party tiger: Has it been worth it for GOP?
• Slaves to 'the base'—"Increasingly, American politics is controlled by the most militant factions within each party." And how base they are indeed.

Obamacare

• The Truth About Obamacare and How It Solves the Suffering of the Insured
• The myth about job-killing Obamacare—"It won't be the job killer the GOP makes it out to be."
• The Uninsured Are Spread Throughout Red States, Too—"The people who stand to gain the most from the health care law don't live in just Democratic House districts."
• Frankenstein Goes to Congress—"When it comes to Obamacare, Republicans are hanging on to the towel." NYT
• Obamacare begins – and the right is terrified that it will work
• Michigan battle over 'Obamacare' becomes fight for soul of GOP—"Analysis: State Republicans narrowly favor Medicaid expansion."
• Nina Dobrev poses semi-nude to show her support for Obamacare—#GetCovered

Repercussions

• Closure of War Memorials Continues to Cause Conflict
• Government shutdowns are even worse for Washington's museums than you think
• US government researchers barred from scientific conferences
• Lake Mead property owners forced out until shutdown ends
• Federal judge slaps down Darrell Issa over request for shutdown exception
• House Passes Bill Allowing Back Pay For Furloughed Workers
• Pentagon to recall most furloughed workers, Hagel says

Church and State

• The Theology of Government Shutdown: Christian Dominionism
• Christian TV Host Asks God for 'Military Takeover' of Obama's Presidency
• Virginia Republican: 'Jesus' saved me from Harvard Law School

Racism

• 'Serious Racism Here': Ed Schultz Insists GOP's Shutdown Showdown Motivated by 'Hate'
• The GOP's White Southern Republican Problem
• Conservatives' Biggest Fear: Being Called Racist
• Allen West reportedly fired for anti-Semitic remark
• Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio to be overseen by monitor, judge rules

Corruption

• Scott Walker tramples Wisconsin values with United Sportsmen scandal
• Still in Office, Mayor Already Collecting $99,735 Annual Public Pension
• Postal Service defaults on $5.6 billion payment—Setting an impossible goal so that it fail and then be privatized.

Tor and the Silk Road

• How the feds took down the Dread Pirate Roberts
• NSA and GCHQ target Tor network that protects anonymity of web users
• 'Tor Stinks' presentation—"Top-secret presentation says 'We will never be able to de-anonymize all Tor users all the time' but 'with manual ana+lysis we can de-anonymize a very small fraction of Tor users.'"
• Silk Road underground market closed – but others will replace it—"The high profile 'dark web' drugstore has been shut down, leaving room for a plethora of copycats and rivals."
• Security Flaw Shows Tor Anonymity Network Dominated by Botnet Command and Control Traffic

Spying and Surveillance

• Schneier: Why the NSA's attacks on the internet must be made public—"By reporting on the agency's actions, the vulnerabilities in our computer systems can be fixed. It's the only way to force change."
• What Happened to Obama's NSA Reforms?—"Two months ago, the President embraced limited reforms to domestic spying. So far, he's produced limited results."
• Sen. Feinstein Claims The NSA Does Collect Phone Call Location Information, Contradicting The NSA
• DOJ's non-ironic arguments rejecting Google, Facebook user data transparency requests
• GCHQ report on 'MULLENIZE' program to 'stain' anonymous electronic traffic

Civil Liberties, Freedom of Speech and Anonymity, Journalism, Transparency; Snowden, Surveillance and NSA Spying; Syria, War on Terror, TSA

Civil Liberties

• The Banality of Systemic Evil—"A recent poll showed that 70 percent of people aged 18 to 34 thought Edward Snowden 'did a good thing.' Has the younger generation lost its moral compass?" NYT
• Amid NSA Scandal, ACLU Report Turns Spotlight Back To FBI's 'Unchecked Abuse Of Authority'
• DOJ: Some Constitutional Rights Can't Be Tested In Courts, Like Our Ability To Kill You With A Drone
• Federal Appeals Court: Border Agents Can't Answer Suspect's Cell Phone And Impersonate Owner
• Cross Border Killings—"What happens when US Border Patrol agents shoot across international lines, killing Mexicans in their own country?" Nothing because US courts asserted "that Mexican citizens do not have the same constitutional protections as US citizens..."

Freedom of Speech and Anonymity

• Anonymous Cop Pens Bizarre Editorial Calling for 'End of Anonymity on the Internet,' Says All Internet Posters Should be Forced to Register with the Government for 'Public Safety'—He says while his boot is stepping on your neck.
• Charles Xue tells Chinese media he spread irresponsible online posts—"Detained Chinese-American venture capitalist says 'freedom of speech cannot override the law.'" Room 101 strikes again.
• Supreme Court Weighs When Online Speech Becomes an Illegal Threat
• Judge Throws Out Officers' Convictions in Killings After Hurricane Katrina—"The judge harshly criticized federal prosecutors for making anonymous comments on the Web site of a New Orleans newspaper before and during the trial." NYT
• Cynics Online—"Ambiguous usernames that provide anonymity have resulted in an increase in freedom of speech and a decrease in liability."

Journalism

• "Free Flow of Information Act" Targets Independent Journalism—"According to the text of an amendment sponsored by Senators Diane Feinstein and Dick Durbin..., only salaried journalists will be given the free press protections guaranteed to all US citizens by the Constitution." How Orwellian can you get? "Free Flow" indeed.
• Why 'be transparent' has replaced 'act independently' as a guiding journalism principle
• The Onion Is The Country's Best Op-Ed Page. Seriously.

Transparency

• Ideas at the House: Panel - The War on Whistleblowers and Their Publishers—"US Journalist and activist Alexa O'Brien and Australian commentator Robert Manne are joined by video conference with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Guardian Journalist Glenn Greenwald and Chelsea Manning's Lawyer David Coombs on stage at the Sydney Opera House (moderated by Bernard Keane of Crikey)."
• AP Journalists: The NYPD 'Less Transparent' Than CIA, FBI And NSA When It Comes To FOI Requests
• DoD office can't process FOIAs because fax machine broken, no money for new one

Snowden

• Fugitive Snowden in running for European rights prize
• Former NSA chief: 'Morally arrogant' Snowden will probably become an alcoholic
• The NSA Has No Solution For The Real 'Snowden Problem' And It's Only Going To Get Worse

Surveillance and NSA Spying

• U.S. Telcos Have Never Challenged NSA Demands for Your Metadata
• Newly Released Secret Surveillance Court Ruling Confirms Sweeping Legal Standard For Collecting Phone Data
• FISA Court Pretends Every Member Of Congress Was Told Details Of Bulk Surveillance, Even Though They Weren't
• Senators Decry NSA 'Ineptitude,' Call for End to Dragnet Phone Surveillance
• Verizon exec slams Google, Microsoft, Yahoo for NSA lawsuit grandstanding—Big brother knows best!
• Guardian Story on Israel and N.S.A. Is Not 'Surprising' Enough to Cover—Nothing to see here folks. Move along... seriously, move... along. NYT
• Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff calls off US trip—"Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has called off a state visit to Washington next month in a row over allegations of US espionage."

Syria

• Forensic Details in U.N. Report Point to Assad's Use of Gas NYT
• Jon Stewart Goes After Sen. Graham, Others For Pushing War In Syria
• Final Tally: Americans Were 12 Times More Interested in Miley Cyrus Than Syria—State of the nation indeed.

War on Terror

• How the 'war on terror' came home—"The story of Aaron Alexis is still obscure. But effects of an over-taxed US military are painfully visible among 2 million veterans."
• The War on Terror is Still Everywhere
• Herat attack: Afghanistan Taliban target US consulate

TSA

• Ex-TSA agent: We steal from travelers all the time
• Keep your shoes, jackets on: TSA to expand pre-screening program
• Been groped by TSA agents? Former DHS official implied privacy advocates are to blame