World News, Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, UK and Scotland, China, Brazil 2014 and Qatar 2022, MH370; US Politics, Obamanation, Texas, War on Women, Immigrants; Vote Machinations, Campaign Finance Deform, Public-Private Partnerships

World News

• Thai junta pushes 'happiness' project—"Critics say rulers also aim to stifle political dissent." Boston Globe
• Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Icon Of Egypt's 2011 Revolt, Sentenced To 15 Years For Protesting
• Anti-monarchy protests grip Madrid—Spanish lawmakers about to approve abdication.

Ukraine and Russia

• Britain calls up Dad's Army of spies to watch Russia—"Military intelligence chiefs have been re-recruiting Cold War veterans and retired linguists because of a lack of Russian skills to deal with the Ukraine crisis."
• After Ukraine, U.S. trains more special forces in eastern Europe
• Gas row: Ukraine 'won't fall into Russian gas trap'
• Europe Has Finally Found A Way To Make Russia Hurt Economically In Ukraine Crisis
• EU raises 500 mn euros for Ukraine

Israel and Palestine

• Pope says Israelis, Palestinians must seek peace 'undaunted in dialogue'
• Annexation Plan Sparks Threat to Topple Israel Government—"sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's strongest coalition partner threatened to bring down the government if it tries to annex West Bank settlements following the breakdown of Mideast peace talks."
• Netanyahu Is Facing Heat From All Sides For His Handling Of Palestine Peace Talks

UK and Scotland

• JK Rowling donates £1m to Scotland's anti-independence campaign
• Obama says wants Scotland inside the UK, Britain inside the EU
• Lego asks government to remove Scottish independence images—"Toy manufacturer says it is politically neutral and did not provide photos for press release encouraging Scots to stay in UK."

China

• 2nd China Army Unit Implicated in Online Spying NYT
• Toronto man accused of spying, jailed in China—"A Toronto man living in China says he was wrongfully imprisoned after refusing to spy on Canada."
• Vietnam airs video of Chinese ship sinking fishing boat in South China Sea—In the meantime, Chinese oil rigs are on the move.
• Japan Slams China Over Close Encounter of Jets
• Ancient Chinese maps debunk Beijing's sea claims, says Philippine judge SCMP
• China reaches out to India amid tension with Japan, Vietnam
• Hong Kong must accept Beijing's control, China's Communist Party warns—"Nearly a week after more than 100,000 protesters gathered in Hong Kong to remember the Tiananmen crackdown and call for universal suffrage, Beijing issues controversial white paper reminding the former colony it does not enjoy 'full autonomy.'" Hong Kong protests.

Brazil 2014 and Qatar 2022

• Protests and social unrest threaten World Cup kickoff—Police resort to tear gassing protesters.
• Court rules Sao Paulo subway strike 'illegal'—"Workers must pay increased daily fine if they continue action as strike threatens opening game of Brazil World Cup." The union called it off.
• Fifa sponsor demands 'appropriate investigation'—"One of Fifa's main sponsors, Sony, calls for an investigation into the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar."
• Adidas: Qatar 2022 Claims Damaging Sponsors
• Report: Qatar paid $1.7m per vote
• Sepp Blatter launches broadside against the 'racist' British media
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: FIFA and the World Cup

MH370

• Missing Malaysia jet MH370: 'Whistleblower fund' set up
• Oil rig worker fired after claiming to have seen burning MH370 plane crash
• Australia has spent far more than Malaysia

US Politics

• Eric Cantor succumbs to tea party challenger Tuesday—"The House Republican leader succumbs to David Brat, a little-known conservative activist." What happened? WaPo
• Eric Cantor and the tea party purge WaPo
• Wendy Davis Caught On Camera Saying Republicans Dislike 'People Who Don't Look Like Them'
• The Big Lobotomy—"How Republicans made Congress stupid."
• Does Fox News Cause Ignorance, or Do Ignorant Viewers Prefer Fox News?—"A new study reveals the gap between the channel's fans and the rest of America."
• Why I'm No Longer a Republican

Obamanation

• Sen. Graham fights for Obama's impeachment—"Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., will fight for Obama's impeachment. Why--he's up for re-election."
• Is Obama a Tyrant or a Weakling?—"His critics can't seem to decide." Politico
• White House Aides: Bergdahl Criticism Is Proxy for GOP's Obama Hatred

Texas

• Texas GOP splits between social conservatives, libertarians
• Young Republicans Reject Current Texas GOP Platform—"Current and former leadership of the state's Young Republican chapters shared with Breitbart Texas their frustrations with the current Texas Republican platform, and ideas for how it should be fixed."
• Chris Matthews rips Texas Republican platform: 'How wide is this infection of hatred?'

War on Women

• Sarah Palin believes she is the only actual victim of the "war on women"—"Palin thinks President Obama 'fired the first shot' in the 'war on women' that she doesn't believe even exists." Salon
• Republicans think touching Glamour magazine makes them female-friendly Salon
• WaPo Editorial Page Goes Neanderthal For Second Time In A Week

Immigrants

• Arizona Official Says Immigrant Kids in Good Care
• Questions surround surge in migrant kids left at border
• Obama vows urgent action as children make perilous illegal journey into U.S.
• McCain: GOP must pass immigration to compete in 2016—"Without immigration reform, the former presidential candidate says, the Republican Party won't win in 2016."
• Supreme Court rules against immigrants over visa eligibility
• Woman Waits In Line For 21 Years To Immigrate Into US, Then Gets Turned Away For Being Too Old
• Opinion: On Legal Immigration, Supreme Court Gets It Wrong

Vote Machinations

• Texas Seen as "Kind of an Electoral Wasteland"
• Judge Orders 3 Early Voting Days Restored in Ohio
• Why Mississippi's voter ID law hurts the poor—"Mississippi's new voter-identification law suppresses those who cannot afford the cost of a photo ID, writes Robert Reich. How is Mississippi's effort to stop voter fraud is actually a step back?"
• Voter Fraud Is Rare, but Myth Is Widespread—"Many people believe voter impersonation and other kinds of election fraud are much more widespread than they really are." NYT
• Tea Party Candidate Creates Fake Organization, Endorses Herself In Ad
• Sen. Cruz Formally Renounces Canadian Citizenship

Campaign Finance Deform

• NC House lawmakers file resolution calling for constitutional convention to overturn Citizens United
• Republican Congressman Demolishes The Supreme Court's Rationale For Killing Campaign Finance Laws
• Don't fear the Koch brothers. Fear an election that caters only to billionaires—"Forget right or left. Dark money in politics means you'll never know which 'independent' candidate's views were on the market."

Public-Private Partnerships

• Va. lawmaker to resign, paving way for jobs for self, daughter, according to associates—"Sen. Philip Puckett's resignation paves the way for Republicans to pass a budget without Medicaid." Was this straight-up bribery? WaPo
• GOP Rep. Acknowledges That Members Expect Donations For Votes
• Greenhouse—"A free browser extension for Chrome and Safari that exposes the role money plays in Congress. Displays on any web page detailed campaign contribution data for every Senator and Representative, including total amount received and breakdown by industry and by size of donation."

World News, Far Right, Ukraine and Russia, Turkey, Israel and Palestine, Middle East, Brazil 2014; US Politics, NJ Pensions, Vote Machinations, Campaign Finance Deform; Racism, Religion; Surveillance and Privacy, Your Rights Online

World News

• South Korea offers $500,000 reward for tips about missing billionaire Sewol ferry owner Yoo Byung-eun
• Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Satellite data released after long wait
• France's UMP 'ordered €10m fake invoices' to hide Sarkozy campaign spending

Far Right

• Far-right National Front stuns French elite with EU 'earthquake'
• Greece's Golden Dawn to enter EU Parliament for first time—"Exit polls give the party, which denies it subscribes to neo-Nazi ideology, around a 10 per cent of the Greek vote."
• Farage: UKIP has 'momentum' and is targeting more victories

Ukraine and Russian

• Putin Demands Apology After Prince Charles Compares Him To Hitler—Here's that apology (satire).
• Vladimir Putin Has Been Outplayed by Barack Obama
• Petro Poroshenko claims Ukraine presidency—And he'll push for EU integration.
• More than 50 rebels killed as new Ukraine leader unleashes assault
• ISS crew hug, take selfie to say 'No' to politics and Ukraine tension in space

Turkey

• In Turkey's Mine Disaster, Erdogan Turns Tragedy Into Farce
• Image of PM's aide kicking protester stokes anger over Turkey mine fire
• Soma mine inspected, approved by executive's brother-in-law
• 'Someday There Will Be a Massacre'
• Thousands protest at Erdogan German rally

Israel and Palestine

• Pope Francis calls Israeli-Palestinian stalemate unacceptable—"Pope also chose to arrive in West Bank from Jordan rather than via Israel in a symbolic nod towards Palestinian statehood."
• Gaza's Hamas government says ready to step aside
• Israeli authorities 'try to evict dead people' from Arab village
• Israel troops raid Palestinian newspaper offices
• Video footage indicates killed Palestinian youths posed no threat—"Evidence from CCTV above office shows alleged fatal shootings of Nadeem Nawara and Mohammad Salameh by Israeli forces."
• Turkey orders arrests over Gaza flotilla raid—"Court asks Interpol to issue arrest warrants for Israeli military chiefs over deadly 2010 raid on Gaza-bound aid ship."

Middle East

• Iran releases Pharrell Williams fans detained for singing hit song Happy
• Visiting Qatar this summer? Don't wear shorts. WaPo
• Egyptian presidential election extended to third day
• U.S. doctor killed in Pakistan in front of family

Brazil 2014

• A Brazilian Street Artist Has Created the World Cup's First Viral Image
• Soccer Great Pelé Expresses Concern, Disappointment At Brazil's World Cup Preparations
• Brazil anti-World Cup protesters clash with police
• Rio official: Water pollution targets won't be met—"Brazil will not make good on its commitment to clean up Rio de Janeiro's sewage-filled Guanabara Bay by the 2016 Olympic Games, state environmental officials acknowledged in a letter obtained Saturday by The Associated Press."
• Flipside: Here's Our Favorite World Cup Spot: Nike's "Winner Stays."

US Politics

• How Republicans became the "stupid" party: Turning right, refusing to recognize facts and change—"We once had two centrist liberal parties. Here's the story of how the GOP fringes took over the mainstream." Salon
• Jeb Bush's humiliating plea: I swear I'm smart Salon
• Republicans Bet That Latinos Are Idiots—"House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) recently published an orotund statement predicated on a lie, betting that Hispanic Americans are incapable of distinguishing between fact and fiction."
• Cliven Bundy Abandons The Republican Party
• GOP hopes renewed probes into Benghazi, IRS will fire up conservatives and not annoy centrists
• Young Republicans Split With The GOP On Gay Marriage, Marijuana

NJ Pensions

• We name the political donors whose firms got $14bn of pension cash from New Jersey
• Chris Christie can't afford to pay public teacher pensions… but still hands education megacorp $82m in subsidies
• Christie's pension payment reduction plan sparks lawsuit from CWA

Vote Machinations

• GOPer Suggested Voting Should Be Limited To Property Owners
• Arkansas Voters Complain About Quizzing By Poll Workers Checking IDs
• Voting problems across south could spell trouble for November
• PA: Corbett says he will not appeal voter ID law decision
• FBI agent who focused on political corruption in NC to join state elections agency
• Can Georgia Democrats Make the State Turn Blue Ahead of Schedule?
• Flipside: Massachusetts governor signs early voting bill

Campaign Finance Deform

• RNC files lawsuit to raise unlimited cash
• Someone Just Spent $1.5 Million on a GOP Senate Candidate. We'll Probably Never Know Who.
• David Koch, Donald Trump Lead Wealthy Donors Past Now-Dead Campaign Finance Limit
• Judge Who Halted Walker Dark Money Criminal Probe Attended Koch-Backed Junkets

Racism

• Man accused of slur sues Red Lobster, Franklin waitress
• Miss. Judge Allegedly Struck, Yelled Slur At Mentally Disabled Black Man
• Houston man accused of beating daughter who picked black teen for dance
• Racism on the rise in Britain

Religion

• How American Evangelicals Infected Uganda
• Malaysian Muslim groups call for jihad on Cadbury after pork traces found in chocolate
• Sudanese woman sentenced to death for her Christianity gives birth in prison

Surveillance and Privacy

• John Kerry's Latest Snowden Comments Are Moronic, Offensive, and Dangerous—"No one, fugitive whistleblower or otherwise, should heed Kerry's call to 'trust in the American justice system.'"
• Germany drops NSA prosecution due to lack of evidence—"Data protection officials are bewildered by the German federal prosecutor's decision not to start a criminal investigation into the alleged mass surveillance of German citizens by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA)."
• How the US institutionalized surveillance—"Washington's global intelligence network began with the humble file card."
• Brokers use 'billions' of data points to profile Americans—"Are you a financially strapped working mother who smokes? A Jewish retiree with a fondness for Caribbean cruises? Or a Spanish-speaking professional with allergies, a dog and a collection of Elvis memorabilia?" WaPo
• Attempts to stay anonymous on the web will only put the NSA on your trail—"The sobering story of Janet Vertesi's attempts to conceal her pregnancy from the forces of online marketers shows just how Kafkaesque the internet has become."
• Do Personal Computers Come With NSA Surveillance Devices Built-In As Standard?
• China demands halt to 'unscrupulous' US cyber-spying—"Chinese report says US has breached international laws, infringed human rights and put global cyber-security at risk."

Your Rights Online

• Snowden, Greenwald, Appelbaum, WikiLeaks 'blacklisted' from Stockholm Internet Forum
• Calls for Turkey to remove Internet restrictions
• Thailand: Facebook 'blocked'

Fat Tuesday; Obamacare; Health Issues; Bad Sports; Corruption, Sochi 2014, World Cup Brazil 2014 and Rio 2016; Qatar 2022; Football Fun; Chess

Fat Tuesday

• UN: More obese in the world than suffering from hunger
• Europeans Are Getting Fatter, Just Like Americans
• I Went to the Nutritionists' Annual Confab. It Was Catered by McDonald's.—"Our national nutrition experts are in bed with Big Food. And we wonder why we're fat."
• Healthy obesity a myth, say researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital—"Obesity brings increased risk regardless of cholesterol, blood glucose and blood pressure readings."
• American man loses almost 400lbs in just over a year with help from UK friend he met randomly on game app
• Video: Sarah Baker on Louie - "So did the fat lady..."

Obamacare

• Insurance Execs Shut Down GOP's Latest Search For Bad Obamacare News—"House Republicans spent Wednesday morning grilling insurance industry executives in a follow-up to their now-thoroughly debunked study on how many Obamacare enrollees have paid their premiums."
• Obamacare saved consumers billions, new report finds
• Insurer to cut prices under ObamaCare
• Krugman: Inventing a Failure—"Republicans' response to health reform's success is to close their eyes and sling bad statistics." NYT
• This Was The Week The GOP's Anti-Obamacare Circus Came Crashing Down
• GOP goes quiet on ObamaCare
• GOP Blatantly Manipulates Obamacare News Footage
• Hospitals Report Big Drop in Uninsured Admissions in Blue States—"The fact that Medicaid expansion benefits the poor, benefits hospitals, probably benefits state finances, and is all but free to participating states—well, it's just not enough. Demonstrating their tribal opposition to all things Obama is far more important."
• Massachusetts "Romneycare" site killed after rejecting Obamacare transplant—"Original health exchange site too expensive to fix after CGI failed in ACA upgrade."
• Obamacare's insurance expansion is working, in one chart

Health Issues

• Saudi Arabia finds another 18 MERS cases as disease spreads
• Deadly MERS virus infects second patient in U.S.—"Officials confirmed the presence of a second case in Florida, unrelated to the first." Salon
• Deadly Illness in Nicaragua Baffles Experts

Bad Sports

• Grudge Match—Tyson vs. King—"The former heavyweight champion of the world and the world's most notorious boxing promoter are battling in court over millions of dollars."
• Suspects in nearly fatal beating at Dodger Stadium admit guilt
• Maker of Five-Toed Running Glove-Shoe Things is Paying Big to Settle Suit Over "Unsubstantiated" Health Claims

Corruption

• Soccer match fixing: How soccer's powers that be infiltrated an international conspiracy
• Famed poker star Phil Ivey sued by Borgata for almost $10 million over alleged playing card scam
• Cracks force closure of Allen's $60M Eagle Stadium

Sochi 2014

• Figure skating 'fix' accusation gains momentum as winner pictured hugging judge
• Dominica's Fake Ski Team Scammed The Olympics And The Press
• Sochi Olympic protestor Gazaryan wins environmental 'Nobel,' but ambivalent about its impact

World Cup Brazil 2014 and Rio 2016

• Brazilians rage against greed, corruption ahead of 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics
• IOC chiefs 'make secret plea' to use London 2012 venues as Rio 2016 Olympic Games fall behind schedule
• Olympic Official Calls Rio Preparation The 'Worst I Have Ever Experienced"
• Fifth Brazilian World Cup construction worker dies after falling 25ft while installing seats
• World Cup 2014 construction in Brazil marred by corruption, waste
• FIFA official says World Cup soccer fans will have hard time in Brazil
• Brazil: Police warn visitors, 'Don't scream if robbed'

Qatar 2022

• Qatar World Cup 2022 investigation: former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner and family paid millions
• More Than 900 Workers Have Already Died Building Qatar's World Cup Infrastructure—"The International Trade Union Confederation says that if conditions don't improve, at least 4,000 migrants will die before kick-off."
• Deadspin: The Organizers Of The Qatar World Cup Are Very Mad At Us

Football Fun

• A Guide to American Football—"The amazing British video that explains America's favorite game."
• Catching Randy Moss—"For seven years, one Minnesota Vikings super fan caught Randy Moss in the stands during Moss' end-zone celebration. Syd Davy, aka 100% Cheese Free tells his story."
• What if all 32 NFL team logos were fat?

Chess

• Chess 2: The Sequel - How a street fightin' man fixed the world's most famous game
• Man fatally beaten and stabbed in chess match row
• Taxidermy chess: Play with rooks and dead rodents—Creepily fun? Reminded me of Mouse Guard.

Elections 2013, Vote Machinations; World News, Corruption, Racism; Israel and Palestine; Russia; Brazil; Qatar; Climate Change; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

Elections 2013

• De Blasio Is Elected New York City Mayor—"The election of Bill de Blasio, the Democratic candidate, amounted to a forceful rejection of the hard-nosed, business-minded style of governance that reigned at City Hall for the past two decades." Buh-bye Bloomie. NYT
• Virginia Election Results: Terry McAuliffe Beats Ken Cuccinelli In Governor's Race—From what I gather, McAuliffe was the lesser of two scumbags, and women and unmarried voters, who were turned off by the sodomy-obsessed Cooch, boosted him to victory.
• What Christie's victory means for the next presidential race—Will the Tea Party let him past the primary?
• Tea Partier Defeated in Alabama Runoff
• Voters in Virginia, New Jersey leave tea party reeling

Vote Machinations

• Voter ID Laws in Action: "Looks Like I Don't Get to Vote Today"—"Thwarted voters take to Twitter to describe how the new laws hampered voting, confused poll workers, and inspired some to just stay home."
• Texas Voter ID law snags former House Speaker Jim Wright
• The Voting Fraud Bust that Proves Texas' Voter ID Law Is Useless
• Lawsuit challenges Minnesota's online voter registration system—Doing everything to suppress the vote.
• "Integrity" and the Voter Purge: Too Many Unanswered Questions

World News

• Several explosions rock provincial HQ of China's Communist Party
• Saudi Arabia Rejects Seat on U.N. Security Council and Confuses Everyone
• Anonymous' 'Million Mask March' goes global—"With 450 cities on the roster, the hacking collective takes its online protests to the streets."
• German support for small business has kept its economy thriving as the rest of Europe languishes in recession
• London's cheapest suburb? It's Barcelona—"London's Sam Cookney caused a stir recently when he argued property prices in the UK capital were so high it would be cheaper to live in Barcelona and fly to work every day. Here he tells The Local what inspired his thinking."

Corruption

• Conservatives gave Duffy more than one cheque, senator claims—Timeline: Canada's Senate scandal
• Rob Ford scandal: Toronto Police have video apparently showing mayor smoking crack—He's finally admitted it.
• Oops: Azerbaijan released election results before voting had even started WaPo
• Diebold charged with bribing officials, falsifying records in China, Russia, Indonesia; fined nearly $50 million
• Mayor Steals $60k In Christmas Toy Money Intended For Children

Racism

• Watch the video on Israeli racism The New York Times didn't want you to see
• Racism at play as 'kidnapped' Roma children taken from parents
• Racism in sport is nothing to celebrate—"'Inspiring' story of triumph over racial abuse may be heart-warming for white readers but has enraged many black South Africans."
• No Foreigners: Nightclubs Accused of Racist Door Policies
• Korean cigarette firm pulls 'racist' monkey ads
• London letting agents 'refuse black tenants'
• Horrific video shows Saudi husband beating Asian man with a belt 'because he dared speak to his wife'

Israel and Palestine

• Israelis gather to remember slain Rabin—"Thousands of mainly young people protest against hardliners opposed to peace with the Palestinians."
• Israel orders more demolitions of Palestinian flats in Jerusalem
• John Kerry Arrives in Tel Aviv to Boost Israel-Palestine Talks
• Pink Floyd's Roger Waters Tells His Israeli Fans, It's Apartheid "Clear And Simple"
• This Land is Mine—An animated history.

Russia

• Russia's Alexei Navalny's sentence suspended on appeal—"A Russian appeals court has upheld opposition leader Alexei Navalny's conviction for embezzlement, but suspended his jail sentence, allowing him to go free."
• Putin targets Dagestan insurgents as Olympics loom
• Pussy Riot: Tolokonnikova 'out of sight' since jail move—Got moved to Siberia?
• President Putin signs law requiring terrorists' relatives to pay for damages
• VIPs join T-shirt protest of Russia's anti-gay law

Brazil

• Rioting protesters return to Brazil streets
• Rio Police Officer Is Indicted for Torture While Lecturing on 'Smart Policing' in New York NYT
• Policial forja flagrante durante protesto no Centro do Rio—Rough translation: Police caught in the act planting explosives in protester's bag.

Qatar

• "Qatar detained two Germans who filmed World Cup labour conditions—"Pair say they were detained for 27 hours after filming working conditions of labourers from balcony of hotel."
• 'Stranded' footballer Zahir Belounis told he can leave Qatar—"The 33-year-old footballer had been unable to leave the Gulf state following a pay dispute against club side El Jaish."
• Americans Jailed for Months in Qatar After Daughter's Death—"Supporters described the case as a combination of flawed or nonexistent evidence, ethnic prejudice and extreme cultural misunderstandings." NYT

Climate Change

• Global food supply at severe risk from climate change, warns leaked study by UN-created panel
• Top climate change scientists' letter to policy influencers
• An Open Letter to President Faust—"As Harvard students, we understand that America's legal and democratic institutions have broken down. The fossil fuel industry, like the tobacco industry before it, has pursued a corrupt agenda of misinformation and political lobbying designed to prevent scientific consensus from informing public policy."
• Let science control climate study plan
• No, We Are NOT in a Climate "Pause"
• Tea party Republicans are biggest climate change deniers, new Pew poll finds WaPo
• Potential Senate candidate David Barton explains how abortion caused climate change—"'We opened a door that lost God's protection over our environment,' said the Christian historian." Salon

NSA Spying

• U.S. power to shape global Web seen undermined by NSA spying—"Revelations about the scale of U.S. spying on the Internet have badly damaged the country's negotiating power in international talks on cyberspace regulation and law enforcement, analysts and industry leaders said at a conference on Tuesday."
• Google chairman: NSA spying on our data centres 'outrageous'—"Eric Schmidt says company has lodged complaints with NSA, White House and Congress as criticism hardens in Silicon Valley."
• WaPo to gov't: Our story on NSA Google spying was true, here's proof
• Shouting '9/11' in a Crowded Internet—"Why the NSA's 'we keep you safe from terrorists' rationale is bogus." Foreign Policy
• NSA official cites 'stop and frisk' in effort to explain searches of phone records
• Patrick Leahy: NSA 'can't keep our secrets'—And shouldn't be trusted with them. Politico
• Surprise! Privacy oversight board suggests NSA data mining be curtailed—"An independent review board has recommended that Congress reduce the length of time the NSA can keep record." Salon

Surveillance and Privacy

• Brazil Admits It Spied On U.S. Diplomats—Awkward.
• UK privacy group wants Level 3 to address allegations of spying cooperation—"Privacy International is pushing for more disclosure from a top international telco."
• China discovers that pollution makes it really hard to spy on people—Silver lining on the smog?
• Apple takes strong privacy stance in new report, publishes rare "warrant canary"—"Apple has never received an order under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act."
• Swiss telco's cloud aims to draw customers who are fearful of spying—"Swisscom's data storage may attract foreign companies wary of NSA."

Government Shutdown Day 9, Pulling a Boehner, GOP, Tea Party, Obamacare, Repercussions; World News, Totalitarianism, Iran; Surveillance and Privacy

Government Shutdown Day 9

• Obama says he'd talk on GOP's terms -- if they raise debt ceiling, fund government—"President Barack Obama is ready to talk even on Republicans' terms, he insisted Tuesday, so long as Congress acts first to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling -- even for a short period." He will not respond to threats [NYT].
• Obama: Republicans using 'extortion' on debt limit
• House Approves New 'Supercommittee' To Negotiate Debt-Limit Deal
• Lawmakers trying to reopen government piece by piece WaPo
• Let's Call The Shutdown What It Is: Secession By Another Means
• Democrats should tell Republicans what they really want
• If Dems Give In, Social Security and Medicare Will Be Future Hostages
• IMF warns of 'major' consequences of US debt default
• Poll: Voters prefer hemorrhoids over Congress
• Government Shutdown 2013 illustrated

Pulling a Boehner

• End Game: John Boehner Doesn't Even Have to Cave—"The Speaker can avert disaster with some procedural jiu-jitsu at the eleventh hour."
• John Boehner's endgame Politico
• John Boehner Too Embarrassed to Defend His Own Extortion Demands
• Boehner: 'Didn't come here to default on our debt'—Suuuuure you didn't.
• Boehner: Clean Debt Limit Would Be 'Unconditional Surrender' For GOP

GOP

• Polls: Yes, The GOP Is Losing The Shutdown Fight—Coming across as irrational, irresponsible and unreasonable.
• GOP unity frays, frustration builds Politico
• Suicide of the Right
• Here's A Tally Of Which House Republicans Are Ready To Fund The Government, No Strings Attached—Maybe add one more to the list?
• What Moderate Republicans?
• Olympia Snowe: This is no way to run a country—"What is needed, the former Maine congresswoman says, is a counterweight to the extremism."
• Daily Show Enlists Actual Hostage Negotiator to Get Through to GOP Strategist on Shutdown
• Jon Stewart Tells GOP to Own the Shutdown: 'Don't Fart And Point at the Dog!'

Tea Party

• How the GOP's Kamikaze Club Hijacked John Boehner—"Right-wing groups, tea party back-benchers, and the Koch network plotted and pushed the House speaker to this breaking point—and he hasn't fought back."
• Friedman: U.S. Fringe Festival—"The reason so many mainstream Republican lawmakers want Obama to give something to Cruz & Co. is that they want to get out of this mess, but they're all afraid to stand up to the far-right fringe themselves — with its bullying network of barking talk-show hosts and moneymen." NYT
• 'Safe Seats' And The Media Spin About Radical Republicans
• Ted Cruz Is Convinced His Strategy Will Lead Republicans to 2014 Victory
• Why House Republicans aren't sweating the 2014 election

Obamacare

• Juan Cole: Dear Tea Party: The Gov't Shutdown is Hurting White People, Too—"The reason that the Tea Party doesn't want Obamacare is because they are convinced that it is ultimately a transfer of wealth from the white rich and middle classes to the minorities."
• Medicaid system broken? Report finds McCrory admin downplayed explanations for problems
• GOPers Upset Shutdown Is Eclipsing Coverage Of Glitchy Obamacare Launch
• Obamacare site hits reset button on passwords as contractors scramble—Not surprised.
• The Problem With Jon Stewart's Obamacare Interview

Repercussions

• Government shutdown worst-case scenario realized: Salmonella outbreak Politico
• Senate elders denounce suspension of death benefit for families of fallen
• Billionaire couple donates $10 million to Head Start programs closed by U.S. government shutdown
• Exclusive Gyms For Members Of Congress Deemed 'Essential,' Remain Open During Shutdown
• Right-Wing Truckers Plan To Jam DC's Major Commuter Highway, Arrest Members Of Congress—More crazies are coming out.
• Bill Moyers Essay: On the Sabotage of Democracy

World News

• Weapons inspectors begin destroying Syrian chemical stockpile and machinery
• India: Give voters right to cast negative vote
• David Cameron suggests cutting benefits for under-25s
• Qatar under growing pressure over workers' deaths as Fifa is urged to act—"Victims' groups and UN urge football governing body to halt death toll before 2022 World Cup."
• Venezuela expels top U.S. diplomat, two other embassy officials
• Brazil govt backs natives on land demarcation
• 'Worse Than Gangs': Rio Police Criticized for Favela Crackdowns—"A new security campaign is helping authorities win back control of Rio de Janeiro's favelas ahead of next year's World Cup. Special police units are driving drug gangs out of the slums -- but often only to replace them with their own thuggish rule."

Totalitarianism

• Putin critic sentenced to detention in psychiatric ward
• Internet Troll Operation Uncovered in St. Petersburg
• This is what happens when Tibetan villages refuse to fly the Chinese flag
• China pays 2 million to monitor Internet
• New law to permit Turkish police to detain 'possible' protesters

Iran

• Iran nuclear: Rivals rally as Rouhani returns from UN
• Iran's Khamenei backs Rouhani's New York talks
• Iran's Rouhani calls Holocaust crime against Jewss
• Iranian media splits over diplomatic outreach—"I could not have dreamt that the Iranian news would broadcast the voice of real people who would say, on camera, that our president has conversed with America."
• Israel's Netanyahu heads for the US with a warning to the White House: Don't be fooled by Iran

Surveillance and Privacy

• GCHQ leaks have 'gifted' terrorists ability to attack 'at will', warns spy chief
• Virginia State Police Used License Plate Readers At Political Rallies, Built Huge Database
• Canada spying in Brazil: more to come, Greenwald promises—Oh, Canada.
• Meltdowns at NSA spy data center destroy equipment, delay opening
• How Lavabit Melted Down—"The inside story of how the secure e-mail service used by the N.S.A. whistleblower Edward Snowden went dark, as told by court documents and its owner and operator."

Obamacare, GOP, Tea-publicans, Vote Machinations, Civil Liberties, NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

Obamacare

• Rand admits: We probably can't defeat ObamaCare
• Ted Cruz Leaves Senate GOP With No Easy Way Out—With his so-called filibuster, does he really know what he's doing?
• The Public Is Massively Opposed to Shutting Down the Government Over Obamacare
• Republicans Like The Affordable Care Act More Than Obamacare
• Warren Buffett on Obamacare —The Weekly Standard gets called out for taking a 3-year-old remark out of context.
• Broward defies governor, invites Obamacare navigators into public clinics
• Final Word On Obamacare Coverage: Cheaper Than Expected

GOP

• Juan Cole: I lived to See the Day when the Pope and the President of Iran are more doctrinally Flexible than the GOP
• Former GOP Senator: Most Americans 'Are Simply Ignoring Republicans. And They Should.'
• "I scared the crap out of them!": Alan Grayson details how to work with the GOP Salon
• The Morning Plum: GOP’s problem isn't which hostage to take. It's the extortion strategy itself.
• A debt-ceiling ransom note takes shape—Democrats watch out.

Tea-publicans

• Friendman: The Way We Were—"While productivity on Capitol Hill grinds to a halt, research and innovation in the country suffers." NYT
• 'You're a Pathetic F*cking Douchebag': Sons of Anarchy Creator Goes Off on Conservative Activist
• David Koch Provided Seed Money for Americans for Prosperity—"Tax documents obtained exclusively by National Journal confirm that conservative billionaire David Koch, along with a handful of major corporations, provided the seed money a decade ago to start the foundation behind Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group that played a key role in helping to organize the tea-party movement into a potent political force."
• Family Research Council: 'Nothing more Christian' than food stamp cuts—A full of hate group.
• Michelle Obama Says Drinking Water is a Good Thing — Americans Get Outraged

Vote Machinations

• Supreme Court may strike new blow to campaign funding laws—The Supreme Court, in a new campaign funding case, may lift a lid on the total the wealthy can give to all candidates and parties.
• ACLU: Why Have 1.5 Million Floridians Been Banned from Voting?
• Obamacare Could Help People Register to Vote—Unless the Administration Caves to the GOP—"Federal law says that Obamacare's health exchanges have to offer voter registration services. Republicans have thrown a fit over that, and now the administration is considering backing down."

Civil Liberties

• In secret, Fisa court contradicted US supreme court on constitutional rights—"Declassified Fisa rulings reveal a permissive approach to fourth amendment violations disturbingly at odds with supreme justices'."
• Chilling legal memo from Obama DOJ justifies assassination of US citizens—"The president's partisan lawyers purport to vest him with the most extreme power a political leader can seize."
• ACLU: The DEA Thinks You Have "No Constitutionally Protected Privacy Interest" in Your Confidential Prescription Records

NSA Spying

• Senator Leahy Slams NSA Surveillance, Aims For Changes To FISA Court And NSA's Powers
• Alan Rusbridger: NSA surveillance goes beyond Orwell's imagination—"Guardian editor says depth of NSA surveillance programs greatly exceed anything the 1984 author could have imagined."
• Booting Up: New NSA Data Farm Takes Root In Utah
• NSA Apologist Says The NSA's Actions Are Fine Because 'Privacy Is Dead'—Apologist is too light a term.
• EU threatens to suspend deal with US on tracking terrorists' funding—"EU commissioner dealing with fallout from NSA and GCHQ snooping scandal says US needs to provide more information."
• Brazilian president: US surveillance a 'breach of international law'—"Dilma Rousseff's scathing speech to UN general assembly the most serious diplomatic fallout over revelations of US spying."
• NSA planted bugs at Indian missions in D.C., U.N.

Surveillance and Privacy

• Data Broker Giants Hacked by ID Theft Service—"An identity theft service that sells Social Security numbers, birth records, credit and background reports on millions of Americans has infiltrated computers at some of America’s largest consumer and business data aggregators, according to a seven-month investigation by KrebsOnSecurity."
• Dropbox joins the call for transparency, asks government to let it publish surveillance requests
• Google to Encrypt ALL Keyword Searches: Say Goodbye to Keyword Data
• Californian law gives teens right to delete web posts—"California has passed a law that will enable under-18s to make websites delete their personal information."
• UK: Highways Agency tracks millions of motorists' handsets in 'smart' trials

Breaking Bad; Movies and TV, Comics; Entertainment and Culture, Arts; Tokyo 2020; Fun and Games, Tilt; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

Breaking Bad

• 'Breaking Bad' brings tourists to Albuquerque for 'meth' treats like blue rock candy, bath salts—It put them on the map.
• The two kinds of people who watch "Breaking Bad"—"Walt will likely walk free or pay for his crimes -- the choice you prefer says a lot about how you see the world." Salon
• "Breaking Bad's" Shakespearean final act—"If Gilligan wants to pay homage to the English playwright, Albuquerque's meth business will live on in some form." Salon
• "Breaking Bad" Viewers in Connecticut Call 911 during Cable Outage
• 'Breaking Bad' Spinoff Moving Forward at AMC
• Apple sued for false advertising after dividing up the final 16 episodes of Breaking Bad into two seasons on iTunes—AMC kept promoting Season 5 as whole.
• The End of Breaking Bad, According to Dean Norris—Does he go out with a bang or a whimper? So much for the good ol' days.
• Breaking Bad outside the US

Movies and TV

• Ben Affleck finally responds to Batman criticism
• Zack Snyder Explains "Man of Steel's" "Mythological" Destruction
• Clark Gregg: "Marvel has a way of respecting their audience, not just the nerds"—"The "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" star on following up "The Avengers" on TV, and the staying power of superheroes." Salon
• A Political History of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"
• Billy Crystal reveals secret behind 'I'll have what she's having' scene
• Honest Trailers: World War Z
• The Dark Knight Legacy: Fan Film

Comics

• Creative Team Leaves Batwoman Over Marriage—DC says it's not because it would have been gay marriage.
• When Brian Bolland Revealed What Happened Between Batman And The Joker – And The Full Killing Joke Script
• Deadpool vs. Robin Thicke in 'Merc Lines'—Lonstermash makes for a hunky Wolvie cosplayer.

Entertainment and Culture

• Russell Brand and the GQ awards: 'It's amazing how absurd it seems'—"The comedian on his evening at the GQ awards, from which he was ejected after cracking a joke about sponsor Hugo Boss."
• Miss Saigon breaks West End box office sales record for London revival
• Lifting the veil of mystery from J.D. Salinger

Art

• New van Gogh painting discovered: 'Sunset at Montmajour'
• Unveiling of alternate 'Mona Lisa' raises questions
• NY art dealer admits to multi-million dollar art fraud

Tokyo 2020

• Olympics 2020: Tokyo wins race to host Games—Of the top three, they had the best logo.
• Wrestling wins IOC vote for 2020 Olympic Games
• Man evicted for 1964 Tokyo Olympics faces same fate in 2020

Fun and Games

• GTA V makes $1 billion in three days, may be fastest selling entertainment product in history
• Square Enix to allow monetization of videos and streams of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn—"The new policy now allows players to monetize video content, as long as it's through official partners...." Sounds like a good compromise.
• 70 minute Street Fighter documentary will force you to love fighting games
• Cry (foam-padded) havoc! A day at Darkon’s Bellum Aeternus II
• Minecraft, an Obsession and an Educational Tool NYT
• Vin Diesel: Starbreeze Studios Working on New Riddick Game—The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay lays claim to being one of the best ever videogames adapted from a movie thanks much in part to Diesel's close collaboration with Starbreeze.
• Super Mario Brothers Parkour

Tilt

• Game over—"The implications are that Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft are beyond the point of no return in this industry."
• Nintendo faces 'path to irrelevance', says Atari founder
• Sony: It's The 'Decline Of A Generation' Not The End Of Video Game Consoles
• Microsoft was 'surprised' by negative Xbox One reaction
• How Zynga went from social gaming powerhouse to has-been—"Gaming giant has been on a wild ride in just 5 short years—while losing $600M."

NSA Spying

• Glenn Greenwald to Haaretz: Why whistleblower Snowden came to me—"How a meeting with a young computer expert in Hong Kong changed the life of a Guardian journalist."
• NSA job post for 'Civil Liberties & Privacy Officer' goes live—"The scandal surrounding the US National Security Agency is no laughing matter, of course. But it's hard not to look for telling lines in the agency's new job listing."
• Major US security company warns over NSA link to encryption formula—"RSA, the security arm of EMC, sends email to customers over default random number generator which uses weak formula."

Surveillance and Privacy

• Wikileaks releases Spy Files 3—"These documents reveal how, as the intelligence world has privatised, US, EU and developing world intelligence agencies have rushed into spending millions on next-generation mass surveillance technology to target communities, groups and whole populations."
• Beware of data spying, former NSA official warns Canadians
• Brazil data plan aims to keep US spies at bay

Protests, Turkey, Brazil; China, Middle East; Journalism, Surveillance and Privacy

Protests

• Canada: Wearing a mask at a riot is now a crime—"Maximum 10-year prison term for conviction of new offence."
• Ethiopia opposition threatens protests—"An Ethiopian opposition party called on Thursday for the government to scrap an anti-terrorism law it says is used to stifle dissent, threatening a repeat of protests that brought thousands onto the streets of Addis Ababa early this month."
• After One Week Protest Continues; What's Happening in Bulgaria?

Turkey

• Turkey: A Weekend of Police Abuse
• Turkey unrest: violent clashes in Istanbul as Erdogan holds rally
• Turkey threatens to deploy army to end unrest
• Hundreds of Turks emulate 'Standing Man' in protest
• Turkey: Arrest of Lawyers, Journalists and Doctors Shows Erdogan's True Colours

Brazil

• Brazil protests over World Cup costs spread nationwide
• Brazilian protesters take a break as more security hits the streets
• Pelé tells Brazilians to 'forget' protests sweeping the country FT
• Broken promises and corruption fuel Brazil protests
• Over one million march in Brazil as protests spread

China

• China's economy is freezing up. How freaked out should we be?
• Man Details Risks in Exposing China's Forced Labor—"A Beijing resident and adherent of the banned Falun Gong movement said he slipped letters into product packages apparently meant for the West." NYT
• Argentina caught a Chinese ship trying to steal 180 tonnes of its squid
• Riot after Chinese teachers try to stop pupils cheating—"What should have been a hushed scene of 800 Chinese students diligently sitting their university entrance exams erupted into siege warfare after invigilators tried to stop them from cheating." Quote of the day: "We want fairness. There is no fairness if you do not let us cheat."
• Chinese netizens decry tourist treatment of dying dolphin

Middle East

• Iran election: Hassan Rouhani in his own words—"What I truly wish is for moderation to return to the country. This is my only wish. Extremism pains me greatly. We have suffered many blows as a result of extremism."
• Jewish Israeli man near Western Wall killed by guard
• Palestinian children tortured, used as shields by Israel: U.N.
• Egypt's Coptic Christians say they are 'no longer safe'
• Israeli PM criticized for installing bed on plane

Journalism

• WikiLeaks: Michael Hastings Said FBI Was Tracking Him Hours Before His Death
• The Strange Case of Barrett Brown—"Amid the outrage over the NSA's spying program, the jailing of journalist Barrett Brown points to a deeper and very troubling problem."
• US seizure of journalist records called 'chilling'

Surveillance and Privacy

• NSA Whistleblower: NSA Spying On – and Blackmailing – Top Government Officials and Military Officers
• The FISA court is acting like a legislature, and that’s a problem
• Revealed: the top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrant—"Fisa court submissions show broad scope of procedures governing NSA's surveillance of Americans' communication."
• Web's Reach Binds N.S.A. and Silicon Valley Leaders—"Technology experts and former intelligence officials say the rise of data mining, both as an industry and as a crucial intelligence tool, has created a complex reality." One where Skype already has a backdoor built in, even before the company was bought by Microsoft. NYT
• A tale of two presidents: The one we voted for – and Obama—"Recent leaks reveal a frightening reality: In fighting terrorism, we have resorted to engaging in terrorism." Salon