Workers and Wage Slaves, Minimum Wage; Banks and Wall Street, Financial Crisis; Bitcoin; Politics, Economy, Corporatocracy, Tax Dodge, NJ Corruption; Grand Ol' Tea Party; Vote Machinations, Campaign Finance Deform; Media; Sterling Racism

Worker and Wage Slaves

• Fast-food workers announce global protest, walkouts set for 33 countries—"Employees plan to expand movement to demand better pay and working conditions across the world [on May 15]."
• Japanese Restaurant Eliminates Tipping And Just Pays A Higher Wage
• Republicans Block Hearing on Long-Term Jobless Benefits
• My personal Wal-Mart nightmare: You won't believe what life is like working there—"The president's visiting my store Friday. He won't see how I sleep on my son's floor and eat potato chips for lunch." Salon
• Pay Violations Rampant in Low-Wage Industries Despite Enforcement Efforts—"If you steal from your employer, you're going to be hauled out of the workplace in handcuffs. But if your employer steals from you, you'll be lucky to get your money back."
• Samsung offers apology for workers' leukemia—"Ten people have died after working in Samsung's semiconductor plants, an industry health rights group said."

Minimum Wage

• The Minimum Wage Loophole That's Screwing Over Waiters and Waitresses
• Vermont Passes The Highest State Minimum Wage In The Country
• The GOP and the minimum wage—"Why the GOP argument against raising the minimum wage is really an argument against having a minimum wage at all."

Banks and Wall Street

• Elizabeth Warren: Obama Team 'Chose Wall Street Instead Of American Families'
• Krugman: Now That's Rich—"Big surprise! Hedge fund managers make a lot of money. But there are some lessons there." NYT
• The SEC Has Revealed Astounding Corruption in Private Equity—"And, for once, the commission is not letting them get away with it."
• Thomson Reuters settles lawsuit with whistle-blowing ex-employee—"Thomson Reuters has reached a settlement agreement with a former staffer who sued the firm for wrongful termination, claiming he lost his job for whistle-blowing."
• How Wall Street Financial Fees Choke Our Cities

Financial Crisis

• Why Only One Top Banker Went to Jail for the Financial Crisis—"The economic catastrophe of 2008 was the largest of its kind since the Depression. Who's taking the fall?" NYT
• Morgan Stanley CEO Doesn't Believe More Bankers Should Have Gone To Jail For Financial Crisis
• U.S. attorney general says banks may face criminal cases soon
• University economics teaching isn't an education: it's a £9,000 lobotomy—"Economics took a battering after the financial crisis, but faculties are refusing to teach alternative views. It's as if there's only one way to run an economy."
• Occupy Wall Street activist found guilty of assaulting police officer—Too small not to jail.

Bitcoin

• SEC's Investor "Warning" On Bitcoin Could Stifle Innovation
• Federal Election Commission approves bitcoin donations to political committees—Guess money is money. WaPo
• In 18 months, feds got nearly 300 complaints about Bitcoin miner maker—"Federal Trade Commission received worldwide complaints about Butterfly Labs."

Politics

• George H.W. Bush received a profile in courage award. All it took was rewriting history.—"Bush was honored for being willing to break his famous 'Read my lips: no new taxes' pledge. But the history is more complicated--and less flattering." WaPo
• San Francisco Chinatown duo claim FBI entrapment in organised-crime case SCMP
• The Farce Is Complete: Joe Biden's Son Joins Board Of Largest Ukraine Gas Producer

Economy

• All of the US government's spending will soon be available on one website
• Bipartisan House bill calls on Congress to fly coach
• Missouri Lawmakers Override Veto, Enact Tax Cut—"Missouri's Republican-led Legislature enacted the state's first income tax rate reduction in almost a century Tuesday by overriding the veto of Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, who has denounced it as a reckless financial experiment."
• CNBC survey shows millionaires want higher taxes to fix inequality
• GOP's fake poverty push gets a new charlatan: Rob Portman's latest ploy Salon
• Paul Ryan's Approach To Poverty Is Straight Out Of The 19th Century

Corporatocracy

• GOP Lawmakers Say Yes To $310 Billion For Business, But $12 Million For At-Risk Kids? Nope
• Conservative Pro-Growth Policies Don't Actually Produce Any Growth
• Surprise! 'Pro-business' policies hurt state economic growth LATimes

Tax Dodge

• U.S. wants Credit Suisse to plead guilty in tax dispute: report
• Swiss company agrees to pay $4.4m fine for helping US tax dodgers—"US thanks Swisspartners for 'extraordinary cooperation but Credit Suisse expected to face big fine and criminal charges."
• David Cameron: Taxes will rise unless we can raid bank accounts—"David Cameron claims he will "have to put up taxes" unless tax officials are given draconian powers to raid people's bank accounts"

NJ Corruption

• Governor's Office Ignored Report That Kelly, Stepien Knew About Bridgegate—"Drewniak says he told Christie's chief counsel about Wildstein's claim, but pair were not questioned until more than a month later."
• NJ has distributed less than 25 percent of Sandy aid—"New Jersey's latest quarterly report shows the state has distributed $416 million of nearly $1.83 billion in federal disaster relief aid."
• Christie Aide Uses Truly Multitudinous Variety of Adjectives, Adverbs in Denying Bridgegate Role
• Rowan Students, Alumni Protest Christie Commencement Speech

Grand Ol' Tea Party

• Fringe Factor: Democrats Boasting About Obamacare Are Just Like Nazis—"A Tennessee lawmaker compares liberal crowing about health-care signups to Germans bragging about 'train rides' for Jews, Krauthammer thinks climate change is superstition, and more."
• Lost? The Tea Party has already won, and its influence will be felt for years to come—"Out of America: It may seem to be in decline, but the Republicans' wacky wing has achieved its main aim of pushing the party to the right."
• Republican Party wants to limit primary debates: The GOP wants to assert itself in 2016.
• The GOP Has Finally Found a Way to Defeat the Tea Party—"Electability is trumping ideological purity—just as the establishment had planned."
• There Are No Mainstream Republicans Left in North Carolina—"Thom Tillis, who just won the state’s Republican primary, has been the point-man in a sadly effective anti-government project." NYT
• Koch brothers face an unexpected new foe: tea party conservatives
• Poll: For the midterms, a tilt to the GOP

Vote Machinations

• GOP vote scheme finally imploding: Why the end may be here—"From landmark ruling in Wisconsin, to new signs from top Republicans in other states, a shameful ploy may unravel." Salon
• Appeals Court Puts Brakes On Judge Who Shut Down Scott Walker Investigation—"One day after a federal judge dramatically shut down the secret 'John Doe' probe investigating Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) 2012 recall election, a federal appeals court on Wednesday stayed the lower judge's ruling."
• Lawsuit Accuses Virginia Republicans Of 'Racial Gerrymandering'
• This is what America would look like without gerrymandering
• Why Karl Rove Uses Dirty Tricks: They Work—"Karl Rove reportedly hinted that Hillary Clinton may have brain damage from a fall—then quickly backed away. His history suggests it's a calculated maneuver."

Campaign Finance Deform

• Al Gore: 'Our democracy has been hacked'—"The average member of the House and Senate has to spend five hours per day begging rich people for money. Begging rich interests for money!" Politico
• Vermont first state to call for constitutional convention to get money out of politics
• Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens: 'Money Is Not Speech'
• Wendy Davis Attacks Greg Abbott's Oversight of Cancer Agency—Claimed "money earmarked for lifesaving medical research was slipped into major Republican donors' pockets instead."

Media

• Glenn Greenwald: U.S. Corporate Media is "Neutered, Impotent and Obsolete"
• Warren Buffett, Joe Nocera and 'Fessing Up to Readers—"When a critical column is built on a faulty premise, the writer needs to tell his readers what happened and why." NYT
• Impeachment, Fox News-style: Wing-nuts go mad, mainstream media follows them off the cliff — again—"Objective" media covered Iraq and '08 meltdown so brilliantly. Danger: False balance crowd wants impeachment next." Salon
• Stewart Strikes Back At Limbaugh's Hashtag Hate: #F*@KYOURUSH

Sterling Racism

• Befuddled Donald Sterling: 'What New Recording?'
• Community manager fired after controversial tweets about embattled NBA owner Donald Sterling
• CNN exclusive: Donald Sterling insists he's no racist, still slams Magic Johnson
• Donald Sterling's interview disaster: Rich old racist self-destructs to Anderson Cooper Salon
• The Daily Show: John Hodgman wants to buy the LA Clippers

Bridgegate, Politics, Budget, Public-Private Partnerships, Media, Vote Machinations, Iran, Israel and Palestine, Sochi, Race and Racism

Bridgegate

• The Trouble With Chris Christie—Time to lawyer up.
• Another Mayor Faced Christie-Related Reprisal, Files Suggest NYT
• Chris Christie facing federal investigation over use of Sandy funds
• 'Benghazi' and 'IRS' Were Mentioned More on Sunday Talk Shows Than 'Fort Lee'
• Scandal Emails Raise Questions About Christie's Trash-Talking Mouthpiece
• The Time Chris Christie Shut Down a Public Television Station That Did a Tough Story on Him
• Jon Stewart ridicules Fox News' pathetic defense of Chris Christie—GOP donors, however, want answers. Salon

Politics

• Record-High 42% of Americans Identify as Independents
• The right's "narrative skewing": How it dupes itself over Obamacare, Benghazi and Christie—"Remember poll skewing? Here's GOP's new self-delusion: Obama's done, Hilary's imploding and Christie's doing great!" Salon
• U.S. Posts December Budget Surplus of $53.22 Billion WSJ

Budget

• In Defeat for Tea Party, House Passes $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill—"The 359-to-67 vote came as members shrugged off the angry threats of Tea Party activists and conservative groups." NYT
• Congratulations on your budget, Congress. America still hates you. WaPo
• We're Passing a Budget, But Not a Debt Ceiling Increase? Why?

Public-Private Partnerships

• GOP donor gets lawmaker to write bill to cut his child support
• Ohio Dealers Vs. Tesla: Sen. Patton (R) Proposes New Anti-Tesla Law
• Ten Examples of Welfare for the Rich and Corporations

Media

• Are Americans Addicted to Outrage?—"The real reason cable talking heads say offensive things? We like it too much to stop them."
• Misinformation, disinformation, lies: Can the New York Times' foreign coverage be trusted at all?—"The Times walks back a story about Syria and chemical weapons, a reminder of the media's complicity with power." Salon
• Zucker: GOP being run from Fox News headquarters

Vote Machinations

• A rising tide of dark money—"What are dark money donors trying to hide?" WaPo
• Yes, Voter ID Laws Are Nakedly Political
• U.S. justices agree to hear challenge to Ohio speech law—"The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an appeal by two conservative groups that assert that an Ohio law that imposes penalties for making knowingly false statements about political candidates violates their right to free speech." Emphasis mine.
• Republicans Are Bringing Back Reconstruction-Era Voting In N.C.
• Manipulating voting laws to win elections has long been a GOP game in Ohio
• GOP plans rigging Michigan's Electoral College votes aren't dead yet
• Brownback's fundraising aided by $500,000 from running mate—"Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer made a personal loan of $500,000 to the re-election campaign of Gov. Sam Brownback on the final day of 2013 to instantly broaden a fundraising cushion over Democratic challenger Paul Davis, documents showed Sunday."
• F.B.I. Arrests Fund-Raiser for Congressman—"The arrest of Diana Durand, a friend of Representative Michael G. Grimm of Staten Island, suggests that the two-year-old investigation into his campaign financing is active." NYT
• New Spending Bill Blocks ACORN Funding Four Times, Even Though ACORN No Longer Exists

Iran

• Invading Iraq was dumb enough. Now Congress wants to derail the Iran deal
• Obama Urges Senate Dems To Put Off Iran Sanctions—"... that he warned could derail delicate nuclear talks."
• US-Iranian attempts to smuggle F-35 blueprints to Iran

Israel and Palestine

• Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians quadruple, says UN—Like burning a West Bank mosque.
• Israel shoots down Gaza rockets, responds with air strikes
• Palestinian refugees starving to death in Syrian camp, human rights groups say
• Jordan Valley settlements hit by boycott campaign—"An international campaign to boycott Israeli settlement products has rapidly turned from a distant nuisance into a harsh economic reality for Israeli farmers in the West Bank's Jordan Valley" to the tune of $29 million last year. "Israeli officials say the boycott has strong anti-Semitic overtones and aims to delegitimize the Jewish state."
• How Israel and Hamas weaponized social media

Sochi

• Sochi protest zone set far from Olympics arena
• Russia wins Sochi gold for corruption? IOC official cites $18B in embezzlement
• Russia drops charges against Greenpeace Arctic crew

Race and Racism

• America is still a deeply racist country
• Franklin McCain Dies - Helped Start Sit-In Movement At Greensboro Lunch Counter
• Swearing toddler in 'thug' video taken into protective custody—Omaha police cites video as example of "the thug cycle continuing [Salon]."
• Black dad gets hate mail for posting pic of him taking care of his kids
• David Cameron 'lying to British voters' about the EU and immigration, Viviane Reding claims
• France's top court reinstates ban on comic Dieudonne—"The comic has seven convictions for anti-Semitic hate speech."
• Video: South African comedian Trevor Noah on being black
• Who Gets To Be A Superhero? Race And Identity In Comics

World News; Obstructionism, Budget, US Politics, Corruption, Public-Private Partnerships, Obamacare, Vote Machinations, Racism, NSA Spying

World News

• Kim Jong Un: Uncle's execution offers rare look into Hermit Kingdom
• Two men hanged by government in Japan in latest 'secret executions'
• Saudi activist 'sentenced to lashes and jail'—"Omar al-Saeed had called for a constitutional monarchy and attacked the ruling family over its human rights record."
• Canada: MP staffers forced to sign lifelong gag orders to get raises
• Ukraine Protesters Want Answers on $15 Billion Russia Aid
• South Sudan clashes 'kill 400-500' after coup claim
• Elian Gonzalez lashes out at U.S.
• Arrest, detention of Indian diplomat in New York triggers uproar—Naturally, they're angry [NYT].
• S Africa investigates 'fake signer' security checks
• Simunic banned for 10 games for pro-Nazi chant

Obstructionism

• Obama: Republicans Must Be Embarrassed For Having Done So Little
• House Republican Strategy for 2014 Victory: Think Small, Do Little—"With the generic ballot surprisingly turning their way, no one wants to jinx it."
• GOP blocks more Obama nominees in Senate
• GOP Plan to "Punish" Democrats Is Probably the Stupidest Thing You've Ever Heard Of
• A more functional Senate—"Since the 'nuclear option' was executed a few weeks ago, something strange has happened in the Senate: the chamber has become more efficient and productive."

Budget

• Budget deal aims to avert another shutdown
• The War Over Austerity Is Over. Republicans Won.
• Paul Ryan Indicates GOP Willing To Hold Debt Limit Hostage Again
• Mitch McConnell Predicts Debt Ceiling Won't Be Raised Without A Hostage
• Krugman: The Biggest Losers—"Democrats and Republicans can argue over who won and who lost in the budget battle, but what is crystal clear is that American workers lost the most." NYT

US Politics

• The GOP civil war just got worse—"Seven of the 12 Republican senators running for reelection next year now face capable or potentially tough primary challengers." WaPo
• John Boehner Fed Up With 'Ridiculous' Tea Party Intransigence on Budget—All for show [Salon]?
• Peter King Takes on Rand Paul, Ted Cruz With New Anti-Tea Party PAC
• Texas Judge Leaves GOP, Will Run For State Supreme Court As A Democrat
• Texas woman admits to sending ricin to Obama
• Chris Kapenga, Mark Levin, and Article V: The secret campaign to pass conservative amendments in 34 states
• Haters gonna hate. But they plan to vote Republican. WaPo
• Obenshain concedes Virginia attorney general's race WaPo

Corruption

• Congress Bottoms Out in New Honesty and Ethics Ratings—"Americans view members of Congress as some of the least honest and ethical professionals, according to a Gallup poll released today." And lobbyists rank lower.
• Maine CDC shredded documents justifying grant awards—"Investigators find evidence that the award to at least one program was manipulated and that records justifying allocations were destroyed."
• Chris Christie's traffic jam?—"Did a close ally of the New Jersey governor cause a massive traffic jam on purpose to punish a Democratic foe?" He just resigned.
• Inside A Disgraced Congressman's Floating 'Party Palace'
• How John Beale Swindled the EPA Out of $1 Million

Public-Private Partnerships

• Treasury closes the book on GM bailout with final stock sale—"The Treasury Department has sold its final stake in General Motors, closing the book on its 2009 bailout of the auto industry. GM has been revived and is now profitable, but taxpayers are out more than $10 billion dollars." Outgoing CEO says this was "net gain for taxpayers."
• We Just Dumped a Bag of Money on a Congressman -- Here's Why—"Congressman Jim Himes has drawn the ire of a budding American anti-corruption movement. Not because he broke any laws, but for something astonishingly legal: he let lobbyists for his top donor, CitiGroup, write their own Wall Street-friendly bill, and led it to passage in the U.S. House over the last month."
• US Government Pays Contractors Twice as Much as Civil Servants for the Same Work
• Accidental Tax Break Saves Wealthiest Americans $100 Billion
• US drops royalty hike plan for drilling; taxpayers hit—study
• Seven Ripoffs Capitalists Would Like to Keep out of the Media
• The plot to kill the U.S. Postal Service—"The fire sale of postal properties is a textbook case of a favored few squeezing profits from a manufactured crisis."

Obamacare

• Who are the new uninsureds?—"It was always the case that the nation's medically uninsured were disproportionately non-white, poor and southern. These people were the prime targets of the Affordable Care Act , which aimed to bring them coverage in part by the federally-funded expansion of Medicaid."
• Indiana and Oklahoma Are Suing To Make It Harder For Their Residents To Get Health Insurance — Here's Why
• Map: How Is Obamacare Enrollment Going?
• Obamacare Is Over (If You Want It)—"Why 2014 will see many more threats, legal and otherwise, to the Affordable Care Act."
• Navigator-gate!—"The right-wing’s latest Obamacare scare tactic is to go after health care - the same way they went after ACORN. Chris Hayes explains."

Vote Machinations

• States with higher black turnout are more likely to restrict voting WaPo
• Fewer debates, dumber reporters—"According to Peter Hamby of CNN, a special party subcommittee is considering dramatically reducing the number of Republican debates and taking control over which journalists get to moderate them." Politico
• Iowa Republican Spent $150,000 To Expose Voter Fraud, Instead Found Nothing Significant
• Florida Supreme Court rules lawmakers must testify in redistricting case—"The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that legislators and their staffs must testify in a case that accuses Republicans of redrawing political boundaries for partisan advantage in violation of the state Constitution." Update: Redistricting documents? What redistricting documents?
• The Daily Show: American Horrible Story - Gerrymandering

Racism

• Teacher Disciplined for 'Santa Is White' Remark
• Libertarian Radio Host: Santa Is White Just Like MLK Was Black
• Passing for white and straight: How my looks hide my identity—"I'm neither straight nor white, but I'm frequently mistaken for both -- and it's taught me a lot about privilege." Salon
• Alabama Man Pleads Guilty To Burning Cross With Former KKK Leader
• Mixed-race Miss France sparks racist backlash online

NSA Spying

• Who broke the law, Snowden or the NSA?
• NSA ruling fallout hits White House—"The ruling also underscores the awkwardness of a president who won office in part by railing against the national security state established by President George W. Bush trying to defend much of that establishment while maintaining his vow to restore civil liberties and bring an end to what seemed like a permanent war on terror." Politico
• Judge Has Record of Wrestling With Thorny Issues, and the U.S. Government—"Judge Richard J. Leon is a conservative and a vivid writer who has criticized the federal government on pornography, death penalty drugs and terrorism suspects at Guantánamo Bay." NYT
• Editorial: Congress should take judge's lead on NSA spying
• Why this week's anti-NSA court ruling could backfire Salon
• Snowden: 'I Would Rather Be without a State than without a Voice'—"Open letter to Brazilian people is a testimony of continued purpose, not a quid pro quo."
• Would James Madison Have Agreed With Edward Snowden?—"What the Fourth Amendment originally meant."
• '60 Minutes' Trashed For NSA Piece—Pure obsfucating propaganda.
• Silicon Valley to White House, NSA: "What the hell are you doing?"—"Twitter, Google, Microsoft, and others press their case to Obama Administration."
• Merkel compared NSA to Stasi in heated encounter with Obama—"German chancellor furious after revelations US intelligence agency listened in on her personal mobile phone."
• Brazil will not grant Snowden asylum: report
• Dictionary.com's 2013 Word of the Year: Privacy

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

Workers and Wage Slaves

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

Black-Eye Friday

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

Walmart

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

Minimum Wage

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

Poor

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

Financial Shenanigans

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

Economy

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

NSA Spying

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

Surveillance and Privacy

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

Your Rights Online

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

Zero Tolerance and Terrorism, Bullying, Gone Social, Think of the Children; Religion; Educamation; Cheating; Kids These Days

Zero Tolerance and Terrorism

• Teenagers, social media, and terrorism: a threat level hard to assess—"Authorities are leaning more toward zero tolerance of teenagers who fling around online threats about acts of violence or terrorism. As a result, what might have once merited a slap on the wrist may today result in criminal charges."
• Warning lands Batavia teacher in hot water—"Dryden, a social studies teacher, told some of his students April 18 that they had a 5th Amendment right to not incriminate themselves by answering questions on the survey, which had each student's name printed on it. [...] School district officials declined to provide a copy of the survey to the Daily Herald, saying the district bought the survey from a private company, Multi-Health Systems Inc., and the contents are proprietary business information."
• So It's Come To This: Seven High School Students Arrested For Throwing... Water Balloons
• Hickman yearbook change leads to arrest—"A Hickman High School student was arrested earlier this month after she allegedly changed a student's last name from Mastain to 'masturbate' in the school yearbook."
• 16-Year-Old Girl Arrested and Charged With a Felony For Science Project Mistake—The charges were dropped and now she's headed to space camp.
• Classmates rally around Princeton student who left gun in car—Johnston County spokesperson shamefully hides behind "the law", but things are looking up for him.
• Toy Gun Causes Disturbance On Palmer Elementary School Bus—Raising a generation of pussies cowering from authority and unable to think for themselves.

Bullying

• Queens girls, 12, hangs herself after writing note about being cyberbullied at school
• Teen Says Girls Lit Her Hair on Fire—"O'Conner said the two eight graders were each given what she said are inadequate penalties of three-day suspensions." And imaginary guns merit worse penalties.
• Olympia teen files civil rights complaint with feds after alleged bullying—"An Olympia High School student who says he's been bullied for years is fighting back. He says constant bullying has caused him to miss months of school and he can't take the abuse any longer."
• 10 years later, 'Star Wars Kid' speaks out
• Mom makes daughter wear horrible thrift store clothes to 'teach her a lesson' for bullying other students

Gone Social

• Facebook challenge after girl's death leap over insults
• High school student faces 20 years in prison for Facebook messages
• Student suspended for tweeting that school sports teams were bad
• Cicero-North Syracuse student suspended after speaking out against failed budget on Twitter
• Perverted Prank: Photo of Naked Sixth-Grader Passed Around At School
  

Think of the Children

• Preschool bans kids from playing superheroes
• Studies found that the Children of Overprotective parents are Usual Bullying Targets
• Over-protective parents are linked to teenage depression
• The Kids Really Are All Right—The facts say children have never been safer. So why can't we loosen the leash? Taking stock of parental anxiety on the 30th anniversary of National Missing Children's Day."
• A Blast from the Past: A Nation of Wimps—"Parents are going to ludicrous lengths to take the bumps out of life for their children. However, parental hyperconcern has the net effect of making kids more fragile; that may be why they're breaking down in record numbers."

Religion

• Was an Oklahoma teacher fired for praying when a tornado hit her school?
• ACLU Tells High School to Allow Students to Protest ACLU at Football Game
• Oklahoma High School Has Ten Commandments Displays in Every Classroom… and One Atheist Student is Fighting Back—And despite the odds, he won.

Educamation

• At "low performing" charter school, administrator earns $187,000
• CPS approves largest school closure in city's history
• Slain referee risked violence for 'his passion,' heartbroken daughter says
• Father beats son to death over exam results—"He allegedly beat the 12-year-old with a computer cable for not bringing home exam results."
• Flipside: Principal fires security guards to hire art teachers — and transforms elementary school

Cheating

• Chinese cheats rort NZ universities with fakes
• SAT Scandal Shines Harsh Light on South Korean Academics—"The recent cancellation of U.S. college entrance exams in South Korea—the first time SAT tests have been called off nationwide anywhere in the world for suspected cheating—is throwing the spotlight back on the country's hyper-competitive academic environment." WSJ
• Quebec students strip-searched during exam Tenth grade students were strip-searched when a cell phone went missing during a final exam.

Kids These Days

• Why Millennials Will Be The Generation 'To Save Us All'
• Millenials aren't lazy: They're fucked
• I don’t hate millennials anymore!—"So they don't know John Hughes or the Cure or have a generational identity. This Gen Xer now sympathizes with Gen Y." Salon

IRS, Vote Machinations, Public-Private Partnerships, Economy, Postal, Racism

IRS

• IRS apologizes for targeting tea party groups
• IRS Officiall: 'I'm not good at math'
• The Daily Show: Barack Trek—"The IRS shifts the burden of proof from the tinfoil behatted to the government by targeting the Tea Party and other conservative groups."
• Remember When Andrew Joseph Stack Flew a Plane Into a Texas IRS Building?
• The I.R.S. and the Tea Party: Where Is the Scandal?
• IRS Chief Says 'Mistakes Were Made' But Weren't Partisan
• IRS Sent Same Letter to Democrats That Fed Tea Party Row
• When the IRS targeted liberals—"Under George W. Bush, it went after the NAACP, Greenpeace and even a liberal church." Salon
• Marco Rubio Calls on Nonexistent IRS Commissioner to Resign
• 'Angry' Obama announces IRS leader's ouster after conservatives targeted

Vote Machinations

• Bipartisan Bill Would Expand Disclosure Of Political Money
• Obama's campaign finance reform plans have faded
• The IRS should do more, not less, scrutinizing of political groups—"Since Citizens United, the super rich are using nonprofits to shield their political spending. They need more oversight."
• Justice O'Connor: Maybe Bush V. Gore Was A Mistake
• Fear of the youth vote, now in Ohio—"[T]o force Ohio’s universities to do the dirty work of voter suppression is unconscionable."

Public-Private Partnerships

• The Shadow Lobbyist—"Corporate America is relying on new tactics to shape the legislative outcomes it wants." NYT
• Why Lobbying Is Now Increasingly In The Shadows
• One Reason To Apply For Tax-Exempt Status: Anonymity
• 74% of lobbyist spending on Kansas lawmakers unaccounted for
• Public money, private profit
• Ties to gov., clients put NC law firm in spotlight
• North Carolina May Ban Tesla Sales To Prevent "Unfair Competition"—Car dealerships don't like being cut out as the middle man and have resorted to legislating their business model.

Economy

• Republicans Refuse to Negotiate Unless They Can Take a Hostage
• The Facts Are In and Paul Ryan Is Wrong
• Reinhart and Rogoff aren't the problem. The Republican Party is.
• Hurricane Sandy and the Myth of the Big Government-vs.-Small-Government Debate—"In the abstract, most Americans want a smaller and less intrusive government. In reality, what Americans really want is a government that spends less money on other people."
• NC Senate GOP debuts far-reaching tax overhaul

Postal

• Congressman Finally Takes Action To Remove Needless Requirement Bankrupting The Postal Service
• U.S. Postal Service posts $1.9 billion loss, despite efficiency efforts
• Last of a Breed: Postal Workers Who Decipher Bad Addresses NYT

Racism

• RNC Hispanic Outreach Director Becomes A Democrat
• The GOP Doesn't Need Hispanic Outreach—It Needs a Hispanic Takeover
• As controversy swirls, Heritage report author resigns—"An author of a highly critical report on pending immigration legislation has resigned his post at the conservative Heritage Foundation after his previous writings, including a dissertation citing lower IQ among immigrants, drew widespread anger."

Economy; Wall Street; Poverty; Jobs, H-1B, Occupational Hazards, Disability, Sick Leave, Labor

Economy

• State-Wrecked: The Corruption of Capitalism in America—"Eight decades of bipartisan Keynesian spending and Federal Reserve money-printing have left us exhausted and bankrupt." NYT
• Krugman: Cheating Our Children—"By neglecting public investment and failing to provide jobs." NYT
• Sequester axe falls in Washington — but not on lawmaker salaries
• Obama to return 5% of salary because of sequester—"The president follows the lead of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, giving up some salary because of forced federal furloughs."
• The case for expanding Social Security, not cutting it

Wall Street

• Democrats Are Undermining Wall Street Reform, Too—"Eight House Dems are pushing a slate of bills that would roll back key financial-reform laws."
• It's still a lovefest between Wall Street and regulators—"Here's how we regulate banks and funds: they pay a small fine and 'neither admit nor deny' wrongdoing. And nothing changes."
• Wall Street power player: We're incentivized to cheat—"Jim Chanos, an early detector of Enron's fraudulent practices, explains our dysfunctional banking system." Salon
• Justice Department Official Who Didn't Prosecute Banks Returns To Law Firm That Defends Them
• The Growing Sentiment on the Hill For Ending 'Too Big To Fail'

Poverty

• Where Are the Country's Least Happy and Healthy Americans? New Studies Reveal America's "Sadness Belt"
• Help shrinks as poverty spikes in the US—"US poverty spikes but help from Washington shrinks as government struggles with debt."
• Want to Help People? Just Give Them Money
• Fox's Charles Payne Criticizes Anti-Poverty Programs: "It Gets A Little Comfortable To Be In Poverty
• Obama administration pushes banks to make home loans to people with weaker credit

Jobs

• Ask The Headhunter: The Talent Shortage Myth and Why HR Should Get Out of the Hiring Business
• McDonald's want ad demands bachelor's degree, two years experience for cashier
• Retailers Track Employee Thefts in Vast Databases—"Databases that are used by major retailers to prevent workers accused of stealing from getting another job are increasingly under scrutiny from labor lawyers and federal regulators." NYT

H-1B

• Lawmakers hear from CEO opponents of H-1Bs—"Domestic IT services providers believe U.S. visa policies put them at a competitive disadvantage."
• Outsourced, at home—"Hyped as source of tech talent, H-1B visas usher in cheap replacements for US workers."
• High-Skilled Visa Requests Likely To Exceed Supply

Occupational Hazards

• When workers die: "And nobody called 911"—"A man is scalded by nearly boiling water and citric acid. His fate points to a dark reality for temp workers." Salon
• Undocumented workers' grim reality: speak out on abuse and risk deportation—"Migrants in the low-wage depths of the US economy say they're being targeted for simply standing up for employees' rights."
• Business balks at immigration deal—"A deal between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and labor groups on visas for low-skilled workers was supposed to clear a path for an immigration reform package in the Senate. Instead, some business groups are grumbling about the deal and they're gearing up for a lobbying battle on Capitol Hill — where powerful interests helped doom immigration reform over the same issue before."

Disability

• Unfit for Work: The startling rise of disability in America—"In the past three decades, the number of Americans who are on disability has skyrocketed. The rise has come even as medical advances have allowed many more people to remain on the job, and new laws have banned workplace discrimination against the disabled. Every month, 14 million people now get a disability check from the government."
• The Right Is Furious at How Much Disability the Right Is Claiming
• The simple, boring reason why disability insurance has exploded

Sick Leave

• 'We Have a Deal': Paid Sick Days Will Be Law in NYC
• Lack of paid sick leave is unhealthy for America
• Efforts to Deliver "Kill Shot" to Paid Sick Leave Tied to ALEC

Labor

• When America Came 'This Close' to Establishing a 30-Hour Workweek
• GOP Pitches 'Family-Friendly' Policy That Would Weaken Overtime Pay
• Respect and implement employees' rights for better productivity

Youth, Quebec, Student Loans, Budgets, Educamation, Zero Tolerance, Schoolbook

Youth

• Why a Growing Movement of Young People Could Ignite a Workers' Revolution
• 2012 vs. 1984: Young adults really do have it harder today
• Boomers and Millennials: Who's Got It Worse in the Workplace?
• Summer Jobs for Young People Remain Scarce
• Mitt Romney: Bank Of America Protesters Too Young 'To Really Understand' Economy

Quebec

• Quebec's largest student group vows to defy government’s new emergency law
• Night of Protest in Montreal after 'Emergency Law'--"Police continue to attempt crackdown on 'one of the most amazing mass protests of the year.'"
• Pot-banging against Bill 78, Quebec law limiting protests, is catching on--Over 700 Canadian protesters detained in police crackdown
• Student negotiator arrested at Quebec City protest after meeting with education minister
• Opinion: It’s the older generation that’s entitled, not students

Student Loans

• California Committing Educational Suicide
• Degrees of debt: Soaring college costs hobble a generation
• Congress pulls plug on Pell Grants; thousands of students affected

Budgets

• Error causes $25 million shortfall in education budget--Because the Maths is hard.
• Talking Pineapples and Texas Education
• Global Protests Against Draconian Education Cuts, Tuition Hikes
• Often Overlooked: For-Profit Colleges Ripping Off Taxpayers
• University of Florida Eliminates Computer Science Department, Increases Athletic Budgets. Hmm.

Educamation

• What teachers really want to tell parents
• Kenneth Cole gets schooled--"The fashion mogul has backed off his assault on schoolteachers after a public outcry." Salon
• Anti-teacher flier stirs tempest in Janesville
• Honors Track
• How "No Child Left Behind" Unleashed a Nationwide Epidemic of Cheating

Zero Tolerance

• Kindergartner Charged with Battery. Why Are We Criminalizing Kids?
• First-Grader Suspended for Singing ‘I’m Sexy and I Know It’
• Police Handcuffing 7-Year-Olds? The Brutality Unleashed on Kids With Disabilities in Our School Systems
• Nurse refuses student inhaler during asthma attack
• Texas honor student jailed for missing too much school--"[Diane] Tran said she works both full-time and part-time jobs, in addition to taking advanced and college level courses. [...] On top of that, Tran said her parents spilt up and moved away, leaving her to support her younger sister." But the judge wanted to "make an example of the teen."

Schoolbook

• School forces students to reveal Facebook activity, unlock smartphones
• When the school is the bully: A middle-school family gets a lesson in Facebook privacy Salon
• Clayton High's principal resigns amid Facebook mystery
• High school students told to quit Facebook or be expelled--If they're under 13, then they shouldn't be using it in the first place.
• Teen sues over Facebook bullying

Budget, Taxes, Class War, Military, GOP, Economic Sabotage, Fucks News

Budget

• How Bush-Fueled Deficits Continue To Haunt Obama
• Obama spending binge never happened--"Government outlays rising at slowest pace since 1950s," despite what the Republicans have been lying about.
• CBO Report Says Deficit Reduction Will Cause New Recession
• GOP rookies buck Grover Norquist
• A New Politics That Rejects Austerity and Wars of Whim

Taxes

• Geithner: U.S. 'Can't Afford' Bush Tax Cuts for Wealthy-- WSJ
• Pelosi asks Boehner for immediate vote on middle-class tax cuts
• Harry Reid to Republicans: Give in on Bush tax cuts, gutting Medicare and maybe we can talk
• Windfall! Rich will get richer from new tax credit
• Hey Gov. Christie, New Jersey is over here
• After Slashing Funds For Health And Education, Ohio Prepares To Cut Taxes For Banks
• Grijalva Slams Arizona Governor For Using Foreclosure Settlement Funds To Balance Budget--She'd rather give corporate tax cuts.

Class War

• Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income
• Bill Clinton: How to Tame the Debt Without Screwing the Poor and Middle Class
• Obama: War savings should be devoted to middle class, debt

Military

• Behind Army’s $17,000 Drip Pan, Harold Rogers's Earmark NYT
• China fake parts 'used in US military equipment'
• Even more bloated than you think--"Ignore the GOP's budget cut outrage: National Security will still acount for a third of the projected 2013 budget." Salon

GOP

• Respected scholars: Frustrated with Washington? Blame Republicans
• Schwarzenegger: GOP, take down that small tent--"California's Republican Party used to work toward solutions. Now it's an exclusive club where members' ideological cards must be checked at the door."
• Jon Stewart on the Right's Cognitive Dissonance With Refusing to Give President Obama Credit for Anything
• GOP to modernity: Stop--"For House Republicans, the less we know about our country and our planet, the better." Salon
• Opinion: GOP faithful in a state of denial

Economic Sabotage

• House GOP Throws Out Entire Summer Of Debt Ceiling Negotiations In Less Than 10 Minutes
• Sabotage: The new GOP plan--"Paul Ryan and the Republicans' latest tactic is outright treachery: They want to break the government." Salon
• The GOP is Today's Know Nothing Party--"Their hyper partisanship is paralyzing Washington."
• Is GOP trying to sabotage economy to hurt Obama?
• David Vitter Is Trying To Crush the Economy

Fucks News

• It’s Official: Watching Fox Makes You Stupider
• FCC urged to revoke Fox News' license
• Roger Ailes criticizes New York Times, AP during Ohio University talk-
• Roger Ailes: Jon Stewart ‘basically’ told me he was a socialist
• 14 Propaganda Techniques Fox 'News' Uses to Brainwash Americans

Fabrication, War on Terror, Torture, "Over There", Military Might, Your Rights Online, Surveillance

Fabrication

• Terrorist Plots, Hatched by the F.B.I. NYT
• 'Underwear bomber' was working for the CIA--"Bomber involved in plot to attack US-bound jet was working as an informer with Saudi intelligence and the CIA, it has emerged."
• How FBI Entrapment Is Inventing 'Terrorists' - and Letting Bad Guys Off the Hook
• FBI: Men unknowingly put fake bombs at Ohio bridge--"Their arrests that night marked the latest case in which FBI agents planned fake terrorism plots alongside targeted suspects, an indication it continues to be a top strategy for the government in preventing terrorism."
• The Case of the Missing Terrorists

War on Terror

• Federal court enjoins NDAA--"An Obama-appointed judge rules its indefinite detention provisions likely violate the 1st and 5th Amendments." Salon
• Ninth Circuit Presses Government Lawyer on Watch Lists: "What Would You Do?"--It can get rather Kafkaesque.
• Army Admits Re-Education Camp Manual "Not Intended For Public Release"--"[A]nd claiming that its provisions only apply outside the United States, a contention completely disproved by the language contained in the document itself."
• Pentagon instructor urged total war with Islam
• The American character--"Fareed Zakaria warns the war on terror will never end. Obama and Romney still won't debate our surveillance state." Salon

Torture

• US rendition 'torture' case heard--"Khaled al-Masri claims he was abducted in Macedonia in 2003 and flown to a US detention centre in Afghanistan, where he says he was tortured."
• 'Vomiting and screaming' in destroyed waterboarding tapes--"Secret CIA video tapes of the waterboarding of Osama Bin Laden's suspected jihadist travel arranger Abu Zubaydah show him vomiting and screaming, the BBC has learned."
• American seeks political asylum in Sweden, alleging torture, FBI coercion

"Over There"

• Why are we still in Vietghanistan?
• Afghan peace negotiator Arsala Rahmani shot dead
• Iran says nuclear inspector killed in car crash
• House Bill Shifting Red Line for War on Iran Passes Overwhelmingly
• Al-Qaeda is weaker without bin Laden, but its franchise persists
• Drone strikes in Yemen: US expert warns of anti-western sentiment
• US shadow war in Horn of Africa revealed by blogger

Military Might

• Republican plan boosts Pentagon, cuts social programs--Ain't a plan no longer.
• Fighter Pilots Claim Intimidation Over F-22 Raptor Jets
• The F-35 Shows Why the Pentagon Deserves a Smaller Budget
• Romney Will Increase Military Spending By $2.1 Trillion With No Plan To Pay For It
• Public overwhelmingly supports large defense spending cuts
• Defense bill passes House, faces veto

Your Rights Online

• Beyond CISPA: The cybersecurity bills you need to worry about right now
• White House will veto CISPA, Amendments not good enough
• FBI: We need wiretap-ready Web sites - now
• UK: 'Snooper's charter' web spying Bill announced--"The Queen has formally announced plans to greatly increase surveillance of the internet by intelligence agencies and the police, in plans that are being labelled a 'snooper's charter' by civil liberties groups."
• Tim Berners-Lee urges government to stop the snooping bill
• How the Toews-sponsored Internet surveillance bill quietly died--The reports of its demise has been greatly exaggerated.
• The Rise of Europe's Private Internet Police
• Surveillance State democracy--"As the FBI seeks full access to all forms of Internet communication, it is not voters who need to be convinced." Salon
• Court Rules NSA Doesn't Have To Reveal Its Semi-Secret Relationship With Google
• Google's eavesdropping technology: Going too far to sell ads?

Surveillance

• London's Amazingly Explicit Surveillance State Mascot For The 2012 Olympics Has A Huge Camera Eye That 'Records Everything'
• DOJ Official: Any Privacy Protection is Too Much Privacy Protection for Cell Phone Tracking
• The FBI took -- and mysteriously returned -- their server. Here's their story.