Snowden, Journalism; NSA Spying, Your Privacy Online; Surveillance State, Police State, Cellphone Tracking; War on Terror, TSA and Watchlists; Military Money

Snowden

• Time Person of the Year Runner-Up: Edward Snowden
• No Contest: Edward Snowden is Person of the Year
• Edward Snowden voted Guardian person of the year 2013—"NSA whistleblower's victory, for exposing the scale of internet surveillance, follows that of Chelsea Manning last year."

Journalism

• New York Times reporters sue DHS—"Two New York Times reporters are suing the Department of Homeland Security for records of a questioning they say occurred at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport earlier this year."
• Snowden docs had NYTimes exec fearing for his life—"Informing the American people about how their government spies on them can be risky business for journalists."
• NYPD Orders Precincts to Deny Journalists Access to Crime Reports
• Top court: Shield Law protects Fox reporter—"In a significant victory for the media in New York, the state's highest court on Tuesday ruled that a Fox News reporter who broke a scoop on the 2012 'Dark Knight Rises' massacre in suburban Denver should not be compelled to reveal her sources in a Colorado court."
• Chris Hedges: Shooting the Messenger—"The differences among Snowden, Manning, Assange and Hammond should not be permitted to diminish the vital importance of all their acts."

NSA Spying

• ACLU: U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's NSA 'reforms': bad for privacy, bad for business
• "We cannot trust" Intel and Via's chip-based crypto, FreeBSD developers say—"Following NSA leaks from Snowden, engineers lose faith in hardware randomness."
• NSA uses Google cookies to pinpoint targets for hacking WaPo

Your Privacy Online

• Silicon Valley, not Washington, needs to lead on privacy reform
• Twitter gobbles up more cookies with retargeted ads, says users have privacy choices—"Twitter will start delivering targeted ads on mobile devices based on Web browsing data."
• FTC finds popular flashlight app for Android illegally sharing data with advertisers

Surveillance State

• Machines of Loving Grace—"I'd rather risk becoming a terrorist's victim than live under a surveillance state."
• Dear Pres. Obama: Dissent isn't Possible in a Surveillance State
• US and Europe are not functioning democracies with 'this level of surveillance'
• State of Deception—"Why won't the President rein in the intelligence community?"
• Meet Jack. Or, What The Government Could Do With All That Location Data

Police State

• How Every Part of American Life Became a Police Matter—"From the workplace to our private lives, American society is starting to resemble a police state."
• Police overkill has become the default American policy—"The term 'police state' used to be brushed off as paranoid hyperbole. Not anymore." Salon
• DOJ Agency Warns Of Police Militarization
• Court To Consider California's DNA Collection Law—"A federal appeals court appeared ready last year to strike down as an unconstitutional invasion of privacy a controversial California law requiring police to collect DNA samples from every person arrested in the state."
• Canadian Conservatives' Cyber-Bullying Bill — A Pretext for Expanding Police Surveillance

Cellphone Tracking

• Police Requests for Cellphone Data Surge
• Cellphone data spying: It's not just the NSA—"The National Security Agency isn't the only government entity secretly collecting data from people's cellphones. Local police are increasingly scooping it up, too."
• Indiana State Police tracking cellphones - but won't say how or why
• Inside Wisconsin's Bipartisan Effort to End Warrantless Cellphone Tracking
• Cops' Cellphone Data Collection Challenged—"Law enforcement officials' use of cellphone data is insufficiently regulated, according to Sen. Edward Markey, and innocent consumers' privacy rights are at risk."

War on Terror

• CIA's anti-terrorism effort called 'colossal flop'—"CIA officers given 'non-official cover,' often posing as business executives, tried to collect intelligence on terrorists. The NOC program reportedly has had few successes."
• Afghan president lashes out at US 'threats'—"Karzai says the U.S. is 'absolutely' acting like a colonial power in its attempts to force him to sign the bilateral security agreement by the end of this year."
• Pakistani immigrant sues US over false arrest in war on terrorism—Held for 10 months in solitary.
• Congressmen Call For Declassification Of 9/11 Files Discussing Hijacker Links To Saudi Government
• 'Dirty Wars' questions the war on terror

TSA and Watchlists

• Witness In No Fly List Trial, Who Was Blocked From Flying To The Trial, Shows That DOJ Flat Out Lied In Court
• TSA agent confiscates sock monkey's toy pistol
• TSA Made a Record $531,395 on Loose Change This Year

Military Money

• New GOP Plan Would Save Military From Sequestration By Cutting Social Security
• Global Hawk drone flies into budget battle between Pentagon, Congress—"The Air Force planned to stop buying and flying the Global Hawk drone to save about $2.5 billion over five years. Lawmakers backed by the defense lobby have scuttled that and other cost-cutting efforts."
• U.S. Bomber Planes at $81 Billion Seen 47% More Than Plan
• The defense lobby—"This is a map of the major defense contractors surrounded by Washington lobby firms representing them."
• Opinion: To improve the U.S. military, shrink it

World Human Rights Day, Mandela; Ukraine; UK not OK; China Air Pollution; Politics; Whistleblowers, Journalism and Transparency; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

World Human Rights Day

• Guantanamo detainees' hunger strikes will no longer be disclosed by U.S. military WaPo
• Jailed Bin Laden doctor Shakil Afridi refuses to stay silent—"The Pakistani doctor who is accused of helping the American Central Intelligence Agency track down former al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, says he is being denied his right to a fair trial."
• The US killed my brother with a drone. I want to know why

Mandela

• World leaders join singing crowds for Mandela memorial
• Meet The Mandela RINOs: Republicans Who Lost Their R-Card For Praising Mandela
• Newt Gingrich to Conservatives: 'What Would You Have Done?'—"A message about Nelson Mandela that conservatives sorely need to hear."
• Pickens County Sheriff will not lower flag for Nelson Mandela—"Nelson Mandela did great things for his country and was a brave man but he was not an AMERICAN!!!"
• Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu to skip Mandela memorial, citing cost

Ukraine

• Ukraine's capital Kiev gripped by huge pro-EU demonstration
• World boxing champion Vitali Klitschko leads Ukraine's protests, hopes to become next president
• Ukraine police move on protesters and opposition party

UK not OK

• Amnesty International suspects British intelligence surveillance, will take legal action against UK government
• London's biggest university bans student protests
• Shop owner quizzed over 'Bernard Manning-style' Nelson Mandela gags—"Neil Phillips furious after being DNA swabbed and finger-printed over close to the knuckle web comments about the late former South African president." Punishing thoughtcrime
• Edward Snowden to give evidence to EU parliament, says MEP—"British Conservatives oppose video appearance by NSA whistleblower, which Green MEP says could happen this year."
• British intelligence anxious to catch Snowden in Russia - investigative journalist

China Air Pollution

• Smog promotes equality!—"Air pollution also makes people funnier and smarter, a government-controlled outlet claims." Salon
• Our Smog Is A Major Defensive Advantage On The Battlefield—With this much spin, the smog should have been blow away already.
• Smog set to lift in eastern China, but experts say solution is a long way off

Politics

• Thai PM Yingluck to dissolve parliament and call elections
• China expresses regret over South Korea air defense zone
• Canada to claim north pole as its own—"UN submission will seek to redefine Canada's continental shelf to capture more Arctic oil and gas resources."

Whistleblowers

• Snowden and Greenwald: The Men Who Leaked the Secrets—"How two alienated, angry geeks broke the story of the year."
• Six months after NSA story broke, Snowden looks even more patriotic
• Saving the Net from the surveillance state: Glenn Greenwald speaks up

Journalism and Transparency

• An open letter from Carl Bernstein to Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger—"You are being called to testify at a moment when governments in Washington and London seem intent on erecting the most serious (and self-serving) barriers against legitimate news reporting – especially of excessive government secrecy – we have seen in decades."
• Thousands protest in Japan against new state secrets bill
• Russian news agency RIA Novosti closed down—"The state-owned Voice of Russia radio station has also been closed. The decree was effective immediately."
• Coalition accused of organising 'assault on ABC' over spying revelations—"Labor frontbencher Brendan O'Connor says government is working with News Corp to bully the public broadcaster."

NSA Spying

• Xbox Live among game services targeted by US and UK spy agencies—"NSA and GCHQ collect gamers' chats and deploy real-life agents into World of Warcraft and Second Life."
• NSA morale down after Edward Snowden revelations, former U.S. officials say—"They add that they are surprised President Obama has not visited the agency to show his support." WaPo
• NSA spying hurts business of large U.S. hardware makers
• Twitter, Facebook and more demand sweeping changes to US surveillance—"AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft, Google, Apple and LinkedIn to call for reforms to restore the public's trust in the internet."
• Jon Stewart on the benefits of NSA surveillance: If you like your spy, you can keep your spy

Surveillance and Privacy

• Int'l call for democracy in digital age—"Leading newspapers of 32 countries including The Daily Star, 560 authors from 83 countries and several Nobel Laureates have issued an international appeal against mass surveillance."
• Bill Clinton says security does not justify espionage
• Chinese hackers spied on Europeans before G20 meeting: researcher
• 'Let's be honest, we eavesdrop too': former French foreign minister on NSA spying claims
• The US has access to Swedish intelligence—"The United States has been allowed access to information obtained by Sweden's National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) through cable interception since 2011, top-secret documents obtained by Swedish Television show."
• Canada set up spy posts for U.S., new Snowden document shows
• Inside Canada's top-secret billion-dollar spy palace—"While the Harper government is preaching government austerity, it is spending almost $1.2 billion on a new Ottawa headquarters for a little-known military spy agency. It's the most expensive Canadian government building ever constructed."

Government Shutdown Day 2, GOP, Tea Party, Repercussions, Military, Obamacare, Politics; NSA Spying and Surveillance; Happy birthday Gandhi!

Government Shutdown Day 2

• President Obama Delivers a Statement on the Government Shutdown—Tells Republicans to "reopen the government" [NYT].
• House GOP Fails To Pass Partial Government Funding Bills
• John Boehner's Shutdown—"A damaging and unnecessary crisis could easily have been stopped, but the House speaker refused." NYT
• The Two Basic Facts That Should Be in Every Shutdown Story—"If Congress could vote on a 'clean' bill, it would end the shutdown tonight. So why isn't it allowed to vote?"
• Five scenarios for ending the shutdown impasse

GOP

• Government shutdown is the Republicans' fault — period—"Legislative brinkmanship is an affront to the Constitution tea partiers claim to revere."
• Sen. Warren on Republicans: 'Hostage-taking is All They Have Left'
• Grayson blames shutdown on GOP literally drinking on the job—"Many of them seem loaded," the liberal congressman says, charging his GOP colleagues smelled like alcohol." Salon
• Remember when Republicans were worried about 'economic uncertainty'?
• The real story of the shutdown: 50 years of GOP race-baiting—"A House minority from white districts want to destroy the first black president, and the GOP majority abets them." Salon
• Sullivan: "What Kind Of World Do These People Live In?"—"But seriously, after all we’ve gone through, you’re prepared to bring our entire system of government to a halt in order to prevent sick people from getting access to this kind of treatment?"
• Jon Stewart Blasts GOP Over Shutdown: When The Giants Lost, They Didn't Shut Down The NFL
• GOPers Insist Americans Will Eventually Back Them On Shutdown—Sure thing, Baghdad Bob.

Tea Party

• The Reign Of Morons Is Here
• The party of spoiled brats—"Republicans are acting like the little kid in a toy store who won't take 'no' for an answer."
• King: 30 to 40 GOP lawmakers refuse to admit legitimacy of Obama's presidency
• Where the G.O.P.'s Suicide Caucus Lives
• Pro-Shutdown G.O.P. Extremists Defy Description

Repercussions

• 143-year-old law puts fear in officials during shutdown
• US shutdown stops kids with cancer starting trials
• Yosemite: As government shuts down, Google marks anniversary of national park you suddenly cannot see
• Hyundai to defer payments due from US government staff
• Shutdown And Debt Ceiling Debate Prove U.S. Not Worthy Of AAA Credit Rating: S&P

Military

• Obama Signs Bill To Protect Military Pay In Case Of Government Shutdown
• How The Shutdown Is Affecting The Military—It'll hurt more if Congress doesn't get their act together.
• Shut down the military, too!: Why exempting it is absurdly unfair—"I respect service members, but giving them special treatment over other federal workers is dangerous -- and wrong." Salon
• DoD to Award Contracts Throughout Shutdown, But Won't Announce Them
• 'Greatest generation' veterans sweep past barricades at memorial in their honor

Obamacare

• Republicans Shut Down the Government, But They Can't Stop Obamacare—"Tea Party Republicans are thrilled about taking away benefits from millions of needy Americans, but they're losing in the long run."
• How Republican idiocy backfired — and is helping Obamacare—"GOP's shutdown lunacy diverted attention from Obamacare's rough debut -- giving a chance for a 2nd first impression." Salon
• Fox Greets First Day Of Health Care Exchanges With Lies
• GOP Staffer on Vitter Amendment: "Congress Literally Threw Staff Under The Bus"—"The latest Republican assault on Obamacare involves jacking up health insurance costs for members of Congress and their staffers. That has some GOP aides upset."
• Obamacare architect leaves White House for pharmaceutical industry job—"Few people embody the corporatist revolving door greasing Washington as purely as Elizabeth Fowler."
• Millennials and the Affordable Care Act: Beyond the buzz words
• Blast from the Past: Why Republicans Oppose the Individual Health-Care Mandate

Politics

• The Beginning of the End for Washington—"This impasse could be the breaking point for a political system that has gone from dysfunctional to nonfunctioning."
• Friedman: Our Democracy Is at Stake—"The future of how we govern ourselves is on the line, and majority rule is still majority rule." NYT
• Krugman: The Economics and Politics of Chaos—"Class warfare or just craziness?" NYT
• Shutdown coverage fails Americans—"We need journalists to hold politicians accountable for extremist actions, not to enable them."
• The 'Low-Information Voter' Knows Very Little About Why Government Is Shutting Down

NSA Spying and Surveillance

• Greenwald: Here’s how to stop the NSA—"The journalist tells a Reddit AMA that the bulk of important revelations about surveillance are still to come." Salon
• How a Purse Snatching Led to the Legal Justification for NSA Domestic Spying
• NSA Defenders Need To Learn: Trust Is Something You Earn, Not Legislate
• Schneier: NSA Storing Internet Data, Social Networking Data, on Pretty Much Everybody
• NSA, intelligence workers 'stretched to limit' by shutdown, official says

Epic Rap Battles of History Season 2: Gandhi vs Martin Luther King Jr.—Happy birthday Gandhi!

Iron Lady; World News; Offshore; Money Manipulation; Wall Street; Foreclosures; Economy; Journalism

Iron Lady

• Margaret Thatcher and misapplied death etiquette
• Why Would Anyone Celebrate the Death of Margaret Thatcher? Ask a Chilean
• Why American conservatives miss Margaret Thatcher so much.
• The woman who wrecked Great Britain Salon
• Russell Brand on Margaret Thatcher: 'I always felt sorry for her children'

World News

• N. Korean missile launchpad moved into firing position
• Hungary is no longer a democracy—"Europe has been slow to act, but it is not too late."
• Bulgarians to Rally against Freedom of Speech Restrictions
• Court drops lawsuit against 'Egypt's Jon Stewart'
• Can China's new government end corruption?

Offshore

• Leaks reveal secrets of the rich who hide cash offshore—"Offshore financial industry leak exposes identities of 1,000s of holders of anonymous wealth from around the world."
• Deutsche Bank Criticized for Offshore Operations
• Countries rattled by tax-haven data leak
• US issues warning against offshore bank account holders
• Investigative collaboration, cross-border edition—"A good sign that your investigation has hit the mark is when law enforcement agencies start demanding to see your data."

Money Manipulation

• Enron's Jeff Skilling Could Get Early Release From Prison
• Judge Rejects Much of Libor Lawsuit Against Banks—"It was a major victory for some of the largest banks in the world, who had faced claims totaling billions of dollars over accusations they manipulated interest rates." NYT
• Musulin and Cahuzac: France's love for a robber and fury over a crooked tax tsar—"A film released this week tells the true story of a robber who stole millions of euros from an armoured van. Many French people feel he was treated too harshly - and are furious that senior politicians who break the law are never jailed."

Wall Street

• 'Too big to fail' legislation catches the attention of Wall Street
• Ex-Goldman Trader Admits to Hiding $8 Billion Position
• City Settles Lawsuit Over The Destruction of the Occupy Wall Street Library

Foreclosures

• Bank stole your house? Have 10 pitchforks' worth of compensation Salon
• Review Finds 4 Million People Wrongfully Foreclosed On
• Blame Abounds Over a Flawed Foreclosure Review—"A report cites failures by federal regulators, and further government scrutiny of them and of the consulting firms they hired to conduct the review is certain." NYT

Economy

• Is the Global Economy Slowly Falling Apart?
• Huge survey reveals seven social classes in UK
• Why Japan is the most interesting story in global economics right now

Journalism

• Jon Stewart Finally Calls Out the New Absurdity of CNN
• Now Hiring: Fake Somali Pirates—"Foreign journalists have paid Kenyans pretending to be Somali pirates hundreds of dollars to interview them. The fictional stories of these fake pirates have been featured in documentaries and news publications as respected as Time."
• Satire: Guardian launches 'augmented reality' specs to offer immersive liberal insight—"The spectacles also feature optional built-in anti-bigotry technology, which prevents exposure to non-Guardian opinions by blacking out columns by Melanie Phillips or Richard Littlejohn, among other writers, as soon as the user attempts to look at them."

Plying Politics; Republicans; Racism, Immigration, Aryan Brotherhood; Conservatives; Fucks News

Plying Politics

• 'We Have Met the Enemy, and It is Us:' Why We Don't Have Better Candidates
• Why Is American Politics So Religious and Divisive?
• Apparently Voters Don't Know Much About the People They Vote For
• Conspiracy Theory Poll Results
• Blast from the Past: People Aren't Smart Enough for Democracy to Flourish, Scientists Say

Republicans

• AZ state senator tied to school confrontation—"An Arizona school is considering hiring armed guards after an influential state senator barged into a classroom and verbally threatened a teacher over a dispute involving his teenage grandson."
• 'Rude' lawmaker Louie Gohmert pulls rank on cops over parking ticket
• Todd Akin, Allen West Lavished Government Money On Staff After Losing Reelection

Racism

• Alaska Rep. Don Young rebuked over slur—"My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes."
• Texas Sheriff Threw Latino Men in Jail for 39 Days -- No Charges, No Hearing, No Probable Cause
• Conservative Media Watchdog Questions Whether African-American Host Is Dark Enough

Immigration

• "Illegal Immigrant" Is Now Out, But AP Doesn't Tell Us What's In
• Border security quandary could kill immigration bill
• Missing Dallas teen accidentally deported to Colombia

Aryan Brotherhood

• Suspicion in DA Murder Shifts to Aryan Brotherhood
• Why I Fear the Aryan Brotherhood—and You Should, Too
• Prison gangs a growing problem in Texas and nation—"Why would a violent white supremacist from Colorado escape to Texas?"

Conservatives

• Pastor to rabbi, imam: U.S. is a 'Christian nation' but we 'let' you worship
• Proposal would allow state religion in North Carolina—"A bill filed by Republican lawmakers would allow North Carolina to declare an official religion, in violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Bill of Rights, and seeks to nullify any federal ruling against Christian prayer by public bodies statewide."
• GOP Lawmakers In North Carolina Want To Make It Harder To Get A Divorce
• Dr, Deandre Poole: 'I Was Doing My Job'—His fault apparently was underestimating how close-mindedly stupid Christianists have gotten.
• Conservatives freak out after Google honors Cesar Chavez on Easter—Case in point.

Fucks News

• Jim Carrey Slams 'Fux News' Over Gun Fight: It's a 'Media Colostomy Bag'
• The Union Protester Who Punched Fox News Comedian Steven Crowder Was Acting in Self-Defense, Will Not Be Prosecuted
• Fox News Ratings: Hannity, Van Susteren Plunge To New Lows In Demo

Al Gore; Republicans, GOP, Tea Party; Gerrymandering, Vote Machinations; Gun Control

Al Gore

• US democracy has been hacked—"Former VP tells Andrew Marr Show the internet provides a means to rekindle democracy and purge it of corporate influence."
• Democracy in America has been 'functionally corrupted'—"Fareed speaks with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore about democracy in the United States and why he thinks the campaign finance system needs an overhaul."
• Fix the filibuster, talk about climate change, ensure privacy online Salon

Republicans

• Krugman: Marco Rubio Has Learned Nothing—"Because his party has learned nothing." NYT
• Governor's numbers come under question—"In recent months, Gov. Sam Brownback has blamed his predecessor for a $2-billion spending hike that never happened and taken credit for spending cuts he didn'&nt actually make."
• John McCain Goes All-In on Benghazi "Cover-Up"
• Dear John McCain: Ted Cruz isn’t what’s wrong with the Senate, you are Salon
• When Republicans play with fire—"Just how unprecedented is their filibuster of Chuck Hagel? In a word: Very."
• Republican Senator From Nebraska Won't Run in 2014—"[L]ast year, he angrily criticized conservative groups that tried to step in and influence the Senate election in his state." NYT
• Hollywood Legend Ed Asner Has Outraged Republicans Over This Animated Short

GOP

• Bill Maher: GOP 'has always been an uneasy marriage between the Jesus freaks and the plutocrats'
• Republican Rep Says GOP Should Oppose Immigration Reform Because It Would Give Democrats 'Millions Of Votes'
• GOP House Leader Calls for Retaliating Against Media for Making Republicans Look Stupid

Tea Party

• Marco Rubio's compelling family story embellishes facts, documents show—"Embellishes facts" is a nice way of saying "making up bullshit."
• Study Confirms Tea Party Was Created by Big Tobacco and Billionaire Koch Brothers
• Arizona Tea Party Leader Scraps 'Be Mein' Hitler Valentines

Sequester

• Paul Ryan on the sequester: 'We got that in law'—Now he's playing the blame game on Obama.
• GOP Senator Would Take Away Health Coverage From 30 Million Americans To Avoid Military Cuts
• The Real Cost of Shrinking Government—"The budget sequester will soon affect American life in hundreds of painful ways." NYT

Gerrymandering

• The Great Gerrymander of 2012—"Congress doesn't reflect the people's vote." NYT
• E-mails show plotting by lawmakers, GOP on Florida redistricting
• The GOP's Plan to Rig the Electoral College, Explained
• GOP Electoral Vote Scheme Still Alive And Kicking In Pennsylvania
• Is This How We Equalize the United States?

Vote Machinations

• The Other GOP Plan To Rearrange The Electoral Vote
• Va. House, Senate Pass Measures Limiting Forms Of Acceptable Voter ID
• Indiana Lawmaker Proposes Unconstitutional Bill To Take Away Voting Rights From Out-Of-State College Students
• Wisconsin: Eliminating same-day voter registration would cost $14M, report says
• How Right-Wing Billionaires Threaten To Undo 40 Years Of Voting Rights Progress
• Waiting Times at Ballot Boxes Draw Scrutiny NYT
• Voting Should Be Easy NYT

Gun Control

• California Lawmaker Pushing Gun Control Got Death Threat
• LaPierre Accuses Obama Of Fraud In Defiant NRA Speech
• Gun dealers report shortages of ammunition

Rmoney, Campaign Finance, Public-Private Partnerships, Voter Suppresion, States, Immigration, Elections

Rmoney

• Mitt Romney stayed at Bain 3 years longer than he stated--Claims of inaccuracy by the Romney camp can't overturn the facts, as the Washington Post's factchecker discovered.
• Tax Avoider in Chief?--"Republicans aren’t just in favor of lowering taxes; now they’re applauding wildly complex efforts by the wealthiest Americans to avoid paying billions in taxes by shipping capital to other countries." NYT
• What's Romney Hiding in His Tax Returns?
• New Republic: Mitt Romney, Crybaby Capitalist
• Media Barred From Photographing Romney With Cheney At Fundraiser
• Romney's 'Free Stuff' Speech Is a New Low
• Romney: Schrödinger's Candidate--Don't let Rush see this one though.

Campaign Finance

• DISCLOSE Act fails again in Senate--Republicans filibuster against transparency (NYT), but even the ACLU is against passing the bill.
• Harry Reid Worries About '17 Angry Old White Men' Buying The Nation
• The Power of Anonymity NYT
• The Selling of American Democracy: The Perfect Storm
• There's No Hiding It: Citizens United Wasn't About "Speech" -- It Was About Takeover of American Democracy
• Investigation takes closer look at GOP donor Adelson's billions
• The Super PAC That Aims to End Super PACs NYT

Public-Private Partnerships

• A Radical Fix for the Republic--"Lawrence Lessig thinks American democracy requires a constitutional overhaul to counter the 'economy of influence.'"
• Northrop Grumman Awards Lobbyist $500K Bonus Weeks Before Becoming Low-Paid Congressional Staffer Shaping Military Policy
• 130 Members of Congress Bought Stocks in Companies that Lobbied their Committees
• Senator Sherrod Brown Explains Why Big Business Owns Congress
• In Georgia, Tea Party And Progressives Go On Bus Tour To Fight Lobbyists

Voter Suppression

• Robinson: The GOP's crime against voters--"Spare us any more hooey about “preventing fraud” and “protecting the integrity of the ballot box.” The Republican-led crusade for voter ID laws has been revealed as a cynical ploy to disenfranchise as many likely Democratic voters as possible, with poor people and minorities the main targets."
• Drum: Voter ID Laws Are the Last Gasp of a Fading GOP Strategy
• Attorney General Holder On State Voter ID Laws: 'We Call This A Poll Tax'
• What could tighter voter ID laws mean in November?
• Fox Guest's Voter ID Law Defense: "Voting Is A Privilege"

States

• Will a GOP-backed voter-ID law turn Pennsylvania red?--"It's been 24 years since the Keystone State picked a GOP presidential candidate, but a move to bar voters who lack a driver's license could help Mitt reverse that trend."
• Mississipppi’s Voter ID Catch 22--"Mississippi’s voter identification law might prove literally impossible for some of its residents to adhere to."
• Wisconsin: Judge bars enforcement of voter ID requirements
• Oops! George W. Bush’s name on list of Texas residents who would be ineligible to vote
• Florida: Woman cut twice from voter rolls is dead certain she's alive

Immigration

• After the SB1070 ruling, undocumented Americans say 'No more Arizonas!'
• Scalia's Arizona Immigration Dissent
• Ronald Reagan Jr.: If people knew GOP's real immigration stance, 'nobody would vote for them'

Elections

• Fox's Charles Krauthammer Says Young Americans Support Obama Because They Don't Know Anything
• Michigan Rep. McCotter Resigns From Congress--"The five-term Republican from the Detroit suburb of Livonia said Friday he's leaving office for the good of his family. McCotter dropped his bid for re-election last month after learning his staff hadn't filed enough valid petition signatures to get him on the Aug. 7 primary ballot."
• Report: Schmidt, Bolger attempted 'fraud' in race for House seat, but did not break law
• Arpaio: Obama birth record definitely forged
• Washington State will enable voter registration via Facebook

Occupy Wall Street, Taxing the Rich, Obama, Deterring Democracy, Republicans

Occupy Wall Street

• Big media's shameful news brownout on the Wall Street protests
• Yahoo blocked e-mails about Wall Street protests
• NYPD Uses Law From 1845 To Arrest Masked Protestors In Financial District

Taxing the Rich

• Obama Tax Plan Would Ask More of Millionaires NYT
• Marc Cuban: The Most Patriotic Thing You Can Do
• Paul Ryan Calls For Increasing Taxes On Middle Class But Dismisses Millionaires Tax As 'Class Warfare'
• Class warfare, Elizabeth Warren style--Here are some choice tidbits.
• Martin Bashir annihilates GOP 'Class Warfare' claim
• Sorry, But The Republican Arguments Against A "Millionaire's Tax" Are Just Preposterous
• Multi-Millionaire Congressman John Fleming (R-LA) Says He Can’t Afford A Tax Hike Because He Only Has $400K A Year After Feeding Family

Obama

• Gallup: Majority now blame Obama for state of U.S. economy
• 'Confidence Men': Ron Suskind On White House Woes--"A new book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind paints an unflattering picture of rivalries and dysfunction within President Obama's first economic team — rivalries that Suskind says then slowed the administration's response to the financial crisis."
• James Carville: It's time to panic.

Deterring Democracy

• Democrats knock McKenna for asking camera to be turned off
• Ohio Congressman Has Cops Confiscate Cameras At Town Hall Meeting
• Quartzsite Videographer Arrested in Town Hal

Republicans

• Egghead and Blockheads--"The Republicans are now the 'How great is it to be stupid?' party. In perpetrating the idea that there’s no intellectual requirement for the office of the presidency, the right wing of the party offers a Farrelly Brothers 'Dumb and Dumber' primary in which evolution is avant-garde." NYT
• Tea Party Gets the Constitution Wrong
• Teabagger says: I hate my highly-subsidized, socialist health plan. Salon
• Congress Has an Answer for Public Wrath: Eliminate Town Halls
• Jesus Christ Files Lawsuit Against GOP For Slander