Geology; Prehistoric, Man; Middle East, Egypt, Orient, Europe, British Isles; Breaking History

Geology

• Crystal is 'oldest scrap of Earth crust'—"A tiny 4.4-billion-year-old crystal has been confirmed as the oldest fragment of Earth's crust."
• Boffins identify ancient Earth asteroid strike that dwarfed dinosaur killer—"Massive space rock impact may have set the continents sliding."
• Fragments of ancient continent buried under Indian Ocean

Prehistoric

• Mysteriously Intact T. Rex Tissue Finally Explained
• New find hits Cambrian fossil jackpot—again.—"Near site of famous Burgess Shale fossils, more turn up."
• Ice Age fossils discovered in L.A. subway construction
• Feathered dinosaur death site is an "animal Pompeii"—"Exquisitely preserved fossils come from a catastrophic event."
• Scientists Discover New Dinosaur Species Dubbed 'Chicken From Hell'
• The Hidden Dinosaur of Ta Prohm Temple
• Giant virus resurrected from 30,000-year-old ice—"Largest virus yet discovered hints at viral diversity trapped in permafrost."
• 700,000-Year-Old Horse Found in Yukon Permafrost Yields Oldest DNA Ever Decoded

Man

• 7,000-year-old male, blue eyes, dark skin, likes hunting
• Our Neanderthal heritage—"The scientist who sequenced the Neanderthal genome describes his quest to find what makes us human." Salon
• DNA 'switches' separate Neanderthals from modern humans: study
• Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk
• From study of 12,600-year-old DNA from Montana, clues to early colonization of the Americas
• Ancient Qiang people had vertically grown teeth and longer skeleton

Middle East

• A 4000-year-old tablet from ancient Mesopotamia contains the specifications for an ark pre-dating the story of Noah
• 'Priceless' bronze statue of Greek god Apollo found in Gaza Strip
• Pharaonic seal found in ancient coffin in Israel

Egypt

• 4,600-Year-Old Step Pyramid Uncovered in Egypt—"The pyramid, which predates the Great Pyramid of Giza, is one of seven for which its function remains a mystery."
• Tomb of ancient Egypt's beer maker to gods of the dead discovered
• Student deciphers 1,800-year-old letter from Egyptian soldier
• Two more colossal pharaoh statues unveiled in Egypt

Orient

• 15 Chinese Artifacts That Will Change How You Look at China
• Oldest signs of Japanese using tools uncovered in Okinawa—"Archaeologists have unearthed shell tools around 20,000 years old that could help clear up mysteries surrounding the ancestors of modern Japanese people...."
• Philippines' Oldest Artworks in Danger of Disappearing

Europe

• Ancient Gladiator School Discovered in Austria
• Archaeologists' findings may prove Rome a century older than thought—"As Italian capital approaches 2,767th birthday, excavation reveals wall built long before official founding year of 753BC."
• Archaeologists find 2,600-year-old Celtic Princess buried in Germany
• Swedish divers unearth a 'Stone Age Atlantis': 11,000-year-old ancient settlement discovered under the Baltic Sea

British Isles

• British experts say they have found London's lost Black Death graves
• 4,500 year-old path discovered near Galway Bay used by Celts
• Storms uncover 7,500-year-old 'drowned forest' on Ireland's west coast
• 10,000-year-old settlement found in Cork

Breaking History

• 2 former Boy Scout leaders plead guilty to toppling ancient Utah rock formation, avoid jail
• Student Breaks 19th Century Greco-Roman Statue While Taking a Selfie
• Graffiti defaces prehistoric rock art in Libya

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women; Rape and Sexual Assaults; Sexism and Politics; Abortion and Birth Control; Obamacare

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

• Pakistan: 'I am Malala' banned in private schools
• Kuwaiti woman arrested in Saudi Arabia for driving her diabetic father to hospital—"Arrest comes a week after Saudi women staged a protest against the country's female driving ban."
• Female Genital Mutilation Cases Should Be Treated As Child Abuse: Report
• 'Honour killing': Case initiated against brother for murder
• Moroccan teen, forced to marry her rapist, commits suicide

Rape and Sexual Assaults

• Pakistan: Four-year-old sexually assaulted 'by cleric'
• 93 schoolgirls sexually harassed aboard Patna train
• NZ lawyer gives advice to rape victim, says you should have closed your legs
• If you can't stop rape, enjoy it, says CBI director Ranjit Sinha—"Sinha later told Hindustan Times he 'was just making a point, that it is very difficult to enforce a ban on betting, that you can make a law but there are already so many and it is difficult to enforce. Lotteries are already legal. So I said betting could be legalized, it can be taxed. To make this point, I just used a proverb.'" Culturally depraved statement.
• Kirsten Gillibrand: John McCain Was Wrong Then, And He's Wrong Now—Wrong on DOMA; wrong on military sexual assaults.
• Alabama Man Won't Serve Prison Time for Raping 14-Year-Old—"Austin Smith Clem raped a teenager three times. His punishment: supervision and probation."
• Los Gatos man gets probation for sex crimes; girls' parents outraged

Sexism and Politics

• Wendy Davis files for Texas governor—I wholeheartedly expect her vagina will not be an issue. /s
• Army Disciplines Two Involved In Email About 'Average Looking Women'
• Panel Led By NV GOP Chair Questions Women's Role In Workforce
• Scandal's Lisa Kudrow on Sexism in Politics (and That Epic Rant)
• Egypt 'worst for women' out of 22 countries in Arab world
• Women among the biggest losers in Arab Spring
• In Colombia, no sex till the road's fixed

Abortion and Birth Control

• Wendy Davis Slams Texas Republicans After Supreme Court Upholds State Abortion Restrictions
• Albuquerque voters reject 20-week abortion ban
• Vaginas Are Like "Little Hoover Vacuums," and Other Things Abstinence Lecturers Get Paid to Tell Teens
• The Tea Party's Attack on Women's Rights Politico
• Unsafe abortions: Haiti's abortion crisis
• Abortion in Tasmania is decriminalised, but it wasn't an easy battle—"Tasmania has removed abortion from its criminal laws after seven months of deliberations in parliament – but politicians have had to face a barrage of anti-choice tactics in the process."
• Bill Gates funds creation of thin, light, impenetrable graphene condoms

Obamacare

• Why Is Maternity Care Such an Issue for Obamacare Opponents?—"The ACA demands insurers fully cover 22 different women's health tests and visit types—yet few have raised conservative ire like covering expectant mothers."
• Corporations are claiming personhood to block Obamacare's contraception mandate
• Got Insurance? Obamacare ad outrages Rush Limbaugh and crew, who call women "prostitutes" for having sex

World News; Whistleblowers; NSA Spying; Economy, Politics; Koch, Public-Private Partnerships; Immigration, Vote Machinations, Racism

World News

• Egypt on edge after at least 278 killed in bloodiest day since revolution—Up to 525 dead now.
• Doctors Without Borders pulls out of Somalia: militants, leaders tolerate attacks on NGOs
• The Colombian Government Is Killing Its Peasant Farmers for Their Land
• Israel: Students offered grants if they tweet pro-Israeli propaganda
• Animation legend Hayao Miyazaki under attack in Japan for anti-war film

Whistleblowers

• Manning Apologizes for Leaks: 'My Actions Hurt People' NYT
• Obama's 'Misleading' Comment on Whistleblower Protections
• Journalist Michael Hastings reportedly working on story about CIA chief before death

NSA Spying

• If Obama wanted an 'open debate' on NSA spying, why thwart one for so long?—"The president asks us to trust him on government surveillance, yet his administration constantly denigrates critics as unpatriotic."
• EFF: A Guide to the Deceptions, Misinformation, and Word Games Officials Use to Mislead the Public About NSA Surveillance
• Intelligence committee urged to explain if they withheld crucial NSA document—"Critics demand answers from chairman Mike Rogers after claims that committee failed to share document before key vote."
• Barry Ritholtz's Cheat-Sheet On Spying
• Yes, Gmail users have an expectation of privacy—"Sending email to Gmail users means you expect Google's servers will process it."

Economy

• Poll: Most Americans Oblivious About Our Falling Deficit
• Rise in TSP loans, withdrawals accompanies furloughs—"Federal employees have been taking out loans and financial hardship withdrawals from their retirement savings accounts at an increasing rate in recent months, new data from the 401(k)-style Thrift Savings Plan data show."
• Americans Giving Up Passports Jump Sixfold as Tougher Rules Loom

Politics

• The historic unpopularity of Congress — in one chart
• The Pariah Shortage—"Graydon Carter writes of our failure to appoint new 'pariahs' due to the subprime-mortgage crisis and Iraq war blunders"
• Walker forced to back off from arresting observers of Solidarity Sing Along
• Three Republicans Who Opposed Sandy Relief Now Demand Disaster Aid For Arizona
• Corporate Lobbying Group ALEC Put Falsified Signatures On A Letter To A Senator, Group Finds
• Is there an Ultra-Conservative Conspiracy to keep Americans dumb and ignorant?
• GOP congressman invites controversial Obama-mask rodeo clown to perform in Texas

Koch

• 'Citizen Koch' Rescued By Small Donors As Documentary Outraises Funds Pulled By PBS
• Video: Koch Brothers Exposed
• New Jersey Republicans Nominate Koch Brothers Operative For Senate

Public-Private Partnerships

• Gov. Cuomo got $100,000 from developer, then signed law giving it big tax breaks
• Jeff Zucker's 15-year-old son leaves Cory Booker's Internet startup over 'conflict' of interest—"Andrew Zucker resigned from advisory board after it was revealed Booker got stock options from startup, which receives investment funds from wealthy Silicon Valley tycoons, such as Google's Eric Schmit."
• Thank you, Tallahassee, for making us pay so much for nothing—"Thanks for passing a law forcing Duke Energy customers to pay up to $1.5 billion in higher rates for a long proposed nuclear power plant in Levy County that will not be built."

Immigration

• Rubio: Pass Immigration Reform or Obama the Tyrant Will Do Even Worse
• Wisconsin DOT official likens illegal immigrants to Satan, then quickly fired
• Meet the Immigration Reformers in Steve King's Iowa—"America's most anti-immigrant congressman is an outlier—even in Iowa's most conservative county."

Vote Machinations

• 92-Year-Old Black Woman Sues Just Hours After North Carolina Gov. Signs Voter ID Law
• North Carolina's Attack on Voting Rights
• Hillary Clinton Calls Voter Fraud a 'Phantom Epidemic'
• Jack Villamaino, Former GOP Candidate, Gets 4 Months In Jail For Felony Voter Fraud
• After Shelby, Voting-Law Changes Come One Town at a Time—"Just over a month after the Supreme Court overturned a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, seven states — five of which were covered under the law — are moving ahead with voting changes that could affect the 2014 Congressional election."
• Texas Brags To Court That It Drew District Lines To 'Increase The Republican Party's Electoral Prospects'
• Rick Santorum Illegally Directed $1 Million Contribution To Super PAC: FEC Complaint

Racism

• Rand Paul: 'I Don't Think There Is Any Particular Evidence' Of Black Voters Being Prevented From Voting
• African-American Republican confronts Priebus: Party treats blacks 'like we don't exist'
• Study shows Jim Crow-era segregation persists in Texas schools

Whistleblowers, Surveillance and Privacy; War on Terror, Gitmo, Egypt, Military Money, Sexual Assaults; Police State, Recording, Guns

Whistleblowers

• Edward Snowden meets rights groups at Moscow airport—Reportedly requesting asylum from Russia over US obstruction.
• The Doubters Are Wrong: Edward Snowden Is a Game-Changer
• FBI director nominee calls whistleblowers 'critical element of functioning democracy'
• Jailed Journalist Barrett Brown Faces 105 Years For Reporting on Hacked Private Intelligence Firms (Video set to autostart.)
• Imprisoned CIA Whistle-Blower: "Everyone Is Corrupt, I've Come to Learn"—"Imprisoned CIA whistle-blower John Kiriakou has advice for Edward Snowden -- and a warning for the rest of us."

Surveillance and Privacy

• Revealed: how Microsoft handed the NSA access to encrypted messages
• Telstra storing data on behalf of US government
• India is 'ready to use' Blackberry message intercept system

War on Terror

• Quinnipiac: "Massive Shift" as Public Now Says War on Terror Has Gone Too Far
• Secret move keeps bin Laden records in the shadows—"The top U.S. special operations commander, Adm. William McRaven, ordered military files about the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout to be purged from Defense Department computers and sent to the CIA, where they could be more easily shielded from ever being made public."
• Tweet referencing Pink's song 'Timebomb' gets teen arrested at concert
• Canadian military still investigating Afghanistan sex assault claim—"Probe investigates claims Canadian soldiers told by superiors to ignore incidents in which Afghan boys were assaulted by allied soldiers."
• Trade Freedom for "Security"? That's a Raw Deal, Canada

Gitmo

• Guantánamo guards 'forcing inmates to stay awake'—"Last British resident Shaker Aamer claims guards are slamming doors at night to deprive prisoners of sleep."
• 'Everybody in Guantanamo has been tortured or abused' - former detainee
• Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) force-fed under standard Guantánamo Bay procedure – video
• US judge denies Guantánamo Bay prisoner's request to end force-feeding—"Only Obama has to power to intervene in hunger strike, judge says, as she denies one of four requests to end practice."
• Judge Halts Groin Searches at Guantánamo, Calling Them Abhorrent to Muslims NYT

Egypt

• 'We aired lies': Al Jazeera staff quit over 'misleading' Egypt coverage
• New York Times shocker: The truth about Egypt slips out—"In a rare moment of candor, the paper exposes U.S. involvement in the coup -- and then seems to promptly forget it." Salon
• In Egypt, Barack Obama's approach is like that of a spread better—"Forget human rights. F-14 jets and $1.5bn in military aid to Egypt show duplicity, not democracy, defines US policy."

Military Money

• The world's top 5 military spenders—"Despite cuts at the Pentagon, the US still spends more on its armed forces than any other nation -- more, in fact, than the next 10 countries combined."
• The Pentagon Is Spending Your Tax Dollars to Keep You in the Dark About Its Sprawling Empire
• A brand-new U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. And nobody to use it.—"The building was completed this year at a cost of $34 million. But as the military draws down, it will sit empty."
• The U.S.'s Stealth Fighter Is Too Heavy and Slow, So the Pentagon Made Its Performance Tests Easier—The best US$1 trillion can buy for.
• Boondoggle Goes Boom—"A demented tale of how the Army actually does business."
• How the Pentagon's payroll quagmire traps America's soldiers
• Immigration bill loaded with goodies for defense contractors
• Master sgt. says no to Chinese-made boots—"The Berry Amendment requires the food, clothing, fabrics and other textiles the Pentagon buys to be grown or made in the U.S." Not the army he'd like to have.

Sexual Assaults

• US Marine Jeremiah Arbogast: male rape in military is 'about power'—Men are usually overlooked victims (NYT).
• Canadian Forces survey asks troops to shed light on sexual assault, harassment—"Results of an anonymous survey to be released in the fall by National Defence will shed more light on the extent of military sexual assault, including what has been called the silent crime of male-on-male rape."
• Air Force Pulls Brochure Advising Sex Assault Victims To Submit

Police State

• Too Many Cops Are Told They’re Soldiers Fighting a War. How Did We Get Here?
• Militarized police overreach: "Oh, God, I thought they were going to shoot me next" Salon
• The N.S.A., the 'Encroaching Police State,' and the System

Recording

• DUI checkpoint video goes viral—"The driver, Chris Kalbaugh, wrote on his YouTube page that the DUI checkpoint happened in Murfreesboro on July 4, 2013 and the deputy told him 'it is okay to take away my freedom.'" In certain cases/states, that statement may unfortunately be applicable.
• 911 call reveals escalation of 2010 incident sparked by police mistake—"Harrell said the officers admitted to typing in a wrong letter during a routine license plate check, but wanted to check them out anyways. He said after the 911 call was made, the officers tried to grab the phone."
• Barrie police Const. Jason Nevill guilty—"A mall security video ultimately convicted Const. Jason Nevill of assault causing body harm, Justice Lorne Chester told a Barrie court Friday."
• Two Texas Police Officers Fired After Being Caught on Tape Beating Woman, Slamming Her Head Into Countertop
• Get Cuffed for Filming Police; Your Dog Gets Upset; Cop Kills Your Dog
• Tulsa Jail video shows little care given to inmate who died
• Nevada Cops Arrest Man for Criticizing their Parking before Seizing Cameras from Witnesses
• Phoenix police officer is sunk by own cam

Guns

• Virginia Tech Survivor Appears In Shooting Target Promo—"A gun control advocate and Virginia Tech shooting survivor is not amused that he appears in an image created by Zombie Industries, the maker of 'life-sized tactical mannequin' targets painted to look like 'zombies.'"
• 7 year-old child shot in head while walking with father to watch fireworks
• Three Handguns Found In Room Where Ohio 3-Year-Old Was Shot And Killed
• Grandmother Accidentally Shoots 11-Year-Old Grandson
• Police chief killed with rifle lost in ATF gun-tracking program
• Police selling guns from buyback program
• New NYC bill would require 3D printed guns to be registered with police
• My Month With a Gun: Week One—"Yes, I bought a handgun and will carry it everywhere I go over the next 30 days. I have four rules: Carry it with me at all times, follow the laws of my state, only do what is minimally required for permits, licensing, purchasing and carrying, and finally be prepared to use it for protecting myself at home or in public."

And Justice for Some..., Police State, Law and Disorder, Retaliation, Scot Free, Accountability, Bad Cops; Surveillance and Privacy, Journalism; Egypt

And Justice for Some...

• Loss Of Timber Payments Cuts Deep In Oregon—"Amelia Templeton of Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that in Josephine County, the sheriff has laid of 80 percent of his deputies and no longer arrests people."
• Oregon woman raped after police refuse to send out response unit—"Local police in Oregon, USA fail to respond to emergency calls and advise residents to 'consider relocating to an area with adequate police services.'"
• Parents Say Detroit Police Refuse To Charge Men Who Killed Their Son—"Could Detroit's money trouble be holding up justice in a high-profile double murder case?" It probably is.

Police State

• White House gives Homeland Security control of all communication systems
• How did America's police become a military force on the streets?
• "Why did you shoot me? I was reading a book": The new warrior cop is out of control—"SWAT teams raiding poker games and trying to stop underage drinking? Overwhelming paramilitary force is on the rise." Salon

Law and Disorder

• Police Commandeer Homes, Get Sued—"Henderson police arrested a family for refusing to let officers use their homes as lookouts for a domestic violence investigation of their neighbors, the family claims in court."
• ATF settles with landlord after flawed sting—"The landlord, David Salkin, asked the ATF to pay to cover damage to the building and unpaid utility bills. ATF supervisors in Milwaukee and regional headquarters in St. Paul refused. When Salkin pressed his case, an ATF attorney warned him to stop contacting the agency or it may be considered threatening a federal agent." Emphasis mine.
• Cameras Catch Mystery Break-In at Whistleblower's Law Firm
• Court OKs Barring Smart People From Becoming Cops
• LeVar Burton explains how not to be killed by police—"The 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' actor gives a step by step guide to not being the next victim." Salon

Retaliation

• State trooper gives pass to Iowa governor's driver—"[T]he department placed the investigator who initiated the pursuit, Special Agent in Charge Larry Hedlund, on administrative leave. Hedlund's attorney said Tuesday the personnel action was retaliation for the agent complaining to superiors that the trooper driving the governor was improperly given a pass after putting public safety at risk. A Branstad spokesman denied that allegation."
• Document reveals detective's doubts about Zimmerman's story—"Sanford detective Chris Serino, who originally recommended that George Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter, has been moved to uniform patrol on the graveyard shift, but the department says it’s not a demotion of the 15-year veteran."
• Canada: Cop suing RCMP claims bullying and intimidation—"A North Vancouver RCMP officer on leave from the force for post-traumatic stress disorder says the Mounties are trying to bully her out of her position after she launched a lawsuit against them.

Scot Free

• In 150 shooting, the FBI deemed agents faultless NYT
• Judge Finds Cop Not Guilty of Assault after Refusing to Watch Video of Assault
• Texting while judging: Judge texted assistance to prosecutors during trial(s)
• The Mob and Angela Clemente—"For nearly 15 years, Angela Clemente has sought to prove that the federal government has looked away from dozens of murders committed in New York by those it paid to work as informants." NYT
• No Charges For Cop Who Killed Man In Williamsburg Crosswalk

Accountability

• Occupy Oakland protesters awarded $1m over police violence during arrests—"12 activists to split compensation, including $500,000 for one woman who suffered permanent hearing loss during protests."
• Culpeper Cop Who Shot and Killed Patricia Cook Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
• Azelle Rodney death: Met police had 'no lawful justification' for shooting—"Marksman could be prosecuted over death of unarmed man after official inquiry rules his evidence was 'not to be accepted.'"

Bad Cops

• Felony Arrest Of Student Who Bought Water Riles Many In Virginia
• Texas Trooper Shoves 74-Year-Old Then Arrests Her For Felony Assault When She Hits Him With Her Purse
• Out of Control: Deaf woman calls 911 as she's beaten black and blue by Washington police officers 'because she didn't hear their orders'
• 2 bikini-clad women sue over body cavity search on the side of highway
• Mistrial declared in case of cop accused of killing girl

Surveillance and Privacy

• Edward Snowden: 'The US government will say I aided our enemies'
• Ireland's High Court refuses to grant arrest warrant for Snowden
• Snowden links NZ to US spy programme
• Opinion: The NSA spies, and Democrats look away
• Interview with NSA expert James Bamford—"The NSA has no constitutional right to secretly obtain the telephone records of every American citizen on a daily basis, subject them to sophisticated data mining and store them forever."
• Court Rejects State Secrets Defense in Dragnet Surveillance Case
• Here's what can go wrong when the government builds a huge database about Americans
• NYC cases show how crooked officers misuse FBI database for cyber snooping, other offenses

Journalism

• How Do You Know When President Obama Is Lying? MSNBC Won't Tell You
• How The Guardian Broke the Snowden Story—"... and what it says about the British media company's emerging threat to The New York Times."
• Details of Reporter Hastings' Death Remain Elusive

Egypt

• Video: Meet the 12-year-old Egyptian boy who wonderfully explains his country's crisis
• Video shows anti-Mursi protesters thrown off building in Alexandria—The perperator has been arrested.
• Video captures military sniper firing into a crowded pro-Morsi protest in Cairo
• Muslim Brotherhood accuses Egypt's new president of being secretly Jewish
• Egypt acquits 12 anti-Morsi bloggers of inciting violence
• Most Egyptians Don't Want a Secular Government
• Egypt's new age of unrest is a taste of things to come—"Mass street protests are symptom of unsustainability of IMF model in the face of environmental and energy challenges."

Crappy Independence Day, Journalism, Surveillance and Privacy, Wikileaks; Vote Machinations; Public-Private Partnerships, Environment; Abortion and Birth Control; Egypt, World News

Crappy Independence Day

• Can American democracy survive its betrayal by the government?—"The unbalance among the three branches of government is threatening democracy."
• Remember the Obama Scandals? That Used to Be a Thing
• Blast from the Past: Sen. Russell Feingold's Statement on the USA PATRIOT Act

Journalism

• Howard Kurtz And CNN Panel Shred David Gregory Over Greenwald Interview: 'Outright Unfairness'—David Gregory's just a mere mouthpiece flapping his journalistically-empty lips thanks to the administration's hand way up his puppet chute.
• Meet the "Journalists Against Journalism" club! Salon
  
• Glenn Greenwald, Louisiana's Law On Concealed Carry Reporting, And The Criminalization Of Journalism
• Soledad O'Brien Joining Al Jazeera America—She actually asked the hard questions.
• CNN airs Zimmerman's SSN, phone number
• Why "real journalists" hate Sean Parker's wedding Salon
• Michael Hastings Sent Panicked Email Hours Before Car Crash

Surveillance and Privacy

• Snowden case: France apologises in Bolivia plane row
• EU envoys meet over claims of U.S. spying on European allies
• James Clapper, EU play-acting, and political priorities
• When states monitored their citizens we used to call them authoritarian. Now we think this is what keeps us safe—"The internet is being snooped on and CCTV is everywhere. How did we come to accept that this is just the way things are?"
• USA Protests—"The USA government has done something that’s made all the world furious but the American people has remained dormant to the matter. We have seen people revolt against the system all over the world, with the most recent in Brazil and Egypt, but USA protests are almost inexistent."

Wikileaks

• WikiLeaks trial: Prosecution rests after calling 80 witnesses
• WikiLeaks says MasterCard lifts 'financial blockade'—But along with Visa, they started banning VPN providers, which limits one's options to protect one's privacy online.
• WikiLeaks Approved as Political Party in Australia—"The founder of the whistleblowing organization, Julian Assange, says he will run for a Senate seat in the upcoming federal election."

Vote Machinations

• GOP could pay price for gerrymandering
• In North Carolina, voting procedure changes loom—"The GOP chairman of the state Senate rules committee, Sen. Tom Apodaca, said he would move quickly to pass a voter ID law that Republicans say would bolster the integrity of the balloting process. GOP leaders also began engineering an end to the state's early voting, Sunday voting and same-day registration provisions, all popular with black voters. Civil rights groups say the moves are designed to restrict poll access by blacks, who vote reliably Democratic."
• Dark Money Group Spent On House Race, Then Told IRS It Didn't

Public-Private Partnerships

• Six Months After Leaving Office, Most US Senators Already Land Corporate Boards or Lobby Gigs
• Virginia: Star Scientific CEO financed shopping spree for first lady—Her husband, the governor, has been receiving other "perks."
• Virginia Outsources Taxpayer Refund System, Private Companies Profit

Environment

• Methane in Pennsylvania Groundwater May Originate in Fracked Gas Wells
• Oil Sands May Irrevocably Tar the Climate
• BP oil spill payments to be investigated by ex-FBI chief

Abortion and Birth Control

• Texas House committee approves abortion rules
• NC Lawmaker on Adding Abortion Ban to Anti-Sharia Bill: Republicans Are Scarier Than Muslims
• Sex Ed And Birth Control, Not Parental Notification Laws, Drove Down Teen Births In Minnesota

Egypt

• President Morsi overthrown in Egypt—Arrest warrants have been issued against the Muslim brotherhood.
• Egypt's "Revocouption" and the future of Democracy on the Nile
• Egypt: Islamists Torch Coptic Churches After Morsi Ousted
• 91 Women sexually assaulted in Egypt protests
• Amazing Human Shield Forms Around Women Protesters In Tahrir Square

World News

• Turkish court scraps plan to redevelop Taksim Square
• Portugal battles to ease crisis and market pressure
• Nelson Mandela family feud deepens as Mandla hits back

Surveillance and Privacy, Bolivia; World News; Free Speech; Dirty Money; Ecology

Surveillance and Privacy

• Rally to Restore Your Rights on July 4th
• Text of a July 2, 2013, letter to Edward Snowden from his father and father's attorney
• NSA revelations: why so many are keen to play down the debate—"The mass surveillance that Edward Snowden has exposed asks questions not only of government but of telecoms companies too."
• America's founders would be horrified at this United States of Surveillance—"How did we become so fearful and timid that we've given away essential liberties? Some are even afraid to speak up."
• To those who say 'trust the government' on NSA spying: Remember J. Edgar Hoover's FBI?
• FISA Court Judges Aren't Happy That The Public Is Upset Secret Court Issuing Secret Rulings Allowing NSA To Spy On Them
• Police State Canada: Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) Runs Massive Domestic Spying Program

Bolivia

• Bolivia denies Snowden on Morales' plane—"Bolivia is furious its president's plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Austria because of a rumour US fugitive Edward Snowden was on board." No such thing as sovereignity to the world police.
• 'Act of aggression': Bolivia to file UN complaint over airspace blockade
• Bolivia vs. Europe over Snowden-linked plane delay

World News

• Bulgarian protests continue, is the world watching?
• Showdown? Egypt's Morsy defies military 'ultimatum'
• Bug Found in Ecuador's Embassy in London—Where Assange is still holed up.
• Czech Businessman Resists Corruption—"A Czech businessman refused to bribe two officials, instead reporting them to the police. His actions came amid recent corruption scandals that have proliferated the Czech upper political ranks lately."
• Canada: Meet Neil, better known as Slurpy, the Rob Ford lookalike at centre of scrapped plot to film fake crack video

Free Speech

• In Uzbekistan, Everyone's A Pop Critic, Including The Government—"Uzbekistan's Culture and Sports Ministry has announced a ban on 'meaningless' songs that fail to 'praise the motherland.'"
• Insult someone on Twitter or Facebook? A crime in Grenada—"Lawmakers on the island of Grenada are tired of online "mischief." So they've banned it. How might this affect the nation's discourse?"
• First Evidence Of Iranian Internet Throttling as a Form of Censorship—"Internet security expert publishes first evidence that Iran uses internet throttling to prevent the spread of information during periods of public unrest." But there are signs of change.

Dirty Money

• EU charges 13 banks, ISDA, Markit with breaching EU antitrust rules—"Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays and Morgan Stanley also among banks charged."
• Major banks still vulnerable to money laundering, says top regulator—"Britain's major banks remain vulnerable to being used to fund terrorism and money laundering by criminal gangs, despite being fined billions of pounds in recent years for failing to crackdown on illegal financing."
• Judge OKs HSBC laundering penalty—'A judge in New York has approved a deal that will allow HSBC to pay a record 1.9 billion-dollar (£1.25 billion) penalty to settle claims that the British bank helped Mexican drug traffickers, Iran, Libya and others under US suspicion or sanction move their money around the world."
• OLAF may reopen Dalli case over Bahamas trip to 'move millions' - International Herald Tribune
• Vatican scandal: Two high-profile resignations follow arrest of monsignor

Ecology

• Africa's Western Black Rhino is Now Officially Extinct
• Over 30 Million Bees Found Dead In Elmwood Canada
• Japan's Whaling Is Not Science, Expert Witness Tells World Court
• Deforestation rising in Amazon countries outside Brazil
• All Coral Reefs Could Die by Century's End
• Dead fish fill Mexico reservoir—"Tens of thousands of dead fish have washed up on the banks of a Mexican reservoir, amid allegations that a local firm contaminated the water."
• Biggest Dead Zone Ever Forecast in Gulf of Mexico—"Oxygen-deprived area may be size of New Jersey, scientists say." Incidentally, an oil platform there hasn't stopped leaking for 9 years.

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

Culture Clash, Politics, Sexism, Rape, Abortion and Birth Control

Culture Clash

• Lebanese Man Impregnates His Sister, Kills Her in 'Honor Crime'
• Man goes undercover as a woman to investigate sexual harassment in Egypt
• Gruesome Attacks on Egyptian Women Spawn Helmeted, Volunteer Protectors
• Tunisia topless Femen activist arrested for 'immoral gestures'
• Women's Prison in Gaza Swells With 'Moral' Criminals
• Saudi passenger demands air hostess be removed from flight
• Police take 16 year-old girl into custody for "dressing inappropriately"

Politics

• Women banned from Iranian election
• Conservative Afghan lawmakers block legislation protecting women's rights
• Pakistan politician Zahra Shahid Hussain killed in Karachi

Sexism

• Merida From 'Brave' Gets An Unnecessary Makeover, Sparks Change.org Petition—Successfully getting Disney to back down.
• Mother shuns Disney Princess ideal and dresses daughter up as five REAL heroines from history to commemorate fifth birthday
• Lego Apologizes for Cat-Calling Sticker

Rape

• UAE Rape Victim Jailed—"Gali was using her laptop in the hotel's staff bar when her drink was spiked. She awoke to a nightmare beyond belief: she had been savagely raped by three of her colleagues. Alone and frightened, she took herself to hospital. What Alicia didn't know is that under the UAE's strict sharia laws, if the perpetrator does not confess, a rape cannot be convicted without four adult Muslim male witnesses. She was charged with having illicit sex outside marriage, and thrown in a filthy jail cell for eight months."
• Japan WWII 'comfort women' were 'necessary' - Hashimoto
• Muslim Imam Claims Women Who Don't Wear Hijabs are "Asking to be Raped", Arrested for Trying to Rape Woman
• If women don't want to be raped they shouldn't drink too much, says Hong Kong official
• Focus On Women, Families Propels New York's Sen. Gillibrand—"Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand is introducing legislation with other lawmakers Thursday that would change the way the military prosecutes sexual assault cases."

Abortion and Birth Control

• Ireland: Pro-life activists threaten to slit throat of TD—"I have a number of people at the moment who are going to burn my house down with my children in it, they are going to spit at me when I walk inside my church grounds at Sunday morning at Mass."
• GOP attorney general candidate tried to force women to report miscarriages to police—"Virginia Sen. Mark Obenshain wanted to send women to jail who failed to report their miscarriages to the police." Salon
• Judge Mocks Obama Administration's Attempt To Restrict Morning After Pill As 'A Charade'
• OB-GYNs Are Confused By The Political Fight To Restrict Emergency Contraception
• No Exit: Life begins at erection

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."

Gender Issues, Pycon, Sexism; Culture Clash; India; Abortion and Birth Control

Gender Issues

• 'Lean In': Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg Explains What's Holding Women Back—"That means that as a man gets more successful, he is better liked by men and women, and as a woman gets more successful, she is less liked by men and women."
• Do Masculine Names Help Female Lawyers Become Judges? Evidence from South Carolina
• The Decline of Marriage and the Rise of Unwed Mothers: An Economic Mystery—"The real question here isn't 'Why so many babies?' It's 'Why so few marriages?' And we have an answer."

Pycon

• "Donglegate" is classic overreaction—and everyone pays—"Or, how not to deal with difficult social issues."
• Adria Richards, PyCon, and How We All Lost
• The Biggest Problem in Technology—"[T]he technology industry, and the culture around it, has a serious, persistent problem with women."

Sexism

• Ford India Needs to Fire Its Advertising Execs
• Samsung: Sorry about that sexist show
• This strange neo-Victorian desire to save prostitutes and porn actresses—"Sex work isn’t stigmatised because it is dangerous. Sex work is dangerous because it is stigmatised."

Culture Clash

• 'Quarantine her!' Top Tunisian Islamist says topless girl needs stoning
• How Egypt's radical rulers crush the lives and hopes of women—"Women stood shoulder to shoulder with men in Tahrir Square in 2011. Now they are back on the streets, opposing a new constitution that sweeps away their rights and opens the way for girls of 13 to be married. And in Cairo's slums, life grows harder as the gulf between the sexes widens."
• Online protest over Maldives' rape sentence—"Campaigners target islands' tourist economy after teenage victim is ordered to be flogged."
• Hamas law promotes gender segregation in Gaza schools
• Flipside: Pakistani women 'break political barriers'—"Badam Zari and Nusrat Begum make history by becoming first women to contest parliamentary seats from tribunal region."

India

• 'If girls look sexy, boys will rape.' Is this what Indian men really believe?
• India tourist visits down 25% following fatal Delhi gang rape
• Lingerie to 'help' women fight sexual offences in India—"Three automobile engineers from Chennai have come out with what they claim can check sexual offences in India -- a lingerie laced with modules of GPS and capable of sending alerts to the girl's parents and police."

Abortion and Birth Control

• Teen Pregnancy Ads: Shame Campaign?
• New York Cops Will Arrest You for Carrying Condoms
• France expands access to abortion—"As of April 1 the French state will reimburse 100 percent of the cost of abortions while teenage girls will be offered free and anonymous contraception."
• USD$100,000 Grants Available for Developing the Next Generation Condom
• Philippines Supreme Court: Order vs RH law stays

Year of the Snake; Dorner; Holocaust; Slavery; Egypt; Rape; Horsemeat

Year of the Snake

• China's People Problem
• IMF sees 140m jobs shortage in ageing China as 'Lewis Point' hits—"China’s vast reserve of cheap workers in the hinterland is vanishing at a vertiginous pace."
• 'Little emperors': Study says Chinese born under one-child policy cautious, less competitive
• Chinese Blogger Thrives in Role of Muckraker—"Zhu Ruifeng, who became a celebrity of sorts after posting online a sex video involving a government official, says he will release more videos involving others." NYT
• 'Pants' skyscraper? China reacts against latest tall building

Dorner

• Police: 3 dead after ex-cop vows 'war' on other police, their families—"Dorner blames one retired officer for bungling his appeal to get his job back in an 11-page manifesto, in which he also complained of mistreatment by the LAPD. In that letter -- provided to CNN by an LAPD source -- he vowed to violently target police officers and their families, whoever and wherever they are."
• Police shoot two in Torrance in search for ex-LAPD cop—"Neither incident actually involved the suspect" in the vehicle "similar to the one sought by authorities in a massive manhunt."
• Support Growing For Former L.A. Officer Accused Of Killing Spree

Holocaust

• Berlusconi praises Mussolini on Holocaust Memorial Day
• 'Holocaust was a myth invented by U.S': Aide to Egyptian President Morsi triggers outrage with claim six million 'dead' Jews had simply moved to America
• National Review outraged that Obama called Holocaust 'senseless violence'

Slavery

• Slavery's Global Comeback—"150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, buying and selling people into forced labor is bigger than ever. What 'human trafficking' really means."
• Selling little girls to pay back debt
• Burmese refugees sold on by Thai officials
• Report due on Magdalene laundries—"Over the 74 years, thousands of single mothers and other women were put to work in detention, mostly in industrial for-profit laundries run by nuns from four religious congregations. Each woman had her Christian name changed, her surname unused and most have since died.
• Irish the 'forgotten white slaves' says expert John Martin

Egypt

• Scores injured in anti-government protests in Egypt
• Egypt court suspends YouTube over anti-Islam film
• Revolution, Interrupted—"There's a reason Egyptians keep taking to the streets: The Muslim Brotherhood has proved to be little more than the old Mubarak clique with beards."

Rape

• Somali woman who alleged rape sentenced to one year—"A journalist who interviewed her was also sentenced."
• I Was Wounded; My Honor Wasn't—"Rape is horrible, but not because you lose your virtue or shame your family." NYT
• Raping women in Tahrir NOT 'red line': Egyptian preacher Abu Islam
• India police arrest 6 in new bus gang-rape
• Minor consent, major crime—Indian Supreme Court overturns the travesty of justice in the Suryanelli case which placed the blame on the girl.
• Freed from jail, man rapes, murders 9-year-old girl—After being acquitted for the rape and murder of another 9-year-old girl.
• Outcry over India gang rape shames some in South Africa

Horsement

• Meat industry under scrutiny as horsemeat scandal spreads
• Aldi confirms up to 100% horsemeat in beef products—"Supermarket says it is angry with supplier Comigel after tests reveal 30% and 100% horsemeat in withdrawn ready meals."
• Horsemeat scandal blamed on international fraud by mafia gangs