Fat Tuesday, Dr. Oz, Big Food, Ag-Gag and Agri-Torture, Buzz-Kill; Abortion and Birth Control, Obamacare, VA, Think of the Children, Psych; Gone Viral, Vax Populi

Fat Tuesday

• Court: Teacher Teasing Overweight Student Is Child Abuse
• House GOP wants to cut Michelle Obama's healthy school lunches: These Republicans come from the unhealthiest states
• State high court rules NYC ban on large sodas is illegal—Suck it, Bloomie.
• China to recruit 'more portly' soldiers with brainpower—"China's military relaxes height, eyesight and weight requirements for soldiers in effort to attract more educated personnel, newspaper says."

Dr. Oz

• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Dr. Oz and Nutritional Supplements
• Why Dr. Oz can say anything and keep his medical license
• A Snake Oil Salesman Alive and Well in Dr. Oz
• Twitter gets predictably snarky when Dr. Oz asks, "What are you eating that is Oz Approved"? Salon

Big Food

• Chipotle's anti-Big-Food ad wins Cannes PR award
• How the US Government Helps McDonald's Sell Junk Food—"The feds also helped bring you the Taco Bell Cantina Double Steak Quesadilla and several other fast-food gems."
• Hamburger Chef Jamie Oliver Proves McDonald's Burgers "Unfit for human consumption"
• Monsanto Tries to Patent & Control Natural, Non-GMO Tomatoes
• Whole Foods to pay $800,000 in overpricing case
• U.S. meat producers square off against consumer groups in request to peel back on labeling
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Letter of the Week -- POM Wonderful

Ag-Gag and Agri-Torture

• Undercover animal abuse videos could soon be outlawed
• Canada's Largest Dairy Farm Employees Accused Of Animal Cruelty
• The Abstinence Method—"Dutch farmers just say no to antibiotics for livestock." Gerbert Oosterlaken, owner of Hoeve de Hulsdonk farm, "believes the more you can see, the better."

Buzz-Kill

• Obama orders review of pesticides' effect on bees
• Pesticides threaten birds and bees alike, study says
• Pesticides linked to bee deaths must be banned, scientists say
• French scientists revive assault on pesticide, GM corn
• Study links pesticide exposure in pregnancy to autism

Abortion and Birth Control

• Supreme Court says employers with religious objections can refuse to pay for contraception
• Corporations Are People, And They Have More Rights Than You
• SCOTUS end of term: The Supreme Court’s conservatives are using the First Amendment as a weapon
• 'Supreme Court strikes down abortion clinic buffer zone
• Anti-abortion protesters take advantage of Supreme Court ruling
• Alabama Abortion Clinic Forced To Close Because Its Hallways Aren't Wide Enough
• The Rise of the DIY Abortion in Texas—"A pill that revolutionized reproductive rights in Latin America is now gaining ground on the black market in South Texas."

Obamacare

• McAuliffe Defies GOP: We're 'Moving Forward' With Obamacare Expansion
• Capitol police gave House clerks access to governor's office—"Father's Day budget delivery to the governor's secure suite of offices prompts protests from the administration, which alleged an 'unacceptable' security breach."
• Emails: GOP Secured Majority After VA Dem Promised Job, Phone And Car
• Analysis Shows GOP Fear-Mongering On Obamacare Premiums Is Probably Bogus
• Republicans Finally Admit Why They Really Hate Obamacare
• Here Is the Most Shameless Anti-Obamacare Argument Yet

VA

• White House report: Overhaul VA's 'corrosive culture' Politico
• Letters Claim Vets Were Mistreated At West Palm Beach VA
• Acton Vet Finally Gets VA Doctor's Appointment – 2 Years After He Died
• Obama to name new VA chief

Think of the Children

• Alaska to put free pregnancy tests in bars to curb fetal alcohol syndrome rate
• Is veganism child abuse?—"A mother is arrested for infant neglect after a hospital crisis that began with her veganism." Salon
• Meet the con man selling fake stem cell treatments to children—"Davide Vannoni is playing with people's lives, and the Italian government is paying for it."
• No, PETA, Cow Milk Does Not Cause Autism—"The group that brought you animal-fur horror stories has just launched a campaign claiming cow's milk causes autism. Hold on to your Cheerios, this one needs explaining."

Psych

• Cost of not caring: Stigma set in stone—"People with mental illness face prejudice and discrimination nearly everywhere they turn, from friends and employers and even insurance plans."
• Minnesota teen who planned school massacre: 'I think I'm really mentally ill'
• Stop Telling Your Depressed Friends to "Cheer Up"—"It's more helpful to express that their feelings are valid."

Gone Viral

• Untreatable virus spreading in the Caribbean now afflicts 4,600 LA Times
• Doctors Without Borders: Ebola 'out of control'—Experts say it's just the 'tip of the iceberg' and it's getting worse [WaPo].
• CDC: Up to 86 workers possibly exposed to anthrax

Vax Populi

• One unvaccinated child was patient zero of a measles epidemic
• Measles cases are spreading, despite high vaccination rates. What's going on?—In other news, Jenny allegedly-not-against-vaccinations McCarthy is no longer on 'The View'. WaPo
• First measles case in at least 6 years reported in Pierce County—"The case is connected to eight confirmed cases being investigated in South King County, all among members of the same extended family, officials said."
• Judge Upholds Policy Barring Unvaccinated Students During Illnesses NYT
• Ohio Amish begin vaccinations amid largest measles outbreak in recent U.S. history
• Blast from the Past: Fear and frustration dominated Somali community forum on measles, vaccines and autism

Fat Tuesday; Veterans; Obamacare, Big Pharma; Dying, Think of the Children; Contagious, Food Insecurity; Sports, Heights; War on Terror, Iraq'd

Fat Tuesday

• The 'Dr. Oz Effect': Senators Scold Mehmet Oz For Diet Scams
• Female Hormones May Be Making Western Men Fat
• 900-Pound Woman Has Wall Removed To Leave Bedroom For First Time In 2 Years
• Parents Arrested Over Obese 11-Year-Old Son—"Police have defended their actions saying it was rare to make such an arrest after questioning the couple over child cruelty."
• Climb stairs, cut calories: Southeast Asia fights flab
• Always Hungry? Here's Why NYT

Veterans

• F.B.I. Begins Criminal Inquiry in V.A. Scandal—"The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said the bureau was looking into accusations that Department of Veterans Affairs officials had manipulated medical waiting lists." NYT
• VA Official Arrested For Allegedly Taking $40K In Illegal Gifts
• Phoenix VA gave out $10 mil in bonuses in last 3 years
• Price of coming forward: 37 VA whistle-blowers claim retaliation
• V.A. Punished Critics on Staff, Doctors Assert—"In response to employee whistle-blowers, the Department of Veterans Affairs has made clear over the years that it would not hesitate to retaliate, disciplining and even firing those who spoke up." NYT
• VA chief: 100,000 vets were on fake wait lists
• Audit: More than 57,000 await first VA appointment
• Lack of funding is the real VA scandal—Insufficient to handle the load.
• The VA Reform Legislation Is a "Trojan Horse" for Privatization—"It would do more harm than good."
• ABC, NBC Too Busy With O.J. Simpson Police Chase Anniversary To Cover V.A. Scandal
• Hospitals aren't the VA's only scandal—"The focus on VA hospitals health care for veterans obscures a separate but another scandal: a massive problem in another massive problem — a scandal of its own – the VA's disability-benefits system."
• Bill Cassidy said Senate Democrats only moved to fund new VA clinics after scandal—Politifact says: False. In fact, Republicans are the ones who blocked the latest bill prior to the outbreak of the scandal this year.

Obamacare

• Since Obamacare Passed 50 Months Ago, Healthcare Has Gained Almost 1 Million Jobs
• More insurers joining ObamaCare
• Obamacare cut Minnesota's uninsured rate by 40 percent
• More Young Adults Get Inpatient Psychiatric Care After Health Law
• Memo to GOP: The War over Big Government health care is over, and you lost WaPo
• Once again, U.S. has most expensive, least effective health care system in survey WaPo
• 80,000 Cover Oregon customers must re-enroll through federal health insurance exchange
• Why the New Obamacare Website Is Going to Work This Time
• GOP's quiet Obamacare disaster: How this week's biggest story got overlooked—"While everyone obsessed over the Bergdahl flap, the real story was revealed by a nomination hearing and new data." Salon
• Really, Dr. Carson? Obamacare Is Worse Than 9/11?—"The Republican presidential hopeful thinks that Obamacare has caused Americans more pain than jetliners crashing into the World Trade Center and two costly wars."

Big Pharma

• American drug companies don't want to pay US taxes—but they want global customers to pay US drug prices
• One simple drug switch could save Medicare $18 billion over the next decade
• The Sunshine Act Will Publicize Big Pharma's Undue Influence on Doctors
• India thwarts Big Pharma push at WHO assembly

Dying

• Quebec passes 'dying with dignity' bill—Act respecting end-of-life care, Bill 52, allows terminally ill patients to choose death
• Judge: Daughter Can Stop Food for Casey Kasem
• 'Millions denied end-of-life drugs'—"Lack of access to pain relief for dying patients is a 'public health emergency,' say experts."
• 'Right to Try' laws spur debate over dying patients' access to experimental drugs WaPo
• 'Scooby Doo' actor and radio legend Casey Kasem dies at 82—"The actor's decline was unfortunately marred by a public court battle between Kasem's four children and his second wife. Kasem's daughter Kerri made the decision earlier this month to take her father off a feeding tube, according to his written instructions."
• Opinion: Let the dying choose how they exit

Think of the Children

• Religious orders allowed over 2,000 Irish children to be used in medical experiments
• Newborns exposed to dirt, dander, germs may have lower allergy, asthma risk
• Bounce house hysteria: The biggest dangers to your kids this summer are not inflatable

Contagious

• Saudi MERS response hobbled by institutional failings
• California reports whooping-cough epidemic
• 4,000 pounds of beef, some at Whole Foods, recalled over fears of mad cow disease

Food Insecurity

• A superbug resistant to "last-resort" antibiotics has made its way into the food supply—"Researchers discovered carbapenem-resistant bacteria in raw squid for the first time." Salon
• Quality Egg admits to selling tainted eggs, bribing official
• 80% of Meat Labels Could Be Meaningless, Exclusive Report Says
• Costco keeps selling treats from China despite dog death—"Yorkshire terrier suffered and died from renal failure; other illnesses, deaths reported."
• FDA May Destroy American Artisan Cheese Industry—"The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an executive decree banning the centuries old practice of aging cheese on wooden boards. One bureaucrat within the FDA, without surveying all of the scientific literature, and without public commentary, has rattled hundreds of small businesses across the United States."
• Supreme Court Hands Down Ruling in Major Pomegranate Juice Case—"The Pom Wonderful company, a purveyor of pomegranate juices, can sue Coca-Cola for marketing a competing 'Pomegranate Blueberry' juice that is 0.3 percent pomegranate juice and 0.2 percent blueberry juice, the Supreme Court ruled today."

Sports

• Renaissance Man—"An interview with MMA commentator, stand-up comedian, wild game hunter, television host, and deep thinker Joe Rogan"
• Why Do Football and Basketball Players Have to go to College?
• Blast from the Past: The Creation Of Yao Ming—"From the beginning, the life of China's biggest sports star was shaped by two powerful, often competing forces: his mother and the Communist government."

Heights

• Why did humans grow four inches in 100 years? It wasn’t just diet
• Short men and heightism: We short men need to stop attacking other short men.
• NFL players: height and weight over time

War on Terror

• Wikileaks: Obama Administration Secretly Worked To Prevent Prosecution of War Crimes By The Bush Administration
• Manning: The Fog Machine of War—"I saw firsthand how the United States military rationed what the American public knew about its operations in Iraq." NYT
• 'Inventing terrorists': New study reveals FBI set up terrorism-related prosecutions
• Afghan election: Taliban 'removed voters' fingers'
• Pakistan Launches Large Ground Offensive Against Taliban
• The Milk Carton Guy—"Bergdahl critics didn't howl when Bush freed prisoners." NYT
• The Dumbest Thing You'll Read All Day About the Benghazi Suspect Capture
• Heritage's ugly Benghazi panel—"Attendees taunted a woman in the room who wore Islamic head covering." WaPo
• Pa. town rues sacrifice of its war dead
• Just what are we getting for the $7 billion spent on the TSA?

Iraq'd

• Images purport to show 'massacre' by militants
• Tony Blair rejects 'bizarre' claims that invasion of Iraq caused the crisis—"'We have to liberate ourselves from the notion that 'we' caused this', argues former prime minister in website essay." Is this Catholic guilt trying to distance yourself from your fuck-up Blair?
• Bush's toxic legacy in Iraq
• Fox News Praises George W. Bush's Ability To Anticipate Problems In Iraq
• Mission never accomplished: Iraq exposes fallacies of US foreign policy
• The Iraq Mess: Place Blame Where It Is Deserved—"We have reached the moment that skeptics of the 2003 United States invasion of Iraq warned about all along."
• Paul Wolfowitz, Bill Kristol, and Douglas Feith should be ignored: The neocons already destroyed Iraq once
• No, Obama Didn't Lose Iraq—"What the president's critics get wrong." Politico
• GOP Iraq Hypocrisy Hits Overdrive—"Obama is 'taking a nap' as ISIS takes over? It was Boehner's party that gave us this war, and it was Bush who negotiated the 'peace.' Is there anything they won't play politics with?"
• ISIS: The Saudis helped create a monster they can't control in Iraq
• Obama Critics Invent Absurd New Explanation For Iraq War
• Qatari: U.S. intervention in Iraq would be seen as war on Sunni Arabs

Fat Tuesday; Veterans; Obamacare, Medicaid; Mal-Practice; Health Issues, Vax Populi, Think of the Children; Breakthroughs; Sports; Brain; Sanitary

Fat Tuesday

• Global population of obese and overweight tops 2.1bn
• Australian obesity rates climbing faster than anywhere else in the world, study shows
• Top 10 Countries with the Most Obese People Named
• Japanese children 'not hungry to be sumo wrestlers'
• Mexican man, once world's heaviest, dies at 48
• One chilling reason Americans are increasingly overweight—"The new documentary "Fed Up" reveals how Big Food pushed the government to give out compromised health information." Salon
• Republicans for More Fat Kids—"Is it really cost that's driving the House GOP to fight Michelle Obama on school lunches? Of course not—it's the culture wars, the sugar lobby, and plain old hatred of her husband."
• Skinny People Make Overweight People Unhappy, New Study Finds
  
• Fat people stick together so they don't feel judged: Being overweight is considered OK if everyone around you is a similar size
• Coca-Cola accused of 'obscene' hypocrisy in £20 million 'anti-obesity' drive
• Many low-fat foods 'have SAME amount of calories as regular equivalents due to added sugar'
• The case for eating steak and cream—"Why everything you heard about fat is wrong."

Veterans

• Thoughts on Shinseki's resignation
• How the VA developed its culture of coverups—"Once a bureaucratic success story, the agency began to hide its problems from those in Washington." WaPo
• President Obama Finds New Veterans Affairs IG Report 'Deeply Troubling'
• Texas VA Run Like a 'Crime Syndicate,' Whistleblower Says—"For years, employees at a Texas VA complained that their bosses were cooking the books. For years, the VA insisted there was no widespread wrongdoing."
• Iraq Vet Killed In Gunfight With Police Was Turned Away by VA Hospital
• Report: 1,700 vets not on Phoenix VA wait list, at risk of being 'lost or forgotten'
• Veteran Sues VA After Diagnosis Delay Leads to Penis Amputation

Obamacare

• Obamacare Caused This Clinic To Close, And Its Doctors Couldn't Be Happier
• 21 things Obamacare does that you didn't know about
• Republicans are three times more likely than Democrats to say they know someone who was hurt by Obamacare WaPo
• Kentuckians Hate Kynect A Lot Less Than Obamacare—"Residents of Kentucky may hate Obamacare, but they're much less hostile toward Kynect, the state's health exchange created to comply with the law." McConnell says it has no connection with the ACA but he's talking out of his ass.
• GOP's Obamacare fears come true—More states deferring to federal exchanges than anticipated. Politico

Medicaid

• Missouri State Sen. Ed Emery to Voter: You Want Medicaid? Move to Oregon!
• A Health Care Scandal That's Way Bigger Than the VA
• Va. Republicans' lonely Medicaid stand—"Republicans in Virginia's House of Delegates have blocked hundreds of thousands of poor Virginians from getting health insurance under the Obama administration's Medicaid expansion. At the same time, they've refused to suggest any alternative method by which the needy people in the state might arrange health coverage." WaPo

Mal-Practice

• Brevard doctor ordered to pay Medicare $90M—For fraud.
• Sonoma County Man Battling Cancer Denied Coverage By Anthem Blue Cross After Paying $100K In Premiums
• Woman Gets $11.6M Bill After Death of Disabled Brother in NYC Facility
• Husband finds out wife still alive three days after turning off life support—"Husband watches wife 'die twice' after finding out she was still alive three days after he turned off her life support - but the hospital failed to tell him she had recovered."
• Trust your doctor, not Wikipedia, say scientists

Health Issues

• French lab shut after losing SARS virus samples
• Ebola: Deadly outbreak crosses border as mistrust hampers medical staff
• Thousands may have been exposed to hepatitis A at Missouri restaurant
• Year-old salmonella outbreak in California continues
• Portland issues boil water notice for the entire city after E. coli detected in 3 tests—How Oregon Trail.

Vax Populi

• Measles surge most since 1994 to 288 cases in U.S.
• The New Measles Outbreak: Blame the Anti-Vaxxers
• Delaying Vaccines May Increase Seizure Risk NYT
• Sunrise Police Searching For Missing Toddler —The mother said that if the husband let "them take her and vaccinate her and brainwash her; she says I cannot let a judge tell me how to raise my daughter."
• Canada: Time For a National Vaccine Registry

Think of the Children

• Childhood fluoride exposure has no effect on IQ—"Research comes in response to an NZ city's on-again, off-again fluoridation ban."
• Thousands of Toddlers Are Medicated for A.D.H.D., Report Finds, Raising Worries—"The practice draws concern, in part, because there has been little study on the use of A.D.H.D. drugs for children under 3." Piss-poor parenting really to blame? NYT
• Judy Blume: Parents worry too much about what children read—"Children's author Judy Blume, whose own books have been banned in the past, says children 'self-censor' reading material they don't understand."
  

Breakthroughs

• Woman's cancer killed by measles virus in unprecedented trial WaPo
• Teen Develops Early-Stage HIV Test For High School Science Project
• Drug Developers Take a Second Look at Herbal Medicines—"Desperate to develop new drugs for malaria and other ailments, researchers are running clinical trials with traditional herbal medicines—and generating promising leads."

Sports

• Ex-players: NFL illegally used drugs
• Classy Seahawks sign draft pick before having to cut him due to heart condition
• 91-Year-Old Marathoner Smokes the Competition—Did better than oldest woman in the NYC marathon.

Brain

• Why Are We So Obsessed With the Myers-Briggs?—"How personality tests become personal mythology."
• Sleepy brains neglect half the world—"A new study shows that drowsiness alters awareness in much the same way as a common form of brain damage."
• Scientists Selectively Erase And Restore Memories

Sanitary

• Lessons Learned From a Year Without Showering
• Urine and the bladder are not sterile, contain bacteria—"New studies challenge the belief that the bladder is bacteria-free."
• Watering gardens with lead, BPA and phthalates
• Levi's CEO Says You Should Never Wash Your Jeans
• One billion people still defecate in public despite health risks-UN

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

Fat Tuesday

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

Obamacare

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

Health Issues

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

Bad Sports

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

Corruption

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

Sochi 2014

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

World Cup Brazil 2014 and Rio 2016

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

Qatar 2022

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

Football Fun

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

Chess

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

International Labor Day, Whistleblow While You Work; Banks and Wall Street; Net Neutrality and Broadband; Obamacare, Health Issues; US Politics, Class Warfare; Vote Machinations, Campaign Finance Deform; Sterling Racism; Oh Canada, South Korea Ferry, World News, RIP Bob Hoskins

International Labor Day

• Thousands of workers mark May Day—From protests in Istanbul to parades in Moscow.
• Jobless must sign on every day: Government to dock money from long-term unemployed if they do not comply
• France agrees workers can give days off to colleagues with sick children
• Subway leads fast food industry in underpaying workers
• Recovery Has Created Far More Low-Wage Jobs Than Better-Paid Ones—"The strongest employment growth after the recession has been in low-wage work, at places like strip malls and fast-food restaurants, according to a new report." NYT
• $10.10 wage bill set to die—On a federal level.
• Hawaii lawmakers vote to increase hourly minimum wage to $10.10
• Seattle Announces $15 Minimum Wage, Highest In The U.S.
• "I'm gonna need you to come in on Saturday": How "Office Space" got the modern workplace just right—"Cubicles, layoffs, TPS report, flair -- 'Office Space' bombed at the box office, but endures because it was right." Salon

Whistleblow While You Work

• Court Considers Whistleblower Free Speech Rights
• Obama Administration Argues in Favor of Right to Fire Public Employees Who Testify at Corruption Trials
• Justices Troubled By Their Earlier Ruling On Public Employee Speech Rights
• Probe looks at Marine higher-ups suspected in retaliation against whistleblower—"Maj. Weirick stripped of duties after accusing Gen. Amos of meddling in prosecution."
• VA Hospital Whistleblower: Top Official Knew About Secret Waiting List, Wanted to Further Her Career
• Whistleblower lawsuit exposes health company for Medicare fraud—"Louisiana-based home health company will have to pay over $150 million in a settlement to a former employee in a whistleblower case."
• Mortgage Whistleblower Stands Alone as U.S. Won't Join Lawsuit

Banks and Wall Street

• It's Good – no – Great to be the CEO Running a Huge Criminal Bank
• Pa. judge upholds sale of widow's home over $6 tax bill
• U.S. Set to Bring Criminal Charges Against Banking Giants—"Federal prosecutors are reportedly preparing to file charges against Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas, defying the notion that Wall Street giants are 'too big to jail.'"
• Rigged market? SEC busts the NYSE—"The SEC charged the New York Stock Exchange and two affiliated exchanges for "failure to comply with the responsibilities" of following securities laws."

Net Neutrality and Broadband

• Your complete guide to the murder of net neutrality LATimes
• The Internet Is About to Become Worse Than Television
• Elizabeth Warren Blasts FCC Net Neutrality Plan: 'Just One More Way The Playing Field Is Tilted'
• Google and Netflix are considering an all-out PR blitz against the FCC's net neutrality plan
• Don't Expect Google's Help in Saving Net Neutrality
• The FCC's Flimsy Defense of Fake Net Neutrality
• State laws that ban municipal Internet will be invalidated, FCC chair says
• Welcome to Comcast Country—"Philadelphia has become a company town where the cable TV giant wields vast influence." NYT

Obamacare

• The Biggest Reason People Didn't Sign Up For Obamacare
• Obamacare Now Widely Accepted As Here to Stay
• Once opposed to ACA, now a convert—"Dean Angstadt fells trees for a living. He's a self-employed, self-sufficient logger who has cleared his own path for most of his 57 years, never expecting help from anyone. And even though he'd been uninsured since 2009, he especially wanted nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act."
• Obamacare Enrollees Emboldened To Leave Jobs, Start Businesses
• Looking for complaints, Rick Scott instead finds praise for Obamacare
• A sneaky lie that left 750,000 Floridians without health coverage—"They lied to you.Not a big, bald-faced lie. Not a get-a-load-of-this lie."
• OOPS: Senate Candidate Pitches Obamacare Replacement That’s Already Failed
• Red States Hatch Plans To Block Obamacare Even If Dems Take Over
• Boehner concedes ACA repeal 'isn't the answer'
• The Fact Checker: The bogus claim that Obamacare has boosted the number of uninsured—Four Pinnochios. WaPo

Health Issues

• Oregon Supreme Court: State can immunize children in its custody
• 'Superbugs' that can overpower antibiotics are spreading: WHO
• American homes harbor antibiotic-resistant "superbug" MRSA
• Deaths from measles outbreak may be 'inevitable' as cases surge in US
• Saudi Arabia reports pilgrim infected with MERS
• New Virus Related To Smallpox Is Found In Republic Of Georgia

US Politics

• Of Course The U.S. Is An 'Oligarchy' — We Keep Electing The Rich
• Why Does the Right Have Such a Problem with History?—"[W]e're fascinated by how often leaders and activists on the far right misquote the Founders and get so much else about our nation's history so incredibly wrong — especially since they often portray themselves as uniquely informed about what makes America exceptional."
• Republicans pass tax breaks, but don't pay for them
• If you dispute Chris Christie's budget estimates, he'll go after you — even if you're right

Class Warfare

• Paul Ryan Won’t Let Poor People Testify At Hearing About Poverty
• South Dakota GOP Senate Candidate Compares Food Stamp Recipients To Animals
• Rare Indian Burial Ground Quietly Destroyed for Million Dollar Houses
• Millionaire reportedly filmed beating girlfriend 117 times will not face jail time
• Top 1% taking lion's share of global growth, OECD says—"37% of growth in last 30 years has gone to Canada's wealthiest."
• California’s bid to tax companies who don’t share the wealth WaPo
• Brazil poor get welfare rise and tax cuts from Rousseff—"Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has announced a 10% increase in social security payments as well as tax cuts for the less well-off."

Vote Machinations

• Voter ID Is the Real Fraud—"A federal judge struck down Wisconsin’s voter-identification law, making it clear that the law was a harmful solution in search of an imaginary problem." NYT
• Judge Halts Minnesota Online Voter Signup System
• Young Republicans likelier to vote in midterms than Democrats: survey
• People Trust Democrats, But That Doesn't Mean They'll Vote for Democrats
• Pundit Who Was Dead Wrong In 2012 Is Now Questioning Nate Silver

Campaign Finance Deform

• What Happens When a Dark Money Group Blows Off IRS Rules? Nothing.—"The Government Integrity Fund spent most of its money on election ads, despite IRS rules prohibiting a social welfare nonprofit from doing so."
• A long con for Tea Party PACs?—"Conservatives who donate to Tea Party PACs probably assume they're helping like-minded candidates. In practice, it doesn't quite work out that way."
• Senate Democrats Plot Vote To Overturn Citizens United In 2014
• Flipside: Lawrence Lessig Launches MayOne, The "Super PAC To End All Super PACs"—"The free culture activist and Harvard professor launched a super PAC today. Its goal: To create a revolution of political reform in the midterm elections through a wave of small donations."

Sterling Racism

• Clippers Owner Donald Sterling to GF -- Don't Bring Black People to My Games ... Including Magic Johnson
• NBA: Donald Sterling receives lifetime ban
• GOP Congressman Falsely Claims Donald Sterling Is A Democrat
• Mark Cuban's 'Slippery Slope' Comment Is Why No One Thinks The NBA Will Force Donald Sterling To Sell The Clippers

Oh Canada

• How Obama Shocked Harper as Keystone's Frustrator-in-Chief
• Canada Supreme Court rejects Harper Senate reform plan
• Pauline Marois loses seat, Parti Québécois loses power—Her party had controversial measures.
• Canadian mail service to scrap all home deliveries—"Older residents angered over cost-cutting decision by Canada Post to make first G20 country without door-to-door service."
• Rob Ford takes leave as recent drug video emerges

South Korea Ferry

• South Korean shipwreck survivors: Passengers told 'don't move' as ship sank
• Video of fleeing ferry captain angers Koreans
• Ferry disaster's toll on South Korea's national psyche
• 3 arrested over evidence, call center raided in South Korea ferry probe
• South Korean president apologizes for response to ferry sinking
• Dead part-time employees ignored by Sewol owner—"The owner of the sunken ferry Sewol refused coverage of funeral costs for part-time employees of the ship, according to Kookmin Ilbo Wednesday."

World News

• British Officials Portrayed Reagan as a "Bozo"
• David Cameron would quit as Prime Minister after general election if he could not deliver on in-out EU referendum pledge
• 'Bring children to pee in Hong Kong': Mainlander starts campaign after public urination clash—"Call for action may break mainland law; call of nature may cost HK$2,000."
• Norway: Wealthy man 'forgot' boat in Swedish harbour
• German porn star dropped by Neo-Nazi party for having sex with black male

RIP Bob Hoskins, 1942–2014

Earth Day, Pollution, Ecology, Climate Change, Denialists, Unclean Energy, Trashing Renewables, Keystone XL, Fracking; Fat Tuesday; Obamacare, GOP Obstructionism; Big Pharma, Medical Malpractice, Vax Populi

Earth Day

• The Latest "Cosmos" Explains How Corporations Fund Science Denial—"Neil Tyson explores the surprising connection between the age of the Earth and the dangers of lead."
• Killing of environmental activists rises globally
• Documents reveal extent of Shell and Rio Tinto lobbying in human rights case—"Multinationals sought legal support from UK government to fight allegations of rights abuses in Nigeria and Papua New Guinea."

Pollution

• Why Are 20 Far-Away States Trying To Block The Cleanup Of The Chesapeake Bay?—"EPA overreach."
• Plane Search Shows World's Oceans Are Full of Trash—"Search for missing Malaysian plane shines spotlight on giant ocean garbage patches."
• James Dyson Is Designing A Giant Vacuum-On-A-Boat To Clean Ocean Trash
• China just revealed a major state secret: nearly 20% of its farmland is polluted
• China's new environment law submitted to parliament

Ecology

• Arab royal hunts down 2,100 houbara bustards in three week safari
• Japan Plans to Resume Whaling Program, With Changes to Address Court Concerns NYT
• BP refuses to fund Gulf oil spill studies—"BP is refusing to pay a large bill for US government-led studies into its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, including research into its impact on dolphins, whales and oysters." FT

Climate Change

• IPCC finally weighs in on how to avoid further climate change—"Third and final section of latest IPCC report gives policymakers a roadmap."
• Apple: climate change is real and it's a real problem—"Technology company claims 94% of its corporate facilities are now powered by renewable energy."
• Climate change to 'cost €2bn a year as droughts hit crops'
• Climate change increasing massive wildfires in West
• Climate changes visible by ZIP code with new online tools

Denialists

• Va. Supreme Court rules for U-Va. in global warming FOIA case—"The high court decision rejects an argument by global warming skeptics who wanted to see the work of a climate researcher." WaPo
• Congressman Denies Manmade Climate Change, Calls It 'An Agenda-Driven Science'—"Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) readily admits he’s 'not smart enough' to determine the roots of climate change. He is, however, able to rule out one possible cause: humans."
• Who is mucking up science education?—Wyoming Department of Education Chairman Ron Micheli: "I don’t accept, personally, that [climate change] is a fact. [The standards are] very prejudiced in my opinion against fossil-fuel development." WaPo
• States of Denial: States with the Most Federal Disaster Aid Sent Climate-Science Deniers to Congress
• Why climate deniers are winning: The twisted psychology that overwhelms scientific consensus Salon

Unclean Energy

• Triumph of the Drill: How Big Oil Clings to Billions in Government Giveaways—"Deficit hawks slam them. Execs say they don't need them. So why does petroleum still get big tax breaks?"
• Louisiana's traumatic bond with Big Oil—"What is it about the oil and gas industry that engenders such steadfast devotion from our political leaders? In case you hadn't noticed, Louisiana's government has long functioned as a wholly owned subsidiary of Big Oil."
• EPA drastically underestimates methane released at drilling sites
• World must end 'dirty' fuel use - UN
• Canadian town says 'no' to Enbridge pipeline in vote
• It's Final -- Corn Ethanol Is Of No Use—"Can we stop pretending biofuel from corn is helping the planet and the environment?"

Trashing Renewables

• ALEC Defeated Again In Attacks On Solar, Net Metering Preserved In Kansas
• Op-Ed: ALEC and the Koch brothers fight solar energy with surcharges
• Oklahoma electric utilities want higher rate for solar, wind energy producers

Keystone XL

• Jimmy Carter comes out against Keystone XL pipeline WaPo
• Keystone XL pipeline decision postponed by Obama administration WaPo
• Keystone XL delay pounds TransCanada stock

Fracking

• Ohio geologists link local earthquakes directly to fracking—"For the first time, a state study links Ohio's recent seismic events to hydraulic fracturing, not just water disposal."
• Series of small earthquakes rock Oklahoma in record seismic activity
• North Dakota Finds Itself Unprepared To Handle The Radioactive Burden Of Its Fracking Boom

Fat Tuesday

• Junk food makes you lazy, not just fat, study suggests
• Hello fruits and vegetables! "Junk food" banned from schools July 1
• Thinking 'obesity is a disease' makes you more likely to eat high-calorie foods, study finds
• Yale student , 92 lbs., stuffed her face with Cheetos, ice cream to pacify school officials
• Oscar Nominated Actor Kicked Off Plane—"He says he usually buys two seats, but only one was available."

Obamacare

• Obamacare Signups Hit 8 Million—"And both young and old are on board."
• Very Bad News For Obamacare Opponents In The Government's Latest Report
• States embracing Obamacare are doing a better job of covering the uninsured, surveys show WaPo
• Nobody believes there is any GOP alternative to Obamacare WaPo
• Poll: Republicans Admit Obamacare Might Not Be The End Of The World

GOP Obstructionism

• How the GOP Bet on Failure And Lost
• Making the GOP pay for Medicaid obstruction Salon
• Democrats Need to Start Blaming the GOP for the Death of Charlene Dill—"How liberals should talk about the Medicaid expansion."
• GOP, Insurers Bully Dems Into Retreat On Medicare Cuts
• Florida Voter Confronts GOP Representative On His Repeated Efforts To Repeal Obamacare
• For Republicans, Obama's Obamacare news changes nothing WaPo
• The Right's New Scam: Feigning Anger on Behalf of People They Encouraged to Skip Obamacare
• Cruz Still Pledging To 'Repeal Every Single Word Of Obamacare'

Big Pharma

• Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline bribed doctors to boost sales, says whistleblower
• US: A mecca for overpriced medicine
• What the Tamiflu saga tells us about drug trials and big pharma
• Big pharma struggles to balance transparency and profits

Medical Malpractice

• Grandmother 'was put in morgue freezer while still alive'
• Medical Malpractice Caps Voided in Florida
• Nursing Home Hired Strippers For Patients: Suit
• Australia: NHMRC rule homeopathic remedies useless for human health

Vax Populi

• Jenny McCarthy: I am not "anti-vaccine." This is not a change in my stance nor is it a new position that I have recently adopted.—Is she being disingenuous? Sure sounds like it. This is her legacy.
• Ontario Health Minister slams Jenny McCarthy for 'outrageously irresponsible' anti-vaccine campaign
• Mom Whose Child Died After Catching Chicken Pox Advocates for Vaccines
• Dear parents: you are being lied to about vaccines
• Measles Outbreak Traced to Fully Vaccinated Patient for First Time—This is where herd immunity can come in.
• Fear of polio virus: India, Georgia place curbs on Pakistanis—There's a danger of fake vaccination certificates.

Workers and Wage Slaves, Class Warfare; Politics, GOP, Civil Rights and Racism, Vote Machinations, Campaign Finance Deform; Banks and Wall Street, JPMorgan, Stock Market; Obamacare, Medicaid Expansion, Bill of Health, Anti-Vax; Heartbleed Bug

Workers and Wage Slaves

• Senate extends unemployment insurance. Why such a tough sell in the House?
• Getting Walmart Workers Off Food Stamps Would Cost Customers Barely Anything
• Reich: Why the Minimum Wage Should Really Be Raised to $15 an Hour
• SeaTac, Wash., fast becoming epicenter of 'livable wage' debate
• Work-life balance: what changes could help improve yours?—"New labour laws in France protect workers from responding to emails after 6pm, and a trial in Sweden is reducing work hours to just 30 hours a week. Do these initiatives sound like a good idea to you? Or what changes could help improve your work-life balance?"

Class Warfare

• How America is rigged for the rich—"Eric Liu says Paul Ryan gets it very wrong: The U.S.'s problem is not a culture of poverty, it is a culture of wealth destroying the value linking work to reward."
• Alabama Passes 4 Bills Restricting Welfare
• Why Is Georgia About to Pass a Law That Will Make It Easier to Send Poor People to Prison?—"After extensive lobbying, the private probation industry is poised to wield ever more power over Georgia's debtors."
• Drum: Nobody Cares What You Think Unless You're Rich
• Du Pont heir didn't go to court-ordered clinic—Send him to prison where he belongs.

Politics

• Obama blasts 'least productive Congress in modern history'
• Fed-Up Eric Holder Rips Congress: 'Unprecedented, Unwarranted, Ugly and Divisive'
• Sen. Charles Grassley plans new whistleblower-protection caucus WaPo
• Why people are not engaged in politics and policymaking – and how to fix it—"We asked former home secretary David Blunkett and other experts how to involve #peopleinpolitics. Here's what they said."
• CapitolBells.com—Leveraging social media to track bills
• How politics makes us stupid

GOP

• Busy Day For House GOP: Blocks Bills On Minimum Wage, Equal Pay, LGBT Rights, Mine Safety
• Darrell Issa Tries Tactic In IRS Probe Last Used In McCarthyism—More circus acts [WaPo] to come.
• Dems seek end to Benghazi probe; GOP presses ahead
• Poll: More than half of N.J. voters say Christie's 'Bridgegate' report was 'whitewash'
• Judge: Key BridgeGate Figures Don't Have To Give Documents To Lawmakers
• Huckabee: Men Hunt Together, Women Go To The Restroom Together—Misogynistic and homophobic Salon.

Civil Rights and Racism

• Many doubt 1964 Civil Rights Act could pass today
• GOP Senate Candidate: Obama Is Dodging Impeachment Because He Isn't White
• Study: When whites are told they're becoming a minority, they become more conservative
• Jimmy Carter: Southern White Men Turn To The GOP Because Of 'Race'

Vote Machinations

• The Supreme Court Gutted the Voting Rights Act. What Happened Next in These 8 States Will Not Shock You.
• We Should Be in a Rage—"When will we demand the country we deserve? If we don’t like the path we’re on, we can alter it." NYT
• How to reverse a supreme court attack on democracy: fight for voting rights—"John Roberts' wrecking ball got you mad as hell? Don't take his court's electoral destruction for granted anymore."
• Clinton: Voting limits derail civil rights—"President Bill Clinton ripped the Supreme Court's conservative justices and Republicans pushing voter identification laws on Wednesday, accusing them of undermining civil rights." He also urges adding photos to Social Security cards for voter identification WaPo
• Why voting rights is the Democrats' most important project in 2014 WaPo
• Could absentee ballot controversy lead to Ohio voting probe?—"Going after the personal finances of public officials for trying to promote voter participation is unprecedented."
• Voter laws: Imposter anxiety
• Senate sends governor bill banning United Nations election monitors from Tennessee—What a waste of time.
• Wisconsin Had Best-Run Elections in U.S., So Republicans Fixed 'Em
• Report: Florida Voting Wait Times In 2012 Were Worst In the Nation
• New Rule Prohibits Voters In Miami-Dade County From Using The Restroom, No Matter How Long The Line
• In the Exciting New World of Campaign Financing, Deceptive Fundraising Websites Are A-OK

Campaign Finance Deform

• Thought money could buy an American election? You ain't seen nothin' yet—"The supreme court's relaxing of donation rules just made US elections even more undemocratic and corruptible."
• Dionne: Supreme oligarchy—"Combine McCutcheon with the decision in the Citizens United case and you can see that the court is systematically transferring more power to a tiny, privileged sliver of our people." WaPo
• The war against American citizens—"The Supreme Court’s ‘McCutcheon’ decision exemplifies the struggles against average Americans." WaPo
• RNC Chair Complains That The Supreme Court Hasn’t Done Enough To Let Rich Donors Give The GOP Money
• Revealed: Rahm Emanuel's top donor bought stock in Marriott just before it was awarded huge Chicago contract

Banks and Wall Street

• Why Obama's Regulators Let Wall Street Bankers Off Easy—"Remember when the economy collapsed because some people were criminally negligent and nobody went to prison?"
• SEC Goldman Lawyer Says Agency Too Timid on Wall Street Misdeeds—"Kidney said his superiors were more focused on getting high-paying jobs after their government service than on bringing difficult cases. The agency's penalties, Kidney said, have become 'at most a tollbooth on the bankster turnpike.'"
• Wall Street's wily front group: Inside story of a rental scheme's secret facelift—"How profit-hungry Wall Street landlords are secretly trying to turn themselves into a modest, lovable trade group." Salon
• Banker Who Helped Crash Housing Market Helped Crafting Mortgage Reform
• Fannie, Freddie shareholders lobby against U.S. housing reform bill
• Bank of America to pay nearly $800 million for deceptive credit card practices WaPo
• Trial of Occupy activist struggles to find jurors impartial to protest movement—"Series of potential jurors voice opposition to protest movement in trial of Cecily McMillan, who faces seven years in prison for assault on police officer."

JPMorgan

• Office Of Outgoing JPMorgan Asia CEO Raided By Hong Kong's Commission Against Corruption
• J.P. Morgan Backs Off Russian Payment Halt
• JPMorgan fails to end lawsuit over London Whale losses

Stock Market

• U.S. stock markets are rigged, says author Michael Lewis
• Yes, the stock market is rigged
• The FBI Is Investigating High-Frequency Traders
• In Defense of "Flash Boys"—Felix Salmon: "[T]he big problem with high-frequency trading isn't that small investors get ripped off, it's that the system is so complex that literally no one really understands how it works or what kind of danger it poses."
• Katsuyama vs. O'Brien - who won the fight?
• The Wolf Hunters of Wall Street NYT

Obamacare

• Obamacare: It's Working!—"Once left for dead, the president's signature legislation is hitting its goals. And it's changing the political calculus for November."
• Obamacare Might Be Covering Way More People Than Previously Thought—Good news for those who weren't denied.
• GOP Grapples With The Unsettling Fear That Obamacare May Succeed
• Conservative Health Experts Wonder How To Coexist With Obamacare
• Gov. Rick Scott stands by two misleading campaign ads on Obamacare
• Many Obamacare Critics, Including Koch Brothers, Accepted Its Subsidies
• WSJ Editors To Conservatives: Stop Acting Crazy Over Obamacare
• The Right Searches for Obamacare Replacement, Finds Obamacare
• Forget Obamacare: Vermont wants to bring single payer to America
• This Generation of Med Students Wants a Truly Just Healthcare System for All
• Obamacare's Next Task: Break Our Dependence On The Emergency Room

Medicaid Expansion

• The perils of Florida's refusal to expand Medicaid—"Charlene Dill is one of an estimated 2,000 people who expected to face dire health issues due to lack of access to care."
• Maine's GOP Governor Vetoes Medicaid Expansion For Third Time
• Virginia's Medicaid expansion fight: More proof that the Commonwealth is broken
• Court Rejects Louisiana's Bid To Stop Anti-Jindal Pro-Obamacare Billboard
• Boehner Concedes on Sneaky GOP Voice Vote Expanding Obamacare: "It Was a Good Thing"

Bill of Health

• $1,000-a-day miracle drug shocks U.S. health care system
• Top Medicare Doctor Paid $21 Million in 2012, Data Shows
• Tamiflu: Millions wasted on flu drug, claims major report
• On Indiegogo, a miracle health device crowdfunds $730k. One problem: it might be total bullshit

Anti-Vax

• Anti-vaccine movement is giving diseases a 2nd life
• More measles outbreaks in Calif. as debate continues over vaccines
• Chili's cancels fundraiser with National Autism Association—They were planning on donating 10% of their profits to anti-vaccine truthers this month.
• Vaccinations fall, measles rise in Oregon
• Measles In Calgary: Unvaccinated Students Should Stay Home
• Australia: Court grants father right to vaccinate his children
• JHallComics: Vaccine
• Blast from the Past: Penn & Teller's Bullshit - Vaccinations

Heartbleed Bug

• My Heart Bleeds for OpenSSL
• Schneier on Heartbleed—"'Catastrophic' is the right word. On the scale of 1 to 10, this is an 11."
• The Real Threat From The Heartbleed Security Flaw Is The NSA
• How Companies Are Reacting to the Heartbleed Security Bug
• How to protect yourself from the 'Heartbleed' bug