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

Bridgegate

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

Politics

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

Budget

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

Public-Private Partnerships

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

Media

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

Vote Machinations

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

Iran

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

Israel and Palestine

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

Sochi

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

Race and Racism

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

US Politics, Filibusted, Iran, Benghazi, Israel and Palestine; Protests; Civil Liberties; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy; Whistleblowers; Online Crackdowns; Typhoon Haiyan

US Politics

• John F. Kennedy's Prophetic Rebuke of Tea Party Politics—"In the speech he never got to give, the slain president spoke out against right-wing irrationality."
• Obama: I'm 'not a particularly ideological person'—"The House of Representatives is 'not focused on getting the job done for the American people,' the president said." WaPo
• Author Dinesh D'Souza: I'm Thankful America Survived 'Grown-Up Trayvon In The White House'—A cowardly deletion ensued.
• Right vs. Left in the Midwest—"Minnesota and Wisconsin are good places to compare modern progressivism and the new right." NYT
• Obama administration proposes new limits on tax-exempt political groups—Might not have the desired effect [Politico].
• GOP Candidate To Request Recount In Virginia AG Race—At 165 votes, it's too close to call.

Filibusted

• Sen. Sanders: Bills Blocked by Republican Filibusters
• Five Reasons We're Better Off Without The Filibuster
• How Republicans Can Still Block Obama's Judges: Blue Slips

Iran

• The Iran nuclear deal could have been done eight years ago, if Bush and Blair hadn't blocked it
• Republicans mindlessly oppose Iran nuclear deal WaPo
• Americans back Iran deal by 2-to-1 margin: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Benghazi

• Lara Logan Taking Leave Of Absence From 60 Minutes
• CBS News' Benghazi Review Leaves Several Big Questions Unanswered
• Lara Logan's Mystery Man—"The discredited '60 Minutes' report on Benghazi has kicked off an intriguing game of Whodunit."

Israel and Palestine

• Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan says he spied for Israel—"A Hollywood producer behind hit films such as Pretty Woman and Fight Club has said he spied for Israel in support of its nuclear programme."
• Gaza becoming uninhabitable as blockade tightens, says UN—"Destruction of smuggling tunnels and renewed ban on import of construction materials have exacerbated humanitarian crisis."
• Israeli government split over joining prestigious EU science programme—"Officials seek compromise on clause requiring settlement boycott but hardliners say Israel should not give in."

Protests

• Egypt bans gatherings of more than 10 people with government approval
• Ukraine alarm at becoming EU-Russia 'battlefield'—Protestors don't want their country to be Russia's bitch.
• Thailand protesters back on the streets—What's behind the protests?

Civil Liberties

• Japan secrecy law stirs fear of limits on freedoms
• UK Prime Minister Wants To Block British People From Seeing 'Extremist' Web Sites
• Canada's Conservatives Are Using Cyberbullying to Normalize Online Surveillance

NSA Spying

• Report: NSA Director Offered To Resign In Wake Of Snowden Leaks—Obama declined, didn't want to give Snowden a win [WSJ].
• Senators Wyden, Udall & Heinrich: End the N.S.A. Dragnet, Now NYT
• FISA court, which approves FBI, NSA surveillance, faces reform challenge from Oregon senators
• Why Care About the N.S.A.?—"A short film explores whether ordinary Americans should be concerned about online surveillance." NYT
• N.S.A. May Have Hit Internet Companies at a Weak Spot—"Security experts said they believe that government spies bypassed Google and Yahoo and targeted the fiber-optic cables that connect their data centers." NYT
• NSA surveillance: Europe threatens to freeze US data-sharing arrangements—"After Edward Snowden revelations, EU executive underlines US compliance with European law and 'how things have gone badly.'"
• Spies worry over "doomsday" cache stashed by ex-NSA contractor Snowden
• Top-Secret Document Reveals NSA Spied On Porn Habits As Part Of Plan To Discredit 'Radicalizers'
• Microsoft, suspecting NSA spying, to ramp up efforts to encrypt its Internet traffic
• Busting Eight Common Excuses for NSA Mass Surveillance

Surveillance and Privacy

• U.N. committee calls for end to excessive electronic spying
• The FBI's Files on Camus and Sartre Confirm the Utter Meaninglessness of It All
• German politicians to get encrypted phones

Whistleblowers

• Edward Snowden a 'hero' for NSA disclosures, Wikipedia founder says—Vote for Snowden for this year's Person of the Year. (Ironically, you need to log into either Facebook or Twitter.)
• 'Say NO to surveillance state!' Buses thanking Snowden cruise Washington
• Guardian wins Liberty award for articles about GCHQ and NSA spying—"Newspaper named Independent Voice of the Year in recognition of 'ethical journalism essential to the rule of law.'"
• What Chelsea Manning is thankful for this Thanksgiving
• Julian Assange unlikely to be charged in US

Online Crackdowns

• Microsoft Confirms That "Excessive Profanity" In Xbox Upload Studio Videos Can Cost You Account Privileges
• Google busts child pornographer through Picasa library search
• Twitch cracks down on inappropriate PS4 streamers

Typhoon Haiyan

• Typhoon Haiyan: Rebuilding costs are going to be 'huge'
• Prisoners return after Yolanda typhoon mass escape
• You Won't Be Seeing Coca Cola Ads For A While. The Reason Why Is Amazing

Iran; Filibusted, Politics, Vote Machinations; Press Freedom and Transparency; NSA Spying, Your Rights Online, Cybersecurity, Tech Tracking, Surveillance and Privacy

Iran

• Iran agrees to curb nuclear activity at Geneva talks
• We Have a Deal With Iran. A Good One.—"It's everything Obama hoped to achieve in Geneva."
• Republicans Attack Iran Deal Before It's Announced—"Texas Senator John Cornyn suggests the late-night announcement from Geneva is a Wag The Dog moment, aimed at saving the President from the messy Obamacare rollout."

Filibusted

• Don't Believe the Republican Cries of Vengeance—"They would have gotten rid of the filibuster at the first chance they got, regardless of what Democrats did today."
• Stop whining, centrists: Bipartisanship is a myth that's never existed—"While Beltway elite pine for the "good old days" and condemn filibuster reform, they're wrong on the history." Salon
• GOP: Ending Filibusters Is Unconstitutional and Un-American—and We'll Do it, Too
• Why The Filibuster Change Is Fantastic News For Obama—Will make him less of a lame duck [WaPo].
• Harry Reid and filibuster reform: The nuclear option is a huge victory for progressives

Politics

• Utah Attorney General Blames 'False Allegations' For Forcing Resignation
• Blow by Blow: 10 Politicians Linked to Cocaine—"Congressman Trey Radel isn't the first politician to make headlines from white lines."
• Drug testing is a great idea. Thanks, Rep. Radel.—"Rep. Trey Radel voted in favor of drug-testing the folks who get food stamps. In that case, why don’t we drug-test all people who get federal money? Let's start with members of Congress!" WaPo

Vote Machinations

• Bill to end gerrymander huge reform
• Georgia GOP dusts off Jim Crow tactic: Changing election date
• It's The Fundamentals, Stupid: Elections Aren't Determined By Short-Term 'Game Changes'

Press Freedom and Transparency

• White House blocks access to Obama events, news groups say
• Focal shift: Press photogs riled by White House social media—"Even if the Obama administration mollifies angry photojournalists, the news media now has to earn its place alongside direct communications through Twitter and Facebook."
• Muzzling the Freedom of Information Act—"Government to authors: We're not showing you public records because you're not journalists."

NSA Spying

• Government Claims Americans Have No Right To Challenge NSA Phone Surveillance
• N.S.A. Report Outlined Goals for More Power—"The top-secret document described strategies to keep pace with rapidly changing technology and stay ahead of adversaries in intelligence collection." NYT
• NSA and metadata: How the government can spy on your health, political beliefs, and religious practices
• NSA Mass Surveillance Has Already Been Used For Ordinary Police Work—"[O]nce mass surveillance of ordinary people is used for everyday police work, we are past the event horizon to a surveillance dystopia."
• NSA infected 50,000 computer networks with malicious software
• Report: NSA also had the green light to spy on UK residents—"NSA has unfettered access to metadata about UK residents' communications."
• House intel bill adds $75 million to NSA budget to stop future Snowdens—"Senate version also adds money to NSA's budget to stop 'insider threat.'"
• NSA bulk data collection violates constitutional rights, ACLU argues—"Civil liberties group tells New York court that program breaches first and fourth amendments and NSA is overreaching its powers."
• NSA deputy director skeptical on sharing data with FBI and others—"John Inglis appears at University of Pennsylvania to argue legality of bulk surveillance and indicates stance on Feinstein bill."
• Former Blackwater CEO: The NSA Is Turning America Into North Korea

Your Rights Online

• Tim Berners-Lee says 'surveillance threatens web'And it's worse than outright censorship.
• Internet co-creator: 'Privacy may be an anomaly'
• Lavabit Strikes Back at Feds in Key Internet Privacy Case
• Twitter upping security to thwart government hacking—"The microblogging site adds a new security measure designed to make it harder for organizations like the National Security Agency to uncover its data."
• Google Can Bring an End to Censorship in 10 Days. Here's how.

Cybersecurity

• Rockefeller attaches cybersecurity bill to NDAA 2014—CISPA returns.
• President's tech council plays sad trombone for federal cybersecurity—"Report finds that government 'rarely follows accepted best practices.'"
• Repeated attacks hijack huge chunks of Internet traffic, researchers warn—"Man-in-the-middle attacks divert data on scale never before seen in the wild."

Tech Tracking

• LG smart TVs send viewing habits, filenames back to manufacturer—"Businesses may want to think twice before plugging that USB device into the boardroom smart TV as a UK blogger has found that his TV has been sending back the names of files on his devices."
• Google pays $17m to settle Safari cookie privacy-bypass charge
• Microsoft video attacks Google's Chrome as surveillance technology

Surveillance and Privacy

• Meet the Spies Doing the NSA's Dirty Work—"This obscure FBI unit does the domestic surveillance that no other intelligence agency can touch."
• US Working Overtime Behind The Scenes To Kill UN Plan To Protect Online Privacy From Snooping
• The surveillance state: How Australia spies on its own
• Mexico Uses Deaf People to Monitor Surveillance Cameras
• A Vote for Privacy is a Vote for Security

Veterans' Day, Collateral Damaged; War on Terror, Police State; Benghazi, Iran, Israel and Palestine; NSA Spying and Surveillance, In the Service

Veterans' Day

• Man Runs 58,282 Miles for Fallen Vietnam Veterans
• Flight turns unforgettable when passengers learn of fallen soldier
• WW2 Vet Dies Alone With No One To Attend His Funeral...Until This Happened
• His fib thrust 14-year-old into line of fire in Pacific
• America's oldest veteran, age 107, doesn't take medicine, smokes cigars, and takes whiskey in his morning coffee.

Collateral Damaged

• Help Veterans by Taking Them Off the Pedestal—"A former infantryman in Iraq reflects on how the culture of military service has changed since World War II. Unhelpful attitudes from civilians and veterans alike, he says, are making it difficult for today's servicemen to transition back to post-deployment life."
• Marine's Family Decides To Talk Openly About His Suicide
• Veterans Day and PTSD: One soldier faces his mental health issues after returning from Iraq
• Nurse accused of abusing soldier with quadriplegia
• Court stops lawsuit over death of soldier's son—"A federal appeals court 'regretfully' upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that claims the Army caused the death of a newborn by ordering his pregnant mother to do physical training against doctors' instructions."

War on Terror

• Blair-Bush deal before Iraq war revealed in secret memo—"PM promised to be 'solidly behind' US invasion with or without UN backing."
• Aiding the Enemy—"Snowden, Manning, and Miranda leaked government secrets. Does that make them traitors and terrorists?"
• CIA made doctors torture suspected terrorists after 9/11, taskforce finds—"Doctors were asked to torture detainees for intelligence gathering, and unethical practices continue, review concludes."
• In Afghanistan, interpreters who helped U.S. in war denied visas; U.S. says they face no threat—Left high and dry. WaPo
• Guantánamo's Sham Trials, Now Unraveling
• Mich. man says he tipped FBI to bin Laden's location
• Paradise Lost: Paranoia Has Undermined US Democracy—"While far from a dictatorship, the United States has employed a number of paranoid tactics that delegitimize its democracy. This phenomenon is on display in the fictional TV series 'Homeland,' which depicts hysterical CIA agents in a hysterical country."
• Richard Dawkins outraged after airport security confiscates jar of honey, says "Bin Laden has won" Salon
• TSA union calls for armed guards at every checkpoint—Something strange with the death of LAX shooter Paul Ciancia, but the incident doesn't warrant arming TSA agents.
• Stephen Colbert On Marvel's New Muslim Superhero – "For Pete's Sake, They're On The No Fly List"

Police State

• Armies and Police Are Being Privatized Around the World and Business Is Booming
• Wisconsin and Minnesota To Get "Top Secret" $19 Million DHS Domestic Security Force
• The FBI's Last Question: Isaac Asimov's science fiction prompted look into whether he was communist informant
• FBI monitored anti-war website in error for six years, documents show—"Monitoring began after antiwar.com editor passed along to the bureau a threat he received against his own website."
• San Diego Gets in Your Face With New Mobile Identification System
• Arizona's 'Sheriff Joe' Arpaio Threatens To Punish Unpatriotic Inmates With No Food—"Any inmate ripping or defacing American flag stickers is looking at what the Sheriff calls a bread and water diet."
• Journalist Being Investigated For A Felony For Publishing Public Information

Benghazi

• Accounts Differ to F.B.I. and CBS on Benghazi—"Conflicting statements given by a security officer to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and to CBS call into question a '60 Minutes' report." NYT
• '60 Minutes' investigates Benghazi source—"CBS announced Thursday evening they are looking into new information unearthed about the man who was their source for a special '60 Minutes' piece about the events in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012." A 90-second apology just doesn't cut it. Politico
• Former '60 Minutes' Producer: Discredited Benghazi Story Was Done To Appeal To Conservatives
• Lindsey Graham Responds To 60 Minutes Benghazi Retraction—And the hype lives on [Politico].
• Publisher withdraws CBS source's Benghazi book—Might still make money in the fiction section, where it belongs.

Iran

• Kerry Says Iran Rejected Nuclear Deal
• 'Israel will attack Iran if you sign the deal, French MP told Fabius'—"Paris legislator Meyer Habib, a friend of Netanyahu, called his FM in Geneva to warn of likely response should accord be signed, Israeli TV reports."
• An Iranian Deputy Minister Is Assassinated in Tehran—"An unidentified attacker shot and killed a deputy minister of industry on Sunday, in the first reported assassination of a senior national official in Iran in years." NYT

Israel and Palestine

• Iran talks complicate U.S. push on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations Politico
• Kerry Scolds Israel For West Bank Occupation
• Swiss study says polonium found in Arafat's bones—Israel's the top suspect.
• U.S., Israel lose UNESCO voting right in dispute—"Loss follows U.S., Israeli failure to pay dues in protest over world governments' decision to make Palestine a UNESCO member in 2011."
• Catholic church slams Israel razing of its property

NSA Spying and Surveillance

• Poll’s lesson for NSA: Show that surveillance programs actually combat terrorism WaPo
• NSA surveillance is 'terrorism-lite'
• John McCain says NSA chief Keith Alexander 'should resign or be fired'—"Senator gives interview to Der Spiegel, saying general should 'be held accountable' for Edward Snowden leaks." But not for illegally spying on millions of Americans?
• The Basis for the NSA's Call-Tracking Program Has Disappeared, If It Ever Existed
• EFF: Stop the NSA "Fake Fix" Bill—"The FISA Improvements Act of 2013 seeks to extend NSA surveillance."

In the Service

• Boy Sends Question About Ninjas To Head Of US Joint Special Ops, Gets A Response
• Marines shoot down Internet story on Obama's alleged push for 'girly hats'
• New Documentary Says This US Soldier Is Alive In Vietnam 44 Years After Being Left Behind

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

Government Shutdown Day 9

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

Pulling a Boehner

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

GOP

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

Tea Party

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

Obamacare

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

Repercussions

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

World News

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

Totalitarianism

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

Iran

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

Surveillance and Privacy

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

Syria's Business, War on Terror, Collateral Damage; MLK's I Have a Dream; Surveillance and Privacy, NSA Spying, Whistleblowers

Syria's Business

• US readies intelligence, legal justification for possible military strike against Syria
• Britain will seek UN clearance for military action—"David Cameron says UK will put forward resolution at security council 'authorising necessary measures to protect civilians.'"
• Saudis offer Russia secret oil deal if it drops Syria—"Saudi Arabia has secretly offered Russia a sweeping deal to control the global oil market and safeguard Russia's gas contracts, if the Kremlin backs away from the Assad regime in Syria."
• Hans Blix: Whether Obama in Syria or Bush in Iraq, The US Is Not the World Police
• Remember bogus U.S. excuses for Iraq war before attacking Syria: China's Xinhua
• Syria crisis: Where key countries stand
• Syria military action could lower temperature in U.S. budget battles—How convenient.

War on Terror

• Obama DOJ Asks Court to Grant Immunity to George W. Bush For Iraq War
• CIA Files Prove America Helped Saddam as He Gassed Iran
• As an American, I question the US travel alerts and embassy closures—"We've seen this before where US presidents cite terrorism concerns in an effort to win back public opinion."
• Internal Documents Reveal How the FBI Blew Fort Hood—"Nearly a year before the massacre, the bureau intercepted emails between Nidal Hasan and radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki that officials called 'fairly benign.' They are anything but."
• U.S. Air Force can't find enough people willing to be drone pilots—They're not looking hard enough.
• NYPD designates mosques as terrorism organizations
• Blast from the Past: Das Boot: The Unsinkable Warmonger—"After the way they goaded us into an epic military disaster, why do media warmongers still have jobs?"

Collateral Damage

• Court Rejects Military Contractor's Attempt to Avoid Trial for Human Trafficking
• Guantanamo Bay Prisoner: Guards Withhold Food When I Meet With Lawyer
• Hindu Man Describes Mistreatment After False-Positive Hand Swab
• Troubled veterans may suffer from something other than PTSD
• No, thanks: Stop saying "support the troops"—"Compulsory patriotism does nothing for soldiers who risk their lives -- but props up those who profit from war." Salon

MLK's I Have a Dream

• US marks Martin Luther King 'I have a dream' speech
• Thousands turn out at march, rally honoring MLK's legacy, organizers say
• Those Who Marched On Washington 50 Years Ago Reflect On MLK's Legacy
• Obama To Outline Unfinished Work, Decades After King's Dream
• The Misremembering of 'I Have a Dream'—"Fifty years after the March on Washington, Dr. King’s most famous speech, like his own political legacy, is widely misunderstood."

Surveillance and Privacy

• The Dark Side of "I Have a Dream": The FBI's War on Martin Luther King—"MLK.'s historic speech represented a high point in US history—and intensified J. Edgar Hoover's ugly covert crusade against the civil rights leader."
• Holder pressed on U.S. drug agency use of hidden data evidence—"Eight Democratic senators and congressmen have asked Attorney General Eric Holder to answer questions about a Reuters report that the National Security Agency supplies the Drug Enforcement Administration with intelligence information used to make non-terrorism cases against American citizens."
• Ohio Started Using Driver's License Photos for Facial Recognition Software Two Months Ago Without Informing the Public
• Government requests to Facebook outlined in report—"Governments around the world requested information on about 38,000 Facebook users in the first six months of 2013."
• Just Because I Value Privacy Doesn't Mean I Have Something to Hide

NSA Spying

• Greenwald: Ongoing NSA work—"Anti-journalism journalists, US/UK attacks on press freedom, and candidate Obama on non-authorized military attacks."
• In ACLU lawsuit, scientist demolishes NSA's "It's just metadata" excuse—"The power of metadata: Addiction, sex, and accusations can all be discovered."
• NSA surveillance program violates the constitution, ACLU says—"In a detailed court motion filed Monday as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the NSA, ACLU says program has 'chilling effect.'"

• Yes, Greenwald is a journalist—"The First Amendment doesn't discriminate against being anti-establishment, activist or working for a foreign outlet." Salon
• Terrifying expansion of the definition of terrorism—"[A]nyone who opposes the extension of state power is a terrorist."

Whistleblowers

• Obama administration asks court to force NYT reporter to reveal source—"Previous ruling said reporters have no privilege to safeguard confidentiality leaving Risen to reveal his source or go to jail."
• War on Leaks Is Pitting Journalist vs. Journalist—With shills like Toobin and Grunwald, who needs enemies? NYT
• FBI whistleblower says he was fired for reporting sexual misconduct

Trashing Miranda's Rights, War on Terror, Amerika, NSA Spying, Police State; Gitmo; War-maments; War Stories

Trashing Miranda's Rights

• Glenn Greenwald's partner detained at Heathrow airport for nine hours—"David Miranda, partner of Guardian interviewer of whistleblower Edward Snowden, questioned under Terrorism Act." Greenwald calls this criminally, insansely stupid abuse of authority a "failed attempt at intimidation."
• Sullivan: Cameron Proves Greenwald Right
• Snowden case: Brazil 'concerned' after UK detention

War on Terror

• CIA refuses to release drone documents—"Despite ruling that agency can't ignore FOIAs on drone program, CIA files brief to keep documents secret." Salon
• Suspected lethal nerve agent discovered at JFK Airport mail facility was just nail polish remover
• US contractor accused of Abu Ghraib human rights violations suing former prisoners
• Why an Iraqi Single Mom Is Suing George W. Bush for War Crimes
• CIA Admits It Was Behind Iran's Coup
• Declassified: Joint Chiefs approved false flag attack on America—They've done it before.
• Japanese WWII Torture Document Eerily Reminiscent Of US Torture Program

Amerika

• Chomsky: The U.S. behaves nothing like a democracy—"The MIT professor lays out how the majority of U.S. policies are opposed to what wide swaths of the public want." Salon
• Noonan: What We Lose if We Give Up Privacy—"The inevitable end of surveillance is self-censorship." WSJ
• Tread on Me: The Case for Freedom From Terrorist Bombings, School Shootings and Exploding Factories—Great how-to on giving up your civil liberties for a false sense of security. Then again, this is the government shill who writes "I can't wait to write a defense of the drone strike that takes out Julian Assange."

NSA Spying

• NSA Agents Told To Withhold Target Information From Those In Charge Of Oversight
• Rep. Amash says he'll push for new vote to curb NSA powers
• Spy Limits Gain Momentum as NSA Violations Spur Congress
• Don't let U.S. government read your e-mail
• There Is No Such Thing As NSA-Proof Email—"Just ask ultrasecure email providers."

Police State

• Welcome to America's Police State—"The IRS, which primarily acts as an audit agency, refuses to answer why its agents need AR-15s for 'standoff capability.'"
• Joe Arpaio Requiring His Deputies To Carry AR-15s At All Times, Fight Crime Even When They're Off Duty
• Former Marine Colonel To Town Council: 'You're Building A Domestic Army; Are You Blind?'
• We need crime prevention, not militarization
• Drawing Down: How To Roll Back Police Militarization In America

Gitmo

• Guantánamo Bay: the US was dead wrong, but no one can admit it—"When John Grisham heard Guantánamo prisoners were requesting his books, he wanted to learn more. What he found out about Nabil Hadjarab – detained for 11 years – horrified him."
• The harsh reality of life inside Guantanamo Bay—"For the hunger strikers, breakfast at Guantanamo begins with a visit from the emergency reaction force: five military police officers in riot gear, trained in the 'forced cell extraction' of prisoners."
• Ex-MI6 officer joins Guantánamo inmate in hunger strike—"Show of solidarity for camp's last UK resident, Shaker Aamer, will express officer's shame at service's 'support for torture.'"
• 9/11 lawyer to challenge secret Guantanamo camp
• US to review cases of indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay

War-maments

• F'd: How the U.S. and Its Allies Got Stuck with the World's Worst New Warplane—"The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was meant to improve the U.S. air arsenal but has made it more vulnerable instead."
• The Pentagon Wants To Sell $2.7 Billion In Weapons To A Country On The Verge Of Collapse
• Former NY body armor exec gets 17 years in prison for $185 million stock swindle
• US House Votes To Limit Obama's Ability to Shrink Nuclear Arsenal
• Budget cuts spell end of fire-ravaged nuclear sub—"[Casey James] Fury admitted to setting fire to the USS Miami, a nuclear sub, in May 2012 while it was in dry dock."

War Stories

• WWII Hero: Nancy Wake—The fearless matriarch of resistance
• Bob Fletcher Dies at 101; Helped Japanese-Americans—"Mr. Fletcher was thought of as an unsung hero for his efforts during World War II in California to manage the farms of Japanese families forced to live in internment camps." NYT
• Berthold Beitz, German industrialist who rescued Jews during World War II, dies at 99
• S. Fla Couple Recalls How Schindler's List Saved Their Lives
• USA Vietnam vet reunites with man he saved 45 years later
• Treblinka survivor recalls suffering and resistance
• James Dawes: The Guts of Atrocity—"Legacy Russell talks with the author of Evil Men about conversing with war criminals and the paradoxes of naming 'evil deeds.'"
• A love that stemmed from the Holocaust—"Kindertransport survivors are reunited in London by the Association of Jewish Refugees."

Corruption; Banks, Eurozone, Cyprus; Fascism, Racism, Israel and Gaza; Iraq'd, Military Disservice, Journalism

Corruption

• Spanish government to sue El Pais—"Spain's conservative ruling party has launched a lawsuit against top newspaper El Pais for allegations of corruption among the party's leaders."
• Pakistani activist for poor shot dead in Karachi
• Lima's first woman mayor Villaran 'survives recall vote'—"Ms Villaran's supporters have accused the country's business elite and powerful conservative politicians of trying to oust her because of her progressive social policies."
• Swaziland government sells maize donated by Japan and banks the cash—"Government sold 12,000 tonnes of maize and deposited money in central bank, even though Swaziland has not been able to feed itself since 1970s."
• Poor-quality Chinese concrete could lead to skyscrapers collapsing

Banks

• Britain fails in last-ditch bid to dilute bankers' bonus law—"Britain has failed in a last ditch effort to alter EU proposals to cap bankers' salaries from next year."
• Barclays announces £38.5m bonuses on budget day—"Bank awards its investment bank chief Rich Ricci £17.5m of shares – which he immediately cashes in - and chief executive Antony Jenkins £5.3m shares."
• This Is What Happens When A Journalist Forces A Banker To Actually Answer A Question

Eurozone

• The next supermodel—"Politicians from both right and left could learn from the Nordic countries."
• Leaders wrestle with austerity as thousands protest
• What British 'austerity' would look like if we were in the eurozone

Cyprus

• Cypriots stunned by forced savings cuts
• The Botching of the Cyprus Bailout: Worse Than Lehman Brothers
• How German fears of underwriting Russian oligarchs pushed Cyprus to crisis
• Cyprus's wealth tax makes perfect sense – its rich won't escape unscathed—"Ignore the hysterical reaction to the tax on Cypriots' bank deposits. This is a practical, fair solution to a complex problem."
• Saving Cyprus: Tapping Bank Customers Is the Right Move
• Eurozone crisis live: Cyprus crisis deepens as MPs reject bailout terms
• Russia rebuffs Cyprus, EU awaits bailout "Plan B"

Fascism

• Texas tea party leader promotes Fascist Party as 'pro-Constitution, pro-America'
• Fascism mounts a comeback in Italy
• Over half of Austrians think the Nazis would be elected if the party was readmitted to politics
• Greek footballer Giorgos Katidis banned for Nazi salute
• Greek neo-Nazi MP can be prosecuted for attacking left-wing rivals on live TV

Racism

• 'It's not racism. The Muslim players just shouldn't be here': Beitar Jerusalem fans walk out over signing of two Muslim Chechen players
• Bus taunts that sparked Australian racism debate
• India-born football fan assaulted in UK racist attack before 200 onlookers
• BBC gets heat for censoring Elvis Costello's 1979 hit "Oliver's Army"—"The Mail reports that BBC censored the 'one more widow, one less white nigger' lyric, despite the fact that the song has generally played uncensored on the radio for more than thirty years." Salon
• Blast from the Past: Racism: The Arab world's dirty secret NYT

Israel and Gaza

• Obama: Settler Violence Against Palestinians Shouldn't Go Unpunished
• Gaza rockets fired at Israel during Obama visit
• Australia MPs: Gaza is world's largest outdoor jail

Iraq'd

• Dick Cheney Marks Tenth Anniversary of Pretending There Was Reason to Invade Iraq
• Former Halliburton Subsidiary Received $39.5 Billion In Iraq-Related Contracts Over The Past Decade
• Charts: Bush Lowballed Us on Iraq by $6 Trillion
• Punished for telling truth about Iraq war—"Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki dared to call out the Bush administration for inadequate preparation for the Iraq war and lost his job...."
• Canada's 'No' To Iraq War A Defining Moment For Prime Minister, Even 10 Years Later
• The Iraq War Ten Years After: Declassified Documents Show Failed Intelligence, Policy Ad Hockery, Propaganda-Driven Decisionmaking
• Iraq Anniversary: 10 Lessons from America's 'Dumb War'
• Iraqis' Pain Never Abates as Attacks Kill Dozens—"Nineteen bombs and an assassination on Tuesday served as a reminder of the violence that regularly afflicts Iraq a decade after the American-led invasion." NYT
• Bush promised Iraqi civilians a better future. What are their lives like now?
• Ten Years After the Iraq Invasion: Baghdad Then and Now

Military Disservice

• America's combat veterans: The waiting wounded—"The government is failing to keep faith with ex-soldiers."
• Returning from Iraq, the Damage Done—"It's easy to send soldiers off to war. It's harder to face them when they come home."
• AP: Costs of US wars linger for over 100 years—"If history is any judge, the U.S. government will be paying for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for the next century as service members and their families grapple with the sacrifices of combat."

Journalism

• Bang the Drum Loudly: The Failed Journalism That Sent America to War in Iraq
• Why WPost's Hiatt Should Be Fired—"Toting up the Iraq War's cost is staggering, including nearly 4,500 U.S. soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead. But a decade later, few of its architects in government or apologists in the press have faced accountability."
• How to Write an Iraq War Apologia
• The Speechwriter: David Frum on the Rhetoric of Iraq
• Iraq War Anniversary New York Times - Pleased To Be Shutting The Piehole Now—"The 'public editor' of The New York Times tells us today that the paper's coverage of the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War is likely to be less of a hoot than back in the drum-banging days when Judy Miller was standing atop a great pile of stove-piped bullshit while Bill Keller threw roses at her feet."

Iraq Invasion: 10 Years After, Warmongering, Iraq'd; War on Terror, War Stories; Muslim Monitoring; Islamists; TSA; "Argo fuck yourself"

Iraq Invasion: 10 Years After

• The Iraq War — 10 Years Later
• As We Near the 10th Anniversary of the Iraq War
• Hans Blix: Iraq War was a terrible mistake and violation of U.N. charter
• 10 years later, Dixie Chicks right all along
• 53% of Britons think Iraq invasion was wrong, poll shows—"More than half of Britons believe Tony Blair was wrong to invade Iraq, while 22% tell YouGov he should be tried as a war criminal."
• Viewpoint: Why Was the Biggest Protest in World History Ignored?
• Everyone Lost: Protest Art and the Iraq War

Warmongering

• "Hubris": New Documentary Reexamines the Iraq War "Hoax"
• New evidence: CIA and MI6 were told before invasion that Iraq had no active WMD
• Former Powell chief of staff 'damn sure the Bush administration cooked the books' on Iraq
• Where Are They Now? The Reporters Who Got Iraq So Wrong
• The Last Letter: A Message to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney From a Dying Veteran

Iraq'd

• Arwa Damon's Iraq: Suffocating in a cloak of sorrow
• What the US invasion felt like to Iraqis (Kukis)
• Over $8B of the Money You Spent Rebuilding Iraq Was Wasted Outright

War on Terror

• Britain and US asked to release secret torture reports
• Obama Administration Says President Can Use Lethal Force Against Americans on US Soil
• From El Salvador to Iraq: Washington's man behind brutal police squads
• C.I.A.'s History Poses Hurdles for an Obama Nominee—"John O. Brennan's first challenge at the agency where he worked for 25 years may be confronting a sweeping indictment of its former interrogation program." NYT
• CIA Must End Silence on Drone Targeted Killings, Appeals Court Says

War Stories

• The Double Agent Who Infiltrated Al Qaeda—"Even Obama knew the name of the Danish double agent who never got his due for helping lead U.S. drones to Anwar al-Awlaki. Now he's telling his own story."
• The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed
• Medal of Honor winner conflicted by joy, sadness
• The War Nerd: It Ain't Easy Being a Jihadi Middle Manager
• Life as the spouse of a suspected al-Qaida terrorist

Muslim Monitoring

• Spying on Law-Abiding Muslims NYT
• Police Spying on American Muslims Is a Pointless National Shame—"New report details the damaging effects of the NYPD's Muslim surveillance regime."
• NZ First MP: Ban Muslims from flights

Islamists

• Bangladesh sentences Islamist leader to death for war crimes
• Australian Muslim activists lose free speech case—"Australia's highest court on Wednesday narrowly rejected the case of two Muslim activists who argued they had a constitutional free-speech right to send offensive letters to families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan."
• 'Jihadist' shopkeeper to be expelled from France
• Australia: Four found guilty over sharia law whipping
• Ahmadinejad Touched And Consoled Chávez's Mother, To Clerics' Dismay
• Germany bans three 'anti-democratic' Islamist groups
• Britons afraid to challenge radical Islam, says former Obama adviser

TSA

• TSA signs $50 million uniform deal, as billions in federal cuts ripple across America
• Dressing for excess at the TSA—"[A] Marine lieutenant who has earned a commission, passed an intense, six-month basic training program and has fought in combat only receives a one-time uniform allowance of $400. That's a small token of appreciation compared to the annual $446 allowance that's afforded to TSA officers without any law-enforcement training."
• TSA screeners allow fed agent with fake bomb to pass through security at Newark Airport
• Former Newark Airport TSA screener says the job does little to keep fliers safe
• TSA OKs Hockey Sticks Aboard Flights, Bats Remain Outlawed
• Is TSA serious about letting people carry knives?
• TSA To Allow Small Terrorists On Planes The Onion

"Argo fuck yourself"

• Wide Asleep in America: Oscar Prints the Legend: Argo's Upcoming Academy Award and the Failure of Truth
• Jimmy Carter: 'Argo' Was Good, But Inaccurate—New Zealand isn't as diplomatic with their comments.
• The Iranian Government Wants To Sue Hollywood Over 'Argo'
• Argo, F--k Yourself
• Blast from the Past: How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans From Tehran