War on Terror, Iraq'd, Militants, Israel and Palestine; Drones, VA, PTSD, Soldiers; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy, Police State, Wifi

War on Terror

• Media seeks Guantanamo force-feeding videos—"[T]he Defense Department has classified the videos as 'secret' national security information." Politico
• U.S. Court Rules Constitutional Rights Don't Apply for Americans Overseas
• Federal judge rules U.S. no-fly list violates Constitution—Blatantly anti-liberty.
• Al-Jazeera journalists jailed for seven years in Egypt—"Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed of Al-Jazeera English sentenced on terrorism-related charges."
• Pair wrapped bacon around door handles of Edinburgh mosque
• Hannity Goes After Muslim Student Who Asked Question At Benghazi Panel
• Blackwater trial defence raises possibility of witness coaching—"Lawyers for ex-Blackwater guards accused of killing 14 in Baghdad in 2007 say prosecution witnesses 'orchestrated' stories."
• TSA Agent Arrested For Dealing Cocaine

Iraq'd

• Reporter Who Was Wrong About Iraq: Stop Criticizing Those Who Were Wrong About Iraq—Never forget the cunt-astic coverage of war whoring Judith Miller.
• Megyn Kelly Takes On Another Iraq War Architect
• NYT Journalist Stands Behind Her John Bolton Reporting Amid GOP Outrage
• Thank God For Dick Cheney (Really)—"The more the former vice president talks, the better Obama seems."
• Cheney doesn't want to talk about 'what happened 11 or 12 years ago'
• Iraq dredges up painful memories for GOP—"Amid the renewed chaos in the country, key figures from George W. Bush's administration have reemerged in the public spotlight, bringing fresh attention to past mistakes the GOP would rather forget."
• This Leading GOP Congressional Candidate Insists We Found Saddam's WMD Program—"Former Army officer Steve Russell claims his friend discovered Iraq's nuclear weapons program—but says the war had nothing to do with WMDs anyway."
• US fired depleted uranium at civilian areas in 2003 Iraq war, report finds—"Dutch peace group Pax says findings show US was in breach of official advice meant to prevent suffering in conflicts."

Militants

• Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman who ordered Saddam Hussein's death in 2006 reportedly killed by jihadists
• MI6 Fears 300 Islamist Fighters Back In UK—"An ex-intelligence chief tells Sky News that security services face a "nightmare" tracking militants who return to Britain."
• Jihad in Syria lures Somalis from Minnesota
• Obama Warns Threat From Iraq Militants Could Grow
• Why the Iraqi army can't defeat ISIS
• Hezbollah: Gulf states will regret funding ISIS

Israel and Palestine

• The Christian family refusing to give up its Bethlehem hill farm—And doing it peacefully.
• Presbyterians Vote to Divest Holdings to Pressure Israel—"The church voted at its general convention to divest from three companies that it says supply Israel with equipment used in the occupation of Palestinian territory." NYT
• Palestinian boy, 7, dies of injuries from Israeli air strike: medics
• Israel continues crackdown in Palestine in search for settlers—"Israeli troops arrested 30 more Palestinians in the West Bank Wednesday night as they ramped up a massive search for three young settlers believed to have been kidnapped."
• Israeli Troops Kill Palestinian Teenager Protesting Arrests in the West Bank NYT
• Attack from Syria kills Israeli teen; Israeli military kills two Palestinians
• HRW: Israel orders removal of security camera that showed Nakba killings
• Palestinian village wins UNESCO listing against Israel barrier plan—"A Palestinian village joined UNESCO's world heritage sites list on Friday after an emergency nomination meant to try to block Israel from building a barrier across its ancient farmland."

Drones

• Court releases DOJ memo justifying drone strike on US citizen
• "Civilian casualties" authorized under secret US drone-strike memo—"US justifies killings as acts of war despite civilian deaths, global precedent."
• When drones fall from the sky—"More than 400 large U.S. military drones have crashed in major accidents around the world since 2001, showing the potential dangers of throwing open U.S. skies to drone traffic, according to a year-long Washington Post investigation." WaPo
• US officials move to ban drones from national parks
• African firm is selling pepper-spray bullet firing drones

VA

• VA deaths covered up to make statistics look better, whistle-blower says
• Every Senior V.A. Executive Was Rated 'Fully Successful' or Better Over 4 Years NYT
• GOP Sen. Ron Johnson: It costs too much to fund the VA—Support the troops, and then don't.
• VA looks into the fatal shooting by police of KC veteran Issac Sims
• Marine vet says VA classified him as dead

PTSD

• Government's PTSD treatment for veterans lacking, report finds LA Times
• Arizona judge rules pot can be used for PTSD
• British Army turns to Oculus Rift to take the sting out of battlefield trauma

Soldiers

• Airman on his way to report for duty gets stranded in Price, community comes to his rescue
• Marine who took grenade blast for comrade receives Medal of Honor
• Baxter's back! Family agrees to return deployed soldier's beloved dog after girlfriend sold him on Craigslist... even though their children were attached to him—The parents did the right thing.
• Vet says he was asked to leave Walgreens because of service dog
• Baton Rouge Hotel Reprimanded for Refusing Service Dog—"The front desk worker told the family she was aware of laws protecting access for service dogs, but the owner insists."
• Local sailor ordered to be in court, despite being out to sea—"Hindes' Navy commanders point to the 'Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.' [...] But circuit court judge Margaret Noe in Michigan denied that protection for Hindes." Grounds for mistrial?

NSA Spying

• Reps. Goodlatte And Ruppersberger Admit That NSA Is Warrantlessly Spying On Americans' Communications
• The NSA's mass surveillance program for phone call metadata is still going
• New leaks show Germany's collusion with NSA—"Several new Snowden-leaked documents show how closely Germany's intelligence agencies work with the NSA. But did the German government deliberately soften laws protecting privacy to make life easier for them?"
• Looks like someone's profiting from Snowden—European defense firms—"Chill is just beginning for US cloud companies as governments seek local help."
• Microsoft: NSA security fallout 'getting worse' ... 'not blowing over'
• 'That is total bullsh*t!': Glenn Greenwald and Iraq War vet square off on Snowden leaks

Surveillance and Privacy

• Ralph Fiennes hits out at internet surveillance and loss of press freedom—"Actor says lack of web privacy is 'frightening' and Russian media has had its 'spine snapped' over reporting on anti-gay measures."
• Seizing data for 2.5 years amounts to "general warrant," court says—"Decision limits government powers to search seized computer data carte blanche."
• Poorly anonymized logs reveal NYC cab drivers' detailed whereabouts—"Botched attempt to scrub data reveals driver details for 173 million taxi trips."
• Delaware Attorney General Throws Subpoeana At Reddit Over Comment On Photo Of Two People Having Sex Behind A Dumpster—Over consensual sex.
• New sensors will scoop up 'big data' on Chicago

Police State

• The Surveillance/Police State: Assisting the Dismantling of Inalienable Rights
• US police departments are increasingly militarised, finds report
• Illinois buys cell-tracking gear complete with NDAs, no-bid process—"Homeland Security grant funded secret buy of stingrays for state police."
• Google, Microsoft Commit to 'Kill Switch' Phone Tech—Worked well for Apple, but the question remains, will this 'feature' be turned against us?
• Researchers Find and Decode the Spy Tools Governments Use to Hijack Phones—Whoops, too late.

Wifi

• Appeals Court Says Using Open WiFi May Be A Crime
• "Free" Wi-Fi from Xfinity and AT&T also frees you to be hacked
• The EFF wants to improve your privacy by making your Wi-Fi public

War on Terror, Iraq'd, Middle East, Bergdahl; DTA: Vice City, Shootings, Guns; Police State, Warrantless Tracking, Militarization, M.I.C.; Your Rights Online, Journalism and Transparency; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

War on Terror

• "Extremely Troubling" Documents Show How Obama Administration Embraced Foreign Detention of Terror Suspects—"Changes made to a key FBI interrogation manual highlight the bureau's increasing focus on questioning suspects—including Americans—in overseas prisons."
• UK: Fully secret terror trial blocked by Court of Appeal
• Cover-Up in Guantanamo: Torturing to Death, Hiding and Fabricating Evidence, and Calling it Suicide
• American exceptionalism and American innocence: The misleading history and messages of the 9/11 Memorial Museum—"The 9/11 Memorial gets grief profoundly. But the museum cynically exploits tragedy, confuses history with ideology." Salon
• TSA 'Abusively and Arbitrarily' Using Security Designation to Hide Information
• 7 years later, Blackwater guards go on trial—For killing 14 Iraqi civilians.

Iraq'd

• Arms Windfall for Insurgents as Iraq City Falls—"Weapons provided by the United States to help Iraqi forces battle militants are now in the hands of the militants." NYT
• ISIS just stole $425 million, Iraqi governor says, and became the 'world's richest terrorist group' WaPo
• Extremists in Iraq now control the country's rivers
• Iraq, Sunnis, and Shiites: The U.S. should never have withdrawn its troops in 2011
• The Fall of Mosul and the False Promises of Modern History—"Ironically, by invading, occupying, weakening and looting Iraq, Bush and Cheney brought al-Qaeda into the country and so weakened it as to allow it actually to take and hold territory in our own time."
• Iran Deploys Quds Forces To Support Iraqi Troops, Helps Retake Most Of Tikrit
• Iraq conflict: Sistani issues Shia call to arms
• Russia on Iraq: 'We told you so' WaPo
• On Iraq, let's ignore those who got it all wrong WaPo
• Jihadist Gains in Iraq Blindside American Spies—"First Crimea, now Iraq. Why does America's $50 billion intelligence community keep getting taken by surprise?" FP

Middle East

• Nato forces kill five US troops in Afghanistan—"Five American soldiers have been killed accidentally by their own side in southern Afghanistan, US military sources have confirmed."
• U.S. arms could create Syria 'warlords', rebel commander says
• Taliban gunmen attack Karachi airport academy in second assault

Bergdahl

• FBI: Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's parents have received threats
• Bergdahl describes harsh treatment, solitary confinement: U.S. officials
• U.S. deaths in Afghanistan may have only tenuous link to Bergdahl
• Juan Williams Slams GOP Who 'Flip-Flopped' On Bergdahl In 'Most Craven Way'
• Maddow Calls Out Republicans Who Left Bergdahl Briefing Early
• The Right Didn't Mind When Bush Paid a Ransom to Terrorists
• Benghazi, Bowe Bergdahl, and manufactured brouhaha Boston Globe
• Stephen Colbert skewers 'Bergdghazi,' elbows Fox News WaPo

DTA: Vice City

• Police Ambushed in Las Vegas; 5 Dead
• Report: Vegas Shooters Planned To Take Over Courthouse, Execute Officials
• How much does right-wing rhetoric contribute to right-wing terrorism? WaPo
• Why not call the Las Vegas attack an act of domestic terrorism?—"'Terrorism' is an overused word that tends to obscure more than it reveals. But the reluctance to use it to describe the Las Vegas attackers is troubling."
• Home-Grown, Right-Wing Terrorism: The Hate the GOP Refuses to See—"As the Las Vegas shootings show, right-wing extremism is real and on the rise. But for Republicans, better to focus on the Muslims."
• If the Las Vegas Killers Were Muslims, We'd Call Them Terrorists—"But should we?"
• Facebook Posts Reveal Vegas Shooter Thought Bundy Ranch Was 'Start Of Revolution'
• Hatriot Politics Created the Las Vegas Killers—"Jerad and Amanda Miller, the Wingnuts whose killing spree left two policemen, a civilian, and themselves dead, were inspired by fright-wing radio hosts and militia movement groups."
• Inside the Unraveling of Las Vegas Shooting Spree Suspect Jerad Miller—"In comments on the conspiracy-peddling website Infowars, he revealed the deeply personal roots of his hatred of government."
• Did the Las Vegas Shooting Suspects Obtain Their Guns on Facebook?

Shootings

• Guns after Elliot Rodger: Businesses like Chipotle and Sonic are our best hope for gun control
• Sun News Network will not use New Brunswick killer's name—"We will not help give this killer his blaze of glory."
• Jim Rubens says armed civilians drastically reduce casualties during mass shootings—Politifact says: False.
• Obama: 'We Should Be Ashamed' Of Failure To Address Gun Violence
• When did mass shootings become so frighteningly mundane in America?
• Jon Stewart Rips The Public's Apathy Over Gun Violence

Guns

• Fearing Rising Backlash, NRA Urges Gun Activists to Stand Down—"Carrying assault rifles into restaurants backfired—and now the gun lobby is firing at its own for acting 'downright weird.'" Update: That didn't last long, but the group stopped bringing guns to Target.
• More Guns Equal More Deaths, Study Finds
• Neighbor, 61, pulls gun on father teaching girl to ride bike
• Alabama Gun Rights Supporter Brings Loaded Pistol To Polls
• Suicide Is Leading Cause Of Gun Deaths, But Largely Absent In Debate On Gun Violence

Police State

• Pentagon preparing for mass civil breakdown—"Social science is being militarised to develop 'operational tools' to target peaceful activists and protest movements."
• How the FBI Tried to Block Martin Luther King's Commencement Speech—"The untold story of a government plot, a maverick college president, and the most important figure of the civil rights era."
• "Guantánamo North" – NDAA Indefinite Detention Coming Soon to a Town Near You?

Warrantless Tracking

• In major privacy ruling, court says police need warrant to track phone users' location
• Is Chicago using cell tracking devices? One man tries to find out—"Lawyer: Chicago police 'has a history of doing some questionable surveillance.'"
• Local cops in 15 US states confirmed to use cell tracking devices—"Stingray use is widespread: Baltimore, Chicago, and even Anchorage have them."
• U.S. pushing local cops to stay mum on cellular surveillance

Militarization

• Police officer safety or surplus zeal: Military equipment spurs debate
• War Gear Flows to Police Departments—"Former tools of combat — M-16 rifles, grenade launchers, silencers and more — are ending up in the armories of local police departments, often with little public notice." NYT
• Indiana Sheriff Justifies Military Surplus Purchases By Saying America 'Has Become A War Zone'
• 500 American Communities Are Now Armed With Military Tanks and Military Vehicles, and Have Reportedly Lied on Their Applications to Get Them for Free
• The Battlefield War Games Series Embraces Police Militarization
• London mayor offers to be blasted by water cannon—"London Mayor Boris Johnson offered on Wednesday to be sprayed by water cannon to demonstrate that they are safe, after buying the riot control equipment for the capital despite having no permission to use it."

M.I.C.

• 25 Year Old Fraudulent Pentagon Contracting Program Exposed—"Some of the biggest names in the defense and aerospace industry were allowed to circumvent federal law that required small business contracting goals be achieved."
• Buying single-engine F-35s for Canada a 'serious mistake': report—"Michael Byers's One Dead Pilot report urges government to look at 2-engine options to replace CF-18s."
• Why are countries still using the fake bomb detectors sold by a convicted British conman?—"Pakistani security personnel still guard Karachi's Jinnah airport using versions of Jim McCormick's phoney bomb detector. They are not alone in having a seemingly unshakeable belief in the ADE 651."

Your Rights Online

• Canada: Cyberbullying law would let police 'remotely hack into computers, mobile devices, or cars'
• Facebook Under Fire for Temporarily Blocking Pages in Pakistan—"Citing pressure from the Pakistani government, Facebook said it blocked left-wing political pages and a popular rock band, Laal, whose members spoke out against Taliban." NYT
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• Man arrested for parodying mayor on Twitter files civil rights lawsuit—"Police raid follows mayor being upset over the portrayal of him as drug abuser."
• Canada: Top court rules search warrant needed to access Internet information
• Google will flag search results erased due to "right to be forgotten"—"Wikipedia founder: 'Suppression of knowledge' is a 'terrible danger.'"

Journalism and Transparency

• Why It Shouldn't Be Criminal to Report Government Secrets—"Prosecuting journalists imposes huge costs, yields scant benefits, and is mostly pointless in an era when anyone can reach a mass audience."
• Sheriff calls Homeland Security on man requesting public records
• ACLU: Secrecy is a Cancer on Our Democracy
• Why we're suing the CIA—"After 10,000 requests, MuckRock launches its first lawsuit."
• Clever piece of code exposes hidden changes to Supreme Court opinions

NSA Spying

• Al Gore: Snowden Revealed Crimes 'Way More Serious' Than Any He Committed—"Former vice president says NSA overreach poses 'a threat to democracy.'"
• Former NSA chief calls Snowden 'he who will not be named'
• Inside Edward Snowden's Life as a Robot
• Darrell Issa: James Clapper lied to Congress about NSA and should be fired WaPo
• Former NSA director backs House bill to rein in spy agency
• NSA: Our systems are so complex we can't stop them from deleting data wanted for lawsuit WaPo
• ACLU: Too Big To Comply? NSA Says It's Too Large, Complex to Comply With Court Order
• If The NSA's System Is Too Big To Comply With Court Orders, Court Should Require It To Change Its System
• Eric Cantor's loss is bad news for the NSA—"The Tea Party candidate who just toppled the House Majority Leader is a skeptic of NSA spying."

Surveillance and Privacy

• FBI embracing facial recognition to "find bad guys"—"Director wavered when asked if database would store drivers' license photos."
• Microsoft fights U.S. search warrant for customer e-mails held in overseas server
• Web giants encrypt their services—but leaks remain—"Ars surveys SSL use at major cloud providers and finds some holes."
• To defeat encryption, feds deploy the subpoena—"Drop boxes, secured or not, are all the post-Snowden rage and ripe for subpoenas."
• Post-Snowden China looks to 'hack-proof' quantum communications—"The holy grail of data encryption should, in theory, be safe from prying eyes." SCMP

Ukraine vs. Russia; Turkey; War on Terror, Police State; Monetary Damages; Child Endangerment; Home Invasion; Road Rage; Guns; Slavery

Ukraine vs. Russia

• Ukraine says 100,000 Russian troops near border
• A rapid Russian build-up of tanks and troops with tough talk from President Vladimir Putin raises fears war with Ukraine could be imminent
• Russian annexation of Ukraine's Crimea illegal: UN General Assembly
• Ukraine faces hard road to economic recovery with Moscow pushing back—"Price Ukraine pays for Russian gas to rise 80 pct."
• Yanukovich calls for referendum on each Ukrainian region: Report

Turkey

• Recordings, Posted Online, Rattle Officials in Turkey—"A recording was posted on YouTube in which officials were heard discussing a plot to establish a justification for military strikes in Syria." NYT
• Turkish foreign minister calls Syria security leak a declaration of war
• PM Erdogan plotted sex tape to topple opposition leader, audio leak reveals
• Turkey moves to block YouTube access after 'audio leak'—EFF says Tor has been blocked too.
• Turkish Court Overturns the Government's Ban on Twitter—"It was not immediately clear whether the ruling would be appealed or circumvented by a new court order." NYT

War on Terror

• UN human rights report slams US for torture, NSA spying
• After seven years, exactly one person gets off the gov't no-fly list—"New report on terrorism 'blacklists' suggests it won't be easier the next time."
• T.S.A. Calls for Armed Guards at Airport Checkpoints—"The agency is recommending several new security measures in response to a fatal shooting last year at Los Angeles International Airport." NYT
• Editorial: Washington's anti-terrorism handouts—"Federal funding is sweet manna from heaven, as far as local and state officials are concerned. The dollars bolster budgets and support special projects without requiring cuts to other programs that, the public is assured, are far too important to sacrifice. It’s free money."

Police State

• Law enforcement in the United States: Armed and dangerous—"No-knock raids, assault weapons and armoured cars: America's police use paramilitary tactics too often."
• Paramilitary police: Cops or soldiers?—"America’s police have become too militarised."
• Communities grow weary of militarized police
• 4 shocking examples of police militarization in America's small towns—"Research shows that the number of SWAT teams in municipalities smaller than 50,000 is up more than 300 percent." Salon
• Officers being 'warriors' modern policing problem

Monetary Damages

• Man chases a $20 down a storm drain, gets stuck underground for two days
• Colo. Man to Go to Trial in May Over $42 Girl Scout Cookie Purchase
• Gambler sues, says he lost $500,000 playing drunk

Child Endangerment

• Jessica Dutro murder trial: Motive for Tigard killing was 4-year-old's perceived homosexuality, prosecutors say
• Tulsa Women With Dead Toddler In Car Found Guilty Of Murder—"The Assistant District Attorney said 19-month-old Zamontay Green was basically tortured to death with long-term abuse.... 'He had been kicked, he had been punched, he had been struck with cords, he had been struck with belts.'"
• 3 Children Found Starving in Home Had 'Hardly Eaten for Months'
• Man left baby in car, went into strip club for hours, police say
• Man gets 16 years for putting infant in freezer
• Minneapolis man, 32, punches 8-year-old, steals iPad
• Razor blades glued to playground at IL park

Home Invasion

• Surveillance Video Shows Burglar Firing Into Home But Police Still Charge Resident For Shooting Back!
• Houston area father kills boy he found in daughter's bedroom—"The father then went into the girl's bedroom and discovered the 17 year old male in bed with his 16 year old daughter. The daughter denied knowing who the boy was. [...] The 16 year old girl later admitted to investigators that she did know the boy and had let him into the home." Looks like she's at fault.
• Uptown family concerned by lack of 911 response after break-in, several calls to authorities—A lot could have happened in during that two-hour delay.

Road Rage

• Two families of victims killed by Texas 'affluenza' teen reach settlement—A injured boy's family is filing a civil suit.
• At Least Two Dead After Car Crashes Into Crowd At SXSW—Up to three now. The driver was reportedly drunk and fleeing the police.
• Manslaughter charge sought for deputy sheriff—"A Maricopa County sheriff's deputy was driving at a rate more than twice the speed limit moments before his Chevrolet Tahoe T-boned a Nissan Cube in December, killing the 63-year-old driver."

Guns

• California Senate's Top Gun Control Advocate Arrested In Firearms Trafficking Plot
• Open-carry gun lawsuit claims Flint Township police improperly jailed man Christmas Eve
• Supreme Court upholds gun ban for domestic violence +

Slavery

• Life in a 'dog cage': Manhattan's secret tenement offers hell for $10 a night
• Malaysian couple to hang for starving Indonesian maid to death
• An Underworld of Male Slaves Comes to Light in the U.K.
• Trucker Kept Sex Slaves, Including Fla. Relative: Deputies
• Video: Daily Record man tells of scenes of fear and desperation as he goes undercover at the rat-infested Bellgrove dosshouse

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

War on Terror, Press Freedom and Free Speech, Surveillance States, TSA and Watchlists; Islamists; Middle East; Ukraine; China; World News; US Politics, Dark Money, Racism

War on Terror

• After 9/11, CIA Secretly Turned Some Gitmo Prisoners Into Double Agents
• Two terror suspects sue Poland over 'CIA torture'
• British major threw laptop with sensitive Iraq photos from ferry
• Speaking against the NDAA
• The Government's Secret Plan to Shut Off Cellphones and the Internet, Explained

Press Freedom and Free Speech

• How Surveillance-State Insiders Try to Discredit NSA Critics—"Journalists opposed to the surveillance state are accused of sensationalism and withholding context. But unlike our critics, we're eager for the whole truth to out."
• Britain targets Guardian newspaper over intelligence leaks related to Edward Snowden WaPo
• Guardian editor defends publication of Snowden files—"Rusbridger also told lawmakers that the Guardian had published only 1 percent of the 58,000 files it had received from Snowden." WaPo
• Guardian Australia fiercely defends its reporting on spy agencies—"Attacks on the publication of stories based on NSA documents threaten to shut down debate on the issues that matter."
• War On Democracy: Spain And Japan Move To Criminalize Protests
• Japan: The new Uzbekistan of press freedom in Asia—And protests against secrecy law is an 'act of terrorism.'
• Justices to look at claims over Bush-era protest—"The lawsuit claims the two agents violated anti-Bush protesters' free-speech rights by having police move them farther away from where the president was eating dinner than some pro-Bush demonstrators."

Surveillance States

• United Nations counterterrorism official launches investigation into NSA surveillance
• French Lawmakers Propose Warrantless Access to Live User Data From ISPs and Hosting Sites
• Australian spy agency offered to share data about ordinary citizens
• Timor-Leste spy case: 'witness held, and lawyer's office raided by ASIO'—"A first-hand witness to alleged Australian spying against Timor-Leste in 2004 has been detained and searched at his Canberra home, according to a prominent human rights lawyer and academic, Frank Brennan."
• How politics, spying, and censorship shape the Web

TSA and Watchlists

• Trial Opens in Case Challenging Scholar's Placement on TSA Watchlist—"Is Rahinah Ibrahim a Malaysian jihadist, or the victim of misguided bureaucrats who erroneously placed the 48-year-old woman on a U.S. terror watchlist, preventing the scholar and mother of four from re-entering the United States?"
• Who Is Watching the Watch Lists?—"[T]he federal government's main terrorist watch list has grown to at least 700,000 people, with little scrutiny over how the determinations are made or the impact on those marked with the terrorist label." NYT
• Abolish the TSA

Islamists

• Tunisia protesters torch ruling party office
• Moscow police arrest 'armed Islamists' in raids
• Britain to tackle 'Islamist extremism' after soldier's murder

Middle East

• UN implicates Bashar al-Assad in Syria war crimes
• Hezbollah: Commander 'assassinated' outside Beirut home
• Yasser Arafat 'was not poisoned' - leaked French report
• Pakistani party "outs" suspected CIA station chief in fury at drone strike
• Identity and Exile—"Al Jazeera's Matthew Cassel examines why so many American Jews defend Israeli policies regardless of the issue or cost."

Ukraine

• Ukraine PM Mykola Azarov warns of coup in making
• Ukraine protests grow as president responds
• Ukraine's crisis is getting so serious that protesters used a bulldozer against police WaPo
• Ukraine unrest: Nato condemns crackdown on protesters
• Transparency International slams Ukraine as ‘most corrupt in Europe’

China

• U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrives in China amid tense airspace dispute
• People's Bank of China hints at retreat on dollar purchases—"Reserves build-up no longer in China's favour, central bank deputy governor says, amid talk that the yuan's trading band could be widened."
• China punishes 20,000 officials for being too bureaucratic
• China Claims Victory in Scrubbing Internet Clean—"The Chinese government has declared victory in cleaning up what it considers rumors, negativity and unruliness from online discourse, while critics say the moves have suppressed criticism of the government and ruling Communist Party."
• China is Cheating the World Student Rankings System—"Enough is enough: Beijing must supply national data to assessors and not simply the results of a small minority of elite students."

World News

• Tensions ease in Thailand as police remove barriers
• North Korea powerbroker 'dismissed'
• Tibetan immolations: Desperation as world looks away

US Politics

• Most Americans think US should 'mind its own business' abroad, survey finds
• In God we trust, maybe, but not each other—"You can take our word for it. Americans don't trust each other anymore." WaPo
• Tom Corbett Went From Establishment Republican to Tea Party Ally. Bad Move.
• John Nichols: Rep. Trey Radel won't be joining the half a million Americans jailed for drug offenses
• Gov. Walker Urges Parents to Skip Toys and Send the Christmas Money to Him

Dark Money

• Judge hits 'dark money' group with $260,000 fine for failing to disclose campaign spending
• Corporate 'Dark Money' To Get Free Pass After SEC Drops Disclosure Proposal
• Sierra Club On Dark Money Changes: Don't Toss Whole Bushel Over Few Bad Apples

Racism

• Racism is over? According to the RNC's twitter it is
• Scott Walker Fires Campaign Staffer For Offensive Tweets About Hispanics
• Black female professor reprimanded for pointing out existence of structural racism to white male students

Civil Liberties, Freedom of Speech and Anonymity, Journalism, Transparency; Snowden, Surveillance and NSA Spying; Syria, War on Terror, TSA

Civil Liberties

• The Banality of Systemic Evil—"A recent poll showed that 70 percent of people aged 18 to 34 thought Edward Snowden 'did a good thing.' Has the younger generation lost its moral compass?" NYT
• Amid NSA Scandal, ACLU Report Turns Spotlight Back To FBI's 'Unchecked Abuse Of Authority'
• DOJ: Some Constitutional Rights Can't Be Tested In Courts, Like Our Ability To Kill You With A Drone
• Federal Appeals Court: Border Agents Can't Answer Suspect's Cell Phone And Impersonate Owner
• Cross Border Killings—"What happens when US Border Patrol agents shoot across international lines, killing Mexicans in their own country?" Nothing because US courts asserted "that Mexican citizens do not have the same constitutional protections as US citizens..."

Freedom of Speech and Anonymity

• Anonymous Cop Pens Bizarre Editorial Calling for 'End of Anonymity on the Internet,' Says All Internet Posters Should be Forced to Register with the Government for 'Public Safety'—He says while his boot is stepping on your neck.
• Charles Xue tells Chinese media he spread irresponsible online posts—"Detained Chinese-American venture capitalist says 'freedom of speech cannot override the law.'" Room 101 strikes again.
• Supreme Court Weighs When Online Speech Becomes an Illegal Threat
• Judge Throws Out Officers' Convictions in Killings After Hurricane Katrina—"The judge harshly criticized federal prosecutors for making anonymous comments on the Web site of a New Orleans newspaper before and during the trial." NYT
• Cynics Online—"Ambiguous usernames that provide anonymity have resulted in an increase in freedom of speech and a decrease in liability."

Journalism

• "Free Flow of Information Act" Targets Independent Journalism—"According to the text of an amendment sponsored by Senators Diane Feinstein and Dick Durbin..., only salaried journalists will be given the free press protections guaranteed to all US citizens by the Constitution." How Orwellian can you get? "Free Flow" indeed.
• Why 'be transparent' has replaced 'act independently' as a guiding journalism principle
• The Onion Is The Country's Best Op-Ed Page. Seriously.

Transparency

• Ideas at the House: Panel - The War on Whistleblowers and Their Publishers—"US Journalist and activist Alexa O'Brien and Australian commentator Robert Manne are joined by video conference with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Guardian Journalist Glenn Greenwald and Chelsea Manning's Lawyer David Coombs on stage at the Sydney Opera House (moderated by Bernard Keane of Crikey)."
• AP Journalists: The NYPD 'Less Transparent' Than CIA, FBI And NSA When It Comes To FOI Requests
• DoD office can't process FOIAs because fax machine broken, no money for new one

Snowden

• Fugitive Snowden in running for European rights prize
• Former NSA chief: 'Morally arrogant' Snowden will probably become an alcoholic
• The NSA Has No Solution For The Real 'Snowden Problem' And It's Only Going To Get Worse

Surveillance and NSA Spying

• U.S. Telcos Have Never Challenged NSA Demands for Your Metadata
• Newly Released Secret Surveillance Court Ruling Confirms Sweeping Legal Standard For Collecting Phone Data
• FISA Court Pretends Every Member Of Congress Was Told Details Of Bulk Surveillance, Even Though They Weren't
• Senators Decry NSA 'Ineptitude,' Call for End to Dragnet Phone Surveillance
• Verizon exec slams Google, Microsoft, Yahoo for NSA lawsuit grandstanding—Big brother knows best!
• Guardian Story on Israel and N.S.A. Is Not 'Surprising' Enough to Cover—Nothing to see here folks. Move along... seriously, move... along. NYT
• Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff calls off US trip—"Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has called off a state visit to Washington next month in a row over allegations of US espionage."

Syria

• Forensic Details in U.N. Report Point to Assad's Use of Gas NYT
• Jon Stewart Goes After Sen. Graham, Others For Pushing War In Syria
• Final Tally: Americans Were 12 Times More Interested in Miley Cyrus Than Syria—State of the nation indeed.

War on Terror

• How the 'war on terror' came home—"The story of Aaron Alexis is still obscure. But effects of an over-taxed US military are painfully visible among 2 million veterans."
• The War on Terror is Still Everywhere
• Herat attack: Afghanistan Taliban target US consulate

TSA

• Ex-TSA agent: We steal from travelers all the time
• Keep your shoes, jackets on: TSA to expand pre-screening program
• Been groped by TSA agents? Former DHS official implied privacy advocates are to blame

Workers and Wage Slaves, Occupational Hazards; Economy, Inequality, Class War, Monsanto; Financial Troublemakers; Homes for the Taking: Liens, Loss and Profiteers; Syria, NSA Spying

Workers and Wage Slaves

• Companies lay off thousands, then demand immigration reform for new labor—Why pay fair wages when you can get overseas workers on the cheap?
• Most U.S. Workers Likely to Lose Out from Proposed Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement, Report Finds
• Indiana judge finds right-to-work unconstitutional—"A Lake County judge has determined Indiana's right-to-work law violates a provision in the state constitution barring the delivery of services 'without just compensation.'"
• Majority of U.S. Workers Say Job Doesn't Require a Degree—"Even four in 10 working college grads say their work doesn't require a degree."
• Teen employment hits record lows, suggesting lost generation
• One more reason it's crap to be a waiter in America—"The IRS is cracking down on tips – again. Why go after billionaires when you can squeeze more out of servers?"
• Jobs, Debt And Home Prices Since The Crisis, In Five Charts

Occupational Hazards

• Washington DC Mayor Vincent Gray Vetoes Living Wage Bill—"In explaining his veto Gray said the bill was not a 'true' living-wage bill because it would only raise minimum wage for a small fraction of DC's workforce, only affecting a handful of retailers whose stores are supermarket-sized or larger and whose workforces are not unionized."
• Agency: Firms can't only use debit cards to pay—"Federal regulators say companies cannot require employees to receive their pay on debit cards, citing complaints from workers of high and unexpected fees on the cards."
• Pay is delayed for 40,000 federal workers
• Lake County to terminate dozens of older-than-65 employees
• Canada: Intern's Death After Overnight Shift Sparks Outcry—"The sudden death of a 22-year-old Alberta practicum student, who crashed while driving home after being made to work long hours, has his loved ones pushing for laws to protect unpaid interns from exploitation."

Economy

• Revealed: The Secret Koch Group That Gave Conservatives $236 Million In 2012
• Elizabeth Warren Calls Supreme Court Right-Wing, 'Pro-Corporate'—A "subsdiary of big business."
• Boehner Seeking Democrats' Help on Fiscal Talks—"As Speaker John A. Boehner sought a deal to avert a government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling, a bloc of Republicans demanded a delay in the federal health care law, which the White House called 'a nonstarter.'" NYT
• Columnist calls out PolitiFact for covering up Scott Walker's debt problem
• 10 Ways America Has Come to Resemble a Banana Republic

Inequality

• Income gap between rich and poor is biggest in a century
• Tired Of Inequality? One Economist Says It'll Only Get Worse
• Years after recession, many in U.S. still struggling, polls show
• Krugman: Rich Man's Recovery—"While the great majority of Americans are still living in a depressed economy, the rich at the very top are doing just fine." NYT
• Recovery for the Rich, Recession for the Rest

Class War

• Mindlessly Gutting Food Stamps—"House Republicans blame the needy for the lingering costs of recession." NYT
• The wealthy 'make mistakes', the poor go to jail—"I left my Wall Street trader job and began photographing drug addicts in NYC. These two worlds have entirely different rules."
• Exposing How Donald Trump Really Made His Fortune: Inheritance from Dad and the Government's Protection Mostly Did the Trick
• How Wal-Mart’s Waltons Maintain Their Billionaire Fortune
• Billionaire's Hit-and-Run Crash Leaves Single Mom With $4K Bill

Monsanto

• 'Monsanto Protection Act' quietly extended by Congress
• Monsanto, DuPont pour millions into GMO fight
• Daily Show: Monsanto & Seed Patent Laws—"Aasif Mandvi learns that greedy farmers have threatened the livelihood of Monsanto's heroic patent attorneys."

Financial Troublemakers

• In fiery speech, Warren calls for limiting size of banks
• The Case Against Larry Summers
• This is a complete list of Wall Street CEOs prosecuted for their role in the financial crisis
• The jerks got away with it! 5 years after economic collapse, they’re still smiling—"Five years ago this week, titans of finance wrecked the American economy. Here's why they're still happy as ever." Salon
• Morgan Stanley CEO Gorman Says Chance of Another Financial Crisis Near Zero
• Banks Warned Not to Flout $25 Billion Foreclosure Deal—"[R]egulators say lenders may be flouting the spirit of the deal by repeatedly asking for additional paperwork from borrowers seeking loan modifications and then foreclosing while treating the applications as incomplete."
• Despite Big Bank Threats, City Approves 'Eminent Domain for the People'—"Richmond, Calif. approves measure to seize 'underwater homes' in order to write-down mortgages and save homeowners."

Homes for the Taking: Liens, Loss and Profiteers

• Left with nothing—"Too old, too tired and not enough money to fight. The District sold their small debts to investors, now their homes are gone for good.
• Suspicious bidding—"Unusual bidding at D.C. tax auctions went undetected: With thousands of homes on the line, the city's tax sales have been undermined by unusual bidding."
• Mistakes put homes in peril—"D.C. tax office mix-ups put homes in peril. Agency sells hundreds of liens by mistake, even after bills are paid."
• D.C. officials want changes to tax lien practices but ignored earlier calls for reform—"Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) and a key D.C. Council member said they would pursue emergency legislation next week to reform the practice after learning about it Sunday in an investigative report published in The Washington Post. But both Gray and council members were warned 16 months ago..."
• Tax lien sales canceled after Post investigation; Gray calls for reforms—Another feather in the cap for the WP.

Syria

• US-Russia Reach Agreement on Syria Weapons
• The US: world's policeman or schoolyard bully?—"Ever since 9/11, it seems America's just been itching for a fight – and any Muslim country will do. Really, who acts like this?."
• Malala Raising $500 Million For Syrian Refugees

NSA Spying

• Judge Urges U.S. to Consider Releasing NSA Data on Calls NYT
• Jesse Kline: The NSA's undemocratic push toward a digital surveillance state
• NSA gets data from Germany’s domestic security agency - reports

War on Terror, Syria; NSA Spying; Grand Old Tea Party, Obamacare, Wisconsin, Corruption; Racism, Vote Machinations; Science and Politics

War on Terror

• Too Many Years Of Lies: From Mossadeq to 9/11—"Washington has been at war for 12 years. According to experts such as Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, these wars have cost Americans approximately $6 trillion, enough to keep Social Security and Medicare sound for years. All there is to show for 12 years of war is fat bank balances for the armament industries and a list of destroyed countries with millions of dead and dislocated people who never lifted a hand against the United States."
• Chomsky: 9/11 Is the Basis for 'Obama's Massive Terrorist War'—"Chomsky weighs in on 9/11 anniversary, Syria’s "bloody partition" and why U.S. role ensures failure of mideast talks."
• Guantanamo judge makes secret ruling on secret motion in secret hearing—They've got a secret and they can't explain.
• Gov. Patrick says holding Massport fire training exercise on Sept. 11 anniversary was 'just dumb'
• Fa. pastor arrested before he could burn Qurans—"[T]he pastor had said he was planning to burn 2,998 of the Muslim holy books— one for every victim of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."

Syria

• The Inside Story Of How A Fake PhD Hijacked The Syria Debate—"Analyst" Elizabeth O'Bagy, who supposedly has ties with Syrian rebels, faked her credentials.
• Syria crisis: Russia's Putin in personal plea for US caution
• CIA begins weapons delivery to Syrian rebels—"The U.S. is also shipping new types of nonlethal gear to opposition forces at a time of heightened tensions."

NSA Spying

• NSA shares raw intelligence including Americans' data with Israel
• NSA admits wrongly adding 16,000 phone numbers to 'alert list'—"In a chain of events starting in 2006, the numbers got on a list that could have subjected them to daily monitoring despite not being reasonably linked to terrorism."
• Lavabit's Owner Appeals Secret Surveillance Order That Led Him to Shutter Site
• Yahoo CEO Mayer: we faced jail if we revealed NSA surveillance secrets—"Mark Zuckerberg joins Mayer in hitting back at critics of tech companies, saying US government did 'bad job' of balancing people's privacy and duty to protect."
• Facebook Founder Talks About NSA Surveillance

Grand Old Tea Party

• G.O.P. Senators Fail to Head Off Primary Challenges by Tea Party Rivals—"Despite careful efforts, some of the best-known and most influential Republicans in the Senate have attracted rivals who portray them as a central part of the problem in Washington." NYT
• The conservative crackup: How the Republican Party lost its mind—"How a major, diverse political party became so dependent on the Tea Party's narrow range of strident voices." Salon
• The 1 percent played Tea Party for suckers—"When the super-rich feel threatened, they foment grass-roots uprising on their behalf. Here's why it always works." Salon
• Krugman: The Wonk Gap—"What the G.O.P. doesn't know can hurt us." NYT
• Florida AG Had Execution Delayed Because It Conflicted With Her Fundraiser

Obamacare

• Conservatives Force GOP To Delay Obamacare Gambit—"Conservative groups were furious Tuesday when the plan was unveiled and immediately organized against it, demanding that Republicans go the distance and threaten a government shutdown if Democrats don't blink. FreedomWorks, Club For Growth and Heritage Action vowed to punish lawmakers who support the GOP proposal. Republican leaders, on the other hand, recognize they'd probably be blamed for a shutdown and don't want to risk it."
• Trader Joe's To Drop Health Coverage For Part-Time Workers Under Obamacare: Memo
• Health law's ailments can be cured by single-payer system—"All the shortcomings of the healthcare restructuring result from the decision to leave it in the hands of private insurers."

Wisconsin

• Madison Wisconsin Arrests - Unrest In Scottwalkerstan—"Scott Walker very much would like to run for president and, therefore, does not like to be annoyed by people in the course of selling off the state piecemeal to the people who might one day fund his campaign."
• Scott Walker's Office Tries To Disappear Story Doubting Jobs Pledge
• Scott Walker Unironically Tweets About Labor Day. We Respond.

Corruption

• New evidence puts tangle in McDonnell story—"Rachel Maddow relays new reporting bt the Washington Post that shows that embattled Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell was not telling the truth when he said he wasn't aware of being given gifts, and how the coming election complicates the timing of the potential prosecution of McDonnell."
• Top Florida Senate aide gets $400,000 as moonlighting political consultant
• 3rd Fla. mayor arrested within the past month
• [Democratic U.S. Senate candidate] Booker Reports $3.9 Million Income as He Leaves Waywire
• Fraud Stealing $100 Million Shows Flaws in U.S. Crop Insurance—"Harry Dean Canady will learn next month whether he'll spend the rest of his life in prison for cheating taxpayers of more than $1 million and threatening to kill the U.S. agents who brought him to justice."

Racism

• Friends Mourn Man Fatally Assaulted in Possible Random Hate Crime—"Mr. Babbitt was walking through Union Square near Forbidden Planet last Wednesday when he was punched in the face seemingly at random by an assailant who, the police said, declared his intention to 'punch the first white man I see.'" NYT
• Charlotte pastor: "Only white people" at front door of church—In anticipation of "having an increase in the number of people visiting and attending Freedom House over the next few weeks," Pastor Pennycooke wants "the best of the best on the front doors" becasue "first impressions matter." Shorter pastor: White = The best of the best.
• NY case puts N-word use among blacks on trial—"In a case that gave a legal airing to the debate over use of the N-word among blacks, a federal jury has rejected a black manager's argument that it was a term of love and endearment when he aimed it at black employee."
• A Day in the Life of the Ku Klux Klan, Uncensored
• Woman Arrested After Spraying Baby With Soy Sauce—"Witnesses said a woman walked into the restaurant and said 'go back to China,' then started flipping over diners' plates. She's also accused of spitting on a man and squirting him and his baby with soy sauce."
• New York Magazine Changes Mayor Bloomberg's 'Racist' Quote
• Blacks Asked To Leave South Carolina Restaurant Because White Customer Felt Threatened—But, what's the other side of this story?
• Red Lobster employee suspended after posting racist receipt online—Corporation's bill got paid; she got tipped "none" for being a "nigger."

Vote Machinations

• Top Iowa Republican Poised To Begin New Voter Purge
• 350,000 Would-Be Voters Dropped from Books in Virginia 30 Days Before Registration Deadline
• North Carolina voters fear new ID law will keep them from polls
• GOP State Officials Blame Republican Obstructionism For Blocking Voting Restrictions
• Florida GOP-Led Voter Fraud Investigation Finds Nothing—Except GOP Fraud

Science and Politcs

• Why Science and Politics Don't Mix—"Steven Pinker, professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of such popular science books as 'The Blank Slate,' recently wrote an essay for the New Republic in defense of science. From left and right, he notes, from intellectuals as well as from anti-intellectuals, science is under attack for its arrogance, vulgarity and narrowness of vision."
• More cuts loom for US science—"Stalemate in Congress puts spending plans on hold."
• Scientists leave GOP due to attitudes toward science
• Young Students Against Bad Science—"Meet some high school and college students who have taken stands on issues connected to science education." NYT
• Science Confirms: Politics Wrecks Your Ability to Do Math—"Farewell, Enlightenment: New research suggests that people even solve math problems differently if their political ideology is at stake."