Workers and Wage Slaves, Unemployment, Minimum Wage, On the Job; Banks and Wall Street, Accountability, Credit Suisse, Taxes, Class War; Corporatocracy, Amazon.com, Reviews

Workers and Wage Slaves

• The Republican War on Workers' Rights—"State legislatures have favored employers over their employees." NYT
• Here's The Painful Truth About What It Means To Be 'Working Poor' In America
• Walmart Warehouse Contractor To Pay $21 Million To Settle Wage Theft Allegations
• Medical residents' pay: Doctors in training are organizing for collective bargaining
• McDonald's vacates headquarters due to worker protests —Over 100 arrested.
• For Chevron, $6 a day is apparently too much pay for Cambodian workers

Unemployment

• Poll: 47% of Unemployed Have 'Completely Given Up' Looking for a Job
• Cutting Off Emergency Unemployment Benefits Hasn't Pushed People Back to Work
• Unemployment: It's Not Personal NYT
• More Gloom for the Long-Term Unemployed, from Alan Krueger WSJ

Minimum Wage

• The fight for a global minimum wage
• Show This To The Next Person Who Says High Minimum Wages Kill Jobs
• Michigan: Bill boosting minimum wage to $9.20 an hour to get hearing in state House
• Swiss voters reject $25 minimum wage

On the Job

• No matter what the boss says about flextime, get to work early
• Why Are We So Busy?—"Since the 1930s, U.S. G.D.P. has grown, in real terms, by a factor of sixteen. Why hasn’t that wealth translated into more leisure time?"
• Man Asks Mike Rowe for "Life Advice"

Banks and Wall Street

• "It's total moral surrender": Matt Taibbi unloads on Wall Street, inequality and our broken justice system—"Matt Taibbi, author of 'The Divide,' tells Salon about Geithner's excuses, Piketty's success and Nixon's cronies." Salon
• Krugman: Springtime for Bankers—"The government saved Wall Street but left the real economy behind." NYT
• Occupy activist Cecily McMillan sentenced to three months in jail—"McMillan to also serve five years' probation for deliberately elbowing a New York police officer at a protest in 2012.

Accountability

• Convicted of Felonies, Banks Are Allowed to Stay in Business NYT
• Merrill Lynch, Charles Schwab Accounts Linked To Mexican Drug Cartels: SEC
• Barclays Bank fined £26m for gold price failings
• JPMorgan, HSBC and Credit Agricole accused of euro rate-fixes
• JPMorgan Ex-CEO for China Investment Bank Arrested, Caixin Says

Credit Suisse

• Credit Suisse pleads guilty to U.S. criminal charge in tax probe—"Swiss bank Credit Suisse on Monday pleaded guilty to a criminal charge for its role in helping Americans dodge taxes, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said, and will pay more than $2.5 billion as part of an agreement with U.S. authorities."
• Credit Suisse still too big to jail despite guilty plea
• Big fine 'won't do much damage': Credit Suisse CEO
• Why Is Credit Suisse Still Allowed to Do Business in the United States?—"The conventional wisdom is that revoking a large bank's license can trigger potential systemic consequences. But that's not the case here."

Taxes

• Federal Judges Are Cutting Rich Tax Cheats Big Sentencing Breaks
• IRS: 318,000 fed workers owe $3.3B in back taxes
• Why Republicans Love Taxing the Poor
• To Lift the Poor, You Can't Avoid Taxing the Rich—"It would be nice if we could tackle inequality with a growth approach and without some sacrifices from the wealthy, but that path simply doesn't exist." NYT

Class War

• Billionaire Home Depot Founder Is Not Really Sorry For Nazi Comparison
• Protesters angry drunken Ferrari driver got work release sentence—More affluenza at work.
• Martins Beach billionaire evades questions on stand
• As Court Fees Rise, The Poor Are Paying The Price
• Pope Demands 'Legitimate Redistribution' Of Wealth—Also: The Piketty pontiff: How Pope Francis is bringing Catholicism back to its anti-inequality roots Salon
• 'Stunning' Data Proves, Yet Again, Housing The Homeless Would Actually Save Taxpayers Big Time
• Tony Abbott's daughter was given scholarship for $60,000 design degree—"Frances Abbott was awarded a chairman's scholarship for bachelors degree at prestigious Sydney institute where a donor to her father sits as chair of board of governors."

Corporatocracy

• One dollar, one vote—"When it comes to setting policy, the views of businesses and the rich seem to count for more."
• Thanks to the Roberts Court, Corporations Have More Constitutional Rights Than Actual People
• Public Justice's Paul Bland Explains What Media Should Know About Class Actions And The Pro-Business Roberts Court
• Looks Like Patent Trolls Have Won This Round As Even Weakened Patent Reform Likely To Die—US Senate wusses out.
• GM to pay $35 million over delayed recall—No arrests?

Amazon.com

• Hachette Says Amazon Is Delaying Delivery of Some Books—"Amazon, which controls more than a third of the book trade in the United States, is marking many books published by Hachette Book Group as not available for at least two or three weeks." NYT
• Goodbye, Amazon: We're through!—"I quit Amazon because of its monopolistic tactics. Is it impossible for book publishers to do the same?" Salon
• Amazon Loses Bid for ".Amazon" Domain Name—In the tradition of WWF forcing WWE to submit.

Reviews

• Lawyers threaten redditor over negative router review on Amazon—Streisand Effect leads to Amazon rescinding Mediabridge's selling priveleges.
• Utah couple win against company that charged for bad online review—Kleargear responds and gripes.
• California: Bill would create new protection for shoppers who write online reviews
• When Rave Reviews Become Risky Re: Internet Reviews
• Docs get Yelped! 1 in 4 patients now read online physician reviews
• Lincoln City hotel sues for defamation after anonymous person posts scathing TripAdvisor review
• Italian antitrust watchdog investigates TripAdvisor reviews, Expedia pricing deals
• Rating or Defaming?

Workers and Wage Slaves, Millenials, Occupational Hazards, Economy; Obamacare; Class Warfare, Politics, GOP, Bridgegate, Corruption, Taxes, Vote Machinations, Campaign Finance Deform, Plutoligarchy, Koch Suckers

Workers and Wage Slaves

• Loss Of Unemployment Benefits Has Now Cost Almost $5 Billion As Congress Dithers
• Robert Reich: Blame big money for our dysfunctional economy—"Former secretary of labor weighs in on our latest underwhelming jobs report and the implications of 'McCutcheon.'" Salon
• Nearly 90% of fast-food workers allege wage theft, survey finds
• McDonald's ex-managers sound off to Salon: Non-existent breaks and illegal overtime—"Former managers says the giant chain's employees were illegally denied their pay - and the corporation's to blame." Salon
• Walmart Realizes It's Losing Billions Of Dollars By Denying Workers More Hours
• Walmart living wage: If the company paid its employees more, how much would prices go up?
• Politicians violated VW workers' rights—"[Tenn. Gov.] Haslam, according to the documents, essentially offered Volkswagen $300 million in taxpayer dollars for plant expansion — but only if the plant remained union-free."

Occupational Hazards

• This GOP House Candidate Proposed Eliminating the Weekend
• UPS Fires 250 Employees For Staging A 90-Minute Protest To Defend Co-Worker
• Woman allegedly fired for checking her email during maternity leave Salon
• Four More Shipbreaking Workers Die in Bangladesh
• Labour markets: A mighty contest—"Job destruction by robots could outweigh creation."

Millenials

• The First Person to Talk to Millennials Like Human Beings Will Run the World—"A new study says Millennials will put an end to the two-party system in America. Will the people currently in power learn to talk to them like people before it all happens?"
• Millennials Mired in Wealth Gap as Older Americans Gain: Economy
• 260,000 graduates in minimum wage jobs

Economy

• Wider U.S. trade deficit to weigh on first-quarter GDP
• Pro-Democrat group says 9 of the 10 poorest states are Republican—Politifact says: Mostly true.
• If homeless people had a safe place to live, taxpayers could save millions—"By providing housing to its homeless, Charlotte, N.C., saved $1.8 million, research at the University of North Carolina–Charlotte found."

Obamacare

• TV Networks Denied Obama Airtime To Tout Obamacare Enrollment
• Facing Obamacare deadline, more young people signed up in March WaPo
• Medicaid boosted by 3 million, bringing 'Obamacare' sign-ups to 10 million—"The numbers may boost Democrats' assertion that 'Obamacare' is working."
• Paul Ryan: We Can Totally Still Repeal Obamacare
• Paul Ryan's honesty problem: How he just exposed GOP's true Obamacare intentions—"Golden boy inadvertently admits GOP doesn't agree insurers should be prohibited from discriminating against the ill." Salon
• Paul Ryan: Popular parts of Obamacare too costly to keep, alternatives needed—It's called single-payer. WaPo
• GOP Candidate Touts Fake Phone Call From Obama In New Ad—Sad.
• The next GOP scheme to manufacture Obamacare "horror stories" WaPo

Class Warfare

• Sen. Sanders: Democracy vs. Oligarchy—"The great political struggle we now face is whether the United States retains its democratic heritage or whether we move toward an oligarchic form of society where the real political power rests with a handful of billionaires, not ordinary Americans."
• There's a Class War Going On and the Poor Are Getting Their Butts Kicked
• The Shocking Rise of Wealth Inequality: Is it Worse Than We Thought?
• You'll Never Guess What Just Happened to Paul Ryan's Promise to Tackle Poverty
• Ryan Unsuited to Lead 'Adult Conversation' About Poverty
• Paul Ryan's budget: Even more austerity
• Judge said du Pont heir 'will not fare well' in prison—"A Superior Court judge who sentenced a wealthy du Pont heir to probation for raping his 3-year-old daughter noted in her order that he 'will not fare well' in prison and needed treatment instead of time behind bars, court records show."
• The heir, the judge and the homeless mom: America's prison bias for the 1%

Politics

• Pro-Pot, Pro-Gay, Anti-NSA… and Running for Senate—"Meet Shenna Bellows, Maine's former ACLU chief who's looking to unseat Susan Collins with a mix of left and right issues that might appeal to millennials." This is how the Tea Party can be effectively countered.
• Tea Party Aims at Incumbents, but Falls Short—"The Tea Party has nudged Republicans to the right in Congress, but falls short when it comes to recruiting good challengers to take out incumbents." NYT
• Honey Maid ad features two father family, single father, military family and more in 'This is Wholesome' campaign

GOP

• 'Imperial Presidency' Becomes a Rallying Cry for Republicans—"While criticizing President Obama as weak, Republicans are also uniting behind a message of government overreach." NYT
• The Shame of American Politics: GOP Presidential Hopefuls now Trek to Las Vegas seeking Adelson Blessing
• Documents reveal secretive Hollywood group's shady donations to conservative politicians
• How the Right Hijacked Arizona—"Ultraconservatives have seized the state's Legislature—and the middle-of-the-road electorate has only its own apathy to blame."
• Once disgraced, Mark Sanford is unopposed—South Carolina, 'nuff said.
• The GOP's Amazing Doublespeak On Medicare And Social Security
• Senate Resolution To Honor Cesar Chavez Dies After Republican Tries To Add Border Security Language—"Senator Bob Menendez introduced a resolution to honor Cesar Chavez legacy but it was scuttled after Senator David Vitter tried to add language about border security and illegal labor."

Bridgegate

• Christie is innocent, says Christie-ordered internal review
• 'Daily Show' Has A Field Day With Christie's Self-Exonerating Report
• Chris Christie update: New Jerseyans think guv's lying about Bridgegate—"Plus: A new report shows the ways that the Christie administration used public employees to secure endorsements." Salon
• Grand Jury Convened in Christie Bridge Scandal Probe
• Why Christie isn't out of the woods just yet

Corruption

• $6 Billion Goes Missing at State Department
• Rick Scott Fundraiser Founded Drug Clinic Closed Due To Abuse Reports
• Charlie Crist: Rick Scott was 'stealing from sick people' as CEO

Taxes

• The Trillions of Dollars U.S. Companies Are Hoarding Overseas—"And a tax repatriation holiday is no way to get them to bring it all back home."
• Senate report claims Caterpillar avoided $2.4bn in US taxes—"Carl Levin's subcommittee on investigations says the equipment-maker routed money through a Swiss subsidiary."
• Congress Should Keep Lights Off on Tax Package That Nets GE Billions in Tax Breaks
• An "Army of Lobbyists" Is Quietly Fighting for Budget-Busting Corporate Tax Breaks
• Congress once again moves to extend 'tax extenders'—"Analysis: The lucrative tax breaks take billions out of the budget, at great reward to lobbyists and lawmakers."
• NY's millionaires getting hefty tax breaks

Vote Machinations

• Here's The Exact Plan The Cheating GOP Is Using To Steal The 2014 Elections
• How Republicans Rationalize Voter Suppression—"The GOP's claims of defending 'voter integrity,' 'fairness,' and 'uniformity' are complete nonsense."
• Appeals Court Finds Florida's 2012 Voter Purge Broke The Law
• State elections officials seek tighter security—"State elections officials said Wednesday that they're investigating hundreds of cases of voters who appear to have voted in two states and several dozen who appear to have voted after their deaths."
• A Well-Informed Electorate Is a Prerequisite for Democracy—Not a coincidence that public education has been constantly attacked and degraded, and substituting information with Fox-News propaganda.

Campaign Finance Deform

• Supreme Court Strikes Down Aggregate Limits On Campaign Contributions
• McCutcheon Decision Campaign Finance - The American Government Is Open For Corruption
• Critics attack Chief Justice John Roberts' opinion that the Internet will safeguard against campaign corruption
• The Supreme Court's Faulty Reasoning In McCutcheon v. FEC
• There Are No Gods on the Supreme Court—"The Supreme Court just made it easier to buy a vote in America today. So why are we still taking them so seriously?"
• Justice Roberts Hearts Billionaires—"The chief either doesn't believe, or doesn't care, that money corrupts politics."
• Justice Roberts Defends the Embattled Rich in McCutcheon
• Nancy Pelosi Slams Supreme Court's McCutcheon Ruling: 'Is This Supposed To Be A Money War?'
• I stood up to the supreme court. It just struck down democracy. What now?—"We should've seen the McCutcheon decision's blow coming. But we must still fight to get big money out of politics."
• Obama signs ban on public funding of presidential campaigns into law—"White House enacts Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, day after supreme court removed cap on campaign contributions."

Plutoligarchy

• The Court's Decision on 'McCutcheon' Will Empower the Oligarchs, Say Reformers
• Thanks to the Supreme Court, the US Just Moved One Step Closer to Full Oligarchy
• With 'McCutcheon' Ruling, An Activist Court Opts for Full-On Plutocracy
• History Shows Capitalism Begets Plutocracy

Koch Suckers

• The Koch Brothers and the Danger of American Plutocracy
• Greediest family on earth: Proof Koch brothers have just one political principle—"The Koch brothers like to pretend they're high-minded free marketers. Here's proof it's a scam." Salon
• Koch brothers vs. a bus: Why two billionaires hate a transit project in Nashville—"A bus rapid transit project is imperiled because a couple of rich guys love meddling." Salon
• Chuck Schumer: If People Know Who The Koch Brothers Are, We're Doing Something Right
• Politifact: Harry Reid says Koch brothers are richest family in the world—Mostly true.
• Charles Koch blasts "collectivists" in Wall Street Journal op-ed—"The billionaire industrialist and GOP donor says he's being unfairly maligned by for believing in liberty." Salon
• To Strike at Kochs, Democrats Revive Tactic That Hurt Romney NYT
• How to Vote Against the Koch Brothers

Workers and Wage Slaves, Minimum Wage, Unemployment, Occupational Hazards, Whistleblowers; Banks and Wall Street, Class Warfare; Politics of Lying, Koch Suckers, Corruption, Bridgegate, Vote Machinations; Obamacare, Abortion and Birth Control, War on Women

Workers and Wage Slaves

• Former CEO: There Is No One Representing Low-Wage Workers
• Wal-Mart manager speaks out about his store's ugly reality—"From no time off, to working multiple roles at once, here's what's really going on at the mega-chain." Salon
• Goodwill paying disabled employees pennies per hour—"Advocacy groups push to end subminimum wage law, which allows bosses to give scant payment to people with disabilities."
• Blueberry lies: WSJ spearheads disingenuous effort to keep exploiting farm workers—"When the government recently stepped in to protect low-paid laborers, the conservative establishment lost its mind." Salon
• Apple, Google lose bid to avoid trial on tech worker lawsuit

Minimum Wage

• Connecticut senate approves bill to raise minimum wage to $10.10
• $28.25: the minimum wage D.C. would need to support a modest 2-bedroom WaPo
• White House urges higher pay for tipped workers
• Edwards calls on Maryland Senate to restore wage hike for tipped employees—"Our tax dollars are actually subsidizing the profit line of employers who are not paying a minimum wage."
• SeaTac Workers Fight for Their 15

Unemployment

• Only 11% of the long-term unemployed find work again a year later
• Long-term jobless face a dark future in U.S.: study
• Jobless father of 4: Awaiting lifeline from Congress

Occupational Hazards

• Study: Welfare recipients spend millions on ATM fees—Punishing the poor.
• Interns are now protected against sexual harassment in New York City—"New bill adds the Big Apple to growing list of cities establishing greater safeguards for unpaid workers." Salon
• Fit-to-work tests: Atos quits contract—"The firm that carries out assessments of whether disability claimants in Britain are fit to work is quitting its contract early, the government says."

Whistleblowers

• Dish Fined $250,000 For Blacklisting Whistle Blowing Employee
• HMRC criticised for using terror laws against tax whistleblower—"Public accounts committee chair says tax official's use of powers to track down journalist had 'shocked her to the bones.'"
• Why must whistleblower employees stand alone?

Banks and Wall Street

• Ex-Madoff employees found guilty of conspiracy
• Bank of America to pay $9.3 billion to settle mortgage bond claims
• Bad News Drew Citi CEO to Rush Home—"Results of 'stress test' mean Corbat had to hurry to reassure staff and investors."
• U.S. Banks Enjoy 'Too-Big-To-Fail' Advantage: Fed Study
• 'Inevitable glitches' ahead for U.S. anti-tax evasion law: IRS
• Wal-Mart sues Visa for $5 billion over 'swipe fees'
• The Case That Could Rock the Occupy Movement—"Cecily McMillan faces up to seven years in jail on charges of assaulting a police officer, sending a chilling message to Occupy protesters."

Class Warfare

• Krugman: Wealth Over Work—"Making America safe for oligarchy." NYT
• It's Ugly—"Sen. Bernie Sanders discusses Republican proposals to cut food stamps with Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC."
• Georgia may soon drug test food stamp recipients

Politics of Lying

• Some conspiracy theories aren't cheap
• Conservatives Have Figured Out A Disturbingly Effective Strategy: Tell Lots And Lots of Lies
• Explainer: Who Can Lie to Congress?

Koch Suckers

• Koch-Funded Network Jumps To Defend Billionaire Brothers Against Democratic Attacks
• The Koch brothers' influence on college campus is spreading
• Out-of-county anti-taxer prompts confrontation in Chesterfield—"A spirited public hearing on a proposed tax increase in Chesterfield County turned ugly Wednesday night when a conservative activist for a national organization got into a confrontation with an audience member."

Corruption

• Calif. Lawmakers Vote to Suspend Sen. Leland Yee, 2 Other Senators
• Mayor Cannon resigns after corruption arrest
• Hidden cameras catch lobbyists, AZ lawmakers wining and dining

Bridgegate

• Chris Christie's 'Bridgegate' given a $1-million coat of whitewash
• Christie: I Can't Recall What Port Authority Exec Told Me During Lane Closures
• Attorney For Former Christie Aide Unloads On Governor's Self-Exoneration

Vote Machinations

• New G.O.P. Bid to Limit Voting in Swing States—"Already, nine states, under Republican control, have passed measures making it harder to vote since the beginning of 2013." NYT
• Wisconsin governor signs bill ending early weekend voting—Also forcing them (non-Republicans... sshhh) to skip work in order to vote.
• North Carolina ordered to release documents in voter law challenge—"North Carolina legislators who shaped sweeping voting changes, including requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls, must provide some emails and other documents to groups challenging the law, a federal judge has ruled."
• Arkansas: State GOP seeks to intervene in lawsuit over voter ID

Obamacare

• White House Delights In Taunting Republicans Who Mocked Early Obamacare Numbers
• Obamacare Still Needs To Overcome Hurdles After Enrollment Deadline
• Bill Clinton to Democrats: Don't run from a fight Politico
• The House Republican Mess—"Did you see what happened yesterday in the House of Representatives? Yup, another example of a dysfunctional Republican Party."
• Why Funny or Die entered the Obamacare wars—"The comedy website released its second viral Obamacare video on Tuesday. Here's why." Salon

Abortion and Birth Control

• Appeals court upholds Texas abortion restrictions behind a devastating health crisis in the state—"The panel of judges ruled that the law 'does not impose an undue burden on the life and health of a woman.'" Salon
• New abortion clinic planned for Texas as law closes facilities
• Who uses birth control? Irresponsible people, says state senator
• W.Va. gov. vetoes 20-week abortion ban bill
• In 2014, why are we still arguing about birth control?
• New Anti-Abortion Debate: Just How Extreme Are We?
• When Anti-Abortion Harassment Gets Personal

War on Women

• Inside The GOP's Attempt To Change Its 'War On Women' Image—"The 2014 campaign cycle is shaping up to be a war over women, and a slew of PR firms on both sides are up for the challenge."
• Jimmy Carter: Not Supporting Equal Pay Is Abuse Against Women
• Democrats seize on equal pay as a midterm issue
• Sidestepping Equal Pay Attacks, Greg Abbott Tries To Accuse Wendy Davis Of Gender Discrimination—Perry calls equal pay debate 'nonsense.'
• California's 'Close The Gap' Tour Is Demanding Gender Equality In Politics

Workers and Wage Slaves, Labor Pains, Occupational Hazards, Minimum Wage, Amazon.com, Whistleblowers; Banks and Wall Street, Accountability, Housing; Class Warfare

Workers and Wage Slaves

• Capitalism with a human face
• College Grads Taking Low-Wage Jobs Displace Less Educated
• For Job-Hunting Teenagers, the Market Is Brutal
• Canada: Unpaid internships focus of growing backlash
• Walmart's Anti-Union Training Documents Demand "Loyalty"
• My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Poor—"After veteran reporter Joseph Williams lost his job, he found employment in a sporting-goods store. In a personal essay, he recalls his struggles with challenges millions of Americans return to day after day."
• Obama Will Seek Broad Expansion of Overtime Pay—"President Obama this week will direct the Labor Department to revamp its regulations to require overtime pay for millions of workers." And as expected, Republicans oppose it. NYT
• Opinion: Reduce the Workweek to 30 Hours—"Workers on shorter hours are under less stress, get sick less often and are more loyal. Plus a shorter workweek is better for the environment." NYT

Labor Pains

• The world watches the US on labor abuse
• GOP Bill to 'Save American Workers' Would Actually Strip Health Care From a Million Workers, CBO Reports
• After 12 years of war, labor abuses rampant on US bases in Afghanistan—"More than a year after Obama’s executive order outlawing forced labor on US military bases, exploitation remains."
• Nowhere Close: The Long March from Here to Full Employment
• Can Germany Reform American Labor Relations?—"German corporations are far more respectful of worker rights—and may have more influence on future US developments than our politicians realize."

Occupational Hazards

• UK: Vulnerable man starved to death after benefits were cut—"44-year-old died months after sickness and housing benefits were stopped following Atos fitness-for-work assessment."
• Fired for urinating in a box, a Minnesota factory worker takes a company to court
• McDonald's workers sue for wage theft
• USIS fires manager for pressuring employees to work overtime without pay WaPo
• Intellectually disabled woman paid $1.25 an hour wins landmark case
• Enron Billionaire Brags About Being Expert on Cutting Pensions

Minimum Wage

• Reich: The Real Job Killers
• Highest Minimum-Wage State Washington Beats U.S. Job Growth—"When Washington residents voted in 1998 to raise the state's minimum wage and link it to the cost of living, opponents warned the measure would be a job-killer. The prediction hasn't been borne out."
• Real World Evidence That Increasing The Minimum Wage Doesn't Cost Jobs
• Minimum Wage Boost Would Cut Food Stamp Tab by $4.6 Billion WSJ
• All of the Arguments Against Raising the Minimum Wage Have Fallen Apart
• Why GOP should support raising minimum wage
• Dem Guv. Candidate Wants To Raise Minimum Wage Above Obama Proposal
• Buffett: I'd love to see minimum wage at $15 an hour
• Warren: Minimum wage hike needed to 'stop income inequality in America' WaPo
• F.D.R. Makes the Case for the Minimum Wage—"No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country." NYT

Amazon.com

• U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear Amazon workers' security check case—"The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear a case that could determine whether companies such as Amazon.com Inc must pay workers for the time they spend waiting to clear security checks at the end of their work shifts."
• How Crowdworkers Became the Ghosts in the Digital Machine—"Since 2005, Amazon has helped create one of the most exploited workforces no one has ever seen."
• Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon’s sick brutality and secret history of ruthlessly intimidating workers—"You might find your Prime membership morally indefensible after reading these stories about worker mistreatment." Salon
• Family: Stricken Amazon worker unnoticed for 8 hours
• The Amazon Effect: Staples To Close 225 Stores, Says It's Now Making Half Of All Sales Online

Whistleblowers

• U.S. justices extend employee whistleblower protections—"The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said whistleblower protections apply not just to publicly traded companies but also to subcontractors that do business with them."
• JPMorgan whistleblower gets $63.9 million in mortgage fraud deal
• Playboy Must Pay $6 Million to Fired Executive in Largest Federal Whistleblower Verdict Ever

Banks and Wall Street

• Wall Street average bonus rose 15% in 2013—Pretty much double the current Federal minimum wage.
• Does the SEC force its employees to insider trade?—"Here's a twist in the government's recent crackdown on insider selling: One of the main regulators tasked with policing the illegal practice may be instructing its employees to do just that."
• UBS traders tried to rig key Hong Kong interest rate
• George Soros blasts 'parasite' banks—"George Soros, the billionaire investor, has warned that little has changed since the 2008 crisis in the 'parasite' banking sector."
• Obama Still Wants To Kill Wall Street's Favorite Tax Loophole—Time to tax Wall Street.
• Republicans joining populists in ending corporate welfare for banks WaPo
• 15 Vermont Towns Vote to Start a Public Bank that Works for Them, Not Wall Street

Accountability

• SEC investigating Citigroup over Mexico fraud: Source—Citigroup has confirmed it [NYT].
• Bank of America back in court over $2.1 billion fraud penalties
• London gold-fix banks accused of manipulation in U.S. lawsuit: report
• U.S. regulator sues 16 banks for rigging Libor rate
• Bankers Behaving Badly Face 6-Year Bonus Clawback by BoE—"Misbehaving bankers and their bosses will have to hand back bonuses up to six years after they pocket them under a rule the Bank of England is proposing to prevent excessive risk-taking." NYT
• Senate confirms Wall Street critic for Treasury Department post—"The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin to be the No. 2 official at the Treasury Department, backing a critic of Wall Street to help coordinate an overhaul of financial regulations."

Housing

• Bank told to pay $3.2M for 'shocking' foreclosure—"A New Mexico judge has issued a $3.2 million judgment against Wells Fargo & Co. for foreclosing on a man's home after his death, even though he had a purchased an insurance policy through the bank that would have paid the remaining balance on his mortgage."
• Wells Fargo made up on-demand foreclosure papers plan: court filing charges
• Wall Street buyers snap up thousands of local homes for rentals
• Key senators agree on plan to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—"The bipartisan proposal would slowly shrink the housing finance companies and replace them with a scaled-back government guarantee for mortgages."
• Watchdog faults FBI for making mortgage fraud a low priority—"The FBI ranked mortgage fraud as its lowest criminal threat after the height of the financial crisis, even though the U.S. Justice Department had said that investigating mortgage fraud was to be a priority, a report by a department watchdog said on Thursday."

Class War

• Jon Stewart Hits Back At Fox Host For Trying To 'School' Him On Food Stamps
• Gina Rinehart takes aim at Australia's 'entitlement mentality', points to Thatcher
• Park 'lounging' law rankles local family—"A local family says their afternoon at a local park was ruined after a homeless person complained to police that they were lying down. Under the city code, visitors to parks cannot 'sleep or protractedly lounge' on seats, benches or other areas." All because of anti-homeless ordinance.
• All fish in public lakes are public—Rich lodge owner lays claim over lake.
• Court ruling in land dispute could threaten bike trails

Workers and Wage Slaves, VW and UAW, Minimum Wage, Unemployment, Occupational Hazards; Class War, Florida; Banks and Wall Street, Accountability, Bitcoin, Haxx0red; Tech Tracking

Workers and Wage Slaves

• Rise of the low-wage breadwinner
• 40% of Americans Consider Themselves in the Lower Classes—"The economic recovery is nearly five years old, but many Americans are feeling financially worse off than they were in 2008 according to study released Monday by the PEW Research Center in partnership with USA Today."
• Reich: Why The Three Biggest Economic Lessons Were Forgotten
• Krugman: Inequality, Dignity and Freedom—"Who really honors work and liberty? Probably not the 1 percent or the Republican Party." NYT
• U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown lobbies for his bill that would expand Earned Income Tax Credits for the working poor
• AOL chief reverses changes to 401(k) policy after a week of bad publicity—One of the 'distressed baby' mothers speak out. WaPo
• Congress votes to repeal military pension cuts—Guess who was responsible for these cuts happening in the first place.

VW and UAW

• Tennessee legislators threaten to withhold incentives if VW workers choose UAW—"Not only are Republican legislators accusing Volkswagen of backing the UAW, some of their leaders on Monday threatened to withhold tax incentives for future expansion of the three-year-old assembly plant in Chattanooga if workers vote later this week to join the UAW."
• Union Drive Doesn’t Bother Management, but G.O.P. Fumes NYT
• U.S. senator drops bombshell during VW plant union vote—"[H]e has been 'assured' that if workers at the Volkswagen AG plant in his hometown of Chattanooga reject United Auto Worker representation, the company will reward the plant with a new product to build."
• VW counters U.S. senator, says new product not linked to union vote
• UAW and VW Seek Economic High Road, Anti-Union Pols Seek to Block It
• Obama lashes out at Republicans on Volkswagen-union organizing fight
• Loss at Volkswagen plant upends union's plan for U.S. South

Minimum Wage

• The Case for a Higher Minimum Wage—"An increase would help 27.8 million people. It would also help balance power in the workplace." NYT
• After 23 Years, Your Waiter Is Ready For A Raise
• NFL Cheerleaders File Suit Saying They Make As Little As $2.85 Per Hour
• Obama to include disabled workers in federal minimum-wage hike—"Nobody who works full-time should have to live in poverty."
• Wisconsin Republicans Want To Prohibit Local Minimum Wage Laws

Unemployment

• Unemployed Americans Increasingly Frustrated With Congressional Inaction
• What do the jobless do when the benefits end? WaPo
• Republicans Decide A Bad Idea To Help The Unemployed Is Suddenly A Good Idea To Help Others
• Emails show Florida officials celebrated launch of unemployment website as it failed for claimants
• Closing the gap—"America's labour market has suffered permanent harm."

Occupational Hazards

• In the Name of Love—"Elites embrace the 'do what you love' mantra. But it devalues work and hurts workers."
• Why I Just Quit My Job at Apple
• How Innovation Could Leave The Typical Worker Behind
• Woman Files Suit Against Employer Who Fired Her Hours After Cancer Diagnosis
• Postal service 'spied on worker with cancer'—"A German postwoman, who was sacked for missing work due to chemotherapy, is entitled to get her job back...."
• Sitting At Work For Hours Can Be As Unhealthy As Smoking

Class War

• Tom Perkins' big idea: The rich should get more votes—"But what I really think is, it should be like a corporation. You pay a million dollars in taxes, you get a million votes. How's that?"
• The poor should stop whining, says luxury CEO
• Wealthy more worried about being seen as wealthy
• CEO to employee pay continues to widen: study
• The Rise (and Rise and Rise) of the 0.01 Percent in America—"The average 1 percenter is quite rich. But she lives in a state of relative poverty compared to the astronomical wealth of 'the 1 percent of the 1 percent.'"
• Reich: America’s "We" Problem
• Krugman: Vox Anti-Populi NYT
• The U.S. Is Locking People Up For Being Poor
• Chris Christie Mocks Income Inequality, Praises George W. Bush
• Banker couple waged war on neighbour over 12 inches of land in Kent village

Florida

• Florida Ordinance Makes it Illegal for Homeless to Use Blankets to Protect Themselves from Weather
• A Florida County Spent Over $5 Million Jailing Homeless People. It Could've Spent Less On Shelter
• Looking for the cheats? Don't look at the poor

Banks and Wall Street

• The Vampire Squid Strikes Again: The Mega Banks' Most Devious Scam Yet—"Banks are no longer just financing heavy industry. They are actually buying it up and inventing bigger, bolder and scarier scams than ever."
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren questions government's Wall Street enforcement strategy following JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon's $8.5 million pay raise
• Barclays Bonuses Up 10% As 7,000 Jobs Are Cut—"The bank's investment arm staff get bonuses more than twice the average UK worker's income, as 7,000 job cuts are announced."
• High-Speed Trading Isn't About Efficiency—It's About Cheating—"When hedge funds use bots to buy and sell stocks within milliseconds, they're not improving the market. They're rigging the market."
• Big Brother HSBC bank wanted to know what I'd spend my money on—"When I tried to withdraw £7,000 I had to provide an invoice to prove how I planned to use it."
• Feminist Writer Receives Letter From Bank of America Addressed to 'Lisa Is a Slut McIntire'
• Now FIFTH Bankers In Two Weeks Found Dead, Ruled 'Suicide' by Nail Gun

Accountability

• Bank of England Staff Said to Condone FX Traders' Conduct
• Ex-Morgan Stanley Chief Jams Foot in Mouth, Complains of CEO Abuse—"John Mack actually thinks the government is being too hard on his banker buddies."
• Chinese official made job plea to JPMorgan Chase chief—"Federal authorities are now investigating whether the hiring at JPMorgan — and at least six other big banks — was done explicitly to win business from Chinese companies."
• Regulator plans purge of Wall Street arbitrators
• Florida Rep Helped Fugitive Embezzlers

Bitcoin

• JP Morgan: Bitcoin is "vastly inferior" to traditional, fiat currency—"It would be onerous for any economy operating with it as legal tender."
• California Bill Would Make Bitcoin 'Lawful Money'
• New Silk Road hit with $2.6 million heist due to known Bitcoin flaw

Haxx0red

• Sophisticated Spy Tool 'The Mask' Rages Undetected for 7 Years
• Change your passwords: Comcast hushes, minimizes serious hack
• CloudFlare Warns Cyber-Criminals Already Experimenting With Much Bigger DDoS Attacks
• Bizarre attack infects Linksys routers with self-replicating malware
• Google will block local extensions in Chrome 33 for Windows, disable existing ones not in the Chrome Web Store

Tech Tracking

• French court orders Google to display fine for privacy breach
• How to stop ad trackers on your smartphones
• Which VPN Services Take Your Anonymity Seriously? 2013 / 2014

Workers and Wage Slaves, Unemployment, 1%; Accountability, Bitcoin, Goldman, HSBC; China; Surveillance and Privacy, Tech Tracking, Censorship; Sochi

Workers and Wage Slaves

• Poll: Majority of Americans want government to reduce income gap
• NYC Mayor Wants Corporate Welfare Queens To Pay A Living Wage—Blasio: "If we're subsidizing companies, we have every right to demand a living wage for the people they pay."
• "We blame Christie": Airport workers decry unequal treatment—"New $10.10 wage for thousands of NYC airport workers excludes Newark, and civil disobedience could be ahead." Salon
• This lawsuit threatens to end Walmart's exploitative ways
• Backlash hits AOL CEO who linked pension cuts to 'distressed babies'
• New York City Domino's Workers Win $1.3 Million In Settlement Over Low Wages
• Silicon Valley billionaires believe in the free market, as long as they benefit—"Google, Apple and other tech firms likely colluded to keep their workers' wages down. So much for that libertarian worldview."
• Elizabeth Warren Proposes Replacing Payday Lenders With The Post Office
• Why Thomas Jefferson Favored Profit Sharing
• The Daily Show: Terror on Bulls#%t Mountain—"The residents of Bulls**t Mountain champion the same 'job lock' they once railed against."

Unemployment

• Senate Fails to Pass 3-Month Extension of Jobless Aid—"The Senate failed to move forward on a three-month extension of assistance for the long-term unemployed on Thursday, dealing a setback to President Obama's economic agenda." NYT
• Brady: Cut unemployment to get people back to work—"Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady says Illinois should cut unemployment benefits in order to motivate people to go back to work."
• GOP Rep. Says It's 'Immoral' To Extend Long-term Jobless Benefits—Tell that to the 15,000 Dell laid off.
• Long-Term Unemployment Far Exceeds Pre-Great Recession Levels in Virtually Every State
• More Men in Prime Working Ages Don't Have Jobs WSJ
• Reopening an Employment Door to the Young—"Many employers lament recent graduates' lack of specialized skills. But a management consultant says these young people still offer much potential for a company's future." NYT
• Pope: 'unjust' unemployment can mean sin, suicide—"Pope Francis says that 'unjust' social conditions like unemployment can lead to sin, financial ruin and even suicide." WaPo

1%

• Up And Out: The Oppressed Billionaire Dissidents Of Obama's America
• Billionaire Sam Zell: Leave The One Percent Alone, We Just 'Work Harder'
• 5 libertarian oligarchs who made fortunes off the government they want to destroy—"The lionization of frauds like Tom Perkins has them believing their accomplishments are purely their own doing."

Accountability

• Holder says no bank 'too big to indict,' more financial cases coming—"The attorney general says the Justice Department will be bringing more cases involving Wall Street misconduct."
• Bank of America's trading practices have been probed, filing shows—The DOJ says BoA should be fined $2.1 billion for mortgage fraud.
• New York regulator demands bank documents as investigation widens—"Goldman Sachs and Barclays among banks investigated after reports some traders shared information about currency positions."
• Jamie Dimon's Raise Proves U.S. Regulatory Strategy is a Joke
• Three bankers on trial in Dublin over crash that brought Ireland to its knees
• Let Banks Fail Is Iceland Mantra as 2% Joblessness in Sight

Bitcoin

• Liberty Reserve Founder: FBI Wanted My Source Code
• Why Are Bitcoiners Going to Jail for Money Laundering While Big Banks Walk?
• Why does Apple continue killing bitcoin apps?

Goldman

• Goldman Deal Threatens Danish Government—"When Denmark gave the company approval to buy a stake in its state utility, the Socialist People's Party withdrew its ministers from the country's governing coalition." NYT
• Goldman Sachs Sued for Selling Libya Billions in "Worthless" Options
• How Much Did Goldman Rip Libya Off?

HSBC

• HSBC faces £70bn capital hole, warn Hong Kong analysts—"Research firm Forensic Asia calculates that HSBC has overstated the value of the assets on its balance sheet by more than £50bn."
• HSBC is paying $2 billion, or 5 weeks' worth of its profit, to avoid criminal charges in drug cartel laundering case
• HSBC settlement approved: no criminal charges, 5 weeks' profit in fines, deferred bonuses for laundering billions for narco-terrorists

China

• Rich Chinese continue to flee China
• As war on corruption mounts, China's rich flee to America—"The US grants far more green cards to wealthy Chinese as president Xi Jinping cracks down."
• China's princelings storing riches in Caribbean offshore haven—Thanks to this exposé, The Guardian gets blocked in China.
• Fed approves Chinese bank purchase of U.S. bank
• Philippine president compares China's expansion to Nazi Germany—"Benigno Aquino warns West must not attempt to appease China as it did Hitler but presidential palace later says comments were not intended to 'offend' Beijing."
• Aston Martin recalls 17,590 cars due to counterfeit material—"Aston Martin is recalling most of its sports cars built since late 2007 after discovering a Chinese sub-supplier was using counterfeit plastic material in a part supplied to the luxury sports carmaker."
• Pay-what-you-like restaurant in China loses thousands

Surveillance and Privacy

• Despite escalating government intimidation, Greenwald will "force the issue" and visit U.S.—"Months after the first insinuations that he risks arrest if he visits the US, Greenwald is more concerned than ever." Salon
• Birth of a whistle-blower: How Edward Snowden became Edward Snowden—"Early chat records reveal that Snowden supported government secrecy — until he saw how it really worked." Salon
• Snowden Docs: British Spies Used Sex and 'Dirty Tricks'
• The Harper Government Insists it's Legal to Collect Metadata
• Turning table on NSA, US diplomats' phone call is bugged, leaked to YouTube—"Did Russian spy apparatus capture senior official's 'F*ck the EU' comment?"

Tech Tracking

• NameTag Uses Facial Recognition to End Privacy As We Know It
• Of course the NYPD is testing Google Glass—"Coming soon to a surveillance state near you: Cyborg surveillance police." Salon
• California bill proposes mandatory kill-switch on phones and tablets in 2015—Supposedly to combat tech theft but opens door to a slippery slope.
• EFF's HTTPS Everywhere + Firefox = most secure mobile browser—Unfortunately Apple doesn't support this level of user protection.
• FISA Data Release by Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Microsoft Means Squat

Censorship

• UK Government Just Passed a 'Gagging Law' to Outlaw Critics Ahead of 2015 Elections
• Pardon, Was That a Chemical Weapons Factory in Myanmar?—"If the Myanmar government truly has nothing to hide, it should welcome a UN inquiry."
• Bahrain toughens penalties for insulting king
• Turkish lawmakers adopt 'Orwellian' Internet limits
• China accuses hackers for Internet disruption; experts suspect censors WaPo

Sochi

• Let the 2014 Olympic Games begin: Putin takes centre stage as technical glitch mars Sochi opening
• Sochi opening ceremony: Theatrical, flamboyant, and gay, gay, gay
• Russian MP's Obama with banana picture sparks racism debate—"Irina Rodnina tweeted doctored photo of US leader with fruit – in country where black athletes are taunted with them regularly."
• NBC Edits Out IOC Anti-Discrimination Statement From Opening Ceremony
• Canadian Olympic bobsledder Justin Kripps' website blacklisted in Sochi—Maybe they found this team pic too gay?

Workers and Wage Slaves, Layoffs; Class War; SOTU, GOP, Food Fight, Immigration, War on Women; Media, Fucks News, This was CNN

Workers and Wage Slaves

• Why are US corporate profits so high? Because wages are so low
• Nearly Half of America Lives Paycheck-to-Paycheck
• US Federal Prosecutors Are Investigating Whether Banks Helped Payday Lenders Siphon Billions From Americans
• CEO tells Daily Show 'mentally retarded' could work for $2: 'You're worth what you're worth'
• Going From Middle Class to Poverty—"One man shares his story about joining the ranks of the working poor."
• As goes Best Buy, so goes the U.S. economy—"Slumping sales at the big box retailer signal the declining purchasing power of countless Americans." Salon
• Moore: If Henry Ford Could Pay a $15 Minimum Wage 100 Years Ago, So Can We
• Ex-Bush Aide Wonders Why Nobody Is Talking About The 'Plight' Of The Job Creators

Layoffs

• Wal-Mart laying off 2,300 Sam's Club managers and hourly workers
• Canada: Job cuts at Sears, Best Buy target managers
• Big Companies Join Obama in Initiative to Help Long-Term Unemployed—"Walmart and Apple are among 300 businesses that have agreed to review policies that may screen out applicants who have not worked in a long time." NYT

Class War

• WSJ: Liberal Outrage Proves Perkins' Point About Progressive 'Kristallnacht'
• Why Do the Super-Rich Keep Comparing Obama to Hitler?—"Legendary venture capitalist Tom Perkins became just the latest 1 percenter to wonder whether higher marginal tax rates and Occupy Wall Street might be the start of something far, far darker."
• The 1 percent's most ruinous sin: How they sap our politicians of all decency—"How the sad story of Mitt Romney explains everything that's wrong with American democracy." Salon
• Krugman: Godwin Help Us NYT
• Robinson: The 1% as victims? That’s rich! WaPo
• Drum: Why the Rich Feel Besieged: A Checklist
• David Simon tells Bill Moyers: 'There was a class war, and the poor people lost'

SOTU

• The State of the Union, or: Obama Breaks Up with Congress
• Jon Meacham Says He Was Wrong About Lincoln, FDR And Executive Orders—In fact, Obama's given the fewest executive orders in 100 years.
• GOP's SOTU Response Reminds Us There's Two Americas and One Should Secede

GOP

• The Daily Show: Band of Blockers—"Republicans uninterested in bipartisanship decry President Obama's lack of bipartisanship, and one Congressman gives a NY1 reporter the traditional Staten Island goodbye."
• Cruz Vows Spending Fight on Debt Cap Boehner May Avoid
• Mitch McConnell Thinks You're Stupid
• Christie Linked to Knowledge of Shut Lanes—"David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official, says there is evidence to prove the New Jersey governor knew about the lane closings at the George Washington Bridge, which the governor has denied." Would he resign? NYT
• Rep. Grimm couldn't intimidate Scotto

Food Fight

• The New Face of Food Stamps: Working-Age Americans
• A Sad First: Working People Now Need Food Stamps More than Kids, Elderly
• Republicans Just Won the Food Stamp War—"Congress is set to approve $9 billion in cuts to the food stamp program even as a record number of Americans live in poverty."
• Wal-Mart: Food stamp cuts to hit profits
• This farm bill deserves a veto WaPo

Immigration

• House GOP Backs Legal Status For Undocumented Immigrants
• Republican Party plots immigration reform: GOP wants to appear reasonable
• House G.O.P.'s Immigration Plan Presents Tough Choices for Obama—"Speaker John A. Boehner's blueprint may force President Obama to decide whether to abandon a new path to citizenship and accept other concessions." NYT

War on Women

• Poll: Huckabee Is Now The GOP's Top Choice For 2016 After Libido Remark
• Fox News Panel Features Four Men (And Zero Women) Debating Notion Of "War On Women"
• Fox Host Says There Is No Gender Gap: 'Many Women Make Exactly What They're Worth'
• Cathy McMorris-Rodgers says she "absolutely" supports equal pay laws (she just won't vote for them) Salon
• Kansas lawmaker wants to make surrogate motherhood illegal
• Tea Party Republican Todd Kincannon: Wendy Davis is a "Looker," "Hooker," and a "Whore"
• Montana GOP Candidate Calls Hillary Clinton The 'Anti-Christ'

Vote Machinations

• Harry Reid slams Koch brothers—"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid slammed the Koch brothers' political activities Thursday, accusing the influential conservatives of trying to 'buy the country.'"
• Koch-Tied Groups Funded GOP Effort to Mess With Electoral College Rules
• GOP aide charged with illegal voting

Media

• Jon Stewart confronts Pelosi on money in politics, delivers best interview in recent memory—"That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you do the news."
• Miami TV Station Ticks Off Florida GOP With 'Reprehensive Party' Graphic
• MSNBC President Apologizes To RNC Chair For Tweet, Fires Staffer—"The tweet that started it all suggested that conservatives would hate the image of an 'adorable new #Cheerios ad w/ biracial family.'"

Fucks News

• Study: Watching Only Fox News Makes You Less Informed Than Watching No News At All
• Fox News once again most and least trusted name in news
• My personal Fox News nightmare: Inside a month of self-induced torture—"I'm a card-carrying member of the ACLU. Here's what happened when I watched 3 hours of Fox every day for a month." Salon

This was CNN

• CNN's Jeff Zucker Reveals Plans to Change from News Network into Place with 'Attitude'
• CNN Hits Lowest Rated Week In Demo Since Jeff Zucker Took Over—Getting eaten by SharkTank repeats.
• CNN laid off more than 40 journalists at end of 2013