Germany, Goldman Sachs, Payback, Bankers, Foreclosures

Germany

• How Germany got it right on the economy
• Germany's new boom: making money by making stuff
• There's a Right Way and a Wrong Way to Deal With a Jobs Crisis -- Why Is Germany Doing It So Well?
• What Germany's Economy Can Teach Obama
• The German Example NYT

Goldman Sachs

• How Goldman Sachs Created the World-Wide Food Crisis
• Goldman Sachs Lost 98% of Libya’s $1.3B Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment--How are the two connected?
• The Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin Gives Goldman a Rubdown--Buying their way into journalism.
• Goldman Sachs Gets Another Washington Insider, Judd Gregg--Former Republican congressman and outspoken critic of oversight of the financial industry.
• The People vs. Goldman Sachs
• Goldman Sachs faces contentious AGM
• S.E.C. Case Stands Out Because It Stands Alone NYT
• Don't Let Goldman off the Hook: The damning new Senate report proves Wall Street still can't be trusted to police itself
• Goldman Sachs: Too big to prosecute--They got a good racket going. Salon
• Geithner and Goldman, Thick as Thieves--Wouldn't you love to pay only 0.01% interest on a loan?

Payback

• Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley face New York investigation--Might get really interesting.
• A New Wall Street Investigation: Is the Hammer Finally Coming Down?
• Goldman Sachs 'issued with subpoena' over actions during credit crisis--Will all this be settled away?
• DOJ to Sue Deutsche Bank Over ‘Reckless Lending Practices’
• Goldman Sachs and Executive Charged With Fraud
• Is Goldman Sachs Doomed?
• Jury convicts exec in $3B mortgage fraud case

Bankers

• The Federal Reserve Cartel: The Eight Families
• Bankers and politicians have turned food into a betting game--"The result is soaring prices and starving children"
• The March of Tyranny

Foreclosures

• Tables Turn: Deputies and movers show up at bank to seize property for homeowner--"The foreclosure nightmare started when Warren and Maureen Nyerges paid cash for a home owned by Bank of American in the Golden Gate Estates. They never had a mortgage whatsoever. But, the bank fouled it up and wound up issuing a foreclosure through their attorney."
• Man gets a $0 foreclosure notice
• Make Wall St. Pay for the Catastrophe They Caused: New Bill Would Fine Banks $20,000 for Each Forclosure
• Banks Should Pay for Foreclosures
• Las Vegas Foreclosure Mess Ends in Bitter Duel

PROTECT IP, School Fees, TIll Debt Do You Part, Problem Students, Cheaters

EFF Action: Reject the PROTECT IP Act

School Fees

• School Superintendent to Governor: Please make my school a prison--"The State of Michigan spends annually somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000 per prisoner, yet we are struggling to provide schools with $7,000 per student." And apparently prisoners get fed better than kids.
• Texas House Votes to Cut School Spending by $4 Billion
• New Jersey Supreme Court Orders State To Restore $500 Million In Education Funding Stripped By Gov. Christie
• For-Profit Colleges Spend Much Less On Educating Students Than Public Universities
• Meet The Billionaires Who Are Trying To Privatize Our Schools And Kill Public Education
• Voucher Advocate Betsy DeVos, Right-Wing Think Tanks Behind Koch-Style Attack on PA Public Schools
• Public Schools Increase Fees Charged to Students
• Billionaire's role in hiring decisions at Florida State University raises questions--It's not the first time the Koch Brothers have done this.
• NYC prepares to spend nearly $1 billion on education consultants as it fires 4,100 teachers
• City Secretly Plans School’s For-Profit Takeover

Till Debt Do You Part

• Student Loans
• A College Education Should Not Result in Crushing Debt
• America's Student Loan Racket: Soaring Default Rates--"Congress ended bankruptcy protections, refinancing rights, statutes of limitations, truth in lending requirements, fair debt collection ones, and state usury laws when applied to federally guaranteed student loans. As a result, lenders may freely garnish wages, income tax refunds, earned income tax credits, as well as Social Security and disability income to assure defaulted loan payments."

Problem Students

• Shen backs principal in video of fight
• Hernando teacher who punched student won't be charged
• Catholic parents, students march in favor of paddling

Cheaters

• Top student charged with fixing grades for cash
• The Shadow Scholar--The man who writes your students' papers tells his story
• Spectrum analyzer catches exam cheats in Taiwan
• 200 students admit cheating after professor's online rant
• High-tech medical exam cheating alleged
• How I Trolled by BioEthics Class
• Plagiarism: The Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V boom
• Cheating in High School

Weiner, Middle East, War on Drugs, 420

NY Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner is a lying prick--This all would've been avoided if he had come clean from the beginning, but as they say, it's the cover-up, not the crime.

Middle East

• Hundreds of women report rapes by Qaddafi forces--The ordeal of Iman Al-Obeidi was just the tip of the iceberg.
• Egypt: "Virginity tests will spark next revolution"--At first officials denied the allegations, but later claimed these test were "conducted to prevent the women from claiming they had been raped in custody."
• Torture of the child martyr: 'Rebel', 13, shot, kneecapped and had genitals removed before being killed by Syria's sadistic regime
• Bahrain police 'target Shia processions'--And detaining medics for "treating injured during anti-government protests."
• Syria: ‘Gay Girl in Damascus' Seized--Most probably in retaliation for her blog.

War on Drugs

• Global war on drugs 'has failed' say former leaders--"The Global Commission on Drug Policy report calls for the legalisation of some drugs and an end to the criminalisation of drug users."
• White House says the war is working – the war on drugs--That's not what Obama was saying in 2004.
• End the War on Drugs!--It has been a disaster.
• The War on Drugs is a War on Poor folks with substance abuse problems
• National Drug Intelligence Center fails intelligence test--They claim that "the cost of illicit drug use totaled more than $193 billion," but "[t]he vast majority of those costs are directly attributable to prohibition, not illicit drug use."
• Jury Nullification: Invalidating Laws--A way to wage war on the War on Drugs
• Misguided U.S. drug policies afflict Mexico, Central America
• Guatemala massacre points to influence of Mexican drug gang
• Mexican drug gangs building own tanks as war intensifies
• "Peace caravan" crossing Mexico to protest drug war

420

• What's Up With Obama's Cynical Approach to Medical Marijuana?
• Maryland Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Defense Bill
• Conn. Senate votes for pot decriminalization bill
• Vermont Legalizes Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
• Buzz Kill: Federal Warnings Hit Medical Pot Boom
• 69 year old man grows pot for wife with breast cancer now a felon and in jail.
• Man Gets Life Sentence For 4th Pot Conviction--"The punishment is not so much for this offense, but for the pattern of offending."
• Court: Marijuana Smoke Odor In Car Not Enough For Police Action--And the police are complaining.
• RI State Rep. Who Joked Of Pot-Smoking Immigrants Arrested On DUI Charge And Marijuana Possession
• Gary Johnson - I don't want our kids criminalized over Marijuana--"Half of what we spend on Law Enforcement is Drug related. It costs $70 billion per year. We're arresting 1.8 million people a year and now have the highest incarceration rate in the world. I can tell you, from personal experience, Marijuana is a lot safer than alcohol."

Joplin, Class War, Nobless Oblige, Koch, Palin

Two weeks later Congress still has not passed Joplin aid--And the government can't stop dicking around.

Class War

• It's the Inequality, Stupid
• 20 Facts About US Inequality That Everyone Should Know (With An Update On The Uber-Wealthy And Global Wealth Inequality)
• Who Rules America? Power, Politics, & Social Change
• Siding With the Billionaires: How the Right Is Waging a Class War Against All But the Wealthiest Americans
• Why the Rich Love Unemployment--"Over the last two years, out-of-work Americans have played a critical role in helping the richest one percent recover trillions in financial wealth..."
• Why the Democratic Party Has Abandoned the Middle Class in Favor of the Ric
• Congress Chooses One Week’s Worth of Tax Cuts for Millionaires over Nutrition Assistance for Families that Need It
• Yastrow: “We Are on the Verge of a Great, Great Depression”
• Another fake "grass-roots" group exposed Salon
• Fun With Charts: Making the Rich Look Poor--Here's a little more fun.

Noblesse Oblige

• Tycoon Donald Trump fences off home of Aberdeenshire man - then sends him bill
• LeVin gets house arrest after undisclosed settlement--"The scion of a wealthy Chicago-area family pleaded guilty in a South Florida court Friday to killing two British businessmen with his Porsche but avoided prison after agreeing to pay an undisclosed sum to the widows."
• People Rip Down Fence at Riverside Park in Detroit--"This is all fencing that was erected by Matty Maroun, the billionaire, and he does whatever he wants."

Koch

• Big Brothers: Thought Control at Koch
• Pernicious Koch Brothers Political Influence
• Wall Street Journal Honcho Shills for Secret Worker 'Education' Program Linked to Koch Group

Palin

• Sarah Palin Has No Idea Who Paul Revere Was, Or What He Did--Now she's claiming that she 'didn't mess up' while her fans attempt to revise history.
• Howard Dean: Don't Get Too Cocky, Even Sarah Palin Could Beat Obama With A Weak Economy
• Palin’s Resignation: The Edited Version
• The 10 best Sarah Palin clangers
• Palin Pandering

Hail to the Empire, The Dark Side, War For Oil, Wall Street, Wikileaks

Hail to the Empire

• Obi-Wan Kenobi Is Dead, Vader Says
• Daddy's going to work today.
• The Force is strong in this Juan
• The Empire Invades Your Bedroom With This Imperial Walker Bunk Bed
• Rare 1980 "Empire Hotline" Recordings Discovered

The Dark Side

• The Dark Side doesn’t have an age requirement
• 5 Scientific Reasons The Dark Side Will Always Win
• Volkswagen Commercial: The Force

War For Oil

• Comin' this summer... $5 gas
• Wikileaks: Speculators Helped Cause Oil Bubble
• WikiLeaks cables show that it was all about the oil
• Wikileaks Cables: U.S. Worked To Scuttle Haiti Gas Development Deal On Behalf Of Big Oil
• Saudi prince calls for lower oil prices--"We don't want the West to go and find alternatives, because, clearly, the higher the price of oil goes, the more they have incentives to go and find alternatives."
• Senate votes down bill to end oil company subsidies, see how they voted and who gets oil money
• With Speculation Running Rampant, House GOP Proposes 15 Percent Cut To Oil Market Watchdog
• Eric Cantor Promises Oil Speculators That Republicans Will Block Financial Regulations
• Why Gas Is So Expensive Today (Hint: It's Not Libya)
• The CIA Accurately Predicted How Long World Oil Supplies Would Last—in 1978

Wall Street

• Wall Street's War On America: Why Are We Chasing Terrorists Instead Of Banksters
• The failure of shareholder capitalism--"Companies exist for their workers and their communities -- not just their CEOs and their investors" Salon
• Dennis Kucinich: The Founders Did Not Intend For America to Be Run By Big Banks and Wall Street

Wikileaks

• WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap
• Wikileaks: no bloodshed inside Tiananmen Square, cables claim
  
• Hay Festival 2011: Julian Assange claims FBI tried to bribe Wikileaks staff

Death Star, AT-AT, Curses, Send in the Clone Tools, Time Eaters

Death Star

• The Most Iconic Fictional Vehicle: The Death Star
• DEATH STAR - Very Demotivational
• Watermelon Death Star
• "Star light, star bright..."
• What really happened to Endor when they ganked the Death Star

AT-AT

• AT-AT Day
• Underachieving AT-ATs
• AT-AT bed

Curses

• Briton arrested for swearing 'beaten to death' in Dubai police cell--What the fuck.
• The curse of the foul-language law--Fuck you, Australia.
• It's OK to tell police officers to 'f*ck off'--In Canada.
• Swearing can help relieve pain, study claims
• China makes arrests to stop 'vulgar' content
• Decency group goes after YouTube users' comments
• How to Curse with Flair
• Stephen Fry on the Joys of Swearing
• Bleeping Expletives
• Review: Fuc_ __u, _ss__le
• Amount of profanity in git commit messages per programming language

Send in the Clone Tools

• I'd do me.
• Homo Orgy
• Bruce Willies

Time eaters--You've been warned.

• Liquid Particles
• string spin
• BallDroppings

Weiner vs. Breitbart, Wisconsin, Budget and Taxes, Money, Debt Ceiling

Weiner vs. Breitbart

• Distinguished Member of Congress--*wink wink*
• Weiner Story Another Breitbart Scam
• Bringing Breitbart (And Thomas) To Justice

Wisconsin

• Board sets three recall elections for July 12
• Secret Tape Reveals Wisconsin GOP Plan to Hijack Recall Election
• Judge strikes down Wisconsin collective bargaining law for violation of open meetings law.
• GOP legislative aide under investigation for voter fraud
• Tale of the Tapes: Wisconsin's 'Dog-and-Pony Show' Faith-Based Supreme Court Election 'Recount'

Budget and Taxes

• OOPS! Historic 'Spending Cut' Bill Increased Spending By $3 Billion
• GOP Can’t Handle The Truth: Taxes Are Lower Under Obama Than Reagan
• Top Reagan Advisor Calls Out The GOP For Lying About Taxes
• GOP Tax Cuts Haven't Caused Jobs Or Wealth To Trickle Down
• The GOP Must Explain How Fortune 500 Tax Cuts Help The Middle Class
• The Great Switch by the Super Rich: How Wealthy Americans Started Paying So Little in Taxes
• Republicans Complain Taxing The Rich Is Unfair As New Report Shows Millionaires’ Wealth ‘Exploding
• Obama Won't Extend Bush Tax Cuts Again: Pledge To House Dems
• Tax cuts, wars account for nearly half of public debt by 2019
• Taxes were no barrier to Growth

Money

• The $7 Trillion Lie: Palin Falsely Claims Debt Has Grown More Under Obama Than ‘All Other Presidents Combined’
• How Our Largest Corporations Made $170 Billion During Great Recession And Paid No Taxes
• Obama's 'Gangster Politics': The president is about to order companies that do business with the federal government to disclose their political donations.--You-know-who aren't happy.

Debt Ceiling

• Republican Rep. Calls For Default On The Debt: ‘It Could Benefit Us To Go Through A Period Of Crisis’
• Why Obama can’t assume Republicans will ever make a deal on the debt ceiling
• Geithner to GOP: Raise debt limit or 'lights out'

LGBT Pride Month, Politics, Education, International, Sports, Life

Presidential Proclamation--Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month

Politics

• "Gays will rape your kids" ad used to promote TN Chamber of Commerce’s hate bill
• Bradlee Dean Gives Opening Prayer At Minnesota State Legislature--"He's called the execution of homosexuals 'moral' and blamed gays for the Holocaust as well," which obviously didn't go over very well.
• After viral video fame, Rep. Simon slammed by religious right for pro-gay comments

Education

• George Takei Calls Out Anti-Gay Arkansas School Board Member
  
• Software Company Removes "Booby Trap" from Internet Filtering Program
• Parents rally against gay-friendly school policy

International

• 'Being gay is a sin': Swedish Salvation Army
• Uganda anti-gay bill 'shelved by parliament'
• Mexican gay rights campaigner murdered

Sports

• Rick Welts Comes Out In Support Of Gay Marriage
• Avery joins N.Y. push for equal marriage rights
• Charles Barkley: In sports, ability to play should outweigh sexual orientation--His comment inspired a radio host to come out.
• Former Villanova Athlete Reveals He Is Gay
• NASCAR Awards Driver $50,000 For Homophobic Comments The Onion

Life

• Gay Sex vs. Straight Sex
• Lose-Lose Situation
• Survival Instincts
• Homosexuals are possessed by demons...
• Small Town Throws Pride Parade For Only Gay Resident The Onion