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Bird flu virus kills Chinese man | World news | guardian.co.uk Bus driver from Guangdong dies after testing positive for H5N1 strain, despite having had no apparent contact with poultry ... The strain has a high mortality rate, killing up to 60% of infected humans. (airborne despite Obama)

Power struggle could further destabilize Pakistan | McClatchy
Syrian opposition groups unite to chart roadmap to democracy | World news | guardian.co.uk Dissident groups sign draft agreement on how to ensure stability once aim of toppling President Bashar al-Assad is achieved
Ukraine Sends Yulia Tymoshenko to Remote Prison Camp - NYTimes.com abruptly transferred the jailed opposition leader Yulia V. Tymoshenko to a prison camp about 300 miles east of the capital
Israel accused over 'provocative' new homes in Jerusalem - UK Politics - UK - The Independent another "provocative and deeply counter-productive" step after authorities approved construction in sensitive areas of Jerusalem (always in your face)
The Washington Monthly - The Magazine - They Shall Reap the Whirlwind How religious zealots in the Israeli government are supporting a new generation of extremist settlers who hate the Israeli government.
Nigeria News: State of emergency declared in 4 states President Goodluck Jonathan vows to crush Islamic extremists Boko Haram (good luck with that)
India economy: Is growth enough? | GlobalPost
China: Overdue for a people’s revolt? | GlobalPost Opinion: Freedom is too strong to be held in check forever. Even in China.

Global Markets Lost $6.3 Trillion in 2011 | ThinkProgress
Brad DeLong: The 70% Solution: Taxing the Rich Department
The Triumph of Keynesianism | FDL News Desk Spain’s new government announced an 8.9 billion euro austerity package today, split between tax increases and spending cuts. It’s part of a larger austerity plan that would cut 16.5 billion euros by the end of 2012. And yet this is what the austerity measures of the past year provided… (nyah, nyah, can't hear you +Spain dumps Science Dept from Government, of course)
My FDL | juliania | indictment of Obama | My FDL | juliania | ! I have a theory that the entire Bible is actually a promotion of women as equals
From Statistics to Graphs to People | Firedoglake

'Don't despair': Miliband's message to a sceptical public (and his party's doubters) - The Independent (useless fool)
More misery for Miliband as Cameron's EU veto gives Tories first lead in 14 months - UK Politics - UK - The Independent Poll shows strong Conservative gain as Labour reflects on year of wasted opportunities
Thatcher was urged to let Liverpool fall into decline - UK Politics - UK - The Independent after the Toxteth riots and spend regeneration money elsewhere,

Comment: Obama’s Climate Betrayal : The New Yorker - by trying to block others’ attempts to tackle the problem, the U.S. is behaving in a manner that seems best described as unforgivable (failing the major moral test of our time, in fact, all of them; Obama stands for nothing except himself)
Obama Signs Defense Authorization Bill | ThinkProgress from the signing statement: “My administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a nation.” (but if that's what Republicans want to do, it's ok with me)

Vagabond Scholar: Jon Swift Memorial Roundup 2011
Twitter / @ggreenwald: @drfarls I'm not performing any fucking role ... don't project your artifice on me

Courthouse News Service The Vietnam Veterans of America says the Pentagon has "systematically and wrongfully discharged" more than 22,000 veterans since 2001 "on the basis of so-called 'personality disorder'" - rather than post-traumatic stress disorder - to deny them medical care and save the Pentagon $12.5 billion in medical and disability payments (supporting our troops, once again)
The Pentagon and its Sock Puppets—By Scott Horton (Harper's Magazine) (Pentagon: "we see no problem")
The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Time to Amend: No More Half Measures in Campaign Finance Reform

Super PACs Dominate Iowa Caucus, Helping Mitt Romney Run Ahead The ads were part of an unprecedented $3.3 million negative campaign of television spots and direct mail by Restore Our Future, an independent expenditure-only committee or super PAC, which blunted Gingrich's rise and may very well be the main ingredient in an Iowa victory for Romney next Tuesday.
Restore Our Future Attack Ads Harm Gingrich in Iowa - NYTimes.com
Hullabaloo - How do you like me now? - Live by Citizens United, die by Citizens United - If this continues, there really won't be much point in having primaries. It basically adds up to very rich rich people in very expensive smoke filled rooms buying the nomination (end of democracy in America)
In a switch, Ron Paul ignores the media - Keach Hagey and James Hohmann - politico.com Neglect by the mainstream media is so central to Ron Paul’s identity that his campaign uses it to raise money. But as his surging poll numbers in Iowa have drawn scrutiny to his incendiary newsletters, reporters are complaining that Paul is now the one ignoring the mainstream media (creepy old facist homophobe nutball ignores lamestream media)
With Over 500K Signatures Already Collected, Recall of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Appears Inevitable | ThinkProgress
Matt Romney on Dad's Tax Returns: Obama Should Release His Birth Certificate First | Video Cafe Matt Romney told a group of senior citizens that the multimillionaire candidate might not release his tax returns until President Barack Obama releases his birth certificate, a document that was made public long ago (meanwhile, on planet Republican)
SNL: GOP 2012 Undeclared Candidates Debate | Video Cafe (Tiny Fey's last SP impression: 4:03)

The Unraveling of MF Global - WSJ.com n September, MF Global Holdings Ltd.'s management sent a memo to the securities firm's 2,800 employees: Start printing on both sides of paper (that worked)

New synthetic molecules treat autoimmune disease in mice Crohn's and rheumatoid arthritis,
Ayahuasca, an Amazonian trip | GlobalPost Ayahuasca's a hallucinogen in a cup. Bring good karma, and drink at your own risk.

The Politics of Planned Parenthood and Women’s Rights : The New Yorker (if a fertilized egg has equal rights, women are not equal to men; jihad in America)
Action aboard airplane creates a reluctant hero - KansasCity.com Jabir Hazziez Jr. has been showered with accolades, but he sees his role as reflecting his Muslim faith.
David Dean Smith, Michigan Man, Allegedly Spread HIV 'Possibly 100s Of People' To Kill Victims

Cronin's Restaurant - What's on the Menu? Help transcribe The New York Public Library's historical menu collection (1961) (Martini: 55 cents)

the beatles - let it be (live video) - YouTube | Let It Be Lyrics Paul Mccartney

Eschaton: Don't Piss On My Leg And Tell Me It's Raining: Smart companies stick in sneaky fees so you don't notice, dumb ones announce that they're going to charge you for the privilege of paying your bill.

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Hullabaloo The military has the money and guns in Egypt. When the people gathered en masse in Tahrir Square, the military eventually found it more convenient to dump Mubarak than to keep him.
A fitting end to a disastrous year in Indian politics | John Elliott | Independent Editor's choice Blogs It was a fitting end to a disastrous year for corruption-ridden India’s floundering government, destructive parliamentary opposition, and self-serving politicians (India can't survive without corruption)
The Ultra-Orthodox in Israel: A Clash of Cultures in the Holy Land - Spiegel Online - News - International Ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups in Israel would like to see gender separation in public, and some have stooped to harassing women -- and even children -- to get their way. With thousands of Israelis protesting against the growing influence of the super-religious, the rift in Israeli society is getting deeper (reaping what you sowed)

Keynes Was Right - NYTimes.com Unfortunately, in late 2010 and early 2011, politicians and policy makers in much of the Western world believed that they knew better, that we should focus on deficits, not jobs, even though our economies had barely begun to recover from the slump that followed the financial crisis. And by acting on that anti-Keynesian belief, they ended up proving Keynes right all over again (facts never bothered them much in their rush to impose austerity on everyone but themselves)
Eurozone crisis: Spain announces tax rises after missing deficit target | Business | guardian.co.uk Spanish government plans "progressive" tax rises and public spending cuts ... "Extraordinary and unexpected" situation blamed (they've had a lot of those lately)
Spain sets out painful spending cuts - CNN.com (more austerity will help!)

Presenting the first-annual Wonky awards - The Washington Post (see Sweden for Keynsian validation)
How the Deficit Got This Big - NYTimes.com The answer is largely the Bush-era tax cuts, war spending in Iraq and Afghanistan, and recessions.
Budget Infographic
Medical Infographics

"But no president has ever relied so extensively on the secret killing of individuals to advance the nation’s security goals" | Philly | 12/28/2011 The Nobel Peace Prize called. It wants its good name back (he sold the world on his illusion)
Exclusive: Interpol chief - close EU border loophole or risk attack - World Politics - World - The Independent Alarm raised over gap in European passport security that could 'lead to another September 11' (fear, fear!)


NBCU, Bain Capital Relationship: MSNBC Anchors Begin Disclosing Relationship (VIDEO) parent company NBC Universal's ties to Bain Capital, the private investment firm co-founded by GOP candidate Mitt Romney.
The Washington Narrative Goes A-Schmoozin' - Esquire Once upon a time, the last time there was a Democratic president with a psyche to be plumbed by foolish dilettantes, Sally Quinn, now d/b/a The Little Flower of Beltway Spirituality, wrote a memorable piece about how distressed everyone around her dinner table had become over the arrival in town of those shoeless hillbillies from Arkansas. (redux Obama by Helene Cooper at the ... NYT!)
Obama Gains Reputation as Distant in Washington - NYTimes.com (Boehner and Cantor want more face time)
Eschaton: Newt: Ron Paul: And much hand-wringing will ensue on the left, as they try to decide whether or not they like a racist anti-war isolationist who favors a society of bare-foot, pregnant women smoking dope in the kitchen.
Major Ron Paul Supporter Favors Death Penalty for Gays | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet Paul's endorsement from a pastor who wants the death penalty for gays exposes his links to radical Christian Reconstructionists. (the psychotic core)
With Mixed Results, Ron Paul Tries To Terrify Small Town Iowa | TPM2012 Even a fervent Paul supporter thought the riots in the streets thing was unlikely.
Strange libertarian argument of the day : Lawyers, Guns & Money Andrew Cohen attempts to make a libertarian case for requiring licences to raise children, is apparently not meant as a parody. This argument pairs nicely, I think, with Murray Rothbard’s argument that parents should be free to starve their children to death if they wish (but not to assault them! Because that’s a distinction with tremendous moral importance!) (libertarians hate and fear children)
Why the White South Is Still in Denial About Slavery | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet On a trip through the South, Civil War culture is presented as "authentic." They just leave out the slavery part (cleansed of ethnicity)

Balloon Juice » The lady’s not for spurning or the fact that Margaret Thatcher was an evil, rabid, vicious, mean-sprited, homophobic, Reagan-snuggling, Pinochet-loving old trout. (great writing)

Common Brain Mechanisms Underlie Supernatural Perceptions: Scientific American Belief in the paranormal arises from the same brain mechanisms that shape most human thought - three out of four Americans believe in the existence of paranormal phenomena. Other work has revealed that about one in three of us claim to have experienced the supernatural.

Chicago Cardinal Doubles Down, Says Gay Pride Parade 'Invited An Obvious Comparison' To KKK | ThinkProgress (world's largest pedophile ring wants to take tax payer money and discriminate)
Fox Apologizes To Jews For Jesus Facebook Poll The poll asked readers who they think is responsible for the death of Christ: Pontius Pilate, The Jewish People or the High Priests.
Forced Marriage: What about the men? | | Independent Editor's choice Blogs Over 70% of these cases involve families from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. These figures are only the tip of the iceberg, as the issue is under-reported for both sexes. Estimates suggest there are more than 2,000 incidents of forced marriage involving young male British nationals each year.

Texas teen leaves heartfelt message before Christmas death | ksl.com

Best Images of 2011 - Imgur

Now The Largest Game Companies In The World Have Dropped Support For A Bill The Internet Hates
Verizon Fee: Mobile Network Operator Scraps Convenience Fee After Customer Uproar
This Is The Letter That Got Mark Hurd Fired As CEO Of HP

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U.S. Military Sales to Iraq Raise Concerns - NYTimes.com The Obama administration is moving ahead with the sale of nearly $11 billion worth of arms and training for the Iraqi military despite concerns that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is seeking to consolidate authority, create a one-party Shiite-dominated state and abandon the American-backed power-sharing government (10% of GDP; what could go wrong?)
US agrees sale of $30bn fighter jets to Saudi Arabia | World news | guardian.co.uk White House says delivery of 84 new jets will support 50,000 jobs and be worth $3.5bn a year to the US economy (your defense contractors and lobbyists running foreign policy)
Military Stimulus: US Selling Tens of Billions in Arms to Middle East Countries | FDL News Desk

Turkey says deadly air strike was an 'unfortunate accident' | World news | guardian.co.uk Turkish official confirms 35 people killed in Iraqi border air raids were civilians working as smugglers, not Kurdish rebels
Moscow protest for jailed activist passes off peacefully | World news | The Guardian Hundreds of protesters gather in Pushkin Square to demonstrate against detention of leftist opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov
Tony Blair: support liberals in Middle East or face Islamist regimes | Politics | guardian.co.uk Special envoy warns religious groups are focused and organised while progressives need support and unity
Stasi files row as Britain refuses to return documents to Germany | World news | guardian.co.uk The files, obtained by the CIA after the fall of the Berlin Wall, name Britons who spied for East Germany in cold war
US 'deeply concerned' after Egyptian forces raid NGO offices in Cairo | World news | The Guardian State Department urges government to 'resolve this immediately' as US-Egyptian relations threaten to sink to new low ... The orchestrated move by Egypt's generals, apparently keen to play up to anti-US and nationalist feelings in the country, will be seen as highly provocative in Washington, which underwrites military aid to Egypt to the sum of $1.3bn (£843m) annually (second after you-know-who)
Egypt raids on NGOs hint at wider crackdown | World news | The Guardian Even charitable work can be a sensitive matter in Arab regimes if it highlights the state's failure to provide basic services

Euro sinks as Italian bond auction misses target | Business | The Guardian European Central Bank reported to have helped prop up Italian bonds as auction fails to reach hoped-for figure of €8.5bn

Vote Obama – if you want a centrist Republican for US president | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | The Guardian Because Barack Obama has adopted so many core Republican beliefs, the US opposition race is a shambles
Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com Obama officials love secret, targeted killing far more even than Bush officials did. They’re “always ready to step on the accelerator” (and, of course, they went further than Bush by even targeting U.S. citizens far from any battlefield). Only Admiral Blair raised objections, and was fired for them

TNR On The Most Overlooked Stories Of 2011 | The New Republic

A Snapshot of the Race for the Senate - NYTimes.com But if Republicans do win the Senate, they could do so in spectacular fashion (you can see where we're headed)
Third-Party Candidates Line Up -- Daily Intel The question isn’t whether a third-party candidate will impact the 2012 elections, but how many of them will (fuck everything up the rest of us - "Americans Elect")
Americans Elect: A wild card for the Internet age - The Washington Post (oh sure)

Anonymous hackers to publish U.S. security firm's 2.7m client emails... providing a 'smoking gun for number of crimes' | Mail Online Stratfor has been dubbed the 'Shadow CIA'
New York Muslims to snub Bloomberg breakfast in surveillance protest | World news | guardian.co.uk Several prominent figures refuse to attend multi-faith gathering with mayor after reports the NYPD spied on Muslim communities
» Mayor Gloomberg Opposes a Living Wage, Would Rather Pass the City’s Millions Out Unchecked

Scott Brown: Elizabeth Warren Media Coverage Is 'All Fluff' (where's her Cosmo centerfold, huh?)

Nuclear Power Play: Ambition, Betrayal And The 'Ugly Underbelly' Of Energy Regulation

Tea Party Book Conclusions - What a Tea Partier Won't Tell You - Esquire (NYT still trying to figure out the John Birch Society)
Poll: 'Progressive' Is The Most Positively Viewed Political Label in America | ThinkProgress

MF Global Scrutinized on Money Move - NYTimes.com
Eschaton: Regardless Of His Intentions, He Ran Off With My Wallet The new details bolster claims that MF Global was careless with customer money, regardless of the company’s intentions. (oopsie, no one to blame)

Chimpanzees seem to know what's on other chimps' minds | Science | guardian.co.uk Humans may not be alone in having insight into the minds of others, a chimpanzee study suggests
FDA draws criticism after U-turn on antibiotics in animal feed | World news | guardian.co.uk Environmental groups dismayed after agency drops long-held plan to regulate use of human antibiotics fed to healthy animals (Obama caves yet again)

Terry O'Neill: Obama Administration Failing Women on Birth Control (conservative Republican at work)
Leveson inquiry shown examples of 'sexist and offensive' reporting | Media | The Guardian Articles from the Telegraph, Sun and Sunday Sport criticised as sexualising women and misrepresenting rape research findings
It’s High Time for Conception: Studies Show Peak Times, Weather for Sex - The Daily Beast Studies show the holiday season is prime time for baby making. Anneli Rufus reports on which day, at what time, and in what weather you stand the best chance of having sex.
Christa Dias, Mother, Fired From Catholic Schools For Use Of Artificial Insemination
Kasey Kahne, NASCAR Driver, Tweets Against Breastfeeding In Public, Ignites Controversy Among Fans (asshole grossed out by breast feeding)

As Crime Falls, Central Park’s Night Use Grows - NYTimes.com (the Escape from New York scenario never happened)
In Washington area, African American students suspended and expelled two to five times as often as whites - The Washington Post


Secret Subpoena For Twitter User Account Info Allowed to Proceed | TPM Idea Lab and hand user account information over to the Boston Police Department (no privacy if you are "under investigation" - Boston cops got hacked, want revenge on your free speech)
Verizon Convenience Fee: Customers To Be Charged $2 For Paying Bill Online Via Credit Card (claim they will not charge for checks in the mail)
GoDaddy Boycott December 29: SOPA Controversy Prompts Site Owners To Pull Domains
DailyTech - Congress Plugs Anti-Piracy Legislation By Day, Pirates Porn by Night
Save Tom's, Stop SOPA

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U.S. Fifth Fleet says won't allow disruption in Hormuz | Reuters after Iran threatened to stop ships moving through the strategic oil route.
Russia's Dubious Vote - WSJ.com Analysis of Parliamentary Results Points to Widespread Fraud (tsk, tsk)
Iran threatens to block oil exports through Hormuz strait in sanctions row | World news | guardian.co.uk Country reacts to threat of sanctions on its crude oil after UN watchdog's report into state's nuclear ambitions
Syria, Egypt and Middle East unrest - live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk Arab League observers resume mission in Homs • Regime releases prisoners but activists denounce 'whitewash'
Hosni Mubarak trial resumes after two-month delay | World news | guardian.co.uk Ousted Egyptian president faces charges including involvement in deaths of hundreds of anti-regime protesters (just a front for the military) x
Somalia Faces Alarming Rise in Rapes of Women and Girls - NYTimes.com
BBC News - Why Irish soldiers who fought Hitler hide their medals Five thousand Irish soldiers who swapped uniforms to fight for the British against Hitler went on to suffer years of persecution.
Thousands of Israelis protest gender segregation in Beit Shemesh - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News Rally was originally slated to take place in the courtyard of a girl's school, but the location was changed after Haredi extremists threatened organizers with violence.
Israeli female soldier accosted for rebuffing Haredi bus segregation - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News Jerusalem resident Doron Matalon says ultra-Orthodox man, 45, chided her for not moving to back of bus, calling her 'gentile' and 'prostitute.'
Top Israeli rabbi: Gender segregated buses go against Jewish Law - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News Rabbi Eliezer Melamed says gender segregation on public buses hurts the 'proper family order', notes gender segregation is appropriate only during when performing 'public acts'.

TEPCO says it 'no longer owns' Fukushima fallout - BlackListedNews.com 'TEPCO is saying the radiation doesn't belong to them', and they said 'I beg your pardon'."

JPMorgan’s Swaps Occupying Cassino Prove Curse Like World War II - Businessweek (JPMorgan criminal enterprise)
Greek economic crisis turns tragic for children abandoned by their families | World news | The Guardian Nation shocked by stories of parents forced to give up children because of poverty – but charities warn of more cases to come (more austerity!)
Notable Death of the Year: RIP Austerity Economics, 1921-2011 | Crooks and Liars
Euro hits 11-month low against the dollar as banks hoard ECB cash | Business | The Guardian Single currency also at 10-year low against yen, but Italy brings festive cheer to markets as borrowing costs tumble

Obama Nominates Carlyle Group Partner to The Federal Reserve - BlackListedNews.com The Carlyle Group is a massive private equity firm and one of the largest defense contractors in the world.
Wall Street Mulls Suicide by Tactical Allocation - BlackListedNews.com Wall Street is merely one arm of the massively tentacled Money Power that resides in the City of London with outposts in Washington, the Vatican and Tel Aviv. The factions may fight among each other but at the end of the day they have the same goals and use the same facility to realize their goal of world government – run by them.

Prosecutors say Manning and Assange collaborated in stealing secret documents - The Washington Post
New York Times Sues Department Of Justice in an attempt to obtain more information about the legal justification behind the killing of U.S.-born jihadist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. He was killed by a U.S. drone strike in the mountains of Yemen in late September (Obama says it's all a secret)
Under Obama, an emerging global apparatus for drone killing - The Washington Post
“Oddly Passive” in the World of Drone Killing | emptywheel So the article makes it clear that the Administration doesn’t consider non-operational American citizen propagandists “civilians.” (Obama hates free speech)

Did Nixon have a gay affair with a Mafia fixer? Forget Watergate. A new book claims America's most corrupt President hid a far more personal scandal... | Mail Online the 37th U.S. President had a serious drink problem, beat his wife and — by the time he was inaugurated in 1969 — had links going back two decades to the Mafia, including with New Orleans godfather Carlos Marcello, then America's most powerful mobster (in other words, a Republican)

The Recall Elections Blog: The Year in Recalls -- 150 Recalls in 2011 (Americans dissatisfied with their Teahadists)
The new wave of US voter suppression | Amy Goodman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Rightwing state legislatures are pushing laws that seek to restrict voter access. It's an alarming trend, and Democrats will lose out
Ruy Teixeira: Why Obama's Re-election Campaign Will Depend On The Youth Vote | The New Republic (which he has consistently alientated)
Youth to Lead Drop in U.S. Voter Turnout in 2012 - Study - NYTimes.com (they were'nt "independents," so fuck them)

Fox's Year Of Class Warfare | Media Matters for America
Iowa's million-dollar attack ads | World news | guardian.co.uk The millions of dollars being lavished on attack ads in Iowa is a bad taste of things to come in the 2012 presidential election
Ron Paul Holding Iowa Lead In New PPP Poll (Iowa loves insane racists)
Death Penalty For Gays: Ron Paul Courts The Religious Fringe In Iowa | TPM2012 Reached by phone, Kayser confirmed to TPM that he believed in reinstating Biblical punishments for homosexuals — including the death penalty
The New York Times on Ron Paul’s Newsletters
Rachel Maddow: 'Ron Paul Hated By Fox News' (video)
GOP Candidates Reveal How They Would Enact Pro-Life 'Personhood' Laws (and bring Sharia law to America)
Perry changes stance to oppose all abortions – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs (at least he's a consistent Christian asshole)
Perry: U.S. Should Buy More Canadian Oil So 'We Don't Have To Buy From A Foreign Source' | ThinkProgress adding that buying so much energy from foreign countries is “not good policy, it’s not good politics and frankly it‘s un-American.” (also consistently dumb-as-a-rock)

The Defeatism of Depression - NYTimes.com - . Our problem isn’t, ultimately, economic; it’s political, brought on by an elite that would rather cling to its prejudices than turn the nation around (Republicans killing America with Obama's help)
Economist's View: Un-Unpivoting what strikes me is just how wrong-headed the Obama administration’s “pivot” away from jobs and toward the deficit back in 2010 really was. It was bad economics; but it was also really bad politics, shifting the debate to exactly the ground where the right tends to have an (undeserved) advantage.
Making Work Pay Tax Credit Always Superior to Payroll Tax Cut | FDL News Desk
SEC, Citigroup stay granted by higher court at last minute « HousingWire (Obama intervenes to make sure no bankers suffer)
Whistleblower Records Shed Light On BNY Mellon Case
Report: Rich-poor gap growing - Mackenzie Weinger - politico.com The SSA said 50 percent of workers made less than $26,364 last year — and most Americans have fewer job opportunities available to them. But the wealthiest Americans are relatively unscathed, with those earning $1 million or more jumping 18 percent from 2009.
How The Housing Crisis Could Kill Any Progress On Jobs | ThinkProgress Some economists fear the continued slump in housing could short-circuit the recovery in jobs by making it harder for Americans to relocate to find work.
Eschaton: Skimmers An immense amount of free money has been given out in this crisis. Most of it has gone to the rich assholes who continue to create the problems.

New York Times Staffers Express 'Profound Dismay' With Management The letter also mentions that a member of "senior management" is now leaving with "a very generous severance and retirement package, including full pension benefits." Indeed, outgoing CEO Janet Robinson -- the unnamed executive-- will reportedly take home a $15 million exit package (they practice what they preach)
New York Times' Regional Papers Sold
Jill Abramson Promotes Tom Bodkin To Deputy Managing Editor
» FAQ for NYT Regional Media Group employees jimromenesko.COM
PolitiFact | Fact-checking in the Echo Chamber Nation (small Florida Republican newspaper whines; Bill Adair should apologize and go home for good)

Study finds unexplored link between airlines' profitability and their accident rates “Speaking generally, airlines are safest when their financial performance is either much better or must worse than it has been in the recent past.”
The Leading Cause of Breast Cancer? » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names Institute of Medicine (IOM), the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, the exhaustive analysis found that medical radiation, particularly the large radiation dose delivered by CT scans, is the foremost identifiable cause of breast cancer ... CT Scans may cause 29,000 cancers and 15,000 cancer deaths every year

A death sentence for the death penalty? | World news | guardian.co.uk murderers sentenced to death will end up costing taxpayers three times more over the length of the case than if they were sentenced to life without parole (the rubber meets the road in death states)
ID errors put hundreds in L.A. County jails - Los Angeles Times Wrongful incarcerations totaled 1,480 in the last five years, a Times inquiry finds (no consequences for deleting the Fourth Amendment: the cops know who the bad guys are, right?)

SOPA is the end of us, say bloggers - Tim Mak - politico.com

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Syria: Protests in Homs as Arab League visits | World news | guardian.co.uk ens of thousands turn out to call for Assad to go • Regime withdraws tanks from Homs as observers arrive
Egypt Virginity Tests On Female Detainees Ordered Stopped - on female detainees in military prisons ("virginity test" = "rape")
Naama Margolese, Israeli Girl, Bullied By Jewish Ultra-Orthodox Extremists (VIDEO) The ultra-Orthodox are perennial king-makers in Israeli coalition politics – two such parties serve as key members of the ruling coalition. They receive generous government subsidies, and police have traditionally been reluctant to enter their communities ... 10 percent of Israel's population and are its fastest growing sector because of a high birth rate
Israel's treatment of women is hardly that of a democracy | Rachel Shabi | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk A 'dignified' dress code and gender segregation show Israel is fast becoming bigoted about dissent and difference (just like you-know-who)
Bus Segregation of Jewish Women Prompts Review - NYTimes.com (oh, the Hasids in Brooklyn do it too; more state-supported discrimination)
Ethiopia jails Swedish journalists on terrorism charges | World news | The Guardian ohan Persson and Martin Schibbye were found with rebel group
Al-Qaida in Iraq claims responsibility for Baghdad blasts | World news | guardian.co.uk Co-ordinated attacks struck a dozen mostly Shia neighbourhoods, killing 69 people, on single day last week
Vladimir Putin's world is falling apart | Masha Gessen | Comment is free | The Guardian The Russian media has lost its fear of Putin's authoritarian regime. History tells us the end must be nigh

Greeks Reeling From Health Care Cutbacks - NYTimes.com Greece used to have an extensive public health care system that pretty much ensured that everybody was covered for everything. But in the last two years, the nation’s creditors have pushed hard for dramatic cost savings to cut back the deficit (bankers ruin their country, so the price is health care, sound familiar?)
Eschaton: The Suffering Of Other People Shorter Washington Post: We applaud what Monti is doing, even though it will make things worse, and what he really needs to do is stick it to workers and old people. I think I do have great business idea: poverty porn for our Galtian overlords. Footage of mass misery is just what they need to cheer them up enough to hire another yacht scrubber or two.
Italy Retailers in Worst Christmas in 10 Years - Bloomberg (solution: more austerity!)

Growing wealth widens distance between lawmakers and constituents - The Washington Post Between 1984 and 2009, the median net worth of a member of the House more than doubled, according to the analysis of financial disclosures, from $280,000 to $725,000 in inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars, excluding home ­equity.
American Class System - We Are Not All Created Equal, by Stephen Marche - Esquire The truth about the American class system (the rich always win)
Top One Percent Income 2011 - Income Inequality Is a Symptom, Not the Disease, by Charles P. Pierce - Esquire

Elizabeth Warren, Scott Brown Targeted By Super PACs The groups spent more than $38 million to defeat Democrats in the 2010 midterms, raising money from large donors, including many whose identities remain unknown ("free" speech from behind the curtain)
Iowa GOP caucus 2012: Gingrich v Romney with seven days to go | World news | guardian.co.uk Buzzfeed's awesome Andrew Kaczynski has been on a roll so far in this election cycle, through using a little-known investigative technique known as "finding old stuff on the internet", and tracking down embarassing bits of Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich from years gone by.
GOP presidential race: Ask not for whom the poll tells | World news | guardian.co.uk With the 2012 nomination process soon to get under way, uncertainty stalks the Republican presidential candidates
Gingrich Puts a Price on His Family Values : He sheltered his $4-million book bonanza from his struggling, non-trophy ex-wife. - Los Angeles Times "She's not young enough or pretty enough to be the wife of the President. And besides, she has cancer."

Sen. Ben Nelson won’t run for re-election – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs The two-term Democrat had been considered a top target of Republicans heading into the 2012 elections (teapartied; good riddance to bad Dems)
Political Animal - Ben Nelson to retire Nelson waited until after Democratic and allied groups had invested quite a bit of money to strengthen his standing in Nebraska, and then decided to retire (self-serving asshole til the end; Obama will draft Bob Kerrey)
Ben Nelson Retirement: Cue the Lamentations for Bipartisanship |
Hullabaloo - Good riddance to Ben Nelson (and Bob Kerrey? "Mr. Kerrey says that without reform, entitlements will claim 100 percent of the Treasury in 2012." is a Repubican)

Ron Paul: Not So Much Denial Back in the 1990s (Plus: Newsletters 101)
Ron Paul, Racism, and War — The League of Ordinary Gentlemen (the last (g)libertarian supporters of RP vaporize in the face of his massive racisim and insanity; Andrew Sullivan finally gives up)
Re-Thinking The Paul Endorsement - The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast (didn't think this one through, did you? but still self-spinning)
Ron Paul's Foul Old Newsletters Back in the News - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine
Who Wrote Ron Paul's Newsletters? - Reason Magazine Libertarian movement veterans, and a Paul campaign staffer, say it was "paleolibertarian" strategist Lew Rockwell
Ron Paul's Shaggy Defense - Ta-Nehisi Coates - National - The Atlantic
Paul builds campaign on doomsday scenarios - Yahoo! News

Calculated Risk: WSJ: "Slowing Inflation Cheers Fed" (Fed wakes up two years later, realizes inflation fears were delusional, ok)
Sears to close 100-120 stores after poor holiday sales | World news | guardian.co.uk Struggling numbers and outdated stores cited as cause for closure of over a hundred Sears and Kmart stores in the US
America's Dirty Little Housing Secret Is Rocking The Suburbs Some families that once pulled down six-figure incomes and drove flashy cars are now turning to the pantry for help ... One in six people in the U.S. are poor, according to the latest census data, compared to one-in-ten Americans in 2004. (drug-test them and make them clean toilets for free)

The Mystery Behind Anesthesia - Technology Review Mapping how our neural circuits change under the influence of anesthesia could shed light on one of neuroscience's most perplexing riddles: consciousness.
Coffee Enemas, Aromatherapy, and Intercessory Prayer: Your Tax Dollars At Work | The Hillman Foundation a scathing report on The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), an ideologically motivated side project within the National Institutes of Health which has received over $1.4 billion in grants to study scientifically dubious alternative remedies ... prayer and "energy healing" don't work (your tax dollars at work for Christians)

Time to end the war on drugs - Richard's Blog - Virgin.com (Branson says US drug-policy is insane, but that won't stop Obama)

The Catholic Church’s Acceleration into Irrelevancy Continues : Lawyers, Guns & Money : Cardinal Francis George of Chicago: "You don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism."
Victoria Jackson: Muslim Brotherhood Taking Over America, Six Hour FBI Meeting Claiming that it was strongly hinted that President Obama was a Muslim -- his policies all favor Muslims and are against Israel, she claims to have been told -- Jackson says in the video that the ultimatum pushed by terrorist groups in America is "You have to convert or be killed." (because Christians are a tiny minority in Amercia even though they all have assault rifles)

French implants firm was criticised by US inspectors in 2000 | World news | The Guardian Food and Drug Administration warned PIP its saline implants were substandard and accused it of failing to report complaints ... The warning letter was made public in 2000. But The French health authority AFSSAPS said it had not been informed of the FDA's warning letter (they didn't read the news)
Pink Stuff: Little Girl In Toy Store Rails Against Gender Stereotypes (video)
Seriously, Men Only Think They’re Funnier - Studied - NYTimes.com men are perceived to be only slightly funnier than women in a blind test, in which the sex of the joke teller was not disclosed.

H.R.3261: Stop Online Piracy Act - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress H.R.3261 - Stop Online Piracy Act (they forgot the Boston Globe)
Researcher Karsten Nohl Finds GSM Phone Vulnerability Could Expose Billions Around The World To Scams "We can do it to hundreds of thousands of phones in a short timeframe,"

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Philippines Floods 2011: Bodies Found Far Away From Ravaged Villages, Coastline More bodies have washed ashore, pushing the death toll to more than 1,200, an official said Monday. While more than 60,000 homeless from hundreds of flood-ravaged villages
Syria Violence: Government Tanks Unleash Fire On Protesters, Killing At Least 20
Iraq car bomb hits interior ministry | World news | guardian.co.uk At least six people killed and 34 others wounded in suicide bomb attack in Baghdad following series of blasts on Thursday
Iraq Suicide Bombing Attacks Kill At Least 7 People (but definitly "worth it")
Japan Fukushima Disaster: Probe Finds Response Failed (you don't say, probe) The report criticized the use of the term "soteigai," meaning "outside our imagination," which it said implied authorities were shirking responsibility for what had happened.
Fukushima investigation reveals failings | World news | The Guardian Japanese government delayed giving information to the public, according to interim report into the disaster
China jails dissident Chen Xi for 10 years | World news | The Guardian Veteran dissident is the second to be convicted of inciting subversion through online essays within four days (ten years hard labor for "online essays")
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani could be hanged in Iran | World news | guardian.co.uk Judiciary officials exploring whether woman whose sentence to death by stoning was suspended can be hanged instead
Al-Qaida leadership almost wiped out in Pakistan, British officials believe | World news | guardian.co.uk Senior members of al-Qaida are feared to be moving to north Africa to open up a new front after being weakened in Pakistan
UN Chops Budget By $250M (austerity)

The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Growth More Than Debt Key to Euromess (they killed themselves with austerity!)

Bradley Manning pre-trial hearing: what we learned | World news | guardian.co.uk (Obama hates accountability and will lie at the drop of a hat)
Anonymous targets US security thinktank Stratfor | Technology | The Guardian Hacking movement boasts of stealing confidential client list and mining it for credit card numbers
Daily Kos: Montanans Launch Recall of Senators Who Approved NDAA Military Detention. Merry Christmas, US Senate Montanans have announced the launch of recall campaigns against Senators Max Baucus and Jonathan Tester, who voted for the bill.

Political Animal - Playing the blame game poorly Republicans have to blame government whether the argument is ridiculous or not — their ideology demands it.
Joe Nocera Gets Mad - NYTimes.com (the delusional Republican lie-machine)
2011 – the year the policymakers misread everything about the economy | Business | The Guardian It's been a troubled year for the global economy and one likely to be followed by an equally difficult 2012 (still fighting inflation! turn our profits back on!)
Eschaton: Turn Those Machines Back On We left the same people in charge of the Great Casino, and they, unsurprisingly, want to keep playing the same games. Nothing significant has been changed.
The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - Fundamentally Hilarious Examining Gingrich’s speeches since 2007, Amira found 418 unique uses of fundamental or fundamentally (as in fundamentally corrupt and insane)


Obama: The conservative in 2012 - The Washington Post (he was the conservative in 2008, dude)
Newly released court documents cast doubt on Gingrich version of first divorce – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs (lying mofo)
Whiskey Fire: Hurrah for the God-damned Idiots The fact that the GOP presidential field is only capable of coughing up a gang of clownish shysters and a laughably phony hack indicates that the GOP is not a political party, but Fox News by other means.

Study: More Than 90% of Patients Say They Want to Read Doctors' Notes, but Most Doctors Resist | Healthland | TIME.com A new study asks patients if they want to read what their doctor is writing in their chart. Overwhelmingly, the answer was yes. Not surprisingly, doctors resist.


Online Gambling Gets Boost From Obama Administration The Obama administration cleared the way for states to legalize Internet poker and certain other online betting in a switch that may help them reap billions in tax revenue and spur web-based gambling (legalizing state gambling; Obama still an idiot)


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CIA has suspended drone attacks in Pakistan, U.S. officials say - latimes.com The undeclared halt in CIA attacks in Pakistan, now in its sixth week, aims at reversing a sharp erosion in trust after deadly incidents, including the mistaken attack on soldiers by U.S. gunships (they stopped the illegal attacks they said they were never doing)
Nothing To Envy | 'Nothing to Envy' by Barbara Demick - Los Angeles Times
korea_night1.jpg (satellite pic of night lights on Korean Peninsula tells the whole story)

Petition to protest ultra-Orthodox discrimination against 7-year-old Beit Shemesh girl - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News Na'ama, who lives with her religiously observant family in Beit Shemesh, is afraid to walk the 300 meters between home and school because of the violence she has faced from Haredi men who say her clothes are too revealing (fundies love their burkas and spitting and throwing stones)

Trade Dispute Looms: EU Court Forces US Airlines to Pay for Emissions - Spiegel Online - News - International In a letter to EU officials this month, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US "will be compelled to take appropriate action" if the EU goes ahead with the scheme (Obama loves global warming)
Christine Lagarde: World Economy In 'A Dangerous Situation'

'Anonymous' Stratfor Hack Reportedly Start Of Weeklong Assault Hackers on Sunday claimed to have stolen a raft of e-mails and credit card data from U.S.-based security think tank Stratfor, promising it was just the start of a weeklong Christmas-inspired assault on a long list of targets.
Pentagon Finds No Fault In Its Ties to TV Analysts - NYTimes.com (of course not)

Hullabaloo Ebenezer Scrooge, Conservative
Pope calls for worshipers to remember 'essence' of Christmas - CNN.com unveiling of a larger-than-life nativity scene in St. Peter's Square. The scene, at 23 feet high and 82 feet wide, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, according to the Vatican's news agency (covered in gold and diamonds, Pope decries "commercialization" of Xmas)

Inequality and Democratic Responsiveness when Americans with different income levels differ in their policy preferences, actual policy outcomes strongly reflect the preferences of the most affluent but bear virtually no relationship to the preferences of poor or middle-income Americans (policy always serves the rich to widen inequality)

Trade Dispute Looms: EU Court Forces US Airlines to Pay for Emissions - Spiegel Online - News - International In a letter to EU officials this month, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US "will be compelled to take appropriate action" if the EU goes ahead with the scheme.

Joe Arpaio Faces New Setback Over Immigration "Sheriff Arpaio has made public statements that a fact-finder could interpret as endorsing racial profiling,"
Bill Conlin Scandal: 7th Person Alleges Abuse By Philly Columnist (more sports)

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Mass boycott leads to awkward silence at UN Kim tribute
Kim Jong-un hailed by North Korean media as next leader | World news | guardian.co.uk Son of Kim Jong-il urged to embrace 'people's call on him to become supreme commander' by Rodong Sinmun newspaper
Yemen Protests: Troops In Country's Capital Open Fire On Protesters With Guns, Tear Gas, Water Cannons
Russian anti-Putin protests draw thousands to Moscow again | World news | guardian.co.uk Opposition activists claim 80,000 attend Second demonstration over vote-rigging claims in a month

We all have a stake in China’s real estate bubble - The Washington Post
Italy May Have to Kick Its Cash Habit as Monti Cracks Down on Tax Evaders - Bloomberg Italian banks, which charge businesses up to 2 percent for credit-card transactions, could end up being the main beneficiaries of the new rules

The intellectual cowardice of Bradley Manning’s critics - Salon.com As Ellsberg clearly details in this Al Jazeera debate, he — Ellsberg — dumped 7,000 pages of Top Secret documents: the highest known level of classification; by contrast, not a single page of what Manning is alleged to have leaked was Top Secret, but rather all bore a much lower-level secrecy designation. In that sense, Obama was right: “Ellsberg’s material wasn’t classified in the same way” — the secrets Ellsberg leaked were classified as being far more sensitive (Obama is a fucking liar)

Political Animal - The omnibus gets a signing statement - The presidential practice that became rather scandalous during the Bush/Cheney era hasn’t gone away completely (your imperial Presidency is here to stay)
The Big Lie - NYTimes.com Thus has Peter Wallison, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and a former member of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, almost single-handedly created the myth that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac caused the financial crisis (someone call Polifucked)
A Christmas Message From America's Rich | | Rolling Stone t seems America’s bankers are tired of all the abuse. They’ve decided to speak out.

msnbc video: Now We Know
How Germany Builds Twice as Many Cars as the U.S. While Paying Its Workers Twice as Much - Forbes

Paul Moves Into Lead in Iowa Forecast - NYTimes.com
Gingrich, Perry disqualified from Va. primary ballot - Virginia Politics - The Washington Post -Earlier Friday, the Republican Party of Virginia certified former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) to appear on the ballot (grifters)
Newt Gingrich Fails To Qualify For Virginia GOP Primary Despite Residency [UPDATED] The failure is a particularly tough blow to Gingrich, who is a Virginia resident, having lived in the Washington suburb of McLean, Va. for more than a decade.
Gingrich Will Run An 'Aggressive Write-In Campaign' In Virginia Primaries, Where Write-Ins Are Illegal | ThinkProgress
The 2012 Speculatron Weekly Roundup For Dec. 23, 2011 When Gingrich lost his entire campaign staff to -- well, to his decision to constantly be on vacation -- he brushed it off, bragging about how his campaign was going to be a different model. But it seems that running a social media campaign in virtual reality isn't yet a good enough idea to supplant campaign traditions like having "campaign offices" with "telephones."
SC Baptist Convention President Says Christians Will Have an Easier Time Voting for a Serial Adulterer Than a Mormon | Right Wing Watch
Political Animal - Understanding ‘suicidal’ political episodes (let's go with #6: "They’re just nuts.")
Obama Birthplace Lawsuit Tossed By Appeals Court
Jules Manson, Failed Tea Party Candidate, Calls For Assassination Of Obama, First Daughters "Assassinate the f----- n----- and his monkey children," Manson commented on his own post

Joe Arpaio Punished By Judge For Document Destruction
Iowa senator calls for federal investigation of Haley - SC Politics Today - TheState.com “whether Gov. Nikki Haley exploited taxpayer dollars for political purposes” by allegedly dictating the findings of a nonpartisan health care panel
Amy Koch Affair Scandal: Minnesota's LGBT Community Apologizes To Resigned Senate Majority Leader "On behalf of all gays and lesbians living in Minnesota, I would like to wholeheartedly apologize for our community's successful efforts to threaten your traditional marriage,"
Come Saturday Morning: MNGOP’s Year of Scandals | Firedoglake
Know Your RPMs: A Field Guide To Minnesota Republican Factionalism « Mercury Rising ??
Alas, Poor Seamus, We Knew You Too, Too Well - New York Times columnist Gail Collins' bizarre obsession with Mitt Romney's dog.
Loveable Extremist Paul came off as callous, and eventually said that religious institutions would step in to fill the void and help sick people. "In the old days the churches did this," he said. "We've given up on that, we've given up on this idea that the church would fill in on that."

Sadly, No! » They Just Don’t Know How Lucky They Really - Liberals should just shut up about child labor and sweatshops and acknowledge that they are simply the way the beneficent and invisible hand of the free market makes sure that poor children don’t starve to death - Of course, by this measure you can argue for the benefits of child prostitution by noting that it still beats malaria in a rice paddy or starving to death. The only problem is that Erika doesn’t get cheap cocktail ensembles from child prostitution.
C&L's Top 50 Videos of 2011: #46 Oregon Tea Party Breaks Up MoveOn Picnic | Crooks and Liars For all the talk of how "peaceful" the tea party protests were in contrast to the Occupy Wall Street, videos like this one by Dave Neiwert really highlight what a big lie that is. Tea party thugs decided to bust up a MoveOn picnic in Roseburg, Oregon, and then brag about how they halted to slow march to Marxism.

Vagabond Scholar: Psychohistorians versus Pseudo-Intellectuals (Krugman is from Trantor)
Gingrich Gets An "A" From Niall Ferguson | The New Republic I get that self-avowed “neo-imperialist” historian Niall Ferguson relishes his gig as academia’s most celebrated colonial nostalgic/conservative reactionary. But this is too much (Gingrich's "brilliant" ideas; what a reactionary dork/prick)

A 40-year-old puzzle of superstring theory solved by supercomputer revealed the way our universe was born with 3 spatial dimensions from 10-dimensional superstring theory in which spacetime has 9 spatial directions and 1 temporal direction.
HIV Study Named 2011 Breakthrough of the Year by Science the HPTN 052 clinical trial,
Global Warming Hates A White Christmas | ThinkProgress “Most Canadians will not wake up to a white Christmas on December 25 for the first time since Canada’s weather office began recording snowfalls in 1955,”

French breast implant chief wanted by Interpol | World news | guardian.co.uk Jean-Claude Mas is the founder of PIP whose breast implants are at the centre of a global health scare - They are filled with an unapproved non-medical grade material – believed to be made for mattresses
UK plastic surgery statistics: breasts up, ears down | News | guardian.co.uk
'These are just ordinary women' – how breast surgery has soared in the UK | Society | The Guardian Around 25,000 British women a year have breast implants, and the numbers are rapidly rising

Time for Plan B on Plan B? New research proves progressives were right to be upset by restrictions on emergency contraceptives (Obama and his anti-choice policies promote teen pregnancy)
An All-American Misstep - NYTimes.com (Lowe's and Kayak are bigoted, boycott them)
Lowe's All-American Muslim Fiasco and the Politics of Normalcy | MyFDL
Girl Scouts' Inclusion Of Bobby Montoya, 7-Year-Old Transgender Child, Prompts Troops To Disband The Christian Post is reporting, all three of the troop leaders were affiliated with the Northlake Christian School in Covington, Louisiana.

Go Daddy Lost 21,054 Domains Yesterday
Just In Case, Here's SOPA For Dummies
Dutch Parliament: Downloading Movies and Music Will Stay Legal | TorrentFreak
Browse The Web More Safely With WOT » TechLogon (Web of Trust)

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Panetta: Iraq War was “worth it” - Salon.com (100,000+ dead Iraqis, 4,500 dead Americans, 30,000 injured, $1 trillion worth it)
Syria blames al-Qaida after two car bombs kill dozens in Damascus | World news | The Guardian Opposition activists dismiss official account, accusing Assad regime of plotting blasts that coincided with Arab League visit
Pakistan army rejects US findings on border attack | World news | The Guardian American investigation concludes mistakes on both sides led to US air strikes killing 24 Pakistani soldiers (it was obviously an Army PR job)
Turkey accuses France of genocide in Algeria | World news | The Guardian Turkish prime minister ramps up diplomatic spat, saying French killed 15% of Algeria's population during postwar occupation (will pass law to make crime denying French genocide)

Recession nears as UK services shrink | Business | The Guardian Fall in UK services output bigger than expected (oh, how did that happen?)


Jeff Connaughton: Obama and the Rule of Law Have there been no prosecutions because Wall Street acted legally (albeit unethically)? Or did Wall Street repeatedly violate major anti-fraud laws (and should thus find itself in the dock)? (Obama refuses to prosecute financial crimes)
Obama and Geithner: Government, Enron-Style | | Rolling Stone - The notion that what Wall Street firms did was merely unethical and not illegal is not just mistaken but preposterous: most everyone who works in the financial services industry understands that fraud right now is not just pervasive but epidemic (captive failure)
Can the U.S. Government close social media accounts? - Salon.com (Obama hates your civil liberties)

Bachmann, Huntsman, Santorum not on Va. primary ballot | Richmond Times-Dispatch
Fox Celebrates Holidays With Outrageous Race-Based Attack On Obama | Media Matters for America Fox's attacks have taken an increasingly racially charged tone: Brent Bozell, who runs the factually challenged outfit of conservative misinformation known as the Media Research Center, likened Obama to "a skinny, ghetto crackhead." (given up all pretence +Chris Matthews saying that Newt Gingrich "looks like a car bomber," which he does)
Ron Paul Newsletters: Ad Urging Subscription Warned Of 'Race War' "coming race war in our big cities" and of a "federal-homosexual cover-up" to play down the impact of AIDS (racist, homophobic nutball)
10 Shocking Quotes From Ron Paul’s Newsletters | TPM2012
Balloon Juice » Yes, I do know that Sully is a waste of time, but… (Ron Paul and the 1001th reason why Andrew Sullivan is hopeless)
South Carolina Voter ID Law: Justice Department Blocks Controversial Legislation (just look at her)

The Post-Truth Campaign - NYTimes.com
PolitiFact | Fact-checking in the Echo Chamber Nation "PolitiFact is dangerous," he said (your elite keepers of the rightwing consensus get push-back, whine)
Political Animal - PolitiFact ought to be ashamed of itself
PolitiFact Weirdly Unable to Discuss Facts ... The issue as Adair sees it: "Shut up, critics of PolitiFact."
Balloon Juice » The Year of Lying Decadently
Politifact Is Bad for You What Politifact is, really, is just a blog written by some people at the St. Petersburg Times. But since it calls itself Politifact and assigns ratings that you can just glance over, it undeservedly becomes a irresistible cudgel to use against your political opponents. Politifact is dangerous. Stop reading it. Stop reading the "four Pinocchios" guy too. Stop using some huckster company's stupid little phrases or codes or number systems when it's convenient, and read the actual arguments instead. You're building a monster.

Video Shows Joe Arpaio’s Officer Used Taser On Latino Vet Who Later Died | TPMMuckraker

Scientists Engineer Mosquito Immune System to Block Malaria
The King William's College quiz 2011 | From the Guardian |

Teen Girls Having More Same-Sex Contact, Fewer Pregnancies: U.S. National Survey Of Family Growth - 11 percent of 17-year-old girls in the latter pool had engaged in contact with other girls, compared with just five percent in 2002

My favourite film: The Age of Innocence | Film | guardian.co.uk
Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al - YouTube

Over 40 Internet Companies Come Out Publicly Against SOPA (Including Us) | TechCrunch
GoDaddy Pulls SOPA Support Following Customer Backlash (a Republican operation caves)
Reddit, if one wants to switch domains from GoDaddy, what are the best alternative domain hosting sites? : AskReddit

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2011 - the year in review | World news | guardian.co.uk

Baghdad car bomb attack rips through Iraq's already failing hopes | World news | The Guardian Soon after the pullout of US troops, an atrocity that has killed scores of people leaves an unravelling nation in deeper despair
Iraq: Explosions Rock Baghdad, Killing At Least 69 And Injuring Dozens (meanwhile, over there)
6,200 killed in Syrian crackdown, claims rights group | World news | The Guardian British-based Avaaz group says it has evidence of more than 6,237 deaths, with at least 400 of the victims children
Inquiry into US airstrike on Pakistan troops finds both sides to blame | World news | The Guardian Pentagon says incident which led to the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers due to poor co-ordination (or something)
Turkey freezes all political relations with France over genocide row | World news | The Guardian Recep Tayyip Erdogan recalls ambassador after Paris's decision to prosecute people who deny killing of Armenians was genocide

Nigeria on alert as Shell announces worst oil spill in a decade | Environment | guardian.co.uk The oil company says up to 40,000 barrels of crude oil was spilled 75 miles off the coast of the Niger delta

EURO GOVT-Spain, Italy yields rise; hope of ECB relief wanes | Reuters Huge ECB cash inflow shows no sign of boosting markets (well, that didn't work, so let's do it again!)
Italy Passes $40 Billion Austerity Plan - NYTimes.com “I think the government should have introduced a wealth tax. Why can’t those who have more give more, but for real?” (austerity is always demanded of the people who already have it; no "wealth tax" on rich Italians)
A Central Bank Doing What Central Banks Do - NYTimes.com There is no limit on what the banks can do with the money. But there is an obvious, virtually risk-free, option. A bank can buy short-term securities of its own government and pocket the difference — up to four or five percentage points — for the life of the securities. (more free money for banksters)

Investors call on News Corp to loosen Murdoch family's grip | Media | guardian.co.uk News Corp directors urged to abolish stock structure that leaves 'vast majority' of shareholders 'disenfranchised'

US jobless claims lowest since 2008 – but economic growth revised down | Business | guardian.co.uk Latest government figures suggest that the US jobs market is improving, but growth in third quarter slower than first thought
Payroll Tax Cut Fight: House GOP Agrees To Two-Month Extension ("I don't think that my constituents should have a tax increase because of Washington's dysfunction," said freshman Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., a former reality show star) (yo, Wisconsin)
Sherrod Brown's Ohio Senate Race Target Of Most Third-Party Spending By Republicans
Ron Paul Walks Out Of CNN Interview (video) Borger repeatedly asked the candidate about newsletters that were sent out in the 1980s and 1990s bearing his name. The newsletters included racist comments that made headlines in the Texas Congressman's previous campaigns for the House in 1996 and the presidency in 2008.
Ron Paul Touted His Controversial Newsletters In 1995 C-Span Interview
Judge Ousts Indiana Secretary of State (R's always cheat)
Scott Walker Recall: Little Progress With Job Creation Could Create Hurdle For Governor (how are those Republicans working out for you, Wisconsin?)
Jim Sensenbrenner, Wisconsin Congressman, Says Michelle Obama Has A 'Large Posterior' ((R-WI)

Bernanke Money Policy Seen Achieving Goal as Savers Become Consumers Again - Bloomberg The average age of cars and light trucks on the road today has risen to 10.6 years (that was -average- age)
Foreclosures May Push U.S. Housing Rebound to 2013 - Bloomberg Prices for resold homes are down 31 percent since the July 2006 peak ... more than a quarter of homeowners with a mortgage are “underwater,” or owe more than their property is worth.

cb(3P): New particle at the Large Hadron Collider discovered by ATLAS experiment Researchers from the University of Birmingham and Lancaster University, analysing data taken by the ATLAS experiment, have been at the centre of what is believed to be the first clear observation of a new particle at the Large Hadron Collider.

Hullabaloo ProPublica gets it wrong on California redistricting ... : “It’s complete bull…t, an absolute f…ing fabrication.”

Motrin Recall: Johnson & Johnson Recalls 12 Million Bottles From Stores "there may be a delay in experiencing relief," (they forgot to put the Motrin in)
Larry Craig Lobbies On Mine Safety As Reform Slowly Dies (like their miners)
Thai-Trip Column 'Nausea' | Philadelphia Daily News | 12/22/2011 It isn't OK in State College, Pa. It's equally sickening to crow about it in Thailand.
Euphemisms in America | Mother Jones (the Economist are idiotic)
Bill O'Reilly Covers The "War On Christmas" More Than Actual Wars | Media Matters for America (the stupidization of America)
New York City Parks Department Employee Finds Black Baby Doll Hanging From Noose(VIDEO) "That's bs, they waited for hours," an unidentified parks source told the blog. "They probably would have tried to sweep it under the rug if they could have."

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Syria Troops Attack Northwest Town, Killing At Least 100: Reports
Sunni leaders warn of sectarian chaos in Iraq | World news | The Guardian Duleimi sheikhs claim marginalised Sunnis now have little input into affairs of state in post-US Iraq
Eight US troops charged over soldier's apparent suicide in Afghanistan | World news | The Guardian Soldiers face charges including negligent homicide after Private Danny Chen is found dead with a gunshot wound
Two women kiss at US Navy ship return | World news | guardian.co.uk For the first time since the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell,' a same sex couple takes part in a traditional public embrace
Egyptian women protest in Cairo against brutal treatment | World news | The Guardian Hundreds of women join rally against Egypt's military rule as Clinton denounces treatment of female protesters (another small band of malcontents)

ECB lends Europe’s banks a massive €489 billion over unprecedented 3-year period - The Washington Post (free money for the banksters to light on fire again)
Free Money For European Banks

First police officer arrested over alleged payments from journalists | Media | guardian.co.uk 52-year-old woman held at Essex police station after being arrested under Operation Elveden (about fucking time)
Piers Morgan repeatedly denies knowledge of phone hacking | Media | The Guardian At the Leveson inquiry, the former editor of the Daily Mirror said he 'had no reason or knowledge to know it was going on' (just like everyone else)
Leveson inquiry: James Hipwell gives evidence - live | Media | guardian.co.uk - Hipwell says hacking 'was bog standard journalistic tool'

Bradley Manning hearing – Wednesday 21 December as it happened | World news | guardian.co.uk
History will remember Bradley Manning better | Amy Goodman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The person who may have sparked all this year's uprising and revolution is now sitting in a courtroom, facing life in jail

Backers Are Hopeful Obama Will Support Tax On Financial Transactions | Crooks and Liars Imagine that. They're starting to realize that handing everything to Wall Street isn't all that popular with the voters. Will wonders never cease? (but Timmy is in charge)
House Republicans under fire over payroll standoff | World news | guardian.co.uk Speaker John Boehner blamed for being 'obstructionist' by both parties as pressure mounts to pass tax cuts bill (Teaparty rules this country)
Newt Gingrich Iowa Capitol Protests: Occupy Des Moines Drives GOP Candidate Out Of Building (video)
Newt Gingrich: don't vote for me if you're gay | Ana Marie Cox | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The suggestion by Newt Gingrich that a gay Iowan should vote for Barack Obama reveals a deeper truth about the Republican frontrunner (great picture)
Rightbloggers Close Ranks Against Ron Paul, The Wrong Kind of Small-Government Conservative - New York News - Runnin' Scared Conservatives who normally are, let us say, unconcerned with racism were suddenly mortally offended by it in Paul's case.
2012 Election: Key Race In Dead Heat, Dems 'Deeply Disappointed' & Scott Brown Puts Foot In Mouth
Rick Santorum Talks About How He Would Appeal To Gay Voters He recently said that if same-sex marriage were legal, then "their sexual activity" would be seen as "equal" to heterosexual relationships. He said in October that he would "die on that hill" fighting against gay marriage.
Political Animal - The point at which Mitt Romney loses his mind Romney, allegedly the responsible one in the Republican field, has been reduced to lying uncontrollably.

Jeb Bush's 'Right to Rise' Falls Flat | Crooks and Liars conservatives are praising Jeb Bush's ahistorical and data-free endorsement of the call to arms Congressman Paul Ryan issued at the Heritage Foundation ... As Zakaria noted, according to the OECD, upward mobility from the bottom was "was significantly lower in the United States than in most major European countries, including Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark."

Friedman « VIrtually Speaking (accountability-free Tom Friedman tries to re-write history but suck.on.this.just.can't.be.forgotten)

Ratings agency Fitch warns US of possible credit downgrade | Business | guardian.co.uk Fitch issues warning that America could lose its AAA rating in two years if it cannot come up with plan to slash federal deficit (austerity! this is their dance on your grave)
Bankers Join Billionaires to Debunk ‘Imbecile’ Attack on Top 1% - Bloomberg
Bank Of America Countrywide Settlement: Bank To Pay $335 Million To Settle Discriminatory Lending Claims

US government urges scientists to censor findings on new strain of bird flu | World news | guardian.co.uk Scientists warn that redacting information from new research on H5N1 virus could hinder the discovery of a vaccine (Obama loves his useless National Security)
French government 'to order women to remove defective breast implants' | World news | guardian.co.uk French paper says state will order removal of industrial silicone implants, but UK authority says no evidence of cancer link

I knew Christopher Hitchens better than you - Satire - Salon.com Every writer who had a drink with Hitch has now told his story. But even Rushdie and Amis didn't know him like this


Internet circumvents anti-piracy bill before it even passes | The Raw Story (routes around stupidity)

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Philippines flood deaths hit 650 | World news | guardian.co.uk 800 more missing as typhoon Washi sweeps houses into rivers and out to sea off southern island of Mindanao
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il, 69, Has Died - NYTimes.com
Egypt clashes continue into third day as army cracks down | World news | guardian.co.uk Outrage over abuse of women targeted in Tahrir Square as 10 people die and 441 are wounded in latest violence (no facade on the military dictatorship anymore) )
Outrage over woman's beating fuels new Egypt protests - CNN.com
Egypt clashes kill 10, undermine Army narrative of democratic transition - CSMonitor.com This weekend's renewed violence in Egypt, including the documented use of live ammunition against unarmed protesters, has further eroded confidence in the ruling military council.
Václav Havel: From the Prague Spring to the Velvet Revolution to the Year of the Protestor | emptywheel

Nazi-Themed Stag Party: British Lawmaker Aidan Burley Fired

Bradley Manning hearing: court told of Iraq unit's intelligence security chaos | World news | guardian.co.uk Head of unit describes loose controls around databases from which Manning is alleged to have downloaded military secrets
WikiLeaks investigators 'feared Bradley Manning had links to foreign agents' | World news | guardian.co.uk Army computer specialist tells military court investigators were suspicious about soldier's background in Britain
Cables on Bradley Manning's computer 'exactly matched' WikiLeaks documents | World news | guardian.co.uk Forensic investigator's testimony to pre-trial hearing likely to prove central to any court-martial that might ensue

For Youngest Veterans, the Bleakest of Job Prospects - NYTimes.com ("support our troops" until they need something)

Occupy the Progressive Movement | Robert Cruickshank

Political Animal - Quote of the Day Just so we’re clear, this week, a leading presidential candidate articulated his belief that, if elected, he might (1) eliminate courts he doesn’t like; (2) ignore court rulings he doesn’t like; and (3) take judges into custody if he disapproves of their legal analyses ... Newt Gingrich believes Barack Obama is a wild-eyed fanatic, guided by an extremist ideology, hell bent on overseeing a radical overhaul of the American system of government.
House Republicans Oppose Senate Deal on Payroll Tax Cut, Boehner Says - NYTimes.com (whoops, moved the football affter Obama caved)
Health Care Law to Allow States to Pick Benefits - NYTimes.com the Obama administration sought to deflect one of the most powerful arguments made by Republican critics of President Obama’s health care overhaul (that it might save money for consumers; the wimp-in-chief wimps out again)
Gingrich Deflation Puts Iowa Conservatives Back At Square One - "It's Bachmann, Santorum and Perry who are fighting for the rock-ribbed social conservative voter" (the bottom of the clown-barrel)
Romney Challenges Gingrich On Medicare, Opposes Tax Cuts For The Rich "Cutting welfare spending dramatically, I don't think will hurt the poor," Romney said.
Tea Party Express Turns Eyes to Senate : Roll Call Politics (Rove)

MF Global Collapse Reveals Systemic Risk | The Big Picture the details of this debacle are found in the regulatory changes lobbied for — and recieved — by Corzine and the MF Global legal crew (permission to break the law and steal your money)
Wal-Mart’s Billions and the Art Museum of Cruelty: A Christmas Carol The six heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune have about $93 billion between them, more money and financial assets than the combined 100,000,000 Americans at the bottom of our crushing economic system.

Ron Wyden, Useful Idiot - NYTimes.com
Ron Wyden Will Have His Revenge So what explains the Democrat from Utopia decideding to get on board with this? (voucher-boy; idiot is too kind)
The Ryan-Wyden Medicare proposal: If Obama loses, this will be the future of seniors’ health care. - Slate Magazine

Barney Frank, George Will Debate Pot Legalization (Video) "I need to know more about whether it's a gateway drug to other drugs, I need to know how you're going to regulate it" Will answered. "Anything is a gateway to anything," the congressman said, calling the conservative columnist's remark "a slippery slope argument."
Eschaton: Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit Like a silent epidemic, the number of homeless children in Michigan schools is growing. (drug-test them and give them jobs cleaning toilets)
Whiskey Fire: No Need for Further Questioning school districts across the country are imposing strict new guidelines that ban private conversations between teachers and their students on cellphones and online platforms like Facebook and Twitter ("misusing social media = "sex with students")

‘Rudy’ Charged in Stock Scam by SEC - ABC News

The Politics of Planned Parenthood and Women’s Rights : The New Yorker What’s next for Planned Parenthood?
Why young couples aren't getting married -- they fear the ravages of divorce (the family-values crowd has fucked up marriage for everyone except rich people with pre-nups)
TRENDING: Bachmann pauses in Iowa tour to talk ‘myth’ of Kinsey Report – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs (your facts are their myths)


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Libyan scramble for £100bn in assets fractures the peace at Tripoli airport | World news | The Observer Militias and army clash over control of runways after UN decides to fly newly printed currency into the capital
William Hague questioned over British role in drone strikes | World news | guardian.co.uk Lawyers for Noor Khan, whose father died in Pakistan strike, want clarification of British intelligence's role in CIA campaign
Protest couple targets of persecution campaign by Vladimir Putin | World news | The Observer Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov has gone on hunger strike in a Moscow prison as his wife Anastasiya carries on organising the pro-democracy campaign

French credit downgrade could come 'within days' | World news | The Observer Standard & Poor's expected downgrade could create panic in the financial markets and make eurozone crisis even worse
Euro will not survive without urgent action, says Lord Lamont | Business | guardian.co.uk Former Tory chancellor tells Radio 4's Today programme that time is running out for eurozone countries with bonds near to 7% (and banksters making money from the "risk premium")
French cabinet ministers tell Britain: our economy is bigger than yours | World news | The Guardian PM and finance minister say it is not fair that France's AAA credit rating is under threat when Britain has a larger deficit ... "The United Kingdom has more deficits, just as much debt, more inflation and less growth than we have"

Former lovers of undercover officers sue police over deceit | UK news | guardian.co.uk Women launch legal action claiming they suffered emotional trauma after being deceived into forming relationships (infiltrators)

Bradley Manning hearing: agents say gunship killing video found in room | World news | guardian.co.uk Court told that video later released by WikiLeaks as 'Collateral Murder' found in box in Manning's quarters in Iraq, ready to post
WikiLeaks lawyers protest at denial of full access to Manning hearing | World news | guardian.co.uk Assange's lawyer relegated to public benches at alleged leaker's pre-trial hearing after army appeals court rejects motion
Bradley Manning hearing – live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk

Hullabaloo First branch #fail - it's about enshrining the principle --- the codification of irrational reactions made during the fog of war. Our political culture (including the congress the pundits and even the public) is constructing a police state. We've watched it happen before our eyes.

MN GOPer Resigns Leadership Post Over Alleged ‘Inappropriate Relationship’ | TPMDC (females can have sex-scandals too)

S.E.C. Accuses Fannie and Freddie Ex-Chiefs of Deception - NYTimes.com (by this time, Reagan had jailed over 800 banksters in the S&L scandal; Obama's score is zero)

Christopher Hitchens' Unforgivable Mistake
Christopher Hitchens and the protocol for public figure deaths - Salon.com (Reagan's funeral changed everything; the canonization of bloody-handed Conservatives who were cruely, disasterously wrong; Hitchens loved other people dying in endless war)

Balloon Juice » And Then They Came For My Neti Pot (deadly brain-eating amoebas)

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Russia offers tougher draft resolution on Syria to UN security council | World news | guardian.co.uk Unexpected draft resolution from Russia lifts western hopes of UN action on Syria after earlier threat of sanctions was vetoed
Russia seizes Iran-bound radioactive material | Reuters Russia's customs service said Friday it had seized radioactive sodium-22, an isotope that is used in medical equipment but has no weapons use, from the luggage of a passenger planning to fly from Moscow to Tehran.

Did The ECB Just End The Euro Crisis? it's making investing in peripheral sovereign debt a huge profit opportunity for banks (more money for banksters! that will solve everything)
The trouble with Ed: Labour MPs' gripes over leader - UK Politics - UK - The Independent Backbench discontent with Miliband is brewing again after his Commons performance this week against Cameron (a joke)
No. The Irish Economy Is Not Recovering (no, and austerity was disaster, so, more austerity!)
Rpt-Update: 1-Irish growth stalls with sharp Q3 GDP fall | Reuters
Talk of 'nuclear default' sums up Left's anger at EU dictates - Telegraph Tempers are fraying in austerity-racked Portugal. A top socialist politician was taped at a party dinner calling for diplomatic warfare against the EU's northern powers and issuing threats of debt default (the natives are restless)
Greeks fearing collapse of eurozone bailout pulled record sums from bank | Business | The Guardian Bank of Greece reveals that investors fearful of political instability and economic collapse pulled €12.3bn from local banks as Papandreou referendum threatened debt deal

Bradley Manning hearing: defence lawyer turns fire on military accusers | World news | The Guardian On first day of preliminary hearing, investigating officer rejects defence's demand that he recuse himself
Seven judges to hear Julian Assange extradition appeal | Media | The Guardian Supreme court says size of panel reflects 'great public importance' of issues raised by WikiLeaks founder's hearing

Desmond Tutu urges Trinity Church to allow Occupy protester camp | World news | guardian.co.uk South African archbishop enters row over Wall Street church's refusal to allow a winter encampment on its property

White House Backs Away From Critical Veto Threat Republicans in Congress served noticed they will extend expiring Social Security payroll tax cuts only if President Barack Obama swiftly decides the fate of a proposed oil pipeline that promises thousands of jobs (the whimp whimps out again)
Why (Very White) Iowa and New Hampshire Mean So Much in Politics - COLORLINES “You’re hard pressed to find two whiter states,” ... “The prominence and first-in-nation position of Iowa and New Hampshire do elevate white primary voters over non-white ones, and in both parties,”
Eschaton: Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit Nothing new here, just the usual. Every "serious" solution to our problems involves shoving free money down the gullets of the people who caused all the problems. We screech about family values and our awesome values as numerous kids live in poverty. And, no, having a teevee doesn't make them not poor.
Cartoon Regularly Featured On Big Journalism Connected To Nazi-Era Magazine | Media Matters for America (sort of like Romney's KKK slogan)
Scott Walker's Next Target: Cancer Screenings for Women | Mother Jones In Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood foes go after a program to provide women with free cancer screenings.

CME Says MF Told Exchange of Using Customer Money Before Failure - Businessweek
Nevada Sues Lender Processing Services, Mortgage Giant, For Foreclosure Fraud

Salon Hack List 2011 - Salon.com (the winner: Mark Halperin! Jennifer Rubin runner-up!)

Christopher Hitchens 1949-2011: A thank you, of sorts | Oliver Duggan | Independent Editor's choice Blogs


SOPA Vote Delayed, Allowing For More Corporate Fundraising From Censorship Bill (will Obama throw the internets under the bus too?)
Why SOPA Could Kill the Open Education Resource Movement - Education - GOOD

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US exit from Iraq: 'this is not a withdrawal, this is an act on a stage' | World news | The Guardian Iraqi people greet pullout ceremony with ambivalence mixed with concern over an uncertain future
Tom Matzzie: You Ended the War in Iraq

War in Iraq: the cost in American lives and dollars | News | guardian.co.uk
Syrian rebels 'kill 27 secret policemen and soldiers' | World news | The Guardian The claimed killings near the Jordanian border suggest the country is sliding into a state of permanent armed insurgency
Iran hijacked US drone, engineer claims - World news - Christian Science Monitor - msnbc.com Iranian electronic warfare specialists were able to cut off communications links of the American bat-wing RQ-170 Sentinel (ha-ha)

Jacques Chirac found guilty of corruption | World news | The Guardian Former French president given two-year suspended sentence for embezzling public funds while he was mayor of Paris
Piers Morgan to appear before Leveson inquiry next week | Media | guardian.co.uk Former Daily Mirror and News of the World editor expected to be quizzed about his statements on celebrities and phone hacking

Italian court explains ruling clearing Knox - Yahoo! News (prosecutors made shit up, but we knew that already)

Military given go-ahead to detain US terrorist suspects without trial | World news | The Guardian Civil rights groups dismayed as Barack Obama abandons commitment to veto new security law contained in defence bill (like he was ever telling the truth; end of American Bill of Rights)
Hullabaloo "An astonishing attack on our civil liberties"
Happy Birthday, Bill [of Rights]: Obama Breaks Promise To Veto Bill Allowing Indefinite Detention of Americans « Jonathan Turley (he broke a lot of promises ...)
How to Indefinitely Detain Jamie Dimon | emptywheel (brilliant idea)
Police include Occupy movement on ‘terror’ list - Yahoo! (Obama can indefinitely detain them and you'll never know)
Hacker who betrayed Bradley Manning expresses regret over possible jail term | World news | The Guardian Adrian Lamo says jail for WikiLeaks suspect would be a 'lasting regret' but stands by decision to give information to authorities

Mark Schmitt for Democracy Journal: The Myth of the Middle (3rd Way, No Labels, Unity0whatever, Republican scams)
Conversations with History: Glenn Greenwald - YouTube
Titans of social networking and left politics unite to form media start-up | Media | guardian.co.uk Facebook co-founder joins MoveOn president and former Onion editor to create viral network devoted to progressive causes

Pew Research Poll: Anti-Incumbent Fever Could Hurt Republicans two-thirds (67 percent) of registered voters nationwide say "most members of Congress" should be voted out of office in 2012, while only 20 percent want most members reelected. This desire to fire all incumbents marks a record level of discontent since the Pew Center started asking the question 18 years ago, far exceeding previous highs of 57 percent in 2010 and 56 percent in 1994 (throw out the teaparty?)
A nation of populists and class warriors - The Plum Line - The Washington Post Pew Research has just released the most detailed polling I’ve seen yet on Occupy Wall Street, economic fairness, rising inequality, and the lack of Wall Street accountability - Roughly three-quarters of the public (77%) say that they think there is too much power in the hands of a few rich people and large corporations in the United States (just a few malcontents)
American public to Congress: Get out. All of you. - The Washington Post
Section 2: Occupy Wall Street and Inequality | Pew Research Center for the People and the Press Views of the Occupy movement split along party lines. About six-in-ten Democrats (62%) agree with the concerns it has raised, compared with 50% of independents and 31% of Republicans. (Boston Globe readers hate OWS, so ...)

Political Animal - Newt in Free Fall The Newt implosion is here — at least, the rapid shift in conventional wisdom against the mistaken idea that he had an excellent chance to win the nomination.
Why Republicans are better at negotiating than Dems - The Plum Line - The Washington Post I appreciate the fact that they gave up on their millionaires’ surtax, but they didn’t give anything up because they never had it.” (Obama compromising with a vacuum)
MSNBC Apologizes To Romney Over KKK Comparison, Says It Was 'Appalling' (Video) Romney's slogan "Keep America American" was one that happened to be used by the KKK in the 1920s (apologizes for telling the truth, it was an accident)
Newt Gingrich Gets A Last Go-Around In Final Pre-Caucus Debate forced to fire a campaign staffer in Iowa who called Mormonism a "cult" (though some might argue that might be a dog whistle for some very conservative evangelicals).
Newt Gingrich's Poverty Code - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 12/13/11 - Video Clip | Comedy Central Larry Wilmore analyzes Newt Gingrich's janitorial solution to America's poverty problem.
Election 2012 Polling and News, Republican Presidential Candidates, Obama, Interactive Polling Data (here comes the clown-fall)
British Paper: Romney Lived In A ‘Mansion’ During French ‘Hardship’ Period | TPM2012 for about 8 months out of his 30-month stay in France, Romney lived in a mansion in Paris, living a comfortable, upper-class lifestyle. The building, someone familiar with it said, could be described as a “palace”

Wyden-Ryan Medicare Proposal Has White House 'Concerned' Wyden's work with Ryan is giving Republicans cover on an issue that seemed destined to hurt their congressional reelection chances (asshole Dems at work)
Wyden And Paul Introduce Medicare Reform Scheme. It's Better Than Ryan's Old Plan. It's Not Better Than Medicare. | The New Republic (no compromise sellout)

Fox Graphics Department's Failure Hat Trick (Obamney Edition) | Media Matters for America ("looks kind of like a Kenyan socialist")
Wis. GOP Files Lawsuit Against Election Officials Over Recall Process | TPMDC (whine)
Salon Hack List 2011 - Salon.com The former Times editor isn't sorry enough about his warmongering to stop writing his awful column (elites always reward failure)
New York Times CEO Janet Robinson Is Stepping Down - During Robinson's tenure, the stock price dropped from $35.23 to $7.54, according to the Times report. Robinson isn't leaving the Times fold completely. She'll be paid $4.5 million for consulting over the next year (elites always reward failure)

U.S. News - 'Dismal' prospects: 1 in 2 Americans are now poor or low income (great job, Republicans)
Study: People Receiving Unemployment Insurance Work Harder To Find Jobs | ThinkProgress (don't bother us with the facts, just drug-test them)
Unemployment Benefits: Democratic Governors Call On Congress To Keep Benefits Now is not the time to turn our backs on hard-working Americans," the governors wrote. "Individuals who are laid off through no fault of their own rely on these funds to support their families." (Republicans demand drug testing for lazy slackers and tax cuts for themselves)
Wage Protection Planned for Home Care Workers - NYTimes.com

Global Water Footprint - National Geographic

Joe Arpaio, Arizona Sheriff, Violated Civil Rights According To Justice Department Report Arpaio's office has committed a wide range of civil rights violations against Latinos, including a pattern of racial profiling and discrimination and carrying out heavy-handed immigration patrols based on racially charged citizen complaints. ("America's toughest sherrif" - but no consquences, of course)
Karl Rominger, Sandusky Lawyer, Claims Accused Penn State Coach Was Teaching Hygiene Habits
Utah Middle School Defends Outing Gay Student To Parents As Bullying Prevention Effort (sure, assholes)
Warren Glover Lawsuit: Ex NBA Employee Claims He Was Fired For Relaying Women's Complaints (the usual)
2 Vegas children shoot themselves at their homes - Yahoo! News (guns everywhere! toys for tots!)


Having to think about the unthinkable - latimes.com Most people don't like to plan for dying, but in our state of denial, we leave ourselves vulnerable to conditions we would never want. Arrangements for the end of life are essential.

Tea Party Member Brings Gun to NYC Airport, Gets Arrested - ABC News
Woman Stabbed by Anger Management Classmate Files Lawsuit - ABC News The complaint alleges that the instructor “remained seated and did nothing to intervene or deescalate the hostile confrontation between the two anger management class students.”

Sopa battle hots up as US Congress debates piracy bill | Technology | The Guardian Hollywood executives spend $91m lobbying for approval of Stop Online Piracy Act, which tech industry says will stifle creativity (Obama kisses Bigcontent's ass)

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Barack Obama declares Iraq war a success | World news | The Guardian President told an audience of soldiers at Fort Bragg that the final pullout after nearly nine years of conflict is an 'historic' moment (in monumentally tragic blunders with no accountability except for the US taxpayer)
US withdrawal from Iraq is a beginning, not an ending | Simon Tisdall | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Unfinished business in the Middle East will be brought sharply into focus as the sound of American boots fades away
Syrian rebels gun down eight soldiers in retaliation after civilian deaths | World news | The Guardian Men described as defectors from the armed forces ambush a convoy of four jeeps on the outskirts of Hama
Afghan woman jailed after being raped is freed after two years in Kabul prison | World news | The Guardian Woman sentenced to 12 years in prison for 'adultery' after reporting rape to police is finally released (Karzai reluctantly let her go; freedom fries)
World News: Police shave mohawks off punks at Indonesia concert - thestar.com perceived threat to Islamic values (jihad on punk)
Vladimir Putin expected to face questions over protests on live TV show | World news | The Guardian Russian PM hosts televised call-in show as he faces unprecedented challenge to his domination of Russian politics

Angela Merkel: Britain is still an important EU member | World news | The Guardian German chancellor calls UK a 'reliable partner' despite David Cameron's refusal to back new treaty to combat eurozone crisis (oh yes, you are very important to us)
Stock markets slump as euro hits 11-month low against the dollar | Business | The Guardian Italy's crucial 10-year bond rate rises to 7.17% amid fears it will be forced to seek bailout
BBC News - UK unemployment increases to 2.64m UK unemployment rose by 128,000 in the three months to October to 2.64 million, the highest level since 1994. (austerity declared a success!)
Analysis: Europe's austerity zeal risks killing the patient | Reuters Europe's "no pain no gain" attitude to solving its sovereign crisis risks exacerbating the bloc's problems, choking off the very growth needed to raise the money to pay down the debt. (Europe, soon to be followed by America, succeeding its way to catastropic failure)
What Will Happen if the Euro Collapses? A Few Scenarios | Global Spin | TIME.com
Important Election News from Across the Pond A reminder that what happens in Europe will mean more for the presidential election than almost anything the GOP does ... austerity has pushed Europe to the edge of another recession ... But even Gingrich stands a shot at winning the White House if conditions deteriorate over the next year

Leveson calls NoW emails to women in Max Mosley story 'frankly outrageous' | Media | guardian.co.uk Judge challenges News of the World's former editor, Colin Myler, over paper's ethos
Milly Dowler and the tabloid: trail that led to phone-hacking story | Media | The Guardian Senior NoW executive wrote to Surrey police specifically admitting Milly Dowler's phone had been hacked (in 2002; Brit cops covered up for 11 years)

The Indefinite Detention Bill DOES Apply to American Citizens on U.S. Soil - Washington's Blog “Don’t Be Fooled”:
Marines’ Haditha Interviews Found in Iraqi Junkyard - NYTimes.com (a lot of people sucked on it; all charges were dropped; Obama wanted immunity from atrocities like this)

Hullabaloo - Elite Insensitives (NYT Bill Keller, of course, and "illegals") - It's the modern pejorative for a very old one: "wetback." (but he would never use the word "torture")
NYT: Immigration dragnet snares Americans - US news - The New York Times - msnbc.com Just because I made one mistake ... I don't think they should have done all those things to me,' says U.S. citizen who was detained by mistake (you too, can be an "illegal")

Tom Friedman: Newt, Mitt, Bibi and Vladimir - NYTimes.com I sure hope that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, understands that the standing ovation he got in Congress this year was not for his politics. That ovation was bought and paid for by the Israel lobby (the mustache of wisdom is anti-semitic)
Exploiting the anti-Semitism smear now backfiring - Salon.com (AIPAC smear merchant Josh Block and the CAP attack)

Payroll Tax Cut Fight Prompts Government Shutdown Threat (Rethugs love their blackmail)
Karl Rove 'Issue Ads' Attacking Elizabeth Warren Help Hide His Group's Donors
Plan B Backlash: Women's Groups Sour On Obama (when will they finally get the message?)

Balanced Budget Amendments Fail In the Senate (clown Congress)

Exclusive: Regulators know where MF Global funds went | Reuters but must sort out which transactions were legitimate before more money can be released to customers, a top official told Reuters on Wednesday.
Revealed: huge increase in executive pay for America's top bosses | Business | guardian.co.uk Exclusive survey shows America's CEOs enjoyed pay hikes of up to 40% last year – with one chief executive earning $145m (the 1% at work, despite the claims of the NYT about how poor they are)
Barack Obama defied by House on payroll tax bill | World news | guardian.co.uk Democrats oppose Republican efforts to link payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans with Keystone XL pipeline

Supernova explosion gives a glimpse of how ingredients for life are created | Science | The Guardian Scientists capture SN2011fe supernova in Pinwheel galaxy as it spews heavy elements necessary for life into space
Life On Mars: Scientists Believe Large Regions Underground The Red Planet Are Habitable (so Total Recall was right)
Postpartum mental illness linked to later bipolar disorder - latimes.com

Columbia Pike streetcar is a bargain versus new highways - Greater Greater Washington (but all the roads in DC added together carry more than that trolley!)

Ann Curry Asks Joe Amendola, Jerry Sandusky's Lawyer, 'Are You Competent?' (zing)

Study: 1 in 5 U.S. Women Has Been Raped, Even More Have Been Abused | AlterNet (new CDC report confirms earlier "feminist" studies)
How to prevent rape without blaming victims - Violence Against Women - Salon.com News of assaults often inspires tips on prevention -- but sometimes well-meaning advice becomes dangerous
The crime against women that no one understands: Health: Self.com This man has been charged with rape 10 times but never convicted of that crime. This story is a warning to all women
pandagon.net - Victim-blaming and social control

Carlson School of Management Flash Mob, Deck the Halls - YouTube

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Belgium attack: grenades thrown at bus-stop in Liège - Tuesday 13 December 2011 | News | guardian.co.uk Amrani was not known to have any mental health problems and had no links to terrorism (lone "gun freak" - Belgium apparently full of grenades and assault rifles)
Liège gunman in bloody assault on shoppers and commuters | World news | guardian.co.uk The lone attacker threw hand grenades and shot into crowds in the Belgian city, leaving three dead
Florence gunman shoots Senegalese street vendors dead | World news | guardian.co.uk Far-right sympathiser Gianluca Casseri, 50, kills African migrants before shooting himself dead
Zardari treated for stroke as son Bilawal is groomed for power in Pakistan | World news | The Guardian Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari – son of Asif Ali Zardari and Benazir Bhutto – stays in Pakistan while his father is treated in Dubai ... , Asif Ali Zardari, have said that he will remain out of Pakistan for up to two weeks following a "small stroke" eight days ago (oh, he had a stroke after all, huh? +23 yr-old babyface dictator will take over)
US military drone monitoring piracy crashes in Seychelles | World news | guardian.co.uk Drone meant to monitor East African coast crashes a day after US pleads with Iran to return another downed device (pleads? sure they will ... "President Barack Obama said Monday the US wants the top-secret aircraft back and has delivered a formal request for the return of the surveillance drone, though it isn't likely that Iran will comply.")
Israeli military base attacked by Jewish extremists in West Bank | World news | guardian.co.uk Attack came hours after settlers stormed monument as some say 'homegrown terrorism' is now greatest threat to security ... A gang of 50 Jewish settlers and rightwing activists have broken into an army base near the Israeli settlement of Kedumim in the West bank, setting fire to tyres and hurling rocks at both Israeli soldiers and Palestinians. (well, they kind of created that, didn't they)
Kabul 'agreed deal with Taliban' to end attacks on schools, report reveals | World news | guardian.co.uk Rights groups fear that Afghan education ministry's deal with insurgents could reverse gains of the past 10 years (they still want your tax dollars unti 2030)
Burqa wearing banned in Canada for those taking citizenship oath | World news | The Guardian Ban on face and full body veils during immigration ceremony is 'matter of deep principle', says citizenship minister ... it was difficult to ensure that individuals whose faces were covered were actually reciting the oath (or who they were)

Eurozone crisis live: Barroso attacks Cameron as UK inflation dips | Business | guardian.co.uk Spanish parliament meets for first time since election • UK inflation is 4.8% (Cameroon at work)
European Nations, Banks Caught in “Death Spiral” | FDL News Desk
Why the eurozone deal will fail - FT.com The eurozone deal reached last week won’t work.
Europe Crisis Drags On, Raising Concerns About U.S. Banks Though most U.S. banks said that they have limited exposure to Europe's troubles, economists and analysts counter that financial institutions are substantially vulnerable

James Murdoch: I didn't read crucial phone-hacking email | Media | guardian.co.uk News Corp boss says he failed to review note forwarded by Colin Myler warning hacking went beyond one 'rogue reporter' (Son of Satan's pants are on fire)

Rocky Anderson's radical third way | Gary Younge | World news | guardian.co.uk "There are lots of good individuals in the Democratic party, [but] without Democrats voting the way they did in Congress, we wouldn't have invaded Iraq. We wouldn't have suffered as a nation because of these Bush tax cuts.
2012 Ad War: The Case Against Newt
Were the Debates a Mistake? Conservative elites are beginning to question the party's commitment to endless debates - it’s clear that Republican elites are re-evaluating their decision to move away from Perry following his poor debate performances. (the endless clown show)

Wisconsin faces lawsuit as civil rights groups cry foul over new voting rules | World news | guardian.co.uk ACLU accuses state of trying to disenfranchise black people, the poor and elderly by requiring photo ID before they can vote (Republicans dismantling your democracy)
Balloon Juice » “If I Were a Poor Black Kid…” Look, if you’re a middle-aged white guy writing for Forbes Magazine, and you find yourself writing an article entitled “If I Were a Poor Black Kid,” just stop (Gene Marks displays his white priviledge for all to see)
Alabama immigration law on mobile homes blocked by judge | World news | guardian.co.uk Rule that requires proof of citizenship when registering mobile homes 'leaves immigrants between a rock and a hard place' (racist fucks at work)
Michael Mermel, a Prosecutor Who Challenged DNA Tests, Will Resign - NYTimes.com - Some DNA tests have shown that sperm found inside several rape and murder victims did not come from men he prosecuted (Michael Mermel should go to prison)
No Country for Innocent Men | Mother Jones How a rapist's confession forced Rick Perry, champion of Texas justice, to pardon a dead man.
Political Animal - The ‘evidence’ bolstering voter-fraud allegations (311 cases in a "decade" that Repubicans defined as 14 years)

Political Animal - Quote of the Day . “We don’t demand drug testing for people getting farm subsidies.”
Recession Crimped Incomes of the Richest Americans - NYTimes.com The share of income received by the top 1 percent — that potent symbol of inequality — dropped to 17 percent in 2009 from 23 percent in 2007, according to federal tax data. Within the group, average income fell to $957,000 in 2009 from $1.4 million in 2007 (NYT writes yet another poor rich people article)
Mets, Struggling for Cash, Receive $40 Million Bank Loan - NYTimes.com The owners of the Mets, needing cash and unable to turn to Major League Baseball for more financial help, received a $40 million loan from a major bank in the past six weeks (always reward shitty management)
MF Global Cash at JPMorgan Presumed Its Own, Freeh Says - Businessweek (America's worst ex-law enforcement offical at work screwing people)
Joseph Stiglitz: “A Banking System is Supposed to Serve Society, Not the Other Way Around” | Politics | Vanity Fair Forget monetary policy. Re-examining the cause of the Great Depression—the revolution in agriculture that threw millions out of work—the author argues that the U.S. is now facing and must manage a similar shift in the “real” economy, from industry to service, or risk a tragic replay of 80 years ago. - Joseph E. Stiglitz

Who will deliver the US postal service from destruction? | Philip Rubio | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The US Postal Service faces drastic closures, thanks to a bogus financial crisis – cuts that threaten America's very way of life (which was their goal in creating the "crisis")
'Us vs. Them' in Pa. Gaslands | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/13/2011 In what is shaping up as a key victory for the shale-gas industry, Gov. Corbett and the legislature appear close to stripping municipalities of the power to impose tough local restrictions on wells and pipelines. Under a pending measure, wells and pipelines would be permitted in every zoning district - even residential ones - statewide (should have thought twice before electing Republicans)


Higgs Bosons Everyone
The "everything you need to know about the Higgs boson" thread. : askscience
Diagnostic accuracy of canine scent detec... [Integr Cancer Ther. 2006] - PubMed - NCBI Training was efficient and cancer identification was accurate; in a matter of weeks, ordinary household dogs with only basic behavioral "puppy training" were trained to accurately distinguish breath samples of lung and breast cancer patients from those of controls (comeing soon: doggie-grams)

The Most Expensive Private High Schools In America
Denying OTC Access to Plan B Disproportionately Affects Latina Teens | RH Reality Check (Obama will throw anyone under the bus)
San Francisco finds performance parking less responsive than expected - Greater Greater Washington Each time San Francisco has adjusted the rates, the spread between the least expensive and the most expensive blocks has increased.

Tallafornia - Making The Rest Of Us Feel Better? - YouTube (Irish Jersey Shore)

FBI rejects FOIA request for Carrier IQ info - Computerworld Agency says release of data would 'interfere with law enforcement proceedings' (that sort of confirms your worst fears)

Anti-SOPA Movement Picks Up Steam, With Assist from Laurence Tribe | FDL News Desk (Obama, who never used a computer in his life, still trying to kill the internets)
Busted: BitTorrent Pirates at Sony, Universal and Fox | TorrentFreak
Wikipedia Blackout Over SOPA? Founder Weighs Protesting Anti-Piracy Bill (Obama hates Jimmy Wales also)

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Syrian troops battle opposition fighters in south of country | World news | guardian.co.uk Activists report clashes in Deraa and areas near Jordan border as army defectors take on government soldiers
US politics live blog: Obama meets Iraqi PM; GOP rivals trade blows | World news | guardian.co.uk (vows to keep US in Iraq for 137 more years)
Huge numbers of Iraqis still adrift within the country | McClatchy As many as 2 million Iraqis — about 6 percent of the country's estimated population of more than 31 million — are thought to have been forced from the cities and towns where they once lived and are housed in circumstances that feel temporary and makeshift.
Eschaton: And Over There - We'll never really acknowledge the hell we unleashed (Very Serious People at work)
US cuts put British-backed Afghan hydropower project in doubt | World news | The Guardian Kajaki dam turbine, hauled 100 miles across Helmand by British forces, may be deemed not cost-effective to install (down the drain)
Blackwater Name Change: Private Security Firm Switches Name Again To Academi From Xe (considered "Necromonger Inc")

Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia's third richest man, to challenge Putin | World news | The Guardian Nickel magnate appeals to angry middle class for presidency – but some claim he is merely a Kremlin stooge
South Korean coastguard killed by Chinese fisherman | Reuters A South Korean coastguard was stabbed to death by a Chinese fisherman on Monday in an operation to apprehend a Chinese vessel operating illegally near South Korean waters, a South Korean official said (China outraged)
Saudi Arabia: Woman Convicted Of 'Sorcery' Executed

Banker blows £70,000 on 'big night out' | News A banker has defied the economic gloom by spending more than £70,000 in one night at a London nightclub ... The banker, who lives in London, bought six bottles of Dom Pérignon rosé champagne at £1,200 each for his table and six-litre bottles of Ciroc Vodka for the other tables. The source added: "When the Ciroc Vodka came out, he began throwing £50 notes around. Dozens of girls began scrambling to pick them up off the floor." (Camaroon's buddies)
EU warns Britain: financial rules apply to you too | Business | The Guardian Commissioner Olli Rehn says City of London will still be subject to regulation from Brussels
Banks sit in a tangled web Dozens of banks across Europe have sold large quantities of insurance to other banks and investors that protects against the risk of ailing countries defaulting on their debts, the latest illustration of the extensive financial entanglements among the continent's banks and governments (banks, governments, what's the diff?)

Leveson launches spin-off inquiry into hacking of Milly Dowler's voicemail | Media | guardian.co.uk Judge signals that fresh statements will be taken from police about latest developments

Depression and Democracy - NYTimes.com It’s time to start calling the current situation what it is: a depression. True, it’s not a full replay of the Great Depression, but that’s cold comfort. Unemployment in both America and Europe remains disastrously high. Leaders and institutions are increasingly discredited. And democratic values are under siege.

Immigrant Detention Centers In Illinois Cited In New Report For Human Rights Violations (Obama hates immigrants)
Arizona immigration: supreme court to rule on controversial law | World news | guardian.co.uk Court agrees to hear case amid Obama administration's fight against state-imposed immigration laws

Occupy aims to shut down West Coast ports - live coverage | World news | guardian.co.uk Occupy is bidding to shut down America's west coast ports in support of an ongoing International Longshore Workers Union battle. Picket lines are expected in Oakland, Los Angeles, Portland and more
'Occupy' Protestors To Attempt West Coast Port Blockades
Moyers: Why 'We The People' Must Triumph Over Corporate Power | | AlterNet Bill Moyers reminds us that repairing American democracy begins with reasserting that corporations do not have the same constitutional rights as citizens.
Hullabaloo: Populism Mash Up - According to Fox News a German sent a German banker a letter bomb which means that Occupy Wall Street has turned violent and President Obama is a domestic terrorist. Or something

Obama insists on indefinite detention of Americans — RT (nice little democracy you used to have)
Inside the CIA’s Black Site in Bucharest—By Scott Horton (Harper's Magazine)
The growing menace of domestic drones - Salon.com (NPR loves drones; if you haven't done anything wrong, what have you to fear?)
Newburgh Four: poor, black, and jailed under FBI 'entrapment' tactics | World news | guardian.co.uk n June, four men were jailed for 25 years over a US terror plot. The FBI painted them as dedicated fanatics, but were they lured by the promise of cash from a fake informant? (Obama's DOJ at work creating fake terrorists to scare you)
10 Most Terrifying Torture Devices of the 20th Century | Environmental Graffiti

Hullabaloo More evidence that "independents" don't "swing" (could the crack team who got the economy so wrong, have blown it on their search for the "independent" voter?)
Obama insists on indefinite detention of Americans — RT (Ben Wittes/WaPo burying the truth)

Newt Gingrich Spokesman Outs Candidate As Anonymous Source But should the Union Leader grant a candidate anonymity to defend himself? Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid wouldn't say or even confirm the source
News Networks Regularly Promote Anti-Gay Family Research Council On Air | Equality Matters (they love their racists and bigots; see Pat Buchanan)
Rick Perry's 'Country Solynda' Gaffe: GOP Candidate Mispronounces Solar Company's Name, Calls It A Country . "I want to say it was over $500 million that went to the country Solynda." (Rethugs found someone even stupider than Bush)
Bill Johnson, Former Alabama Governor Candidate, Caught In Lesbian Sperm Donation Scandal (what?)

The Latest Stupid Gimmick To Fund The Payroll Tax Cut The deep thinkers in D.C. are trying to offset the cost of the one-year 2% reduction ($115B) in payroll taxes by levying an incremental cost onto Fannie and Freddie and therefore those with mortgages. This is the worst kind of whack-a-mole thinking ... 1952 corporate tax as a % of GDP = 32.1% 2010 corporate tax as a % of GDP = 1.3% (A 95% drop) ... 1952 Payroll taxes (Social security) as a % of total federal revenue = 9.7% 2010 Payroll taxes (Social security) as a % of total federal revenue = 40.0% (A 400% increase in the burden on workers) (the 1% will never have enough of your money)

A Romance With Risk That Brought On a Panic - NYTimes.com (it was Corzine in the basement with his Crackberry)
MF Global's US And UK Customers Got Screwed By A Little Thing Called Regulation T (re-hypothecatin')

Multi-purpose photonic chip paves the way to programmable quantum processors
Sir Isaac Newton's own annotated Principia Mathematica goes online | Science | The Guardian
Professor Einstein, you can relax. E still equals mc2. Probably … | Science | The Observer Renowned physicist Frank Close urges caution before we abandon the theory of relativity and prepare for time travel
Chemically scrubbing CO2 from the air too expensive Technology exists today for removing carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and is much cheaper than removal from the atmosphere (but regulation will kill jobs!)

New York Tax Plan: Subway Riders Get the Shaft - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature have forged a new tax structure that is being hailed as good for everyone except those making more than $2 million. Not quite. Apparently forgotten are the millions of low-income New Yorkers who, in addition to getting zero in tax cuts, must now rely on a Metropolitan Transportation Authority that lost $250 million in tax revenue in exchange for a pledge that the funds will be made up, but for how long and in what form, no one knows (Cuomo is an Obama Repubican)
Domestic Violence: Rulings Could Stem Epidemic On American Indian Reservations (just another little patriarchy)


Google chairman says online piracy bill would 'criminalize' the Internet - The Hill's Hillicon Valley (Obama hates the internets)
A History of Online Patent Search
Urlies 2011: The Best Memes Of The Year
Adblock Plus and (a little) more: Allowing acceptable ads in Adblock Plus

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World News - Pakistan says U.S. drones in its air space will be shot down
U.S. arming Egyptian military crackdown - Salon.com (Obama backs military, of course)
Israeli soldiers clash with mourners at funeral of Palestinian protester | World news | guardian.co.uk Teargas used to quell stone-throwing youths at funeral procession of Mustafa Tamimi, who was killed by Israeli soldier
Newt Gingrich condemned for calling Palestinians 'terrorists' | World news | guardian.co.uk Palestinian officials say Republican frontrunner's claim children are taught to kill in textbooks is based on Israeli propaganda (so?)
Mystery of father's murder may soon be over for Biba's Barbara Hulanicki | World news | The Observer (killed by the Stern gang, the same terrorists who have been running Israel since Menachem "crush their heads like insects" Begin)
Putin and Medvedev try to calm Russian election outcry | World news | guardian.co.uk Prime minister's spokesman says Kremlin will listen to protesters, while president promises investigation into disputed election resul

Lessons From Europe - NYTimes.com - Krugman - O'Rourke: "One lesson that the world has learned since the financial crisis of 2008 is that a contractionary fiscal policy means what it says: contraction. Since 2010, a Europe-wide experiment has conclusively falsified the idea that fiscal contractions are expansionary." (Europe, especially Ireland, ran the experienment: anti-Keynsian economics killed their economies; but rightwing economists will never accept the facts +unemployed just don't want to work)

Earthquake rattles Mexico City | World news | guardian.co.uk Magnitude 6.5 quake kills at least three people and causes panic from Mexican capital to resort of Acapulco
Italian girl's rape claim sparks arson attack on Gypsy camp | World news | guardian.co.uk Sixteen-year-old confesses she made up story that prompted mob to torch camp in Turin district

The real definition of Terrorism - Salon.com (anything Obama wants it to be)
Obama's Foreign Policy Successes | ThinkProgress - Killed Osama Bin Laden, Ramped Up Campaign Against Al Qaeda (destroyed civil rights)
Hillary Clinton and Internet Freedom - Salon.com The Obama DOJ has insisted that it has the right to read opened emails with no warrants from a court (Hillary Clinton is a big fat hypocrite)
Beyond Guantánamo, a Web of Prisons for Terrorism Inmates - NYTimes.com (but Republians are scared little cry-babies)

Watch the Best Moments from Saturday’s Debate (Video) - The Daily Beast
10K Bet
After $10,000 Offer, Some Bet Against Romney - NYTimes.com
The Real G.O.P. Dark Horse: None of the Above - NYTimes.com
Newt Gingrich Threat To Mitt Romney Rises After Iowa Debate
Lindsey Graham: Consumer Protection Bureau 'Is Something Out Of The Stalinist Era' (but TSA rapes and illegal detention is just good American values)

Powerful Pipes, Weak Oversight | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/10/2011 (the pipeline will regulate itself!)

BBC News - Reaction to UN climate deal reached by negotiators at UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa, that for the first time would bring all major emitters into international efforts to limit global warming, but which environmentalists say did not go far enough (US pushed for deal to do nothing for ten years; Republicans don't believe in it anyway; the world is already doomed)
Global climate change treaty in sight after Durban breakthrough | Environment | The Guardian Climate conference ends in agreement after two weeks of talks

'Vocal Fry' Creeping Into U.S. Speech - ScienceNOW - College-age women end sentences in the lowest vocal register, a creaky vibration called vocal fry, possibly to broadcast themselves as part of a social group.

Up-Inspired Floating House (14 photos) - My Modern Metropolis

LightSquared and Skype Co-Founder's FreedomPop Partner to Offer Free Broadband... -- REston, Va. and Los Angeles, Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ (telco monopolies threatened; Chuck Grassley vows to keep America at the bottom)
Balloon Juice » How to Lose Your RIM Job how drunk or stoned do you need to be to chew through your ziptie handcuffs? (hard-charging road warriors)

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Palestinians are an invented people, says Newt Gingrich | World news | guardian.co.uk Republican frontrunner says Israelis have a right to their modern-day homeland but implies Palestinians do not (the Jews were always there and those other guys came from somewhere else, but hey, he's an "historian")
Palestinians tell Gingrich to learn history after 'invented people' claim | World news | guardian.co.uk Officials in West Bank and Gaza say Republican presidential hopeful is cheaply trying to win the pro-Israel vote in US
Inside Syria: lightly armed townsfolk take on tanks as army closes in | World news | The Guardian As Assad's forces near a town that has lost 11 fighters, the resistance, although afraid, prepares to fight again
Taliban announce peace talks with Pakistan | World news | guardian.co.uk Tahrik-e-Taliban says it is in discussions with government • News likely to inflame Islamabad's strained relations with US
Russians come out in force to protest against alleged electoral fraud | World news | The Observer Tens of thousands defy bitter cold and fear of crackdown in challenge to victorious party of Vladimir Putin - 50,000 people braved the cold and snow on Saturday to turn out for the largest ever protest against the rule of prime minister KBG) (just a few malcontents, no Arab Spring here, says media)
Congo election sparks violent protests | World news | The Guardian President Joseph Kabila declared winner, triggering unrest and rival claim from opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi (another rigged election by a despot)

David Cameron blocks EU treaty with veto, casting Britain adrift in Europe | World news | The Guardian EU leaders poised to line up 26-1 in support of Franco-German blueprint, but PM had apparent blessing of Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg turns fire on David Cameron over Europe veto | Politics | The Observer Liberal Democrat leader 'furious at prime minister's tactics' as Paddy Ashdown voices fears over isolation (make up your mind, Nick)
Angela Merkel: 'I don't believe David Cameron was ever with us at the table' | World news | The Guardian The Germans and French were ready to accommodate Britain's difficulties but were not prepared to write them into a new treaty

Phone-hacking victims to number 800 | Media | guardian.co.uk Police announce likely figure of victims of News of the World scandal, from nearly 6,000 potential targets of the tabloid

Indefinite military detention for U.S. citizens now in the hands of a secretive conference committee - Blog - OpenCongress (made up people who hate freedom)

Hullabaloo - Kicking the girls - the administration's Plan B decision: it “alienates the base, causes conflict with women in the base, [is] bad for key groups of women like younger women and unmarried women, and doesn’t win the swing independent women.” (Obama still chasing his rejecting father in the form on "independent" Republican voters, and screwing everybody else)
Charts and Graphs | The State of Young America: The Poll | Demos (Obama hates young people)

Treasury’s promise, one year on | Felix Salmon Treasury said that we would have seen real progress by now; we haven’t. And there’s very little chance of getting anything substantive done between now and the election — in fact, things seem to be moving in exactly the wrong direction. Which makes me think that in the battle of Treasury vs the banks, the banks — predictably — have won (Obama has always been their boy)

Police evict Occupy Boston protesters | World news | guardian.co.uk Arrests for trespassing and disorderly conduct after deadline to leave Dewey Square expires

UN climate change summit struggles to secure agreement | Environment | The Observer Six days of ministerial talks, including three all-night sessions, end in last-ditch effort to find deal that will satisfy 194 countries

Dear Abby: Am I Paranoid Enough? « FreeRangeKids (Dear Abby says never leave your kids alone, even if they are 20 years old)

Penn State Hires Evil Dictator-Loving Monster Lawyer Penn State's new president has hired notorious Washington taint sucker Lanny Davis (Ari Fleischer next)
Rising Hegemon: Well why not? Lanny Davis has spent the last few years being an asshole on FoxNews and lobbying for LITERALLY the world's worst people. Naturally he joins Louis Freeh, and the former Cover-Up Chief at Merck in giving Penn State the a-hole trifecta to try to spin Penn State out of its current legal predicament at "barebacker U for Minors".

Why Calorie Counts Are Wrong: Cooked Food Provides a Lot More Energy | The Crux | Discover Magazine - the increase in net calorie gain from cooking will prove to be in the region of 25­­–50%. That is only a guess, but I am confident it will be much higher than 10% - The USA uses the Atwater Convention for assessing calories in food, a century-old system that treats food as being composed of a certain number of components, each of which has a fixed calorie value (of course the FDA would use a century-old system)

Why Do So Few Blacks Study the Civil War? - Magazine - The Atlantic the work of warlocks who would extinguish all hope for our race. The stratagem of these shadow forces was said to be amnesia: they would have us see no past greatness in ourselves, and thus no future glory

Chuck Grassley Helping Big Telecom Choke Off Broadband Access & Innovation - The US is #15 in Broadband penetration and a pathetic 26th in Broadband speed -- behind Romania, that noted hotbed of innovation (Rove funded)
The 10 Biggest Security Stories Of 2011

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EU Leaders Drop Demands for Investor Write-Offs - Bloomberg “Or, to put it more bluntly, our first approach to PSI, which had a very negative effect on debt markets is now officially over.” ("private-sector involvment" = "the crooks who caused this disaster")
New Statesman - The EU treaty is a disaster for the left Stop crowing about Cameron - this is just the latest attack on European democracy ... the eurozone has outlawed expansionary fiscal policy (but Cameron is right for the wrong reasons)


RealClearPolitics - Election 2012 - 2012 Republican Presidential Nomination (Gingrich at 34%)
Balloon Juice » Planet earth is blue, and there’s nothing I can do Gingrich has just about hit that peak when the GOP base starts to feel a little queasy about their latest hero, and historically Newt tends to flame out as fiercely as he flames in. Unless I’m crazy Callista will get her man back just in time for some last-minute holiday deals at Tiffany’s.
Rick Perry Forgets Sonia Sotomayor's Name During 'Des Moines Register' Interview
Santorum: ‘Science Should Get Out Of Politics’ | TPM2012 (facts are anti-Cristian)
Elizabeth Warren Blasts Karl Rove-Linked Crossroads GPS Ad As 'Factually Wrong And Morally Wrong' (and incoherent)
Hullabaloo Next step in our Randian dystopia: stimgatize the unemployed ("they're all on drugs" another brilliant idea from our racist south)
Meet Josh Block: Lobbyist For Foreign Human Rights Abuser | ThinkProgress (former AIPACer, natch)
Celebrity Disgrace is Not an Actual, You Know, Thing - First Draft Once and for all, people making jokes about you on TV is not actual punishment. It may seem so, for those whose livelihood is invested in the importance of celebrity, but it's not actual punishment, not the way going to prison is.
Alabama Immigration Law Might Change After Governor's Review The goal of the law is to drive undocumented immigrants out of the state, lawmakers said (that worked really well)

Court Cases Revealing Massive Fraud in Mortgage Business | FDL News Desk
The Punk Patriot: Man Bulldozes his own home rather than face forclosure (banks refuse to modify loans, then sell houses for far less than the modification would have cost, so homeowner says here's some dirt for you)

Lunar Eclipse 2011: How to Watch Moon Disappear Saturday - Yahoo! News
Meteor Crater Helps Unlock Planetary History - Yahoo! News
Woolly Mammoth to Be Cloned : Discovery News (could Reagan be next?)

Balloon Juice » No One Could Have Predicted, Hoocoodanode, Dog Bites Man, There Were No Warning Signs, How Could This Have Happened, We Had No Idea, We Need to Look Forward Not Backwards fracking — a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells — may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution (Obama allows EPA to publish an actual scientific fact)
Jobless extension tied to oil pipeline | pipeline, oil, project - The Orange County Register (latest Republican move to stick it to the Dems, link it to Keystone)
How the EPA linked "fracking" to contaminated well water

Jerry Sandusky's Wife Denies She Ignored Rapes - Yahoo! (what basement?)

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Please Donate to the Internet Archive | Internet Archive Blogs

Egypt's military will have final say on country's new constitution | World news | The Guardian Scaf generals say they will have final approval over new political system, whatever the outcome of the election (what election?)
Russia's anti-Putin protests grow | World news | The Guardian Tens of thousands say they are prepared to take to the streets in the biggest challenge yet to the country's government
Gorbachev calls for Russian elections to be declared void | World news | guardian.co.uk Former Soviet president says Kremlin must send people to the polls again or face long-term unrest over alleged voting fraud
Medvedev 'tweet' sends the Russian blogosphere into a frenzy | World news | The Guardian Retweet of insult aimed at jailed activist Alexey Navalny causes red faces at the Kremlin ... "cocksucking sheep"?
Bashar al-Assad insists killings and torture in Syria are beyond his control | World news | guardian.co.uk Syria's president rebuffs UN claims of bloody repression, telling US TV host 'we don't kill our own people' (except for the four thousand who shot themselves)
Pakistan president Zardari in Dubai for treatment as coup rumours intensify | World news | guardian.co.uk Asif Ali Zardari's office says he is undergoing a routine checkup, dismissing reports he is set to quit after suffering a heart attack
Plot to smuggle Muammar Gaddafi's son into Mexico 'foiled' | World news | The Guardian Authorities say plan to bring Saadi Gaddafi and family into country involved Canadian, Danish and Mexican suspects

BBC News - UK manufacturing output down 0.7% in October The UK's industrial output fell 0.7% in October, its fastest fall for six months, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) (austerity is working!)
Eurozone crisis live: EU debates fiscal union plan | Business | guardian.co.uk The idea is to provide dollars to European banks, who have been struggling to get hold of them. The market has seized up given fears over European banks' future (free "liquidity" for banksters! austerity for the rest of us)
Tim Geithner backs Merkel-Sarkozy eurozone rescue plan | Business | guardian.co.uk Treasury secretary endorses Franco-German rescue plan as US remains anxious about European debt crisis spreading

Phone hacking: Glenn Mulcaire understood to have been arrested | Media | guardian.co.uk Former private investigator said to be held in connection with voicemail interception and perverting course of justice
The law on murder is most foul. Kenneth Clarke should reform it | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | The Guardian e British law on murder is shockingly out of date. It requires a "mandatory" life sentence of at least 15 years for a crime that lumps together premeditated killing, mercy killing, killing under extreme provocation and gang violence that results in death.

Pearl Harbor attack, 1941: first pictures - British Pathé video | World news | guardian.co.uk
Leon Panetta is Full of Shit | MyFDL Defense Secretary Leon Panetta wants you to be scared.
NPR’s domestic drone commercial - Salon.com On its All Things Considered program yesterday, NPR broadcast a five-minute report (audio below) from Brian Naylor that purported to be a news story on the domestic use of drones but was, in fact, much more akin to a commercial for the drone industry. (your liberal media at work)

Obama can't fight class war too soon | Ana Marie Cox | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The American middle class hardly needs telling it's struggling: Obama needs to name the enemy, not emote empathy
Michael Moore: Barack Obama Is Wall Street's Candidate (that was obvious a long time ago)
Presidential Pardons Heavily Favor Whites - ProPublica
A Club of Liars, Demagogues, and Fools—By Scott Horton (Harper's Magazine) Spiegel ties the disintegration of the Republican Party to the Tea Party, “a ‘popular movement’ that was sponsored by Fox News and never showed any interest in the business of government — neither in information nor intellect, which are its requisites, but rather in a self-marketing exercise driven by commissions and millions.”

In the Matter of Representative Newt Gingrich | House Committee on Ethics (thud)
Rachel Maddow Hammers Newt Gingrich Over Ethics Violations
The Page by Mark Halperin | Gingrich Wants John Bolton for Secretary of State Gingrich to Republican Jewish Coalition crowd: "I will ask John Bolton to be the Secretary of State." (says a lot about all three parties)
The Impolitic: Send in the clowns Among Republican voters in Iowa, nearly 40 percent say they get most of their news from the (Fox) network and its many conservative hosts, according to the most recent New York Times/CBS News poll. And among those viewers, Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, is trouncing Mr. Romney ... bolsters so many previous studies showing Fox viewers are the most uninformed or perhaps we can more kindly say misinformed, people in the civilized world. (Republicans have always hated reality)
Rick Perry Goes After Obama Over Don't Ask Don't Tell "I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a Christian," says Perry. "But you don't need to be in the pews every Sunday to know that there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school." (that will get the gay vote)
Jon Stewart On Donald Trump Debate: 'Thank You Jesus!'
Chris Christie Cuts Down Town Hall Questioner (fat fuck gets engraged when called on rigging the game)
Conflict Of Interest In Politico 's Policymaker Awards? | Media Matters for America (would Politico be spawn of Drudgico? +SOPA/PIPA)
alicublog: Esprit D'Estoppel - when you talk to liberals as she advises: "Let the liberal experience the panic attack," "expect a temper tantrum," "The liberal will become irate, perspire profusely, then shout," etc. ("libruls" are too stupid to compete with Limbaugh)
Blagojevich Sentence: 14 Years In Prison For Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (they all did it, but he got caught)
Balloon Juice » Things That Upset Wingnuts, Pearl Harbor Edition

Thomas Friedman’s Confusions « LRB blog In his most recent book, Thomas Friedman – New York Times columnist, Pulitzer Prize winner, presidential adviser – says of the Iraq War that he has ‘nothing but regret for the excessive price that America and Iraq have had to pay in lives and treasure’. The body count seems to be less cause for concern, however, than the fact that China, which has not been distracted from domestic infrastructure projects by pricey wars abroad, can now build a convention centre in approximately the same time it takes for the Washington Metro crew to repair two escalators in Friedman’s local subway station

Bank Tellers and ATMs The BLS continues to project long-term growth in the number of bank tellers presumably because banks like to open branches to attract deposits.

Vitals - Too promiscuous to donate an organ? Maybe, CDC says deceased and living donors who were not monogamous in the previous 12 months would be considered at increased risk of transmitting HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C -- even if they had no other risk factors

US keeps restrictions on morning-after pill sales - Yahoo! News US regulators on Wednesday rejected a drug company's request to make emergency contraception available over the counter to consumers of all ages instead of by prescription ... However, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius disagreed with the FDA decision, and had invoked her authority to block the supplement for non-prescription use for females under 17 (Obama at work increasing abortions and unwanted teen pregnancies; there is no one he won't throw under the bus to get re-elected)
Plan B: When You Don’t Fight, You Get Walked on Later | FDL Action Today Obama did it again. Obama’s Secretary of HHS, in a blatant, politically motivated move, took the almost unheard of step of going against FDA recommendations regarding Plan B. Science, common sense and women’s reproductive rights were all disregarded in what clearly appears to be an attempt to appease conservatives.
BYU-Idaho Dress Code Prohibits Skinny Jeans: Report (no tight tops, either; back to the 19th century)
Jerry Sandusky Arrested: Ex-Penn State Coach Arrested On New Abuse Charges ... two new accusers, including one who claims Sandusky molested him numerous times in a basement bedroom .. bring the number of Sandusky's alleged victims to 10 and he now faces more than 50 charges (Penn State continues to be opaque)

Annie Stensrud Drunk? Local Anchor Is Worse For Wear During Broadcast
The Body Odd - Watching 'Jersey Shore' might make you dumber, study suggests
Fire dept. watches home burn because family didn’t pay fee | The Raw Story exactly as instructed to by the City of South Fulton’s “pay for spray” policy.

MythBusters Cannonball Experiment Gone Wrong... Hits Houses and Car in Dublin, CA - YouTube

Netflix’s CEO Sees ‘Arms Race’ to Dominate Video Streaming - Bloomberg (fools - big content will always dominate streaming)

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Al-Qaida linked group claims Kabul suicide attack on Shia pilgrims | World news | The Guardian Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al Almi, an obscure Pakistani extremist group claims responsibility for attack that killed at least 55 people
For millions of Russians, this was simply a vote against | Yevgenia Albats | Comment is free | The Guardian This new protest wave is not limited to opposition parties – it has drawn in young people previously uninterested in politics
Russian election: police, troops and youth groups stifle anti-Putin protests | World news | The Guardian Pro-Kremlin activists outnumber pro-democracy demonstrators in Moscow after disputed election result

The brutal logic of climate change | Grist (Obama has flunked the greatest moral challenge of our time)

The euro zone’s terrible mistake | Felix Salmon . If the Europeans didn’t learn from Ireland, couldn’t they at least learn from the Fed’s much-criticized decision to pay off all AIG creditors at 100 cents on the dollar? Blanket guarantees at par are pretty much always a really bad idea — and this one, if it comes to pass, will be the biggest one yet. It won’t end well.
Radical eurozone shakeup could see Brussels get austerity powers | Business | The Guardian Confidential paper from council president Herman Van Rompuy proposes empowering the commission to impose austerity

BP accuses Halliburton over Gulf of Mexico oil spill | Environment | guardian.co.uk US contractor destroyed evidence about possible problems with cementing of Macondo well before disaster, allege court papers

Tales of the Freewayblogger: Scrapitalism
Jesse's Café Américain: Categorizing Those Unemployed by the Recession Caused by the Financial Crisis (7% have "made it back," 21% are "devastated" and 15% are "totally wrecked" and fully deserving of the scorn of writers to the Boston Globe)
Alan Moore v Frank Miller: comics legends clash | Books | guardian.co.uk Moore criticises 'unpleasant sensibility' of 'completely misguided' Miller after Sin City author's tirade against the Occupy movement

Obama Administration To Consider Gay Rights When Allocating Foreign Aid (but still won't fund contraception)
Obama administration targeting food stamp fraud as program reaches record highs - The Federal Eye - The Washington Post (yeah, it's a huge problem created by those leeches)
Texas Welfare Office Shooting: Mom Denied Food Stamps For Months, Shoots Own Kids
The Libertarian Intelligentsia Is Freaking Out Over Newt | TPM2012 “If Newt Gingrich becomes president, we all deserve to die in a purifying fire.” (+Chris Christie is a libertarian, apparently)
Rick Santorum: Gay Sex Is Not 'Equal' To Hetero Sex (everyone would be gay if they knew about "gay sex" +would outlaw contraception because "It's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.")
Conservatives for Jon Huntsman? | The Nation (they are looking for someone with a shred of sanity)
Jon Huntsman: Climate Change Science 'Not Enough' For US Action (renounces last shred of sanity)
Scott Walker Recall Campaign Gets Ugly As Allegations Fly (Republicans bully and cheat, as usual)
Florida Governor Rick Scott's Popularity Plunges To Record Low the Florida Governor's approval ratings have hit a new low at 26 percent, a 7 percent slide from a previous personal worst this past June. (another Republican Gov success)
The Truth About Pundit Crap: Could Jon Meacham Be the Most Insufferable Human in Washington? - Esquire (Pierce)
Hullabaloo Very Serious Zombie Awards - Health Care Policymaker of the Year: Rep. Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Budget Committee (a club of idiots)
Hullabaloo Political Indecency (anti-abortion jihadists running for office so they can put grisly campaign videos on tv)

The Knowledge Effect | US Average Duration of Unemployment (no jobs, anywhere)
A New Grand Bargain? : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Is Boeing really going to use Chinese labor to make American military aircraft? (hey, why not?)
Montco Commissioner Lied About Stake in Company: DA | NBC Philadelphia Brother of “Hardball” host Chris Matthews arrested on perjury charges, DA says

Is the Higgs boson real? | Ian Sample | Science | guardian.co.uk Rumours abound that Cern scientists have finally glimpsed the long-sought Higgs boson. We asked physicists to share their thoughts on the elusive entity

Penn State University shows no sign of lifting veil of secrecy | PennLive.com The university contracted former FBI Director Louis Freeh to do an internal investigation, but won’t say how much it’s paying the firm. The university is also keeping secret how how much it is paying public relations firm Ketchum, which it hired in the wake of the scandal that ousted President Graham Spanier, head football coach Joe Paterno and two top university official (that would be the PA "we don't have to tell you shit" law they lobbied for +fake investigation by America's worst law enforement ex-official)

Late Night: Get Off My Internet Lawn! | Firedoglake (kids should just listen to the radio!)
China cracks down on microblogging rumours that are 'worse than cocaine' | World news | The Guardian Official Chinese media say that rumours spread on popular microblogging sites are damaging to society

120511
Getting Re-elected After Solving Economic Problems Is Easy We all know what to do, but we don’t know how to get reelected once we have done it (so we're going to get re-elected and you're going to die)
Italy PM unveils sweeping austerity package | Reuters * 30 billion euros in tax hikes, spending cuts (austerizizing their way to ruin)
U.S. Fed May Give Loans to IMF to Help Euro Zone-Report - NYTimes.com (but not to American non-banksters)

English riots were 'a sort of revenge' against the police | UK news | The Guardian Rioters interviewed for our study say they sought retribution for what they saw as police abuse of power in their communities
Rioter profile: 'this is some next-level revolution coming' | UK news | guardian.co.uk A young man from Liverpool recalls the riots and his part in them, which he says cost him his job


Justice Kennedy Dissents: What Campaign Finance And The Sixth Amendment Have In Common Kennedy -- after 20 years of dissenting -- finally turned the tide in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the landmark 2010 ruling on corporate First Amendment rights (swing-vote asshole who killed democracy killed the right to question forensic evidence because it would "cost too much")

Hullabaloo Why are young people so upset and disenchanted? (Obama has turned off an entire generation of young voters, as planned)
FAA head Randy Babbitt placed on leave after drunk driving arrest in Fairfax - Crime Scene - The Washington Post The head of the Federal Aviation Administration is on administrative leave after being charged with drunk driving Saturday night by Fairfax City police, according to the Department of Transportation.
PolitiFact and the scam of neutral expertise - Salon.com - ". We should all have ID’s. You betcha. What do you have to hide? Some friends of mine on the left side think I’m crazy. . . . I’m a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel." (in a nutshell)
Newt Gingrich vs. Nancy Pelosi: GOP Candidate Fires Back Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich fired back on Monday to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's suggestion that she could reveal information about him "when the time is right" because she once served on a committee that investigated him for ethics violations.
Mitt Romney Runs From Another Reporter At Fox News Forum
Time's Joe Klein Blasts Romney Campaign's 'Idiotic' Media Strategy
Mitt Romney's media blowback - Dylan Byers - politico.com
Gates Foundation Grants ALEC A Hefty Sum For 'Education Reform' | Crooks and Liars (in bed with the Kochtopus to set up Christian charter schools and kill teachers' unions)

A New York spider gave me an insight into US private healthcare | Laurie Penny | Comment is free | The Guardian Occupy Wall Street is right – a rash of bites showed me how private healthcare keeps Americans cowed and compliant
Radley Balko: SWAT Raids, Stun Guns, And Pepper Spray: Why The Government Is Ramping Up The Use Of Force
Casually Pepper Spray Everything Cop John Pike on a wall, 11th and Ridge, Philadelphia | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Prosecuting Wall Street, pt. 1 - 60 Minutes - CBS News wo high-ranking financial whistleblowers say they tried to warn their superiors about defective and even fraudulent mortgages. So why haven't the companies or their executives been prosecuted? (bankers always walk)
Pennsylvania Hires Greenhill to Weigh Sale of State Assets - Bloomberg (Republicans selling off your infrastructure to pay for their disasterous mistakes)

Could dark matter not matter? An Italian mathematician has come up with some complex formulae that can, with remarkable similarity, mimic the rotation curves of spiral galaxies without the need for dark matter.

femonomics: Involuntary Sterilization, Cowboy Doctors, and the West in Africa
Dr. Erik Fleischman and Involuntary Sterilization — Feministe ("slicing and dicing and sterilizing his way through the dark continent" )

Racial gap found in traffic stops in Milwaukee - JSOnline A black Milwaukee driver is seven times as likely to be stopped by city police as a white resident driver, a Journal Sentinel analysis of nearly 46,000 traffic stops has found.

The Truth About Teen 'Sexting' - Yahoo! News
Kaspersky Dumps Anti-Piracy Group in SOPA Protest | TorrentFreak announced it will withdraw its membership of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) over the group’s support of SOPA

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Syria given 24 hours to sign Arab League deal or face sanctions | World news | guardian.co.uk Officials given ultimatum after missing deadline to let in international monitors amid rising death toll
Top British commander says west must see the job through in Afghanistan | World news | The Guardian General James Bucknall calls on UK not to betray its 'investment in blood' and stresses Taliban cannot assassinate its way to power
Russian parliamentary elections: rousing from a long slumber | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian f Vladimir Putin's popularity is on the wane, that of the party he created, United Russia, is in a nosedive
Vladimir Putin set to lose majority amid complaints of electoral violations | World news | The Guardian Opposition leader condemns 'theft of votes' after reports of pre-filled ballots, invisible ink and multiple visits to polling booths
Iran: U.S. Spy Plane Shot Down By Iran Armed Forces (spy drone bagged)
X-37B: Mission Of Mysterious Boeing Space Plane Extended

Initiative would give Callifornia illegal immigrants safe harbor - California Politics | Sacramento Bee (half of Alabama will move there)

Senate Votes Not To Vote On Indefinite Detention On Americans | Mother Jones - Several Democrats joined Republicans in blocking the latter amendment with Republican Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah) Rand Paul (R-Ky) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill) joining most Democrats in voting for Feinstein's amendment.
striking the indefinite military detention provision - Senate Roll Call #210 Details - OpenCongress (16 Dems are Republicans)

David Brooks Hearts Germany - Since When Do Conservative Pundits Love Northern European Social Democracies? (when they are driving everyone else into austerity!)
Merkel and Sarkozy to unveil eurozone rescue package - Telegraph She made it clear that eurozone states would be called upon to relinquish economic sovereignty and be subjected to close central supervision – a pre-requisite for the eurozone to secure vital extra financial help. (Central Bank Uber Alles)

GOP Can't Erase Dems From Political Map | News & Politics | AlterNet the GOP may gain a dozen House seats or more by redrawing lines, prompting Democratic stalwarts like Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., not to seek reelection. ("GOP" = Mass Dems)
As Many As 5 Million Voters Disenfranchised By Voter ID Laws | Crooks and Liars
Hullabaloo: Chris Hayes FTW (contrast with belthead Young Russert)

The Washington Monthly - When Politifact Becomes Politifalse (WaPo at work lying about lies; they are as "fair and balanced" as you know who)
Incarceration Rates and Jim Crow Analogies : Lawyers, Guns & Money (see Polifucked)

With Gingrich Surging, Coburn Still 'Will Have Difficulty Supporting Him As President Of The United States' | ThinkProgress Coburn reiterated his anti-Gingrich sentiment, saying, “We need somebody that’s…stable.” (heh)
Newt Gingrich's Rise Continues, Ron Paul Second, Romney Third In Iowa: Des Moines Register Poll (clown show continues without Clown Cain)
Michele Bachmann And Ron Paul Say They'll Pick Up Herman Cain Supporters (something to be pround of)
John McCain: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico Could Be 'Up For Grabs' In 2012
Ron Paul: Reactionary Racist Leprechaun | VICE

SEC deal with Citigroup a sweetheart deal | NJ.com
US Debt - Money Managers' Least Favorite Investment - NYTimes.com It seems nobody likes Treasurys, yet everybody keeps buying them anyway.
Lawrence Mishel: Stop Digging Us Into an Ever Deeper Hole! Or, How Not to Argue for the Payroll Tax Holiday First, if the measure is presented as anti-tax we could never end the payroll tax reduction since any advocate would then be accused of favoring taxing the middle class! And if we do not end this measure it eventually will lead to scaling back Social Security, which would deliver a long-sought conservative goal and further exacerbate our already growing retirement insecurity (Obama throws SS under the bus, again, to save his reelection)
Payroll Tax Cut Plan Will Be Unveiled Monday, Democratic Senator Says (anything Kent Conrad likes is a disaster)

Occupy DC Arrests: Structure In McPherson Square Prompts Police Action (photos)
Balloon Juice » Naomi Wolf’s “Rebuttal” is Pure Nonsense The sound of journalistic credibility gasping its last breath.

Katie Roiphe discovers the Internet can be mean - Salon.com What a peculiar, delightfully retro bubble Katie Roiphe inhabits. In her world, sexual harassment is just a little joshing around the office. Last month, she realized that gentrified neighborhoods are still sometimes kind of edgy. Now, in her latest column for Slate, Roiphe has discovered “a new species” on the Internet, “a new breed” of individual — the angry commenter. Whoa, whoa, whoa, there Katie – who else knows about this? In other breaking news from 1994, people like expensive coffee and lesbians can be chic (Roiphe discovers internet trolls and flamers, who hurt her strong independent woman fee-fees +“the hamster dance of American thinkers,” /google it/)

Provisional statement of the status of the Global Climate 2011: world’s 10th warmest year, warmest year with La Niña on record, second-lowest Arctic sea ice extent

Robert Hughes, Jr.: Will Divorce Increase Your Chances of Dying? (yes, 23%)
Even on the 11th Floor, There’s Parking Right Out Front - NYTimes.com (the view from the 1%)

ProPublica review of pardons in past decade shows process heavily favored whites - The Washington Post (your corrupt, racist "justice" system)
U.S. Postal Service Faces Bankruptcy, Plans Cuts To Slow Delivery Of First Class Mail

Benny Hinn - Dark Lord of the Sith - YouTube
Katzenjammer performs live "A Bar in Amsterdam" HD - YouTube

Think Carrier IQ is bad? Wikileaks founder says all smartphones can be hacked with ease
Looks like Obama's new online petition service is really changing things - Imgur
Apple's Preliminary Injunction Request Against Samsung Devices Denied By U.S. Judge A U.S. judge has denied Apple's request for a preliminary injunction against several Samsung Electronics products
Guess What? iPhone Users Make Up Only 10% Of Mobile Subscribers (but they are so hip)
trws6.png (Captain Anomaly: Zappo's customer service)

120311
Baghdad bomb was an attempt to kill me, says Iraq's prime minister | World news | guardian.co.uk But Nouri al-Maliki denies that explosion signals a deterioration in Green Zone security ahead of US forces' planned pullout
Syrian security forces clash with military defectors | World news | guardian.co.uk More Syrians have been killed a day after the UN human rights chief called on the international community to protect civilians
Netanyahu spokesman: Palestinians to blame for deadlock | World news | guardian.co.uk Comment comes day after US defence secretary says Israel could do more to reverse growing isolation (they made us do it)
Saudi Arabia: Women Driving Will Have Sex, Report Says (one thing leads to another)
Veena Malik, Pakistan Model, Poses Nude, Causes Fury A Pakistani actress who posed in the nude for an Indian magazine with the initials of Pakistan's feared and powerful intelligence agency on her arm has triggered fury across this conservative nation (there you go)

Bleeding Britain - NYTimes.com Now it turns out that contractionary policy is contractionary after all. As a result, despite all the austerity, deficits remain high. So what is to be done? More austerity! ... It really is just like a medieval doctor bleeding his patient, observing that the patient is getting sicker, not better, and deciding that this calls for even more bleeding.
British Austerity: The Past Weighs Like a Nightmare on the Brains of Cameron and Osborne Blogging Why are Cameron and Osborne incapable of admitting that they made a bad mistake, firing their advisors, and changing their course? I think that it's the fact that they have been raised on the myth of Margaret Thatcher, who Stayed the Course. But this time there are no crazy Argentinian generals who throw people out of helicopters into the South Atlantic to start a war and serve as defeatable villains...

Sir Paul McCartney calls for privacy law after learning his phone was hacked | Music | guardian.co.uk The singer believes journalists listened to phone calls and messages at the time of his divorce from Heather Mills

White House Threatens Veto Of Indefinite Detention Bill The National Defense Authorization Act passed Thursday by the Senate contains a section that spells out the military's power to detain Americans indefinitely without trial and mandates military detention for some terrorism suspects. ("threatens")
Balloon Juice » We’re not at the end of the beginning, but perhaps the beginning of the end Today is the day that a significant part of the Affordable Care Act took effect

Occupy LA Raid: Los Angeles Police Reportedly Went Undercover At Encampment Prior To Raid To Gather Information [and rape and pillage and murder a few people]

Herman Cain suspends campaign for Republican presidential nomination | World news | guardian.co.uk Former pizza magnate tells supporters he made the decision because of the hurt caused by false allegations against him
House Republicans Stepping Up Anti-Regulation Effort (child labor, poison in your food, appliances that explode)
Herman Cain Affair Allegation: GOP Hopeful Meeting With Wife Gloria Amid Uncertain Candidacy (give him the hook)

The 70% Solution: Taxing the Rich Department
SEC targets Marlins' shady business - MLB - Yahoo! Sports They want to understand how, exactly, a group of county commissioners agreed to fund 80 percent of the Marlins new stadium, which cost more than $600 million, without ever seeing the team’s financial records – and whether bribes had anything to do with it (free money for rich Repubicans!)

Scientists Discover Huge Martian Water Deposit—Could Be Used By Human Explorers
Engineering News, Date Scientists decided to use infrared, heat sensing technology for the survey, but found that curiously, the polar bears became invisible. Scientists could see the eyes, nose and breath, but not the bear ... polar bear hair has the same radiative properties as snow.

Is Child Sexual Abuse on the Rise? - Yahoo! News According to the nation's top experts, children are actually safer from physical and sexual abuse than they have been for decades ... In fact, incidence of sexual abuse of children began to drop two decades ago
Ohio State's Urban Meyer and the Cult of Coach - Time
Lenore Zimmerman: TSA 'Strip-Searched' Me
Vietnam police use fishing nets to capture motorbike street racers - Telegraph Cops and private security guards cast the fine fishing nets into the rear wheels of the speeding motorcycles, clogging the machinery and bringing the bike slowly to a halt.
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Saatchi's scathing portrait of the art world: 'Vulgar, Eurotrashy, masturbatory' | Art and design | The Guardian Leading British collector launches surprise attack saying buyers and dealers 'can't tell good artists from bad'

Swiss Government Declares Downloading for Personal Use Legal | WebProNews Government research says piracy not as harmful as industry claims (Obama considers drones on Switzerland to protect Bigcontent)
Student Bay Admin Prosecuted in Sweden | TorrentFreak for his role in the operations of Student Bay, a site dedicated to the sharing of textbooks (which now cost 12,000 Euros)
DutchNews.nl - ‘Corrupt’ performing rights society board member to face the music Rietveldt wrote a piece of music for an anti-piracy ad which was widely distributed without his knowledge. In spite of numerous requests he was never paid for the reproduction of his music.
AT&T, Sprint Sued by Customers Over Tracking - Bloomberg mobile phone customers who claim that Carrier IQ Inc. tracking software installed on their phones violates U.S. wiretapping and computer fraud laws.
Nokia: none of our devices have ever used Carrier IQ | The Verge

120211
Nato plans push in eastern Afghanistan to quell Pakistan-based insurgents | World news | The Guardian Isaf aims to reduce threat to Kabul by insurgent groups and has not ruled out cross-border raids into Pakistan
Egyptian Islamists put sharia law on agenda after election gains | World news | The Guardian Radical Salafists take majority of seats in Egypt's first parliamentary elections since the ousting of Hosni Mubarak
Clinton and Aung San Suu Kyi pledge to work together for Burma democracy | World news | The Guardian US secretary of state reiterates call for Burmese regime to end repression during historic meeting with opposition leader

Angela Merkel takes action to stop euro collapse | Business | The Guardian German chancellor demands tougher budget controls in decisive week for currency, leading to optimism on stock markets
Irish Tax Revenues Fall Further Behind Target in Nov - NYTimes.com (austerity at work)

Congress endorsing military detention, a new AUMF - Salon.com (and then they came for you)

U.N. Envoy: U.S. Isn't Protecting Occupy Protesters' Rights

Payroll Tax Cut Extension Rejected In Senate Vote Just one Senate Republican, Maine's Susan Collins, voted for the middle class break, which died 51 to 49 in an unsuccessful effort to end a Republican filibuster. Three Democrats opposed the bill.
House Republicans Stepping Up Anti-Regulation Effort
Rachel Maddow, Frank Rich Dissect Fox News, 'Murdoch Primary' (Satan's Primary)
Progressives don’t hate ourselves - The Washington Post (Jonathan Chait at work making you depressed)
Newt Gingrich Rose to Wealth Through Congress : Roll Call News In 1979, an impoverished Georgia college professor named Newt Gingrich became a Member of Congress and proceeded to make himself a very rich man (we don't think that word "impoverished" means what you think it means)
Newt Gingrich’s disgusting remarks about ‘really poor children’ - PostPartisan - The Washington Post
Balloon Juice » Nip this one in the bud (no limits on the lies of Satan's minions)
Herman & Gloria Cain's Problems Go Way Back: Report
Ginger White Alleges Sex With Herman Cain, Apologizes To Gloria Cain ... becoming the fifth woman to accuse the Republican presidential candidate of inappropriate behavior.
U.N. Envoy: U.S. Isn't Protecting Occupy Protesters' Rights
Alabama red-faced as second foreign car boss held under immigration law | World news | guardian.co.uk To arrest one foreign car-making executive under Alabama's new tough immigration laws may be regarded as a misfortune; to arrest a second looks like carelessness (and also that they are checking a lot of people)

EmployRecessAlignedNov2011.jpg (here's your Bush/Republican debt and anti-regulation-fueled recession)
Jared Bernstein: The November Jobs Report (Updates) Employment was up 120,000 last month and the unemployment rate dropped significantly, to 8.6% in November down from 9% in October. Job growth in October and September was revised up by 72,000.
Jobs Mirage: 315,000 Drop Out Of Workforce, Driving Unemployment Rate To Three-Year Low

Changing climate of Republican opinion doesn't agree with Tea Party | Environment | guardian.co.uk Nearly two-thirds of moderate or liberal Republicans believe there is solid evidence for global warming, Pew poll finds (all four of them)



Carrier IQ 'has questions to answer' over possible data breach – Franken | Technology | guardian.co.uk US senator asks software maker to respond to claims its products collect and transmit users' potentially sensitive data

120111
Ehud Barak, Israel Defense Minister, Says Iran Strike May Become Only Option
Afghan woman to be freed from jail after agreeing to marry rapist | World news | The Guardian President intervenes in case of 19-year-old woman who has spent two years in jail after reporting rape by a relative
Iran British Embassy Stormed: Students Released
UK breaks with Iran, but can anything sway the regime? | World news | guardian.co.uk The damage to the UK embassy seems to have left little choice but shutting down the mission, but Iran's deepening isolation may only strengthen the radicals
Europe Tightens Sanctions on Iran - NYTimes.com
AFP: Japan nuclear meltdown ?maybe worse than thought? (TEPCO lied?)
A 1.8-Ton Problem: Half of City to Evacuate for Bomb Disposal - Spiegel Online - a large section of the German city of Koblenz will come to a standstill as bomb experts gingerly defuse a massive World War II bomb that recently emerged from the Rhine River due to low water levels

Obama’s morbid fear of EU meltdown - FT.com “The thing that matters the most in determining the health of the US economy and job creation is what happens in Europe,” says a senior administration official (idiots)
The big squeeze: warning over incomes as Britain goes on strike | UK news | The Guardian Families with children will be worse off in 2016 than 14 years earlier, analysis of George Osborne's autumn statement finds (eliminate the middle-class, starve the poor, wonder why there are riots)
Sarkozy calls for new European treaty as euro enters make-or-break week | Business | The Guardian French president uses speech to set out initiative that appears at odds with Berlin's plan for more rigorous monetary union
Manufacturing shrinks at fastest rate in 2 years | Reuters Britain's manufacturing sector shrank for a second successive month in November and at its fastest pace since June 2009 as output and orders fell on weak global demand, a survey showed on Thursday, fuelling fears Britain faces another recession (austerity fail; solution: more austerity for non-bankers)
Mass. Sues JPMorgan, BofA Over Foreclosures - Bloomberg Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed the lawsuit today against the three banks, as well as Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and Ally Financial Inc., in state court in Boston. The banks are accused of engaging in unfair and deceptive trade practices in violation of state law, according to the attorney general (these are the lawsuits Obama desperately tried to squash)

Dominique Strauss-Kahn: New Book Claims New York City Hotel Maid Propositioned Him

Illinois House Votes Against Supporting 'Occupy,' Suburban Rep Calls Protests 'Un-American' Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr. (R-Mundelein) called the Occupy protesters "un-American" and said he had read reports of demonstrators involved with the movement "raping and pillaging and beating people up and murdering," (Fox News watcher)
A Banker Speaks, With Regret - NYTimes.com . That’s why the Occupy movement resonates so deeply: When the federal government goes all-out to rescue errant bankers, and stiffs homeowners, that’s not just bad economics. It’s also wrong.
Raise Taxes on Rich to Reward True Job Creators: Nick Hanauer - Bloomberg
George Lakoff: Occupy Elections, With a Simple Message (how about: #1 tax the rich; #2 end the wars; #3 rebuild America)
UC Davis Pepper Spray Investigation Lead By Group That Works For Wall Street Firms (LIVE UPDATES) But in an open letter, Robert Meister, head of the Council of UC Faculty Associations, called for University of California president Mark Yudof to swap out Kroll Security Group and its chairman William Bratton as the ones in charge of the investigation. (Kroll and Bratton, great)
VIDEO: LAPD Riot Squad Tackles Occupy L.A. Photographer - Los Angeles News - The Informer

Senate Kills Effort To Ban Indefinite Military Detentions Of U.S. Citizens (your democracy is history)
Political Animal - The strange GOP embrace of Simpson-Bowles Part of me is left to assume that Republicans have decided they like Simpson-Bowles as some kind of bizarre knee-jerk reaction — Obama hasn’t embraced it, so it must be good.
Gingrich Tells ABC News: ‘I’m Going to Be The Nominee’ - ABC News (Obama is giggling)
MA-Sen: Warren Takes Lead Over Brown in New Poll | FDL News Desk
Herman Cain Affair Allegation: Meeting With Wife Gloria May Hold Key To Candidacy's Future Gloria, who he has not seen since the charge surfaced (egg on her face)
Greta Van Susteren Draws Scrutiny Over Husband's Herman Cain Ties (your media is so corrupt)
Voter ID Laws 'Assault' On Minority Voters, Says DNC Chair

Robert Greenwald and Derrick Crowe: After the Deficit Committee, A New Propaganda Push From the War Profiteers
Claire McCaskill: Spend Money On U.S. Infrastructure, Not Troubled Afghanistan Programs
Hank Paulson's 'astonishing' insider tip to Wall Street - The Week Bloomberg reports that as Treasury secretary, Paulson gave a potentially lucrative heads-up to hedge fund managers. Should we be outraged?
Greenberg’s ‘Audacious’ AIG Bailout Suits Stretching U.S. Legal Precedents - Bloomberg Both complaints were filed by attorney David Boies, who represented the U.S. in its Microsoft Inc. 1999 antitrust trial and Al Gore in the Florida presidential recount litigation in 2000.

APOD: 2011 December 1 - Young Moon Meets Evening Star

The Semiotics of Emma Sullivan | Mother Jones (and the fascist authoritarianism of Brownback and Ruth Marcus +those aren't "bad" words)
Do Christians believe in atheists? UBC study finds believers distrust atheists as much as rapists | Vancouver Sun
FBI ran background checks on Muslims at community outreach events | World news | guardian.co.uk Documents show the FBI recorded personal information at events designed to improve the bureau's relations with Muslims - The blacked-out parts make it difficult to understand what the reports represent.
Muslim Officials Want Answers From FBI Over Data Collection During Outreach Efforts | TPMMuckraker
Tons of Marijuana Found In San Diego Via Mexico Drug Tunnels
New York Teacher Tells Students Santa Claus Isn't Real News 12 reports a second grade teacher in Nanuet, New York was giving a geography lesson when students noted that Santa Claus lives in the North Pole. The teacher promptly told the kids Jolly Old Saint Nick doesn't exist and that it's their parents who leave presents underneath the tree every year (oh, nooooes)
Post-tofu cooking blast a mystery - UPI.com He said the woman told investigators she had been cooking tofu and the explosion, which blasted a 4-foot by 6-foot window out of the building, occurred as she was rinsing off the pan.

75 Years in Prison For Videotaping Police - YouTube
Judge Rejects Eavesdropping Charges for Recording Police - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine
'It Should Look Good on YouTube': The Anti-Harless - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine - "Jeremy, thanks for your cooperation, and remember: My name is Officer Lyons with the Oceanside Police Department. My badge number is 1093. God bless America."

Stanley Kubrick’s Photos of 1940s New York - mashKULTURE

US Politics | AMERICAblog News: Att Gen asks Americans to report IP violations on their neighbors but not 1 prosecution of Wall Street Not a single prosecution against Wall Street for the collapse of 2008 but he wants people to give a damn about IP violations for Hollywood and the recording industry? Instead of boot-licking for the 1%, maybe he could find some time to prosecute the real trouble makers. Wake me up when there's a Democrat who is significantly different from a Republican so I can vote for real change (Obama, a far-right Republican by Nixonian standards, love his big content)
Chrome Overtakes Firefox Globally for First Time | StatCounter Global Stats Free web analytics company reports that Internet Explorer still leads despite falling market share
Will Yahoo turn out to be an egg on its buyer’s face? — Tech News and Analysis
The 'Bandwidth Hog' is a Myth - And Caps Don't Really Address Truly Disruptive Users | DSLReports.com, ISP Information The researchers themselves note that blunt caps simply may not work, and they punish those that aren't really causing any network problems:
Livewire | TPM - Google: No Affiliation With Carrier IQ
Google Is Richer Than the 28 Poorest Countries Combined

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Egypt election results put Muslim Brotherhood ahead | World news | The Guardian Analysts says preliminary results suggest Freedom and Justice party could win as many 40% of seats in new legislature
Britain expels Iranian diplomats and closes Tehran embassy | World news | guardian.co.uk William Hague says diplomats must leave UK within 48 hours, saying storming of British embassy in Iran had backing of regime
Israel unfreezes Palestinian Authority tax millions | World news | guardian.co.uk West warned against punitive measure for Unesco vote to admit Palestinian Territories as a member

Markets surge as Fed and central banks step in to try to prevent credit crunch | Business | guardian.co.uk US cheered by better-than-expected jobs figures as Timothy Geithner welcomes co-ordinated action taken by central banks
Central Banks Take Joint Action to Ease Debt Crisis - NYTimes.com ("action" = free money for bankster crooks; more austerity for everyone else)
Dow Jones Industrial Average Jumps 490 Points; Biggest Gain Since March 2009 A move by the world's central banks to lower the cost of borrowing exhilarated investors Wednesday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average soaring 490 points and easing fears of a global credit crisis similar to the one that followed the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Strikes hit services as millions heed unions' call to fight pension cuts | Society | guardian.co.uk No delays at major airports despite walkout by border staff • More than half of state schools closed in England (Brits wake up to austerity)
More Greeks homeless as crisis takes its toll | AP | 11/30/2011 (Reaganism comes to Greece)

Leveson inquiry: Alastair Campbell, the sultan of spin, gets a few soft deliveries | Politics | The Guardian Ex-Mirror man, Tony Blair spin doctor and tabloid victim rails against the news machine at the Leveson inquiry

Barack Obama urged to change US stance at UN climate summit | Environment | guardian.co.uk Environmental groups and officials warn US will derail progress at Durban by blocking moves toward climate change fund (anything to get reelected, even the fucking planet)

Hullabaloo What's the matter with Mitt? why so many commentators are unwilling to admit that this is part of Mitt Romney's problem: More than four in 10 American voters say they are uncomfortable with the idea of a Mormon in the White House ... Has there ever been a more fascinating GOP primary? I don't ever want it to end. (if he were Muslim or even Jewish, let alone atheist, they would be all over it)

Ruth Marcus reveals another journalistic value - Salon.com - — extreme deference to those in political power — with a column denouncing Emma Sullivan, the 18-year-old high school student in Kansas who committed the crime of saying something disrespectful about the Hon. Sam Brownback, her state’s Governor ... Marcus — who is married to an actual censor, Jon Leibowitz, the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission — is driven more by drooling authoritarianism or gross hypocrisy. The Washington Post Op-Ed page is truly the belly of the beast of America’s rotted media discourse. (truer words ...)
Emma Sullivan Twitter - Here's to Potty-Mouthing, and the Real Lesson for All of Us - Esquire (Pierce AND Glennzilla)

Balloon Juice » Absence of malice I wish that more people would understand that most of the journamlism we see from establishment pundits is baseless musing that only reflects their own world views and life circumstances, and that their world views and life circumstances are very different from those of most middle-class Americans.
Balloon Juice » Oh, for Fuck’s Sake, Millbank Pretending that Frank’s inability to suffer fools gladly has been worse for public civility than Rove’s long campaign against honesty in politics, or embracing our major media’s craven pretense that calling someone a liar in front of a recording device is worse than being a liar, is gutless, dishonest, and behavior unworthy of a well-paid, well-educated individual with the distribution and readership of one of the national papers of record, Mr. Millbank. (record of evil)

The End of Retail Politics? It has been five decades since television began to transform presidential races, but never before have the effects of cable television been so apparent in the early stages of a campaign."
Gingrich Holds Clear Lead Nationally A new Economist/YouGov poll finds Newt Gingrich leading the GOP presidential race nationally with 25%, followed by Mitt Romney at 17%, Herman Cain at 15%, Ron Paul at 9%, Michele Bachmann at 5%, Jon Huntsman at 5%, Rick Perry at 5% and Rick Santorum at 3%

pandagon.net - The GOP wants to take your money and give it to rich people, full stop
Erik Prince, Former Blackwater CEO, Threatens Jan Schakowsky Over Her 'Defamatory Statements' ... Prince's counsel Victoria Toensing (deep in the heart of evil)
Michele Bachmann: U.S. Embassy In Iran (Which Doesn't Exist) Would Be Closed Under My Watch (dumb and dumber)
Scott Walker Recall Effort: Brett Hulsey Releases Ad Featuring Prank Call From David Koch Impersonator
Billy Graham Hospitalized: Pastor Being Evaluated For Lung Treatment at 93 (where's his death panel?)

Duncan Calls for Urgency in Lowering College Costs - NYTimes.com (the whole higher-education system is self-destructing, out of greed, of course)
Charles P. Pierce on the motivations behind the NBA lockout - Grantland Lockouts never are — they're about control (down on the plantation)

Istanbul shows that the Mall can be a vibrant urban space - Greater Greater Washington (doesn't have to be heavily guarded sterile space)

New Hampshire Republicans Fail To Override Governor's Veto On Anti-Union Measure The Republican-controlled New Hampshire House of Representatives failed to overturn the Democratic governor's veto of an anti-union bill on Wednesday. The failed vote is a victory for labor forces who fought a year-long battle against GOP state legislators who sought to make New Hampshire a "right to work" state.
Interracial Couple Banned From Kentucky Church
GOP Sheriff Busted for Trading Drugs for Sex "Patrick Sullivan was the kind of lawman Coloradoans loved: a straight-shooting Republican sheriff ... (wait for it) ... police arrested Sullivan "on charges that he had been trying to exchange methamphetamines for sex with a man.

World's First Sex School Opens But far from being a cheap thrill, one term at the "hands on" International Sex School in Vienna will cost pupils £1,400. Swedish-born "headmistress" Ylva-Maria Thompson says anyone over the age of 16 can enrol at what she describes as "the world's first college of applied sexuality". Students live in a mixed sex dormitory block where they're expected to practise their homework.


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Egypt elections - day two: Tuesday 29 November 2011 | World news | guardian.co.uk Polls reopen after record turnout on opening day
Hague says Iran will face 'serious consequences' over embassy attack | World news | guardian.co.uk Foreign secretary says Tehran breached Vienna convention in failing to protect diplomatic mission
Storming of British embassy in Tehran worsens bilateral relations | Politics | The Guardian ran warned over attack as David Cameron chairs emergency meeting after mob ransacks offices and diplomatic residences
NATO Airstrike In Pakistan: U.S. Suspects Forces Were Lured Into Deadly Raid (changed their story again)
Anders Behring Breivik may avoid jail after psychiatrists declare him insane | World news | The Guardian Norwegian killer of 77 people 'lives in his own delusional universe', say prosecutors
Ecuador: Tungurahua Volcano Active, Government Urges Evacuations
Wadah Khanfar, Former Al Jazeera Director: I Was 'Under Pressure' From Middle Eastern Governments many Middle Eastern governments pressured his network to alter its coverage.

Euro crisis: Italy at risk of insolvency, European finance ministers warned | Business | The Guardian Mario Monti must tackle Italian tax evasion to avoid other eurozone economies being damaged, says report

Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson are 'scum of journalism', Leveson told | Media | guardian.co.uk Former News of the World features editor hits out at former bosses, accusing Coulson of introducing phone hacking at paper - "For 21 years you have a culture of illegality of phone hacking and fiddling your expenses and so on. What you have is a future prime minister cosying up and being moulded by the arch-criminal, Rebekah Brooks, the criminal-in-chief." (zing)

US To Pay $2.5M In Photo Editor Robert Stevens' Anthrax Death claiming its negligence caused her husband's death by failing to adequately safeguard anthrax at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md. The FBI probe concluded that Fort Detrick was the source of the spores used in the attacks in New York, Washington and Florida.

Scott Olsen: recovery process has been 'very frustrating' | World news | guardian.co.uk (OWS)

Herman Cain 'reassessing' future of increasingly troubled 2012 campaign | World news | guardian.co.uk Cain tells senior staff he will look at options over next few days in wake of allegations of a 13-year affair with Ginger White
Herman Cain Addresses Affair Allegations On CNN Before Atlanta TV Station's Report "This individual is going to accuse me of an affair for a specified period of time," Cain said after the commercial break, adding that the woman was someone he considered a friend. Cain said there was no sex involved, but added that he would not go into specifics
Ann Coulter On 'Morning Joe': Bleeped Out, Calls Ted Kennedy 'Pestilence' (VIDEO) Ann Coulter was bleeped out several times during a Tuesday appearance on "Morning Joe," after seeming to call John McCain a "douchebag."
Whoopi Goldberg Bleeped Out For Sexual Herman Cain Comment 'The View' (VIDEO) , "as long as you're not boning the country."
Herman Cain 'Reassessing' 2012 Candidacy (another clown falls on his face)
In Stunning Turnaround, Fox Declares Itself "Winning The War On Christmas" | Media Matters for America
Brownback apologizes for tweet flap | CJOnline.com Shawnee Mission East principal Karl Krawitz told Sullivan on Nov. 22 her actions were an embarrassment and recommended talking points for her letter of apology to Brownback.

Mission Not Accomplished - NYTimes.com the real scandal isn’t so much that those banks got rescued as that the rest of the population didn’t. (Obama never gave a shit about anyone else)
How Paulson Gave Hedge Funds Advance Word - Bloomberg (profit!)
Citi's Mortgage Settlement With SEC Rejected by Judge - US Business News - CNBC "An application of judicial power that does not rest on facts is worse than mindless, it is inherently dangerous," Rakoff wrote in an opinion dated Monday (Obama wanted it all over)
American Airlines files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection | Business | guardian.co.uk World's fourth largest airline says it will honour tickets and reservations as it restructures its debts and costs - the world's fourth largest airline

The Race-IQ 'Blackout' - Ta-Nehisi Coates - National - The Atlantic (Andrew Sullivan's favorite dead horse)
Is Non-racial IQ Research Being Strangled? (Andrew Sullivan and "p.c. egalitarianism")
Sullivan: Research Is Not About Helping People
A Reader's Guide to Andrew Sullivan's Defense of Race Science (great writing)
Hadley Freeman: Single women: an American obsession | Comment is free | The Guardian In certain parts of the US, or even just New York, there remains a weirdly monetised and loveless view of marriage. Enough!
Kate Bolick: why marriage is a declining option for women | Life and style | The Observer Approaching 40, Kate Bolick has come to a profound insight: that she – and many women like her – might never marry. But revealing that realisation in an article in an American magazine caused frenzied comment. Here's what she had to say (Oh, I love attention! And I only date men richer than me!)

US Politics | AMERICAblog News: Wisconsin DA charges 6 y.o. boy with felony for playing doctor with 5 y.o. girl (must register as a "sexual offender; Wisconsin Repubicans at work)
The schoolboy blogger who took on a US clinic | World news | The Guardian Rhys Morgan, a 17-year-old Welsh schoolboy, faced down a Texan medical clinic and won after blogging about its unproven treatments


Daily Kos: Congress is close to destroying the internet (no hyperbole)
YaCy takes on Google with open source search engine • The Register pronounced "ya see" - by giving away an open source search engine that can be used both online and within an intranet (intra-net?)
iTunes Match vs. Google Music vs. Amazon Cloud Drive
Groupon Stock Tumbles Below IPO Price (another big-valuation flop; pump and dump by the v.c.s) )
Feds Seize 150 Domain Names In Mass Piracy Crackdown (illegal action by Obama's big-content-owned DoJ)
Facebook, FTC Reach Settlement Over Alleged Privacy Violations regarding the social network's policy on changing privacy controls and informing users of those changes.

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Egypt election: voters defy fears of violence with record turnout | World news | The Guardian Fears of violence and chaos unfounded with no major violations or security incidents reported in first free ballot for over 80 years
China supports Pakistan in row over Nato border attack | World news | The Guardian China says it is 'deeply shocked' by Pakistani soldiers' deaths, as Afghan and Nato officials again say they came under fire first
Iran: explosion in Isfahan reported | World news | guardian.co.uk Widely conflicting reports emerge of apparent explosion in the north-east of Isfahan near where nuclear facilities are located
Syria troops have killed more than 250 children, UN report finds | World news | The Guardian Report to UN human rights council accuses Damascus of crimes against humanity and operating shoot-to-kill policy

OECD: euro collapse would have 'highly devastating outcomes' worldwide | Business | guardian.co.uk Chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan scolds hesitancy of European leaders in grave warning on global economic health (hello?)
OECD chief says European recession can be avoided - report | Reuters An economic recession can be avoided in Europe but resources are needed to calm financial markets ("calm markets" = free money to rich people)
George Osborne's £5bn gamble to stave off recession | UK news | The Guardian Extra £5bn of capital investment to form centrepiece of national infrastructure programme in chancellor's autumn statement
Eschaton: Not Working There isn't even any kind of coherent theory about why shrinking our way to prosperity is supposed to work. But The Very Serious People know what must be done. I'm not sure if it's better or worse that they've decided to spend their time destroying their own countries instead of everybody else's.
OECD: Euro Debt Crisis May Cause Global Economy To 'Face The Worst'
Andreas Georgiou, Greek Statistics Chief, Accused Of Falsifying Data To Make Crisis Look Worse

Condoleezza Rice: U.S. Education Will 'Drive Us Into Class Warfare' former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told CBS's Bob Schieffer that the U.S. public school system is the nation's largest problem (that's an effect, you idiot)

Occupy LA Deadline Passes, Protesters Remain At City Hall Encampment
What DIgby Said: Dehumanization - YouTube
One Percent Supporter Doubts That 'Anyone Great' Ever Came Out Of The 99 Percent (video) (the "filthy rabble")

Barney Frank Will Not Seek Reelection In 2012 (throwing in the sponge; great, now we get the mayor of Newton or something)
Jay Carney On Triggered Cuts To Defense Spending: 'There Is No Wiggle Room' "To suggest that they should undo what they did just a few months ago, to declare to the world as they did when they held this vote on the Budget Control Act -– 'We are going to hold ourselves responsible' -- and then a few months later say 'never mind,' that's not acceptable."
Medicare 'Doc Fix': Congress Faces Decision Before Steep Cuts Take Effect Jan. 1 Unless Congress acts before Jan. 1, doctors face a 27 percent cut in their fees for treating Medicare patients. That could undermine health care for millions of elderly and disabled beneficiaries.
Ginger White: Herman Cain And I Were 'Involved In A Very Inappropriate' Relationship - the alleged affair, which she said went on for thirteen years (typical Republican)
Scott Walker Opponents Collect More Than 300,000 Signatures In 12 Days For Recall Election - Walker's opponents -- coordinated by the group United Wisconsin -- need to collect 540,208 valid signatures by Jan. 17
Emma Sullivan Apology: Kansas High School Student Not Sorry About Sam Brownback Tweet (asshole facist Republican tries to suppress free speech)

Things to Tax - NYTimes.com The I.R.S. reports that in 2007, that is, before the economic crisis, the top 0.1 percent of taxpayers — roughly speaking, people with annual incomes over $2 million — had a combined income of more than a trillion dollars. That’s a lot of money, and it wouldn’t be hard to devise taxes that would raise a significant amount of revenue from those super-high-income individuals.
Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks Undisclosed $13B - Bloomberg
Days of Decision for Europe | FDL News Desk It’s that they stopped following through when the crisis turned to human beings and not financial institutions, and that they were so generous (to the point of giving free money to banks), that was the big problem (free money for rich people, austerity for you)
Eschaton: What About The Rest Of Us Extraordinary action by the Fed might have been desirable and necessary, but I'm not sure why "moral hazard" is not a concern when it comes to the rich assholes who have the power to destroy the world, but a 10 grand principal reduction on your Uncle Jim's Riverside tract home might destroy the foundation of the market economy.
The Price of Intolerance - NYTimes.com It’s early yet for a full accounting of the economic damage Alabama has done to itself with its radical new immigration law ... Alabama is already at the low end of states in employment and economic vitality. It has long struggled to lure good jobs and shed a history of racial intolerance. (back to slavery; more Southern states scrambling to follow)
Eschaton: But The Law Was Only Supposed To Apply To Brown People You see, you aren't business friendly when you're locking up the people who run the business, only when you're locking up the people who work for it.
Fitch Lowers Outlook On U.S. AAA Credit Rating To Negative
Solyndra Investigator Gary Andres Worked Both Sides Of Loan
Citigroup Settlement Tossed: Judge Tells SEC To Get It Together In a potentially precedent setting ruling on Monday, a federal judge in New York tossed out a settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup, effectively telling the SEC -- which is responsible for protecting investors and maintaining fair, orderly markets -- that it isn't not going far enough in holding financial institutions accountable for their wrongdoings.(Obama's patty-cake with banks, while he throws immigrants out of the country)
Larry Summers Denounces Inequality -- But Why? Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, agreed: "My guess is he’s being political here -- he’s trying to go with the tide." (asshole)


Laurie Fine, Bernie Fine's Wife, Also Had Sexual Relationship With Alleged Victim: Report
Castaways Found On Pacific Atoll After 33 Days At Sea

Jill Di Donato: 'Comfort Sex': Is It A Bad Thing?


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Arab League: Syria Sanctions Approved
Syria defiant as Arab League votes for financial sanctions | World news | The Guardian Tanks head to Homs as crackdown continues despite league's landmark agreement that aims to protect ordinary Syrians
Four Farc hostages killed during apparent rescue attempt | World news | guardian.co.uk Colombian government condemns 'crime against humanity' after bodies of men held for up to 13 years are found (imagine waiting 13 years to be rescued and then getting shot)

Egypt's elections are a dangerous crossroads, warns military junta | World news | The Guardian Head of armed forces warns polls must be successfully implemented and issues warning to 'meddling troublemakers' (you know we're in trouble when they use that phrase)
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood goes into election full of confidence | World news | The Guardian The Muslim Brotherhood has deliberately steered clear of the latest unrest and may well make big gains in the election

Pakistan orders US to leave airbase in row over deadly Nato assault | World news | guardian.co.uk slamabad says US must leave Shamsi base in 15 days after deaths of at least 24 Pakistani soldiers in mistaken attack
Pakistan may boycott Afghan summit | World news | guardian.co.uk Funerals held for soldiers killed in Nato attack at border post as Pakistan considers staying away from Bonn conference
Nato air attack on Pakistani troops was self-defence, says senior western official | World news | The Observer US-Pakistan relations strained further after attack allegedly kills up to 28 and prompts ban on Nato trucks crossing Afghan border

Looming Congo election sparks deadly violence | World news | guardian.co.uk Rallies are cancelled in Kinshasa and opposition frontrunner is blocked from meeting supporters, with at least two dead
Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer accuses the ANC of apartheid-style censorship | World news | The Observer Gordimer said freedom of expression had been "struck out as a danger to the state", under the harsh Protection of State Information Bill
Niall Ferguson threatens to sue over accusation of racism | Books | The Observer Historian claims writer Pankaj Mishra accused him of racism and must apologise or face court action

AFP: IMF readying '?600 bn rescue plan' for Italy (you can see where this is going)

New questions raised over Dominique-Strauss Kahn case | World news | The Observer Journalist's detailed study has unearthed fresh doubts over alleged assault in New York by ex-IMF chief - Records kept by BlackBerry show the device was disabled at 12.51pm, stopping it from sending out signals showing its location. The phone, which does not appear to have left the Sofitel, has never been found. (Sarkozy in the pantry with his wiretap)

US Senate To Vote On Bill That Will Allow The Military To Arrest Americans On American Soil And Hold Them Indefinitely | Addicting Info (and take away their clothes)

Occupy Los Angeles Plans To Stay At City Hall, Ignore City Deadline To Vacate
Occupy Wall Street And Homelessness: Millions Spent To Evict Camps, While Cutting Shelter Funds (they are all, in the words of WaPo's Jennnifer Rubin, "filthy rabble")
Emo Prog Turns OWS Into Obama Derangement Syndrome - Noami Wolf is at it again (not to be confused with Naomi Klein of the Shock Doctrine)

Eschaton: Can't Pay Wont Pay When Village elders like David Brooks or similar write their various tributes to the joys of other people suffering in order to purge the nation of its sins, and by sins they mean the Lewinsky affair and not banksters stealing all the money, I think their idea of personal austerity is like cutting HBO from the cable bill or something. They have no understanding of what it might be like to be without a job for years after spending your life living mostly paycheck to paycheck. It isn't about one fewer trip per month to the Outback.

FreakOutNation » Bachmann Says NBC’s Apology for ‘Lyin’ Ass Bitch’ Song is not Good Enough (keep calling attention to that phrase, Michelle)
Newt Gingrich wins New Hampshire Union Leader endorsement | World news | guardian.co.uk Newspaper snubs Mitt Romney six weeks ahead of Republican primary and backs former Speaker of House of Representatives (suck.on.this.Mormons)

The Wipeout Gene: Scientific American A new breed of genetically modified mosquitoes carries a gene that cripples its own offspring. They could crush native mosquito populations and block the spread of disease. And they are already in the air—though that's been a secret
APOD: 2011 November 27 - Shuttle Plume Shadow Points to the Moon

On Contraceptive Coverage, It's Not Up to Obama to Decide What is More "Catholic" | RH Reality Check The President seems unaware of the fact that Catholic disagreement with the ban on birth control goes far beyond the average Catholic layperson. (he acutually seems unaware of a lot of stuff)
Echidne of the snakes - Sure, tell your flocks that women's bodies belong to the church. Don't tell women not in your flocks that their bodies belong to your church.

AT&T withdraws FCC application for T-Mobile merger
Microsoft's Cold Feet Over SOPA Behind BSA's 'Rethinking' Its Views | Techdirt

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Pakistan halts Nato supplies after attack leaves soldiers dead | World news | guardian.co.uk Islamabad issues rebuke to western forces after helicopter attack on checkpoint kills 28 troops
Pakistan NATO Helicopter Attack: 24 Troops Reportedly Dead Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters and fighter jets of firing on two army checkpoints in the country's northwest and killing 24 soldiers. Islamabad retaliated by closing the border crossings used by the international coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistan demands US vacate suspected drone base - Yahoo! News (Obama loves his drones)
Egypt: protests continue in runup to elections – Saturday 26 November 2011 | World news | guardian.co.uk Egyptian activist killed in Cairo
msnbc video: Egypt Update
Syrian military vows to 'cut every evil hand' of attackers | World news | The Guardian Military says it will 'hit back against anything that threatens us' after attacks on elite security forces amid uprising
Iraqi Widows’ Numbers Have Grown, but Aid Lags - NYTimes.com The Iraqi Ministry of Planning estimates that about 9 percent of the country’s women, or about 900,000, are widows. A separate government agency, the Ministry of Women, issued a statement in June putting the figure at one million ... This figure corresponds with conservative estimates of 103,000 to 113,000 Iraqi deaths in the war (Bush/Obama bloody hands)

Bush and Blair found guilty of war crimes for Iraq attack - Salon.com and other war crimes for their 2003 aggressive attack on Iraq, as well as fabricating pretexts used to justify the attack (how long will it take?)
Wes Clark and the neocon dream - Salon.com we’re going to attack and destroy the governments in 7 countries in five years – we’re going to start with Iraq, and then we’re going to move to Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran.” (when you put insane idiots in charge )
Britain unites with smaller countries to block US bid to legalise cluster bombs | World news | The Guardian Israel, Russia and China along with America wanted to approve use of 'bomblets' that often unintentionally maim and kill civilians (nice company, Obama)
Mona al-Gharib, Wife Of Syrian Dissident, Released After Abduction In Egypt An Egypt-based Syrian dissident said Saturday that his 25-year-old pregnant wife was abducted by Syrian intelligence agents in Cairo, then released and left unconscious on a street elsewhere in the Egyptian capital.
Activists accuse Mexican president of war crimes in drug crackdown | World news | guardian.co.uk International criminal court asked to investigate Felipe Caldéron over killing, torture and kidnap of civilians by army and police (next up: Obama)
How cycling set deprived Indian girls on a life-long journey | guardian.co.uk The number of girls dropping out of school has fallen and the number of girls enrolling has risen from 160,000 in 2006-2007 to 490,000 now (girls riding their bikes to school)

Eurozone May Drop Private Sector From Permanent Bailout Fund Commercial banks and insurance companies are expected to take a hit on their holdings of Greek sovereign bonds as part of the second bailout package being finalized for Athens.
Euro Zone May Free Banks From Taking Bond Losses - EU Business News - CNBC (of course)
Moody's Downgrades Hungary To 'Junk' Status; Government Calls Move A 'Financial Attack'

James Murdoch and BSkyB face shareholder protest vote | Business | The Guardian US-based investors vote against BSkyB's chairman, James Murdoch, remaining in his role ahead of annual meeting

Are Federal Officials Pushing a Nationwide Crackdown on the Occupy Wall Street Movement? | Media | AlterNet There's a lot of speculation, but very little substance to the tale of the "nationwide" crackdown on the Occupy movement.
How Bullshit Magically Turns Into Fact Naomi Wolf wrote a nonsensical piece today that’s being spammed all over Twitter. It asserts that there is a deliberate plot afoot via collusion by the United States Congress, the Department of Homeland Security and our oligarchical overlords to undermine the very populist, leaderless Occupy Wall Street movement
City tells Occupy Philadelphia: Leave Dilworth Plaza by 5 p.m. Sunday | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/26/2011
#OccupySeattle Protester Who Claimed Miscarriage Has Dubious History With The Truth | Crooks and Liars

When Did the GOP Lose Touch With Reality? Some of my Republican friends ask if I’ve gone crazy. I say: Look in the mirror - David Frum (analysis of the recent history of the Insane Party)
Political Animal - Pick a wet blanket Let’s make this plain, shall we? The laws of supply and demand are not subject to a Republican filibuster. The economy is struggling because businesses don’t have enough customers. We have high unemployment and depressed wages, which lead to less demand, slower growth, and fewer new jobs. It’s really not that complicated (they wet their own blanket/GOP meme of the day)

Clarence Thomas, Elena Kagan Asked To Sit Out Supreme Court Health Care Case
Virginia’s GOP targets government spending, a key driver of state’s economy - The Washington Post (Republicans at work, killing your economy)
Bob Schieffer, Ron Paul and journalistic “objectivity” - Salon.com CBS News‘s Bob Schieffer is the classic American establishment TV journalist: unfailingly deferential to the politically powerful personalities who parade before him, and religiously devoted to what he considers his own “objectivity,” which ostensibly requires that he never let his personal opinions affect or be revealed by his journalism (bomb, bomb Iran +complicit media)
7 Things Fox Viewers Are Wildly Misinformed About | Media | AlterNet (#1: reality)

Ex-FBI chief named trustee in MF Global bankruptcy | AP | 11/25/2011 (vows not to get to the bottom of scandal)
Eschaton: Convergence: America's Worst Law Enforcement official is in charge of the Penn State investigation and is the trustee for the MF Global bankruptcy. He's found his niche: sometimes people value deliberate incompetence.

Scientists Brace for Media Storm Around Controversial Flu Studies - ScienceInsider - The virus is an H5N1 avian influenza strain that has been genetically altered and is now easily transmissible between ferrets, the animals that most closely mimic the human response to flu. Scientists believe it's likely that the pathogen, if it emerged in nature or were released, would trigger an influenza pandemic, quite possibly with many millions of deaths.
The Science of Sarcasm? Yeah, Right | Science & Nature | Smithsonian Magazine Sarcasm seems to exercise the brain more than sincere statements do
The Memory Map: Is it Possible to Chart All the Territory in the World? - Cities - GOOD
Angels: Friend or Foe? | The KoldCast TV Blog 55 percent of Americans – non-religious included – believe that a guardian angel has protected them during their life.

Sandusky lawyer decries media's chilling effect on his witnesses | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/26/2011 - State prosecutors allege that Sandusky, 67, molested at least eight boys he met through the Second Mile, the charity he founded for at-risk youth.

Kan. teen rethinking apology letter to Brownback she has received so much support from around the country that now she's leaning toward rejecting her high school principal's demand that she apologize to the governor in writing. (and then I'm going to sue the shit out of them)
Pathetic blowback from Brownback, school on student's tweet | Midwest Voices - the governor’s staff showed it can use its considerable reach to punish a high school student for speaking her mind. They must feel so good about it.
Clamor erupts over Kan. teen's tweet about gov. - Houston Chronicle
progressive involvement: Free Emma Sullivan! Have these guys ever heard of the Constitution of the United States?

'Choosing to Die': A Sick Sir Terry Pratchett Explores Assisted Suicide - Maria Popova - Life - The Atlantic

Passions Stay High in Kansas Planned Parenthood Case - NYTimes.com - the first such criminal case in the nation, has been treated locally as something of a proxy in the battle over abortion rights (when Republicans run the legal system)
Respect Mah Forced Pregnancy Dickishness | TBogg - Wombless fetus-humper Steve Ertelt is very outraged that Planned Parenthood is providing guidance on how to deal with God-bothering douchebags like Steve Ertelt who like nothing better than to interrupt a perfectly pleasant Thanksgiving dinner conversation ...
Woman given 3-year prison term for lie | The Clarion-Ledger | clarionledger.com A Rankin County mother will serve more time in federal prison for lying on her food stamp application than a group of people recently sentenced in a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme (tough on crime asshole judge)

Feds Seize 130+ Domain Names in Mass Crackdown | TorrentFreak With just a few days to go until “Cyber Monday” more than 100 domain names have been taken over by the feds to protect the commercial interests of US companies. The seizures are disputable, as the SOPA bill which aims to specifically legitimize such actions is still pending in Congress (a little law-breaking never stopped Obama from protecting bigcorps)
Give Up, Facebook: You're Not a Mall

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Tahrir Square stands united after week of bloodshed and betrayal | World news | The Guardian Deaths and injuries over past week have served only to harden Egyptian demonstrators' resolve
White House calls for Egyptian military to hand power to civilian regime | World news | guardian.co.uk Washington increases pressure on ruling generals to cede power to civilian government as protests continue in Cairo
Egyptian military defector: 'I saw people dying and the army gave the orders for us to stand and watch' - video | World news | guardian.co.uk
Egypt Protests: Thousands Fill Tahrir Square In Cairo For Anti-Military Demonstration
Egypt Elections: Turmoil In Tahrir Square Casts Pall Over Ruling Military Regime, An American Ally (America always supports bloody military dictators in the interests of "stability")
Syrian army shells rebels as Bashar al-Assad given 24-hour ultimatum | World news | The Guardian More than 20 activists reported dead in clashes with security forces as Arab League faces criticism for extending deadline
Photographs from inside the besieged Syrian city of Homs - audio slideshow | World news | guardian.co.uk Photojournalist Mani talks about his experiences documenting the beleaguered city of Homs, which is the focal point of the Syrian uprising
Mexico: 26 Bodies Found In Abandoned Vehicles, Official Says

Cliff Diving in Europe | Mother Jones (proof that the elites have killed their economies with austerity)
Early Warning: European Industrial Orders Cliff Dive in Sep
Krugman: Death By Accounting Identity - NYTimes.com - Martin Wolf has a somewhat despairing-sounding column this morning, in effect pleading with the Cameron government to admit that the laws of arithmetic must apply. Good luck with that ... But even as the intellectual foundations, such as they were, for the austerity plan have been demolished, the plan itself remains unchanged.
Why cutting fiscal deficits is an assault on profits - FT.com
Eurozone looks to IMF as contagion spreads | Business | The Guardian Italian and Spanish bond yields reach new highs • Belgium downgraded by S&P credit-rating agency
European Banks Frantically Trying To Dump $7 Trillion Of Crap Assets -- But No One Will Buy Them
Left, right, left: the changing face of EU politics - interactive | World news | guardian.co.uk (Europe has never been this right wing +Ireland only rightwing forever country)

Is Linda Katehi the right person to be running UC Davis? | 89.3 KPCC - Katehi is Greek and Greece is currently going through a major economics and political crisis. The country has gone so far as to abolish "asylum" on college campuses. Why? (Kathehi wants tanks on college campuses, for "health and safety reasons")
Mark Ames: How UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi Brought Oppression Back To Greece’s Universities « naked capitalism She basically helped undo the very heart and soul of Greece’s pro-democracy uprising against the junta. And perfect timing too, now that one of Greece’s most notorious pro-junta fascists is a member of the new austerity government. (+she lies out of both sides of her mouth)
Daily Kos: Katehi, w/history of scandal, is challenged for independent probe of UCDavis Just before she came to UCDavis, she was at the epicenter of a big scandal at her previous job, called the "University of Illinois clout scandal." Although not formally charged, there are still many questions left unanswered about 'what she knew' and 'when she knew it.'
Linda Katehi - Davis Wiki Regardless of how one might feel about the pepper spraying, I must say that Ms Katehi did a truly inspired job of throwing Chief Spicuzza under the bus for the incident. —JimStewart
Documents Cast Doubt on Chancellor Katehi's Denial in Illinois Scandal
Pepper Spraying Cop (Lt John Pike, UC Davis, famous on the internets for all eternity)

Occupy Wall Street: how protesters made the Zuccotti Park eviction inevitable | World news | guardian.co.uk how it happened and what the protesters might do next
The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy | Naomi Wolf | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The violent police assaults across the US are no coincidence. Occupy has touched the third rail of our political class's venality
Occupy LA Shut Down: 72-Hour Warning Given To Pack Up City Hall Encampment
Frank Miller and the rise of cryptofascist Hollywood | Culture | The Guardian he was just voicing Hollywood's unspoken values

Mitt Romney and Rick Perry accused of blatant untruths about Barack Obama | World news | The Guardian Republican candidates criticised for TV ads that step over line ("blatent untruths" = "baldfaced lies")
Balloon Juice » Bloomberg-Bayh bitches ("3rd Way" "Centrists")
Brownback Complaint About Student Tweet Lands Kansas Teenager In Principal’s Office | TPMMuckraker (no free speech for you, kiddie)
Tatyana Limanova, Russian Newscaster, Fired After Giving Barack Obama The Finger On Live TV Tatyana Limanova, one of Russia's most popular and respected newscasters, has been fired from her job at REN TV, after a video of her appearing to give President Barack Obama the middle finger on live TV went viral on the internet.
Hullabaloo Your Daily Grayson marathon - the 1%. Last time they poured more money into his campaign than they deployed against any other Democrat running for the House anywhere! (dangerous voice must be silenced)

NYT Claims Increasing Bipartisan Support for Plans that Could Raise the Cost of Medicare Policies by Trillion | Beat the Press (vouchers, muhahaha)

Prosecutor: Reagan, Bush not criminally liable - Yahoo! News

Driven By Drug War Incentives, Cops Target Pot Smokers, Brush Off Victims Of Violent Crime
Bernie Fine Investigation: Syracuse Basketball Coach Has Home Searched By Police In Sex Case
Black Friday sales start with pepper spray stampede | Business | guardian.co.uk At least 20 people, including several children, were injured as the woman deployed her weapon (+wtf is it with "deploy" anyway)

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Egypt's generals defy Tahrir protests over elections | World news | The Guardian Military junta have defied their critics and declared that national elections will begin as planned in three days' time
Egypt: American Tear Gas, Policy Loom Over Tahrir Square
Jehane Nojaim, American-Egyptian Film Maker, Arrested In Cairo
Mona Eltahawy Reportedly Detained, Sexually Assaulted In Egypt
Egypt Protests: Court Orders Release Of 3 U.S. Students, Say Egyptian Officials
Iran 'arrests 12 CIA agents' | World news | The Guardian Influential politician says US spies had been gathering intelligence on military units and nuclear activities

France, Germany and Italy squash market hopes of ECB intervention | Business | guardian.co.uk Merkel rules out expanded role for European Central Bank
BBC News - War of words over claim strikes 'could cost jobs' Ministers have clashed with union chiefs over claims next week's public sector strikes could cost the UK £500m and lead to job losses (you know what leads to job losses? austerity, you fucking idiots)
JK Rowling 'felt invaded' at note put by press in daughter's schoolbag | Media | guardian.co.uk Harry Potter author describes press intrusion to Leveson inquiry and says she felt 'under siege' from paparazzi
Murdoch's News Corp accused of trying to bribe Australian senator | Media | guardian.co.uk Federal police investigate Bill O'Chee's claim he was offered favourable coverage if he voted against digital TV laws

Mitt Romney's Immigration Stance Now Clear: Pressure Undocumented To Leave The Country
New Hampshire 'Birther' Hearing: State Attorney General Michael Delaney Calls For Investigation Republican state House Speaker Bill O'Brien cancelled a planned Tuesday meeting between himself and nine Republican representatives who doubt Obama's citizenship because of the pending investigations. He also asked State House security to investigate the incident.
Pro-Recall Group Outs Facebook Page That Boasts About Destroying Signatures - Caledonia, WI Patch One Wisconsin Now calls on all recall supporters to be vigilant, but only one instance of actual recall destruction found (ReThugs at work destroying democracy)
The Umbrella Man - Video Library - The New York Times
Jon Kyl’s search-and-destroy mission - The Washington Post n the days following Hurricane Katrina, the nation was reeling over the death and destruction in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. But Kyl, now the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, saw opportunity: According to a voice-mail recording left at the time by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Kyl and Sessions were hoping to find a business owner killed in the storm so they could use that in their campaign to repeal the estate tax.
TMW2011-08-10colorlowres.jpg (This Modern World: Pres Bi-Partisan Man)
We Will All Be Muslims Before The Niners & Ravens Kick Off | TBogg Insane yenta Pam Geller does not want to wake up Black Friday morning only to find out that everyone in line at Best Buy is now a Jew-hating Muslim looking for an early bird special on a flatscreen TV. How might this happen, you might ask, because you are a reasonable non-insane person?

Occupy Y'all Street: OWS Movement Takes Shape In Gainesville
Militarized to Its Bones – Politics – Utne Reader Though much of the time they are just a few feet apart, the armed state backing that famed 1%, or Wall Street, and the unarmed protesters claiming the other 99% might as well be in two different times in two different universes connected by a Star-Trekkian wormhole and meeting only where pepper spray hits eyes.
These are the Sounds of our Injustice | Politics & Media | splicetoday.com
Editorial: Take this job and ... be glad you have it | StarTribune.com So please, protesting retail workers, stop whining about having to work holiday hours. Be grateful to have a job (die, rightwing Star-Tribune, die)

APOD: 2011 November 24 - Caught in the Afterglow

The Umbrella Man - Video Library - The New York Times - Errol Morris (NTY is telling you not to think of "sinister explanations")

BBC NEWS | Health | Women 'underestimate their sleep' Research suggests older women believe they sleep worse than men - but the reverse is actually true
Meditation Can 'Turn Off' Regions of the Brain - Yahoo! News - f areas of the brain associated with daydreaming and psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia ... This suggests that skilled meditators constantly monitor and suppress the emergence of "me" thoughts and mind wandering

Pluto's hidden ocean the planet-wide ocean would have an average depth of approximately 100 miles (165 km), beneath a crust of ice of the same thickness.

Belgacom ISP Can’t Be Told to Block File Sharing, EU Court Says - Businessweek
In the Open Source Community, the Platform Rarely Matters Anymore | Techi.com (makes no sense; "other" category largest; people downloading huge source to their cellphones?)
AT&T, T-Mobile Deal Faces Collapse (job destroying)
Nokia N9 becomes the best selling phone in Finland for October : Nokia Innovation

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UK incomes fall 3.5% in real terms, ONS reveals | Money | guardian.co.uk Big fall in salaries for average workers and sizeable rises for senior managers, says annual households earning survey (more austerity!)

James Murdoch quits UK newspaper boards - Telegraph James Murdoch has quit as a director of the companies that publish The Times, The Sunday Times, and The Sun.
Leveson Inquiry: live - Telegraph

Katehi: Campus police were told not to use force against students -| Sacramento Bee - Katehi said Spicuzza indicated Saturday that it was Lt. John Pike who decided to use the pepper spray. (just spray them with condiments, she said; the buck always stops at the bottom)

Wonkbook: The GOP's dual-trigger nightmare - The Washington Post
GOP Debate: Romney Aide Struggles To Answer Immigration Question While Attacking Gingrich
Newt Gingrich Falls Into The Immigrant Compassion Trap (VIDEO) | TPM2012 The party that says it’s the party of the family is not going to adopt an immigration policy which destroys families who have been here a quarter century.
Romney Ad Exposes Media's Chronic Inability To Use The Word 'Lie' (when it comes to Republicans, anyway)
News Desk: Why Didn’t Reporters Call Romney a Liar? : The New Yorker

Congressional Panel Seeks to Question Corzine - NYTimes.com A Congressional panel has asked Jon S. Corzine to testify about the downfall of MF Global, and the hundreds of millions of dollars in customer money that went missing in the brokerage firm’s final days (yeah, it "went missing" when it "walked out the door")
MF Global Brokerage Judge Backs Giddens’s Caution With Funds - Businessweek (rich people fighting each other)

BBC Nature - 'Brinicle' ice finger of death filmed in Antarctic

Penn State Scandal: Mother Of Alleged Jerry Sandusky Victim Claims Mistreatment By Son's School - She also claims that the school's principal tried to convince her and her son not to report their allegations against Sandusky to the police, and that as recently as this month, refused to treat threats of violence against her son by other students as credible. (Central Mountain HS protects pedophiles, lies repeatedly; encourages bullying; whole town should be razed)

Cambridge flouts public records law by denying settlement release - Cambridge, Massachusetts - Cambridge Chronicle - The city of Cambridge has violated state public records law by denying Wicked Local Cambridge’s request to release how much the city paid out to settle discrimination complaints by a current and former city employee, according to a guide to public records from the secretary of state’s office and a private attorney who advises on such cases - “The settlement amount constitutes personnel information as to the current and former city employees referenced in the settlement agreement.” (says Healy's lawyer) (hey, Boston Globe, send someone over the river; you thought McLaughlin was bad news)
Details exposed in Cambridge discrimination case - Cambridge, Massachusetts - Cambridge Chronicle While the city of Cambridge remains silent on how much it paid out to settle two discrimination cases filed against the city by former city workers, Wicked Local Cambridge has examined the original complaint ... It paints a picture of a city that systematically discriminated against minorities in the city’s upper levels of employment
Cambridge won't release records related to civil rights settlement - Cambridge, Massachusetts - Cambridge Chronicle (transparency)
City of Cambridge settles discrimination case with two city workers - Cambridge, Massachusetts - Cambridge Chronicle - “It’s up to the citizens of Cambridge and the city government to decide what lessons the city will learn, if any, from this episode.” (Dictator Bob Healy will learn nothing from "this episode")

Texas court suspends judge taped beating daughter - CNN.com (that would be Judge William Adams, child abuser and judge at child-abuse cases)
FBI arrests 7 in Amish haircut attacks in Ohio | AP | 11/23/2011 - Among those arrested were the group's leader, Sam Mullet, and three of his sons
Pa. governor signs 2 more death warrants | AP | 11/23/2011 (Republicans love killing people)

100 Greatest Guitarists: Jimi Hendrix | Rolling Stone

Google+ is now coming to Google News | VentureBeat
Surprise! Microsoft quietly opposes SOPA copyright bill | Privacy Inc. - CNET News

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Tahrir Square crowd rejoins revolution as protesters turn out en masse | World news | The Guardian Egypt is thrown into fresh turmoil as hundreds of thousands of protesters reject the military rulers' promises of reform
Israel preparing for day when it has no relations with Egypt | McClatchy The surreptitious departure of Israel's ambassador from Egypt on Tuesday symbolized to many Israeli officials the new state of affairs between the neighboring countries.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi could be tried in Libya, says ICC prosecutor | World news | guardian.co.uk José Luis Moreno Ocampo says son of Muammar Gaddafi could be tried in Libya as long as trial meets court's standards

Spain Pays More Than Greece to Borrow in First T-Bill Sale Since Election - Bloomberg (kicking out the "socialists" really helped)

Bradley Manning's defence plans to call 50 witnesses | World news | guardian.co.uk Major legal battle pending ahead of next month's pre-trial hearing as aprepare to fight prosecution of WikiLeaks suspect

Leveson inquiry: Coogan claims Andy Coulson set him up in 'sting' | Media | guardian.co.uk Actor says former News of the World editor published details about affair despite assurances from showbiz columnist
Hugh Grant's phone-hacking role is his greatest yet | Film | The Guardian Hugh Grant's appearance at the Leveson inquiry into tabloid intrusion was a bravura performance. Perhaps that is because it came straight from the heart

UC Davis chancellor sorry for pepper spray incident | World news | guardian.co.uk UC Davis chancellor Linda Katehi told the rally: 'I'm here to apologise. I really feel horrible for what happened on Friday' - Katehi left the stage after about a minute, looking shaken, and was hustled by security personnel to a waiting car, followed by the media and a cluster of students yelling: "Don't come back!" (time to look forward, not backward)
Chancellor Katehi’s impressive learning skills - Salon.com - “We need to move on.” So apparently — yet again — the only way everyone can begin to “heal” and “move forward” is if everyone agrees that those in power with the greatest responsibility be fully shielded from any consequences and that their bad acts be simply forgotten (just following Obama's example)
Amazon Users Post Rave ‘Reviews’ Of UC Davis Pepper Spray | TPMDC Fox News has declared pepper spray a “food product, essentially,”
Occupy Seattle protester claims police caused her miscarriage | World news | guardian.co.uk Jennifer Fox, who was pepper sprayed during the march last Tuesday, alleges that police officers hit her twice in the stomach

Why Republicans like Simpson-Bowles - The Washington Post a traditional accounting suggests that the White House’s deficit-reduction offers have been well to the right of the Simpson-Bowles plan (his strategy in a nutshell)
Eschaton: Leeeave Our Poor Military Contractors Alooooooooooone - The issue is, of course, that "defense hawks" and "deficit hawks" are often the same people, and completely full of shit. There is a consistency, however, as both versions of hawkery involve the suffering of others.
Defense hawks insist on sparing military from cuts - Boston.com
Obama Didn't Call Americans Lazy -- But Right-Wing Media Routinely Do | Media Matters for America
Romney Camp Defends Distorted Obama Quote | TPM2012 The ad in question draws from a clip of Obama in 2008 quoting a McCain aide as saying “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” The Romney ad lops off the president’s explanation of the source, presenting it as Obama’s own words.
Pennsylvania GOPers Put Electoral Vote-Grab Plan Back On The Shelf | TPM2012 Republican leaders are backing away from a proposal to split the state’s electoral votes by Congressional districts, rather than the winner-take-all system used almost everywhere else
Newt Gingrich's Cavalier View Of Janitorial Work Challenged By Facts

Fox News Viewers Know Less Than People Who Don't Watch Any News: Study (which is the whole point)
Personhood 2.0: Georgia Revives Failed Mississippi Measure
Rocrast Mack Murder At Alabama Prison Followed Trail Of Violence By Guards
Corruption in Mexico casinos takes a toll in the U.S., too | McClatchy
McClatchy blog: Suits & Sentences Schuelke recommended against pursuing criminal contempt proceedings because the trial judge had not directly told the prosecutors they needed to follow the law (that makes perfect sense)

Economy grew at modest 2 percent rate in July-September quarter, lower than first estimated - The Washington Post
MF Global trustee says $1.2B or more missing - Boston.com The court-appointed trustee overseeing MF Global's bankruptcy says up to $1.2 billion is missing from customer accounts, double what the firm had reported to regulators last month (into thin air)
$1.7 Billion Customers' Money Missing From MF Global - Forbes (the NYT assured us that it wouldn't be anywhere near 1.2Bn)
Mortgage insurer's cash reserves low – USATODAY.com The government's mortgage insurer is coming dangerously close to holding no excess cash reserves for loan losses (the next big bailout of rich people)
Foreclosure Mill Law Firm Whose Employees Dressed Up as Homeless Will Close | FDL News Desk
Bank Of America Warned By U.S. Regulators It Must Get Stronger


Jerry Sandusky Scandal: Frankie Probst Says Ex-Penn State Coach 'Took A Liking To Me'

The Hachiko Coalition | The Legend of Hachiko - "Japan's most faithful dog"
Loyal Dog In China Refuses To Leave Owner's Grave, Goes Week Without Food


Lieberman Wants Google To Let Users Flag ‘Terrorist Content’ On Blogging Platform | TPMMuckraker

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Egypt Security Forces Beating Video: Tahrir Square Protesters Hit, Dragged By Hair (we thought they were going to say OWS)
CIA Spies Outed In Lebanon: Hezbollah Identifies And Captures U.S. Agents

Bundesbank slashes 2012 German growth outlook - MarketWatch the Bundesbank warned that a "pronounced weak phase" can't be ruled out if Europe's sovereign debt crisis worsens significantly, the report said. The German economy is likely to see rough sailing in coming months as foreign demand weakens, aggravated by turmoil in financial markets, the report said.
Eschaton: This Is How The World Ended I suppose we'll ("we" broadly speaking) hit another crisis point in the not too distant future, when the world is about to collapse and all of the free marketers will inform us that, once again, free money for rich assholes is the only solution.
Expect A Global Recession No Matters What Happens In The Eurozone - Seeking Alpha (austerity is succeeding!)
Fairy Tales - NYTimes.com But how many readers will get that? The way it’s presented reinforces the false notion that the deficit is the problem (Bloomberg at work)

Dean Baker: The Super Committee Should Go Really Big and Turn Against the One Percent

The roots of the UC-Davis pepper-spraying - Salon.com The now-viral video of police officers in their Robocop costumes sadistically pepper-spraying peaceful, sitting protesters at UC-Davis (details here) shows a police state in its pure form (bought with your tax dollars) it really reveals who the actual threats are to public safety — not the protesters but rather those using force against them
The Moral Power of an Image: UC Davis Reactions - James Fallows - National - The Atlantic - "And by the way, when did we accept the idea that local police forces would always dress up in riot gear that used to be associated with storm troopers and dystopian sci-fi movies?"
The Cops We Deserve - Ta-Nehisi Coates - National - The Atlantic Those of who've followed police brutality cases over the years will see the pattern at work. When accused of police brutality cops often claim to be endangered, regardless of the facts of the situation.
Open Letter to Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi | UCDavis Bicycle Barricade
Balloon Juice » Today’s Fallout Firebreak UC Davis Chancellor Katehi hastily constructs another bullshit moat to help protect herself and her dwindling palace guard:
Why I Feel Bad for the Pepper-Spraying Policeman, Lt. John Pike - Alexis Madrigal - National - The Atlantic Our police forces have enshrined a paradigm of protest policing that turns local cops into paramilitary forces ... 9/11 put the final nail in the coffin of the previous protest-control regime. By the time of the Free Trade of the Americas anti-globalization protests in Miami broke out eight years ago this week, an entirely new model of taking on protests had emerged. People called it the Miami model. It was heavily militarized and very forceful. The police had armored personnel carriers.
xpostfactoid: I record, therefore we are Almost every single sideline spectator captured in the photograph is photographing it (cops still haven't heard of smart-phones)

Balloon Juice » That’s why you will not survive In other words, accurately describing what is going on, that’s opinion writing. Just stating what each believes, that’s journalism (WaPo/Kaplan Test Prep must die)
Balloon Juice » Herman Cain Might Not Accept Medical Treatment from Muslims On Friday, Herman Cain made a campaign stop Cain The Holy Land Experience, a Christian-theme amusement park in central Florida where he intimated that he wouldn’t want a dirty Muslim furriner to treat him for his cancer. You know—because there are Muslim “sleeper doctors” out there trying to kill dumb fucks like Herman Cain:
Newt Gingrich: Child Labor Laws Are 'Stupid' Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich called child labor laws "stupid" Friday in an appearance at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Paul Krugman, George Will Bash Newt Gingrich On 'This Week' (KThug: "The Republican base does not want Romney, and they keep on looking for an alternative," he said. "And Newt, although somebody said he's a stupid man's idea of what a smart man sounds like, but he is more plausible than the other guys that they've been pushing up.")
Grover Norquist Addresses Wealthy Progressives For A Know-Thine-Enemy Briefing (impeach the fucker)
Super Committee Member Sen. Kerry: Grover Norquist Is 'The 13th Member Of This Committee' | ThinkProgress
No More Mister Nice Blog The point of the op-ed isn't to express an opinion -- it's to trip Obama and the Democrats up. It's carefully timed to rule the morning political chatter so it can do that. It's not a contribution to the national dialogue; it's a leg extended in the aisle as the bullied kid gets up to walk to the front of the classroom (Hillary for Pres: Murdoch at work)

Brewer Prepares To Reimpeach Election Official Who Was Illegally Fired For Making Arizona Elections Too ‘Competitive’ | ThinkProgress Every single one of the state senate’s 21 GOP senators voted with Brewer to illegally remove Mathis from the commission the first time around.
Scott Walker Recall Activists Become Targets Of Threats, Thefts "They said, 'If you don't stop circulating recall petitions, we will kill you'" (ReThugs at work)

The Richest 0.1 Percent Of Americans Make Half Of All Capital Gains | ThinkProgress

Study rejects faster than light particle finding | Reuters * Scientists say colleagues' findings in error

Balloon Juice » Jerry Sandusky Victim Bullied Out of High School for Snitching Just when you thought people couldn’t be any worse… - Officials at Central Mountain High School in Clinton County weren’t providing guidance for fellow students, who were reacting badly about Joe Paterno’s firing and blaming the 17-year-old - This fealty to the almighty Paterno is more than I can stand. What is wrong with people? (they were all football fans) w
John Baer: Penn State's version of the grassy knoll | Philadelphia Daily News | 11/21/2011 The far-out? Joe Paterno's football "family" whacked a district attorney familiar with allegations against Jerry Sandusky.
Report of 2000 assault at Penn State pool | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/20/2011
Penn State investigator is ex-exec at firm with PSU ties | PhillyDeals | 11/21/2011 ("independent investigation" by deeply compromised Freeh; PsU selects the right guy for the job)
Eschaton: America's Worst Law Enforcement Official Oh, yes, put Louis Freeh in charge
Experts see familiar patterns in Sandusky case | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/21/2011

NJ officer indicted in alleged immigrant shakedown | AP | 11/21/2011 A New Jersey police officer has been indicted on 58 counts for what prosecutors say was a scheme to shakedown Hispanic drivers by threatening to turn them over to immigration authorities.



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Egyptian elections in doubt after violent clashes in central Cairo | World news | The Guardian Several candidates suspend campaigns after army attack on protesters leaves five dead and almost a thousand injured (what revolution?)
Egypt: violent clashes in Cairo leave two dead and hundreds injured | World news | The Observer Egyptian security forces open fire on thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square, leaving two dead and more than 600 injured
Egypt: Cairo protest violence continues – in pictures | World news | guardian.co.uk Egyptian protesters challenging the country's military rulers clash with police for a second day around Tahrir Square, which was the main site for the demonstrations that eventually toppled Hosni Mubarak
Gaddafi's intelligence chief captured in southern desert | World news | The Guardian Abdullah al-Senussi caught two days after Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's arrest by militia fighters
Abdullah Senussi: Libyan 'executioner' blamed for repression of Benghazi | World news | The Guardian
Syrian rebels attack Ba'ath party offices in Damascus | World news | The Guardian All-out civil war more likely after Free Syrian Army claims responsibility for grenade strike on ruling party's building
Palestinian president to seek unity government deal with Hamas | World news | The Guardian Israel warns Mahmoud Abbas against striking agreement with his factional rival Khaled Mashal at meeting this week in Cairo
Cambodian trial of three Khmer Rouge leaders set to begin | World news | The Guardian UN-backed tribunal into alleged crimes of Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Khieu Samphan faces allegations of interference and misconduct

Eschaton: They Aren't "Technocrats" Whatever the word is supposed to mean, "technocrat" is just this year's "Very Serious Person." In another words, just more assholes who like to destroy the world while patting themselves on the back for how brave and smart they are (the "technocrats" are running Europe's austerity program)
BBC News - Spain election: Rajoy's Popular Party predicted to win Counting is under way following Spanish parliamentary elections held in the shadow of a deep debt crisis (meet your new "technocrats")
Spain election: Conservatives set to win landslide victory, exit polls show. - Telegraph Spain’s conservative party were set to win an overwhelming victory as the nation went to the polls to choose a government to steer the country through a looming debt crisis.

Political Animal - Competing, incompatible conversations Democrats have been willing to do just about anything to succeed. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) admitted this morning that super-committee Dems “put every single sacred cow on the table” in order to help reach an agreement, suggesting major entitlement reforms were very much a part of the mix (every Democratic principle sacrificed for Obama's re-election) - Rather, Republicans are desperate to reduce the size of government, and are using a massive deficit — which the GOP is largely responsible for creating — as an excuse to do what they want to do anyway.

US Occupy: officers in pepper spray incident placed on leave | World news | guardian.co.uk YouTube footage from University of California, Davis protest sparks investigation as Occupy protests spread across state (Youtube and Twitter remarkably equalizing forces in the war on fascism)
Too Much Violence and Pepper Spray at the OWS Protests: The Videos and Pictures - Garance Franke-Ruta - Politics - The Atlantic The dousing of seated, non-violent students with a chemical agent at U.C. Davis should provoke a call for restraint. These images show their experience is not unique.
Eschaton: The Worst Person In The World : UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi (one of the faces of elite evil)
Eschaton: To State The Obvious If it's ok for police to torture people with pepper spray given the circumstances at UC Davis, it's basically always ok for police to torture people with pepper spray.
26 Arrested Reporters and What They Do | The Awl - Only seven of the 25 arrested are full-time employed traditional news-gathering employees (+NYT elitest hypocrisy)
Occupy the Agenda - NYTimes.com The Occupy protests might have died in infancy if a senior police official had not pepper-sprayed young women on video. Harsh police measures in other cities, including a clash in Oakland that put a veteran in intensive care and the pepper-spraying of an 84-year-old woman in Seattle, built popular support (Bloomberg and his thugs made OWS look good)
The Occupy movement now has its iconic image of martyrdom | Jonathan Jones | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The photograph of pepper-sprayed pensioner Dorli Rainey recreates the image of a humiliated Christ in a modern context
One day after pepper-spraying, UC Davis students silently, peacefully confront Chancellor Katehi - Boing Boing - Chancellor Linda Katehi's walk of shame
U.C. Davis Calls for Investigation After Pepper Spraying - NYTimes.com - “The fact is: the administration of U.C. campuses systematically uses police brutality to terrorize students and faculty, to crush political dissent on our campuses, and to suppress free speech and peaceful assembly. Many people know this,” Mr. Brown wrote. “Many more people are learning it very quickly.”
Armed Occupy Police Scared of Old Lady, Judge and Pregnant Teenager (whoah, Jennifer Rubin actually called them "filthy rabble")

Ann Coulter Kent State - Ann Coulter Needs to Stop - Esquire In case you missed it, disgrace-to-boozy-bar-room-skanks everywhere Annie Coulter has a new book out. Apparently, she was plugging it on some San Francisco radio embarrassment yesterday: "Remember the lesson from my book: It just took a few shootings at Kent State to shut that down for good." This is a vicious evil woman who would sell her grayhaired granny to the Somali pirates for 15 minutes worth of airtime. This is someone who should be shunned, permanently, by anybody with a sense of human decency. What the hell. Even with that, she could still go on Fox.

Daily Kos: Fiscal inequality: Godzilla vs. Ants
New York Times Total Fail Department Why oh why can't we have a better press corps? (Chunky Bobo - Pope Ross Douthat loves his "techocrats" +good comments: "economics now is not even a discipline, much less a science.")

Birth of famous black hole: Longstanding mysteries about object called Cygnus X-1 unraveled - the black hole in Cygnus X-1 is nearly 15 times more massive than our Sun and is spinning more than 800 times per second.

Lily Shreds trailside. Video - Pinkbike.com

Tumblr users fight SOPA with 87,834 calls to Congress | The Digital Home - CNET News (yeah, them too)
How Facebook is ruining sharing | Molly Rants - CNET News

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Free Syria Army gathers on Lebanese border | World news | The Guardian Rebels say conflict is now inevitable – and government forces are hedging their bets
Saif Al Islam Gaddafi Reportedly Captured
Two British terror suspects killed in US drone strikes in Pakistan | World news | The Guardian Pair, both Muslims from east London, believed to have been killed in separate incidents in the South Waziristan region (Obama's drone wars)

Testimony of Torture: Chinese Dissident Exposes Prison Brutality - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International Chinese poet Liao Yiwu recently moved to Germany, where his books are best-sellers. His self-imposed exile has allowed him to finally publish his memoir, which reveals the abuses and torture he suffered during his years in prison. The book is a shocking indictment of the Chinese justice system.

What price the new democracy? Goldman Sachs conquers Europe - Business Analysis & Features - Business - The Independent While ordinary people fret about austerity and jobs, the eurozone's corridors of power have been undergoing a remarkable transformation (Europe: a wholly-owned subsidiary of Goldman-Sachs)
Incredible Europeans - NYTimes.com Unbelievable. Right now, the ECB has too much credibility on the inflation front; the spread between German nominal and real interest rates, which is an implicit forecast of the inflation rate, is pointing to disastrously low medium-term inflation (double-down on stupidity)
Eschaton: Mass Unemployment Is A Small Price To Pay For, uh.. something Basically, the idea is that central banks need to prove the aren't crazy inflation lovers. They do this by proving that they're crazy inflation haters, that they'd kill their mothers, or at least YOUR mother, in order to keep inflation low. This means keeping inflation low even when it's "crazy" to do so. Even if it impoverishes a lot of mothers of people who don't run central banks.

Phone hacking: Steve Coogan compares NI to a 'protection racket' | Media | guardian.co.uk Actor, who will give evidence to the Leveson inquiry next week, says News International uses negative coverage as a weapon

Nevada declares state of emergency as wildfires spread | World news | guardian.co.uk One dead and thousands evacuated overnight as fears mount that flames will spread to heavily populated areas

Elusive Justice: A Nazi Story That Still Surprises | Television Review by Dorothy Rabinowitz - WSJ.com a PBS documentary extraordinary in its detail and revelatory power. It's title, "Elusive Justice: The Search for Nazi War Criminals" (when will this happen in America?)

Supercommittee failure could trigger US credit downgrade, economists warn | World news | guardian.co.uk Economists predict dire consequences if committee fails to reach agreement on how to reduce America's massive debt (which would be cut in half if Obama can bring himself to let Bush tax cuts for the rich expire)
Balanced Budget Amendment Fails In House Vote The latest Republican push for a balanced budget amendment that would force massive spending cuts to the country's social safety net died in the House of Representatives Friday (Republican war on you)
Dems Mock Latest GOP Super Committee Offer | TPMDC Only $3 billion of the total package comes from new tax revenues — ending a tax preferences for owners of corporate jets.
Herman Cain suggests Taliban are playing a role in Libyan government | World news | guardian.co.uk Republican presidential candidate makes mistake while attempting to explain earlier confusion over Libya - Cain's critics seized on Monday's incoherent answer as the latest evidence that he is unprepared to be the party's nominee. (dimmest of the dim, except for La Bachman and Perry)
Herman Cain: Taliban May Be Infiltrating Libya | TPM2012 (across the Libya-Pakistan border )
Newt Gingrich's Business Network Getting Second Look Newt Gingrich calls it giving advice. Most people would call it cashing in on his prominent name.
Rep. Deutch Introduces OCCUPIED Constitutional Amendment To Ban Corporate Money In Politics | ThinkProgress

C-SPAN The Contenders (Michelle Bachman is no Eugene Debs)


Up with Chris Hayes - Exclusive: Lobbying Firm's Memo Spells Out Plan to Undermine Occupy Wall Street (video)
Balloon Juice » Occupy’s Friends in High Places Linda P.B. Katehi figured clearing out that peaceful little encampment was important enough to send in armed riot police instead of cutting a deal. For that, she should be fired.
Balloon Juice » Police Pepper Spray #OWS Student Protestors Directly in their Faces at Occupy Davis - The officer who pulled out the pepper spray was Lieutenant John Pike. 530-752-3989 japikeiii@ucdavis.edu (Obama's DHS-coordinated goon-squads)
Arrests Made During Occupy Protest At UC Davis - Sacramento News Story - KCRA Sacramento Demonstrators Told They Cannot Camp In Quad
Police Attack Peaceful UC Davis Students With Pepper Spray | ThinkProgress ani on Nov 19, 2011 at 1:08 pm Bob Ostertag: Militarization of Campus Police Yesterday, police at UC Davis attacked seated students with a chemical gas.
UC Davis Police Pepper-Spray Seated Students In Occupy Dispute - UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike uses torture on peaceful students ... . In these budget times, we shouldn't use resources that should be going to our core academic mission going to a tent city." (video) (updates) (torturous assholes)
Hullabaloo Yes of course pepper spray is a torture device (cops knew about court case, ignored ruling +Obama loves torture)
Pepper Spray, Pain and Justice

FDA rules that Avastin should no longer be used to treat breast cancer | World news | guardian.co.uk No evidence patients lived longer or had better quality of life than if they had undergone standard chemotherapy, research shows
'Macho' Guys More Accepting of Safe Sex | Testosterone, Sex Hormones & Behavior | Masculinity, Condom Use & Protected Sex | LiveScience Thus, she said, the "social risk" of insisting on using a condom might require more boldness and confidence than having unprotected sex
Excellent News From Mizzou Researchers: Teenage Girls Do Not Want to Marry Vampires - St. Louis News - Daily RFT The researchers found that early in the series, the predominately female audience was drawn to the traditional, idealized romantic relationship that stresses the importance of abstinence. Breaking Dawn progresses the story into pregnancy and marriage, and many of the fans of the story did not agree with the choices of the main character, Bella.

Marijuana Prosecution Memo From Feds Indicates 999 Plants is Okay, 1,000 is Not - Los Angeles News - The Informer
'Smash and Grab': Property Seized During Dispensary Raids Boosts Law Enforcement Budgets - Seattle News - The Daily Weekly

Conservative Groups Pressure Administration To Restrict Access To Contraception | ThinkProgress (you knew this was coming: the Talibanization of America; Mississippi will declare an un-fertilized egg a "person")
‘Near Poor’ - Not Quite in Poverty, but Still Struggling - NYTimes.com All told, that places 100 million people — one in three Americans — either in poverty or in the fretful zone just above it (Republican not finished yet)

Privacy and Security Fanatic: Hacker takes aim at Homeland, posts 'proof' of hacking SCADA for Houston's water supply
Privacy and Security Fanatic: Fourth Amendment's Future if Gov't Uses Virtual Force and Trojan Horse Warrants? Can the government legally deploy malware for eavesdropping and remote searches, in order to investigate and control potential criminal activity? (answer: Obama can do whatever the fuck he wants with the Constitution)

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Egypt and Syria protests - Friday 18 November 2011 | World news | guardian.co.uk Arab League observers "to be allowed into Syria"
Egyptians return to Tahrir Square to protest against military junta | World news | The Guardian Thousands gather for one of the largest demonstrations since Hosni Mubarak was ousted and new rulers took over (military is the same as the old boss)
Egyptian protesters return to Tahrir Square - in pictures | World news | guardian.co.uk More than 50,000 people have crowded into Tahrir Square to protest against army rule
Somalia famine eases but situation is still 'fragile' | Global development | guardian.co.uk Food security agencies warn that conflict now threatens relief efforts that have led to decline in malnutrition and deaths

Economists Say Europe Facing 'Lost Decade' - CNBC The austerity measures being rolled out in countries across Europe will have a devastating effect on the living standards of its population, an economist told CNBC Friday (the solution to that is more austerity! +who could have predicted?)
Mario Monti prepares Italy for more pain as violence flares in Milan | World news | The Guardian New prime minister warns that Italians can expect further measures to tackle debt crisis after protesters clash with police
Cameron warned his eurozone stance risks forcing two-speed Europe | Business | The Guardian Angela Merkel wants quick revision of Lisbon treaty to underpin euro and will advise Cameron to table only modest proposals

Phone hacking: Alan McGee says detail in NoW PI's notes is 'frightening' | Media | guardian.co.uk Creation Records founder says police told him that he may have been targeted in 2005 – but believes he was hacked earlier - They had too much information. How the fuck did they get that? It's frightening." (you'll -never- read that in the NYT)

Congress and the Administration Agree: the Government Can Indefinitely Detain US Citizens | emptywheel Dianne Feinstein made this clear in her comments yesterday in the Senate (in which she was reading from a letter SJC and SSCI Democrats wrote) (America now officially a military police-state)
Why We Can't Comment on Bradley Manning | The White House (what Bradley Manning?)

Hullabaloo - Centrist Nuggets - frustrated Americans will eventually say, “Just give us single-payer and be done with it.” I can’t say whether that tipping point comes at 60 million uninsured or 70 million" - Digby: And needless to say conservatives don't want the mandate or single payer and they'll be happy to wait until there are 70 million people uninsured to have the fight again. They want people to barter with their doctors with chickens and shop around for cut-rate angioplasties. Basically, they think that people who can't afford expensive health care don't deserve health care.
Paul Krugman Sends Wonderful Secret Message To 'Centrist Pundits'
Failure Is Good - NYTimes.com You see, admitting that one side is willing to make concessions, while the other isn’t, would tarnish one’s centrist credentials. And the result is that the G.O.P. pays no price for refusing to give an inch.
Thomas Friedman Needs Someone To Help Him Access Widely Available Facts About Politics
David Brooks Is Sad That Obama Didn't Buy Him A Pony
Post Hoc Fallacy Wednesday’s Washington Post deserves some kind of perverse award for advocacy journalism—in this case, for advocating the proposition that dire economic consequences will ensue if the congressional Super Committee fails to cut a deal for drastic deficit reduction. This is, of course, one side of an argument. (the austerity side, of course)
Plan From Toomey, Other Republicans Not a First Step Toward Balanced Deficit Reduction — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Clarence Thomas Assailed For Alleged Ethical Lapses By More House Dems (impeach the lying fuck)
Fox Falsely Dubs Alleged White House Attacker As "'Occupy' Shooter" | Media Matters for America (they "tie" shooter to OWS, report "ties," "respectable" media repeats "ties")
Fox News Calls Would-Be Obama Assassin 'Occupy Shooter' A Day After Authorities Found 'No Connection' To Protests | ThinkProgress
Arizona Supreme Court Overturns Gov. Jan Brewer's Removal Of Redistricting Chair (oh, snap: "gross misconduct" was not agreeing with the crazy lady) )
The Center for Public Integrity: 15 Tea Party Caucus freshmen rake in $3.5 million in first 9 months in Washington
Scott Brown Held Bank Of America Stock While Advocating For Big Banks

Hullabaloo - 99%
Occupy Oakland: footage shows police beating 'peaceful' Iraq war veteran | World news | guardian.co.uk Oakland police investigating after ex-marine Kayvan Sabehgi suffered a ruptured spleen in apparently unprovoked incident - it took hours for him to be taken to hospital, despite complaining of severe pain.
Wall Street Disconnected From Protests It Views As Misguided, Misdirected
FreakOutNation » Police Slam Supreme Court Judge Against a Wall at #OWS New York Supreme Court Judge Karen Smith (ret) as reported here is the newest notable American whose presence at Occupy Wall Street’s demonstration resulted in police force.

MF Global Is Said to Have Used Customer Cash Improperly - NYTimes.com MF Global improperly diverted customers’ cash for its own use in the days before its bankruptcy, an act that regulators believe may help explain why $600 million of customer funds remains missing, people briefed on the investigation say (the 1% at work stealing your money)
Bernard Madoff fraud 'began 20 years earlier than admitted' | Business | guardian.co.uk Former colleague David Kugel to admit conspiring in Madoff's fraud scheme as far back as the early 1970s

IPCC expected to confirm link between climate change and extreme weather | Environment | guardian.co.uk Report likely to conclude that man-made emissions are increasing the frequency of storms, floods and droughts
Extreme weather will strike as climate change takes hold, IPCC warns | Environment | guardian.co.uk Heavier rainfall, storms and droughts could wipe billions off economies and destroy lives, says report by 220 scientists ("socialist science" say Republicans, who recommend more austerity!)
Neutrinos still faster than light in latest version of experiment | Science | guardian.co.uk Finding that contradicts Einstein's theory of special relativity is repeated with fine-tuned procedures and equipment
NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Spies Sand Dunes Shifting On Mars
Active formation of /`chaos terrain/' over shallow subsurface water on Europa : Nature : Nature Publishing Group
Training in 'concrete thinking' can be self-help treatment for depression, study suggests ... Concreteness training can be delivered with minimal face-to-face contact with a therapist and training could be accessed online, through CDs or through smartphone apps.

Bernie Fine Scandal: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse Basketball Coach, Issues Statement Of Support On Thursday evening, ESPN reported on an active investigation into accusations of child molestation against assistant Syracuse basketball coach Bernie Fine

Is pizza a vegetable? Well, Congress says so | Lizz Winstead | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk What does childhood nutrition matter next to the frozen food industry's wishes? Just don't ask what the pepperoni's made of (Republicans pass law declaring pizza a vegetable)
Inmates In Private Georgia Prison Charged Five Dollars Per Minute For Phone Calls (privatization is the solution for everything!)
Joe Scarborough: Mika Brzezinski Is Pro-Life (staunch Republican is pro-life and Morning Joe is a liberal show)

Calif. Teacher With Porn Sites Gets Put On Leave after school officials said she was maintaining a pornographic website from her school-issued laptop computer.
Natalie Wood Case Reopened By LA Detectives (PHOTOS)

Burning Man's New Ticket Policy Draws Ire From Festival Regulars For the first time in its 25-year history, Burning Man -- the all-inclusive music and arts fairyland that pops up in Nevada for a week each August -- ran out of tickets.
Calif. Teacher With Porn Sites Gets Put On Leave after school officials said she was maintaining a pornographic website from her school-issued laptop computer.

Norway Cyberattack: Country Hit By Major Data Theft Data from Norway's oil and defense industries may have been stolen in what is feared to be one of the most extensive data espionage cases in the country's history, security officials said Thursday (China)
Google Music vs. iTunes Match: First Round Knockout For ... Google Music - What seemed like a bargain a week ago, iTunes Match at $24.99, now seems like an outrage. Such is the fast-moving world of competitive tech. Simply put, iTunes Match either has to drop its price to free or offer an all-you-can-eat option like Spotify to justify its price and make it seem attractive next to Google.
Google Graveyard Spooks Customers - Why Microsoft - Site Home - TechNet Blogs
Galaxy Nexus Ad Shows Off Android's Most Exciting New Features (video) CNET called the design "sharp" and the 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED Screen "gorgeous".
Kindle Fire Price: IHS Report Finds Amazon Selling Tablets At A Loss costs $201.70 to make, a research firm said Friday. That's $2.70 more than Amazon charges for it.
The web's worst passwords – are you forever changing yours? | Money | guardian.co.uk Thinking of a new password can be a nuisance, and all too many people end up with the same one – as a new survey found

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Syria crisis: Assad given three days to end bloodshed - live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk Arab League offers surprise reprieve to Bashar al-Assad
Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's US ambassador, offers to resign | World news | The Guardian Ambassador made the offer over a letter supposedly sent to the US military requesting help after the killing of Osama bin Laden

Spain's prime minister pleads for help from EU and ECB as yields climb | Business | The Guardian Zapatero: 'This is why power has been transferred to them'
Osborne to miss deficit target as UK economy stalls and unemployment rises | Business | The Guardian Eurozone crisis hits home as Bank of England cuts growth forecasts and makes grim predictions of a weak recovery (austerity killed their economy, so ... more austerity!)
Pain. But no gain. - Home News - UK - The Independent Unemployment hits 2.6 million, Bank of England slashes growth forecast – and Osborne will have to raise borrowing to even higher levels than Labour planned - figures slipped out by the Treasury revealed how the Chancellor's deficit reduction plan has been blown off course by anaemic growth levels and high jobless figures. Labour claimed the pain of £40bn of cuts and tax rises had not been worth it (ya think?)

Phone hacking: Sun's former head of features sues News Corp execs | Media | guardian.co.uk Matt Nixson seeks £100,000 in damages after being abruptly fired from his job on 21 July
Leveson inquiry: tabloids accused of blackmail and bullying | Media | The Guardian Popular press hound victims to satisfy an insatiable public appetite for salacious gossip in the pursuit of profit, hearing told
Phone hacking: NI asks judge to strike out exemplary damages claims | Media | guardian.co.uk Publisher's lawyer seeks to avoid punitive fines in civil actions brought by Steve Coogan, Sky Andrew and other victims

Janus Forum - Should the US Legalize Drugs? on Vimeo

Political Animal - Don’t just do something, sit there It may seem unsatisfying, but if policymakers simply leave the status quo in place, and let nature take its course, taxes will return to Clinton-era rates, the Affordable Care Act will save us a lot of money, and the deficit will shrink considerably ... “a surefire way to cut $7.1 trillion from the deficit over the next decade.” The GOP voted for this. The party has nothing to whine about now (whine they will)
Obama never secretly killed the public option. It’s a myth. - The Plum Line - The Washington Post . If you want to blame someone for killing the public option, blame marginal Democrats, who opposed it, and marginal Republicans (especially Olympia Snowe), who initially backed a version of the bill with the public option before deciding that pretty much all of Obamacare was unconstitutional (Queen Olympia at work)
Still Not Done Arguing Yet | The New Republic d since it's my last couple of days at TNR, I may as well go out in a blaze of hippie-punching. Democratic message consultant Drew Westen, whose New York Times cri de coeur of liberal frustration gained wide acclaim despite, or perhaps because of, its massive factual and historical errors, has another piece responding to your truly.
A plain blog about politics: The NYT Should Be Ashamed of Itself (Again) I have no idea why the Times thinks it's a good idea to harm its reputation by giving this guy a regular slot, but it's just awful (Bill Keller still at work)

Pelosi To Hensarling On Medicare: You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me! | TPMDC Republican Super Committee co-chair Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) who on Wednesday said Democrats would have to agree to dramatic steps — such as partially privatizing Medicare — before Republicans would agree to substantial new tax revenues.
Bachmann: It ‘Would Be Absurd’ To Get Waterboarded To Prove It’s Not Torture | TPM2012 (it's not torture, it's just "uncomfortable" and she won't tolerate that)
Herman Cain Cancels Interview After Making Unusual Requests [UPDATE] Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid told The Huffington Post that "no reason was given" for the no-camera request and he "was a bit surprised" by it. So far, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum have all met with the Union Leader and allowed C-SPAN to tape the newspaper interviews for broadcast (runnin' scared)
Cain: ‘We Need A Leader, Not A Reader’ | TPM2012 Herman Cain has a new response to the media fallout over his bungled answer about his Libya policy (less reading! so you won't know how dumb I am)
Political Animal - Quote of the Day “We need a leader, not a reader.” (turns out it's a line from the Simpsons Movie) Of course, Herman Cain makes George W. Bush look like Stephen Hawking (that's not a bad quote either)
Herman Cain’s unconventional approach (and why it’s not working) - The Washington Post
Michele Bachmann: revenge of the also-ran | Paul Harris | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The Minnesota congresswoman's online ad attempts to cast her GOP rivals as crazy losers. Does that remind you of anyone?
Newt Gingrich And His Many Loves (slideshow)
Perry Lashes Out at Banks in New Hampshire Stop - NYTimes.com "A high IQ does not necessarily make a good president. I'll take a C student from Texas A&M whose done a bang-up job in his state," Murch said. (well, Heather, he did, by selling off the whole thing +NYT deluding you)
Livewire | TPM “Monday, I’m going to be in Portland in the morning, visiting some of our labs in California in the afternoon, that’s two…I can’t remember what the third thing is.”
Livewire | TPM As a result, current governor Deval Patrick has no electronic record of any Romney administration emails, and has been unable to satisfy requests for records from the four year period from 2002-2006 that Romney served as governor (illegally wiped)
US politics live: Prop 8, GOP nomination and the supercommittee | World news | guardian.co.uk California's supreme court advises that supporters of the Prop 8 ban on gay marriage can continue courtroom battle

OWS-inspired activism - Salon.com The reason the U.S. has para-militarized its police forces is precisely to control this type of domestic unrest, and it’s simply impossible to imagine its not being deployed in full against a growing protest movement aimed at grossly and corruptly unequal resource distribution.
Hullabaloo - LRAD - Ear Splitting Pain Compliance Device" Police departments should not be using weapons built for the military on civilian protesters," said Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania "As this case shows, the LRAD cannot be controlled to prevent serious harm to innocent bystanders. Collateral harm to innocents may be justifiable in wartime, but not to quell protesters who overturned a couple of trash dumpsters." (dissent is terrorism)
Occupy Wall Street Violence - This Cannot Be the Way Occupy Ends - Esquire There is no excuse for the militarized assaults on the various encampments around the country earlier in the week. Hell, there's not excuse for the kind of militarized police forces we have in this country, period.
Occupy Wall Street Plans Largest Protest Ever; Can the Movement Last? - ABC News
This Is What Revolution Looks Like | Common Dreams
Surprise, Homeland Security Coordinates #OWS Crackdowns
Occupy Cal Draws Thousands: Supporters Crowd Sproul Plaza For Robert Reich Speech (photos)
Occupy Wall Street Two Month Anniversary: Protesters March To NYC Financial District, Plan Day Of Events
Occupy Wall Street Divided - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 11/16/11 - Video Clip | Comedy Central Samantha Bee visits Zuccotti Park to report on class division within the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Why the supercommittee is deadlocked, in two sentences - The Plum Line - The Washington Post 1) Republicans believe that the better policy outcome would be for the wealthy to pay less in taxes towards deficit reduction. 2) Democrats believe that the better policy outcome would be for the wealthy to pay more in taxes towards deficit reduction.
With MF Global Money Still Missing, Suspicions Grow - NYTimes.com Judge Martin Glenn asked a lawyer for the trustee if he knew whether customer money had been mingled with company cash, a major violation of Wall Street rules and a potential explanation for the shortfall. The trustee’s lawyer, James Kobak of Hughes Hubbard & Reed, replied: “I don’t think anybody knows the answer.” (the money just walked out the door on its own, apparently)
John Stoehr: Occupy Wall Street Evicted by $174.5 Million Subsidized Firm
Newt Gingrich Long Advocated Home Ownership Push Prior To A Reported Freddie Mac $1 Million Payday ("advise" = do nothing)
Government Closes Internet Anti-Foreclosure Scams Tied To Google Internet scam artists who had been paying Google to run ads making bogus promises to help desperate homeowners scrambling to avoid foreclosures (just the free market operating in the opportunity Obama left for them, hey, job creation!)
Nevada Attorney General Robo-Signing Indictments | The Big Picture The indictment alleges that these crimes were done in secret in order to avoid detection. The fraudulent NODs were allegedly forged locally to allow them to be filed at the Clark County Recorder’s office on the same day they were prepared.
As Graduates Move Back Home, Economy Feels the Pain - NYTimes.com - It’s a phenomenon that John Maynard Keynes referred to as the “paradox of thrift”: Saving is good for the individual, but en masse can hurt the economy by reducing demand (Obama loves "deficit reduction" and hates jobs for anyone except bankers and lobbyists)

Unraveling how a mutation can lead to psychiatric illness - MIT News Office MIT neuroscientists show that a gene linked with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder impairs early brain development.
Women And Prescription Drugs: One In Four Takes Mental Health Meds - slightly more women use ADHD medications as adults than men (also, anti-psychotics)

Mike McQueary Police Report: Penn State, Local Police Have No Record Of Sandusky Report From McQueary

Roy Egan, Former O'Hare TSA Agent, Fired Over Repeated Anti-Muslim, Racist Facebook Remarks (video)
Julio Artuz, 15-Year-Old Special Needs Student, Records Teacher Verbally Abusing Him (video)

Avaaz - Save the Internet
SOPA, The Internet Censorship Bill, Was Lauded By Both Parties In Key House Hearing , the legislation looks certain to pass by a landslide.

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Syria crisis: Arab call to work with the west for diplomatic solution | World news | The Guardian Britain and France preferred partners in a Libya-style 'contact group' to co-ordinate policy, but no question of military action
China uneasy over US troop deal in Australia | World news | The Guardian Beijing fears a policy of encirclement as Barack Obama announces plans to station 250 troops in northern Australia from next year (why Obama won't give up his Japanese bases)
Hamid Karzai tells loya jirga: no US military pact until night raids cease | World news | The Guardian Afghanistan president outlines conditions for continued presence of US troops, saying Kabul wants national sovereignty (indeedy)

Eurozone crisis: New Italian government announced - 16 November 2011 | Business | guardian.co.uk The Bank of England is blaming the eurozone crisis for much of the UK's economic woes (having just cut its 2012 UK growth forecast to 1%) (couldn't have been their own fucking austerity)
Young jobseekers told to work without pay or lose unemployment benefits | Society | The Guardian People taking up work experience places – providing up to 30 hours a week of unpaid labour – face losing benefits if they quit (young people new slave class)

Leveson inquiry: lawyer claims mother of Hugh Grant's baby was threatened | Media | guardian.co.uk Lawyer claims mother received menacing phone call when actor appeared on Question Time discussing phone hacking

Fake terror plots, paid informants: the tactics of FBI 'entrapment' questioned | World news | guardian.co.uk Critics say bureau is running a sting operation across America, targeting vulnerable people by luring them into fake terror plots (see all the fake terrorists we've caught; more perversion of justice by the Obama DOJ)
White House bullet: shooting suspect arrested in Pennsylvania | World news | guardian.co.uk

Harry Reid: Grover Norquist Is Thwarting Super Committee Harry Reid (D-Nev.) blasted anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist for meddling with the panel's progress and suggested that the American public "impeach" him (good line, Harry)
Congress’ approval problem in one chart - The Washington Post (Congress less popular than Communism)

Rick Perry's New Ad: 'Obama's Socialist Policies Are Bankrupting America' (video)
Newt Gingrich, Intelligent But Unelectable? Power Outsiders Ponder (they are all fucking unelectable)
Pat Buchanan Somehow Connects Sandusky Case To "Homosexual Marriage" | Media Matters for America (making sense was never a requirement)
Howard Kurtz Takes His Whistleblowers at Their Word - Esquire one of creepy-peepy James O'Keefe's operatives is spilling the beans to Howard Kurtz that Andrew Breitbart's personal Bill Sykes is a fraud and a bit more creepy than even I'd imagined,

America's 'Brain Drain': Best And Brightest College Grads Head For Wall Street
Fewer Americans Living In Middle-Class Areas As Country Divides Between Rich, Poor: Study

Eschaton: Reasons to Cheer - It's been almost two years since the "deficit pivot." Please, somebody, tell the people in charge that nobody cares about the damn deficit. They will say they do in correctly worded polls, but they don't care. They care about jobs and having money in their pockets. If the economy sucks they imagine the "deficit" is somehow to blame, because that's what NPR tells them every day.

Daily Kos: Bam! Manhattan Borough President to Mayor Bloomberg: "Zuccotti Park is not Tiananmen Square" | #OWS (Bloomberg: "where are my fucking tanks?)
Occupy Wall Street live: protesters regroup after eviction | World news | guardian.co.uk Some protesters are gathering at Zuccotti Park this morning as planning continues for a 'day of action' on Thursday. Occupy Wall Street has said it will shut down Wall Street and occupy the subway.
99% v 1%: the data behind the Occupy movement | Animation | World news | guardian.co.uk (good infographics)
Hullabaloo Oh. Homeland security AND the FBI (Obama ordered crack-down on OWS via "Homeland Security" and the FumblingBumblingIncompetents)
Update: 'Occupy' crackdowns coordinated with federal law enforcement officials - Minneapolis Top News | Examiner.com
Bloomberg Lied: Thousands Of OWS Library Books Missing, Feared Destroyed

Cohan: Tiny Rule Change at Heart of MF Global Failure - Bloomberg (just a little favor to our financial buddies that let them use customer money in the casino)
NY Fed to Raise Margin Requirements on Mortgage Securities - CNBC A dealer may need to put up $25 million in cash collateral for an MBS transaction of $1 billion, according to the paper (and that would be ... 2 whole fucking precent)
JPMorgan Joins Goldman Keeping Italy Derivatives Risk in Dark - Bloomberg
Auditor Says F.H.A. Could Need Bailout - NYTimes.com (instread of making AIG and the bankers pay and giving homeowners relief, Obama bought all the shitty debt that Greenspan and the Republicans created and now we have to bail out Fannie, who could have predicted?)

Scott Walker's New Jobs Plan: Abstinence-Only Education | Mother Jones Previous attempts at teaching Wisconsin students "the skills necessary to remain abstinent" have failed spectacularly (sex-obsessed Repubicans double-down on failed policies)
Sabotage? Caledonia Man Claims He, and Others, Plan to Shred Signed Walker Recall Petitions - Caledonia, WI Patch Facebook and Twitter are abuzz about plans to undermine efforts to collect 540,000 signatures to recall Gov. Scott Walker. One Caledonia resident says those efforts are real (they always cheat)

Jon Stewart Rips Jerry Sandusky On 'The Daily Show' (VIDEO) "You can't even bring yourself to lie emphatically," Stewart said. "'Good God no! Sexually attracted? I'm not!.' It's like in that phone conversation, your actually fighting the urge to come clean."
Bob Costas On Jerry Sandusky Interview: 'Very Strange' (VIDEO) He also said that former coach Joe Paterno's inaction surrounding Sandusky could not be "explained satisfactorily."
Corbett approved $3 million grant for Sandusky charity | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/16/2011 Gov. Tom Corbett this summer approved a $3 million state grant to The Second Mile, the charity founded by suspected child molester Jerry Sandusky, despite knowing about the sex abuse investigation that later resulted in charges against Mr. Sandusky (you don't say and that would be Republican Gov Corbett)
Newjudg New judge assigned to Sandusky case | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/16/2011 The case previously had been assigned to District Judge Leslie Dutchcot, who donated to The Second Mile in 2009. Dutchcot released Sandusky on $100,000 unsecured bail (the whole system protects child rapists)
Paterno, up for $500K pension, sells house to wife for $1 | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/16/2011
Corbett defends handling of Sandusky investigation | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/16/2011 - The investigation - which began in 2008 while Corbett was serving as Attorney General ... Why did it take so long for investigators to make an arrest?
McQueary: 'I did stop it' | Philadelphia Daily News | 11/16/2011 "I did stop it, not physically . . . but made sure it was stopped when I left that locker room," (didn't call the cops and then they started the coverup)

Major storms could submerge New York City in next decade | Environment | guardian.co.uk Sea-level rise due to climate change could cripple the city in Irene-like storm scenarios, new climate report claims (Bloomberg will escape by helicopter)
Scientists find evidence for 'great lake' on Jupiter's moon Europa, potential new habitat for life discovered what appears to be a body of liquid water the volume of the North American Great Lakes locked inside the icy shell of Jupiter's moon Europa.

Insane Guitar Skills "Passionflower". - YouTube
Female Musicians Never Get Laid | Nerve.com

Sopa condemned by web giants as 'internet blacklist bill' | Technology | guardian.co.uk Google, Twitter and eBay say controversial Stop Online Piracy Act would give US authorities too much power over websites
Stop Sopa now | Dan Gillmor | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The Stop Online Piracy Act will kill online innovation and serve the interests not of ordinary web users but a corporate cartel (computer-illiterate, Obama has always hated the internets)

111511
Syria's 'bloodiest day' leaves scores dead - Middle East - Al Jazeera English At least 70 people reportedly killed over past 24 hours, as Turkey's prime minister says Syria on a 'knife edge'
Thai Hackers Adapt Vehicles and Buildings to the Flood - Steve Daniels - Technology - The Atlantic
Palestinians protest 'racist' bus policy | World news | The Guardian Israeli authorities accused of operating a policy of racial segregation similar to that in the American south in the 1960s

Eurozone crisis: Italian bond yields hit 7% again on 'most worrying day' - 15 November 2011 | Business | guardian.co.uk
Merkel Urges Political Integration to Stabilize Euro - NYTimes.com (Smerkle at work)

UK border checks were waived for travellers in private jets, emails reveal | UK news | The Guardian Leaked documents show extent that checks on European visitors were relaxed under 'pilot scheme' authorised by Theresa May (laws for you, and laws for them)
Prince Harry warned over 'fornicating' in Christian US town - Telegraph The mayor of a US town where Prince Harry is staying during helicopter training has warned him to be on his best behaviour with its young women

Leveson inquiry: NoW owner disputes 28 staff commissioned phone hacking | Media | guardian.co.uk News International's barrister asks inquiry to check counsel's statement and admits hacking could have continued after 2007
Phone hacking: Will the Queen drop scandal solictors Farrer & Co? - Telegraph Buckingham Palace declines to comment on whether it will retain Farrer & Co, which acted for the News of the World.

NYC Judge Says Occupy Protesters Can Come Back And Bring Their Tents (tells Bloomberg to go fuck himself)
NYPD defy supreme court over clearance of Occupy Wall Street | World news | The Guardian Protesters accuse New York police of inciting violence by disobeying restraining order preventing further evictions
Michael Bloomberg's health and safety arguments weak, say lawyers | World news | guardian.co.uk New York mayor Michael Bloomberg's decision to break up the Zuccotti Park camp on health and safety grounds draws criticism
Occupy Wall Street: Zuccotti Park eviction - live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk ore than 200 arrested mayor Bloomberg defends action
Police Oust Occupy Wall Street Protesters at Zuccotti Park - NYTimes.com Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Tuesday defended his decision to clear the park in Lower Manhattan that was the birthplace of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, saying “health and safety conditions became intolerable” in the park where the protesters had camped out for nearly two months.
Occupy Wall Street: New York Police Department Evicts Protesters, Clears Zuccotti Park
Bloomberg On Occupy Wall Street Eviction: 'The Final Decision To Act Was Mine' (Michael Assad Bloomberg)
Occupy Wall Street 'Media Blackout': Journalists Arrested, Roughed Up, Blocked From Covering Clearing
Zuccotti Park Eviction: Court Order Against City Says Protesters Can Return With Tents In Tow the injunction prevents the city from enforcing park rules on Occupy Wall Street protesters.
Eschaton: Alternative Reality It's almost needless to say, but if a bunch of TeaBaggers settled into a park somewhere to protest Kenyan Muslim Socialism then things would be playing out a bit differently. Brooks and Gerson would be writing regular tributes to these heroic Americans who represent the best of us. Nightly on the NewsHour they'd remind us that it had been "X days since President Obama refused to give in to their demands" no matter how kooky or nonexistent those demands were. And, no, the cops would not have gone in and started bashing heads.
Inequality and Occupy Wall Street 4: daddy put you in the top 1% ! « milescorak

Wonkbook: What to watch in the ‘supercommittee’ - The Washington Post So this is the final countdown. And as of now, the supercommittee isn’t even close (Obama and his idiot advisors at work)
What the Defense Department Wants For Christmas | Popular Science Military dreamers unleash their latest wishlist
Obama golfs with friend who was arrested in prostitution sting - The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
Political Animal - When Scott Brown gets nervous - Brown has been a key Wall Street ally in the Senate, forcing the chamber to weaken several provisions of last year’s reform package, and being rewarded with generous campaign contributions from the financial industry
Republican 2012 candidates debate and Barack Obama just smiles - Roger Simon - politico.com
Obama calls waterboarding 'torture' - disputing Republican presidential candidates who say they would reinstate the practice
Flashback of the Day (Ali G and Newtie)
Gingrich Scrutinized "If the press decides to pursue the angles, there could be six Newt enterprise/investigative pieces a day. If the Romney campaign decides it wants to take Gingrich down, there could be eight."

Krugman vs Summers: The debate | Felix Salmon - Krugman, by contrast, sees political gridlock as far as the eye can see, and says that it doesn’t matter how innovative or philanthropic or demographically attractive the U.S. is — if you don’t fix the magneto, the car won’t start, and America’s magneto ain’t gonna get fixed any time soon.
Timing questions emerge on MF Global customer cash shortfall | Reuters MF Global executives told regulators they believed a shortfall had somehow occurred (we wish $600M would "somehow" fall into our bank account)
Federal Housing Administration running low on cash: report | Reuters The Federal Housing Administration's cash reserves have dropped so low that there is a close to a 50 percent chance it could run out of funds and may require a taxpayer bailout next year

Jerry Sandusky Interview: I 'Horsed Around,' Touched Kids (video) (and raped them in the butt)
Jerry Sandusky lawyer: alleged rape victim denied grand jury testimony | World news | guardian.co.uk Asked if he is a paedophile, Sandusky said: "No."
Balloon Juice » Don’t Let the Healing Begin Almost 10 more victims have come forward in the last few days. As more victims look for justice, we will have months of discovery and years of lawsuits. We’re going to learn how two institutions took an eyewitness account of child rape, which is incredibly rare in child abuse cases, and used weasel words and willful ignorance to bury it.
Charles P. Pierce on the brutal truth about the crimes at Penn State - Grantland The problem can't be solved by prayer or piety — and it's far more widespread than we think By Charles P. Pierce

1 in 10 adults could have diabetes by 2030 - Boston.com
Mind Reading: What We Can Learn From the Dutch About Teen Sex – TIME Healthland
2011 Global Gender Gap Report: The Best (And Worst) Countries For Women

US Bill Creating the Great Firewall of America | the agile panda
Facebook Porn and Gore Exploit Spiraling Out Of Control | ZDNet For the past few days an exploit has been hijacking Facebook users accounts and posting explicit gore and pornography to users’ timelines.
Don't Censor Censorship Opponents: Let Us Testify! | Demand Progress The House is holding hearings on sweeping Internet censorship legislation this week -- and it's censoring the opposition! The bill is backed by Hollywood, Big Pharma, and the Chamber of Commerce, and all of them are going to get to testify at the hearing ... But the bill's opponents -- tech companies, free speech and human rights activists, and hundreds of thousands of Internet users -- won't have a voice.

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US officials worried about security at London 2012 Olympics | Sport | The Guardian US plans to send 500 FBI agents to protect its athletes as organisers admit underestimating number of security guards needed ... American officials have expressed deep unease that the UK has had to restrict the scope of anti-terrorism "stop and search" powers (not enough of a police-state for Obama)
Syria's Assad should step down, says King Abdullah of Jordan | World news | The Guardian Jordanian monarch is first Arab leader to call for Bashar al-Assad to give up power after bloody protest crackdown
Israeli secret service the Mossad linked to Iran military blast | World news | The Guardian Israeli media report claims the Mossad was behind 'huge blast' at Bid Ganeh base that killed leading Iranian missile researcher
President Obama Doesn’t Rule Out Military Option in Iran - Fox News (the only things he's ruled out are your civil rights and any penalties for criminal bankers)
China: Google Earth spots huge, unidentified structures in Gobi desert - Telegraph Vast, unidentified, structures have been spotted by satellites in the barren Gobi desert, raising questions about what China might be building in a region it uses for its military, space and nuclear programmes.

Italy's borrowing costs at highest level in euro history | Business | guardian.co.uk Despite raising €3bn of debt at auction, Italy agrees to pay five-year bonds at 6.29%, up from 5.32% in a month
Eurozone crisis: Merkel says Europe faces toughest hour since WW2 - live | Business | guardian.co.uk
Banks Outline Exposure to Euro Zone - WSJ.com Questions About Hedges Fester as Firms Detail Exposure

Phone hacking: Tom Watson seeks legal advice over alleged surveillance of MPs | Media | guardian.co.uk Labour MP pulls out of editors' conference over claims that News International investigators targeted select committee members
Phone hacking: 'nearly 30 NI staff named in Glenn Mulcaire notes' | Media | guardian.co.uk Leveson inquiry hears details of investigator's work for News of the World, and suggestion he may have worked for Daily Mirror

Tom Coburn: $30 Billion In Millionaires Aid Is 'Sheer Washington Stupidity' Millionaires are receiving billions in taxpayer-funded support every year that helps them pay for everything from child care to bad debts to boats and vacation homes, according to a report released Monday by Sen. Tom Coburn.

Jesse Kornbluth: The Police Riot at Berkeley: If They'll Beat a Poet Laureate, Will They Kill a Student? (Berkeley cop brutality and historical context including Reagan)
Militarising the police from Oakland to NYC - Opinion - Al Jazeera English If the infrastructure of a police state is created, it's only a matter of time before those aggressive powers are used.
Occupy’s Asshole Problem: Flashbacks from An Old Hippie | Nicole Sandler - Radio Or Not
Occupy Oakland: demonstrators prepare for police action – live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk Protesters in Oakland brace themselves for police action following the eviction of Occupy demonstrators at the Portland. Follow live updates here
Violent fringe threatens to fray Occupy cause – usatoday.com (you know, the cops)

Obama Health Care Law Reaches Supreme Court, With Over Five Hours Of Oral Argument Planned
'60 Minutes' Hit On Boehner, Pelosi Falls Short
Political Animal - If it’s Sunday, it’s ‘Meet the GOP Talking Points’ for the media establishment, polls trump facts every time ... I expect this on Fox News. “Meet the Press” is supposed to have higher standards. (your media is Republican and shitty)
Herman Cain Stumbles On Libya Questions (video)
Gingrich Tells Workers at West Des Moines Insurer He Can Take the Heat - Marion, IA Patch (the last one out of the clown car)
GOP Debate: Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman Cemented As Foreign Policy Outliers "Yes, torture is illegal," Paul responded. "Waterboarding is torture. And it's illegal under international law and under our law. It's also immoral."
Doonesbury Strip on voter suppression
The Maddow Blog - Atlas shrugged it off (File under "whoops.") Describing it as a tale of "self-sacrifice" is something akin to describing Sicko as a clarion call about the dangers of the social safety net.
McCain chides Republican candidates on 'torture' - Yahoo! News (torturing means your troops get tortured, duh)
Balloon Juice » Our Awesome Meritocracy - Chelsea Clinton: Maybe she can do a roundtable debate show with Luke Russert and Meghan McCain as the other panelists. All I have to say is I hope I am dead before the Trig Palin Power Hour Comes to Fox News.
America’s meritocratic, watchdog news media - Salon.com
Balloon Juice » Deep thought Republicans want a champion and not some good-enough milquetoast. The Republican base has cornered the market on stupid people who are easy to manipulate, so loopy carnival acts who dial the batshit up to eleven have a built-in advantage. The problem, of course, is that a circus has to keep moving. It is now more or less mathematically proven that someone who gets the base hot and bothered cannot survive more than a month in the spotlight.

Victor Zuckerman, Sharon Bialek Ex-Boyfriend, Talks Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Herman Cain (big surprise, Cain lied)
Herman Cain Stumbles On Libya Questions (flop-flop)

Not-So-Super Committee Seriously Considers Becoming A Circular Firing Squad | Capital Gains and Games And the most inane, stupid, absurd, remarkable thing about this is that the definitely-not-super committee will claim that this make-someone-else-do-the-hard-work-later process complies with the legal requirement to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion (all this so Obama can keep the Bush tax cuts from expiring and fixing the deficit)
Crunch Time On Super Committee As GOP Goes Silent, Even On Tax Increases | TPMDC
Deficit Panel Seeks to Defer Details on Raising Taxes - NYTimes.com (like, to never)
MF Global clients cry foul over JPMorgan tactics in bankruptcy recovery - NYPOST.com
THE CONGRESS INSIDER TRADING SCANDAL IS OUTRAGEOUS: Rep. Spencer Bachus Should Resign In Disgrace Rep. Bachus made more than 40 trades in his personal account in the summer and fall of 2008, in the early months of the financial crisis.
Congress slashes financial watchdog - David Rogers - politico.com In a blow to Wall Street reforms, President Barack Obama’s budget request for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would be cut by more than a third under a House-Senate conference report which the Appropriations leadership expects to file Monday night

Researchers solve a protein complex's molecular structure to explain its role in gene silencing a super-compressed form of DNA called heterochromatin
Stroke at 22: Honoring the lessons 20 years later - CNN.com
Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS on Vimeo
'True 3D' Display Using Laser Plasma Technology #DigInfo - YouTube

Cannabis crackdown threatens legal trade in medical drugs | World news | guardian.co.uk Federal prosecutors target legal marijuana trade despite Obama's liberal stance on medical use of cannabis (what liberal stance? you mean when he was running for office? Obama hates all drugz, even if you're dying)

Penn State sex abuse scandal could very well widen | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/14/2011 It is difficult to believe Paterno knew nothing of Sandusky's alleged sick proclivities before 2002. It is simply not credible that the Penn State defensive coordinator was the subject of a lengthy police investigation in 1998 and Paterno never got a whiff of it (was Second Mile Sandusky's private pedophile farm?)
Second Mile chief resigns; charity hires Lynne Abraham | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/14/2011
Taxpayers cutting Sandusky a big check | Philadelphia Daily News | 11/14/2011 continues to draw a $58,898 annual pension from the State Employees Retirement System. What's more, the paper said that Sandusky received a $148,271 lump-sum payment from the system when he abruptly retired in 1999, not long after an early botched probe into alleged sexual abuse by the onetime heir apparent to football legend Joe Paterno.
Penn State scandal will prompt bills on reporting child sex abuse, lawmakers say | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/14/2011 legislation requiring any adult with knowledge of a sexual assault on a child to immediately report it to police
Penn State scandal: head of charity founded by Sandusky resigns | World news | guardian.co.uk The group's chief executive for 28 years resigns just over a week after the arrest of the former Penn State assistant coach (pedophile ring will be sued out of existence)
A Patriot-News Special Report: Who knew what about Jerry Sandusky? There were many missed chances to investigate as early as 1995 | PennLive.com
Penn State Scandal: Leslie Dutchcot, Judge Who Granted Jerry Sandusky Bail, Is Second Mile Volunteer (the whole state is complicit)
Eschaton: Powerfully Stupid Shit - What happened here was that David Brooks sat down and thought to himself, "how can I blame liberals for what happened at Penn State, but in a subtle way" Even Pastor Chunky BoBo didn't really go there.

As Small Towns Wither on Plains, Hispanics Come to the Rescue - NYTimes.com (oh, the irony)

Wikipedia Language Maps Created By Oxford Internet Institute's Mark Graham
Zero Geography: Mapping Wikipedia's augmentations of our planet
xkcd: Map Projections

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Syria calls for emergency Arab League meeting over suspension | World news | The Guardian Bashar al-Assad's regime demands talks after 22-state regional body announces that it will suspend country amid growing violence
Israeli ministers accused of trying to muzzle critics with funding curbs | World news | The Guardian Senior cabinet members have approved a bill limiting foreign donations to political not-for-profit organisations ... The bill was drafted after groups funded by foreign sources gave critical testimony on the conflict to a UN commission (Israel hates the truth)
Brazil troops and police raid Rio shantytown in clean-up drive | World news | The Guardian Special forces launch pre-dawn assault on Rio's Rocinha favela as part of drive to clean up 2016 Olympic city

Mario Monti heralds new era for Italy as Berlusconi bows out | World news | The Guardian President urges country to unite behind new leader as outgoing prime minister says he will continue to be a force (they love their morons)
China threatens US with new debt downgrade | Business | The Guardian Head of ratings agency issues warning in TV interview
Standard & Poor's shoots France in the head, then says it's sorry. Time for a duel. | MyFDL In the U.S. we’ve already seen the damage wrought by the three Stooges, Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch’s.

Bachmann: Obama Ending Iraq War Is Desecration Of American Dead | TPM 2012
GOP Candidates Split Over Torture | TPM 2012
Political Animal - Republicans return to the torture ‘debate’ - There’s a deep strain of ugliness in Republican politics in 2011, and it appears to be getting worse.
Republican Debate South Carolina - S.C. Debate: The Ultimate Waterboarding Championship - Esquire - Perry: He was clear, precise, and totally batshit: "Waterboarding is not torture... and I'll be for it until the day I die." This is precisely, and in every respect, the position taken by several Japanese military officers in 1945. They felt exactly the same way, which is why we fucking executed them. (Pierce is one of America's great writers)

| God Knows How to Pick 'Em This year, we have no less than four God-called GOP candidates for president, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX), (Mrs. Perry agrees) and now Herman Cain. So far (so is God stacking the deck, or what?)
After Mitt Romney Deal, Company Showed Profits and Then Layoffs - NYTimes.com
The Fake "War On Christmas" Campaign Begins | Media Matters for America (wingnuts at work)
Challenges Rouse Defenders Of Marriage Act : NPR : When the law passed 15 years ago, not one state recognized same-sex marriage. Six do so now, as well as the District of Columbia (haters fight back)

Oligarchy Is the Politics of Wealth Defense by the Richest | Firedoglake Of particular note in this crowd is Adam Davidson, of NPR’s Planet Money. He claims that taxing corporations is a bad idea (NPR flacking for the rich)

Could graphene be the new silicon? | Science | The Observer
BBC News - 'Smog-eating' material breaking into the big time titanium dioxide

Families say Sandusky had free rein | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/13/2011"> "I didn't even know he was leaving the school with my child," the mother said. "I didn't know he was taking him out of classes. They never told me that." ... Between January 2008 and July 2009, Sandusky called Victim One 118 times, the report said ... officials at Central Mountain High School urged her to think twice about how she wanted to handle the situation, "how that would impact my son," she said (it would be worse than being raped 118 times, apparently; the school was completely complicit as well as the cops and everybody else)
The Jerry Sandusky Rape Case: The History of the PSU Cover-up, Part III | Angry Black Lady Chronicles

A Small Town, Almost Waterless, Takes a Big Gamble - NYTimes.com (Texas dries up)

Biting, Groping Vampire Woman Terrorizes Convenience Store "We have no pattern of vampires in the area," Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson told News 9. "This is highly unusual, highly bizarre."

Mother Accused Of Forcing Her Young Daughter To Pose Nude On Skype | Radar Online Ann Lussier, 41, from Attleboro, Massachusetts is accused of making her child strip in the hopes of winning a $20,000 mother-daughter bikini photo shoot.
Homeland Security Wants Mozilla to Pull “Domain Seizure” Add-On | TorrentFreak (Obama hates open internets)
Has the spam problem been solved? - Computerworld Don't look now, but spam and telemarketing calls have been reduced to the point of irrelevance. What happened?
RIAA: Google Refuses to Remove “Pirate App” from Android Market | TorrentFreak

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Syria suspended from Arab League | World news | guardian.co.uk Member states agree to exclude Syria and impose sanctions over its failure to end government crackdown on protests
Japan Fukushima Reactor: Eight Months After Nuclear Disaster, Plant Remains In Shambles
North Korea’s Other Weapons Threat | The Diplomat International attention is usually focused on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. But Pyongyang’s growing chemical and biological weapons capabilities are worrying Seoul.

The human toll of the U.S. drone campaign - Salon.com
The drone mentality - Salon.com (Obama loves killing children)
U.S. takes the lead on behalf of cluster bombs - Salon.com Slightly more than two months after he was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama secretly ordered a cruise missile attack on Yemen, using cluster bombs, which killed 44 innocent civilians, including 14 women and 21 children, as well as 14 people alleged to be “militants.”
When war kills at home - Iraq war - Salon.com

Roy Greenslade Tells Media Matters Radio : "Every Single Member Of The Parliamentary Committee Investigating [Phone Hacking] Were Followed By Private Eyes And/Or Members Of [ News of the World ] Staff" | Media Matters for America

Silvio Berlusconi to bow out after Italian MPs vote for savage cuts | World news | The Observer Parliament approves stimulus measures demanded by EU as president prepares to nominate Mario Monti as next PM
Eurozone crisis will hit UK hard, warns Cameron | Business | The Guardian Markets settle after good news from Greece and Italy, but Osborne describes situation in Europe as 'dangerous'
European Turmoil Could Slow U.S. Recovery - NYTimes.com
China threatens US with new debt downgrade | Business | The Guardian Head of ratings agency issues warning in TV interview • Fears of renewed budget deadlock in Washington

1% Is A State Of Mind | Firedoglake Republican MI-SEN candidate Clark Durant. In regards to the Occupy Wall Street movement, Durant said the protesters should “go find a job.” In regards to the wealth gap the movement decries, Durant said, “I think it should be wider.”
Youtube Video Exposes Dallas Cop To Be A Liar | Pixiq Officer Jimmy Hollis claimed that activist Stephen Benavides had assaulted him, starting a mini-riot in which eight people were arrested, including some who were pepper sprayed (Youtube catches another out-of-control copster)
Occupy St. Louis Evicted & Raided by Police | The Dissenter
Occupy movement plans spring offensive as momentum stalls | World news | guardian.co.uk After eight weeks of dramatic growth, organisers consider how to sustain the protest movement through winter
Hullabaloo - Asymmetrical Violence (OWS linking arms is "waging war" on America)

Obama Warns Super Committee Co-Chairs Not To Change Triggers In Deal a lot of chatter on the Hill about changing the parameters of the trigger currently in place so that the cuts to the defense budget -- that would be made a year after the committee fails to reach a deal, should it fail to reach a deal -- would be softened.
Mitt Romney forges ahead weakened campaign field | World news | guardian.co.uk As Rick Perry and Herman Cain continue their public turmoil, Romney tries see momentum through to a nomination
Perry vs Perry: Rick’s Ultimate Reel | TPM 2012 (Republicans love dumb)
Herman Cain: Politico Tried To 'Bait Us Into Saying Something'
Rachel Maddow: Herman Cain Lawyer's Comment 'Shocked' Me (Video) Lin Wood, Cain's defense attorney, said that any new women who are thinking of coming forward with allegations against the candidate should "think twice" before they do ... a recent statement by Cain that, "for every one person" accusing him of sexual harassment, there were thousands of people not accusing him of sexual harassment. It was, she noted, "not a great defense."
Indecision 2012 - Mercy Rule Edition - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 11/10/11 - Video Clip | Comedy Central
Recall Organizers Plan Rally at Walker's Wauwatosa Home - Wauwatosa, WI Patch
Scott Walker, Wisconsin Governor, Cancels GOP Fundraiser Appearance Amidst Protest, Recall Plans (runnin' scared bully-boy?)
Ad By Crossroads, Karl Rove's Outfit, Yanked Off Air For Being False (UPDATE) Nate Hodson of Crossroads said in defense of the pulled ad, "It was a very small cable system. The four largest broadcast stations in Montana reviewed the facts supporting the ad and will continue airing it." (Satan lies; most don't care)
An Iowan robocall provides insight into the skewed worldview of anti-gay activism. Do the people behind this call know you don't have to be married to have sex? Not even in Iowa. Not even in the butt. The number of "homosexual sex acts" prevented by banning gay marriage probably hovers around zero
Ed Schultz Talks to USPS Letter Carrier Who Was Screamed at By Rep. Joe Walsh | Video Cafe the Republican Party "thinks public jobs are disposable and not worth anything." (creepy little bully)

The 421a Tax Exemption - Don’t Say You Didn’t Know - NYTimes.com (rich New Yorkers might have to pay real estate taxes: waaaaahhhhh)
Wells Fargo takes heat over investments in private prison industry | The Raw Story Wells Fargo is one of the largest investors in Geo Group, Inc. — the second largest private prison company in the world contracted by state and federal government agencies. The group spends millions lobbying for stricter immigration enforcement.

The States Doing The Most (And Least) To Spread The Wealth: 24/7 Wall St.
Texas History Education Standards Receive Dismal Reviews In Recent Report

Letter: Amtrak is Right! Kids are Unsafe on Trains « FreeRangeKids (people allowed to "get on and off" trains!)
Eschaton: I Guess We'd Better Put Metal Detectors In The Malls It's always interesting (and other things) to see where people imagine there must be TSA-style security and where they don't. For some the presence of strangers seems to be enough, I guess. I really don't understand. And trains are foreign and scary, or something.
ACLU Raises Privacy Concerns Over Confiscated Student Cellphones - Orange County News - Navel Gazing
Texas judge has visits with daughter limited - Yahoo! News Aransas County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams is forbidden from visiting his 10-year-old daughter without getting permission from the girl's mother, his ex-wife. The order also says Adams can't disparage the woman or drink alcohol within 24 hours of seeing his child.
Swapping chicken pox-infected lollipops illegal - Yahoo! News a multi-state ring of parents, wary of vaccinations that prevent the disease, who were swapping lollipops licked by a sick child in a modern day incarnation of a chicken pox party (Jenny McCarthy at work)

British and American English: Americanisation survey: the results | The Economist
Babies Don'T Feel Pain: A Century Of Denial In Medicine
Obese monkeys lose weight on drug that attacks blood supply of fat cells

Football is NOT an Absolute Monarchy | Crooks and Liars When universities become so dependent on athletic departments for their very existence, to the point where nothing – nothing – seems vile or heinous or repugnant enough to shake that iron grip, then there is something desperately wrong with American universities
Ray Gricar, Missing Pennsylvania DA, Opted Not To Prosecute Jerry Sandusky (then "disappeared without a trace" ... buried under the goal posts?)

Hollywood's New War on Software Freedom and Internet Innovation | Electronic Frontier Foundation No longer content to just blacklist entries in the Domain Name System, this version targets software developers and distributors as well. It allows the Attorney General (doing Hollywood or trademark holders' bidding) to go after more or less anyone who provides or offers a product or service that could be used to get around DNS blacklisting orders.
Facebook and Privacy Don't Mix Well | PCWorld

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UN vote on Palestinian state put off amid lack of support | World news | guardian.co.uk Palestinians to decide whether to press statehood issue after mustering only eight of nine votes needed to win approval
Syria faces suspension from Arab League | World news | guardian.co.uk Member states to discuss further action against Damascus at Egypt summit after failure of earlier deal to end bloodshed
Malaysian states to punish homosexuality | World news | guardian.co.uk Gay Muslims could be punished under both federal and state laws as a result of planned changes
Dominique Strauss-Kahn linked to French prostitution scandal | World news | The Guardian Former IMF chief implicated in investigation into alleged pimping at luxury hotels in northern France
China cracks down on media use of the internet for stories | World news | guardian.co.uk Journalists banned from reporting any information taken from web or mobile phones without being verified first (by the "authorities")

US court verdict 'huge blow' to privacy, says former WikiLeaks aide | World news | guardian.co.uk Decision made to open Twitter account of Icelandic MP Birgitta Jonsdottir, who is taking the case to the Council of Europe - Birgitta Jonsdottir: How the US Justice Department legally hacked my Twitter account (as we know, Obama hates your privacy)

News of the World lawyer Tom Crone expected to face censure | Media | The Guardian Parliamentary committee likely to characterise James Murdoch as ill-informed rather than mendacious (see, he didn't lie at all)
What James Murdoch said … and what he really meant | Media | The Guardian Decoding the key phrases used by the chief executive of News Corporation as he was questioned by MPs

WaPo Ombud In Alleged E-Mail: If Jen Rubin Retweeted Post About Killing Israelis, 'It's Quite Possible' She'd Be Fired | ThinkProgress
WaPo Approved! : Lawyers, Guns & Money (with links for context)
Hope You Like My Genocide | TBogg For the record this is the blog post Rubin approvingly retweeted, written by Rachel Abrams (wife of murder/rape-loving Elliott Abrams, daughter of Midge Decter and Norman Podhoretz, and step-sister to John Podhoretz. Yeah. They’re like a kosher Manson family):
Patrick Pexton Wants To Hang On To His Fake Job | TBogg
Why the Washington Post won’t fire Jennifer Rubin - Salon.com

Eurozone crisis: markets rally as Papademos is sworn in and Berlusconi's departure nears | Business | guardian.co.uk Austerity measures passed in Italian senate
Italy May Need to Exit Euro: Roubini - CNBC Roubini argued that with yields on its sovereign debt hovering around the 7 percent mark, market access may become limited for Italy.
George Osborne urged to scrap top rate of income tax | Politics | guardian.co.uk City figures say move would help protect Britain's economy from fallout of eurozone crisis (more tax cuts for the rich who caused the problem! more austerity for their victims!)
AFP: Spain's feeble recovery falls flat before election Spain's feeble economic recovery petered out in the third quarter of 2011, official figures showed on Friday, stoking recession fears just nine days before a general election (austerity causing recession; the solution is more austerity!)

To Save Our Economy, Ditch Taiwan - NYTimes.com
Taiwan Animators Freak Out Over NYT Proposal For US To Abandon Taiwan - It is kind of funny/terribly depressing that America’s total disdain for democracy is now so blatant that the Paper of Record can propose that Washington trade “the only democracy in the Chinese-speaking world” for a 10% reduction in America’s outstanding Treasury bonds.

Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community So, it costs 32 times as much to house an inmate at Guantanamo Bay ($800,000/year) than it does to house them in a federal prison ($25,000). So, why don't we double Guantanamo like Mitt Romney once suggested? Or, more seriously, why don't we close the goddamned disgraceful facility and have the collective courage to act like we believe in our system of justice? The administration is still trying to talk reason to Congress, but it's hopeless.

Over The Top Blackadder Goes Fourth Final Scene - YouTube

Five Reasons Why Veterans Are Part Of The 99 Percent | ThinkProgress
Eschaton: No, Tax Expenditures Will Never Go Away If we agree to scrap some stuff that benefit middle class people in exchange for scrapping some stuff that benefits rich assholes and corporations, next year the lobbyists will be back. And who has the better lobbyists?
Super Committee Democrats Propose Scrapping Bush Tax Cut Debate In Exchange For Billions In Revenue (the sham game: Obama always planned to keep the Bush radical wealth distribution cuts)

Herman Cain’s Junk Is Now A “Stimulus Package” | TBogg After silver-tongued legal minx Gloria Allred called Cain’s actions a “stimulus package” (whoa, snap)
Romney Spit-Balls His Way To Privatizing Veteran’s Benefits | TPM 2012 (that worked so well for Italy)
Rick Perry's Brain Freeze - NYTimes.com ("liberals" come out to defend Perry's lack of a brain)
Even The Yelp App Is Mocking Rick Perry | TPM 2012

Herman Cain’s accusers agree to joint news conference - The Washington Post (snip, snip)
video: Herman Cain -- Ready To Be Commander-In-Chief? | ThinkProgress

Conservative Investors Sue Over Sham Tea Party TV Network | TPMMuckraker (the frauds defrauded each other)

UC cops' use of batons on Occupy camp questioned "The individuals who linked arms and actively resisted, that in itself is an act of violence," UC police Capt. Margo Bennett said. "
Colin Powell: Occupy Wall Street Demonstrations Are 'As American As Apple Pie'

Why Americans won't do dirty jobs - Business - US business - Bloomberg Businessweek - msnbc.com Crackdown on immigrants leaves business owners struggling with shortages (they're taking away jobs Americans don't want! who could have predicted that?)
In MF Global's Wake, Regulators to Audit All Futures Firms - NYTimes.com
update 4-MF Global fires brokerage staff en masse | Reuters 1,066 brokerage workers terminated - after bad bets on European debt under former CEO Jon Corzine's leadership.
Corporations Hate Regulation, Until They Love It | Mother Jones

The defeat of personhood in Mississippi shows how empty a term "pro-life" really is. the polls were evenly divided on the issue, but then the pro-choicers won handily, 57-43 percent. The numbers lead to the unavoidable conclusion that not only did all the undecided voters break for the pro-choicers, but at least some people who said they were voting for the bill lied to pollsters, or changed their minds at the last moment (anti-choice culture enforces agreement)
Three Generations, Two Comfy Homes a Few Steps Apart - NYTimes.com “It’s much better than being alone, with a cat,” Ms. Whittaker said. “As nice as cats are.” (local McMansion laws make it difficult to care for your grandmother)
Ohio Sheriff: Latest Amish Haircutting Victim Attacked By His Son | TPMMuckraker

Pa. troopers interview two new accusers in Penn State sex scandal | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/11/2011
Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community - On Unhappy Valley
Mike McQueary Not Coaching Penn State-Nebraska Game After Receiving 'Multiple Threats'
Anti-gay filth beyond belief: Public radio host Warren Olney uses Penn State scandal to debate whether gays are fit to raise kids | Pam's House Blend (the worms crawl out; PRI spewing this stuff)

Pristine Big Bang gas found › News in Science (ABC Science)
The Fading Line Between Robots and Humans | GlobalPost
Here's what made those brown eyes blue - Health - Health care - More health news - msnbc.com A team of scientists has tracked down a genetic mutation that leads to blue eyes. The mutation occurred between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago, so before then, there were no blue eyes.

Remember the "borderless" Internet? It's officially dead (Obama has always hated the internets)
8 Year Old Girl Prank Calls Demolition Company | EgoTV ("do you want it blown up, or knocked down?)

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Thailand’s floods: Rising damp | The Economist Waters threaten the capital, the economy and the new government - Over 400 people have died and about 1.6m hectares (4m acres) are now under water. South-East Asia’s second-largest economy has been battered
Rescuers search for survivors in Turkish earthquake rubble | World news | The Guardian Dozens may be trapped in wreckage of 5.6-magnitude quake in Van that has killed at least seven
Russia rejects further sanctions of Iran over nuclear programme | World news | The Guardian Moscow wary of moves towards 'regime change' after IEAA report, effectively guaranteeing a muted international response (as neo-cons try to ramp up bombing talk because Israel wants it)
Hamas support on the wane amid crackdowns on political dissent | World news | guardian.co.uk Prisoner swap boosted popularity but disillusionment grows over corruption and focus on conflict with Israel rather than jobs
Palestinians may push for UN vote they expect to lose | World news | guardian.co.uk Palestinians may demand vote on UN membership to force other countries to publicly justify their refusal of support
US 'kill team' trial: jury considers Calvin Gibbs verdict | World news | guardian.co.uk Staff sergeant, 26, alleged to have recruited other US soldiers to murder Afghan civilians after he took command of army platoon
Criminal charges filed over New Zealand mine disaster | World news | guardian.co.uk The charges relate to safety and health violations at the Pike River mine where an explosion killed 29 miners last year
Failed Afghan road project shows pitfalls of U.S. efforts | McClatchy (down the drain)

Eurozone Crisis Deepens Amid Fears Italy May Need A Bailout That Europe Can Not Afford
Heard on the Street: Don't Bank on ECB Rescuing Italy - WSJ.com

Phone hacking: James Murdoch questioned by MPs - as it happened | Media | guardian.co.uk James Murdoch says wider evidence of phone hacking at News of the World was not given to him by Colin Myler and Tom Crone in May 2008 • Murdoch stated he has never seen the 'for Neville' email • He described Myler and Crone's testimony as 'misleading' • Crone has issued a statement describing Murdoch's evidence as 'disingenuous at best', while Myler has said he stands by his account
James Murdoch claims truth about phone-hacking was hidden from him | Media | The Guardian War of words erupts as two ex-News of the World executives, Colin Myler and Tom Crone, refuse to take the blame (Satan's spawn digs in)
News International 'fully admitted' liability for email hacking | Media | The Guardian NoW accepted liability over allegations from Sienna Miller which included that her private emails had been opened
Phone hacking: James Murdoch accuses Myler and Crone | Media | guardian.co.uk Murdoch claims former News of the World editor and senior lawyer did not tell him phone hacking went beyond single reporter in 2008
Can you really believe James Murdoch's hacking story? | Media | guardian.co.uk - What kind of company boss is that fails to show any curiosity about a massive payment in controversial circumstances? A deceitful one or an incompetent one?
Explosive Tom Crone statement « National News Blog “It is regrettable, but I can perfectly understand why James Murdoch felt the need to discredit Colin Myler and myself. “The simple truth is that he was told by us in 2008 about the damning email and what it meant in terms of wider News of the World involvement.

We Party Patriots » Blog Archive » Get a What? A Job? 70% of Occupy Wall Streeters are Employed, Compared to 56% of Tea Partiers (44% of Teapartiers probably on welfare or other big gov support)
Occupy World: Chileans take to the streets | GlobalPost When OWS began in Chile, a homegrown movement had already taken off.

Health Law Probably Safe As (Another) Conservative Jurist Affirms | National Memo | Breaking News, Smart Politics "After Bush v. Gore, the most overtly political decision in Court's history, the Court suffered zero dip in the public's mind," Feldman said. "If Kennedy wants to strike down the health care law, he's not going to worry the Supreme Court's legitimacy is in question."
Border Patrol Searches Faulted in New Report - NYTimes.com “The data paints a disturbing picture of an agency resorting to mission creep in order to increase arrest rates, without regard for the costs and consequences of its practices, including to its own mission to protect the border,” the report concludes.

Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Two Pieces Of President Obama’s Jobs Bill | TPMDC (those would be "modest" pieces)
Watch Jim Cramer’s Craziest Debate Moments | TPM 2012
Herman Cain incorrectly suggests China doesn't have nuclear capability - Political Hotsheet - CBS News
Herman Cain 'Princess Nancy' Pelosi Remark Draws Laughs At GOP Debate (video)
Herman Cain Sexual Harassment Allegations Brought Up At GOP Debate (Republicans love sexual harrassment)
Rick Perry Jeopardizes Campaign With 'The Stumble' . "So Commerce, Education, and, uh, the uh, um, um."
The Morning After: Rick Perry Tries To Put A Bright Face On A Walk Of Shame Through TV Land | TPM 2012
Richard Nixon: D.C. Socialite Wasn’t Made Ambassador Just Because She Had ‘Big Bosoms’ | TPMMuckraker (Perle Mesta)

Keystone XL pipeline: US government set to pursue new oil sands route | Environment | guardian.co.uk Obama administration expected to bow to public pressure and look to move pipeline away from environmentally sensitive areas

Occupy U.C. Berkeley Protesters Face Violent Confrontation With Campus Police (video)
Big Banks Plead with Customers Not to Move Their Money | The Big Picture
Judge in Citigroup Mortgage Settlement Criticizes S.E.C.'s Enforcement - NYTimes.com the judge homed in on the issue of banks who settle with the S.E.C. and pledge to not violate the securities laws, yet repeatedly do so. Why then, Judge Rakoff asked, had the commission not brought any contempt charges against large financial firms in the past 10 years? (because their dick is up Obama's ass)

Heavy Meth Use Linked to Schizophrenia - Yahoo! News It also confirmed previous research showing a possible link between marijuana dependence and schizophrenia.
EEG shows awareness in some vegetative patients - Health - CBC News Study using EEG opens new opportunities for communicating, researchers say

My Parents Were Home Schooling Anarchists - NYTimes.com
Sherman's Demons - NYTimes.com Yet, as few Americans know, during the first year of the war, on Nov. 9, 1861, General Sherman, paralyzed by depression, was relieved of his command in Kentucky at his own request. Five weeks later, the wire services proclaimed to the nation: GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN INSANE. Just after his participation in the Civil War had begun, Sherman’s service was nearly destroyed.

Balloon Juice » Big Pimping, Spending Cheese Jerry Sandusky and Second Mile were pimping out young boys to rich donors ... I think they’ll find out that Jerry Sandusky was told that he had to retire in exchange for a cover-up,” Madden said. “ JC: I think we’re about to learn that this was not only an open secret at Penn State, but across the ranks in the upper echelon of college football ... This is just getting started.
Penn State President Ousted Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
Penn State Riot: TV Van Tipped As Rally For Joe Paterno Gets Violent (Penn frat boys love child rapists)
Revolting : Lawyers, Guns & Money Penn State University undergraduates like to riot in favor of child rape.
Maureen Dowd: Paterno worried more about reputation than justice
Jerry Sandusky, former Penn State football staffer, subject of grand jury investigation | PennLive.com March 31, 2011 (initial article)
Michael Smerconish: The Remaining Penn State Question
Nike has no plans to change name of Joe Paterno Child Development Center, spokeswoman says | OregonLive.com (The Joe Paterno child anal-rape center was considered)
Penn State community wonders: What's next? | McClatchy

OQOUe.jpg (is the Bible metaphorical?)
Warner Bros. Admits Sending HotFile False Takedown Requests | TorrentFreak Hollywood movie studio Warner Bros. has admitted to a federal court that it removed files from the file-hosting site Hotfile without owning the copyrights. Some of the false takedowns were the result of failing filtering software but Warner also admitted that one of its employees deleted Open Source software that could speed up downloads.

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Earthquake hits eastern Turkey | World news | The Guardian Earthquake of 5.7-magnitude causes six-storey hotel to collapse in province of Van leaving unknown numbers trapped inside

European debt crisis spiralling out of control | Business | The Guardian Reports that Germany and France have begun talks to break up the eurozone amid fears that Italy will be too big to rescue

Phone hacking: police have told fewer than one in eight potential victims | Media | guardian.co.uk Some 638 of 5,800 possible victims have been contacted by Met, highlighting how far the investigation has still to run
Nevill