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Psyche's Links: 2011 : 15,730 Links

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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
Neville Thurlbeck rejects request to help phone-hacking investigation | Media | guardian.co.uk


Jonathan Chait on Obama's Year-Three Missteps The effort failed because Daley’s analysis — which is also the analysis of David Brooks and Michael Bloomberg — was fatally incorrect. Americans were not itching for Obama to make peace with corporate America. Americans are in an angry, populist mood (Obama and his crack team of Republican advisors and Chicago idiots)
GOP Rep. Joe Walsh Melts Down, Screams At Constituents: 'Dont Blame Banks!...I Am Tired Of Hearing That Crap!' | ThinkProgress (big bully stupid teapartier yelling at constituents)
US Politics | AMERICAblog News: GOP demands SuperCommittee put govt in more debt in order to cut taxes yet again (no, Virginia, rich people don't care about the deficit they created)
Latino Voters: Obama Leads Going Into 2012, GOP Faces Backlash On Immigration
Republicans Say Democrats Are Making Too Much Of Election Day, But Admit Tough Landscape In 2012

Obama's 2012 hopes boosted as Democrats celebrate election victories | World news | guardian.co.uk Successes in Ohio, New Jersey, Arizona and Mississippi signal a return to the American left, lifting Obama's hopes for re-election
Ohio Issue 2: Controversial Anti-Union Law Defeated By Voters Issue 2 failed by a vote of 61 to 39 percent.
Personhood amendment campaigners vow to fight on after Mississippi defeat | World news | guardian.co.uk Mississippi voters reject measure to define fertilised eggs as people that would have banned abortions and restricted IVF - 58% of voters rejected the measure after apparently being persuaded by critics who portrayed it as draconian because it made no exceptions for women who are raped, or in cases of incest.
Hispanic leaders set sights on 2012 after stunning Arizona victory | World news | guardian.co.uk Russell Pearce, architect of controversial immigration law, toppled as voters swing towards a more moderate stance (rightwing extremist, "most powerful politician in AZ" kicked out of office)
Keystone: pipeline to Obama's re-election | Amy Goodman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Big Oil has lobbied hard for approval of the tar sands oil project. Now environmentalists are demanding the president's ear, too

Scott Walker Recall Effort Officially Begins As Supporter Files Petition, Launches Fundraising Period
Bully: Limbaugh Repeatedly Attacks Cain Accuser's 13-Year-Old Son | Media Matters for America Limbaugh even likened the young teenager to a Nazi storm trooper (Satan has his own radio show)
Artificial War On Christmas Campaign Launches Fake Obama "Christmas Tree Tax" | Media Matters for America (wingers make stupid shit up)
Herman Cain defence 'goofy', says sexual harassment lawyer | World news | guardian.co.uk Joel Bennett says his client would never have filed a complaint if Herman Cain had simply compared her height to his wife's (lying sleazebag)

Grover Norquist Anti-Tax Pledge Signers Want Their Names Removed (oops, too late)

McCain, Rockefeller Want To Ban Bonuses At Fannie And Freddie

The many lies of Joe Paterno : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Paterno has known for at least nine years (realistically, at least 13 years, and probably longer) that the PSU administration — which for all practical purposes meant Joe Paterno — was covering up the crimes of a serial child rapist (Penn admin covered up for nine years)


Google+ had a chance to compete with Facebook. Not anymore. - Slate Magazine The search behemoth might not realize it yet, but its chance to compete with Facebook has come and gone.
Adobe Halts Flash Plug-In Development For Mobile Platforms

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Obama's Netanyahu mic slip draws ire from Republicans | World news | guardian.co.uk Republicans claim comments caught on microphone about the Israeli prime minister exacerbate already-strained relations (it was Obama's fault, Repubicans say)
Sarkozy: Netanyahu Is A 'Liar,' Journalists Reportedly Overhear French President Tell Obama (you don't say; must be anti-semitic)

The 1% are the very best destroyers of wealth the world has ever seen | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian Our common treasury in the last 30 years has been captured by industrial psychopaths. That's why we're nearly bankrupt
UN watchdog reveals 'serious concerns' about Iranian nuclear weapons research | World news | guardian.co.uk IAEA believes Iran tried to develop a secret source of uranium enrichment that would not be subject to checks
Eurozone debt crisis: Berlusconi to resign after austerity budget passed | Business | guardian.co.uk 10-year bond yields had hit 6.794% after PM loses majority
Anglican newspaper defends 'Gaystapo' article | World news | The Guardian A column in the independent Church of England Newspaper compares gay rights campaigners to Nazis - 'Gay-rights stormtroopers take no prisoners as they annex our wider culture.' (it's a "pretinent" view)
Britain’s stagnant industry, weak retail sales point to grim fourth quarter - The Globe and Mail (well, more austerity should fix that +Bloomberg's prescription for America)

Police have right to fire rubber bullets at Wednesday's student protests in London | Mail Online Never been used on mainland but have been linked to deaths in Northern Ireland
News of the World paid me to follow 90 people, claims private detective | Media | guardian.co.uk Former policeman says he surveilled figures including Prince William and the parents of Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe

The 2012 Election Field Is an Embarrassment to Democracy - Esquire Republicans have produced a field of candidates so utterly comical, so completely devoid of conventional political merit, that the field itself is a strong evidence for the elimination of the Republican party ... This isn't a primary campaign field. It's a condo-board election at the Hell Country Estates (go Pierce!)
Balloon Juice » Ask Me, I Won’t Say No, How Could I? (Obama's fake petition program catching on)
Hullabaloo: Chain of fools (Obama's stealth attack on Social Securty: chained consumer price index - will sacrifice anything of yours for his relection)

Daily Kos: Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll: President Obama leads Mitt Romney
Bill Daley, White House Chief Of Staff, Reportedly Asks Senior Obama Aide Pete Rouse To Take On New Role
More On Today’s Court Ruling On ACA | Talking Points Memo
Obama Health Care Reform Ruling: Appeals Court Upholds Law A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a split opinion upholding the lower court's ruling that found Congress did not overstep its authority in requiring people to have insurance or pay a penalty on their taxes, beginning in 2014.
Ron Paul On Elizabeth Warren: 'She's A Socialist'
Herman Cain: ‘I Don’t Even Know Who This Lady Is!’ | Election 2012 (creepy Republican asshole digs in)
Balloon Juice » Cain Victim Sharon Bialek on Good Morning America: “I am not a liar.”
Playing The Race Card From Both Sides Of The Deck | Media Matters for America
Rep. Steve King Says Asking Hospital Patients Their Immigration Status Would Not Be Going 'Too Far' | ThinkProgress (nothing is too far for Republican assholes)
The Eternal Sunshine of Erick Erickson’s Mind | Firedoglake - > Wingnuts: gleefully rejecting facts and empirical evidence since 1342. (what an idiot)
Balloon Juice » Election Day Shenanigans are Afoot in Ohio: Robocall Tells Voters to Head to Polls TOMORROW (Rethugs at work, cheating)

What caused the financial crisis? The Big Lie goes viral - The Washington Post - The previous Big Lie — the discredited belief that free markets require no adult supervision — is the reason people have created a new false narrative ... Now it’s time for the Big Truth. (Ritholtz +way too complicated for your Village media)
Global income inequality: Where the U.S. ranks - Nov. 8, 2011 America ranks in the bottom third of the list of 90 countries (Repubicans promise to make that even worse)
Zuccotti Park Protesters Setting Up Military Tents For Winter, Safety

Steven Pearlstein: You bet it’s another bubble - The Washington Post The latest example is the market for commodities: corn, wheat, cotton, silver, copper, oil, natural gas. In the past decade, hundreds of billions of dollars have flooded into the market, largely through swaps contracts and commodities index funds, ETFs and mutual funds.
MF Signs Death Warrant for Short-Term Funding: William D. Cohan - Businessweek
In S.E.C. Fraud Cases, Banks Make Promises Again and Again - NYTimes.com (citigroup promised not to destroy the whole economy and need a big free bailout, again)
Wal-Mart Benefits From Anger Over Banking Fees - NYTimes.com

Sandusky Scandal: Mike McQueary, Penn State Receivers Coach, Reported Sexual Abuse To Joe Paterno (who did nothing, of course)
Penn State Scandal: Joe Paterno Didn't Do Enough To Stop Abuse Says State Police Commissioner a growing furor involving former defensive coordinator and one-time heir apparent Jerry Sandusky, who was indicted on charges of sexually abusing eight boys over 15 years.

Black, Asian teens less likely than whites to abuse drugs, Duke study concludes | McClatchy (sterotypes broken)

Solar is getting cheaper, but how far can it go? - The Washington Post (oil and gas obsolete by 2017; drill, baby, drill!)

Shockingly, White House Declines to Reveal Relationship With Aliens -- Daily Intel (sorry, classified, National Security)
Busted! Two New Fed GPS Trackers Found on SUV | Threat Level | Wired.com (Obama subjecting countless US citizens to illegal surveillance)

Here's Why The Internet Crashed For 10 Seconds Yesterday A bug in a Juniper router firmware update caused a huge crash that took the Time Warner Cable customers across the country off the internet for a little while on Monday
Researcher Charlie Miller Discovers iPhone App Security Bug

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In Greece, Economic Crisis Brings Rage and Paralysis - NYTimes.com
Inflation, debt crisis hurt euro zone retail sales | Reuters - Retail sales in the 17 countries sharing the euro fell more than expected in September despite some resilience in powerhouse Germany, the EU's statistics office said on Monday, reinforcing concern that the bloc's economy may be heading for a recession (more austerity obviously needed)
French PM Unveils Austerity Measures To Save Extra EUR7B In 2012 - WSJ.com (for perspective, UBS trader Kweku Adoboli lost 2Bn all by himself this year)
Berlusconi denies quit claims and stakes future on economic reform vote | World news | The Guardian taly PM's defiance over government's handling of Italian debt crisis sparks wild fluctuations in stock and bond markets

Iran nuclear report: IAEA claims Tehran working on advanced warhead | World news | The Guardian IAEA findings could pave way to sanctions or military strike although no 'smoking gun' expected to be revealed in report
The CIA's unaccountable drone war claims another casualty | Pratap Chatterjee | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk If Tariq Aziz, the 16-year-old soccer fan I met last week in Pakistan, was a dangerous Taliban terrorist, let the CIA prove it (he was "known to associate" with someone who "advocated" violence against US who happened to be his father; how many children and innocents have to die to get Obama re-elected?)

News of the World hired investigators to spy on hacking victims' lawyers | Media | The Guardian Investigators followed and filmed lawyers of hacking victims in apparent attempt to gather material on private lives

Sharon Bialek goes public over Herman Cain sexual assault allegations | World news | guardian.co.uk Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain hit by explosive accusations that he forced himself on woman seeking advice
Sharon Bialek, Herman Cain Accuser, Speaks Alongside Attorney Gloria Allred At Press Conference (video) he suddenly reached over and put his hand on my leg, up my skirt, and towards my genitals." She recalled that when she protested the advances, Cain said, "You want a job, right?" Bialek alleged that Cain also "grabbed [her] head and brought it towards his crotch." She said that she was "shocked" by the behavior.
Face the Nation's GOP-Fest Allowed Attacks On Liberals, Obama To Go Unanswered | Media Matters for America The only non-Republican Face the Nation guest? Non-partisan journalist John Dickerson who was addressed just once during the program (someone had to do it)

Anti-Abortion Violence Missing In Government's Main Terrorism Database
Mississippi voters evenly split over controversial abortion ballot | World news | guardian.co.uk 'Personhood amendment' would redefine 'person' to begin at the point of conception and would outlaw abortion at a stroke
Mississippi 'Personhood' Law Could Cause Legal Mayhem, Experts Warn
Huntsman: 'Personhood' Amendment That Romney, GOP Field Back 'Goes Too Far'
Jan Brewer, Arizona Governor, Stops Paying Redistricting Chair's Attorney (little fascist)

US poverty and the census bureau: why count the poor in a new way? | News | guardian.co.uk New research from the US Census Bureau changes the way the US measures poverty. Why does it matter - and what does it show?
US poverty: where are the super poor? | News | guardian.co.uk The numbers of the poorest poor are rising in across America, according to a new analysis. See what the data says about each

Alarming state report predicts $294 billion shortfall for transportation over next decade - San Jose Mercury News - In 1953, as California began its freeway building boom, drivers paid 6 cents a gallon in state gasoline taxes. Adjusted for inflation, that figure would be 51 cents today. The state gas tax is currently 35 cents (and everything is crumbling because Republicans killed the California Dream)

Living a lie : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Joe Paterno - He’s a crazy old man who isn’t going to quit until either someone fires him or he dies with his boots on. He’s been living a lie for years now, and in the end it’s led to him trying to weasel-word his way out of his complete failure to do what he could to make sure that Jerry Sandusky didn’t continue to rape little boys.
Rock Center with Brian Williams - Victims speak out about North Carolina sterilization program, which targeted women, young girls and blacks Elaine Riddick was 13 years old when she got pregnant after being raped by a neighbor in Winfall, N.C., in 1967. The state ordered that immediately after giving birth, she should be sterilized. Doctors cut and tied off her fallopian tubes.


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At least 65 die in Nigerian terrorist attacks | World news | guardian.co.uk Churches, mosques and police stations in Damaturu were attacked after earlier bomb blasts in Maiduguri

Chaos in Greece amid battle to form a 'government of national salvation' | World news | The Observer European leaders watch nervously as embattled premier tries to find allies and avoid being thrown out of the eurozone (the end of the pretence of democracy)

Murdoch gave loyal lieutenant Rebekah Brooks £1.7m pay-off, car and office | Media | The Observer News International chairman may face questions in Commons over generous severance deal despite phone-hacking scandal

Treasonous Republicans Kill Jobs And Betray The American People
About Inequality | The Weekly Standard

650K Americans Have Closed Their Bank Accounts and Moved To Credit Unions - So Far | Crooks and Liars (no teapartiers)
Keep Wall Street Occupied (Part 1) - YouTube
The Hand That Feeds You: A Truly Inspired Explanation Of The Occupation
Dean Baker Virtually Speaking with Jay Ackroyd 11/03 by Jay Ackroyd | Blog Talk Radio

MF Global and the rubber check | Unstructured Finance Those checks cut by the folks at MF Global began arriving in customer mailboxes this week, several days after the firm filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31 in New York federal court. And by the time customers started depositing those checks, they were rejected as having insufficient funds.
Did a Harvard Economics Class Cause the Financial Crisis? - Education - GOOD According to their open letter to Mankiw—who advised President George W. Bush and now Mitt Romney—the free market, laissez faire capitalism he teaches to nearly 700 students every semester deprives students of "an analytic understanding of economics as part of a quality liberal arts education.

Fracking Firm Admits It Caused Earthquakes in England : TreeHugger
Two Penn State officials charged in connection with sex-abuse investigation | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/06/2011

Suicidal lesbian Marine Corps vet seeks help, gets Jesus instead | Rock Beyond Belief
Video of pot bust spotlights lapses by police - Philly.com

Belgium to switch off nuclear, operator sees blackout ahead As Belgium becomes the latest European nation to agree to switch off nuclear power, operator Electrabel warned Monday of high costs, environmental fallout and increased dependency on foreign suppliers.
In India Cooking Biryani for 200 guests. - YouTube

‘Anonymous’ Releases IP Info for 190 Alleged Pedophiles - Techland - time.com
Emergency Alert System to Interrupt All Television Wednesday, Cause Mass Hysteria - New York News - Runnin' Scared
BT block isn't working, says Newzbin | CNET UK

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UP cop calls Mayawati govt corrupt, dumped in mental asylum - The Times of India A senior police officer was on Friday night allegedly manhandled and forcibly dumped into a mental asylum after he took on Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati by alleging massive corruption in the state.

Hullabaloo From Thomas Frank's "Wrecking Crew", about the rise of the conservative movement:
White House protest planned against oil pipeline from Canada | McClatchy

News from The Associated Press The jobs crisis has left so many people out of work for so long that most of America's unemployed are no longer receiving unemployment benefits (problem solved!)
WAPO Ombudsman Defends Hit Job on Social Security | Beat the Press If there were ever any doubts that "Fox on 15th Street" was a fitting label for the Washington Post, Patrick Pexton, the paper's ombudsman removed them with his defense of the Post's front page piece on Social Security last Sunday. ("experts say" +3rd Way wanking, as WaPo consults a Republican "English major" for his centrist opinion)
The Washington Post Goes "Thuggish" on Social Security | Beat the Press
Hullabaloo Goldilocks gets a bad case of salmonella - The Washington Post vomits up an editorial this week-end calling AARP "thuggish" for defending its memebrship from this wrecking crew
Daily Kos: Rick Santorum explains God's role in American law (Sharia law for christians)
Florida Tea Party Convention Snubbed By Leading Republicans (video) and raised questions about the controversial positions advanced by some of the event's participants.
Gloria Cain's Silence Presents Challenges For Husband's Campaign

More Small Businesses Are Pulling Their Accounts Out Of Big Banks
Why Bank Transfer Day (Today) Is Only the Beginning of Something Huge | Occupy Wall Street | AlterNet The movement to make sure our money serves our own values rather than the bottom line of huge banks will only gain energy as small victories accumulate.
Giuliani: OWS Is Millstone Around Obama's Neck That Will Take Presidency Down | RealClearPolitics "How about you occupy a job. How about working? Working. I know that's tough," Giuliani also said (he always was an entitled asshole)
A Slogan For Occupy Wall Street | Prose Before Hos
I saw a different side of Occupy Oakland - Occupy Wall Street - Salon.com Before the late night violence, I went to a friendly protest that peacefully closed banks and the city's port

Greg Lippmann Calls for Mortgage Forgiveness After Winning Subprime Wagers - Bloomberg “Principal reductions are necessary to help ameliorate the housing crisis,” (what Obama wouldn't do)
Corzine Out as Search for MF Global Funds Continues - NYTimes.com The missing customer money at MF Global is still missing.

Why Science Majors Change Their Minds (It’s Just So Darn Hard) - NYTimes.com

Historian Taylor Branch Delivers a Critical View of the N.C.A.A. - NYTimes.com The October issue of The Atlantic magazine featured a 14,000-word cover story by Branch titled “The Shame of College Sports.”
Prosecution: Penn State execs hid child sex claims against football coach | McClatchy

Loophole Let Steve Jobs Drive Without A License Plate California law made it easy for the Apple CEO to drive incognito.

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Greenhouse gases rise by record amount | Environment | guardian.co.uk Levels of greenhouse gases are higher than the worst case scenario outlined by climate experts just four years ago (Republicans are the only people in the world still in denial)

Peter Fuller Fired: Senior U.S. Officer In Afghanistan Relieved From Duty from his job as the No. 2 general in charge of training for making inappropriate public remarks about Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his government - Fuller said the Afghans have at times made unreasonable requests for U.S. assistance (that got him fired)
Libyans try to get back property seized by Gaddafi | World news | The Guardian Spray paint messages highlight minefield for new rulers, as original owners demand restitution for buildings worth billions
Iran warns US to avoid clash over nuclear programme | World news | The Guardian Iranian foreign minister says America has 'lost its wisdom and prudence' as tensions mount over Tehran's enrichment efforts
When the government decided I was a terrorist - War on Terror - Salon.com While I was living in Norway, a shadowy branch of the U.S. Treasury Department put a block on my bank account (Obama conficating the funds of anyone who dissents from Republican policies)
Drug Cartel Releases 'Anonymous' Hostage, But Battle Continues | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

G20 summit fails to allay world recession fears | World news | guardian.co.uk Summit ends in disarray as world leaders fail to agree increase to IMF and concerns mount over prospects for Italian economy (the next domino)
No more tax havens, says Sarkozy as G20 wraps up | RFI
German Factory Orders Unexpectedly Fall 4.3% - Bloomberg (maybe imposing all that austerity on their trading partners wasn't such a good idea?)
Euro-Area Manufacturing, Services Shrink - Bloomberg (let's hear it for austerity!)
Economy sheds 54,000 jobs, unemployment rate jumps - CTV News (spreading to Canada)

Man arrested over alleged police payments named as Sun journalist | Media | guardian.co.uk Reporter arrested over alleged payments to police officers believed to be paper's district editor, Jamie Pyatt
James Murdoch fails to win Jeremy Hunt's full backing | Media | guardian.co.uk Culture secretary dodges issue of whether Murdoch is 'fit and proper' person to run BSkyB in wake of phone-hacking scandal


Obama's rating improves: Reuters/Ipsos poll | Reuters President Barack Obama's fortunes are improving slightly, although he would face a tough struggle for re-election next year if Mitt Romney were the Republican nominee - Forty-nine percent of Americans approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president, up from 47 percent in an October poll (50% hate him)
Lawmakers Aim to Stop Pentagon Cuts if Deficit Panel Fails - NYTimes.com (defense dept: too big to cut)
Opinion: Opinion: GOP's voter suppression - Herman Schwartz - politico.com A massive Republican campaign likely to suppress minority and low-income voting is under way. If it works, the GOP may be able to prevent many millions of Americans, largely Democrats, from voting — potentially affecting 171 electoral votes.

House Republicans: No Infrastructure Funding Without Drill, Baby, Drill | ThinkProgress
John Boehner: Debt Deal Will Include New Tax Revenues (accepts Obama's "grand bargain" to end Social Security)
Elizabeth Warren Heckler Video - Welcome to American Politics, Professor Warren - Esquire For the record, the Tea Party was not "protesting Wall Street." It was protesting, in order 5) The president, who was a blackity-black-black Democrat, and also a Muslim Socialist Hitler who was born in Kenya (but your media assures us they were protesting banker bailouts)
Herman Cain Campaigns As Sexual Harassment Allegations Build
Herman Cain ignores the PR rulebook in race for White House | World news | The Guardian The Memphis-born Republican is a frontrunner for his party's nomination, but is shaping up as the most baffling of candidates
Things That Don’t Affect Whether Herman Cain Sexually Harassed Two Women In the 1990s | Election 2012 “They ought to be asking questions to President Obama about his relationship with Bill Ayers, not asking me.”
Martin Bashir, Apostle Claver Argue Over Herman Cain's Qualifications (video) "the kingdom needs to be taken by force." (Repubicans will invade Heaven with tanks and loot God's throne, or something)
Cain Accuser ‘Stands By The Complaint She Made,’ NRA Confirms Settlement | Election 2012
Did ABC, CBS And NBC Really "Ignore" The Paula Jones Story? | Media Matters for America (Fox lies by using 3-day window in seven years; you have already forgotten the Clenis)
Rick Perry Apologizes For Calling Opponents Of In-State Tuition For Undocumented Immigrants Heartless (you know who's heartless?)
Men Not at Work - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 11/03/11 - Video Clip | Comedy Central

Occupy Oakland: second Iraq war veteran injured after police clashes | World news | guardian.co.uk Kayvan Sabehgi in intensive care with a lacerated spleen after protests in Oakland, a week after Scott Olsen was hurt. He says police beat him with batons
Michigan Bullying Law - A Dangerous Law and the New Formula of Conservatism - Esquire In a very real way, this one passage in one piece of really bad legislation is the entire raison d'etre of American "conservatism," and of the political party that it has turned into its mindless vehicle over the past four decades. Every element of the "movement" is in there. There's religious paranoia and cultural sociopathy combining to produce a completely irrational sense of victimhood.

Oligarchy, American Style - NYTimes.com Inequality is back in the news, largely thanks to Occupy Wall Street, but with an assist from the Congressional Budget Office. And you know what that means: It’s time to roll out the obfuscators! (rich Republican liars +media)
Bleak Portrait of Poverty Is Off the Mark, Experts Say - NYTimes.com In a recent study, he cited government data showing many poor families had game systems like Xbox ... . “Most of the people that are defined as poor by the government are not poor in that sense.” (they might even have a refrigerator)
US unemployment rate edges down in October | Business | guardian.co.uk US jobs data gives President Obama welcome boost in fight against high employment, though rise falls short of forecasts (9% "good news" for Obama)
Thirty Of America's Most Profitable Companies Paid 'Less Than Zero' In Income Taxes In Last 3 Years: Report
Chart: Super Committee Dems, GOP Differ On Jobs | TPMDC (Republicans: party of the big, fat, zero)
Corzine Is Said to Hire Criminal Lawyer - NYTimes.com
What Would a Good Jobs Report Have Looked Like? » New Deal 2.0
Bill Moyers: People "Are Occupying Wall Street Because Wall Street Has Occupied the Country" (well, actually, they bought it)
Today From the Iron Triangle : Lawyers, Guns & Money Whew, I was worried that job-killing Washington bureaucrats were going to stifle the ability of executives to loot their companies by taking shareholder money to the roulette table innovation for a minute there (Corzine lobbied for no regulation on his casino operation)
BofA Threatens Foreclosure Over Missing $1 From Already-Sold Home
More People Joined Credit Unions Since BofA's Debit Fee Controversy Than In All Of 2010: Survey At least 650,000 customers opened new accounts at credit unions since September 29, the day Bank of America announced it would charge customers a $5 per month fee to use their debit card for purchases
California Budget Gap Could Be $8 Billion, More Than Double Jerry Brown's Projections (here's your Reagan legacy)
Keystone XL Oil Pipeline: A Symbolic Struggle Steeped In Fuzzy Math (making shit up, as usual)
DC is better off without Redskins stadium or practice fields - Greater Greater Washington (want taxpayer money to build city-destroying stadium will millions of spaces of free parking which will be empty 350 days a year)
EmployREcalignOct2011.jpg (scariest chart that Obama and Summers and Geitner ignored)

Hubble directly observes the disc around a black hole

Texas death row, Werner Herzog and the man who maintained his innocence | World news | guardian.co.uk Michael Perry, the man at the centre of Herzog's new film on the death penalty, was executed in Texas for a crime he says he didn't commit.
Texas judge won't face charges for beating daughter | World news | guardian.co.uk Police say it is too late to prosecute after YouTube footage shows William Adams thrashing daughter, 16, with a belt ... will not face police charges but has stopped presiding over child abuse cases (he's an expert in child abuse)
Hullabaloo Generational violence (Americans, especially Southerners, love family violence and child abuse)
Houston Chronicle Blogger Mom Says Gay Teens Should Stay in Closet to Avoid Suicide - Kathleen McKinley (Jesus-freak, homophobe and idiot has bad advice)
Michigan GOP Gives Anti-Bullying Bill A Loophole | TPMMuckraker - he Republican Senate gutted an anti-bullying bill when they added a clause that allows bullying based on “moral convictions. (Christian moral convictions, of course)
KY GOPer: I’m Not Criticizing Hindus — I’m Inviting Them To ‘Love And Know Jesus’ | TPMMuckraker (after we close down all their temples)
It happens only in India !!! - YouTube

TPM Browser Usage (Geeks Only!) | Talking Points Memo (23% use Macs vs 4% internationally)

Google Changes Search Algorithm, Trying to Make Results More Timely - NYTimes.com (guaranteeing 35 pages of Facebook crap first)
Google mulls divorcing Chamber of Commerce - Jennifer Martinez - politico.com - “would put the U.S. government in the very position we criticize repressive regimes for doing — all in the name of copyright.” (Republican wet-dream)

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Syria protests across the country aim to test regime's pledge to end crackdown | World news | The Guardian Opposition groups call for rallies to see if government backing for the Arab League's blueprint to bring end to violence is genuine
Israeli PM orders investigation into Iran leak | World news | guardian.co.uk Kuwaiti paper says Binyamin Netanyahu believes the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet may have leaked plans for attack
Iran warns US to avoid clash over nuclear programme | World news | The Guardian ranian foreign minister says America has 'lost its wisdom and prudence' as tensions mount over Tehran's enrichment efforts (Israel is America's boss)
Mugshot: Manssor Arbabsiar, Arrested In Plot To Kill Saudi Ambassador | TPMMuckraker (the used-car salesmen behind the plot)
Iran claims to have proof of US-led terror plots The Iranian government will release documents that it claims are proof that the US planned terrorist attacks against Iran, according to reports Thursday.

Greek crisis: Referendum cancelled amid chaos - November 4 2011 | Business | guardian.co.uk Public vote on bailout now off the table
Greek Prime Minister Scraps Referendum, Rejects Pressure To Resign
EU, IMF Aid to Greece on Hold Until After Referendum - US Business News - CNBC

Phone hacking: number of possible victims is almost 5,800, police confirm | Media | guardian.co.uk News of the World private investigator Glenn Mulcaire may have targeted 2,000 more people than previously acknowledged - 11,000 pages of notes seized from Mulcaire's home (that's a lot of pages)
Murdoch writes off $91m for shutting News of the World in hacking scandal | Media | The Guardian News Corp also lost anything up to $130m over failed bid to get 100% of BSkyB satellite broadcaster, in quarter's 'other charges'
News Corp HR chief quits | Media | guardian.co.uk Beryl Cook, who has been with the firm for 22 years, says she wants to return to Asia to be closer to her family
James Murdoch fails to win Jeremy Hunt's full backing | Media | guardian.co.uk Culture secretary dodges issue of whether Murdoch is 'fit and proper' person to run BSkyB in wake of phone-hacking scandal
Drop your parking changes before it's too late, Boris tells Westminster | Mayor ("free" parking for rich people)

Feds Shift Defense of Cellphone Tracking - WSJ.com Prosecutors in Arizona Case Drop Position That 'Stingray' Use Didn't Require Warrant (no steenking warrents)

Report: Military Blew $1 Trillion on Weapons Since 9/11 | Mother Jones A new study suggests that defense hawks are crying crocodile tears over planned cuts to Pentagon spending
Senate GOP blocks Obama infrastructure plan (Republicans hate, infrastructure and jobs)

Elizabeth Warren Heckled By Tea Party Supporter - the Tea Party has been protesting Wall Street excess for longer than the nascent global movement ... "you're a socialist whore." (birther and a liar with an IQ of a rock)
Balloon Juice » And I will be satisfied not to read in between the lines today’s conservatism is the opposite of what liberals want today: updated daily.
Herman Cain Settlement: Woman Who Made Sexual Harassment Allegations Reportedly Received $45,000 (the sexinator)
INfographic: This Is What Sexual Harassment In The Workplace Looks Like
MUGSHOT: Manssor Arbabsiar, Arrested In Plot To Kill Saudi Ambassador | TPMMuckraker
2pxJA.jpg Barry Goldwater on Christianists

Will voters buy the idea that GOP is sabotaging economy? - The Plum Line - The Washington Post (answer: no, they don't care)
Regulator: MF Global shifted millions last week - About $600 million of client cash is still missing
Thirty Of America's Most Profitable Companies Paid 'Less Than Zero' In Income Taxes In Last 3 Years: Report
Increase In Extreme Poverty Leaves Millions Stranded

An Abortion Law Even Conservatives Balk At | Mother Jones - about a Mississippi ballot measure that would define human life as beginning at the moment of fertilization (will require a large corps of heavily armed male "period police")
Radley Balko: Hank Skinner, Texas Death Row Inmate, One Week From Execution Despite Untested Evidence
Court knocks down FCC’s fine for Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” - The Washington Post ackson’s right breast was exposed for nine-sixteenths of a second, the court noted. But advocates of greater indecency enforcement said the court’s decision ignored the multitude of protests by families.
Media Reacts To Conan's Same-Sex Wedding News - YouTube

French Scientists Restored The Youth Of 100 Years Old Cells
Asteroid 2005 YU55 to Approach Earth on November 8, 2011
What A Woman's Face And Walk Reveal About Her Sex Life And Family Plans "A woman's experience of vaginal orgasm may be discerned from a gait that comprises fluidity, energy, sensuality, freedom, and absence of both flaccid and locked muscles," conclude the two professors of sexology in Belgium (post-modern studies)

New Gmail Problems: The 5 Biggest Issues With Google's Update To Its Email Service
House puts 5-year freeze on new mobile taxes with Wireless Tax Fairness Act

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Israeli army test-fires missile capable of reaching Iran | World news | The Guardian Defence official says military tested rocket propulsion system as reports suggest country's leaders in favour of attacking Tehran
UK military steps up plans for Iran attack amid fresh nuclear fears | World news | The Guardian British officials consider contingency options to back up a possible US action as fears mount over Tehran's capability
The human toll of the U.S. drone campaign - Salon.com (bottom line: Obama is a murderer)

Anonymous Cancels Operation Cartel as Los Zetas Track Hacktivists | TPM Idea Lab
BBC News - Wikileaks' Julian Assange loses extradition appeal has failed in his appeal against extradition from the UK to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault.
UK court rules WikiLeaks’ Assange should be extradited | The Raw Story

Greek military leadership changes spark opposition outcry - Telegraph As Greek politics grew ever more chaotic strong political protests erupted as the government moved to replace military chiefs with officers seen as more supportive of George Papandreou, the prime minister.
Creditors can huff but they need debtors - FT.com
Euro-Area Manufacturing Production Contracts for Third Month - Businessweek (austerity kills the economy; solution: more austerity!)
Bravo Papandreou! The Greek prime minister takes the country's fate out of the hands of the bankers (Democracy is just an illusion)
Eschaton: Um, Fail? All of that technocratic management has achieved wonders and now messy politics is daring to intrude. Technocrats are doing their best to destroy the world. Intervene, politics, intervene!
Austerity Faces Political Test in Greek Turmoil - NYTimes.com (yeah, wtf?)
Obama on Banking: The Worst Deal They Could Cut | Crooks and Liars
Hullabaloo - Greece

Feds: Four Members Of Georgia ‘Fringe Militia Group’ Plotted Biological Attack On Citizens, Government Officials | TPMMuckraker
Chinese Government and Norwegian Satellite Station Rebut U.S. Satellite Hacking Claims | TPM Idea Lab

Murdochs 'discussed News Corp succession with family therapist' | Media | guardian.co.uk James Murdoch was to be groomed for top job before phone-hacking scandal broke, Vanity Fair report to claim

Condi Rice: I Wouldn't Call The Iraq War Preemptive | ThinkProgress (next: what war?)
Citizens United Going Down? Democrats Introduce Constitutional Amendment To Overturn Ruling
Hullabaloo - Sacrifice Scam (Dems propose huge cuts to social safety net and call it "shared sacrifice")

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day "What did I say? Excuse me. Excuse me! What part of no don't some people understand?" -- Herman Cain, in a NBC News video, brushing off reporters who wanted to ask about the sexual harassment allegations made against him.
Oklahoma Consultant Claims He Witnessed Cain Harassment | KTOK-local - NEWSRADIO 1000 KTOK-AM "It was only a matter of time because so many people were aware of what took place, so many people were aware of her situation, the fact she left---everybody knew with the campaign that this would eventually come up.
Iowa radio host accuses Herman Cain of 'inappropriate' remarks - Jonathan Martin - politico.com
Another Woman Says Cain Harassed Her
Dowd and Friedman « Marion in Savannah (Modo get off some good ones, while the Moustache of Wisdom is just a fucker )
Balloon Juice » Donald Trump the Orange Supremacist calls Jon Stewart Racist; Has a Pot-Kettle Problem Donald Trump the Orange Supremacist calls Jon Stewart Racist; Has a Pot-Kettle Problem
a Balloon Juice » Taint necessarily so Bobo thinks the real villains in CainGate are the women he harassed (David Brooks, elite corporate reptile)

Mitt Romney Defending the American Dream Summit Speech - Mitt Romney's Koch Brothers Speech Preview! (Also: Ponzi.) - Esquire
Daily Kos: Democratic senators threaten to block another jobs bill (Liberman, Nelson, Tester, etc)
Rick Perry Drunk At New Hampshire Speech? No Way, Says Event Host
The Men Behind The War On Women - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (women's bodies are a central preoccupation)
Senate Women Face High Stakes In 2012

Occupy Oakland General Strike: City Prepares To Be Movement's Epicenter
The Rude Pundit Let's Actually Do Something: Blanket the Occupiers:
Occupy Oakland Attempts to Shut Down City with America's First General Strike in 65 Years | Occupy Wall Street | AlterNet
Oakland police criticise city's mayor | World news | The Guardian Police officers' association have criticised the city's administration in an open letter to Oakland's citizens
What The Media Won't Show You: Former and Current Republicans Occupying America (the country belongs to Republicans; the 99% just pays rent to them)
Balloon Juice » Megan McArdle is Always Wrong™: Occupy Wall St./Income Inequality division - "in the late 1990s, income inequality was almost certainly worse than it is right now." (McAddled makes shit up, cant bother her tiny pretty mind to google)
Robert Borosage on Tavis Smiley: Conservative "Reverse Robin Hood" Tax Plans | OurFuture.org (and they want more)

Balloon Juice » Bloomberg Lies Through His Teeth; Says Banks Did Not Cause Mortgage Crisis
Mayor Bloomberg: 'It Was Not The Banks That Created The Mortgage Crisis' | ThinkProgress (Congress made them do it; asshole's pants on fire)
Calculated Risk: Bernanke Press Briefing 2:15 PM ET GDP growth was revised down to around 1.7% this year.
MF Global accounts shock leaves clients scrambling | Reuters failed to protect customer accounts by keeping them separate from its own funds (will Corzine go to jail? no)
Mr. Corzine’s Big Bet on MF Global - NYTimes.com Europe - is trying to bail out Greece, in part, to protect its big banks.
Federal Inquiry of MF Global Escalates - NYTimes.com the search continues for roughly $600 million in missing customer money.
Regulator concerns about MF Global began months ago | Reuters
Goldline Execs Charged With Fraud - ABC News - Goldline, a company that used endorsements from Glenn Beck and other conservative icons to sell hundreds of millions of dollars to consumers, has been charged with theft and fraud in a 19-count criminal complaint filed Tuesday by local officials in California. (Glenn Beck's gold scam)

Dismal Tale of Arrest for Tiniest of Crimes - NYTimes.com (female college student jailed for 36 hours by Bloomberg's thugs for not showing ID; ticket dismissed in less than a minute)
Southern Manners on Decline, Some Say - NYTimes.com - “Manners are often a way of distancing and maintaining space,” (couldn't have been because they were black or anything)
Judge Videotaped Beating Daughter | Corpus Christi, TX | KRISTV.com |

BBC News - Signs of ageing halted in the lab The onset of wrinkles, muscle wasting and cataracts has been delayed and even eliminated in mice, say researchers in the US.
Climate change scientist Michael Mann fends off sceptic group's raid on emails | Environment | The Guardian Judge revokes permission of sceptic thinktank American Tradition Institute to look at private University of Virginia emails
Fukushima suffers setback as officials detect signs of nuclear fission | World news | The Guardian Traces of radioactive gas are detected at Fukushima's No 2 reactor – one of three that suffered core meltdown

Aleksa Lundberg, Swedish Transgender Actress, Mourns Forced Sterilization "Compulsory sterilization" has been quietly practiced for decades in countries typically cast as progressive on LGBT rights: France, the Netherlands, Australia, and a number of U.S. states still require it.


Judge: “Real Prospect of Success” For Digital Economy Act Challenge | TorrentFreak (otherwise known as the UK spy law)
Facebook Privacy Undermined: Google Now Sees Your Embarrassing Comments
Internet Explorer Falls Below 50% Market Share Mark

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Condi Rice Credits Bush For Arab Spring: 'We Had A Role In That' | ThinkProgress (yes you did, didn't you)
FtMuq.jpg (miss me yet?)
China 'targeted 48 chemical and military companies in hacking attack' | Technology | guardian.co.uk Attacks are latest in a long line of internet hacks aimed at industrial and military targets traced back to China

BBC News - Greek PM Papandreou faces party revolt over bailout Six leading members of Greece's governing Pasok party have called on Prime Minister George Papandreou to resign, the day after he called a referendum on the proposed EU bailout (because your citizens should have say in very unpopular policy decisions)
Greece throws euro bailout into fresh crisis | Business | The Guardian Prime minister stuns fellow leaders with proposal that his country should hold referendum on landmark debt deal
Greek government on brink as referendum call triggers market slump | Business | guardian.co.uk Greece in political turmoil as Merkel and Sarkozy urge Greek PM to implement bailout agreement 'in quickest timeframe'
Factory sector contracts at fastest pace in 2 years | Reuters The manufacturing sector contracted at its fastest pace in more than two years in October as new orders plummeted, adding to signs that the country is teetering on the brink of recession, a survey showed on Tuesday (austerity screwed the pooch, so, more austerity!)
Israel to shift tax burden to the rich and corporations | GlobalPost Israel's protest movement celebrates its first tangible success.

Phone hacking: QC warned of 'culture of illegal information access' at NoW | Media | guardian.co.uk QC told NI 'there is a powerful case that there is ... a culture of illegal information access' (but Brit cops covered up)
Liam Fox's Atlantic Bridge linked top Tories and Tea Party activists | Politics | The Observer Officially it was a charity; in fact, Fox's thinktank was a meeting place for the movers and shakers of the right wing
Liam Fox - Guardian Story on Liam Fox and ALEC - Esquire - A Wingnut from Across the Pond (wingnut welfare complex goes international)

Members Of Congress Grow Wealthier Despite Recession
Herman Cain Raised $250,000 Online After Harassment Report Broke, Campaign Says (they clapped for him)
Jon Stewart Mocks Herman Cain's Sexual Harassment Scandal (video)
Herman Cain changes his story - Herman Cain - Salon.com Now he remembers the women who made sexual harassment charges against him, and key details
More Details On Cain’s Behavior Emerge As Story Keeps Growing | Election 2012

VA GOP Condemns Picture of Obama As Zombie Shot In The Head | TPMMuckraker
Hullabaloo Taking the cake - I can hardly believe that gazillionaire Mayor Bloomberg would have the nerve to host an exclusive dinner for the financial, corporate and political elite to persuade them to slash the social safety net. It's almost beyond belief. But he did (it's what they do, actually)

Hullabaloo Continuing on with the justice theme, even the normally execrable Richard Cohen steps up to the plate with a surprisingly vitriolic anti-Wall Street column that hits on the same ideas as Taibbi and Friedman:
St Paul's Cathedral suspends legal action to evict Occupy protesters | UK news | guardian.co.uk Cathedral authorities opt for engaging with protesters instead, risking confrontation with City of London Corporation
OWS has transformed public opinion - Salon.com For the first time since the Great Depression, the majority of Americans favor wealth redistribution
Are big banks feeling pressure from Occupy Wall Street? - The Plum Line - The Washington Post
New Bottom Line Announces National Divestment Campaign | FDL News Desk
Peter Dreier: Occupy Wall Street: Changing the Topic Number of articles with the word 'inequality' in U.S. newspapers - October 2010 through October 2011

Exclusive: Romney Family Investment Group Partnered With Alleged Perpetrators Of $8 Billion Ponzi Scheme | ThinkProgress
MF Global Bankruptcy Leaves Star Bankers Adrift - Bloomberg
Wow, Jon Corzine — Way To Fly Your Company Into A Mountain ... part of becoming a real investment bank, apparently, is betting the company.
Regulators Investigating MF Global for Missing Money - NYTimes.com hundreds of millions of dollars in customer money has gone missing from MF Global in recent days, prompting an investigation into the brokerage firm, which is run by Jon S. Corzine, the former New Jersey governor,
Banks Extract Fees On Unemployment Benefits
Chick-Fil-A Donated Nearly $2 Million To Anti-Gay Groups In 2009 | Equality Matters (fundie Christian wingnuts)

Brooklyn Detective Convicted of Planting Drugs on Innocent People - NYTimes.com “Anything goes in the never-ending war on drugs, and a refusal to go along with questionable practices raise the specter of blacklisting and isolation”

How does birth month affect your child's future? find the results here | News | guardian.co.uk Children born in August are more likely to under perform in school compared to the children born in September. How does birth month affect academic results and well-being?
Anthrax vaccine needs further testing | MNN - Mother Nature Network The National Biodefense Science Board recommends that the government sponsor a controversial study to test the anthrax vaccine in children.
Why Is This Cargo Container Emitting So Much Radiation? | Magazine

Pete Townshend brands iTunes a 'digital vampire' - Yahoo! News

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US pulls Unesco funding after Palestine is granted full membership | World news | The Guardian Controversial move endorsed in UN cultural agency vote despite US threat of withholding £50m in funds (Israel is our boss)
Greece throws euro bailout into fresh crisis | Business | The Guardian - Prime minister stuns fellow leaders with proposal that his country should hold referendum on landmark debt deal European debt crisis: MF Global files for bankruptcy protection | Business | guardian.co.uk
Jobs crisis threatens global wave of social unrest, warns ILO | Business | The Guardian Coming months 'crucial', says World of Work report
Fast cars and loose fiscal morals: there are more Porsches in Greece than taxpayers declaring 50,000 euro incomes – Telegraph Blogs

FBI releases videos of Russian spy Anna Chapman at work | World news | guardian.co.uk Previously unseen material shows how Chapman and her fellow 'illegals' operated in US spy ring that was busted in 2010
Hackers Threaten Zetas Drug Cartel with exposure of its allies in the local police and news media this week unless the gang frees a kidnapped member of the international hacker movement known as "Anonymous." (getting complicated)

Jonathan Meador, Reporter, Films Own Occupy Nashville Arrest (video)

Herman Cain Denies Sexual Harassment Allegations, Attempts To Sing His Way Out Of Trouble
Herman Cain Campaign: Sexual Harassment Claims Are 'Baseless Allegations'
Cain details gesture that led to sex accusation | Campaign 2012 | Washington Examiner (oh, that sexual harrassment suit)

Letters Reveal Eric Cantor Begged For Obama Stimulus Money To Create Jobs
Perry's tax plan would be a boon for the wealthy, study says | McClatchy
Animated, giddy Perry draws "drunk" descriptions - PoliTex (jumped the shark?)
Long-time Bachmann Ally Jumps Ship: "Lady, You Stink" | Mother Jones - Bradlee Dean, an anti-gay hair-metal evangelist
Joe Curl Is Very Angry, Silly | Media Matters for America "Michelle's back, and she's madder than ever," writes Joe Curl, columnist for the Washington Times, offering the latest in an ongoing series of right-wing broadsides against first lady Michelle Obama (they really, really, hate her)

Riot Squad Standing Off With Occupy Denver | occupydenver.org
Dean of St Paul's Cathedral resigns over Occupy London protest row | UK news | guardian.co.uk Graeme Knowles, the dean of St Paul's, stands down with immediate effect, saying his position has become 'untenable'

Social Security Bait And Switch, A Continuing Series - NYTimes.com Dean Baker is angry at the Washington Post for spreading disinformation about Social Security. He’s right, of course — and it’s shocking that a well-known fallacy is the subject of a “news analysis” that purports to inform readers - This is what you call negative journalistic value added. (your elite media at work spreading lies and propaganda)
Eschaton: The Con The only solution is to Logans Run everybody at age 65 after collecting a lifetime of payroll taxes from them. Except Pete Peterson (aged 85) and certain other special people (Obama compromising with liars)
Fed Panel Is Divided on Direction - NYTimes.com “If this drift in inflation risk tolerance were to persist, or were expected to persist, it could give rise to a damaging increase in inflationary expectations,” one of the dissidents, Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said earlier this month (the inflation fairies never materialized, so they've moved on to managing "risk tolerance" and "expectations" instead of reality)
No time for a corporate tax ‘holiday’ - The Washington Post (+1 for WaPo)
Airlines Are Trying to Cut Boarding Times on Planes - NYTimes.com ("experts are puzzled")

Visualizing How A Population Grows To 7 Billion : NPR
7 Billion People: Should World Adopt 'One-Child' Policy? | Should China's 'One-Child' policy go global? | LiveScience
Alone as a crowd: the latest example of the weirdness of quantum mechanics
Sexism and gender inequality Individual beliefs don't stay confined to the person who has them; they can affect how a society functions - Brandt found that sexism was directly associated with increases in gender inequality over time.

White House Rejects Petition To Legalize Marijuana - Any petition garnering 5,000 signatures within 30 days of submission is guaranteed a response from the White House; Franklin's petition received more than 17,000 (Obama is a big drugz warrior, so no)
Hart Island Cemetery: City Council Reviews Operations Of New York's Potter's Field (video) "New York City is the only municipality to require people to acquire a death certificate prior to visiting their public cemetery," she said at the hearing, adding that there is no law in New York State that requires proof of a legal relationship in order to visit a potter's field.
Real-Life Vigilantes That Got the Job Done | The KoldCast TV Blog

Hysteria bass line (muse) - YouTube

Courthouse News Service Class Claims AT&T Rigs Bills for iPhones - bills customers for data transactions even if they disable their phones and leave them untouched
Humble Bundle Tech support at its best. - Imgur

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U.S. Plans Post-Iraq Troop Increase in Persian Gulf - NYTimes.com - could include new combat forces in Kuwait able to respond to a collapse of security in Iraq or a military confrontation with Iran. (there's change you can believe in)

Fact Check: GOP lawmakers spin funding tall tales - Yahoo! News (otherwise known as "lying")

Solving America's teen sex problem - Sex - Salon.com The Dutch have dramatically reduced adolescent pregnancies, abortions and STDs. What do they know that we don't? (they aren't terrified Evangelical Christians?)

For drunk drivers, a habit of judicial leniency - The Boston Globe When state judges hear OUI cases without a jury, they acquit the vast majority of defendants, no matter how blatant the alleged offense. It is one more way Massachusetts stands out nationally — for all the wrong reasons — on this crime.
Residents dig out, thousands without power after ‘unbelievable’ snow - Metro Desk - The Boston Globe

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Afghanistan Suicide Bombing Kills 13 U.S. Troops - A Taliban suicide bomber rammed a van into an armored NATO bus Saturday, killing 13 American troops and four Afghans on a busy street in Kabul in the deadliest attack on coalition forces in more than two months (endless pointless war)
Essam Atta Death Underlines Torture, Human Rights Abuses By Security Forces, Activists Say (same as the old torture boss)
Thailand Floods 2011: Bangkok Defenses Hold Back The Water the waters began to recede after killing almost 400 people

Europe Seeks Chinese Investment in Euro Rescue - NYTimes.com (offers to sell them Greece)

The two-tiered justice system - Salon.com (With Liberty and Justice for Some +Ashbrook's interview: radio from another dimension)
Glenn Greenwald On “America’s Lawless Elite” | On Point

Eschaton: Centrists The stupid/evil/12 dimensional chess/we're TRYING thing has bothered me for a long time ... The president, and the Democrat's Senate leadership, reject movement liberalism. The ideology they follow is grounded in the impact of globalization on world capital and labor markets. They believe the US has to reduce labor costs to be competitive
DOJ Inspector General Retracts $16-Muffin Claim | Media Matters for America the media's irresponsible coverage of "muffin-gate" reinforced the common conservative narrative of wasteful government spending. We'll be watching to see whether news outlets that pushed the IG's initial allegation inform their audiences that the $16-muffin claim has now been officially debunked (of course not)
Iowa Caucuses Are Up For Grabs
The story behind the Marco Rubio story - The Washington Post Rubio said he based his story on family lore and that he didn’t have all the documents in his possession (oh sure; WaPo Ombud clutches his pearls when Conservative complain about the truth)

Why does Bill Daley still have a job? - bill daley - Salon.com Just as the president gets his political footing, his arrogant chief of staff trips him up (Obama can't give up his Chicago gang of idiots +Daley calls Rahmbo the administration’s “leaker in chief.”)

Occupy Wall Street Has Raised $450,000, Spent Just Over $50,000
Out of touch! The cluelessness of the 1 percent - Out of Touch - Salon.com These big spenders and luxury dealers just don't get it. Help us call out their crazy-spending ways
Hullabaloo - The dark side - And remember: Rick Santelli's famous rant, which prompted the Tea Party, was a rant against the government "bailing out" homeowners (which never happened, of course, but you know who did get the bailouts ...)
Reward Offered for the Identity of the Police Officer Who Shot Marine Vet Scott Olsen

Americans’ Savings Rate Drops Again, Puzzling Experts - NYTimes.com ("experts" are stupid)

News | Weill Cornell Medical College | Cornell University
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft - Scientists measure dream content for the first time Dreams activate the brain in a similar way to real actions ... shows that dream content can be measured (not)
[1110.5019] Mass of the universe in a black hole ... the interior of every black hole becomes a new universe that expands from a nonsingular bounce.
The mystery of left-handedness - Books - Salon.com he basic probability of its manifestation is an unchanging 10 percent or thereabouts. We also know that left-handedness in a parent doubles the likelihood that a child will be left-handed.

High School Math Teacher Leaves Homophobic Comments on Former Student’s Page - Failbook - Funny Facebook Status Messages ( Failbooking )
Joplin, MO Teacher Who Said More Gay Kids Need to Die is Cleared, Claims Account Was Hacked |Gay News|Gay Blog Towleroad If you thought your account was hacked, wouldn't you say so right from the start? (Joplin school board finds nothing wrong)
US Politics | AMERICAblog News: Bugs for a snack, anyone? (Wall St: "Let them eat bugs")


Google Refused Law Enforcement Request To Pull Police Brutality Video A U.S. law enforcement agency petitioned Google to take down a YouTube video showing police brutality, the web giant revealed in a new report (it might undermine confidence in the cops if you see their illegal behavior)
ARM CTO: We’re changing server economics — Cloud Computing News

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Egyptian anger grows after latest case of death by torture | World news | guardian.co.uk Critics say Essam Ali Atta's death shows junta is failing to dismantle Mubarak's brutal security apparatus
US soldier goes on trial for Afghan civilian murders | Law | guardian.co.uk Staff sergeant Calvin Gibbs is accused of murdering unarmed civilians in Afghanistan and taking body parts for trophies
International criminal court confirms that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has made contact | World news | The Guardian The court has established an indirect link with Gaddafi's son, who is believed to be attempting to reach Niger or Mali

The Path Not Taken - NYTimes.com the larger picture, namely the abject failure of an economic doctrine — a doctrine that has inflicted huge damage both in Europe and in the United States - in the aftermath of a financial crisis, banks must be bailed out but the general public must pay the price (they all had a perfectly good alternative, but bankers and their politicians decided someone else had to pay for their crimes)
Eschaton: Choice As Krgthulu says, that the peasants should suffer for the sins of their feudal lords was not inevitable. It was a choice made by those lords.
Business as usual: top directors get 49 per cent pay rise - Business News, Business - The Independent (paid for with your austerity)
Criminal Proceeds Amounted To Over $2 Trillion In 2009: UN Report (and that's not even counting the banks)

Horror of South Africa's 'corrective rape' - CNN.com (because being sexual assaulted by a guy makes you attracted to guys)

Hullabaloo Why Talk to Third Way? - the useless concern trolling of Third Way. The organization is essentially a mouthpiece for conservative corporate pseudo-Democrats. Third Way's motivations are simple: they provide a mechanism by which the Joe Liebermans of the world can try to pull the Democratic Party to the right, under the guise of appealing to "moderates."
Hullabaloo - The New Reasonable (why don't Dems stake out far-left positions to move the center like the Repubs do? Because they already staked out far-right ones)
Indecision 2012 - Scared Mittless - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 10/27/11 - Video Clip | Comedy Central
The Origins Of Rick Perry’s Call To Release Obama’s Grades | TPMMuckraker “is a key component of a less-than-subtle birther conspiracy that Obama got into Harvard for reasons, you know, other than his intelligence.”
The E-Mails The Feds Say Show Texas Lawmakers Trying To Limit Voting Power Of Hispanics | TPMMuckraker
Beyond 2012 Field, Nuanced G.O.P. Views on Immigrants - NYTimes.com (Republicans realize they might have alienated a few Latino voters with their insane immigration policies)
FBI Report Labels Insane Clown Posse Fans Potential Gang Threat | TPMMuckraker the Juggalos, are “a loosely-organized hybrid gang” with subsets that “exhibit gang-like behavior and engage in criminal activity and violence.” (FBI are idiots)
Hullabaloo - Out 'o Touch Clown Posse (ironically, the FBI were the clowns)
Mitt Is Not It! (for conservatives) - Digg

Occupy Wall Street protests around the world - Google Maps
Scott Olsen 'cannot talk' after injury at Occupy Oakland protest | World news | guardian.co.uk raq war veteran is believed to have sustained damage to speech centre of his brain in injury at Occupy protest on Tuesday
Despite Iraq Vet’s Cracked Skull, DoJ Sees No Evil in Occupy Crackdown | Threat Level | Wired.com When Egypt teargassed and beat protestors in Tahrir Square, the world, including the Obama administration, howled in outrage (Obama hates dissent in America)
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan Says She Will Minimize Police Presence And That She Supports The Movement | ThinkProgress
The study that shows why Occupy Wall Street struck a nerve - The Washington Post The hard-right conservatives who dominate the Republican Party claim to despise the redistribution of wealth, but secretly they love it — as long as the process involves depriving the poor and middle class to benefit the rich, not the other way around (up is always down)
NYPD Sergeants Union Blasts Protesters In Oakland For Violence (copsters blaming their victims, as usual)
Republicans Cry Uncle On Spending … When Cuts Hit Home | TPMDC Call them Defense Keynesians — GOP members who represent defense interests,
Protesters, some in costumes, march in NYC - WSJ.com
Scumbag Obama - condemns police brutality to peaceful protestors in Middle Eastern nations ...
How Occupy Wall Street Cost Me My Job
#OccupyWallSt sign of the day: "It's Wrong." - Boing Boing

Republicans Cry Uncle On Spending … When Cuts Hit Home | TPMDC Call them Defense Keynesians — GOP members who represent defense interests,
Mortgage Registry MERS Sued by Delaware Attorney General - Businessweek (Obama wanted to sweep this under the rug)
Drilling For Oil Doesn't Reduce America's Dependence On Foreign Oil
The Paycheck Deduction Racket Every American Should Know About | MoveOn.Org (States cut out middle-man, let corps collect taxes for themselves)
Chart Of The Day: How The Recession Turned Us Into A Nation Of Teetotaling Canned-Veggie Fiends | TPMDC
Americans’ Migration Patterns Shifting - NYTimes.com (sunbelt not so sunny)

New clues to the origin of creation - CBS News complex organics are easily formed by stars, they are everywhere in our own galaxy and in other galaxies," Kwok told SPACE.com in an email interview. "Nature is much more clever than we had imagined."
BBC News - Faster-than-light neutrino experiment to be run again
Could this quantum computer be the real deal? a two-qubit register made from SQUIDs (superconducting quantum interference devices), two additional SQUIDs that can be used to zero the register (and act as readout), and microwave resonator striplines, which act as memory. The most significant part, however, is a bus that couples the two register qubits together
Americans' Beliefs in Paranormal Phenomena (Infographic) | Ghosts, Hauntings, Psychics & Telepathy | Why We Believe | Unexplained Phenomena | LiveScience

Justice Scalia speaks for himself on death penalty, not the Catholic Church - The Washington Post - “If I thought that Catholic doctrine held the death penalty to be immoral, I would resign,” (a question of "doctrine")

In a commitment to honesty, Twitter tries to bury the hatchet with third-party developers | VentureBeat
Apple's Form 10-K Reveals Over $80 Billion In Cash

102711
Libya, Syria and Middle East unrest - live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk Nato operation in Libya to end on October 31
Gaddafi's driver on the endgame: 'He didn't seem to know what to do' | World news | The Guardian Huneish Nasr, who served Gaddafi for 30 years, tells how denial and confusion marked the final days of a crumbling regime (Ka-Daffy delusional)
Deadly attack on bus near Kenya's border with Somalia | World news | The Guardian Eight people, including police and education officials, said to have been killed in attack on bus carrying exam papers
Yemeni women set veils ablaze in protest at Saleh crackdown | World news | The Guardian Women's protest in Sana'a comes after overnight clashes in the capital and in Taiz leave as many as 25 people dead

Eurozone crisis: banks agree 50% reduction on Greece's debt | Business | guardian.co.uk Private investors take 'haircut' on Greek bonds in €100bn bailout that also strengthens European rescue fund
EconoMonitor : The Wilder View » The Euro Area Precedent for Policy Failure Portugal was doing all right – better than France, even – until they ran into 2010 financial stability problems that forced the government to start ‘cutting’. Portugal started to contract in Q4 2010, applied for funding in April 2011, and contracted thereafter - The EA policy plan for fiscal austerity is setting a precedent, all right, a precedent for policy failure (yes, the elites are destroying the world with their arrogance and stupidity)

Bangkok residents flee floods as river threatens to burst banks | World news | The Guardian Thai capital reaches 'critical moment' as breach in Chao Phraya river defences likely this weekend
Italy Flash Floods: Search For Survivors Starts

Testimony to begin in 'material support' terrorism case | World news | guardian.co.uk Some experts say the trial will test the limits of post-9/11 laws that aim to prosecute would-be terrorists - he US government's war against terror – prosecuting would-be terrorists, or those who "materially support" terrorists, to prevent future terror acts (Obama's war on even thinking about free speech)

Top Romney Adviser Tied to Militia That Massacred | Mother Jones How Walid Phares went from advising Lebanese warlords to counseling the GOP front-runner.
Paul Ryan Heritage Foundation Speech - Paul Ryan Is Living in a Fantasy Land Older Than Ayn Rand - Esquire Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you today's worst paragraph in political rhetoric, courtesy of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Dickens), in an appearance at the Heritage Foundation, which must be like seeing The Beatles at The Cavern in Liverpool, back in the day. Take it away, big guy.
Rubin dismisses Erickson's 'anti-Semitic screed' - Ben Smith - politico.com (Jennifer Rubin is apparently a "journalist" at WaPo, and you better not question her loyalty to America)

Scott Olsen injuries prompt review as Occupy Oakland protests continue | World news | guardian.co.uk Oakland's police review body looks into clashes between officers and protesters after Iraq war veteran suffered fractured skull - The controversial projectile, a small fabric pillow filled with around 40 grammes of lead shot, is one of the most commonly used projectiles in US policing, though it was withdrawn for 18 years after a fatal incident in 1971.
Oakland police and mayor face fresh protest over wounding of veteran | World news | guardian.co.uk Occupy movement returns to streets demanding answers after teargas canister hit Iraq serviceman Scott Olsen in the head
Occupy Oakland - police under scrutiny live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk Oakland's police review body to "look into" Olsen injuries
Occupy Oakland Police Action Unnerves Wall Street Protestors

US economy grew at modest rate over summer | Business | guardian.co.uk Growth of 2.5% in third quarter boosts markets but unemployment still high and confidence in short supply
GDP Q3 2011: U.S. Economy Grows At Annualized Rate Of 2.5 Percent, Meeting Expectations
GDP grows. But how long until full employment? - The Washington Post “There’s just nothing to say about 2.5 percent growth, beyond: The recovery has been postponed another quarter.”
Eschaton: This Is What Our Leaders Have Given Us Basically, the country is going to be a lot poorer than it should be because the people in charge are incompetent and/or evil. Some of that is going to be spread relatively evenly through the population, with most of us having a bit smaller raises then we might have hoped for. Some of that is going to be concentrated misery for people who can't find jobs. And, of course, some people have their mouths on the spigot of free cash that is being forced down the gullets of the privileged few, the ones we "forced" take all that TARP and fed discount window money.
Income Inequality Reaches Gilded Age Levels, Congressional Report Finds

$20 Million Gift to High Line Park - NYTimes.com


Sony Buys Out Sony Ericsson For $1.46 Billion

102611
Bangkok Underwater - Alan Taylor - In Focus - The Atlantic

Libya: NATO Delays End To Bombing Campaign
Kenya: Pub Grenade Blast Wounds Dozen
Yemen Protests: Women Burn Veils To Protest Government Crackdown
NPR celebrates crazy forum troll's decision to practice unlicensed medicine in Libya - NPR - Salon.com A young man with a history of paranoid writings and no combat or medical experience gets an uncritical interview
Saddam Hussein ordered execution of journalist Farzad Bazoft, records reveal | World news | guardian.co.uk to punish Margaret Thatcher and humiliate Britain, secret recordings released in Washington reveal.

WikiLeaks cables and the Iraq War - Salon.com The negotiations were strained following WikiLeaks’ release of a diplomatic cable that alleged Iraqi civilians, including children, were killed in a 2006 raid by American troops rather than in an airstrike as the U.S. military initially reported.
The killing of Awlaki’s 16-year-old son - Salon.com - he was born only 16 years ago in Denver ... along with his 17-year-old cousin and seven other people (the worst of the worst; no limits on Obama's illegal killing of American children; total secrecy: America doesn't even have a drone program)

UN: World will miss economic benefit of 1.8 billion young people | Environment | guardian.co.uk Population report says lack of education, infrastructure and jobs will mean a generation's potential will be wasted

EU summit: live coverage of debt crisis talks | Business | guardian.co.uk Write-down expected on Greek bonds • Reports that Italian PM has agreed to step down in January
European leaders head for financial summit with no solution in sight - The Washington Post (dysfunctional robber-baron elites)

Andy Coulson Legal Fees Were To Be Paid By News International

How the Patriot Act stripped me of my free-speech rights - The Washington Post -- Nine years under FBI gag order: a desire to insulate the FBI from public criticism and oversight (Obama's bullshit "national security")
Government Could Hide Existence of Records under FOIA Rule Proposal | TPM LiveWire (authorization to lie: Obama's sooper-secrit spy state)
Ten Years Ago, Anthrax Attacks–and Judy Miller–Had Huge Effect on Passage of Patriot Act | emptywheel

Ending The War In Iraq: How Obama's Own Rhetoric -- And George Bush's Pact -- Boxed In The President The Barack Obama of 2011 and the Barack Obama of 2008 don't always see eye to eye (you mean the guy we voted for was lying)
Democrats on Super Committee Offer to Cut Medicare Benefits | FDL Action (Obama's "grand bargain" is back in play)
Hullabaloo - Republicans just won a round of jousting over President Obama’s jobs bill (capitulator-in-chief: "We'll pass the Republican agenda so they don't have to")
Obama Campaign Drops The George W. Bush Talking Point
Valerie Jarrett’s latest role: Shoring up Obama’s support base - The Washington Post (by meeting with lobbyists and fatcats, his "base")
Balloon Juice » Jenny, I got your number - The Washington Post’s official conservative blogger, Jennifer Rubin, has written 60 columns on the would-be conservative favorite, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, eight of them Tuesday (needs prozac)
Rick Perry: The Best Little Whore In Texas | Politics News | Rolling Stone The Texas governor has one driving passion: selling off government to the highest bidder
Color Of Change Urges MSNBC To Fire Pat Buchanan (NPR/MSNBC's favorite racist commentator)
Who's Calling Who Extremist?
Steve Jobs: Fox News 'A Destructive Force In Our Society' "The axis today is not liberal and conservative, the axis is constructive-destructive, and you've cast your lot with the destructive people. Fox has become an incredibly destructive force in our society
Schaeffer Cox-Linked ‘Sovereign Citizens’ In WA Accused Of Threatening To Abduct Officials | TPMMuckraker
The Truth Has A Well-Known, Well, You Know - NYTimes.com So Ryan is outraged,outraged, that Obama is offering a wholly accurate description of his party’s platform.

The Dylan Ratigan Show: Is the Occupy movement just preoccupying the media?
As Wall Street Protest Grows, Occupiers Attempt To Change Movement's Structure
The Stunning Victory That Occupy Wall Street Has Already Achieved | | AlterNet In just one month, the protesters have shifted the national dialogue from a relentless focus on the deficit to a discussion of the real issues facing Main Street.
Occupy Oakland Protest: Police Fire Tear Gas And Beanbag Rounds, Clear Out Encampment (photos, video)
Oakland Police Critically Injure Iraq War Vet During Occupy March (cops fire into crowd; deny using "projectiles")
Occupy Oakland clashes – in pictures | World news | guardian.co.uk
Police Censor The Media As They Unleash Devastating Force On Occupy Oakland - the media has been told to turn off their cameras and depart the scene and they reportedly acquiesced.
LAPD Seeks To Shut Down "Occupy LAPD" Twitter Account - Los Angeles News - The Informer
From Tahrir Square to Occupy Wall Street | Amy Goodman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Asmaa Mahfouz's message to US protesters proves the links between OWS and the Arab Spring are meaningful, not fanciful
Joe The Plumber: Fan Of Herman Cain, Not Of 'Anarchists' And 'Communists' In Occupy Movement (teahadists always were bankers' pawns: quick, look over there at that Muslim socialist! and not our world-destroying financial crimes)

BofA’s $55T wager: Shift of dodgy derivatives pits FDIC vs. Fed - NYPOST.com At issue is BofA’s decision to shift what sources say is some $55 trillion in derivatives at Merrill Lynch to the retail bank unit, which houses trillions in deposits insured by the FDIC (getting ready to seize all your money)
Banks Flooded With Cash They Can’t Profitably Use - NYTimes.com
Bank Of America CEO 'Incensed' That So Many People Keep Pointing Out How Awful His Bank Is Brian T. Moynihan
Venture Capitalists Join Push to Ease F.D.A. Rules for Medical Device Industry - NYTimes.com (that's worked out so well +they just make up numbers)
Stormy Forecast: First Solar CEO Fired, Stocks Tumble | TPM Idea Lab

Your DNA may carry a ‘memory’ of your living conditions in childhood | ScienceBlog.com
US-Style Emissions a ‘Disaster’ | China Power Allowing China’s per capita carbon dioxide emissions to reach the levels of the United States would be a ‘disaster for the world,’ the country’s minister responsible for climate policy has said.

Former Detective: NYPD Planted Drugs on People to Meet Drug Arrest Quotas | Drugs | AlterNet New York City police regularly planted drugs on innocent people to meet quotas.

Apple Granted “Slide to Unlock” Patent in U.S. “The device is unlocked if contact with the display corresponds to a predefined gesture [or path] for unlocking the device.” (Apple patents the light switch)
Why Did Amazon Profits Take A Hit? It Is Investing In The Future (Content And Web Services) | TechCrunch
Nokia N9 review -- Engadget

102511
Gaddafi Buried: Burial Of Gaddafi, Muatassim And Abu Bakr Younis In Secret Location
‘Obama doctrine’ begins to take shape - FT.com
Syrian state hospitals are torturing demonstrators, says rights group | World news | guardian.co.uk Amnesty International report says wounded protesters are being assaulted by medical staff and security personnel
Tunisia elections: An-Nahda party on course to win | World news | The Guardian Moderate Islamist party An-Nahda tipped for victory in Tunisia's first free elections nine months after people's revolution

The bankers' blockade of WikiLeaks must end | James Ball | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Whether you support WikiLeaks or not, the blockade by Visa, Mastercard, Paypal and others is a sinister attack on free speech (Obama hates free speech unless it's by a corporation)
Sex Abuse Claims: Vatican Investigates Ealing Abbey In London a Benedictine abbey in London, whose former head monk has disappeared while facing allegations of sexual assault (serial pedophiles; goes on and on and on)

Grand plan to solve euro crisis in doubt - Europe, World - The Independent
Occupy Wall Street: live coverage of protests | World news | guardian.co.uk Arrests at Occupy Oakland as police launch crackdown
Hard line adopted on Greek debt loss - FT.com European negotiators have asked Greek debt holders to accept a 60 per cent cut in the face value of their bonds, a hardline stance that far exceeds losses agreed in a deal between private investors and eurozone authorities three months ago.


Voters With Housing Woes Giving Up On Politicians (Obama hates homeowners)
Say Anything - NYTimes.com movement conservatism has become a closed, inward-looking universe in which you get points not by sounding reasonable to uncommitted outsiders — although there are a few designated pundits who play that role professionally — but by outdoing your fellow movement members in zeal. It’s sort of reminiscent of Stalinists going after Trotskyites in the old days:
Political Animal - ‘Beyond redemption’ “If Dick Lugar,” Danforth said, “having served five terms in the U.S. Senate and being the most respected person in the Senate and the leading authority on foreign policy, is seriously challenged by anybody in the Republican Party, we have gone so far overboard that we are beyond redemption.” That was 11 months ago ... (way beyond redemption)
Rick Perry: Obama Birth Certificate 'A Good Issue To Keep Alive' (video)
The Birther Issue: Where The Republican Presidential Candidates Stand
Haley Barbour To GOP Field: Drop The Birther Talk
The Washington Monthly she’s become a shell of her former self, leading to this op-ed — written with a right-wing Alabama senator, no less — demanding that the dysfunctional Senate adopt new ideas that make it more difficult to pass necessary legislation (Queen Olympia shows her true colors)
Ohio Voters Likely to Repeal Anti-Union Law | Elections
Scott Walker's Recall Plan: Rake in Unlimited Cash | Mother Jones
Keith Olbermann: Fox News Is A 'Political Whorehouse' (this is a "controversial" statement)
Judd Gregg The Hill Column - No, Judd, We Are Not Marching Toward a Social Welfare State - Esquire Judd Gregg — whose involvement in the death of the crucial CLASS health-care program we have admonished here and here — was once offered a job by the Obama Administration (remember that?)
‘I Refuse To Be Intimidated’: Birther OathKeeper’s Trial Heads To Jury | TPMMuckraker birther OathKeeper Darren Huff, who allegedly attempted to take over a Tennessee courthouse and conduct citizens arrests on local judges and officers.
Carrying a Gun Across States Isn't the Same as Driving a Car - Esquire - there are two compelling federal interests that conservatives believe override the principles of states rights and limited federal government. The one is being able to carry a gun down your pants, and the other is keeping gay people from marrying each other.

A 53% Surge in Poverty Rate Is Reshaping Suburbs - NYTimes.com “The whole political class is just getting the memo that Ozzie and Harriet don’t live here anymore,” said Edward Hill, dean of the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. ("whole political class" = Republicans)

No More Mister Nice Blog Everyone Hates Banksters -- Except The Teabaggers (exception is Southern Teabaggers +NPR lies to you all the time)
It’s on: Republicans slam Elizabeth Warren for embracing Occupy Wall Street - The Plum Line - The Washington Post
Oakland Police Use Rubber Bullets, Flash Grenades, And Smoke Bombs To Evict Occupy Oakland | ThinkProgress
Occupy Wall Street: live coverage of protests | World news | guardian.co.uk Arrests at Occupy Oakland as police launch crackdown
No More Mister Nice Blog - Murdoch Media Cherry-Picks Crime Stats For Political Reasons? I'm So Shocked - Southern criminals, anticipating the deployment of (mostly non-Southern) cops to Occupy protests nationwide, took advantage of the expected thinning of available ranks to mount their attacks. Am I close, Rupert?
Naomi Wolf: true radical or ultra egoist? | Profile | From the Observer | The Observer The feminist beauty who has plundered her own life to produce bestsellers has been arrested over the Wall Street protests. Is this a new departure into genuine activism or yet more self-publicity?
Class Warfare Breaks Out Within The 'Occupy' Movement
How lack of transparency enables police brutality | David Packman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk We know police brutality is a serious problem in the US, but law enforcement agencies are able to suppress the key information - 45 states now place restrictions on the release of information about police misconduct; 22 of those prohibit the release of any disciplinary information whatsoever.
Have Glock, Will Travel - NYTimes.com (Republicans and Dems bow to NRA)

Eschaton: Euphemisms Just a reminder that "recapitalization" is the new preferred term for "bank bailout" otherwise known as "giving free money to rich overpaid assholes who keep trying to destroy the world."
Income Distribution: Poor, Rich, And Richest [graphic]
A 53% Surge in Poverty Rate Is Reshaping Suburbs - NYTimes.com

How 18th-Century Copiale Cipher Was Cracked - NYTimes.com
On the menu, but not on your plate - The Boston Globe
Gas pump handles top study of filthy surfaces | Reuters


Congress asked to investigate internet “supercookies” | Oregon Business News
Did Android copy iOS? We asked Google's product manager... | Technology | guardian.co.uk (psycho-Jobs)
NFLX: Netflix Stock Plummets On Weak Outlooks, Downgrades
Netflix’s Nightmare Continues: Loses 800,000 Subscribers in Third Quarter

102411
Gaddafi Death Questioned
As Libya Takes Stock, Muammar Gaddafi's Hidden Riches Astound $200 billion in bank accounts, real estate and corporate investments around the world before he was killed, about $30,000 for every Libyan citizen
Libya: Apparent Execution of 53 Gaddafi Supporters | Human Rights Watch
Gaddafi sodomized: Video shows abuse frame by frame
Switching Focus from Iraq to Iran by Ray McGovern -- Antiwar.com America’s neocons apparently hoped that Israel would be the beneficiary, with a U.S.-occupied Iraq serving as a land-based aircraft carrier for applying military pressure on neighboring Iran and Syria. But you don’t start a war on hope.
poorrichards blog: Muslim Solidarity in the Middle East and the end of Jewish Serial Wars–The Real “Iranian Bomb” Israel Fears More Than Anything Else
Why is the oil price still so high? - Telegraph Libyan oil has returned to the market. But the price has remained above $100 a barrel (well, you see ...)

Eurozone debt crisis live: Eurozone lurches closer to recession | Business | guardian.co.uk Worse-than-expected eurozone data reignite recession fears (more austerity needed)
The Hole in Europe’s Bucket - NYTimes.com as one rescue plan after another falls flat, Europe’s Very Serious People — who are, if such a thing is possible, even more pompous and self-regarding than their American counterparts — just keep looking more and more ridiculous (our very serious people are insane, literally)
Open Europe blog: Doom, Gloom and a dash of slapstick: Commentariat responds to EU summit

Les Hinton: I was right to say phone hacking was not rife | Media | guardian.co.uk Former News International executive stands by his statement to parliament in 2009 despite having seen Clive Goodman letter ("I stand by my previous lies")

WikiLeaks suspends publishing to fight financial blockade | Media | guardian.co.uk Julian Assange says banking bans have destroyed 95% of whistleblowing site's revenues (with Obama's support)
Anonymous Vows to Shut Down Fox News

US pulls ambassador Robert Ford out of Syria over security concerns | World news | guardian.co.uk Officials say Ford – who angered Syrian regime over his support for anti-Assad protesters – had been threatened with his life
Program To Train Iraqi Troops Could Become 'Bottomless Pit' Of U.S. Money, Report Warns (depends on how you define "out")
The Frame: Japan marks 6 months since earthquake, tsunami

Political Animal - The incentive behind GOP obstructionism This private citizen agrees with Obama, but is inclined to vote for Romney anyway — even though Romney would move the country in the other direction — because the president hasn’t been able to “rally the political forces” to act sensibly in Washington (media never covers Republican obstructionism)
Political Animal - What to expect from a Romney budget In other words, one of Romney’s key ideas on how best to make the deficit smaller would actually make the deficit much bigger. Anyone who thinks this guy has credibility on these issues just isn’t paying close enough attention.
Michele Bachmann Denies Abortion Comment: 'I Don't Think I Ever Said That' "I think that's referring to late-term abortion, and I think that's something that most people find anathema, and they would prefer to see it outlawed,"
Pat Buchanan Appears On "Pro-White" Radio Show | Media Matters for America (NPR/MSNBC's favorite racist commentator)

Hullabaloo Picking the right target (link to CNN poll on WS bankers - 50% of Teapartiers believe Wall St is honest, much higher than neutral/oppose TP +diagnostic for delusionality)
Occupy Wall Street puts spotlight on police stop-and-frisk tactics | World news | guardian.co.uk Protests over targeting of black and Hispanic men amid claims that NYPD commissioner says policy is used to 'instil fear'
'Chemical Bomb' Thrown at Occupy Maine Encampment - New York News - Runnin' Scared
Occupy Wall Street Demonstration - Kalispell Montana - 10/22/11 - YouTube - "OWS is just a communist big government hippie mob."
Shakesville: Occupy Everywhere & Economic News Round-Up
Doonesbury Strip - The rich have won

Obama’s efforts to aid homeowners, boost housing market fall far short of goals - The Washington Post (Obama's biggest obstruction was always himself)
DownWithTyranny!: The Age-Old Conservative Crusade To Guarantee The Rich Pay Less - The flat tax is a fraud. It raises taxes on the poor and lowers them on the rich.
Hullabaloo - Radical Conservatives - At its core, conservatism has been since the 18th century a slow, grinding fight against the Enlightenment.
Lack of jobs leaves more suburban, middle class sliding into poverty - Chicago Sun-Times (they are all experiencing David Brooks' "moral reawakening")
Obama’s efforts to aid homeowners, boost housing market fall far short of goals - The Washington Post Generally, the Treasury secretary did not regard direct homeowner aid as the best use of taxpayer dollars. He favored expanding the economy by spending money on construction projects or programs to keep teachers and other workers employed, which would help the housing market. In meetings, Geithner would tell the president that if he suddenly had $100 billion more to spend, he would never advise spending it on housing (Obama's Republican policies failed, who could have predicted?)
poorrichards blog: What Would Happen if Goldman Sachs Disappeared?
New Obama Foreclosure Plan Helps Banks At Taxpayers' Expense (there you go)
Local News | Seattle's street plan is 'recipe for disaster' | Seattle Times Newspaper One out of every four major roads in the city is in serious disrepair. One out of every 10 is in such bad shape that it'll have to be reconstructed, according to the city's transportation department. In all, 400 miles of major streets need fixing, at an estimated cost of about $578 million (infrastructure crumbling; for the price of Iraq, America could have rebuilt itself; Republicans hate roads)

Wheelchair Bound Woman Shouted Down At New Jersey Health Care Town Hall - YouTube (the 99% is eating itself) and a quote from Al Franken in comments   -->   "In her book, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century, Barbara Tuchman writes about a peasant revolt in 1358 that began in the village of St. Leu and spread throughout the Oise Valley. At one estate, the serfs sacked the manor house, killed the knight, and roasted him on a spit in front of his wife and kids. Then, after ten or twelve peasants violated the lady, with his children watching, they forced her to eat the roasted flesh of her husband and then killed her. "That is class warfare.   "Arguing over the optimum marginal tax rate for the top one percent is not."

Crowded planet: Global population hits 7 billion | Environment | The Guardian
Focus on HIV-Aids cost family planning a decade, says UN population chief | Environment | The Guardian Babatunde Osotimehin says it was hard to talk about cutting birth rate as families lost their children
Physicists unveil a theory for a new kind of superconductivity
BBC One - Frozen Planet

ICE Sued For Alleged Warrantless Raid In TN: ‘We’re ICE…The Warrant Is Coming Out Of My Balls’ | TPMMuckraker
Republican New Jersey Mayor Caught Up In ‘Rentboy’ Scandal | TPMMuckraker A Republican mayor in New Jersey denies that he agreed to pay a California man for sex through the website Rentboy.com, and says he doesn’t even know if the pictures posted of him in bright blue underwear are real (eeewwww)

No, Christian Louboutin, wearing high heels does not lead to orgasm! | Life and style | The Guardian
AmgezaGautengSavingCalf_Short - YouTube

Paging James Bond: Researchers Develop System That Wipes Data Based On Location | TPM Idea Lab
Reddit teaches Amazon the power of over-the-top customer service | Techi.com

102311
Turkey earthquake leaves as many as 1,000 people feared dead | World news | The Guardian Towns of Ercis and Van in mountainous region of eastern Turkey appear to be worst affected by 7.2 magnitude quake
Turkey earthquake: 7.2 quake in Turkey kills 85, collapses buildings - latimes.com
Magnitude 7.2 - Eastern Turkey

Libya's transitional leader declares liberation - Yahoo! News
Reduced To One | Talking Points Memo
Gaddafi's last words as he begged for mercy: 'What did I do to you?' | World news | The Observer As National Transitional Council fighters fought their way into Sirte, radio intercepts spoke of 'an asset' in the besieged city. But no one knew until the final moments that the deposed dictator was within their grasp
Gaddafi's corpse continues to attract impatient Misrata hordes | World news | The Guardian Queues continue at the meat cooler that houses the body of deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi - "Did anyone complain when the Americans shot Osama [bin Laden] in the head?" asked a rebel leader (race to the bottom in moral equivalences led by Amercia)
Boundaries are crossed as grim images of Gaddafi flood the media | Peter Preston | Comment is free | The Observer Publishing graphic pictures of the dead and dying has become less taboo over the years; but the tone of vengeance Fleet Street adopted for this death was new

Tunisians flock to voting stations for first taste of democracy in 50 years | World news | The Guardian People queue to vote as candidates from 110 political parties and scores of independents bid to join new 217-seat government
Hamid Karzai claims on TV his country 'will side with Pakistan if US attacks' | World news | The Guardian Afghan president accused of hypocrisy and ingratitude over remarks made soon after Hillary Clinton's visit to the region (a trillion dollars for this)
Iran's assassination plot compels a tough response | John Bolton | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk (comments 100% negative on Bolton's neocon lies)
'Die Welt': Iran building rocket bases in Venezuela - JPost - International - . Die Welt cited information from “Western security insiders.” ("insiders" - John Bolton - Israel cranks up ridiculous propaganda)
The Excavator: Israel And America Declare Total War on Persia The state terrorist regimes in Israel, Saudi Arabia and Washington are madly pushing for world war three in the Middle East.
The new U.S. Zionist: Israel-bashing, made kosher | BobTuskin.com The deal to release Gilad Shalit has changed the way American Zionists relate to the Israeli government – and the freedom with which they criticize its policies.

285 Indian girls shed 'unwanted' names – usatoday.com a 15-year-old girl who had been named Nakusa by a grandfather disappointed by her birth. She chose the new name "Ashmita," which means "very tough" or "rock hard" in Hindi.

Meanwhile, Greece - NYTimes.com

Republican Polls' Roller Coaster Powered By News Coverage
Lindsey Graham: Obama ‘Failed’ In Iraq | TPMDC (but Bush was a huge success)
Jim Webb's Criminal Justice Overhaul Commission Blocked Again In Senate Sen. Jim Webb's effort to reform criminal justice in the United States has once again been blocked in the Senate.
Meet the Patch: Assemblyman Jones Backs State Prisons in Other Nations - La Mesa, CA Patch
State loan program that Perry touted had to be bailed out
Picking on Gregg Easterbrook « Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science

Over A Third Of Americans Support Occupy Wall Street Protests: Poll [LIVE UPDATES] More than one-third of the country supports the Wall Street protests, and even more – 58 percent – say they are furious about America's politics.
Videos - Occupy America Social Network
Occupy: protesters in their own words | World news | The Observer London became part of the global Occupy movement when protesters set up camp at St Paul's. From Frankfurt to Madrid, Wall Street to Athens, people are taking to the streets to rage against greed and inequality. Who are the demonstrators and what do they hope to achieve?
Knife-wielding man attacks Occupy Albuquerque protest The man, Miguel Aguirre, 48, later told police that their presence was disrespectful to a state university,
occupy amsterdam - 22-10-2011 - YouTube
Occupy Wall Street - Chris Hedges shuts down CBC Kevin O'Leary - YouTube.flv - YouTube

Robert Waldmann: Questions About Nominal GDP Targeting - RJW still cannot spell "targeting" - And if that doesn't work, you lend JPMorganChase $30 billion on the security of Jamie Dimon's dog.

Major ALS Breakthrough – Common Cause of All Forms of ALS Discovered | Neuroscience News The basis of the disorder is a broken down protein recycling system in the neurons of the spinal cord and the brain.

Time Warner Customer Service Rep Told to Stop Giving CPR to Dying Co-Worker and Get Back to Work | Video Cafe
Black people blatantly excluded from Alabama juries, lawsuit claims | World news | guardian.co.uk Discriminatory practices outlawed in 1875 still rife across the US south, lawyers allege in new class action (the South rose and that was that)
Police brutality charges sweep across the US | World news | The Observer From Naomi Wolf's arrest in New York to shootings in Tucson and Florida, forces face allegations of abuse of power (10 years of training cops to fight "terrorism")
Chicago police officer investigated for three shootings, two of them fatal - chicagotribune.com
Mountain Jesus statue could lose its lease - dailytribune.com amid an argument over the separation of church and state.
Church Of Scientology Investigated 'South Park' Creators Matt Stone, Trey Parker: Report

Watch Out MAFIAA, Antibiotics Don’t Work On Viral Pirates | TorrentFreak
Add Nyan Cat To Your Progress Bars, Because It’s Awesome
Technolog - Malware can cripple your Mac's built-in security tools

102211
Libya prepares for liberation ceremony | World news | guardian.co.uk Governing National Transitional Council plans declaration as Nato announces it will end military operation on 31 October

Iraq By The Numbers: The World's Costliest Cakewalk | ThinkProgress - $3 – $5 trillion in total economic cost to the United States of the Iraq war (0 "weapons of mass destruction" - where were the Republican deficit hawks for 8 years? ... oh wait)
WhoWhatWhy’s Libya Primer: The (Still) Untold Back Story to Qaddafi’s Demise - WhoWhatWhy | WhoWhatWhy
U.S. departure will leave Iraq on its own in a sea of conflict | McClatchy
Iraq casualties and deaths by US state: mapped | Datablog | News | guardian.co.uk
Iraq Troop Withdrawal: Immunity Issue Scuttled Deal, Says Iraq PM (military wanted immunity for their criminal actions)
Fox's Iraq War Cheerleaders Are Crestfallen Over Withdrawal | Media Matters for America (giant worldwide penis!)
Blasts in Baghdad's Sadr City kill at least 18, wound 40 | McClatchy

German Pirate Party Riding the Wave of Success | TorrentFreak This week the German Pirate Party reached an impressive milestone as it hit double digits in the polls for the national elections. With one in ten Germans embracing the ideas of the young party, the Pirates are on course to gain serious influence in one of the world’s major political arenas.
Thailand Floods 2011: Water May Stay For Six More Weeks, PM Says
Tunisia Elections 2011: First Free And Multiparty Polls
U.S.-Pakistan talks won't lead to military action against Haqqani | McClatchy

21st-Century China - Alan Taylor - In Focus - The Atlantic
Without credit card donations, WikiLeaks facing funding crisis | McClatchy Visa, MasterCard and PayPal have refused for more than 10 months to process donations made on its behalf.

Jens Weidmann, German Central Bank Governor, Says Expanding Euro Bailout Fund Won't Solve Crisis
Europe on the breadline: 'Chaos is a Greek word' | World news | guardian.co.uk (destroying the middle class to save criminal banksters)

Party of Pollution - NYTimes.com So what is the G.O.P. jobs plan? The answer, in large part, is to allow more pollution.
Obama's Foreign Policy Successes May Help Little In 2012 Ninety-three percent of those questioned said the economy was an extremely or very important issue. By comparison, 73 percent put the same emphasis on terrorism.

Gallup: Obama's approval rating hits another low | McClatchy new low of 41 percent in the 11th financial quarter of his term,
Why Did the White House Cancel the Rose Garden Bill Signing Ceremony for the Free Trade Agreements? - ABC News White House officials say the president’s schedule is too busy. (Though, it should be noted, he made time to greet labor leaders and workers in the Rose Garden who had planned to attend the signing ceremony.
Which States Are Most Enthusiastic About Obama’s Reelection? -- Daily Intel
Hullabaloo - Reverse Robin Hoods - Republicans are actually arguing that the biggest problem in this country is that the rich are being asked to pay too much in federal taxes while the poor --- mostly single mothers with children -- are not paying their fair share. And it is a national disgrace that 47% of Americans are that poor. (Anderson Cooper apologizes for repeating Republican lie during debate; show you how informed our elite press is)
Herman Cain Stumbling Under Glare Of National Spotlight (clown of the week)
Veterans Benefits: Lawmakers Open To Changes In Military Benefits The government's promise of lifetime health care for the military's men and women is suddenly a little less sacrosanct as Congress looks to slash trillion-dollar-plus deficits.
California Republican: State Should Imprison Undocumented Immigrants Abroad (rendite them to Bagram)
Corbett: Transportation not at top of list | Philadelphia Inquirer | 10/22/2011 vouchers and the Marcellus Shale were priorities (Republican Gov: drill, baby, drill)
Past Her Freshness Date | TBogg This is how the leader of the lost becomes a loss leader… (Sarah Palin and the dustbin of Republican idiocy)
Federal Judge: Republicans Only Cooperated With FBI In Alabama Bingo Bribery Case Because They’re Racists | TPMMuckraker
Sorry, Texas Prisoners! No Lunch For You On Weekends | Crooks and Liars (starvation as a cost-cutting measure)
Fla. state Senator's call to check Hispanic voters' citizenship draws fire | McClatchy voters should be screened for citizenship before legislators draw a congressional district to favor Hispanics.
Commentary: What happens when illegal immigrants go away? | McClatchy Here’s what you get when you get the Mexicans to leave: Rotting crops, businesses closing, concerned police, children missing school. And, of course, families torn apart (go Republicans!)
Hullabaloo more proof that the Bible-thumping nuts are no longer are the driving core of the GOP base. They've been replaced by the cult of Objectivism that has taken center stage in the GOP. It's a new Randian day in the GOP, and the Bachmann/Santorum crowd are just being used and taken along for the ride.

David Brooks Does Not Get the Moral Norm of Being Broke - Esquire - Charles Pierce (at his best +elitist idiots)

Bernie Sanders: America's No1 socialist makes his move into the mainstream | World news | guardian.co.uk Vermont senator, for years a political exile, insists his left-wing beliefs chime with Americans far more than people think
Allen West: Occupy Movement Is a Commie "Gang" Full of "the Bad People" - Broward/Palm Beach News - The Daily Pulp
Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie Occupy Wall Street, Perform (video)
Cornel West Arrested: Activist Allegedly Arrested Taking Part In Occupy Wall Street Protest In New York
Teacher Fired For Anti-Semitic Comments At 'Occupy' Rally - Careers Articles , "I think that the Zionist Jews who are running these big banks and our Federal Reserve, which is not run by the federal government, they need to be run out of this country." (no free speech for teachers, either)
Public Parks Should Be Occupied | ThinkProgress (parks are not for people)
Hullabaloo The real whiners in our society are the insufferable masters of the Universe who behave as if they've been literally crucufied for being called on their selfishness and greed and act like psychopathic frat boys when confronted with their disgusting behavior.

Climate Change Deniers Abandon ‘Befuddled Warmist’ Physicist Who Came Around On Global Warming | TPMDC
Pathogen Genomics Has Become Dirt Cheap: Scientific American Podcast a pathogen's genome has dropped in 10 years from $500,000 to as low as $10. Steve Mirsky reports
Global Village Construction Set by Marcin Jakubowski — Kickstarter
Study: Many college students not learning to think critically | McClatchy

The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - YouTube

Google Said To Consider Possible Yahoo Bid (eMeg's mission?)
Facebook's Privacy Policy Under Scrutiny In Europe, Partly Because Students Complained (they are saving everything you do)
Anonymous exposes pedophile ring - hacks Lolita City - National Anonymous | Examiner.com
Anonymous Attacks Child Porn Websites and Publish User Names | ZDNet
Opdarknet's Pastebin - Pastebin.com

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Colonel Muammar Gaddafi obituary | World news | The Guardian Narcissistic leader of Libya since 1969 who backed terrorism round the world and became US public enemy number one
Libya after Gaddafi - Friday 21 October | World news | guardian.co.uk Confusion over exactly how Gaddafi died
Muammar Gaddafi, the 'king of kings', dies in his hometown | World news | The Guardian Libya's former leader killed by rebels in Sirte in wake of French air strike, although precise details of his death remain unclear
Muammar Gaddafi's 'trophy' body on show in Misrata meat store | World news | The Guardian Libyans queue to see dictator's body as wounds appear to confirm he was killed in cold blood
Some Vindication for Obama’s Approach to War - NYTimes.com “The whole thing cost $1 billion,” said Micah Zenko, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “It’s a rounding error.”
Gaddafi dead: Hillary Clinton reacts to news of his capture on BlackBerry | Mail Online

Iraq rejects US request to maintain bases after troop withdrawal | World news | guardian.co.uk Obama announces the full withdrawal of troops from Iraq but fails to persuade Nouri al-Maliki to allow US to keep bases there
Obama Announces Iraq Troops Will Be Withdrawn By End Of 2011 ("contractors" not included)
The Iraq War Ain’t Over, No Matter What Obama Says | Danger Room | Wired.com President Obama announced on Friday that all 41,000 U.S. troops currently in Iraq will return home by December 31. “That is how America’s military efforts in Iraq will end,” he said. Don’t believe him ("On January 1, 2012, the State Department will command a hired army of about 5,500 security contractors, all to protect the largest U.S. diplomatic presence anywhere overseas.")
Syrian protesters vow to bring down Assad regime | World news | The Guardian Death of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya brings new momentum to uprising as demonstrators call for international military intervention

US and China call for action on eurozone debt crisis | Business | The Guardian Wen Jiabao lectures EU leaders on the need for structural reform but they will make no decision until summit next week

Rupert Murdoch speaks of 'unfair attack' in face of shareholder revolt | Media | The Guardian News Corp chairman and chief executive makes defiant address at annual shareholder's meeting in Los Angeles
Murdoch Faces Angry News Corp. Shareholders (recap)

Hullabaloo - "Something must be done. That something? Nothing" (Colbert)
Okkupy teh LOL Streetz! - Teh Banksters foreclosed on mah Cheezburger

Cantor Cancels Income Inequality Speech After Learning It Will Be Open To The Public. | ThinkProgress (chicken-shit Republicans)
Jon Stewart Rips GOP, Fox News Reaction To Gaddafi's Death: 'WTF Is Wrong With You People?' (video) Three in particular, Arizona Senator John McCain, Florida Senator Marco Runio and Iowa Senator Charles Grassley, gave credit to Great Britain and France instead of the U.S. or President Obama
Herman Cain Compares Social Security To Slavery | ThinkProgress (debasing the capacity for thought)
Mark Sanford To Fox News: Ex-South Carolina Governor Joins Network (welfare for failed Republicans)

Rich People Create Jobs! | Mother Jones And five other myths that must die for our economy to live (the lies they tell you)
Former Financial Regulator William Black: Occupy Wall Street a Counter to White-Collar Fraud
ABC Uncovers Scandal: Electric-Car Companies Using Federal Money To Create American Jobs | Media Matters for America (shocking Republican revelation)
Galileo Satellite Navigation System: EU Launches Its First Satellite Navigation System

Climate Skeptics Take Another Hit | Mother Jones - Muller said, "Our biggest surprise was that the new results agreed so closely with the warming values published previously by other teams in the US and the UK." In other words, climate scientists know what they're doing after all. (Koch-funded study: "hockey-stick" turns out to be true; 98% of Republicans unfazed by facts)

How Symphonies Grew Strong Audiences By Killing The Myth Of The Average Consumer | Fast Company It turns out the quality of the orchestra, magnificence of the hall, and virtuosity of the conductor were not particularly important attributes. What was? Drum roll! The most powerful "driver of revisitation" was parking!
Joe. My. God.: Dominionism & The Mayor Of Vallejo CA
Dems' New Faith Outreach Director "Pro-Life" and Against Marriage Equality (Updated) | Religion Dispatches


Steve Jobs Said He'd 'Go Thermonuclear War' On Google Over iPhone 'Theft' Jobs also slammed Google's work, telling Isaacson that "outside of Search, Google's products--Android, Google Docs--are shit." (psycho-Jobs)

102011
Gaddafi killed as Sirte falls - live coverage | World news | guardian.co.uk Libyan PM confirms death of former dictator
Gaddafi removed from truck apparently alive - video | World news | guardian.co.uk
Lindsey Graham: 'Let's Get In On The Ground. There's A Lot Of Money To Be Made In The Future Of Libya' | ThinkProgress
In Egypt, corruption cases had an American root - The Washington Post (your State Dept at work)

Man killed in Greek austerity protests - live | Business | guardian.co.uk - t least 74 people were taken to hospital today after being injured during the protests.

The Volokh Conspiracy » French Court Orders ISPs to Block Access to Site That “Allow[s] Civilians to Post Videos of Alleged Police Misconduct”
Tristane Banon: 'I feel total relief at Dominique Strauss-Kahn ruling' | World news | The Guardian French writer speaks out after prosecutor says there was evidence that former IMF chief sexually assaulted her

States Warn That Tax Revenues Aren’t Rebounding - NYTimes.com - “We are in the fragile aftermath of the Great Recession, where a return to normalcy seems like a mirage in the desert — the closer we get to it, the further it moves away.” (well, do more austerity and kick out more immigrants)
Flashback: In His Book, Romney Attacked Obama's Foreign Policy For Appeasing Qaddafi | ThinkProgress
Herman Cain's 9-9-9 Plan Is Very Regressive | ThinkProgress (tax the poor! free the rich!)
Herman Cain: Jesus Was Killed By A 'Liberal Court'
Herman Cain Blames The Unemployed, GOP Debate Audience Cheers (video)
Oklahoma Abortion Law Blocked By District Judge
Steve Israel Furious At Republican Charge That He Embraces Anti-Semitism In Occupy Wall Street "They are questioning my commitment to my own religion."
How The NRA Plans To Force Nearly Every State To Follow The Nation's Worst Gun Laws | ThinkProgress 246 lawmakers signed onto the bill in the House, all but ensuring that it will pass that chamber, and more than half of the Senate Republican caucus
Pat Buchanan Attacks Army For Celebrating Diversity | Media Matters for America
Pat Buchanan: Blacks Have Lost The American Identity They Had During Segregation | Media Matters for America

Tea Partiers: The self-hating 99 per cent - Opinion - Al Jazeera English Although the Tea Party and Occupy movement share surface similarities, they represent opposite world views.
Lisa Simeone Under Fire From National Public Radio For Part In D.C. Protests, Remains 'World of Opera' Host - Simeone, as it happens, is not an NPR employee, so what appears to be happening is that they are putting pressure on her employers to get rid of her. Wednesday night, she was fired from "Soundprint," despite the fact that the show isn't produced by NPR - Simeone had to await word on whether she'd continue to be allowed to fully exercise her rights while simultaneously continuing to appreciate opera on the radio. (not-so-nice Republican radio controlling your thoughts)
Occupy Wall Street And Anonymous: Turning A Fledgling Movement Into A Meme
Update: Citibank Protester Talks About Undercover Infiltration In Occupy Wall Street | The New York Observer
U.S. Median Income Falls To $26,364 As Pessimism Reaches 10-Year High The number of workers making $1 million or more actually rose to nearly 94,000 last year from 78,000 in 2009
Revealed – the capitalist network that runs the world - physics-math - 19 October 2011 - New Scientist

Global warming study finds no grounds for climate sceptics' concerns | Environment | The Guardian Independent investigation of the key issues sceptics claim can skew global warming figures reports that they have no real effect (2% of Republicans believe in global warming)

Neutrino watch: Speed claim baffles CERN theoryfest - physics-math - 19 October 2011 - New Scientist
Scientists Study Jill Abramson's Speech, Find it Unusual - New York News - Runnin' Scared
Language Log » Jill Abramson’s voice

Study: More Than Half Of Women Are Attracted To... Other Women 0 per cent of heterosexual women find other women sexually attractive.
Wife wants an open relationship OR a divorce. Wat do? : AskReddit

101911
As Assassination Plot Becomes a Sideshow, U.S.-Iran Tensions Hinge on the Nuclear Issue - Global Spin - TIME.com

Sarkozy flies in for emergency euro talks to cement rescue deal | Business | The Guardian In Athens protesters hurl marble and petrol bombs at police

Phone hacking: NI lawyer says he knew its 'rogue reporter' defence was wrong | Media | guardian.co.uk Farrer & Co partner tells MPs he was aware company had misled parliament but did not act because of client confidentiality

Super Committee Keeps Negotiations Under Wraps On Wednesday, the Gang of Six, which also conducted much of its deliberation behind closed doors, met privately with the super committee members (double sooper-secrit)
Obama Takes Aim At Republican Jobs Plan : NPR (they have a jobs plan?)
Verbal Sparring Between Romney and Perry Highlight GOP Debate, But Three Bachmann Quotes Prove She Needs to Go Home - Dallas News - Unfair Park every time she opened her mouth, something crazy came out, but three of her comments stand out in particular as ones that make you want to jab an ice-pick in your eye and beg for mercy.
Mitt Romney Bushifies Rick Perry: Too Slow To Win? | Election 2012 (is a rock too dumb?)
Poll: Ohio Ready To Repeal Union Busting Bill | Election 2012 The buyer’s remorse over Kasich is not new in Ohio. The Governor seemed to have rankled his state almost immediately by proposing SB 5, the union-busting bill (how's that Teaparty thing working out for you?)
FBI was investigating Rep. John Murtha for possible corruption, new records show - The Washington Post
GOP Rep. Asked Paper To Keep Town Hall Secret, Selected Residents Who Were Invited | ThinkProgress (they might act like teapartiers)

Occupy Wall St: Naomi Wolf condemns 'Stalinist' erosion of protest rights | World news | guardian.co.uk Author was arrested alongside Occupy Wall Street protesters after she disputed police claims that they had to clear sidewalk (wearing her arrest outfit)
Federal judge tells police not to ticket Occupy protesters | Cincinnati.com - saying they want City Manager Milton Dohoney to stop allowing the Occupy Cincinnati protesters to stay in the park – or they’ll take a no-confidence vote in the manager.
Allen West: Occupy Wall Street Has Ties To Communists, Nazis, MLK Would Not Have Supported It

GAO Finds Serious Conflicts at the Fed - Newsroom: Bernie Sanders - U.S. Senator for Vermont
The Financialization of the American Economy Finance and Insurance go from 3.8% of GDP in 1960 to 6% of GDP in 1990 to 8.7% of GDP today. Real Estate (rentals, sales commissions, and imputed rent on owner-occupied housing) goes from 10.7% of GDP in 1960 to 12% of GDP in 1990 to 13.7% of GDP today (empty GDP)
Morgan Stanley Nets $2.15 Billion Profit On Accounting Gain

GOP Rep. Asked Paper To Keep Town Hall Secret, Selected Residents Who Were Invited | ThinkProgress
Teens' IQs Can Fluctuate, Study Suggests | Intelligence Quotient, IQ Test & Adolescents | LiveScience

'Faces' sign torn down and crushed - Boston.com

China Becomes Apple’s Second-Largest Market as ‘Sky’s the Limit,’ CEO Says - Bloomberg (a match made in hell)

101811
Yemeni unarmed protesters killed by loyalist gunmen | World news | guardian.co.uk Seven killed and over 50 wounded as government forces open fire on mass demonstration against Ali Abdullah Saleh
Middle East witnesses day of euphoria and tears both sides of the divide | World news | The Guardian Israeli relief tinged with anxiety over Gilad Shalit's physical and mental state as Palestinians welcome back hundreds

Athens braced for 'mother of all strikes' | Business | The Guardian Thousands of riot police are being rushed to Athens ahead of what one Greek daily has dubbed 'the mother of all strikes' – a 48-hour stoppage with a pledge by unions to flood the capital with protesters
France and Germany ready to agree €2tn euro rescue fund | Business | The Guardian Leaders of France and Germany aim to calm market fears before G20 (more banker bailouts on the back of your austerity)
Surprise Anti-Austerians - NYTimes.com the two most prominent institutions calling for an end to the disastrous turn to short-run austerity are … Goldman Sachs and the International Monetary Fund (giant fuck-up, the hippies were right, but its too late: more austerity on the way!)

BBC News - Spain's stolen babies and the families who lived a lie (the world's largest pedophile ring is also the world's largest baby-stealing organization)

Who Mailed the Anthrax Letters? - NYTimes.com (was it Cheney in the lab with a beaker? "some say" he had both means and motive)
McClatchy | The search for the anthrax killer (huge Gov coverup)

Balloon Juice » Real Americans Suffer In Silence The salt of the Earth, rock-ribbed masses are embracing austerity and reaffirming their role as doormats for the wealthy, apparently (David Brooks outdoing Bill Keller; Brooks still champ)
Hillary Clinton Receiving Donations Of $20.12 From Voters Who Want Her To Challenge President Obama
Deportation Figures: ICE Says It Has Removed A Record 400,000 Immigrants From U.S. In 2011 (Obama's global war on brown people)
Hannity: Obama "Grew Up In Kenya" | Media Matters for America (facts are not the issue)

Obama administration 'bailed out' GM salmon firm | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Occupy Wall Street’s Marxists--Charles Gasparino - NYPOST.com (how Murdoch spins OWS)
Wall Street lobbyists rage at Dems for supporting Occupy Wall Street - The Plum Line - The Washington Post (their feeling are hurt)
OSCOTUS: What OWS protesters should focus on at the Supreme Court. - Slate Magazine As Occupy Wall Street protesters look to the Supreme Court, they’ll find more to be outraged about than the Citizens United case.
DNC Slams Romney’s ‘Appalling’ Foreclosure Comments | Election 2012 (why? it's the same as Obama's)
Refi's in Big Bank Foreclosure Settlement: Not Worth It (another Obama program designed to fail the 99%)
Goldman Sachs reports third quarter loss of $393m | Business | The Guardian Goldman third-quarter revenues down 60% to $3.59bn - 'Compensation expense' equivalent to $292,836 for each worker (with the janitors averaged in)
Investor’s Business Daily Doesn’t Understand Fiscal Impulse | Jared Bernstein | On the Economy (oh, dear)

Malaria vaccine could save millions of children's lives | Society | The Guardian Researchers 'on the cusp' of a vaccine after widescale African trial shows the risk of malaria cut in half
'Stimulated' stem cells stop donor organ rejection
When did the giant impact that formed the Moon take place?
A molecule worth its weight in gold to fight cancer EPFL scientists have shown that inorganic, metal-containing molecules can be used to fight cancer. The discovery has opened up a whole new area of research.
ADHD in toddlers: How can you tell? - Slate Magazine Don’t all little kids have short attention spans?
Effectiveness Of Statins Could Be Determined By Our Gut Bugs, Study Finds
Obama administration 'bailed out' GM salmon firm | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Cellphones and radiation: Is exposure underestimated? | McClatchy

Alabama Immigration Law: Experiment To Replace Workers With Unemployed Coming Up Short Recruit unemployed U.S. citizens to do the work, give them free transportation and pay them to pick the fruit and clean the fields - "You can't get the (American) workers out here to do the work that the Hispanics were doing. They're just not capable." (total fail; go Alabama!)
philebrity.com » Blog Archive » Inky Sheepishly Admits It’s Thinking Of Moving To Fucking New Jersey Moving to New Jersey is like Beetlejuice: Say it three times, and you’re already there.
Gay Sex Study Conducted By George Mason University Reveals Surprising Results 49.1% of respondents said they had had their last "sexual event" in their home and 28.6% had sex in their partner's home. 7.2% had sex in a hotel or motel, 3.7% in a public space, and 1.6% in a vehicle.
Breast cancer and 'the pinking of America': By the numbers - The Week From football uniforms to yogurt containers, everything is turning pink for breast cancer awareness this month, but some think all the color is overshadowing the cause (the Susan G Komen corp)

Number of Cambridge House, Senate districts reduced in redistricting proposal - Cambridge, Massachusetts - Cambridge Chronicle there will be five state reps instead of six serving Cambridge, unifying one of the most gerrymandered cities in the Commonwealth.

Public Opinion [pic] - Digg - Jobs vs Gates
Mass Infringement Lawyer Complains About Too Many People Challenging His Lawsuits | Techdirt
Twitter chief: We will protect our users from Government - Telegraph Dick Costolo, Twitter's chief, has stood by the company’s decision not to suspend the service during the UK riots or disclose user identities to authorities.

101711
Argentina Suffering From Default: Not on This Planet | Beat the Press (on the NPR, NYT and austerity planets; yes, NPR lies to you)
Bankers Balk at EU Push for Higher Greek Losses, Capital - Bloomberg (bankers demand more free bail-outs)
French debt rating at risk as Germany warns there is no quick fix for crisis | Business | The Guardian Stock markets and oil prices fell in response to German finance minister's comments, while Moody's issues warning to France (tick ... tick ... tick ...)

US troop withdrawal leaves Pakistan vulnerable to attack by insurgents | World news | The Guardian Taliban exploiting a security vacuum in the wake of American forces departing from eastern Afghanistan

Only 9% Of President Obama’s News Coverage Positive | Election 2012
Livewire | TPM with former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney at 32.6 percent and businessman Herman Cain at 30.2. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is third with 11.2 percent (he shoved himself off a cliff)
Parts Of Obama's 2011 Jobs Bill The GOP Supported (Obama's jobs plan a hodge-podge of failed Republican ideas)

Balloon Juice » Wrongopedia At what point in time should journalists, bloggers, etc … hold those who made wildly inaccurate predications on the lifting of the ban accountable? All the retired generals and officers (LTG Mixon, Merrill A. McPeak and Col. Dave Bedey for example) who predicted that soldiers would leave the military by the thousands, or John McCain and other politicians describing how it would affect us as a fighting force? At some point I feel that the public should be reminded of their predictions so the next time they make predictions that are way off the mark, fewer people will give them credence (our culture of unaccountability)

New York City (NYC) Poll * October 17, 2011 * New Yorkers Back Wall St. Prot - Quinnipiac University – Hamden, Connecticut - New Yorkers Back Wall St. Protesters 3 - 1 Stay As Long As You Want, Even Republicans Say
Occupy Wall Street Spreads Worldwide - Alan Taylor - In Focus - The Atlantic
What are those OWS people so angry about? - Salon.com
Good News! No, Really! - Readers' Comments - NYTimes.com (universally negative comments on Bill Keller's geographically-challenged wankerific anti-OWS screed; no wonder the Times sucks)
Why our children’s future no longer looks so bright - The Washington Post - “A decade of health care cost growth has wiped out real income gains for an average U.S. family,” (bankers have destroyed us all)
Over 1,000 Americans Have Been Arrested Protesting Wall Street, While Bankers Have Dodged Major Prosecutions | ThinkProgress
While Corporate Profits Are At 60-Year High, Main Street Businesses Continue To Struggle | ThinkProgress
Neo-Cannibals, Deadbeats, Dopers and Democrats Occupy Denver « Looking at the Left returned to the streets with a vengeance Saturday after being expelled, having their camp forcibly removed from Veterans’ Park by police at 4 a.m. Friday morning. October 15 was declared International Day of Action, which saw radical socialist/anarchist protests and violence in European and American cities.
U.S. Marine Sergeant defends Occupy Wall Street protestors | Demotix.com
Occupy Wall Street: second senior NYPD officers faces investigation | World news | guardian.co.uk Deputy inspector Johnny Cardona faces inquiry over alleged assault amid questions over NYPD's policing of protests - was filmed on Friday grabbing the protester from behind, spinning him round and appearing to punch him in the face so hard that he fell to the ground (well, that worked; it's like they've never heard of an iPhone +Tony Baloney)
israel today | Israelis worried by anti-Semitic flavor of 'Occupy Wall St.' protests - israel today (wonder how that happened?)

General Mills Sued For Marketing Fruit Roll-Ups As Health Food
Giant comet almost obliterated all human life in 1883 | DVICE

Record-High 50% of Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana Use
UPDATE: Former State Sen. Randy Hopper declined breathalyzer test | Fond du Lac Reporter | fdlreporter.com There was one passenger in the car, Valerie Cass, 26, of Fond du Lac, according to dispatch logs (recalled Wisconsin State Senator caught drunk driving with 26 yo)

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Israel begins prisoner transfer as part of deal to free Gilad Shalit | World news | guardian.co.uk Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners including militants serving multiple life sentences moved to two jails in first phase of exchange for captured Israeli soldier

Occupy protests against capitalism spread around world | World news | The Observer Thousands march in Rome, Sydney and Madrid as Occupy Wall Street protests go global
Rome Protests Erupt: Cars Torched, Windows Smashed (PHOTOS) Anti-greed protesters rallied globally on Saturday, denouncing bankers and politicians over the international economic crisis, with violence rocking Rome where cars were torched and bank windows smashed.
EU considering massive cuts to food aid for poor - Yahoo! News - The European Union is considering a roughly 75 percent cut in funding for a program that helps feed 18 million of its poorest citizens. (while shoveling tons of money to bankers)
Calculated Risk: Europe Update: Eight Days to Save Europe
Hullabaloo the underlying threats from the Masters of the Universe to pack up their riches and leave Wall Street if they weren't given the deference they demanded. After today you have to wonder where it is they think they are going to go?

The grim reality of life under Alabama's brutal immigration law | World news | The Guardian Fear of detention, families torn apart – Hispanics in Alabama are trapped in a unique half-life under punishing new immigrant laws (ReThugs at work)
Appeals court: Alabama police can detain suspected illegal immigrants | World news | guardian.co.uk Court temporarily rejects provision that would allow schools to check migrant status of students – but final decision to come
Alabama immigration: crops rot as workers vanish to avoid crackdown | World news | guardian.co.uk The day before harsh new laws came into effect, Brian Cash had 65 Hispanic men picking tomatoes. Now he has none (how's that racism working out for you?)
Herman Cain: 'I'm Not Familiar With The Neoconservative Movement' GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain raised more questions about his knowledge of foreign policy on Sunday, saying he doesn't know anything about the "neoconservative movement," which dominated the eight years of the Bush administration.
Pizza Magnate Herman Cain Has Extensive Ties To Powerful Koch Group

John B. Judis Reviews Ron Suskind's "Confidence Men" | The New Republic - Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President - “what was required to save the economy might not always match up with what would make for a good story.” ("stories" over reality; and how did that work out for you?)
Legends Of The Fall (Of 2009) - NYTimes.com Even then, this seemed awesomely wrong-headed: policy makers were being scared off dealing with a real economic disaster by threats that existed only in their imagination. Now, of course, it looks even worse.
Was This Time Different On the Economy? | Rortybomb - Obama is much more of a fiscal conservative than I had imagined. Or more specifically he’s someone who generally takes Rubinonomics for granted but couldn’t shift gears when it came to the largest downturn since the Great Depression.
E. J. Dionne Jr. - Audacity Without Ideology (January 2009: "sacrifice, Grand Bargains and sustainability" - where Obama was coming from BEFORE his inauguration; failure well played)
interfluidity » The lump of unfairness fallacy

The Keys to Victory for Obama in the 2012 Election - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com (Red-Blue vs. Education - explains the popular expression, "Dumb as a Republican")

Homeopathic economist suggests injecting ‘up to £1’ into economy | NewsBiscuit “I know £1 sounds a lot but if it’s introduced in 10p doses throughout the year, the economy will soon return to a balanced state. I’ve already written a series of post-dated prescriptions from my chakra book.” Doctor Harliton denied that his treatment was a licence to print money.

No Jobs Bill, and No Ideas - NYTimes.com The bill the Republicans shot down is not a panacea, but independent economists say it would have a significant and swift effect on the current stagnation (Terrorists hold Senate hostage to destroy economy before the election)
LiveImagePhoto.com: Herman Cains 999 Problem a family of 4 earning 50k/yr will go from $3850 in fed taxes a year to $6250!

Occupy the Board Room
Daily Kos: On the front lines in Times Square, NYPD in full fight mode
Occupy Wall Street: Protesters Arrested In Multiple U.S. Cities
Endless Stagnation Is Bad For Banks | ThinkProgress like saying you shouldn’t step on the gas when the traffic light turns green because you might forget to slow down seven blocks later when the light turns red. But people have what they think of as tried-and-true non-context-dependent ideas for economic betterment and they’re much more comfortable pushing those eternal verities.
Middle-class homeownership dream may be slipping away
Bank Of America Branch In California Reportedly Refuses To Allow Protesters To Close Accounts (your money always belonged to them)
Bo Diddley's son arrested in Bo Diddley Plaza 'occupation' | World news | guardian.co.uk arrested in the park named after his father during an 'occupy' protest in Florida
Action: Suspend Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona of the #NYPD - Cardona's Punch was Not the First #OccupyWallStreet - 12160

Steven Pinker: fighting talk from the prophet of peace | Science | The Observer t far from being the bloodiest era in human history, ours is a time when violence has been in steep decline. Here, he explains how mankind turned its back on brutality (ignores institutionalized violence)
The Better Angels of Our Nature — By Steven Pinker — Book Review - NYTimes.com
The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker - review | Books | The Guardian We are less violent than we used to be, argues Steven Pinker's new book
Delusions of peace | Prospect Magazine Stephen Pinker argues that we are becoming less violent. Nonsense, says John Gray - America’s experiment in mass incarceration is, apparently, an integral part of the recivilising process.
Why do men and women talk differently? - Love and Sex - Salon.com Men, he argues, use antagonistic speech, or “duels,” to show off their strength and prove themselves to women. Women, meanwhile, use quieter speech patterns to bond with each other — and help protect themselves against aggressive men.

Foodies, Get Thee to Occupy Wall Street | Mother Jones
Illinois Catholic Charities Adoption Battle: New Bill Would Allow Church To Not Serve Same-Sex Couples


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BBC News - Deadly protests erupt in Yemen capital Sanaa Violent protests against Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh have again erupted in the capital Sanaa, with at least nine demonstrators killed and dozens hurt, doctors and officials say.
A Palestinian mayor explains how Israeli army starves his village of water
Syria is heading for full-blown civil war, top UN official warns | World news | The Guardian Ten people have died in the latest clashes as protesters urge more people to defect from the Syrian security forces
Al-Qaida's Yemen media chief dies in US drone attack | World news | guardian.co.uk Egyptian-born Ibrahim al-Bana and six others killed in second airstrike to target group in as many weeks (Obama targeting foreign press with drones)
Yemen: Abdul-Rahman Al-Awlaki, Anwar Al-Awlaki's Son, Among Al Qaeda Militants Killed In U.S. Drone Strike At least 13 people also were wounded, including six civilians (they won't mention his age)
On location in Afghanistan for Hell and Back Again - in pictures | Film | guardian.co.uk
Rabin memorial defaced to protest Israel-Hamas prisoner swap | McClatchy

Spain credit rating downgraded ahead of G20 meeting: live | Business | guardian.co.uk Standard & Poor's has downgraded the eurozone's fourth largest economy by one notch
Spain and Portugal: 'the worst will be next year. Then it will really hit' | World news | The Guardian as bad as things are, they're not yet as awful as they will become (things will get really austere)
Brazil Takes Hard Line On Corruption - Salon.com

News from The Associated Press The U.S. is abandoning plans to keep U.S. troops in Iraq past a year-end withdrawal deadline, The Associated Press has learned. The decision to pull out fully by January will effectively end more than eight years of U.S. involvement in the Iraq war
Obama sends troops to Africa to track Lord's Resistance Army leader | McClatchy
Lord's Resistance Army: Who Are They? | TPM Media

McClatchy | The search for the anthrax killer (Obama's DOJ hopelessly corrupt; coverup continues ... was it Cheny in the lab?)

Want an apple this year? Washington state governor to Congress: Help | McClatchy While much of the talk on Capitol Hill is tough, with opponents of illegal immigration vowing to seal the borders, Gregoire said Congress should instead focus on a way to get more foreign workers to help with harvesting in her state, the nation's top producer of apples (white people (teapartiers) refuse to harvest crops; agribusiness can't find enough abused brown people)
‘Gargantuan large’ investment in infrastructure needed, experts say - The Washington Post

Obama Administration Nixes the CLASS Act | FDL News Desk a voluntary long-term care insurance program that was a key priority of the late Ted Kennedy, and which was instituted as part of the Affordable Care Act - the law to help Americans cover the cost of aid for daily-living needs such as bathing and using the toilet if they became unable to care for themselves - Budget bean-counters decided that the outlook of the CLASS Act 20 and 30 years down the road was more important than this crisis, so they decided not to work toward fixing it ($86Bn lost; can't fix problems today, but worried about 20-30 years later; Obama: let them rot)
Emails: Bush-Era Embassy, Prosecutor's Office Approved ATF 'Gun Walking' Tactic | TPMMuckraker (well, we're not looking backwards either)
Defense Budget Hawks To Super Committee: Not In My Backyard | TPMDC to spare the Pentagon when it's looking for places to slash spending ("jobs will be lost" as if they ever cared about jobs)
Ohio Great-Grandma Fires Back In New Ad: 'They Must Be Desperate' (video) | TPMDC
Huckabee jokes: Stop Issue 2 opponents from voting | MasonBuzz.com you just make sure that they don’t go vote. Let the air out of their tires on election day. Tell them the election has been moved to a different date. That’s up to you how you creatively get the job done.” (there are no limits to their thugishness +Warren County, Ohio are Republican 2-1 and really, really stupid)

Occupy the London Stock Exchange - live coverage | UK news | guardian.co.uk More than 950 protests held in over 80 countries • Police bar occupation of London Stock Exchange • Julian Assange addresses protest at St Paul's cathedral
OWS Occupy Wall Street News | Plutocracy Files
OWS Occupy Wall Street News | Plutocracy Files
Agresión Policial a Chica Griega en el Banco Dexia Bruselas - YouTube
Lech Walesa Occupy Wall Street Visit - Occupy Wall Street Is About to Get Some More Spine - Esquire (bankers will call him "communist")
Balloon Juice » OccupyWS/Together: More Links & News
FreakOutNation » OWS Protester gets Run over by a Cop on Video – Right Wing Spins it as Fake
Police Punch Woman Protester In the Face - Washington's Blog (white shirts at work)
Congrats Occupy Wall St! You've started something huge. Places being Occupied in Europe tomorrow - Digg
Tax Cuts For Wealthy Americans Cost Treasury $11.6 Million Every Hour: Report

News Corp faces revolt by quarter of shareholders | Media | The Guardian Advisory bodies and campaigners urge investors to oppose up to 13 of media firm's 15 directors amid phone-hacking allegations

Rick Perry officials spark revolt after doctoring environment report | Environment | guardian.co.uk Scientists ask for names to be removed after mentions of climate change and sea-level rise taken out by Texas officials - scientists said they were disowning the report on the state of Galveston Bay because of political interference and censorship from Perry appointees at the state's environmental agency (we're in your science fixin' it for you)
Amtrak Ridership Hits Record High, As GOP Proposes Cutting Its Funding By 60 Percent | ThinkProgress ("let them buy their own helipcopters")
'Guns & Patriots' Editor Creates Fake Solar Scandal About SunPower, Murdoch's Fox News Misinformers Run With It | ThinkProgress (it really is about the constant lying)

US bishop charged with failing to report abuse | World news | guardian.co.uk The case of Robert Finn, a Catholic bishop who has been charged with covering up suspected child abuse, is the first of its kind in America (world's largest pedophile ring accused of coverup)
Unprecedented | Talking Points Memo I’ve covered the sex abuse scandal in the U.S. Roman Catholic Church for a long time, but I can’t say I ever expected to see a bishop actually indicted for covering up abuse, let alone a diocese (the above-your-laws coverup machine falls apart)

DARPA Looks To The Crowd To Build Miniature Drones | TPM Idea Lab (coming soon: Drone Wars!)
U.K. Rejects Official Advice: Decriminalize All Drug Use - Toke of the Town

Some old photos that you guys might find interesting. : pics

High Court “Reserves Judgment” at Newzbin2 Blocking Hearing | TorrentFreak Usenet indexing site ("indexing" = "infringement")
Google Buzz Gets The Ax, As Do Others In 'Fall Sweep'

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Evelyn Leopold: Why Is the U.S. Taking the Iran Plot Case to the United Nations? - A growing chorus of hawks in the U.S. Congress clamored for the kind of action that could mess up U.S. foreign policy for years (which is, of course, already totally messed up)

Police don’t want to bear arms : Views and News from Norway Many foreign journalists covering the July terrorist attacks in Norway were surprised to learn that Norwegian police are generally unarmed. A new survey indicates they want to stay that way (what? they didn't use it as an excuse to convert to a police-state?)
Bulgarian Journalist Sasho Dikov's Life Threatened, Car Blown Up a popular Bulgarian journalist who has been a fierce critic of the center-right government

Business cycles: Things could actually get a lot worse | The Economist

Eschaton: Thanks, Yelling At Clouds Man - If something is passed, we can reverse it,” McCain responded." Now that the Very Serious John McCain has admitted that it's bullshit perhaps everyone else can too, and the SuperWankers can go home.
Don't Count On Senate Procedure To Save The Affordable Care Act | ThinkProgress
Whiskey Fire: Just to Be Clear... (the right wants women to die rather than have an abortion)

Reuters' Occupy Wall Street Story Draws Fire For George Soros Connection ... The article then quotes Rush Limbaugh stating flatly that Soros was behind Occupy Wall Street (well, there you are)
UPDATE: Order to Clear the Park Rescinded! -- #OccupyWallStreet LiveStreams from Zuccotti Park | MyFDL
Reuters: George Soros is secretly behind Occupy Wall Street! - Salon.com Updated: A laughably bad attempt at linking the protest movement to a liberal boogeyman
Reuters Serves Up Today's Drudge Bait Trying To Prove That Soros Bankrolled Occupy Wall Street | Media Matters for America (bad Reuters!)
/> On George Soros, Occupy Wall Street, and Reuters | Felix Salmon

Occupy Wall Street protests reveal liberal tensions - The Washington Post ("liberals" = center-right Democratic party +WaPoFrame)
Narayana Kocherlakota: If At First You Fail, Then Fail Fail Again | ThinkProgress Kocherlakota’s view is that given the initial failure that led to mass unemployment, it’s not permitted to ever correct the failure. We just pretend it never happened.
Plates Shifting | Talking Points Memo And remember the deficit super-committee? We're going to hear about it again next month as it moves toward what will apparently be deadlock and failure (Obama's specialty)


Solar is getting cheap fast—pay attention, Very Serious People | Grist (panels on roofs = jobs, energy indepence and jobs for less that the cost of one Wall St bailout)

With Goldman's Foray Into Higher Education, A Predatory Pursuit Of Students And Revenues
Robert Finn, Kansas City Bishop, Charged For Not Telling Police About Child Pornography Images


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Iran Assassination Plot: Skeptics Question Motive And Method Of An 'Amateur Hour' Scheme ... a "fusion-cuisine salad bar of U.S. security anxieties."
Used-car salesman as Iran proxy? Why assassination plot doesn't add up for experts. - CSMonitor.com The US has blamed the specialist Qods Force in an Iran assassination plot. But those who track the group say the plot doesn't reflect the careful planning, efficiency, and strategy the Qods Force is known for.
Why Obama Needs to Come Clean about the "Iranian Plot" | Stephen M. Walt Unless the Obama administration (and in particular, Attorney General Eric Holder), has more smoking gun evidence than they've revealed so far, they are in danger of a diplomatic gaffe on a par with Colin Powell's famous U.N. Security Council briefing about Iraq's supposed WMD programs, a briefing now known to have been a series of fabrications and fairy tales.
Gaps in the Iran Plot Docket to Go Along with the Gaps in the Story | emptywheel
Officials concede gaps in U.S. knowledge of Iran plot | Reuters Iran's supreme leader and the shadowy Quds Force covert operations unit were likely aware of an alleged plot to kill Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, but hard evidence of that is scant, U.S. officials said on Wednesday (pretty sketchy)
Twitter / @JoshuaHol: When not even Jeff Goldber ... g buys your Iranian conspiracy theory, it's time to go back to the drawing board.
The “very scary” Iranian Terror plot - Salon.com The most difficult challenge in writing about the Iranian Terror Plot unveiled yesterday is to take it seriously enough to analyze it. Iranian Muslims in the Quds Force sending marauding bands of Mexican drug cartel assassins onto sacred American soil to commit Terrorism — against Saudi Arabia and possibly Israel — is what Bill Kristol and John Bolton would feverishly dream up while dropping acid and madly cackling at the possibility that they could get someone to believe it.
The LA Times notices the “double standard” on Iran - Salon.com If the U.S. believes it has the right to assassinate enemies like Anwar Awlaki anywhere in the world in the name of a “war on terror” that has no geographical limitation, how can it then argue that other nations don’t have a similar right to track down their enemies and kill them wherever they’re found? As the United States continues down the path of state-sponsored assassination far from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan ... The world is unlikely to accept that the United States has a right to behave as it wishes without accountability all around the globe and that other nations do not. (Obama's double-standard exceptional chickens come home to roost)

The Awlaki memo and Marty Lederman - Salon.com
The real danger from classified leaks - Salon.com As Marcy Wheeler noted, “What was leaked to Savage is MORE classified than anything Bradley Manning is alleged to have leaked.”
How Can Samir Khan Be “Collateral Damage” If OLC Memo Restricted Civilian Death? | emptywheel

Double-Dip Recession in Britain Watch: Duncan Black Is Wrong Department Right now record-low interest rates are not a tool for improving the economy. They are a consequence of the fact that the British economy is 100% scr---d and about to become 150% scr---d.
Taxpayer nursing huge losses on RBS and Lloyds | Business | guardian.co.uk Three years on from the bailouts and – instead of the profits expected – market meltdown and bank regulation mean the taxpayer is sitting on a £32bn paper loss (see below)
RBS's top nine executives handed £28m in shares | Business | The Guardian Union brands share awards by loss-making bank a 'disgrace' (kill the economy, get bailed out, impose austerity on everyone else, get big bonuses!)

BBC News - Ai Weiwei is named ArtReview's 'most powerful artist' China criticised the selection saying it was based on "political bias".
Radiation spikes in Tokyo neighborhood, officials say - CNN.com
'Food insecurity' comes to London - Telegraph

Can OWS be turned into a Democratic Party movement? - Salon.com (who's in the tank of the financial industry: Barry, Junior, Maverick, Hillary, Chuckie for the top five)

Hullabaloo Your Daily Grayson
Is Rick Perry 'finished'? - The Week Yet another weak debate performance may spell curtains for the Texas governor's struggling presidential campaign
Rep. Bachmann Hits Cain On Taxes: "I Want To Adopt The Reagan Tax Plan" | Political Correction Reagan acknowledged that many wealthy Americans do not "pay their fair share," calling the system that allowed a millionaire to pay lower rates than a bus driver "crazy." Today's Republicans dismiss comments like Reagan's as "class warfare" and a threat to American freedom.
Attack Ads Ready To Dominate 2012 Election Cycle
Scott Brown Accused Of Plagiarism: Elizabeth Dole Remarks 'Lifted Verbatim'

CHARTS: Here's What The Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About...
The Morning Plum - The Plum Line - The Washington Post 54 percent view the Wall Street protests favorably, versus only 23 percent who think the opposite - the poll found that only 27 percent have a favorable view of the Tea Party (and 23% are living under the rock of Fox News)
Who's behind the Wall St. protests? | Reuters Disclosure documents also show Tides, which declined comment, gave Adbusters grants of $185,000 from 2001-2010, including nearly $26,000 between 2007-2009 (proof that Soros is funding OWS; Reuters wanks hard)
Legends Of The Fall (Of 2009) - NYTimes.com there were reports in Fall 2009 that the administration was afraid of the invisible bond vigilantes ... Even then, this seemed awesomely wrong-headed: policy makers were being scared off dealing with a real economic disaster by threats that existed only in their imagination. Now, of course, it looks even worse (Obama and his crack team of idiots)
I Am Not Your Mirror Image - NYTimes.com (Russ Robert is an idiot; thinks "liberals" want "big government" - they always project)
Why Believe In Keynesian Models? - NYTimes.com
If Banks Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Banks - NYTimes.com the Paulist camp: they have an oddly antiquated notion of what money and finance are about, one that misses the “virtualness” of the modern world. They still think of money as being pieces of green paper, rather than what it mostly is now, zeroes and ones in some server somewhere.
Analysis: Return of the pink slip? Risk of layoffs rising | Reuters Analysts have lowered their growth forecasts for the companies of the S&P 500 and now look for overall profit for the group to rise 12.5 percent in the third quarter, less than the 17 percent they expected at the start of July (unless corps are guaranteed 17% profit and huge bonuses for their execs, they will lay people off)
Banking Has Become an Oligopoly Instead of a Competitive Business -- And That's Really Bad News for Us 99% | Economy | AlterNet High banking fees are just the tip of the iceberg. Here's what went wrong with the banking industry and what we can do about it.
Political Animal - An unintentionally amusing take from Wall Street David Moore is the CEO of Wall Street holdings company, and he has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today reflecting on a recent run-in with a panhandler. As best as I can tell, the op-ed is not a parody (they've lost their Reagan roots)
Exclusive: Ten high-risk U.S. companies named by governance firm | Reuters News Corp (NWSA.O) and Discovery Communications (DISCA.O) have been flagged as two of the top 10 riskiest American companies based on a new gauge that looks at weak corporate governance, accounting red flags and high leverage.

Penn State Live - Virus kills breast cancer cells in laboratory A nondisease-causing virus kills human breast cancer cells in the laboratory, creating opportunities for potential new cancer therapies (AAV2)
Steve Jobs: Why did Steve Jobs choose not to effectively treat his cancer? - Quora

Cambridge, two women settle discrimination claims dating back to 1990s - Metro Desk - Local news updates from The Boston Globe a long-running battle that already has cost the city millions of dollars in a related case ... While the statement included the names of the women, it did not include the name of City Manager Robert W. Healy, who was in the same post in the late 1990s when Stamper, Wong, and a third woman, Malvina Monteiro, alleged racial discrimination in the workplace and accused city officials -- including Healy -- of retaliating against them for speaking out about it ... Through an aide, Healy declined to comment.
Mummery 'shocked' | Philadelphia Daily News | 10/13/2011 all of 2nd Street was atwitter yesterday with the news that police had arrested two executive officers of the Downtowners Fancy Brigade in connection with a whorehouse at their Snyder Avenue clubhouse

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Nato success against Taliban in Afghanistan 'may be exaggerated' | World news | The Guardian Report says kill-or-capture raids are not a surgical tactic as claimed and use of the word 'leader' is suspect (your military would lie to you? Impossible!)
Libyan forces gain momentum in Sirte assault | World news | guardian.co.uk Big advances in centre of city, as Nato official says continued resistance by pro-Gaddafi fighters is 'surprising'
Egypt's rulers deny security forces caused Cairo bloodshed | World news | The Guardian Videos and witnesses contradict account by generals regarding attacks on Christian protest that led to 26 deaths (who you gonna believe? Us or your lying Youtube videos)
Could 'Iran's assassination plot' be an opportunity for Saudi Arabia? | PJ Crowley | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The details sound far-fetched, but Iran has used terror proxies before. If true, the Saudis have been gifted a golden opportunity
Alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador to US – timeline | World news | guardian.co.uk Key dates in alleged plot to kill Adel al-Jubeir, as described in court papers filed by the US justice department
Unanswered questions over the alleged Iranian assassination plot | World news | The Guardian The alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to the US does not fit with what is known about the supposed perpetrators
US steps up pressure on Iran over alleged plot to kill Saudi envoy | World news | guardian.co.uk Secretary of state Hillary Clinton vows to isolate Tehran as Iran dismisses claims of 'murder-for-hire' plot as fabrication

Slovakia rejects European bailout plan - The Washington Post (not just that, but tiny party in Slovakia)
BBC News - UK unemployment total reaches 17-year high (time for more austerity!)
Greek Debt Crisis Leads To Dexia Bank Failure : NPR (banks at work)
New Statesman - Preview: Dear Mr Osborne, Here's your Plan B World leading economists present the Chancellor with alternatives to austerity.
David Cameron vows to get economy moving after 'horrific' jobless figures - Home News, UK - The Independent "I accept we have got to do more to get our economy moving, to get jobs for our people, but we mustn't abandon the plan that has given us record low interest rates." ("low interest rates" now a policy goal, since Goverments are owned by bankers)
Goldman Sachs let off paying £10m interest on failed tax avoidance scheme | Business | The Guardian Leaked documents show top tax official shook hands last year on secret settlement described by sources as a 'cock-up'

Wall Street Journal circulation scam claims senior Murdoch executive | Media | The Guardian Andrew Langhoff resigns as European publishing chief after exposure of secret channels of cash to help boost sales figures - he Journal had been channelling money through European companies in order to secretly buy thousands of copies of its own paper at a knock-down rate, misleading readers and advertisers about the Journal's true circulation ... Murdoch's right-hand man, Les Hinton ... alerted to the problems last year by an internal whistleblower and apparently chose to take no action ... The whistleblower was then made redundant. ("redundant" = "fired" jail for Hinton?)

"There Is Almost No Voter Fraud in America." » Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union (the truth never stopped Republican facists)

Perry: 'We Fought the American Revolution in the 16th Century'
Political Animal - A conspiracy only Bachmann could create the unhinged Minnesotan wants the public to believe President Obama is secretly trying to eliminate Medicare, forcing seniors into the Affordable Care Act. Is there any evidence at all to support this? Of course not, but that’s not important right now (rise of the machines)
Republicans Stretch Truth in Debate Salvos - Bloomberg ("stretch truth" = "lie freely")
Turning the Senate into the House? Top 50% of Senate represents 83.65% of the population of the states. Bottom 50% of Senate represents 16.35% of the population of the states.

My Advice to the Occupy Wall Street Protesters | Politics News | Rolling Stone Hit bankers where it hurts
#OccupySF - Police Violence - 2011-10-05 - YouTube
Corporate Citizenship: How Public Dissent In Paris Sparked Creation Of The Corporate Person
Wall Street Sees ‘No Exit’ From Woes - Bloomberg a trader who made $500,000 last year at one of the six largest U.S. banks. The trader, a 27-year-old Ivy League graduate, complained that he has worked harder this year and will be paid less. The headhunter told him to stay put and collect his bonus. “This is very demoralizing to people,” Karp said. “Especially young guys who have gone to college and wanted to come onto the Street, having dreams of becoming millionaires.”

Women on Pill less satisfied in bedroom › News in Science (ABC Science) Women who take the contraceptive pill tend to choose as partners men who are less attractive and worse in bed, but a sounder bet for a long-term relationship, according to an unusual study.

Death Penalty: Countries With The Most Executions In 2010 (USA! USA! We're number five!)
Topeka, Kansas Repeals Domestic Violence Law | ThinkProgress (free wife-beating zone; Republicans love violence)
Amish Mob Broke Into Homes And Cut Off Hair And Beards | TPMMuckraker

BlackBerry outage spreads to US and Canada as crisis deepens | Technology | guardian.co.uk Problems show no sign of lessening as disruption to service spreads to RIM's home territories

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Cairo witnesses blame security forces for bloodshed at Coptic march | World news | guardian.co.uk Four witnesses give their accounts of the violence that left 26 people dead and 500 injured after a march by Coptic Christians (same as the old boss)
BBC News - German police find explosive devices on Berlin railway German police have discovered another explosive device designed to derail trains in Berlin - the third in two days.
'Underwear bomber', accused over Christmas Day terror plot, goes on trial | World news | guardian.co.uk Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 24, said to have planned a failed suicide mission that could have killed everyone on board plane

U.S. Accuses Iranians of Plotting to Kill Saudi Envoy - NYTimes.com - and to bomb a Saudi embassy ... dizzying international plot involving Mexican drug cartels, murder-for-hire and large sums of money being transferred from unknown locations.
Just Blow The Whole Thing Up | Talking Points Memo Needless to say, the claim that Iran would try to mount a violent attack in the US capital and trying to assassinate allied foreign ambassadors would have vast and dramatic international implications, to put it mildly.

It's in all our interests to understand how to stop another Great Depression | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian When a man like Steve Keen says the trillions spent on refinancing the banks has truly stuffed us, we really should listen - the crippling sums spent on both sides of the Atlantic on refinancing the banks are a complete waste of money (well, not for the super-rich who got the free trillions)
Stock markets on knife-edge ahead of Slovakia vote: live | Business | guardian.co.uk Slovakia debates the euro bailout fund - watch it live here • Roubini: We need a bazooka
Greece’s austerity measures collide with reform hopes - The Washington Post (the solution: more austerity for non-rich people)
BBC News - UK seeing a big rise in poverty, says IFS (the elite agrees, more austerity for you needed)
New Statesman - 98 of FTSE 100 companies use tax havens (taxes for you, but not for them)

Phone hacking: Les Hinton to give evidence to MPs for third time | Media | guardian.co.uk Rupert Murdoch's former right-hand man to be interviewed over News of the World phone hacking on 24 October
Les Hinton, Ex-Wall Street Journal Publisher, To Testify To Parliament Over Phone Hacking
Campaign grows to oust Murdoch | Media | The Guardian Shareholder service advises ousting Rupert Murdoch, two sons and 10 other directors from NewsCorp board

American Jobs Act to Be Filibustered Later Today | FDL News Desk
Will Dems fall short of majority for jobs bill? - The Plum Line - The Washington Post (Blue-Dog Dems will kill jobs)
Political Animal - The not-so-super committee n news that should surprise absolutely no one, it appears the Murray/Hensarling super-committee isn’t even close to reaching any kind of deal (Obama's crack bi-partisan team of super-wankers is failing?)
Plouffe: Wall Street protests sign people are 'frustrated' with economy - The Hill (Plouffe at work; it's not that Obama fucked the country with his "you don't need no steenking jobs" policy, it's just that people are "frustrated" +idiots)
Erie college poll shows impact of hard times on Pa. residents | Philadelphia Inquirer | 10/11/2011 - one in four Pennsylvania residents has had someone living in his or her household lose a job or be laid off in the last 12 months - and two out of three had close friends or family members who were put out of work in that time.
Republican Presidential Candidates Divert Focus From Economy (with their insanity)
The Woman Who Knew Too Much | Politics | Vanity Fair Millions of Americans hoped President Obama would nominate Elizabeth Warren to head the consumer financial watchdog agency she had created. Instead, she was pushed aside ("pushed aside?" Obama hated her with a white-hot passion)
Obama health-care law modeled on Romney plan - politics - Decision 2012 - msnbc.com Three advisers to GOP candidate met a dozen times with senior Obama officials, records show (Obama was a Republican from the start)
Political Animal - What prompted Harry Reid to act how much longer policymakers will tolerate an untenable status quo. The Senate wasn’t designed to work this way; it didn’t use to work this way; and it simply can’t work this way.
Daily Kos: We're kicking ass! Limbaugh and the talkers are running scared! (how to fuck up rightwing facist racist talk radio)
Conservatives launch “We are the 53 percent” to criticize 99 percenters - The Washington Post the same American values are really the way out of it,” Trevino says. He adds: “On a more visceral level, there’s always the reaction against the hippies.” (the 53%'ers)
Whiskey Fire: Tick Tac: In the Belly of Love the mighty cartoon superhero Tacitus, whose humble alter ego is called Josh Trevino. Please decide which superhero is more Profounder
Topeka, Kansas City Council Considers Decriminalizing Domestic Violence To Save Money | ThinkProgress (Republican austerity at work)
Republican voters, too, want to tax the rich | Ana Marie Cox | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk GOP voters are all in favor of raising taxes on the wealthy. But you're not going to hear that from a candidate in the debate
Balloon Juice » Super-Sized Nothingburger The Teabirchers really are the old paranoid anti-Communist anti-fluoride screamers.
Balloon Juice » About That Liberal Media Thing NPR ignored Occupy Wall Street for two weeks. A couple hours after Erick Erickson created a tumblr (which now has only about 20 pictures) for the 53%, Suzy Khimm was giving it wide coverage in the Washington Post.

Occupy Wall Street: live coverage of today's protests | World news | guardian.co.uk Scores of Occupy Boston protesters were arrested in the early hours of Tuesday morning after gathering in downtown Boston. Meanwhile Occupy Wall Street is planning a 'millionaire's march' to wealthy New Yorkers' homes.
Naomi Klein On Occupy Wall Street: 'The Sky's The Limit' (video)
Rachel Maddow: Glenn Beck, Conservatives Having 'Freakout' Over Occupy Wall Street (video)
We Need a New System | Media Matters for America As the New York Times astutely pointed out: "It is not the job of the protesters to draft legislation. That's the job of the nation's leaders, and if they had been doing it all along there might not be a need for these marches and rallies." (+Larry Summers has always been an elite idiot)
Who Really Owns The NYPD? Turns Out It's Not Such A Rhetorical Question | Crooks and Liars the multi-million dollar contribution to the NYPD from JPChase, but it turns out the corporate influence goes much deeper than that ... the Paid Detail Unit and it allows the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street corporations, including those repeatedly charged with crimes, to order up a flank of New York’s finest with the ease of dialing the deli for a pastrami on rye.

Oil spill is New Zealand's 'worst maritime disaster' | Environment | guardian.co.uk Oil leaking into the sea has increased by as much as ten-fold, with the government calling it New Zealand's worst ever maritime environmental disaster

If Only There Was Still Money In Newspapers - First Draft The company's stock was worth $72 a share when Dubow became CEO. But it plunged alongside other newspaper stocks, trading as low as $1.85 in March 2009 amid fears the company was headed for bankruptcy. It closed today at $10.45, down a penny - The board said Dubow, 56, had resigned "due to disability," a circumstance that paves the way for him to collect as much as $37.1 million in retirement and disability benefits (rich fucks destroy newpapers, blame the internets)
Gannett Blog: Bulletin: Dubow steps down as CEO after six years; Martore his successor, signaling no strategic shift; board also elects director Magner as its chairman Craig A. Dubow has resigned as Gannett's chairman and chief executive because of chronic health problems (in the head)

Hackers Claim That German Officials Have A Backdoor Trojan For Spying On Skype... Which Is A Huge Security Risk | Techdirt
Facebook, Walmart Partner Up To Create Pages For Individual Stores
Biggest four UK ISPs switching to 'opt-in' system for pornography | Technology | The Guardian David Cameron unveils deal with big four providers based on report's proposals to protect children from sexual content (opt-in, so the cops know)

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Afghanistan officials 'systematically tortured' detainees, says UN report | World news | The Guardian nterviews with 379 people held by police or intelligence services describe beatings, removing toenails and electric shocks (Obama, torturer-in-chief)
Egypt violence - live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk At least 25 people were killed in Cairo overnight, as Coptic Christians clashed with security forces.
Somali troops battle al-Shabab militants in Mogadishu | World news | The Guardian Troops take on al-Qaida-linked group in capital after militant attacks leave more than 100 dead
Islamist protesters attack Tunisian TV station over animated film Persepolis | Film | guardian.co.uk Islamists try to set fire to TV station that broadcast Marjane Satrapi's Oscar-nominated story about a girl growing up during the Iranian revolution

Germany and France Near Deal to Recapitalize Banks - NYTimes.com (more free money for the rich elites who destroyed the world paid for with your austerity!)
Belgium nationalises Dexia retail bank in rescue deal - Telegraph Dexia, the Franco-Belgian bank, agreed early on Monday to nationalise its Belgian banking division and secure state guarantees in a rescue that could pressure other eurozone governments to strengthen their banking sectors (that would be the banking sector that destroyed the world)
European debt crisis: live | Business | guardian.co.uk

NYTimes Sues The Federal Government For Refusing To Reveal Its Secret Interpretation Of The PATRIOT Act | Techdirt (Obama: we have our own super-duper secret interpretation of that "law" and we're not telling you, either)
The Government Has Issued Secret Court Orders Targeting WikiLeaks Email orders requiring Google and Sonic.net Inc. to hand over information on the email accounts of WikiLeaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum.

Obama's jobs advisors include job-cutting executives - latimes.com On the president's team of business and labor advisors are the heads of several companies that have reduced workforces while posting record profits (more of Obama's "stakeholder" bullshit)
In Washington, a Season of Political In-Fighting - NYTimes.com Mr. Daley has reason to be mad. He thought he was returning to Washington after a decade’s absence to soothe business leaders and strike confidence-building deals with Republicans (hopelessly naive, these political geniuses)
Eschaton: Horrors Maybe there really is some ritual involving Jamie Dimon, aromatherapy, tax cuts, and the sacrifice of 100 impoverished virgins, that will make the confidence fairy appear. Or, you know, not.
Obama Jobs Plan Pitch: President Disconnects Rhetoric, Reality
Deficit Super Committee Struggles To Make Progress As Clock Ticks A familiar deadlock over taxes and cuts to major programs like Medicare and the Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled.
Homeland Security Bill Targets Homegrown Islamist Extremism would give protection against civil lawsuits to those who report suspicious activity (racial profiling would be legal)

Mike Mokrzycki: "Haven't Heard of Warren" - Which Way Might They Go in Mass. Senate Race? 37% said they had never heard of Warren (that would be the 37% who watch Fox and live under a rock)
Elizabeth Warren Raises $3.15 Million In Challenge To Scott Brown ... received 96 percent of her contributions from donors giving less than $100. More than 11,000 citizens of Massachusetts donated to her campaign. The number of donors from out-of-state was not listed in the campaign e-mail (do the math, dudes, looks like 2/3's from out of state)

Political Animal - Where there’s a Will there’s a wrong Americans rarely hear and probably never consider: success is predicated on an underlying social contract. It’s an argument that apparently drove George Will batty (guardian of the elite village rightwing consensus)
Congressional Dysfunction Begins To Spook Old Pros | TPMDC "I do believe that we are now in uncharted waters when it comes to the dysfunction in our political system--and it is no longer a joking matter," former Defense Secretary Robert Gates told an audience
'Joe The Plumber' To Run For Congress (under the Dumb Fuck Party)

Panic of the Plutocrats - NYTimes.com the extremists threatening American values are what F.D.R. called “economic royalists,” not the people camping in Zuccotti Park (class warfare)
Hullabaloo - Your Daily Grayson - If anyone asks you what the Occupy protests are about, send them this (PJ O'Rourke is an odious asshole)
Hullabaloo - OWS in the media - "Consider this: taking a bus is not a political act until someone makes it one."
Hullabaloo More good OWS media (+Jeffrey Immelt whines while he ships jobs out of the country)
Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party - NYTimes.com - The Left Declares Its Independence
The Changing Story | ThinkProgress Having succumbed to the exact political dilemma that they once swore not to succumb to, they now cite the dilemma as nigh-unfixable (perverse)
Sign Of The Times - NYTimes.com
Do 'Occupy Wall Street' Protests Represent Your Views Of The Economy? | Fox News (Fox runs a poll, gets unexpected results)
Washington protest: American Spectator condemned over article | World news | guardian.co.uk Patrick Howley claim ed he infiltrated Saturday's DC protest in order to discredit it – but account has since been altered (liars)
Geraldo flees ‘Occupy Wall St.’ as protesters chant, ‘Fox News lies!’ | The Raw Story

How to reduce reliance on cash | Felix Salmon (banks don't want you to use cash; your money is their money)

How Many People Can Earth Hold? Well...: Scientific American Podcast
Sugar-free drinks and chewing gum may cause damage to teeth | Society | The Guardian British Dental Journal paper finds products contain acidic additives that can lead to the erosion of tooth enamel
Lancet Report Cites Rate of Late-in-Life Surgery - NYTimes.com

Muslim Woman: Airline Booted Me After Flight Attendant Falsely Thought I Said 'It's A Go' On The Phone | TPMMuckraker (Muslims can't say "I've got to go" if they want to fly on Southwest Racist Airlines)
BBC News - Row over photo in shopping centre A Facebook campaign is calling for people to boycott a shopping centre after claims a man was questioned by police for taking photographs of his own four-year-old daughter.
YHwIw.jpg (greatest invention of 21st century defeated by safety regulations)

5 Reasons The Amazon Kindle Beats The IPad | Fox News
Netflix Abandons Plan to Rent DVDs on Qwikster - NYTimes.com

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Libya: resistance weakens as troops advance into Gaddafi's hometown | World news | The Observer Defenders firing few rockets and avoiding firefights may be running low on ammunition in Sirte
Afghanistan civil war a significant risk, 'cold-eyed' British review to warn | World news | The Guardian On 10th anniversary of start of war, patchy progress brings fears civil war or Taliban takeover could follow Nato's 2014 withdrawal (Freedom Fries)
Iraq, siding with Iran, sends “lifeline to Assad” - The Washington Post (bringing democracy to the Middle East; authoritarian regimes supporting each other)
Muslim and Christian graves desecrated in Israeli city of Jaffa | World news | The Guardian Militant Jewish settlers smash tombs and spray stones with graffiti on Yom Kippur and firebomb is thrown at synagogue (Jewish terrorism)

World Blog - Occupy Wall Street-style protests spread to Britain
Live Blog for #OWS: Day 23, London Activists Block Westminster Bridge | The Dissenter

China bus crash kills dozens | World news | guardian.co.uk Car and bus collision among multiple fatal crashes as students head back to school at end of one-week national holiday
After 100 years, corruption still a major problem in China | McClatchy

Computer virus infects drone plane command centre in US | Technology | guardian.co.uk 'Keylogger' virus disrupts computers at Creech air force base in Nevada where planes are piloted remotely in Afghanistan (surfing porno sites when they should have been killing brown people)
New Zealand oil spill: grounded ship threatens environmental disaster | World news | guardian.co.uk Penguins rescued from slick amid fears Rena could break up and dump 1,700 tonnes of oil into prized Bay of Plenty
Amanda Knox: What's in a face? | World news | The Guardian Italian police found no physical evidence linking Amanda Knox to the murder. But then, they didn't need it: they could tell Knox was guilty just by looking at her ... Egdardo Giobbi ... when he watched Knox execute a provocative swivel of her hips as she put on a pair of shoe covers (perverted Italian justice)

Police Clashes Spur Coverage of Wall Street Protests - NYTimes.com the Occupy Wall Street protests have been covered in an average of 144 articles per day in the three weeks of their existence. In the aggregate, this is about two-thirds as much coverage as the Tea Party protests received (media loves their Teatards)
Bill McKibben at #OccupyWallStreet: We Need to Circle the White House and Liberate Obama from that Stunt Double | MyFDL
American Spectator Editor Admits to Being Agent Provocateur at D.C. Museum | MyFDL (another Brooks Brothers riot)
Chávez condemns Wall Street protest 'crackdown' | World news | guardian.co.uk Venezuelan president attacks US 'repression' of activists and calls Republican hopeful Mitt Romney crazy

Fox News' first 15 years of 'balanced' journalism | Matthew Butler | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The prospectus was utterly false: America's leading cable news network has become a megaphone for rightwing propaganda
Most dangerous cities in America? Detroit's No. 1, but the others may surprise | McClatchy (El Paso doesn't make the list in spite of all those border killings Rick Perry keeps talking about)

Elizabeth Warren attacks Obama in debte - YouTube
Nancy Pelosi: Scott Brown Is 'Clueless'
Romney’s Mormonism Becomes A Major Issue At Conservative Conference | Election 2012 (cults at war with each other)
Mitt Romney Takes An Indirect Shot At Jeffress, Perry At VVS | Election 2012
Conservative Shock Jock Reels Off Islamophobia's Greatest Hits | TPMMuckraker
Bobby Jindal's Values Voter Summit Joke: Anthony Weiner Is Kinda Like A Pedophile! | TPMDC
Is Sarah Palin's political career over? - The Week With her poll numbers sinking, Mama Grizzly passes on the 2012 presidential race. Will she ever run again?
Pelosi on This Week: I Didn't Hear Cantor Say Anything When Tea Party Was Spitting On Congress Members | Crooks and Liars
War On The EPA: Republican Bills Would Erase Decades Of Protection (back to the 1890's)

New York City Lays Off 672 School Employees - NYTimes.com

Single dose of hallucinogen may create lasting personality change

Harvard Is No Longer the World’s Best School — On One List, at Least - TIME NewsFeed
Binge drinking: Why do intelligent women drink to oblivion every night? | Mail Online
AudyQ.jpg (greatest invention of the 21st century)


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Ten Years in Afghanistan: German General Says NATO Mission Has 'Failed' - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International the intervention has failed and the Taliban will regain power within months of withdrawal. Ten years after the invasion, he is far from alone with his critique (the tragic BushBama war; sorry all you dead people and American taxpayers)
BBC News - Protest in London marks 10 years of war in Afghanistan

McClatchy blog: Planet Washington - POTUS signs an executive order tightening release of info, post Wikileaks
WikiLeaks shakes security of Iraq's tiny Jewish community | McClatchy - An Anglican priest here says he's working with the U.S. Embassy to persuade the handful of Jews who still live in Baghdad to leave because their names have appeared in cables published last month by WikiLeaks.

Italy and Spain downgraded by Fitch over eurozone crisis | Business | guardian.co.uk Move by ratings agency Fitch ends three-day rally on Wall Street and raises fears about the health of Europe's banks

Stolen Libyan weapons arrive in Gaza | GlobalPost sraeli intelligence is increasingly concerned about the quantity of Libyan arms flowing into Gaza.
State Department readies Iraq operation, its biggest since Marshall Plan - The Washington Post (handoff to civilian "contractors;" meet the new boss)
Syria Funeral Shooting: Forces Open Fire On Mashaal Tammo Mourners
U.S. Drug Policy Would Be Imposed Globally By New House Bill would make it a federal crime for U.S. residents to discuss or plan activities on foreign soil that, if carried out in the U.S., would violate the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) -- even if the planned activities are legal in the countries where they're carried out (Obama will send drones to enforce his illegal oppression)
Dutch Decide To Treat 'Strong Marijuana' As A Hard Drug - Toke of the Town
Paramilitaries may have entered Mexico's drug wars | McClatchy (run-up to the invasion)

Leaking oil points to catastrophe - National - NZ Herald News New Zealand is facing one of its largest ecological disasters as authorities forecast a "significant" oil spill from a huge container ship grounded off Tauranga Harbour.
Greek police beat 8-year old girl: | Reflections on a Revolution - “dad, why did they hit me?” (you weren't austere enough, honey)


Bryan Fischer, Radical Christian, Follows Mitt Romney At Values Voters Summit who used his time to take veiled shots at the Mormon former governor and insist that only a true Christian can serve in the White House (Christian Nation, not a Mormon Cult Nation)
Mitt Romney hits back at Rick Perry in Mormonism row | World news | guardian.co.uk Republican presidential frontrunner takes sideswipe at rival after Robert Jeffress, a friend of Perry's, calls religion a 'cult'
Senate Jobs Bill Filibuster - Harry Reid's Game and the Impossible Future of Congress - Esquire Mitch McConnell, minority leader of your U.S. Senate and onetime nuclear safety pitchman, finally jumped on Harry Reid's last nerve, forcing Harry to get all parliamentary on Mitch's withered hindquarters.
Congressman From Koch Uninterested In Investigating Koch Industries’ Business Deals With Iran | ThinkProgress
Political Animal - McConnell takes chutzpah to new levels said this week that White House’s “explicit strategy” is to “make people believe that Congress can’t get anything done.” Seriously, that’s what he said. As McConnell sees it, President Obama doesn’t want Congress to function (up is always down)
Political Animal - Gingrich weighs in on the federal judiciary Gingrich is also apparently interested in defunding the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, generally considered the most progressive bench in the country.
Lawrence O'Donnell Defends Herman Cain Interview (video) O'Donnell asked Cain if he regretted "sitting on the sidelines" while other black Americans were protesting in the movement -- a notion that Cain heatedly rejected (that was an "offensive" question")
Scott Brown Says He Was 'Joking' With Controversial Remarks About Elizabeth Warren Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts says he was "joking" when he said "Thank God" Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren didn't take her clothes off to pay for college (Cosmo-Boy)
Conservative group slams Ros-Lehtinen on gay marriage | McClatchy A Christian group has chastised U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, as “an arrogant, anti-family, homosexualist extremist” for becoming the first Republican in Congress to co-sponsor legislation to repeal the federal ban on gay marriage.
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law | The Map of Shame is now interactive! (slave states and voter suppression)

Billionaire Mayor Bloomberg: Occupy Wall Street 'Trying To Destroy Jobs' | Crooks and Liars
99 Percenter Rebukes Corporate Fronts Like FreedomWorks, But Welcomes Regular Tea Party People | ThinkProgress
Turn The TV Off | ThinkProgress [William] Daley keeps his television tuned to CNBC to keep track of how the fiscal battles are playing in the financial markets (we're doomed)
2000s: The Decade from Hell for Almost All Americans But The Richest | | AlterNet In recent months, a blizzard of new data has laid bare the dilapidated condition of the American economy, and particularly of the once-mighty American middle class (and they still voted Republican)

Space Observatory Links Early Oceans to Icy Comets "Our results with Herschel suggest that comets could have played a major role in bringing vast amounts of water to an early Earth,"

Steve Jobs, the Secular Prophet - WSJ.com A convert to Zen Buddhism, he was convinced as anyone could be that this life is all there is (convert? what religion are we talking about here? and what about that vow of poverty?)

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Execution by secret WH committee - Salon.com
Secret panel can put Americans on kill list' | Reuters American militants like Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government officials, which then informs the president of its decisions, according to officials ("cynically amoral" Obama - time for War Crimes Trials)
Afghanistan civil war a significant risk, 'cold-eyed' British review to warn | World news | The Guardian On 10th anniversary of start of war, patchy progress brings fears civil war or Taliban takeover could follow Nato's 2014 withdrawal (right back where we started - a trillion dollars and thousands of dead people later)
Anti-Gaddafi troops meet fierce resistance in major assault on Sirte | World news | The Guardian Intense sniper fire by Gaddafi's men defending his home city exacts a bloody price on NTC troops
Jalaluddin Haqqani, Once CIA's 'Blue-Eyed Boy,' Now Top Scourge For U.S. In Afghanistan (on the payrool)
Berlusconi causes outrage with suggestion to rename party Go Pussy | World news | The Guardian Silvio Berlusconi joked he was thinking of renaming his political party Forza Gnocca, which translates as Go Pussy.
Mexico drug war: 32 bodies found in Veracruz | World news | guardian.co.uk Security forces discover bodies in Atlantic port after President Felipe Calderon launches fresh crackdown on drug barons (Obama's fruitless war on non-pharma drugs)
Allison Owens, 23, U.S. Citizen, Killed In Hit-And-Run Accident In Italy; Driver Turns Himself In ("asleep" = "drunk")
Insider: Iran Will Be 'Next Chernobyl'

UK government fears new RBS bail-out - FT.com (more free money for banks! austerity for you!)
Euro fear as Spain and Italy's debt ratings are downgraded | Business | The Guardian British banks and building societies lose rating while pressure mounts on EU to restore faith in single currency
BBC News - UK financial firms downgraded by Moody's rating agency "It does not represent any change in financial strength and it is business as usual across the sector," the BSA said (now being rated on the likelyhood to get infinite free money from austere taxpayers)


White House Backs Reid's 'Nuclear' Approach | TPMDC and change a Senate rule in order to allow passage of the widely popular China currency manipulation bill... and prevent a potentially embarrassing vote on the President's jobs bill.
Daily Kos: Romney vows to reverse Obama's 'massive defense cuts' ... that never happened (well, in the Republican universe of lies and distortions ...)

Alabama immigration threat: prove your legal status or lose water supply | World news | guardian.co.uk Poster put up in town hall illustrates potential impact of new laws which are now subject of appeal by federal government
Group asks judge in Alabama immigration law case to consider California ruling | al.com (Republicans at work: "show your papers")
Hullabaloo Suffer the little children (Republicans: "unpleasant consequences")
Sen. Sessions: It’s Not Sad That Immigrant Children Are Too Scared To Go To School, It’s Sad They’re Even Here | ThinkProgress (racist job creation!)

Dick Cheney interviewed by Liz Cheney at “Ideas Forum” - Salon.com The Atlantic Magazine's celebration of Washington's power elite culminates in a pleasant father-daughter chat (Atlantic: your source for propaganda)
Lawrence O'Donnell, Herman Cain Argue About The Civil Rights Movement (video) He refused to back down from his assertion that many black voters have been brainwashed by the Democratic Party, and also told O'Donnell he thinks that the 81 percent of Americans who support a surtax on the rich have been brainwashed as well (should have been watching Fox)
Elizabeth Warren: 'I'll Survive' Scott Brown's 'Jabs' Warren answered a question in a Democratic debate Tuesday on how she paid for college. "I didn't take my clothes off," quipped the Harvard Law Professor, referring to the fact that Brown posed nude for Cosmopolitan in 1982 to make money.
Michele Bachmann Proposes Mandatory Ultrasounds For Women Seeking Abortions The "Heartbeat Informed Consent Act" requires doctors to make the fetal heartbeat visible and audible to the woman prior to the abortion procedure and to describe the ultrasound image to her in detail, even if she prefers not to hear about it (no, you can't wear ear-plugs, either)
Jan Brewer Defends Health Care Exchange Request she's seeking money from the federal government to implement a key part of the health care overhaul she opposes in order to prepare her state in case the law is upheld (but won't give it back if it isn't)
Bev Perdue Says She'll Oppose Passage Of Proposed Constitutional Amendment Banning Gay Marriage (still fighting the gay wars)
Pastor Calling Mormonism A Cult Says Perry Welcomed His Endorsement | Election 2012 (glass houses edition)
Sarah Palin's worst week ever | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, has had a terrible week. What can we do to help her get over it?
Jon Stewart: Palin swindle of donor money in ‘Nigerian prince territory’ | The Raw Story (grifters will grift)

Feds order medical marijuana shops to close within 45 days | abc7news.com (Obama shuts down all medical marijuana in CA)

US adds 103,000 new jobs as unemployment rate unchanged | Business | guardian.co.uk Better-than-expected figures provide some relief for Barack Obama and boost markets, although unemployment still at 9.1%
FT Alphaville » Mild upside surprise with payrolls at 103,000 Sighs of relief all round as the non-farm payrolls report for September steps lightly over an expectations bar that was just inches above ground.
Andrew Ross Sorkin’s assignment editor - Salon.com How interesting that when a CEO “of a major bank” wants to know how threatening these protests are, he doesn’t seek out corporate advisers or dispatch the bank’s investigators, but instead gets the NYT‘s notoriously banker-friendly Wall Street reporter on the phone and assigns him to report back (took his life in his hands and went to the war zone +NYT corrupt)
Erin Burnett: Voice of the People - Salon.com This is far from the first time Burnett has served as spokesperson for Wall Street; it’s basically what her “journalistic” career is.
Erin Burnett | Video Cafe

10 Things to Know About Wall Street's Rapacious Attack on America | | AlterNet But now Americans are fighting back and there's no telling where Occupy Wall Street can lead (here are your talking-points)
Hullabaloo Live by the mob, die by the mob - Jay Carney: "I think I remember how Mr. Cantor described protests of the tea party--I can't understand how one man's mob is another man's democracy."
99% vs. 1% -- The Latest on Occupy Wall St. Movement: 853 Cities, Occupy Philly Inspires, Media Coverage Improves | AlterNet
Confronting the Malefactors - NYTimes.com What it is ain’t exactly clear, but we may, at long last, be seeing the rise of a popular movement that, unlike the Tea Party, is angry at the right people.
Occupy Wall Street Protesters Fed Up With Both Parties "At this point I don't see any difference between George Bush and Obama. The middle class is a lot worse than when Obama was elected,"
Erin Burnett Should Just Apologize | Media Matters for America And yes, the fact that Burnett was mocking Occupy Wall Street activists while her bosses at CNN had just taken the unusual step of co-sponsoring a GOP presidential debate with a splinter (conservative) political group, the Tea Party, only opened her up to obvious charges of a political double standard being used at CNN.
Eric Cantor: 'Increasingly Concerned' About Occupy Wall Street 'Mobs' | TPMDC
Livewire | TPM = Bloomberg On OWS: They're 'Trying To Destroy The Jobs Of Working People' (multibillionaires like him)
Occupy Wall Street: tea party leaders admit similarities - but not too many | World news | guardian.co.uk Right-wing activists say they share same frustration over the treatment of big banks. But that's where the comparisons end (true colors dept)
GOP congressman: Wall Street protests are ‘attack upon freedom’ - The Hill's Video
Photo Booth: Occupying Wall Street in 1967 : The New Yorker (in case you forgot)
Survive a Mace Attack - Wired How-To Wiki
For Fox, Raising Taxes On Rich Is Class Warfare, Raising Them On The Poor Is Good Sense | Media Matters for America
CNBC Talking Heads: Wall Street Protesters Are ‘Freaks,’ ‘Anti-American,’ ‘Bizarre’ | ThinkProgress (idiots at work, no wonder they destroyed the economy)

Small Fixes - Folding Saris to Filter Cholera-Contaminated Water - NYTimes.com

Steve Jobs Designed Amazing Products, But Life Has Been Hard for Some of the Workers Who Made Them - Ecocentric - TIME.com

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Afghanistan War: Ex-Commander Stanley McChrystal Says U.S. Started War With 'Frighteningly Simplistic' View Of Country ... and even 10 years later lacks knowledge that could help bring the conflict to a successful end (admits he had no knowledge of Afgan history)
Gaddafi's last stronghold, the city of Sirte, becomes Libya's final battle | World news | The Guardian Libya's revolution now rests on this one key city but its besieged residents are paying a high price for liberation
Chile Student Protests: Police Crackdown On Demonstrators
Montreal Congregation Of Holy Cross To Pay Sexual Abuse Victims A Roman Catholic organization has agreed to pay up $18 million in compensation for sexual abuse committed over several decades in Quebec.
Amanda Knox judge says she may have 'been responsible' after all | World news | guardian.co.uk Judge says acquittal of US student and Rafaelle Sollecito was based on 'truth created in the proceedings'
Too many people were willing to believe lurid slurs about Amanda Knox | Deborah Orr | Comment is free | The Guardian She has become the victim of the tabloid media's desire for damaging sensation
The importance of a free press | Alan Rusbridger | Media | guardian.co.uk

BBC News - Bank of England injects further £75bn into economy (more free money for rich bankers which won't help)
New Statesman - Sir Mervyn can't be pleased. The MPC is in a hole. There were a lot of very embarrassed members of the economics staff at the Bank of England, this morning. They messed up and it is certain that Sir Mervyn was not pleased, as now the MPC is in a hole (fake projections from always wrong people of how austerity will solve all the problems)
Greece loses €15bn a year to tax evasion - Telegraph (mainly rich Greeks, of course)

Alabama Immigration Enforcement Law Has A 'Chilling Effect' In Classrooms, Critics Say
Alabama Workers Leave State As Immigration Law Takes Effect

Rick Perry's Texas Media Strategy Falls Flat On National Stage
Michele Bachmann: 'I Would Reinstate The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy' (would send all teh gays to get cured by her husband)
Balloon Juice » Easy Marks Peter Singleton and Michelle McCormick left their jobs, homes, and families to move to Iowa to campaign for Sarah Palin. Wednesday evening they found out they didn’t have a candidate (grifter will always find their marks +how dumb can you get?)
ESPN Will "Part Ways" With Hank Williams Jr. After Comments About Obama And Hitler | Media Matters for America

Occupy Wall Street Demands - What They've Come to Find at Occupy Wall Street Is America - Esquire
Occupy Wall Street Arrests; Fox 5 Crew and Protesters Hit by Pepper Spray, Batons
Balloon Juice » The More This Happens If you want to kill the Wall Street protests, ur doin’ it rong (Bloomberg's Storm Troopers beating up protesters)
Tearing down the myth that the Tea Party is based on anger over Wall Street bailouts | Philly | 10/05/2011 So why does the Tea Party deplore the government rescuing GM -- which actually makes things and employs thousands of middle-class Americans -- and yet make no reference of the massive corporate bailout of AIG, which makes nothing but profits (or risky losing bets). This is what hypocrisy looks like (this is what the Koch bros funded "populist" movement looks like)
FreedomWorks Orchestrates ‘Grassroots’ Movements To Serve Dick Armey’s Corporate Clients | ThinkProgress

Geithner Dodges On Sympathy For Occupy Wall St, Expresses Shock At Wall Street Antipathy To Obama | TPMDC
pandagon: The Poors Have Taken This From Us, Too (old iPhones now free; poor people shouldn't have phones, or anything else)
CBO to Super Committee: Full Employment Would Reduce Deficit By A Third | TPMDC (Conservative Super Committee to CBO: stfu about jobs)
Congress super committee members receive donations from big industry and unions | World news | guardian.co.uk Sunlight Foundation reveals 10 committee members were given $83,000 in contributions in 20 days after their appointment (bought and paid for)



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Syria sanctions: 'outraged' US seeks fresh resolution after double veto blow | World news | guardian.co.uk US envoy says America will not rest until UN security council meets its responsibilities after Russia and China veto draft
Hague accuses Russia and China of 'siding with brutal regime' in Syria | Politics | guardian.co.uk Foreign secretary says countries' decision to veto UN resolution calling on Bashar al-Assad's regime to stop violence is 'deeply mistaken'
Grave containing up to 60 people found at Zimbabwe school | World news | The Guardian Remains thought to belong to victims of 1980s Gukurahundi massacre discovered after football pitch caves in
Germany reopens investigations into Nazi death camp guards | World news | The Guardian John Demjanjuk's conviction set a precedent under which hundreds of suspects could be charged, say prosecutors
Deportees: CIA behind torture interrogations - The Local (will Obama/Bush ever be held accountable?)
Amanda Knox arrives home after Meredith Kercher murder acquittal | World news | guardian.co.uk American freed by Italian court gives brief but emotional press statement in Seattle thanking 'everyone who believed in me' (Times spins this as a PR effort; ignores Italian courts)

Eurozone debt crisis: Germany backs bank recapitalisation - Live | Business | guardian.co.uk Angela Merkel: we stand ready to boost bank capital reserves ("we stand ready to give free money to rich people")
Dexia Moves Bank Crisis From Europe’s Periphery to Its Core - Bloomberg
Italy downgrade deepens fears over euro debt crisis | Business | guardian.co.uk Ratings agency Moody's slashes Italy debt rating by three points, increasing pressure on European governments trying to contain financial crisis ("we stand ready to give free money to rich people)

Phone hacking: News International faces more than 60 claims | Media | guardian.co.uk Father of Josie Russell, who survived murder attempt, Sara Payne and 7/7 hero Paul Dadge among 13 new writs this week

Hullabaloo - Still waiting for a hero (Petraeus is a failure; Americans love their Army Men and killing brown peple)
The Petraeus projection: The CIA director's record since the surge - Salon.com Hero worship hides the military failures of the CIA director's "global killing machine"
The dangerous allure of Washington hero worship - Salon.com Projecting our wish to be safe on the general is making us less safe

Opposition to Obama grows — strongly - The Washington Post Four in 10 Americans “strongly” disapprove of how President Obama is handling the job of president in the new Washington Post-ABC News poll, the highest that number has risen during his time in office and a sign of the hardening opposition to him as he seeks a second term (fail at the whole Pres thing)
Elizabeth Warren Blasts Wall Street, Scott Brown In First Massachusetts Senate Debate
Darrell Issa Pressed To Add Bush Administration Program To Fast And Furious Investigation
ThinkProgress . Is Gohmert concerned that the institution of marriage will unravel if there’s no longer a government kickback for walking down the aisle?
Mohamed Ali Muflahi Arrest: First Person Detained Under Alabama Immigration Law Was In U.S. Legally - Yemen is "a growing hotbed of Islamic radicalism and an operating base for the al-Qaeda terrorist network," state senator Bryan Taylor's office said. (whoops +show your papers)
Koch company declared 'substantial interest' in Keystone XL pipeline | Environment | guardian.co.uk Document filed with Canada's Energy Board appears to cast doubt on claims by Koch Industries that it has no interest in the controversial pipeline (you mean they lied?)
New Voting Laws 2012 - Charles P. Pierce on Brennan Report - Esquire not a single Democratic senator was willing to stand up with John Lewis and contest the election, and if you won't stand up with John Lewis on an issue of voting rights, then you'd have rolled dice for the robe on Golgotha (phony state-sanctioned voter suppression)

Hullabaloo: Occupy: Brave New Films has produced a great video. Pass it on Occupy Together Meetups Everywhere - Meetup
We Are the 99 Percent
Occupy Wall Street Is A "Populist" Movement (The Tea Party Is Not) | Media Matters for America
The policing of Occupy Wall Street: we are watching | Amy Goodman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk DemocracyNow! successfully sued over police harassment. But how does NYPD conduct on Occupy Wall Street measure up?
Beck Fearmongers About "An Attack On Wall Street Next Week," Tells Listeners To Have Cash And Food Ready* | Media Matters for America (Tahir Square coming; Obama will send in tanks; stock up on ammunition)
Occupy Wall Street: The Left's Tea Party? - The Week
Hullabaloo Why Harvard should claim 1/5th of the blame for the mess we're in (inside story of the Harvard living wage protests in 2001: accomplished very little +Summers and Rubin)
Is protest in America at a turning point? (media attitude has been to mock and sneer)

Michael Lewis, How The Financial Crisis Created A 'New Third World' : NPR
Fiscal Worries Cloud Vikings’ Push for Publicly Financed Stadium - NYTimes.com (football collides with Teatards; Americans confused)

IBM Projects It Will Have World’s Most Powerful Supercomputer in Two Years, Artificial Human Brain in 10 | TPM Idea Lab
Giant Asteroid Vesta Has Mountain Taller Than Anything on Earth | Asteroid Vesta & Vesta Images | NASA's Dawn Spacecraft | Space.com

Samsung may hit Apple with iPhone 4S ban | Technology | guardian.co.uk Apple could face court injunctions to halt sale of new iPhone 4S as Samsung says it breaches patents it owns (sauce for the goose)

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So much evidence, there’s no need to show it - Salon.com ("we've got evidence, but it's classified" : Obama's extra-judical killing of American citizens)
Mogadishu truck bomb kills dozens | World news | guardian.co.uk Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for deadly explosion outside government buildings in Somalian capital
Jewish extremists suspected of attack on mosque | McClatchy
U.S., Mexico officials scoff at Perry's comments on sending troops across the border | McClatchy (Mexico says it is not "Afganistan")

Amanda Knox: victim of Italian code which puts saving face before justice | World news | The Guardian the rush to judgment over Meredith Kercher was to save prosecutor Guiliano Mignini, the police and the judiciary from public humiliation (Italian justice is a joke; sue this, assholes)
Amanda Knox, Meredith Kercher and the media | Nina Burleigh | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The Italian media, cowed, lazy and compliant, allowed a bullying prosecutor to frame Knox and Sollecito for the Kercher murder - Giuliano Mignini, the Perugia prosecutor (should be thrown in jail for life)

George Osborne promises credit lifeline for UK firms | Politics | The Guardian Chancellor to announce novel 'credit easing' plan to help struggling businesses and avoid the risk of a second credit crunch (infinite money for banks, austerity for the rest of us)

The Poll Result that Should Scare the Obama Campaign the Most | Elections Sixty-nine percent say the president has not made real progress on the economy (how's that Republican pivot working out for you?)
DOMA Defense: Taxpayers On The Hook For $1.5 Million To Defend Law Barring Same-Sex Marriage - "At a time when Americans are hurting and job creation should be the top priority, it just shows how out of touch House Republicans have become that they would spend up to $1.5 million dollars to defend discrimination in our country."
With Obama jobs bill near dead, White House plans fall push for passage | McClatchy
Bachmann's campaign sputtering in Iowa | McClatchy
PPP Shocker: Herman Cain Ahead In North Carolina, West Virginia and Nebraska? | Election 2012 (muhahaha)
Pam Geller Group Board Member Calls For Mass Murder Of Congressmen, Muslims, Liberals And Journalists | ThinkProgress (Atlas Juggs and her team of genociders)

Occupy Wall Street protests - live coverage | World news | guardian.co.uk Protests continue on Wall Street as the Occupy movement continues to spread. Follow the latest developments here
Mayor Bloomberg backs mass arrests of Wall Street protesters Bloomberg, whose net worth of some $19.5 billion is derived from Wall Street, voiced unqualified support for the police repression on the Brooklyn Bridge.
How Killer Student Debt and Unemployment Made Young People the Leaders at Occupy Wall Street | AlterNet "That we're young only means we have the most to lose by standing idle," say the young protesters mocked by mainstream media.
Another day, another protest? | Anya Schiffrin Things have come to a pretty pass when the right to assembly is respected more in Egypt and Spain than it is in the US of A.
From Troy Davis to Occupy Wall Street: How the Prison System Destroys the American Dream | Civil Liberties | AlterNet The people of Occupy Wall Street are protesting our country's growing inequality--and nowhere is this inequality more acutely felt than the makeup of our prison population.
Showdown on the Brooklyn Bridge - Julie Dermansky - National - The Atlantic A photojournalist's lens captures some of the 700 arrests that took place over the weekend

U.S. Economy Tipping into Recession | All Reports | Reports and Indexes | ECRI Why should ECRI’s recession call be heeded? Perhaps because, as The Economist has noted, we’ve correctly called three recessions without any false alarms in-between.
Bernanke says US economy is 'close to faltering' | Business | guardian.co.uk Fed chairman blames euro crisis, uncertainty over jobs market and political battles in Washington for gloomy economic outlook
County Fair | Media Matters for America Continuing their desperate campaign to paint President Obama as anti-capitalist
On TARP’s Three-Year Anniversary, Economists Call For ‘Massive Debt Relief’ For The Middle-Class | ThinkProgress (zero chance of Republicans agreeing)
Blaming unemployment on “unemployees” « The Reality-Based Community - "building a personal brand as an unemployee" (Tim Cavanaugh is part of the problem)
Secret Docs Show Foreclosure Watchdog Doesn’t Bark or Bite - ProPublica - the company operated with almost no oversight for the program’s first eight months. When auditors did finally conduct a major review more than a year into the program, they found that GMAC had seriously mishandled many loan modifications — miscalculating homeowner income in more than 80 percent of audited cases, for example. Yet, GMAC suffered no penalty. GMAC itself said it hasn’t reversed a single foreclosure as a result of a government audit.
Helicopter Drops: Does the Treasury Have Authority to Lend $10,000 Interest-Free to Every 2011 Taxpayer? (thinking outside the apparently tiny box of Obama'a mind)


Tom Ehrich asks if we really live like Christians - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register If America became a Christian nation, doing what Jesus did, you would be aghast (nah, Obama would use a drone to eliminate him)

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Unrest Continues to Shake Yemen, Especially in South - NYTimes.com (one down, 3 billion to go)
Israel Accepts New Peace Talks, but Impasse Remains on Terms - NYTimes.com (which will be Israel's)
Haqqani network denies involvement in assassination of Afghan envoy | World news | guardian.co.uk
Iraq police station standoff ends after security forces storm building | World news | The Guardian Four killed after insurgents disguised as police officers took dozens hostage including mayor
Koch Brothers Flout Law With Secret Iran Sales - Bloomberg (no laws for the rich; Obama will triangulate)

European debt crisis Live | Business | guardian.co.uk UK manufacturing shows surprise growth. Ditto America, but Eurozone growth stalls

Amanda Knox Verdict: Murder Conviction Overturned

New State Laws Are Limiting Access for Voters - NYTimes.com (in the print edition: "Republicans prevent voter fraud; Democrats object")
Restrictions Could Keep Five Million Traditionally Democratic Voters From The Polls In 2012 | TPMMuckraker - Restrictive voting laws in states across the country could affect up to five million voters from traditionally Democratic demographics in 2012, according to a new report by the Brennan Center. That's a number larger than the margin of victory in two of the last three presidential elections.
If You're Not Careful... - Imgur - Malcom X
For Politics in South, Race Divide Is Defining - NYTimes.com Democrats ponder the prospect of becoming, definitively, the minority party — in both senses of the word (the South rose again and ate America)

ABC/WaPo: Only 37 Percent Of Americans Think Obama Will Be Re-Elected in 2012 | Election 2012 (how low can he go? +way to energize your base, dude)
The Cost Of A Demobilized Left | ThinkProgress - it’s hard not to be reminded of the lost opportunity to mobilize a left-wing popular movement back in the winter of 2008-2009 and the spring of 2009.(when Obama told his base to shut the fuck up and go home)
Chris Christie for President: NJ Governor’s Best Reason to Run in 2012 - The Daily Beast The average consumer confidence index when a president running for reelection wins is 95. When they lose, it’s 76. Today the number is 55.
Elizabeth Warren's Senate Run Could Help Massachusetts Democrats Close The Attention Gap
Ed Goeas, Andy Parrish Leave Michele Bachmann 2012 Campaign (rats +sinking ship)
Stewart J. Lawrence: Chris Christie: Destined to Disappoint? Christie has publicly supported the Barack Obama-George W. Bush plan for comprehensive immigration reform, which places him squarely in the dreaded "amnesty" camp.
Scott Brown Stumbles When Small Business Owner Confronts Him Over Filibustering Tax Credits For Small Businesses | ThinkProgress (couldn't remember how he voted)
Scarborough: Rick Perry’s Racist Camp Name Is A ‘Disqualifying’ Offense | ThinkProgress (the rock between his ears is ok, though)
pandagon.net - Redstate's commenters decide to not just attack Cain but, yes, to defend Niggerhead, because we're apparently entering into a white supremacist fantasy novel. From "izoneguy" (America's racist right)

Occupy Wall Street: A U.S. version of the Arab Spring? - The Week (let's call it "the American Fall")
Hullabaloo An excellent beginning - The official list of grievances of the General Assembly of Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street protests - live coverage | World news | guardian.co.uk He accused the police of allowing a situation to develop on Saturday's march where provocateurs led hundreds to engage in illegal protest on the road (Tony Baloney at work)
Occupy Wall Street protest: NYPD accused of heavy-handed tactics | World news | The Guardian Force criticised by protesters, who claim they were deliberately led on to road before being penned in and arrested ("provacateurs" = "cops"
"They're Arresting Us One by One": 700 Thrown in Jail as Wall St. Protest Grows -- Labor Declares Support | AlterNet 700 reported arrests and still Liberty Plaza remains occupied by protesters declaring, "We Are the 99%."

Risk-averse America - The Washington Post (idiotic WaPo column from Samuelson: Americans just aren't "confident" enough to spend mony they don't have from jobs they can't get)
Holding China to Account - NYTimes.com - Respectable opinion is aghast. But respectable opinion has been consistently wrong lately, and the currency issue is no exception. (Republicans will act because Obama was clueless)
Foreclosures Are Killing Us - NYTimes.com the rate of homes entering foreclosure is rising again. First-time default notices were served on 78,000 homes in August, a 33 percent increase from July. A $1 billion federal program to help jobless and underemployed homeowners ended Friday. Foreclosure notices were filed against a record 2.9 million properties last year, and an additional 1.2 million in the first half of this year (millions of homes in foreclosure; Obama did nothing)
How Unequal We Are: The Top 5 Facts You Should Know About The Wealthiest One Percent Of Americans | ThinkProgress (Washington Post: "the rich aren't really rich")
How Obama’s tax hikes would really impact the rich, in three easy charts - The Plum Line - The Washington Post (not much, if at all)

Arnold Schwarzenegger, bike salmon | Felix Salmon n other words, it’s exactly the same kind of person who will merrily cut you up on the highway while driving his brand-new Maserati. It’s not cyclists who salmon aggressively. It’s assholes (asshole will be assholes)
Rising Hegemon: That's good Administerin' - Who's bright idea was this one? - Atlantic, Iowa (AP) - The Atlantic school district has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit filed over student strip searches (local school boards have police powers the police don't have)

Occupy Wall Street protests - live coverage | World news | guardian.co.uk More than 700 protesters were arrested on Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, as protests also spread to other cities in the US. Follow live updates on the movement here
Nobel prize officials face dilemma after unwittingly honouring dead scientist | Science | The Guardian Nobel prize for medicine given to three biologists for work on immune system, but one of them died just days ago
Ozone layer hole over Arctic in sudden expansion | Environment | guardian.co.uk Arctic and Antarctic holes of similar size for first time, say scientists, due to combination of wind patterns and intense cold
Review - The Philosophical Breakfast Club - Philosophy Four Remarkable Friends Who Transformed Science and Changed the World by Laura J. Snyder (the term "scientist" was invented in 1833)

azODl.jpg (Bill: "Miss me yet?")
NmKf7.jpg (Pope Vader)
The Fall trailer - YouTube
Taking Pictures of Dead Kids' Bedrooms | VICE

Internet governance: In praise of chaos | The Economist Governments’ attempts to control the internet should be resisted (Obama wants new control powers)
How Yelp is killing chain restaurants - The Washington Post - “that online consumer reviews substitute for more traditional forms of reputation.” (teh internets leveling the playing field with communications +HBS case +jobs don't have anything to do with it, right?)
The Platform Wars: Will Music Bring Harmony or Discord? | TechCrunch “The elephants are increasingly angry at each other.”

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Pro-Taliban leader captured in Afghanistan | World news | guardian.co.uk Senior commander of the Haqqani network, which has pledged allegiance to the Taliban, is seized in Paktia province (CIA funded terror network)
Palestinian leaders renew attack on Tony Blair over Israel | Politics | The Observer Middle East envoy accused of 'parroting' Israeli demands during negotiations (now Netanyahu's poodle)
Yemen warplane strikes own troops by mistake | World news | The Guardian At least 30 soldiers killed in evening bombing on abandoned school used as shelter by army's 119th Brigade
Bomb maker believed to be third victim of al-Awlaki drone strike in Yemen | World news | The Observer As details emerge of drone strike that killed al-Qaida preacher and others, controversy grows over American operation - The killing of two American citizens abroad without even a token effort at judicial process is a potential moral and legal morass for both the White House and anti-terrorism officials alike (Obama: "don't need no steenking Constitution")
U.S. officials warn of possible retaliation over al-Awlaki killing - CNN.com (be afraid; report your neighbors to the FBI)
Was Obama's order to kill al Qaida cleric an assassination? | McClatchy "There are circumstances in which the (president's) unilateral decision to kill a U.S. citizen overseas is constitutionally committed to the political branches and judicially unreviewable," U.S. District Judge John Bates concluded last year (Obama can kill whoever the fuck he wants, Judge says)
Assassination was planned in Pakistan, Afghanistan charges | McClatchy Afghan officials said Saturday that they have provided Pakistan with evidence that the assassination of the top Afghan peace negotiator was plotted in Quetta, Pakistan.

Home Secretary: scrap the Human Rights Act - Telegraph Theresa May, the Home Secretary, risks an explosive rift inside the Coalition with an explicit call for the scrapping of the Human Rights Act (Conservatives in UK go full totalitarian: no steening rights for you)
Invasion of the body scanners | Victoria Coren | Comment is free | The Observer We'd all better get used to it – privacy could soon be a thing of the past, even at station (no steeking privacy, either, you might be a terrorist) s
BBC News - Tory conference: Cameron in jobs and homes vow Mr Cameron dismissed calls for "a few billions" of extra spending - suggesting it would be a dangerous gamble to "deviate" from the government's tight deficit-reduction plans (no "deviations" from our disasterous failure)
Greece Expected To Unveil Plan To Lay Off State Workers

Our advice to the debt supercommittee: Go big, be bold, be smart - The Washington Post Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles (the idiotic twins prescribe austerity for you)
As Obama presses passage of his jobs bill, Congress shrugs | McClatchy Congress is highly unlikely to approve the massive jobs package that President Barack Obama has been pushing relentlessly from coast to coast, day after day, for almost a month (no Muslim socialism in America, punks)
Chris Christie: bully, punk, or populist genius? Meet the GOP's latest hope | World news | The Observer he controversial record of the man many believe could challenge Barack Obama
Dick, Liz Cheney Praise Anwar Al-Awlaki Killing, Say Obama Owes Bush Administration An Apology (how's that "never look back" thingy working our for you)
Cheney Says Obama’s Anti-Terror Strategy Is Successful But Demands An Apology For Not Calling It A ‘War On Terror’ | ThinkProgress
Denny Rehberg: Class Act : Lawyers, Guns & Money The next frontier in Republicans’ long-term goal of sending us back to the Gilded Age–making sure our children are hungry! Now, if we could only keep them home making artificial flowers at miniscule piecework wages for 14 hours a day! No doubt, Republicans will be openly advocating this by 2013 (kids not "entitled" to food, should be working in a factory - Montana Republican)
Herman Cain Says He Plans To "Update" "Hail To The Chief"; Fox's Wallace Asks If That Means "Hip Hop" | Media Matters for America (Chris Wallace is a racist, but you knew that)
Cain Calls Perry ‘Insensitive’ To Black People For Not Changing Racist Name Of Family’s Hunting Camp | ThinkProgress the West Texas hunting camp where Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) hosted friends and lawmakers bore the offensive name “Niggerhead.”
How Americans Ranks Their Financial Concerns: Pew (gas prices biggest concern? +hate both parties and Obama)

Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested on Brooklyn bridge – in pictures | World news | guardian.co.uk Demonstrators were arrested by the NYPD as they tried to cross the Brooklyn bridge
Occupy Wall Street: NYPD Arrests 700 Protesters On Brooklyn Bridge (Obama considers tanks)
Occupy Wall Street Arrests: An Eyewitness View (Tony Baloney)
Detailed List Of Demands & Overview Of Tactics For DC Protest (compiled from suggestions made in this forum) -- Please suggest additions or edits so I can propose this list to those keeping the official one. | OccupyWallSt.org Forum
New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin Sneers At Wall Street Protesters, Estimates Only 80 There | ThinkProgress (elites at work +Times doesn't like their clothes)

The War on Us | Firedoglake New York Times columnist David Brooks has long been engaged in a stealth campaign against the discoveries of science – especially neuroscience – that validate a more egalitarian and humanistic political order.
"I've Got Your Back": Scientific American New evidence shows that chimpanzees aren't as selfish as many scientists thought
Neo-liberal Genetics: The Myths and Moral Tales of Evolutionary Psychology, McKinnon (Pinker: "the pseudo-scientific heart of darkness" - FDL)

Defeatism - NYTimes.com The austerians have brought us to the brink of a vast disaster - it seems obvious, is the intense desire to see economics as a morality play of sin and punishment, where the sinners are, of course, workers and governments, not the bankers. Pain is not an unfortunate consequence of policies, it’s what is supposed to happen ... And this cruelty rules our world. (they play, you pay)
Hullabaloo - Pain and Punishment - all these elites believe they are wealthy and secure due to their superior morality and work ethic. Therefore, it's important to make sure the plebes feel some pain for their excesses so they'll adopt the higher standards of their betters (Michael Kinsley is an idiot)
Baubles, Bangles, and Tweets: Reactions to The Reactionary Mind « Corey Robin
Edmund Burke and American Conservatism « The Baseline Scenario - Corey Robin has a different take: conservatism, all the way back to Edmund Burke, has always been about counterrevolution, motivated by the success of left-wing radicals and consciously copying their tactics in an attempt to seize power back from them.
Meet the new culture warrior, same as the old culture warrior
Bobo’s Reactionary Mind : Lawyers, Guns & Money - Brooks is defending a system of rank exploitation and illegitimate privilege
Corey Robin: Endgame Conservatives after the Cold War
Many Government Retirees Simultaneously Collect Paychecks And Pensions: Report

FBI seeks to expand definition of rape | McClatchy Since 1927, rape has been defined as forcible male penile penetration of a female - which excludes cases involving oral and anal penetration, where the victims were drugged or under the influence of alcohol, and male victims.
'Slutwalk' women march on New York after NYPD tell them to 'cover up' to avoid rape | Mail Online

Martial Arts - Karate and Aikido - Nuns learn them as self-defense - YouTube
Watch Corpse Princess: Shikabane Hime - Watch Anime & Live Action Streaming Episodes & Video Online
Forest Boy: Police doubts - Telegraph Police have cast doubts over the truth of the story given by "Forest Boy" after his refusal to co-operate in the investigation to discover his identity.

Rising atheism in America puts 'religious right on the defensive' | World news | The Observer High profile of faith-based politicians such as Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry masks a steady growth in secularism (Christian Nation going to Hell)
Raymond Davis, CIA Contractor, Charged After Fight Over Parking Spot (he could have shot everybody)
Despite changing rules, medical marijuana field has exploded statewide | Tacoma - The News Tribune Two years ago, before Washington’s medical marijuana industry went completely nuts, Scott Havsy was without question Tacoma’s top pot doc.

Internet firms co-opted for surveillance: experts | Reuters Internet companies such as Google, Twitter and Facebook are increasingly co-opted for surveillance work as the information they gather proves irresistible to law enforcement agencies, Web experts said this week.

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In Greece, Austerity Measures Weaken the Economy, What Did the Post Expect? | Beat the Press (austerity not working, duh)
Sarkozy pledges to fast-track eurozone rescue as slump fears grow | Business | The Guardian French leader praises Papandreou's commitment to austerity (idiot elites at work)
Spain nationalizes 3 banks after cash injections - Boston.com (so austere)

Bahrain doctors await the call that will send them to prison | World news | The Guardian Global outcry as 20 medics prepare to go to jail for helping protesters during the Arab spring's forgotten uprising
Anwar Al-Awlaki Dead: U.S.-Born Al Qaeda Cleric Killed In Yemen U.S. airstrikes in Yemen on Friday killed Anwar al-Awlaki, an American militant cleric who became a prominent figure in the terror network's most dangerous branch, using his fluent English and Internet savvy to draw recruits for attacks in the United States (illegal extra-judical killing of American citizen)
Anwar al-Awlaki, al-Qaida cleric and top US target, killed in Yemen | World news | The Guardian Obama welcomes news of Awlaki's death in US air strike, and says dual US-Yemeni citizen advanced 'murderous agenda' (no free speech for people with brown skins)
The due-process-free assassination of U.S. citizens is now reality - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com
Taking down Anwar al-Awlaki shows the US is winning against al-Qaida | Wesley Clark | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Our active defence against terror is now highly effective. But the US must move past Awlaki's death to champion American values (like killing thousands of innocent civilians)
The FBI again thwarts its own Terror plot - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com (the FBI's war on America)

What media coverage omits about U.S. hikers released by Iran - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com In prison, every time we complained about our conditions, the guards would remind us of comparable conditions at Guantanamo Bay; they'd remind us of CIA prisons in other parts of the world; and conditions that Iranians and others experience in prisons in the U.S. (there's your moral authority, Obama)
The second Chechen war: a Grozny teenager's diary | World news | The Guardian Author Polina Zherebtsova – who was 14 when conflict began – publishes journal on taboo subject despite death threats

Phone hacking: Neville Thurlbeck says 'truth will out' | Media | The Guardian Former News of the World senior reporter breaks silence, saying he 'took no part in the matter which led to my dismissal'

Democrats Dispirited About Voting in 2012 (way to fire up your base; oh, what base?)
Rick Perry Faced Federal Scrutiny For Insider Trading, Criticism For Land Deals
Rick Perry Heckled: GOP Presidential Candidate Faces Hecklers, Protesters During Campaign Stops (Teapartied!)
Clarence Thomas Should Be Investigated For Nondisclosure, Democratic Lawmakers Say
Joe Walsh Vows To Fight For Gun Rights, Says Obama Administration Should Be Investigated Walsh (R-Ill.) said Illinois was an "embarrassment" for failing to have a concealed carry law on the books, and vowed to become a “cheerleader” for gun rights in Congress
Democracy on the Lurch - Wall Street Pepper Spray Incident - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 09/29/11 - Video Clip | Comedy Central
Florida Primary Election 2012: Date Of Contest Set For Jan. 31
Keith Gilkes, Scott Walker's Chief Of Staff, Resigns Gilkes will run Walker's campaign as the governor faces a mounting recall effort in the Badger State.
After immigration ruling at Foley school with Hispanic population, students cry, withdraw, no-show | al.com after a federal judge upheld much of Alabama’s strict new immigration law, which authorizes law enforcement to detain people suspected of not being U.S. citizens and requires schools to ask new enrollees for a copy of their birth certificate.
Bicycles Are Cheap | ThinkProgress bicyclists are a diverse lot, including immigrants who lack the documentation to get a driver’s license and people who are too poor to own a car. These are disproportionately minorities (make them show their birth certificates to buy an old bike)
Donald Rumsfeld Tells Al Jazeera 'I Am Delighted You Are Doing What You Are Doing' “Its audience has grown and it can be an important means of communication in the world,” he said of the channel (Comcast still won't carry it, too many people with brown skins)

What's behind the scorn for the Wall Street protests? - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com - many of the most scornful criticisms have come from Democratic partisans who -- like the politicians to whom they devote their fealty -- feign populist opposition to Wall Street for political gain.
Getting A Boost From Unions And Online Tools, Occupy Wall Street Protests Go Global | TPM Idea Lab
BofA, Wells Fargo, Citigroup Left TARP Early To Avoid Restrictions On Executive Pay: Report [how's that FinReg working out for you?]
Bank of America debit card fee plan met with resistance and anger | Business | guardian.co.uk Wells Fargo and Chase also considering $5-per-month fee, which US senator Richard Durbin calls 'overt and unfair'

Martin Wolf Says: Fly the Helicopters!
PhillyInc: Philly Fed chief: Taming inflation is key to economy | Philadelphia Inquirer | 09/30/2011 (the bond fairies! +you don't need no steening jobs +interest rates the lowest in 8,000 years)
Bank of America to charge debit card use fee | Reuters (charging you for them to use your money)

Can Appalachia survive when the coal runs out? - The Washington Post (maybe chopping down all your mountains wasn't such a great idea after all)
Bubble car self-service scheme launches in Paris | Environment | The Guardian More than half of Parisians do not own a car

Some Doctors Refuse To Treat Kids Who Have Not Been Immunized - Kaiser Health News In Washington state, for example, the rate of nonmedical exemptions from school vaccination requirements was 6 percent in 2007, with one county recording a 27 percent refusal rate (go Jenny McCarthy!)

Facebook to be investigated over privacy concerns | Technology | guardian.co.uk Irish privacy regulator to audit how social network handles users' data in Europe as the US Federal Trade Commission also considers probe

092911
Germany backs revamped euro bailout fund | Business | guardian.co.uk Merkel pushes through rescue package in step towards tackling the eurozone's sprawling debt crisis
European Debt Crisis FAQ | ThinkProgress
Farrell: “The fundamental problem here is a profoundly political problem.” #Euromess - The Washington Post
Lachmann: ‘What’s really at stake here is the European banking system.’ #Euromess - The Washington Post
Eichengreen: ‘This is first and foremost a banking crisis’ #Euromess - The Washington Post

Fears for civilians trapped in besieged Libyan city of Sirte | World news | The Guardian Indiscriminate fire continues after National Transitional Council forces retake airport
AFP: Iranian pastor's death sentence deplorable: Hague t Iran was about to execute a pastor after he refused to give up Christianity and return to Islam.
Israeli occupation hitting Palestinian economy, claims report | World news | The Guardian Economy minister Hasan Abu Libdeh says that Palestinians are prevented from achieving their potential
Turkey to press ahead with sanctions against Syria | World news | The Guardian Despite Europe's failure at UN, Ankara expected to go it alone in sanctioning Assad regime over crackdown on protesters

Trial tests whether 'ecocide' could join genocide as global crime | Environment | guardian.co.uk which is being considered by the UN (Obama to go on trial?)

How Much Damage Could A C-4 Loaded Model Airplane Really Do? | TPM Idea Lab (not much, unless it flew into a window)
FBI faces entrapment questions over Rezwan Ferdaus bomb plot arrest | World news | guardian.co.uk Sting operation to arrest physics graduate, 26, raises concerns that US Muslims might be targeted using entrapment techniques (keeping America afraid of people with brown skins and their funding up)
Pentagon launches war court website | McClatchy
The Onion Roils Capitol With Fictional Congress-Perpetrated Hostage Situation | TPMDC Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "suddenly burst into the National Statuary Hall with a pair of black panty hose over his head and began firing a Beretta 9 mm handgun into the air, shouting, 'Everybody down! Everybody get the fuck down !'" "If the money is not delivered by this evening, members of Congress say they will shoot a new child every hour on the hour."

Frank Rich: What Good Did Bipartisanship Ever Do Anybody? -- New York Magazine What good did bipartisanship ever do anybody? (No Labels, etc. and our clueless, strangely ahistorical President)
GAO Cuts: Tom Coburn Hammers Senate For Money-Losing Proposal for slashing the Government Accountability Office's budget. They're demanding to know why the top federal government watchdog has been "singled out" even as it saves the taxpayers billions (why? what part of "Republicans" don't you understand?)
Commentary: Tea party is throwing more than a temper tantrum | McClatchy These are folks who don’t just support the death penalty; they cheer for executions. They don’t just oppose health care reform, they shout “Let him die” to the uninsured individual who faces life-threatening illness. They are the true believers: virulently anti-government, anti-Muslim, anti-gay, anti-science, anti-tax, anti-facts and, most of all, anti the coming demographic changes represented by a dark-skinned president with an African name. They are the people who want “their” country back ... t a man blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City out of anti-government sentiment not so different from that espoused by the tea party.
Still Not True: Fox's Gasparino Ignores Reality To Claim Obama Wants To "Raise Everybody's Taxes" | Media Matters for America
Just The Facts: Republicans Falsely Claim Obama Seeks Biggest Tax Hike In History | TPMDC (just satifying Americans' bottomless appetite for lies)
Rick Perry’s ‘Texas Miracle’ Turns Out To Be A Texas Mirage | Election 2012
Why No GOP Candidate Can Soothe The Angry Elephant | Election 2012 As the latest round of fervent speculation around Chris Christie demonstrates, there appear to be an awful lot of Republicans wishing they had more choices in the Republican primary.
Balloon Juice » Great Scott! Scott Walker Blames His Failure to Create Jobs in Wisconsin on the Unemployed You see, it’s the fault of the unemployed that they don’t have jobs because, goshdarnit, they’re just not trying hard enough: "Gov. Scott Walker says he’s looking at whether people on unemployment compensation are trying hard enough to make a quick return to the workplace." - They drum up hate among citizens through lies and propaganda, and then they turn around and spit in your face—all the while attempting to pass draconian voter suppression laws so the people of Wisconsin can’t rectify their mistake and kick these Randian bootlickers out of power
Scott Walker's Job Creators Cost Wisconsin 2300 Jobs In a Single Month (Republicans at work destroying your country)
Romney’s “Core Constituency” — Jonathan Last Online t Romney is a non-starter as a political commodity—it’s precisely because he has no core supporters. Which is why he is not very good at winning elections ... Romney would have been a career politician too, if only voters would have let him.
Pat Buchanan's Researcher Karate Chopped A Woman And Called Her The N-Word | Media Matters for America
State Department Letting Keystone XL Contractor Manage Its Environmental Review | MyFDL (natch)

Occupy Wall Street vs Tea Party - Video of Occupy Wall Street Arrest - Esquire there is nothing that proves the essential fraudulence of the trope that the Tea Party "Movement" is some sort of spontaneous uprising, and not simply the well-funded re-branding of right-wing Republicanism aimed at a new crop of rubes, than the fact that there is little or no Tea Party presence on Wall Street
A Massive Union Just Voted To Side With The Wall Street Protesters
Growing anger over police attack on Wall Street protesters

Killing the Recovery - NYTimes.com Economic policy makers have made similar mistakes before. That is what caused the Great Depression. There is not a lot of time left to get this right (NYT notices were doomed after supporting austerity and deficit reduction for two years)
Bernanke Says High U.S. Unemployment Poses ‘National Crisis’ - Bloomberg (elites wake up to the problem they called)
World Economy: Goldman Sachs Sees 40% Risk of ‘Great Stagnation’ - CNBC (financial elites destroying the world and getting rich from it)
Mortgage modifications are still messed up, 4 years later | McClatchy lenders' relentless pursuit of foreclosure proceedings four years after the housing-market bust.
Bank Of America Plans To Charge Monthly $5 Debit Card Usage Fee (I'm in your debit card debiting your debits)

Kepler Analysis Projects One-Third of Sun-Like Stars Have an Earth-Like Planet Orbiting | Popular Science
Earthlike Planets May Be Less Common than We Think - Time
How normal cells become brain cancers oligodendroglioma, a common type of brain tumor
HIV MVA-B Vaccine May Reduce Virus To 'Minor Chronic Infection'
What was the little ice age? | Environment | guardian.co.uk
NASA: WISE Spacecraft Located Most Massive Near-Earth Asteroids, But 10 Percent Still Unaccounted For (Republicans will defund the search)
Denmark taxes fatty products - Telegraph Denmark is to impose the world's first "fat tax" in a drive to slim its population and cut heart disease.

House GOP Unveils Plan To Cut NPR, Job Training And Education Programs (NPR reaps what they have sowed)
Kansas Abortion Insurance Law: Judge Refuses To Block Controversial Law Women seeking abortions in Kansas will have to pay for the procedure or get extra insurance after a judge refused to block a new law that restricts insurance coverage for abortions.
Age Discrimination Harder To Fight Amid Record Unemployment For Older Workers
Mitchell Wilson Suicide: Disabled Boy's Death Raises Bullying Concerns


How long does your mobile phone provider store data for law enforcement access? - Computerworld Blogs AT&T indefinitely keeps data about which cell towers were used by your phone. Verizon stores your cell-site data for "1 rolling year." Sprint and Nextel keep it for 18 - 24 months. Virgin Mobile's is 'not retained' but can be obtained through Sprint (no warrents except for Virgin/Sprint)

092811
10 myths about Afghanistan | World news | The Guardian

Gaddafi may be hiding on border with Algeria, say rebels | World news | The Guardian The man most Libyans now call 'the tyrant' or 'the fugitive' may be sheltered by Tuareg tribesmen near the town of Ghadamis
Al Qaeda Calls On Mahmoud Ahmadinejad To End 'Ridiculous' 9/11 Conspiracy Theories
Aid agency withdrew Pakistan staff after CIA fake vaccination scheme | World news | The Guardian Save the Children, which was not linked to the scheme, flew workers out of the country after US warnings about their safety (CIA compromises vaccination program in whole country)
Refusing to Kill Daughter, Pakistani Family Defies Tradition, Draws Anger - Habiba Nosheen & Hilke Schellmann - International - The Atlantic A Pakistani girl who says she was kidnapped and gang-raped faces a new threat: honor killings, a tradition here, but one that her family refuses to carry out (threatening the whole social order)

Acapulco: Severed Heads Found In Mexican Resort (Obama's war on drugz)

For a top Obama adviser, a new strategy and old doubts - The Washington Post (Obama's crack team of idiots)
Rezwan Ferdaus Terror Plot: 26-Year-Old U.S. Citizen, Charged With Plotting Attack On Pentagon, U.S. Capitol: Report A 26-year-old Massachusetts man has reportedly been arrested in connection with a plot to attack the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol using an aircraft filled with C-4 explosives.
Democrats Hope Tea Party Candidates Win GOP Primaries, Help Keep The Senate Blue
Observations of a Jailed Journalist | MetroFocus | THIRTEEN (WNET journalist held nine hours by NYPD for trying to interview pepper-spray victim)

Two Cheers for Luddism : Lawyers, Guns & Money The violent smashing of machines version of luddism has little value in the modern world, but the basic idea behind it is sound and necessary (robocheckers)
On Self-Checkout at Supermarkets : Lawyers, Guns & Money As Atrios points out, these things are nothing more than a calculated plan by grocery stores to employ less people
Patton Oswalt - Grocery Store Robots - YouTube

Paul Krugman: U.S. Economy Needs 'The Financial Equivalent Of War'
The Eurovenn - NYTimes.com
Occupy Boston: smart, savvy, and aiming to emulate Wall Street protests | World news | guardian.co.uk About 200 people in Boston express their outrage at America's economic woes – and promise to take up the protest baton

Two Moons in Earth's Past? : Discovery News
Here's a Map That Shows Where the People Who Google "Zombies" Are From the biggest areas of zombie-interest are in the US, Europe, Japan with a bit of Aussie land. I guess it makes sense, when you have less to worry about you invent shit to worry about.

Rights Clash as Town Clerk Rejects Her Role in Gay Marriages - NYTimes.com Rose Marie Belforti is a 57-year-old cheese maker, the elected town clerk in this sprawling Finger Lakes farming community and a self-described Bible-believing Christian (who missed that whole chuch-state separation thingy)
NJ Building Fences to Fight Terrorists | NBC Philadelphia New fences designed to keep terrorists away from bridges are going up along the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State parkway. The 8-foot fence posts are topped with an inverted Y to discourage someone from scaling it. The fencing is part of a $7 million project funded by the federal Homeland Security Department (because terrorists can't climb 8-foot fences and aren't smart enough to bring a step-ladder)
Florida execution: lawyers scramble to stop death penalty for Cuban | World news | guardian.co.uk Manuel Valle, 61, has just hours left to live after spending 33 years on death row for the murder of a police officer

Nokia N9: last of the line | Technology | guardian.co.uk Latest model expected to be phone maker's final non-Windows smartphone but won't be available in UK or US
Amazon Kindle Fire: New Tablet To Sell For $199 (Video) (Photos)

092711
European debt crisis: Greece vows to 'fight back to prosperity' - as it happened | Business | guardian.co.uk World markets rally
Vladimir Putin: return of the king | World news | The Guardian It is virtually inevitable that Putin will next year become Russia's president again. What will that mean for Russia, the world, and indeed the man who just can't seem to give up power?
Erdogan: UN sanctions on Israel could aid Mideast peace process - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News Turkish Prime Minister says sanctions are promoted when dealing with Iran and Sudan, but taboo with regards to Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu: 'No Settlement Freeze' Israel's Interior Ministry announced Tuesday that it had given the final approval for the new homes to be built in Gilo, a sprawling Israeli enclave in southeast Jerusalem (see below)
Israel Announces Massive Expansion of East Jerusalem Settlement -- News from Antiwar.com (here's how we reward your veto a week later +can "never look back" learn from experience?)
20,000 Surface-to-Air Missiles Missing "U.S. officials had once thought there was little chance that terrorists could get their hands on many of the portable surface-to-air missiles that can bring down a commercial jet liner. But now that calculation is out the window, with officials at a recent secret White House meeting reporting that thousands of them have gone missing in Libya."

Pakistan Scrambles for New Allies as Split With US Seems Likely -- News from Antiwar.com Army Commanders Dismiss US Allegations of Terrorism
China will stand by Pakistan in hour of need: Chinese vice PM - War with Pakistan will mean war with China. Was Israel worth it?

Super Committee's Cuts Anything But Automatic

Rick Perry's Administration's HPV Emails Solicit 'Under The Table' Input an awkward turn of phrase given the charges of corruption that surround the mandated vaccination.
Biden: GOP Crowd Members Booing Gay Soldier Was 'Reprehensible' (it's what they are)
Heckler Screamed 'Anti-Christ' At Obama Before Being Whisked Away | TPMDC "Christian God is the one and only true living God, the creator of Heaven and the Universe,"
Bachmann’s Newest Conspiracy Theory: Hezbollah Could Build Missile Sites In Cuba! | Election 2012 (doubling down on the super-crazy)
Bachmann's in a tailspin, but the GOP race is volatile | McClatchy
Jon Stewart To GOP Voters: Take A Long, Hard Look In The Mirror | TPM LiveWire "Republican base ... have you ever considered the possibility that maybe your candidates aren't the problem?" Stewart added. "Maybe it's you?"
CNN Poll: Tea Party Unfavorability Up 27 Points Since January 2010 | Election 2012 (media still loves their creation)
O'Reilly Happy To Let "Totalitarian" NPR Promote His New Book | Media Matters for America (NPR, Steve Inskeep, wankers)
d r i f t g l a s s: Gríma Wormtongue* Then, without so much as a hint of irony, America's Greatest Conservative Intellectual concludes his 1,000,000th robotic repetition of this same repeatedly and massively-debunked concatenation of cultural, political, historical and economic lies as follows (Bobotron)
'When Will They Take a Stand Against Their Own Crazies?' - James Fallows - Politics - The Atlantic why it took Dwight Eisenhower so long to condemn Joe McCarthy and his destructive, bullying "investigations" during the Red Scare years. I can't now be sure just where I read it, but I remember the mounting sense among Eisenhower's admirers that he was shaming himself by not taking a stand (and indeed for campaigning with McCarthy during the 1952 election). Ike finally turned on McCarthy late in 1953, after McCarthy began attacking the patriotism of Army officers and challenged Ike's own Secretary of the Army.
Florida Straw Poll - Charles P Pierce at Florida Straw Poll 2011 - Esquire Kristol, of course, is the yeast behind the intellectual ferment that has produced, in order, Dan Quayle, George W. Bush, and Sarah Palin ... To borrow a line from that noted Republican, Bobby Knight, this party couldn't lead a whore to bed.
Eric Cantor Pressed FEMA About Aid For His District As Agency Struggled For Funding (what Republicans do)

Wall Street protests reveal slice of America's barely tamed brutality | Comment is free | The Guardian Pepper spray, Swat teams and judicial torture. This barbarity is ever present – but rarely so visible – in American life (cop-state Amercia)
Police crack down on 'Occupy Wall Street' protests | World news | guardian.co.uk New York police accused of heavy-handed tactics as 80 anti-capitalist protesters on 'Occupy Wall Street' march are arrested
Occupy Wall Street: 'Pepper-spray' officer named in Bush protest claim | World news | guardian.co.uk the officer, named by activists as deputy inspector Anthony Bologna, stands accused of false arrest and civil rights violations in a claim brought by a protester involved in the 2004 demonstrations at the Republican national convention (they never change)
Pepper Spray Cop Already Had Civil-Rights Complaint
Lobby group objects to new regulation banning gifts to all federal employees - TheHill.com The American League of Lobbyists (wants to legalize bribery)
Billionaire Owner of Washington Wizards Wants Obama to Stop Calling Him Rich | Firedoglake (oh, whine)
U.S. economy on ‘knife edge’ of contraction: Fed economist | The Raw Story
SilverDoctors: CFTC Provided Temporary "Reporting Relief" for Commodities 4 Days Prior to Beginning of Cartel Silver Raid for what appears to be the purpose of "solving" JP Morgan's 120 Million ounce naked short silver problem (corrupt gov collusion with banks, oh wait))

The gun crime map of America: interactive | News | guardian.co.uk
Jesus or jail? Alabama town offers options for serving time – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs (no church-state problem here)

wr37d.jpg (Albert Einstein - Gran Neutrino)
The Legendary Dr Fox Lecture - Footage Found! - weirdexperiments.com
...And why? - YouTube (meme Wars)


092611
U.S. To Hand Over Iraq Bases, Equipment Worth Billions
Few details known about fatal shooting inside Kabul CIA offices | McClatchy

BBC News - Can eurozone banks be strengthened? (always the first question)
Greece needs to default on its debt and exit the eurozone | Stergios Skaperdas | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk If the current Greek government can't take the necessary steps to do this, it should give way to other political forces than can

Egyptian women, long allowed to vote, see little progress from revolt | McClatchy

The bogus `third party’ dodge - The Plum Line - The Washington Post At bottom, the calls for a third party are founded on a dodge — a refusal to acknowledge that the Democratic Party is far closer than the GOP to occupying the fabled ideological middle that they themselves have defined as the space that only a third party can claim.
Maxine Waters: Obama's Speech To Congressional Black Caucus Was 'A Bit Curious'
Roger Ailes: Fox News Is On A 'Course Correction' Away From Far Right (straight from one of the mouths of Satan, so you can believe it)
Roger's Confession | Media Matters for America "Ailes keeps a wary eye on anchor Shepard Smith, who occasionally backs aspects of the Obama record: 'Every once in a while Shep Smith gets out there where the buses don't run and we have a friendly talk.' "
Drudge Seizes On Yet Another Opportunity For Race-Baiting Attack | Media Matters for America
When I Grow Up, I’m Going to Non-Sequitur University : Lawyers, Guns & Money Shorter Ross Douthat: “Executing the occasional innocent person is a price worth paying to stimulate a prison reform movement that shows no sign of happening despite the fact that we execute innocent people.”
Transit cuts put jobs out of reach of workers with out cars - JSOnline Report says 13,000 more in Milwaukee area will be inaccessible (Republicans: kill mass transit so poor people can't get to jobs if there were any)
James Gwartney: Economic Freedom of the World: Lessons for the U.S. In 2000, the U.S. was ranked 3rd in the world behind only Hong Kong and Singapore, but in the most recent report, the U.S. is ranked 10th behind countries like Canada, Chile, Australia, and the United Kingdom (Bush and the Republicans fixed that problem)
Newt Gingrich Florida Straw Poll - Video of Newt Gingrich CPAC Speech 2011 - Esquire it's still comforting to know that, in the annals of completely unwarranted self-regard, and as a purveyor of pure, unalloyed horse-hockey, there is Newt Gingrich and there is everybody else (+he wants to bring back slavery in America)
Michigan Legislature Passes 'Partial-Birth' Abortion Ban Michigan lawmakers passed legislation last week that will ban "partial-birth" abortions, which have been federally outlawed since 2007 and have not occurred on record since then (Republicans at work)

Robert Samuelson is Half Right: China Could Save the World | Beat the Press We know how to get out of this mess, we have known how for 70 years. We just need the government to generate demand. That means spending money. Ideally it would spend money on useful things like education, health care, and infrastructure, but even if it spent money in wasteful ways it would still create jobs and put people to work.
Suburban Guerrilla » Blog Archive » Poor worried bankers when you’re not sure whether Washington is going to do what’s right to keep job creation going in America? That’s the–in the end, it is confidence, confidence, confidence. (Bloomberg really is an idiot)
6 Ways the Rich Are Waging a Class War Against the American People | Economy | AlterNet Denying the very existence of an entire class of citizens? That's waging some very real warfare against them (Republicans play up is down)
Texas Oil Refineries May Be Refunded $135 Million Out Of Public School, Community Funds

Kids' Sugar Cravings Might Be Biological : The Salt : NPR
Sexist stereotypes: Statistics prove women are worse at parking | Mail Online Some women blame the problem on the fact their breasts make it more difficult to turn around while parking.
Marijuana Legalization Issue on Obama's Desk Thanks to White House's Online Petition Program - Los Angeles News - The Informer It looks like President Obama will have to officially respond to requests to legalize it nationwide.

Women Use Social Media More Than Men: Study (well, duh)
Harvard University Website Hacked, Pro-Syrian Regime Message Posted Harvard University's homepage was hacked on Monday morning, and visitors to the site were greeted with the garbled message "SyRiAn ELeCTronic ArMy WeRe HeRE,
Facebook Logout Tracking: Privacy Concerns Arise Over Alleged Cookie Snooping Essentially, Facebook is indeed tracking where its users go after they log-out, but it is claiming to do so for benign reasons (delete your FB cookies)

092511
Freed hikers: Iran held us because we're American - Boston.com
Libyan government seeks Algerian answers over cross-border attack | World news | The Guardian Eight NTC fighters killed in attack by pro-Gaddafi forces near Ghadames, while siege of Sirte continues
Question about America's enemies - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com The Featured American Enemy of the Week is the Haqqani network in the Pakistan/Afghanistan border region. The New York Times warns in a headline today: "Brutal Haqqani Crime Clan Bedevils U.S. in Afghanistan," and reports that military officials want "the group [put] on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations." ... Needless to say, the villain mastermind who heads this network, Jalaluddin Haqqani, has, as the NYT put it, "allied himself over the years with the C.I.A." (around and around we go)
BBC News - Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections Women in Saudi Arabia are to be given the right to vote and run in future municipal elections, King Abdullah has announced (as long as they wear burkas)
BBC News - Farc's drug submarine seized in Colombia Police in Colombia have seized a submarine belonging to Farc rebels which had the capacity to carry at least seven tonnes of drugs.

EU given six weeks to protect itself against 'inevitable Greek default' | Business | The Observer IMF tells eurozone EFSF may need to be boosted five-fold to £1.7tn to convince markets that default could be contained (more free "confidence" money for banksters paid for with your austerity)
Catastrophic Stability - NYTimes.com But if Germany is going to have only 1 percent inflation, we’re talking about massive deflation in the periphery, which is both hard (probably impossible) as a macroeconomic proposition, and would greatly magnify the debt burden. This is a recipe for failure, and collapse (elite economic geniuses behind the Euro project insure its failure)
Greek police fire teargas at protesters in Athens | Reuters Greek riot police fired teargas at anti-austerity protesters pelting them with bottles outside parliament on Sunday in the first such unrest after a summer lull.

Phone-hacking claims mount up at News International | Media | The Guardian Former deputy editor 'was paid by NoW' while at Yard • Goody among alleged phone hacking victims • Coulson sues News Group for breach of contract

Political Animal - The 1983 example
FLASHBACK: When Dems Delivered Bipartisan Votes For Reagan | Media Matters for America (before the Republicans became the party of destruction and terror)
David Plouffe: House Republicans Putting Needs Of 30 Tea Party Members Over Needs Of Americans (how 30 rightwing idiots took over the country and destroyed it +why couldn't Nancy have done this?)
Hullabaloo Protesting in Real America (NYT makes snide remarks about Wall Street protesters' clothes, but loved the teaparty outfits and sucked Army's Dick.)
Wall Street protesters cuffed, pepper-sprayed during 'inequality' march
Little Green Footballs - Breitbart.com Commenters Respond to Obama Speech with Deluge of Overt Racism (the overt face of racial hatred at the core of the Republican party)
ComPost - Gov. Rick Perry blocks journalists on Twitter -- really? It's like telling your mother she can't read your diary and then posting it online.

Police crack down on 'Occupy Wall Street' protests | World news | guardian.co.uk New York police accused of heavy-handed tactics as 80 anti-capitalist protesters on 'Occupy Wall Street' march are arrested

Early success in cancer drug trial gives patients 'promising' future - Telegraph A London hospital’s trial of a prostate cancer drug has been stopped early because it was so successful doctors felt it would be "unethical" to deny the treatment to other patients.
Scientists Disarm AIDS Virus’ Attack on Immune System | Health | English
Climate change may leave Mount Everest ascent ice-free, say climbers | Environment | The Observer Mission launched to measure change in Himalayas as anecdotal evidence grows of melting ice on mountain's southern approach
World’s First Anti-Magnet To Serve As 'Magnetic Shield' | Fox News

Dominant Women Have Less Sex, Study Says The findings showed more dominant and assertive women had approximately 100 times less sex. +countries with a higher gender equality had more casual sex and more sexual partners. In nations with less equality between the sexes, the opposite was true.

Wikipedia Bans Church of Scientology | Epicenter | Wired.com It’s a punishment for repeated and deceptive editing of articles related to the controversial religion. The landmark ruling comes from the inner circle of a site that prides itself on being open and inclusive.
Top 15 Countries With The Fastest Internet: Pando Network's Global Internet Speed Study, August 2011 (fucking Moldava has faster internets than Comcast - go free market!)

092411
Multi-trillion plan to save the eurozone being prepared - Telegraph grand plan to restore confidence in the single currency area that would involve a massive bank recapitalisation, giving the bail-out fund several trillion euros of firepower, and a possible Greek default (trillions for the rich banksters who got us into this mess to "restore confidence" in them, nothing for jobs)
Warning of a stock market rout on Monday unless a eurozone rescue package is found | Business | The Guardian George Osborne claims Britain is 'ahead of the curve' (rescue the banks some more! austerity!)
The world prays for an economic miracle - Business News, Business - The Independent - Christine Lagarde, warned of a looming "collapse in global demand" (well, the banksters demanded bailouts)
Vladimir Putin Russia Presidential Run: Prime Minister Announces Bid For 2012 Election

Abbas defies US with formal call for Palestinian recognition by UN | World news | The Guardian Palestinian leader appeals to conscience of world as Netanyahu rejects claim problem lies with Israel
President Obama Secretly Approved Transfer of Bunker-Buster Bombs to Israel - The Daily Beast While Obama publicly pressured Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians over settlements, he secretly sold Jerusalem deep-penetrating bombs it had long sought (to use on Iran)
A hospital's turmoil shows Libya's struggle with regime change | McClatchy

Will Perry's halting debate style produce a faltering campaign? | McClatchy "It was Mitt Romney's best performance so far and Rick Perry's worst performance so far," said Republican researcher Frank Luntz (not tough enough on hating immigrants)
Keith Olbermann Gives Us Rick Perry's Florida Campaign Co-Chair Raising the Dead Among the Dominionists currently making news for the Republican Party we have Rick Perry, Scott Walker, Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin.
Romney And Perry Speak In Michigan, Epicenter Of The Auto Industry They Wanted To Let Fail | ThinkProgress
Walker Spokesman Given Immunity In Investigation -- Has No Comment | TPMMuckraker
Palin: Pay Me and Then Maybe I'll Make a Decision stories - Gawker
The Power of Flat Out Lies | Mother Jones (Republicans lie, Americans believe them)
Ari Rabin-Havt On Current TV's Countdown: News Corp. Is "A News Company That Exists To Lie To Its Viewers" | Media Matters for America (satifying your appetite for lies)

Five myths about millionaires - The Washington Post - By John Steele Gordon : 1. Millionaires are rich (you can see where they're going with this)
UBS chief Oswald Grübel resigns over alleged rogue trader affair | Business | guardian.co.uk CEO quits Swiss bank over £1.5bn losses allegedly due to unauthorised trading by Kweku Adoboli in London
It Takes a Village - NYTimes.com (Republican war on kids)

Faster than light? CERN findings bewilder scientists | McClatchy
Faster-Than-Light Discovery Raises Prospect of Time Travel | CERN Neutrino Experiment | Time Travel Potential & Barriers | LiveScience

New Net Neutrality Rules Become Official (except for wireless which is having a hissy-fit)

092311
David Cameron: world on brink of new economic crisis - Telegraph The world stands on the brink of a new economic crisis that would leave countries like Britain “staring down the barrel”, David Cameron has warned (solution: more austerity)
Europe and Banks: EU Set to Speed Up Recapitalization of 16 Banks - CNBC (more free money for the banks who made the bad investments paid for with your austerity)
U.S. Pressures Europe to Act With Force on Debt Crisis - Yahoo! Finance (more austerity!)
One Point Seven Seven - NYTimes.com That’s the current interest rate on 10-year US bonds (the WSJ - as usual - and Niall Ferguson were wrong about the bond vigilantes but we'e stuck with their austerity program +Obama didn't know shit about economics)
The Hunting of the Snark: Always Wrong, Never In Doubt (McMegan McAddled)

Abbas defies US with formal call for Palestinian recognition by UN | World news | The Guardian
Pakistan and US trade accusations as peace envoy is buried in Kabul | World news | The Guardian Army chief tells America to stop playing the 'blame game' as he hit back against claims his country is secretly supporting Taliban
Russian spy agency targeting western diplomats | World news | The Guardian FSB using psychological techniques developed by KGB to intimidate and demoralise diplomatic staff, activists and journalists
BBC News - Syria unrest: 'First woman dies in detention' According to the London-based human rights group, the 18-year-old's body had been decapitated, the arms cut off and the skin removed.

News International 'continued to pay Neil Wallis after he joined Met' | UK news | guardian.co.uk Former deputy editor received £25,000 from News of the World publisher after starting work as consultant with police force

Republican Crowd Boos Soldier During Debate - YouTube
Republican Debate Audience Boos Gay Soldier Stephen Hill After DADT Repeal Question (video)
Rick Perry Blindsided Again In Debate On Immigration, Rick Santorum Has Big Night
Democracy Corps » The Explosive Republican-Obama Battleground 2012 will be an explosive year.[1] These Republicans swept into Washington on the tide of a change wave but are now facing what could be a change election with an even higher wave, and these seats are anything but secure. The difference from the last three elections is that this wave seems to be threatening everything in its path.
Rush: Elizabeth Warren Is A "Parasite Who Hates Her Host, Willing To Destroy The Host While She Sucks The Life Out Of It" | Media Matters for America (project much?)

Dennis G. Jacobs: Case study in judicial pathology - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com The last decade has spawned a massive expansion of the domestic Surveillance State (illegal state spying has no limits)
During Court Hearing, Conservative Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Shouts Down Progressive Colleague, Telling Him To ‘Shut Up’ | ThinkProgress (how Republicans roll)
Whiskey Fire: Deep in the Heart of Blow Me Michael Barone says that because Keynesian policies have succeeded in Brazil, we should reject such policies, because of Europe, which is in trouble for moving away from such policies, and also SOCIALISM. Presumably this is all to do somehow with gay climate change.
Conservatives Sites Attack Michelle Obama For Wearing Borrowed Jewelry | Media Matters for America is the latest in a long line of deranged attacks on her.
DOJ: Rick Perry's Texas Redistricting Plan Purposefully Discriminated Against Minorities | TPMMuckraker
Debunking the Myth that Regulations on Big Business are "Job-Killers" | | AlterNet Experts say that no, regulations do not in fact destroy jobs--they shift jobs within the economy. So why do even Democrats repeat the Republican talking point?
Marijuana question sky-rockets to top of new White House petition site | The Raw Story

The Social Contract - NYTimes.com a demand that a small number of very lucky people be exempted from the social contract that applies to everyone else. And that, in case you’re wondering, is what real class warfare looks like.
Most States Experience Significant Rise In Levels Of 'Deep Poverty' (except the states without any people in them +LA which couldn't get any poorer)
Mortgage industry tanks, fraud continues at Countrywide | iWatch News
The Great Debt Scare - Robert J. Shiller - Project Syndicate (optimism deficit +power of myth)
Unemployment: Older Jobless Twice As Likely To Become 99ers (screwed)
is-market-replaying-decade-1930s-marketwatch: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance (this time with Hoover as Pres)
The theft of the American pension - Economics - Salon.com In the last decade, the country's biggest companies have raided worker benefits for profit. An expert explains how

Michael Faherty, Irish Pensioner, Dies Of Spontaneous Combustion
Ketchup killing proves sauce of fun for Brazilian town | World news | The Guardian

HP shares down after Whitman CEO appointment - Yahoo! Finance HP shares down after Whitman appointed to replace Apotheker as CEO (this won't end well)

092211
Debt crisis: as it happened - September 22, 2011 - Telegraph Markets tumble after the Fed warns of downside risks, World Bank chief Robert Zoellick says he is losing confidence in recovery and European central bank report questions whether euro can survive (Euro = French/German bank protection racket)

Palestinians ready to put statehood on backburner in favour of peace talks | World news | guardian.co.uk Obama causes anger with veto pledge and staunch backing of Israel but Abbas continues to hold out olive branch
Libyan rebels discover Gaddafi's chemical weapons | World news | guardian.co.uk Stockpile of mustard gas found in southern desert
Niqab women fined by French court | World news | guardian.co.uk Lawyer acting for Hind Ahmas says full-face veil pair will appeal to France's supreme court after fines by Meaux court

Exclusive: Murdoch execs told of hacking evidence in 2006 - Crime, UK - The Independent Police warned Rebekah Brooks practice likely to be in wider use ... Information was disclosed about the nature of that evidence. (corrupt UK cops warned the criminals there might be evidence of crimes, giving Murdoch 5 years to delete stuff)
Murdoch paper hacked minister’s voice mail: sources | The Raw Story News of the World hacked extensively into the voice mail of a minister in Britain's former Labour government, according to three people familiar with the matter (Murdoch running espionage ring, should be tried under "offical secrets act" huh?)

Julian Assange autobiography – live reaction | News | guardian.co.uk

Poll: Majority of Americans blame Obama for economy – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs (how's that complete messaging failure working out for you? +where you gonna pivot now?)
Proof that the GOP wants to 'sabotage' the economy? - The Week Liberals cry foul after top Republican leaders urge Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke not to use monetary policy to help juice the sputtering economy
Why You Should Listen to Warren, Not Buffett - TheStreet The reason for Warren's newfound Internet stardom is simple. She was able to articulate -- in a few words -- what the Democratic Party has been unable to communicate for years: "There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody (Obama and his crack team of Republican advisors couldn't come up with this message)
Government Shutdown Looms: House Rejects Short-Term Budget Bill (Republican terrorists attack America again)

Stock markets tumble after Operation Twist … and doubt | Business | guardian.co.uk US Federal Reserve strategy to calm financial markets causes investor fright as markets from London to Asia plunge

News from The Associated Press Scientists at the world's largest physics lab said Thursday they have clocked neutrinos traveling faster than light - "It's going to cause us problems, no doubt about that - if it's true."

Dan Fanelli Ad - YouTube (most racist political ad ever +civil liberties are bad +the guy who got Grayson's seat)


092111
Benjamin Netanyahu: President Obama deserves 'badge of honor' - Josh Gerstein and Jennifer Epstein - politico.com (good boy)
Obama: Palestinian statehood must be achieved through talks with Israel | World news | guardian.co.uk US president tells UN general assembly Palestinians deserve their own state – but defends threat to veto any bid on Friday (flop-flip)
Iran frees US hikers held as spies | World news | The Guardian Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal are believed to be inside a convoy of cars seen leaving Evin prison in Tehran
US drone bases in Africa to focus on al-Qaida targets and Somalia | World news | The Guardian American unmanned vehicles based in Ethiopia, Seychelles and Arabian peninsula to target piracy and terrorism
Yemen's fragile ceasefire breaks as protesters mourn their dead | World news | The Guardian Doctors bemoan lack of medicine for peace camp protesters as explosions herald return to violence
Typhoon Roke heads towards Japan's tsunami-hit areas | World news | The Guardian Storm leaves four dead in central region as 130mph winds threaten to cause damage at Fukushima nuclear plant

Rash of bank downgrades as IMF demands rapid action over debt | Business | The Guardian time is running out to solve financial crisis
UK Treasury says govt spending still on track | Reuters Britain's finance ministry said on Wednesday that its spending plans this year remained on track after official data showed government borrowing rose to a record high in August (the solution is more austerity for everyone but the rich who caused the problem in the first place)

MPs summon Met police to explain bid to force Guardian to reveal sources | UK news | guardian.co.uk Deputy assistant commissioner to be called before Commons committee that investigated phone hacking - "This was a regrettable incident, but let's hope it's over."

Baylor Religion Survey reveals many see God steering economy – USATODAY.com About one in five Americans combine a view of God as actively engaged in daily workings of the world with an economic conservative view that opposes government regulation and champions the free market as a matter of faith - "They say the invisible hand of the free market is really God at work" (Big Baby DougJ: Glibertarianism and Christianism are now as one) (God is the Big Regulator)

House Democrats push legislation to overturn Citizens United ruling - TheHill.com (that will go over big)
AP "Fact Check[s]" Claim Obama Isn't Making | Media Matters for America (make up lies, "fact check them")
The GOP is trying to rig the electoral college - The Washington Post (why not? They've rigged everything else)
Elizabeth Warren On ‘Class Warfare’: There Is Nobody Who Got Rich On His Own (video) | Election 2012
Romney calls for a tax policy that will help "us" in the middle class - Political Hotsheet - CBS News - the former Massachusetts governor's net worth at between $190 million and $250 million (the 90% of Americans worth over $200 million)
Michele Bachmann Can't Win, HuffPost-Patch GOP Power Outsiders Say Unlike with the two frontrunners, nearly half the words (48 percent) to describe Bachmann were negative, including "inexperienced," "crazy," "lightweight" and "scary."
Barbara Walters Talks About Miscarriages In Tense Chat With Joe McGinniss, Author Of Palin Book (video) Walters was clearly not a big fan of the book. She brought up what she considered to be "the worst thing" about it: the suggestion, which McGinniss discusses, that Palin's youngest son may not actually be hers.
Todd Palin 'will file for divorce and advisers tell Sarah White House dream is over' | Mail Online Todd plans to file for divorce, fed up with wife's scandals McGinniss says Palin is a 'fraud', 'hypocrite' and a 'tenth-grade mean girl'
Joe Scarborough Denounces Rick Perry, Mitt Romney's Criticism Of Obama's Israel Policy (video)
Lawrence O'Donnell: Bill O'Reilly's Threat To Quit Is A Lie (video) scoffed on his Tuesday show at Bill O'Reilly's threat to end his cable news program if his taxes are raised (whine, whine)
Texas' redistricting plan disenfranchises minorities, Justice Dept. says | McClatchy
Fox News Largely Ignores Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal | ThinkProgress (Fox is so gay)

Report: Economists Shut Out Of Debt-Ceiling Debate | Media Matters for America (don't bother us with the facts)
Fed launches $400bn 'Operation Twist' to boost US growth | Business | guardian.co.uk Federal Reserve moves to push down long-term interest rates and kickstart housing market
Flashback: When Democrats opposed the Fed - The Washington Post
Getting ready for a ‘twist’ by the Federal Reserve - The Fed - MarketWatch Novel or not, central bank may go back to 1960s era policy
Federal Reserve To GOP: Take A Hike! | TPMDC
Moody's Downgrades BofA, Well Fargo, Citigroup On Fears U.S. Wouldn't Aid Banks [update]
U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood announces high speed rail money for New England — Greater City: Providence $82.7 million to improve high-speed and intercity passenger rail in Rhode Island, Maine, Connecticut and Vermont (pennies)
Georgia Works: Obama Plan To Let Jobless Work For Free Gets Key Backing From Paul Ryan (back to the plantations!)

And if the state kills an innocent man today ... - War Room - Salon.com Troy Davis is set to be executed. Could it jolt America's death penalty politics? (not in the South, for sure)
A Grievous Wrong on Georgia’s Death Row - NYTimes.com

Troy Davis polygraph test refused by Georgia prison officials | World news | guardian.co.uk Death row inmate's lawyers had hoped test would convince pardons board to reconsider a decision against clemency (Georgia not interested in evidence)
College clout: Some admissions officials report outside pressure - chicagotribune.com "You don't want (administrators, trustees and donors) lobbying on behalf of individual candidates. That is a recipe for unfairness, inappropriate decisions,"
Pa. school pulls musical 'Kismet' after complaints | AP | 09/20/2011 A western Pennsylvania school district has decided not to stage a Tony Award-winning musical about a Muslim street poet after members of the community complained about the play on the heels of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks ... Miller says the play has no inappropriate content but he and other members of the performing arts committee decided to switch to "Oklahoma!" after hearing complaints (no Muslims allowed in America +911911911911)



092011
Palestinians: we are already recognised as a state by two-thirds of the globe | World news | guardian.co.uk UN delegation claims member countries comprising 75% of the world's population are in favour of its bid for full statehood (actually it's a lot more; 100% of Americans do not support the failed racist state of Israel)
The Washington Monthly - Ten Miles Square - The Palestine Vote: Who Will Vote How?
Obama should support Palestinian statehood at United Nations Granting the Palestinians statehood will put the US on the right side of history

Al-Jazeera chief's surprise resignation raises fears for channel's independence | Media | The Guardian Wadah Khanfar stood down after eight years that consolidated the satellite network's reputation and his own position
Al-Jazeera boss Wadah Khanfar steps down to be replaced by Qatari royal | Media | The Guardian TV channel head quits after revolutionising Middle East broadcasting for past eight years, especially during Arab Spring (can't have that)
Burhanuddin Rabbani killing plunges Afghanistan peace effort into crisis | World news | guardian.co.uk Bomb rips through Kabul home of former president appointed by Karzai to begin negotiations with Taliban
Chevron loses latest stage of Amazon pollution battle | Business | guardian.co.uk New York appeals judge unfreezes $18bn damages award over contamination of indigenous tribe's land in Ecuador
Calderón Hints at Drug Legalization Again | Cato @ Liberty ”If [the Americans] are determined and resigned to consuming drugs, they should look for market alternatives that annul the stratospheric profits of the criminals, or establish clear points of access that are not the border with Mexico.” (42,000 dead later)

Met police drop action against the Guardian over hacking sources | Media | The Guardian Scotland Yard has dropped bid to force the Guardian to reveal confidential sources behind phone hacking stories - The Met's attempt to identify potential police leaks was widely condemned. (corrupt UK cops give up on twisted logic)
Phone hacking: Ted Turner says Rupert Murdoch will have to step down | Media | guardian.co.uk CNN founder and rival media mogul says News Corp head should take responsibility for crisis (sorry, Ted, that's not going to happen)

A future for drones: automated killing - The Washington Post scientific advances that would allow drones to search for a human target and then make an identification based on facial-recognition or other software (never heard of masks, we suppose)

Defense.gov News Article: Obama: Americans No Longer Have to Lie to Serve
Don't ask, don't tell: freedom to serve is not freedom to love | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk Only 15 percent of service members are women, yet by 2007 women accounted for nearly half of all dismissals.

Jose Padilla and how American justice functions - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com As usual, the Obama DOJ cited national security imperatives and sweeping theories of presidential power to demand that Executive Branch officials be fully shielded from judicial scrutiny (i.e., shielded from the rule of law) for their illegal acts (the Obama DOJ: "Here, where Padilla's damage claims directly relate, inter alia, to the President’s war powers, including whether and when a person captured in this country during an armed conflict can be held in military detention under the laws of war, it would be particularly inappropriate for this Court to unnecessarily reach the merits of the constitutional claims"

Elizabeth Warren Takes Lead Over Scott Brown | Crooks and Liars (Cosmo-Boy is toast)

The Geithner mystery solved - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com Mr. Obama turned away from the advisers who had seen him through the campaign (including more progressive thinkers like Mr. Stiglitz, Robert Reich and Austan Goolsbee), and relied instead on two men associated with the deregulatory policies of the past, Mr. Geithner, the Treasury secretary, and Mr. Summers, the chief economic adviser. Both men had served in the Clinton administration (with Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, who would later join Citigroup as a senior adviser and board member); their actions, Mr. Suskind contends, "had contributed to the very financial disaster they were hired to solve."
Do I Have To Read Ron Suskind's Book? - NYTimes.com (Obama's crack team of advisors totally disfunctional; Obama was pathetically unfit for the job; "Clinton would never have made these mistakes")
Women staffers felt frozen out in early Obama WH - CBS News several senior female aides complained directly to the president that men enjoyed greater access to him and often muscled them out of key policy discussions.

Whiskey Fire: Flings of the Waistcoat Crowd Bill Keller has a column at the NYT because he can have a column at the NYT, not because anybody is clamoring to hear what he has to say ... Nobody who has a use for things like "a job" or "not having their child shot at in a stupid war" cares about "unity of purpose." ... What is batshit here is that Keller is utterly oblivious to his own role in this nonsensical disaster. Obama is a creature of the Sensible Consensus. He is the Bill Keller President.
Hullabaloo - Watching the detectives (Posner hates civil rights, cops should never be held accountable)
Perry says Obama Mideast policy i... JPost - Diplomacy & Politics GOP presidential candidate says Obama's moral equivalency towards Palestinians, Israelis, encouraged Palestinian to petition UN for state; Perry rival Romney calls on US to cut aid to Palestinians.
Perry’s Theocratic Foreign Policy: ‘As A Christian I Have A Clear Directive To Support Israel’ | ThinkProgress
Experts: Bachmann’s False HPV Comments Could Do Real Damage To Public Health | ThinkProgress
Troy Davis execution: Georgia pardons board denies plea for clemency | World news | guardian.co.uk Georgia man who insists he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer in 1989 set to be executed on Wednesday (Georgia loves killing innocent black people)
O'Reilly Says He May "Pack It In" If Obama Raises Taxes On Him Too Much | Media Matters for America (that's one big reason to raise taxes on rich idiots)
Kansas Gov. under fire for rejecting health care grant | McClatchy Gov. Sam Brownback has come under fire from Democrats and some Republicans ever since his administration rejected a $31.5 million federal "early innovator" grant for health care reform that it had earlier voiced support for.
Texas tea party wants 'sanctuary cities' bill revived by Perry | McClatchy The sanctuary cities bill would freeze state funding for local governments that prohibit officers from asking detainees about their immigration status.
Reid: I'm Not Confident A Government Shutdown Can Be Avoided | TPMDC insisted Tuesday that Democrats will not back down in their disagreement with Republicans over how much disaster relief money to provide FEMA and therefore that the threat of a government shutdown is very real.
Nikki Haley: Jobless On Drugs Claim From Bad Information

California won't slip back into recession, UCLA study finds - latimes.com The state's jobless rate is expected to remain around 12% through next year (nope, no "recession" here)
Chris Whalen - 'It's Time For Bankruptcy, Bank Of America Is Doomed' - Home - The Daily Bail
Obama Wants the Rich to Pay Higher Taxes—It'll Never Happen - Business - GOOD

Bill Clinton Slams GOP Climate Deniers During Global Initiative Conference I mean, it makes us – we look like a joke, right? You can’t win the nomination of one of the major parties in the country if you admit that the scientists are right?"
Global Energy Use To Jump 53 Percent By 2035, Driven Largely By Growth In China And India | TPM Idea Lab
Times Atlas publishers apologise for 'incorrect' Greenland ice statement | Environment | The Guardian The humiliating climbdown for HarperCollins – part of Rupert Murdoch's publishing empire – came after key sources of data on the Greenland ice denied that their research, cited by the Times Atlas, warranted the claims
Italian scientists on trial for failing to predict earthquake | Science | The Guardian (only in Italy dept.)

The Most Overly Dramatic Break Up Ever | Cracked.com
Parents Fight Over Pledging Allegiance In Schools : NPR Courts have ruled that public schools cannot compel students to recite the pledge, so in Brookline, as elsewhere, the pledge is voluntary.

Official Google Blog: Google+: 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99... 100.
Google+ Adds 9 New Features, Opens to the World | Webmonkey | Wired.com
Italy Proposes Law That Will Ban People From The Internet Based On Single Accusation Of Infringement From Anyone | Techdirt

091911
Israel urged to reconsider punishing Palestinians over UN campaign | World news | guardian.co.uk US and EU try to pacify Israel as ministers threaten to withhold customs revenue from Palestinian Authority over UN status bid (big baby needs pacifying)
Palestinian Statehood: U.S. Tries To Avert Crisis Over Vote At UN (Obama considering tanks)

Yemen's bloodiest day yet leaves more than 22 dead | World news | The Guardian Hospitals in Sana'a unable to cope with the number of casualties as security forces clashed with anti-government groups
Libya: Gaddafi son spotted in Bani Walid as heavy fighting continues | World news | The Guardian Libyan forces takes key parts of Sabha but NTC claims sighting in city where Gaddafi loyalists hold fast
Afghan government minister accused of hampering fight against insurgents | World news | The Guardian Bismillah Khan Muhammadi's intervention in Kabul siege may have led to British and Afghan casualties, say Isaf officials
Himalayan earthquake kills dozens as rescue operation continues | World news | The Guardian Heavy rain and thick cloud hamper relief effort after more than 100,000 homes in India, Nepal and Tibet were damaged

Greek minister reaffirms commitment to resolving country's debt crisis | Business | guardian.co.uk Evangelos Venizelos promises fresh austerity measures, but rules out new taxes, as he faces emergency conference call with EU, ECB and IMF

Obama sets out 'balanced' deficit plan and asks top earners to pay fair share | World news | The Guardian Obama says half of $3tn deficit reduction will come from tax increases, but stresses: 'It's not class warfare – it's math' (while the Republicans wage class warfare all around him; idiot)
Why the White House changed course - The Washington Post the major compromise it makes is with political reality — a reality that the White House would prefer not to have had to acknowledge (the reality that Democrats thought they were electing a Democratic President)
If Frank Bruni Knew Arithmetic He Wouldn't Write Columns Like This One | Beat the Press This is one of those columns which could have been so easily prevented if the NYT just required a remedial 3rd grade arithmetic course for columnists that intend to write on economic issues (Times loves their food writers)
Obama Debt Reduction Plan a Sharp Pullback from Grand Bargain Territory | FDL News Desk (yeah, those cuts to Social Security and Medicaid went over really well; idiots)
When Ronald Reagan Was President, There Was A Soviet Union And A Cold War | ThinkProgress Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) acting like a complete fool who thinks the GOP congressional staffers are tiny children - The method here for internal deliberation about public policy is something like a mix between a kindergarten class and a cult (buffoons)
Multi-Millionaire Rep. Says He Can’t Afford A Tax Hike Because He Only Has $400K A Year After Feeding Family | ThinkProgress (they eat a lot)
GOP-Led States Move To Change Voting Rules Ahead Of 2012

Doom! Our Economic Nightmare Is Just Beginning | The New Republic Our economic nightmare is just beginning (Conservatives always make the wrong decision, because everyone else should suffer for their mistakes)
Daily Kos: Occupy Wall Street Protest - The "Phalanx Formation"

Video: Around the world in 60 seconds: rare view of Earth from the International Space Station - Telegraph

In the Hollywood “Woman’s Picture,” Abortion Is Never An Option : Lawyers, Guns & Money
Man With Down Syndrome in Clash With Cops | NBC Miami Even worse, Gold claims Powell's colostomy bag was "ripped right off his body."
Key witness in Tulsa police trial arrested on traffic misdemeanors | Tulsa World (cops at work)


AT&T’s LTE network in the real world — Mobile Technology News a bill for a similar experiment to a whopping $900 for three days of data. That’s something I don’t recommend trying at home (very fast at running up enormous bills)
Meet Qwikster: Netflix Spins Off Discs-By-Mail from Streaming Video | Epicenter | Wired.com - As last week showed, when customers leave a company, investors are quick to follow. The hasty rebranding — Netflix didn’t even own the @qwikster Twitter account — underscores the fact that Netflix’s myth of inevitability is simply gone.
Qwikster Plan by Netflix Angers Devoted Customers - NYTimes.com

091811
Palestinians to submit statehood bid next Friday | McClatchy

New 'super PAC' aims to raise $55 million for Rick Perry | McClatchy "It's a new day in campaign finance. They're going to play an incredible role." - The Make Us Great Again PAC (he means the Confederacy)
Death penalty: How can Republicans like Rick Perry be so skeptical of government yet so committed to capital punishment? - By Dahlia Lithwick - Slate Magazine Republicans like Rick Perry are skeptical of everything the government does—except when it executes people (Republicans love murdering people)
Mitch McConnell Doesn’t Have ‘Any Particular Reaction’ To Tea Party Audience Cheering For Death | ThinkProgress (how far America has fallen)
Paul Ryan Calls For Increasing Taxes On Middle Class But Dismisses Millionaires Tax As ‘Class Warfare’ | ThinkProgress

BBC News - UBS 'rogue trader': Loss estimate raised to $2.3bn "I'm responsible for everything that happens at the bank," Mr Gruebel told Swiss Sunday newspaper, der Sonntag. "if you ask me whether I feel guilty, then I would say no." (of course not)
Hacktivists Begin Operation Occupy Wall Street | TPM Idea Lab
a Why There Are Protests On Wall Street: Their Actions Impoverished More Than 60 Million People | ThinkProgress (but not themselves, for sure)

The Cell Episode 3 Spark Of Life (BBC) - YouTube
Iceland Review Online: Daily News from Iceland, Current Affairs, Business, Politics, Sports, Culture Only 13 percent of participants in the study said it is impossible that elves exist, 19 percent found it unlikely, 37 percent said elves possibly exist, 17 percent found their existence likely and eight percent definite. Five percent did not have an opinion on the existence of elves.

Commentary: Colin Powell was wrong. Americans walk around afraid | McClatchy
Justice Department survey confirms downward trend in violent crime - CNN.com (ignore these statistics and be afraid)
Criminally Confident in Our Kids « FreeRangeKids when a cop comes knocking on your door or calling you from the train platform, you realize that until we abolish “Worst-First” thinking, kids can’t be kids — and the police get to parent (because kids are more likely to get abducted from a crowded commuter train than die in an SUV crash - culture of cops and fear)

FREEwilliamsburg » Brooklyn Spaces: Chronicaling Weird Shit Before it Gets Condemed/Gentrified
brooklyn spaces | a compendium of brooklyn culture & creativity

Welcome to Your Hungarian Internet | Common Dreams the U.S. has sunk to 25th in a global ranking of Internet speeds, just behind Romania. Why? Because our nation's regulators abandoned an earlier commitment to foster competition in the marketplace for Internet access providers (free market for everyone except monopolies; American sinks in every category)

091711
Libya Counts Its Martyrs, but the Bodies Don’t Add Up - NYTimes.com
Reports: Nine Civilians Slain in US Drone Strike Against Somalia :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dal medio oriente :: Terrified Residents Report Missile Strikes in Key Southern Port (Obama's war on innocent civilians)

Spain raises taxes on the rich | Business | The Guardian Prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero reinstates the sort of wealth tax that he abolished just before the recession
Europe's debt crisis prompts central banks to provide dollar liquidity | Business | guardian.co.uk European and US stocks surge on news that world banks will flood markets – but Lagarde warns of 'dangerous' new phase (in search of the confidence fairy)
Eurozone debt crisis 'in dangerous new phase' warns IMF chief | Business | The Guardian Central banks to pump cheap dollars to European banks • Lagarde says 'political dysfunction' could wreck recovery (lookin' at you, Repubicans)
Osborne and US clash with EU leaders over financial transaction tax | World news | guardian.co.uk Fractious meeting of finance ministers sees Europeans vow to push on with tax to bolster rescue funds despite UK objections
Iceland Rejected the Fraudulent Idea that Debts Perpetrated by Capitalist Leaders Should be Borne by the People; Arrested & Convicted the Capitalist Leaders Who Committed Political And Economic Crimes Against Her. Why Didn't We Think of That? | Before It's News

Phone hacking: secrecy sledgehammer | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian If the Met succeeds in its use of the Official Secrets Act it would be a very bleak day for freedom and democracy (they couldn't investigate their way out of a paper bag; so hey need to kill freedom of the press)

Palestinian anger at US fuels diplomatic crisis over statehood | World news | The Observer President Abbas takes case for UN recognition to the security council after negotiators say US response was 'final straw' (is this an example of Obama's 11-dimensional chess?)
James Zogby: On a Collision Course With Arab Opinion
Is the end of Israel as we know it? | GlobalPost Israel now finds itself isolated like no other time in the past 35 years (they've been working really hard at it)
Our New Allies, the Jihadists | News Junkie Post
Palestinians left homeless as Israel demolishes West Bank houses :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dal medio oriente (you won't read this in America)
London Philharmonic Suspends Musicians for anti-Israel Remarks « Pyramidion “According to The Guardian, musicians sanctioned after they signed a letter condemning the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra as an instrument of Israeli propaganda.” (no criticism of failed racist state allowed)

Obama Tax Plan Would Ask More of Millionaires - NYTimes.com
Lawmakers Seek Transparency From Supercommittee : NPR (and will get total opaqueness)
Panetta Fearmongers on Defense Budget Cuts | FDL News Desk
Jimmy Carter Talks 2012 Elections, Calls Supreme Court 'Citizens United' Decision One Of The 'Stupidest' Ever
President Obama Reportedly Considering -- Again -- Whether To Raise The Medicare Eligibility Age From 65 To 67. Bad Idea. | The New Republic (any changes except lowerering it will make things worse but Obama is powerless to tell the truth)
Perry Says Supreme Court ‘Taking The Appropriate Path’ In Stopping Execution, Even Though He Was Set To Allow It | ThinkProgress (wants to be executioner in chief)
Bachmann Claims Wall Street Reform Is ‘Killing The Banking Industry’ As Banks Post Record Profits | ThinkProgress (don't let reality get in the way of your lies)
10 Ways Michele Bachmann is Like Satan | Business Pundit Satan’s rule of the earth: keeping people ignorant, distracted, unhappy, and evil.
A dose of reality for the HPV debate - The Washington Post Try to imagine a parent-daughter conversation about sexual restraint and maturity that includes the words: “Honey, I’m going to deny you a vaccine that prevents a horrible, bleeding cancer, just as a little reminder of the religious values I’ve been trying to teach you.”
Rick Perry: Nuclear Waste Pay-To-Play Scam - YouTube
How Perry Pushed Donor's Nuclear Waste Dump | Mother Jones
‘Ponzi’ Is Back! Perry Doubles Down On Social Security Attacks In Iowa | Election 2012
Hullabaloo Bad investments - Republicans scaring up the Solyndra "scandal" while supporting the Iraq War, Vice President Cheney, and no-bid Halliburton contracts are pretty much tied for history's biggest hyopcrites (look over here, not over there)
Sinners In The Hand Of An Angry Columnist | ThinkProgress (David Brooks is hurting America +if you get laid off because your job was outsourced to China, you're a sinner and should be stoned)

Forget the Senate. Elizabeth Warren should go work on Wall Street. - The Washington Post
States Struggle For Money, Political Will To Fix America's Failing Roads (Repubicans hate infrastructure and the idea of America)

RCFP: Strict eavesdropping law ruled unconstitutional in Illinois case An Illinois judge ruled the state’s eavesdropping law unconstitutional as applied to a man who faced up to to 75 years in prison for secretly recording his encounters with police officers and a judge (they should never be subject to public scrutiny +Posner is an enemy of America: recording cops and judges = "evesdropping")

Appellate Court Sends Tenenbaum Case Back For Another Round | Electronic Frontier Foundation (victory for Big Content and Obama)

091611
Palestinian Statehood Bid: How Countries Will Likely Vote At The U.N. General Assembly (US, Canada and Italy only countries supporting failed racist state)
Palestinian leader ignores US warnings on UN statehood bid | World news | guardian.co.uk Mahmoud Abbas says he will go ahead with request to UN security council to recognise independence despite US warnings (rest of the world support him)
Abbas Says He Will Go to Security Council - NYTimes.com
Balloon Juice » The Next Middle East Disaster Despite the fact that we continue to do Israel’s bidding to the detriment of our own international standing, Dan Senor will pen more commentary about the grievous insults Obama has made towards Israel, and Ed Koch will continue to campaign for wingnuts because Obama hates Jews. Why aren’t we allowed to treat Israel like every other nation in the world and do what is in our best interest, not theirs? (it's not even in their best interest)

Libya rebels launch assaults on Gaddafi's last strongholds | World news | The Guardian Bani Walid and Sirte centres of fierce fighting as rebels and regime loyalists engage in last-ditch battle for supremacy
U.S. expands its drug watch list to include all Central America | McClatchy (Obama's global war on drugz)
Ukraine Reporter's Widow Blames Former President For His Death Former President Leonid Kuchma is slated to go on trial on charges of abuse of office in connection with the killing of Heorhiy Gongadze in the coming months. Prosecutors contend Kuchma gave illegal orders to his subordinates that eventually led to Gongadze's death (hope for America?)

Phone hacking: Met use Official Secrets Act to demand Guardian reveals sources | Media | The Guardian Unprecedented move sees Scotland Yard use the Official Secrets Act to demand the paper hands over information (non-Murdoch newpapers are terrorists)
UK's Met Police Try To Force Guardian To Reveal Phone Hacking Sources Now, in a bitter bit of irony, Scotland Yard is using the Official Secrets Act -- a law barring the publication of sensitive information that is more commonly used in matters of national security or espionage -- to try to force the Guardian to reveal how it got the information for what is undoubtedly the most important phone hacking story it has published so far: that of Milly Dowler.
Threat to press freedom | Media | The Guardian Police officers investigating the crimes of News of the World journalists have misguidedly looked to the Official Secrets Act for help (using Obama tactics on press)

Eschaton: 2005: Treason Rice: But in an interview with CNN, she said, "I suspect that the American forces are not going to be needed in the numbers that they are there for all that much longer because Iraqis are continuing to make progress in function, not just in numbers but in their capabilities to do certain functions like, for instance, holding a highway between the airport and the center of the city, something that our forces were doing just a short time ago, they're now doing." (very serious people are always right except when they are disasterously wrong and then they are still right)
White House Weighs Limits of Terror Fight - NYTimes.com The Obama administration’s legal team is split over how much latitude the United States has to kill Islamist militants in Yemen and Somalia, a question that could define the limits of the war against Al Qaeda and its allies, according to administration and Congressional officials.
'We're pinned down:' 4 U.S. Marines die in Afghan ambush | McClatchy
Major discovery: a purpose of the war in Afghanistan - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com - Once there are no more Afghans left who want us gone, then we can leave. At least we can now see the very important purpose of the war in Afghanistan: we stay until there's nobody left who hates us and wants us gone, then we triumphantly depart.

You Don’t Make Social Security More Solvent By Eliminating Its Funding Base | ThinkProgress (unless you are Republians +private accounts invested in the Great Casino!)
Eschaton: Super Duper Wankers I somehow missed that in addition to the SuperWanker committee we know have the self-appointed Grand Royal Poobahs Of The Duchy Of SuperDuperWanker who want to 'GO BIG!!!' Don't blame them, really. No one will blame them when the economy is destroyed, until perhaps the lights are finally turned off at Kaplan Test Prep.
Obama talks about lower taxes than Reagan; GOP members roll their eyes - TheHill.com Obama talks about lower taxes than Reagan; GOP members roll their eyes
In The Face Of Historically Low Taxes, O'Reilly Claims Taxation Is "Strangling The U.S. Economy" | Media Matters for America
Rachel Maddow Mocks Sen. Bob Casey's Opposition To Obama Jobs Plan (video)
Super Committee Targeted By Lobbyists The special "super committee" tackling U.S. deficit reduction was meant to operate independently and free from outside influence -- but Washington's corps of high-paid lobbyists has found a way in (how did that happen?)
House Republicans Seek Auto Industry Cuts To Cover For Disaster Relief Funds (Repubicans at work destroying jobs and then blaming Obama)
Michele Bachmann's Goof On HPV Won't Shield Rick Perry From Tough Questions In Iowa As one Tea Party activist, Kathy Carley of Des Moines, put it recently: "He's not what he appears." (to be)
Anderson Cooper: Michele Bachmann Spreading 'Dangerous Falsehood' On HPV Vaccine (video)
Not Letting Up | Talking Points Memo Michele Bachmann is still going after Rick Perry over the HPV vaccine, in a campaign email a short time ago: It almost reads like Perry was proposing to inject young girls with sexually transmitted diseases -- personally.
Perry’s Problem: Move To The Right On Social Security, Move To The Bottom In The General Election | Election 2012 the latest numbers show that these voters are much less forgiving on the Social Security issue, which is already dragging him down in a matchup with President Obama (or, he managed to push Obama into finally taking a Democratic position)
Scott Walker, Wisconsin Governor, Eyed In Corruption Probe After FBI Raid On Cynthia Archer's Home (corrupt? who, me?)
Scott Walker's Job Creators Cost Wisconsin 2300 Jobs In a Single Month (creation=destruction)
How to Talk About Solyndra | Mother Jones (the latest big scandal made up by Republicans to distract everyone from their corruption)

The Associated Press: Book: Treasury Secretary ignored Obama directive A new book offering an insider's account of the White House's response to the financial crisis says that U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner ignored an order from President Barack Obama calling for reconstruction of major banks (O should have rendited him)
Bush to blame for U.S. debt crisis, S.C. Rep. Clyburn says | McClatchy (o rly)
Greece under pressure as finance ministers put brakes on bailout payment | Business | The Guardian Decision on €8bn Greek bailout delayed till October, while US secretary of state Geithner urges eurozone leaders to do more
Calculated Risk: Update on EU Finance Ministers Meeting Timothy Geithner told EU finance ministers on Friday they should end loose talk about a euro zone break-up and work more closely with the European Central Bank to tackle the debt crisis (i.e. the elites)
BBC News - UBS trader told bank of error, the BBC learns The UBS trader being questioned on suspicion of unauthorised trading which lost the bank $2bn (£1.3bn) alerted his employers himself, the BBC has learnt
Amazon pollution victims to ask judge to award $8bn Chevron money | Environment | guardian.co.uk Ecuador's Secoya people, whose health was allegedly damaged by polluted water dumped by oil giant, take fight to courts

Research shows crows comparable to humans when it comes to waiting crows and raven birds show the same ability to complete delayed exchange tasks as monkeys and humans do.

Flying While Half-Arab (and Half-Jewish): This One Is Shocking - James Fallows - National - The Atlantic (TSA is a racist gestapo)
ACLU files lawsuit over Missouri college's mandatory drug test rule | McClatchy
Obama Bumper Sticker Led Massachusetts Cops To Accused Shooter “It struck me as odd,” Devlin told the Suffolk Superior Court, knowing that Corliss lived in a generally conservative community. “He’s a guy from Somerville, so I was surprised he was supporting Obama,” Devlin said. “I made a joke about it. He said 'It was on the car when I bought it'.”

Reuters Raises Profile With Marquee Hires, Editor Aims To Become 'Best In The World'
Facebook and Twitter user boom may not mean big profits, says ad boss | Media | guardian.co.uk Sorrell warns of dangers of 'over-monetising' social networks
Privacy and Security Fanatic: Cybersecurity Solution for Anonymous: Hire Hackers vs. 20 Years Jail Time?
JPEGmini | Process your photo

091511
Gaddafi's birthplace 'captured by rebels' in battle for last Libya coast stronghold | World news | The Guardian Rebels claim control of centre of Sirte after three-pronged attack with Gaddafi's son Khamis said to be barricaded in at sea front
Al-Qaida chief in Pakistan killed by CIA drone | World news | The Guardian Abu Hafs al-Shahri was recently involved in training al-Qaida militants inside Afghanistan (for the 17th time)

Europe's leaders battle to keep faith with euro as Greek bailout flounders | Business | The Guardian Amid fresh setbacks in struggle to rescue Greece, US treasury secretary prepares to join euro crisis meetings in Poland
Understanding Trichet and Conpany: A Note what Trichet and Company are now saying: they are reputationally-bankrupt zombies gambling for resurrection (stupid old men were tragically wrong; have nothing to lose by being more wrong)

Catholic priests and child abuse: Time to prosecute the Pope? - The Week Victims' advocates charge that the Vatican is guilty of crimes against humanity. Is there any chance the International Criminal Court will get involved? (take down the whole criminal organization)
The Russians Put Up a Beautiful 150-Ton "Tear Drop" Memorial in New Jersey to Those Who Died in the 9/11 Tragedy In 2006. It's Beautiful. Everyone Should be Aware of it. This is the First I've Heard of it. | Before It's News
The Queen Has Lost Her Royal Marbles « Desertpeace Red Carpet treatment for Israeli war criminals visiting Britain…
Silvio Berlusconi faces fresh claims over parties, prostitutes and pay-outs | World news | The Guardian Wiretap transcripts, including alleged blackmail risk, could further damage standing of Italy's prime minister (is that possible?)
Wikileaks-named Ethiopian reporter in unredacted cable flees country in fear | Media | The Guardian Journalist identified when US cables were republished in full 'forced to leave after government harassment and intimidation'

Latest US news, sport and comment from the Guardian | guardiannews.com | US Network front | guardian.co.uk
Unveiling the Guardian's new US homepage | Help | guardian.co.uk

FBI Teaches Agents: ‘Mainstream’ Muslims Are ‘Violent, Radical’ | Danger Room | Wired.com and that the Islamic practice of giving charity is no more than a “funding mechanism for combat.” (it's always been a racist organization)
Guy Who Created The TSA Says It's Failed, And It's Time To Dismantle It | Techdirt “It mushroomed into an army,” Mica said. “It’s gone from a couple-billion-dollar enterprise to close to $9 billion.” As for keeping the American public safe, Mica says, “They’ve failed to actually detect any threat in 10 years.”
Fight of the Living Dead Like zombie banks that made bad loans, supporters of the Iraq War have dug in their heels on past mistakes ("reputationally-bankrupt zombies gambling for resurrection" - stupid old men justifying their crimes +Michael O’Hanlon)

Obama Won't Include Social Security Reform In Recommendations To Super Committee (he's already destroyed himself; complete psychologically unfit for the job)
Carville Advises Obama To 'Panic,' Fire People And Make A Bunch Of Politically Motivated Indictments To Win In 2012 Hey, America. Are you ready for a political "advice" column that has the sentence, "There were enough deaths at Stalingrad to make the entire tea party collectively orgasm" in its fifth paragraph?
Bill Daley Leaves Some Democrats Longing For Rahm Emanuel Ask a congressional Democrat about the job Bill Daley is doing as President Barack Obama's chief of staff, and chances are you'll be met with a blank stare (another disasterous Chicago idiot)
Hullabaloo - Unpopular Bill- From Toobin: "This Saturday had begun with Bush and Gore locked in a closer contest than earlier in the week.Indeed, the Vice President had made gains over the past three days. But the day ended with James Baker leading the attack --- and Bill Daley and Warren Christopher making the case for surrender." Who ever could have guessed that he'd be the wrong man for the job? (whoa, down the memory hole)
The perils of partisan punditry in the Obama age - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com Democratic strategist and CNN pundit James Carville has written an article declaring Obama's political and policy approaches to be abject failures (pretends Obama isn't really a Republican)
But Black People Govern Like This ... - Ta-Nehisi Coates - National - The Atlantic Michael Moore and Bill Maher think this is a great line: I went into the polls voting for the black guy, and what I got was the white guy... But it really isn't. In fact, it's racist, and Michael Moore would do well to stop repeating it
Texas poverty figures challenge Rick Perry jobs record | World news | guardian.co.uk Report published by non-partisan CPPP says poverty in Texas is higher than the rest of America – and growing faster (on the backs of the poor, what a miracle +Southern states in general)
Texas death row prisoners – interactive | World news | guardian.co.uk
Duane Buck Texas execution halted by supreme court | World news | guardian.co.uk Duane Buck's execution was halted after his lawyers contended his sentence was unfair because of a question asked about race during his trial
NLRB Boeing Case: Bill To Weaken Labor Board Passed By House Republicans
Government Aid Keeps Millions Of Americans Out Of Poverty Last year, 46.2 million, or 15.1 percent of the entire country, lived below the poverty line, according to a Census report released this week. If it wasn't for Social Security, though, an additional 20.3 million people would be added to that total, the majority of them elderly (death panels all run by Republicans
America's 10 Poorest States: 24/7 Wall St (all Southern states except for Montana, mooching off big Gov)
Joe McGinniss Sarah Palin Book, 'The Rogue,' Makes Controversial Claims About Former Alaska Governor also alleges that Palin had an extramarital affair with her husband's business partner, Brad Hanson, in the mid-1990s, and snorted cocaine off a 55-gallon oil drum while snowboarding. "An utter fraud. An absolute and utter fraud,"
Troy Davis Execution: Former FBI Chief William S. Sessions Calls On Georgia To Stay Order ("Texas has never executed an innocent person")
Michele Bachmann's Former Campaign Manager Calls 'Retardation' Comment A Mistake "When she's elected president, she'll be commander in chief and she'll do a good job," Rollins replied.
Michele Bachmann HPV row prompts fears for vaccine programme in US | World news | guardian.co.uk Doctors and scientists say Bachmann's comments risk further reducing already low take-up rates for vaccine in US (Republicans hate sex, love cancer, are generally retarded)
pandagon.net: Even married monogamous women are dirty sluts who deserve cancer now (Conservatives wishing death on everyone)
Judge Orders Joe Walsh To Prove He Doesn't Owe Back Child-Support Cook County Circuit Judge Raul Vega expressed frustration when the Illinois Republican and Tea Party favorite did not appear in court (throw him in jail)
ThinkProgress Walsh, who frequently appears on television to upbraid the president for putting too much “debt upon the backs of my kids,” apparently considers himself above the law and too important to show up for child support hearings. Obviously, the court thinks otherwise.
Blue Dogs Cool To Obama Jobs Vision | TPMDC
Why Is One House Office Building Ditching Energy-Efficient Bulbs? | TPMDC the Architect of the Capitol is replacing modern energy-efficient 150-watt lightbulbs (photo to left) with traditional 250-watt lightbulbs because an unknown member of Congress complained.

UBS $2 billion rogue trade suspect held in London | Reuters The loss effectively cancels out the $2 billion that the bank had hoped to save in a cost-cutting program announced last month in which it will axe 3,500 jobs (oh, the casino lost money again; it's always "unauthorized")
The 2 Billion UBS Incident: 'Rogue Trader' My Ass | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone - This is the reason why the Glass-Steagall Act, which kept investment banks and commercial banks separate, was originally passed back in 1933: it just defies common sense to have professional gamblers in charge of stewarding commercial bank accounts (+Obama missed chance for real reform, of course)
BofA Ordered to Pay $930,000 to Fired Whistleblower - Bloomberg an employee who uncovered fraud at Countrywide Financial Corp. and was fired in violation of whistleblower protections, the U.S. Department of Labor said (SOP for the banksters)
The TRUTH About Who Really Owns All Of America's Debt - Social Security Trust Fund Social Security Trust Fund - Total Holdings of US Treasuries: $2.67 trillion (Americans own most of US debt)

Synthetic DNA added to yeast cells, paving way for 'evolution' on demand | Science | The Guardian Scientists' feat could lead to better biofuels and vaccines, and is a significant step towards completely synthetic organisms
The Next Generation of Night-Vision Goggles | Popular Science

Same-sex couple threatens legal action against Cayuga County town whose clerk refused to issue marriage license | syracuse.com Town Clerk Rose Marie Belforti (is a fundamentalist Christian theocrat)
N.J. taxpayers picking up $420K to cover 'Jersey Shore' production costs | NJ.com "The Governor’s opinions about Jersey Shore and its New Yorker cast are well-known," said Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak. "They are phonies and the show is a false portrayal of New Jersey and our shore communities. He has also been clear about his belief that film tax credit programs are not the most effective way to spur economic growth throughout the State."
Celebrated Plantation artist Jose Alvarez accused of ID theft - Sun Sentinel Alvarez is now in federal custody, accused of stealing the identity of a New York man and misusing it for more than 20 years. Goateed and scholarly looking in hip eyeglasses, Alvarez — if that indeed is his name — had his first appearance Friday morning in federal court in Fort Lauderdale - The two men, who live together in Randi's Plantation home, met when Alvarez was a teen, and they put on the "Carlos" performances for 15 years. (a fraud the Amazing Randi missed)

Iran blocks Tor; Tor releases same-day fix | The Tor Blog
Netflix Price Increase Causes Bigger Subscriber Loss Than Expected
Downloads Are Slowest in Idaho, Study Finds - NYTimes.com (Republicans hate infrastructure, free market solutions, America sucks at almost everything except killing people with drones)

091411
Palestinian anger rising against U.S. over U.N. resolution | McClatchy remarks by President Barack Obama that called the Palestinian bid a "distraction" to peace negotiations are engendering hostility among Palestinians, many of whom previously had seen the U.S. as the only possible mediator between Israel and them. Now they say the United States has allied itself with Israel.

Euro debt crisis: Italy passes first austerity vote - LIVE | Business | guardian.co.uk "Un nouveau moment fédérateur" (banks will have no problems as long as the world gives them all their money)
To solve unemployment, work must pay | Liam Byrne | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk (stunning new concept; sounds like socialism)
David Cameron under pressure to soften hardline deficit strategy | Politics | The Guardian (oh dear, austerity isn't working, let's do more austerity)

Kabul attacks 'not a big deal' says US ambassador | World news | The Guardian Ryan Crocker says attacks were a statement of militants' weakness, after security forces kill last insurgents (and up is down)
Libya, Syria and Middle East unrest - live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk
Liverpool to investigate striker Nathan Eccleston over 9/11 tweet | Football | guardian.co.uk (free speech unheard of in UK; only official line tolerated)
Church sex-abuse victims urge ICC prosecution - Europe - Al Jazeera English - Complaint filed against Pope Benedict and three Vatican officials by US-based group, alleging crimes against humanity.

New Met police chief Bernard Hogan-Howe promises 'war on crime' | UK news | The Guardian Rank and file officers told that when fighting crime, 'no tactic – if it works – will be considered out of bounds' (that didn't work out so well last time)
Magistrates were told to send rioters to crown court, emails show | UK news | The Guardian Emails sent to justices' clerks after August riots raise questions about judicial independence and the use of blanket guidance (no independent judiciary in UK, but that was obvious)
Leveson phone-hacking inquiry: JK Rowling among 'core participants' | Media | guardian.co.uk Judge names figures who will be able to give evidence to investigation into phone hacking and media ethics and practices
Issa: We Won’t Investigate News Corp’s Alleged Hacking Of 9/11 Victims Because We Don’t Want To Pick On The Media | ThinkProgress (crazy Darrell has Rupert's back)
French Socialist party election overshadowed by love triangle | World news | The Guardian Presidential primary saga of 'ordinary guy' Hollande, his ex-turned-rival Royal, and new love Valérie

New York Special Election Results: Republican Bob Turner Beats Democrat David Weprin In 9th District (heavily Jewish district with 3-1 Dem majority votes for Teaparty non-Jew to "send a message to Obama" at urging of Zionist Ed Koch, who hates America)
Peter King in the Hot Seat -- in London - NYTimes.com ” Mr. King was asked abou