READING FOR THE WEEK (9-23-13)

Twelve must-see views at U.S. national parks (MNN).

Three infuriating facts about failed CEOs after the 2008 market crash (Think Progress).

Harvard Law Professor: U.S. tax policy may have helped spark 2008 market collapse by encouraging debt accumulation (Money News).

Growth in food stamp program is not because of fraud or over payments, but because of the economic downturn (Truthout).


NATIONAL SECURITY STUFF
NSA shares raw intelligence, including Americans' data, with Israel (The Guardian).

U.S. spying on allies sparks outrage, Brazil and Mexico demand answers (Bloomberg).

Narco Politics: How Mexico got there and how it can get out (Council on Hemispheric Affairs).

Military contractors among the highest-paid CEOs of the past two decades (Foreign Policy in Focus).

The U.S. spy budget (i.e. the Black Budget) for the 16 spy agencies has been disclosed - thank you Eric Snowden - and now stands at $52.6 billion (Washington Post).

The United Kingdom asked the NY Times to destroy the Snowden materials (Reuters).

The CIA's involvement in the 1953 overthrow of Iran's Mohammed Mossadegh is detailed in All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror. The CIA is just now admitting its role in organizing the 1953 coup (Aljazeera).


OBAMACARE NOTES
Obamacare is better than you think ... plus some of its shortfalls (Truthout).

How to end the Obamacare debate ...show that the health care law works (National Journal).

Defunding Obamacare won't actually defund Obamacare (National Journal).

The fiction of Obamacare rate shock (Center for Public Integrity).


MISCELLANEOUS
An uplifting story of someone doing the right thing (Huffington Post).

Fracking triggers over 100 earthquakes in Ohio (Grist).

Why are companies reluctant to hire military veterans? (National Journal)

How Putin saved Obama, Congress, and the European Union from further embarrassing themselves on Syria (Juan Cole / Informed Comment).

Yes, the U.S. Senate ignores the masses (Nation of Change).

Power and privilege has its benefits ... special license plates in Colorado give state lawmakers free parking, protects them from photo radar tickets, and protection from past due parking tickets (CBS / Denver).

- Mark