Saturday, December 14, 2013

READING FOR THE WEEKEND (12-14-13)


Tale for the season(s) ... Man commits suicide after spending five hours shopping with girlfriend, who wanted to continue shopping  (Gawker).

The Veterans Administration lobotomized 2,000 "disturbed" military veterans immediately after WWII (Army Times).

Former FBI agent missing in Iran was a CIA agent working an unauthorized mission (The Guardian).

The bubonic plague kills 20 villagers in Madagascar (The Guardian).

Uruguay just became the first country to legalize the marijuana trade (Business Insider).


THE REAL PRICE OF OUR GROWING NATIONAL SECURITY STATE
Bill Moyers: "We are this close to losing our democracy to the mercenary class" (Alternet).

The over policing of America (Nation of Change).

Intelligence contractors donate millions to intelligence committee members in congress (Center for Public Integrity).

A coalition of the world's largest tech giants - Google, Apple, Yahoo, Facebook, and Microsoft - have gotten together to ask that the United States reform its sweeping surveillance programs because the U.S. government's demands, ultimately, are bad for business (Reform Government Surveillance).


ECONOMICS & FINANCE
More news on Detroit's bankruptcy (Nation of Change).

The "Raise the Minimum Wage" argument is not so simple (The Atlantic).

The most important economic stories of 2013, in graphs (The Atlantic).

Five years later U.S. households haven't recouped financial losses from crisis (Nation of Change).

I've always liked this guy ... David Stockman, former Director of the Office of Management and Budget, is pretty clear: "Valuation has lost any anchor to the real world" (Zero Hedge).


"OOPS, MY BAD  ... BUT IT'S GONNA HAPPEN AGAIN"
Fifteen people on their way to a wedding in Yemen were killed by drone strike when their party was confused for an al Qaeda convoy (RT).

In a related story, U.S. military changes drone rules to make targeting of civilians easier (Zero Hedge).

The California State Supreme Court declines to hear a case on predatory lending against Wells Fargo. One judge, who owns at least $1 million in Wells Fargo stock, fails to remove herself from the case. Weak disclosure laws make this a common occurrence across the country (Center for Public Integrity).


BY THE NUMBERS

Six of the top ten billionaires in America are the Koch's and the Walton's (Truth Out).

Ten small great cities for retirement (AARP).

The #1 reason why women over 50 cheat. It's not what you think (AARP).

The ten worst economic predictions, ever (Zero Hedge).

- Mark 

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