Friday, August 29, 2014

READING FOR LABOR DAY WEEKEND (8-29-14)


After 75 years of state-owned oil, Mexico is reforming its oil industry by opening it up to foreigners. Here's a couple of thoughts on what it means for big oil (EconoMonitor).

Does inherited wealth really help the economy as economist Greg Mankiw suggests? A reply to Greg Mankiw (EconoMonitor).

How Wall Street tobacco deals, which were supposed to help state governments financially, left states with billions in toxic debt (Pro Publica / Buzz Flash).

Whether you're into conspiracies or not, this is still worth reading: "Syria intervention plan fueled by oil interests, not chemical weapon concern (The Guardian).

5 simple reasons Americans are getting fatter (Salon).


FOX NEWS CONTRASTS
How "the stupidest man on the internet" helped jump start the Ferguson lie that Fox News - and especially Sean Hannity - ran with as they smeared Michael Wilson (Alter Net / Salon).

Surprise, surprise ... Bill O'Reilly gets schooled on 'white privilege' by Megyn Kelly (Salon).


JUST WRONG
Back to school: Widening inequality increasingly explains who gets a good education, and who doesn't  (Robert Reich).

Do as we say, not as we do ... Our inside-trading Congress tells Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) investigators to take a hike (Zero Hedge / Wall Street Journal).

Shaking down the elderly for student loan debt should not be allowed (Buzz Flash).

No censorship, but YOU don't have access? Government blocking certain journalists for access to information (Buzz Flash).

Poverty Capitalism: Outsourcing state duties to the private sector, and making the poor pay for it (NY Times).

Sugar plant removed safety device 13 days before temp workers death (Pro Publica).


OBAMACARE NEWS
How's that Obamacare thingy working out for the GOP? Not very good (The National Memo).

Dire predictions of endless waits for a doctor under Obamacare have proven unfounded (Center for Public Integrity).


MEANWHILE, IN CRAZY LAND
Did you know that contraception is a conspiracy designed to ruin the family? This and other crazy myths told by the religious right (Alter Net).

Watch these painfully ignorant Mississippians explain why they hate Obama and the government, but love 'murka (ATTP).

Florida county unanimously bans atheists from delivering invocations at public meetings (Alter Net).


OUR MILITARIZED POLICE
What happens when America's police become America's mental-health workers (New York Magazine).

Close to 200 police departments in the U.S. have been "suspended" for losing U.S. military-grade weaponry (RT).


MISCELLANEOUS
Top 10 Center for Public Integrity investigations that you may have missed (Center for Public Integrity).

Irreversible damage from climate change, according to leaked UN draft report (Bloomberg).

Fearing for the Second Amendment, anti-government militia groups growing in the U.S. (Center for Public Integrity).

Christian Evangelicals and American foreign policy (Council on Foreign Relations).

Host of Emmy winning Cosmos series Neil de Grasse Tyson discusses backlash from religious groups who don't agree with evolution, why he doesn't debate, and other interesting stuff (Alter Net).

- Mark

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