READING (10-23-14)

Which NFL team rules the U.S.? The geography of NFL fandom (The Atlantic).

How Germany managed to abolish university tuition fees (Truthout).

Zach Galifianakis says everything you want to say about Justin Bieber on "Between Two Ferns" (The Atlantic).

Holy Pornocopia, Batman ... The "Bible Belt" is the Porn Belt (Patheos)?


CONSERVATIVE MYOPIA
Conservatives continue to get Iraqi WMD story very wrong (MSNBC).

George W. Bush: The gift that keeps on giving (Truthout).


THINGS WE CONTINUE TO GET WRONG
$100 million in taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil promotes fracking in California (Buzz Flash).

The making of Ferguson: Long before the shooting of Michael Brown official racial-isolation policies created a powder keg (The American Prospect).

John Oliver on how America is turning its back on Middle Eastern translators who risked their lives (Truthdig).

President Obama putting key priorities on hold until after midterm elections (LA Times).

Journalist Risen: 'Mercenary Class' now a permanent fixture in National Security State (Bullhorn / Nation of Change).

IF THEY HATE US, THIS HELPS EXPLAIN WHY

Obama could reaffirm a Bush-era reading of a treaty on torture (NY Times).

Germany asked to send Ebola virus - along with other related diseases - to the U.S. Army. The Army declines to provide assurances that it will NOT 'weaponize' the virus (Russian Times).


A (SOMEWHAT) LONG BUT NECESSARY READ
The imperative of revolt (Chris Hedges / Truthdig).

VOTING AND THE SUPREME COURT
The U.S. Supreme Court allows Texas to use controversial voter-ID law (Washington Post).

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's critically important 5 a.m. wake-up call on voting rights (Slate).

Sweet irony ... An 1865 ruling in favor of Confederate soldiers just protected the vote for minorities in Arkansas (Slate).


AMERICAN DECLINE
The evaporation of democracy in America (Truthout).

The United States is #1 ... but in what (Truthout)?

Venezuela accorded a seat on the United Nations Security Council ... Washington suffers a setback to its prestige (Council on Hemispheric Affairs).

MISCELLANEOUS

23 things that could only exist in the Silicon Valley (Buzzfeed).

10 states most dependent on the federal government (Wall St. Cheat Sheet).

Judge deprives Monsanto of GM planting permit in Mexico, protects the bees (Nation of Change).

California Drought: Paradise Burning (The New Yorker).

Farms angry at Labor Department for cracking down on suspected labor abuses (Truthout).

- Mark