READING FOR THE WEEKEND (4-11-15)

Oil companies are selling dirty wastewater to drought-stricken farms (Gizmodo).

Obama hints at Cuba breakthrough as he flies south for Raul Castro meeting (The Guardian).

Today: Obama, Castro in first sit-down between US, Cuban leaders in 50 years (Russian Times).


THE REAL CULTURE WARS
Women are poorer than men in every state (The Daily Beast).

Reuters/IPSOS poll: Most Americans side with gays in religious freedom disputes (Reuters).

Kansas to impose unprecedented restrictions on welfare recipients (Think Progress).


DRUMS OF WAR / NATIONAL SECURITY STUFF
The U.S. Navy's massive, high-tech, destroyer is here (CNET).

New "crowd control" drones will shoot protesters with pepper spray (The Antimedia).

Listen, it's still their f**king fault: Bush, Cheney, neo-con drivel, and the truth about Iraq and ISIS (Salon).

Hawks' arguments for war with Iran sound very familiar (Truth Out).


ECONOMIC STUFF
The impact of full employment on African American employment and wages (Economic Policy Institute).

How we pay taxes: 11 charts (The Atlantic).

What education can and can't do for economic inequality (The Atlantic).

The poor spend relatively more on what will keep them alive, because they must. The rich spend more on what will keep them rich, because they can (The Atlantic).


UPLIFTING / POSITIVE STORIES
Padres sign wheelchair-bound pitcher for 20th straight season (CBS Sports).

20 year old claims he can rid the world's oceans of plastic (Truth Theory).

Urban Institute report shows that Obamacare has been a phenomenal success, reducing health care costs by $2.5 trillion  over the 2014-2019 period (Urban Institute).


OK, BACK TO THE GARBAGE CHUTE ...
Pat Robertson wants gay men to show him how to conceive through anal sex (The Gaily Grind).

Ferguson court clerk who sent racist emails says they were funny and she feels raped (Daily Kos).

Preparing for presidential run, Rick Santorum trots out his anti-gay bigotry as one of his qualifications ... seriously (Daily Kos).

GOP plans to win 2016 presidency without a majority popular vote (Buzz Flash).


MISCELLANEOUS
Working guns prohibited at NRA convention (MSNBC).

7 San Francisco officers suspended over racist texts (USA Today).

Michael Slager is not going to prison for killing Walter Scott: Here's why (The Daily Beast).

This family lives on floating fortress in the middle of the ocean (Collective Evolution).

- Mark