MID-WEEK READING (June 18, 2015)

Napoleon Bonaparte reading. The Battle of Waterloo began 200 years ago today.

The Battle of Waterloo, as it happened on June 18, 2015 (The Telegraph).

Because I watched Star Trek in the 1960s, this is pretty cool ... Chinese Tycoon explains why he built his 'Star Trek' headquarters (CNBC).

Monarch butterflies keep disappearing. Here's why (Washington Post).

French collaborators punished with head shaving, 1944 (Rare Historical Photos).


TPP / REGIONAL TRADE PACT TALK
Capitalism and the TPP: A kinder, gentler totalitarianism (Truth Out).

You can't read the TPP, and you can't find out who in Congress has either (The Intercept).

Why does Obama want this trade deal so badly (The New Yorker)?

Why Mexico is winning the auto jobs war ... a post-NAFTA (and pre-TPP?) analysis (Detroit Free Press).


TENSIONS RISE
Elizabeth Warren's rejoinder to Jamie Dimon glistens with truth amid DC blather (Buzz Flash).

Pope Francis blasts climate deniers in leaked draft of Encyclical (Eco Watch).

In A.I.G. case, surprise ruling could end all bailouts (NY Times / DealB%k).

As tensions with U.S. grow, Beijing will stop building artificial islands in South China Sea (NY Times).

REALLY GOOD READS
Kerry Kennedy: Robert F. Kennedy and Cesar Chavez - A friendship for the ages (Monterey Herald). 

Why "politically motivated" science is good science (Tom Dispatch).


CHUCKLE FOR THE DAY
Guy who lives near airport painted "Welcome to Cleveland" on his roof, he lives in Milwaukee (GQ).

Oops, my bad ... Islamic suicide bomber trainer accidentally blows up his entire class (The PCMD Gazette).


THE FUTURE OF WORK ... AND SOCIETY
Augmented Reality: The new face of manufacturing (Ozy).

Robots and Utopia: Silicon Valley's quirkiest CEO (Ozy).

Billionaire CEO says changes in technology will create massive underclass and growing inequality that could spark "envy and hatred" of the wealthy (CNBC).

Seriously? "Rent a Crowd" company admits politicians are using their services (Liberty Chat).

For profit hospitals mark up prices by 1,000 percent because there's nothing to stop them (Center for Public Integrity).

IDIOTS AND FOOLS
Marco Rubio voted for bill forcing rape victims to publish their sexual history (DC Pols).

Pat Robertson to a Mother: "God killed your son because he was going to be the next Hitler" (DC Pols).

Colorado man shoots himself in the foot to see what it feels like (Crooks & Liars).

Jeb Bush: George W. Bush is a top foreign policy advisor (CNN Politics).

Distracted GOP lawmaker 'multitasking' on Facebook accidentally votes to support California budget (Yahoo).


THE CLOWN CAR GETS BIGGER (Oh, it's just Trump)

Donald Trump's presidential candidacy is great entertainment, but it's terrible for politics (Washington Post).

Donald Trump's unspectacular, unending, utterly baffling often-wrong campaign launch (Washington Post).


NATIONAL SECURITY STUFF
CIA torture appears to have broken spy agency rule on human experimentation (The Guardian).

Possible destruction of evidence by the Pentagon in NSA leak investigation (McClatchy DC).


MISCELLANEOUS
The ugly truth behind the Fed's Quantitative Easing (Shah Gilani / Money Morning).

How math is making our highways crumble ... kind of (Ozy).

Mass incarceration: As legislative season ends, where are the broad reforms (Truth Out)?

Famous last words: U.S. Presidents (About Health).

Iowa open-carry gun nut shoots mall worker who filed sexual harassment complaints against him ... and, yeah, he shot her in the back (Raw Story).

- Mark