Freeform

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomgroenfeldt/2013/10/30/banks-led-by-citi-lobby-house-successfully-to-limit-dodd-frank-on-derivatives/ Couldn’t they just stick with the bike share thing? The economy is so much better when it is working.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/nov/01/secrets-worlds-happiest-cities-commute-property-prices Ask why cities are designed around cars. Read why this hurts people’s happiness. Then buy a bicycle.

http://m.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/06/rip-american-dream-why-its-so-hard-for-the-poor-to-get-ahead-today/276943/ Poor needs to better understand what it means to be rich. And rich needs to better understand what it means to be poor.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/01/food-stamp-cuts-emergency-providers-brace The wealthiest nation in the world and this is what our government does.

The Right to Vote – NationalJournal.com. The author recommends dismantling elaborate, democracy-destroying efforts to undermine citizens’ access to the polls. And while we’re at, let’s implement a constitutional right to vote. Better do it fast. It is getting harder and harder to pretend we are the united United States of America. How long will the … Read more

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/man-sues-dhs-nsa-for-the-right-to-parody-them-on-mugs-t-shirts/ A sense of humor: decidedly dangerous and un-American in the government’s eyes. Commenter has the right idea: these make great gifts.

http://cryptome.org/2013/10/end-hypocrisy-with-leaks.htm The USA has got a case of the existential blues. Badadada da dum. Gonna have to deal with psychology’s authenticity problem. Badada da dum. Those leaky classified secrets got Unc Sam down. Bwang bwang. Bwang bwang. No more hypocrisy to lean on. Thrummmmmmmmmmm.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/us/federal-prosecutors-in-a-policy-shift-cite-warrantless-wiretaps-as-evidence.html A chance to put a little justice back in the justice system.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/10/26/opinion/blow-billionaires-row-and-welfare-lines.html?from=opinion Charles Blow at The NYT warns of an undefined reaction to extraordinary wealth inequalities in U.S. society that American “leaders” actively exacerbate by pursuing wildly unjust agendas, including, inexplicably and cruelly, making food even less affordable for the poor. Yes, food for poor people. That’s where our brave leaders head when trying to balance … Read more

In this essay framing the struggle for power over the Internet in feudalistic terms, Bruce Schneier calls for a new body of rules governing the behavior of the players in the conflict. He calls it “a new Magna Carta focused on the institutions that abuse power in the 21st century.” How about we call it … Read more