Friday, July 31, 2015

READING FOR THE WEEKEND (7-31-15)

40 years ago today (July 31, 1975), the Teamsters' Jimmy Hoffa disappeared. 

Jimmy Carter: The United States is an "oligarchy with unlimited political bribery" (The Intercept).

When the hunter becomes the hunted - the American dentist who paid $55,000 to kill Cecil the Lion now receiving death threats (Business Insider).

After being asked to call, the hunter of Cecil the Lion contacts federal authorities (Huffington PostCNBC).

China dumps U.S. treasuries at record rate (sott.net).


CONSERVATIVE NIGHTMARE:  EASY VOTING & EDUCATED VOTERS
Under new Oregon law, all eligible voters are registered unless they opt out (LA Times).

The rights fear of education: What I learned as a (former) conservative military man (Salon).



MORE CLIMATE NEWS
Climate change skeptics may be about to lose one of their favorite arguments (Washington Post).

We'll probably be paying for this too ... Florida leads nation in property at risk from climate change (Miami Herald).

Alaska's terrifying wildfire season and what it says about climate change (Washington Post).

It's not climate change - It's everything change (Medium Matter).


RACE IN AMERICA ... IS THIS THE 21st CENTURY?
This 1956 guidebook for black travelers - "The Negro Motorist's Green Book" - is an important reminder of America's racist past (Fusion).

'Collective Healing' at Black Lives Matter convergence ends with police pepper-spraying teen (Nation of Change).


TRYING TO UNDERSTAND DYSFUNCTIONAL AMERICA
It's not who he is, it's who he hates: The secret to Donald Trump's toxic appeal (Salon).

Texas governor vetoes mental health legislation because he doesn't believe mental illness is real (Green Village Gazette).

Addiction: It's not you, it's your cage (Huffington Post).

Growing Up Inside: How the cards are stacked against America's 'youngest murderers' (Yahoo News).


THE CHANGING FACE OF AMERICAN HEGEMONY
China and Russia lay foundation for massive economic cooperation (Foreign Policy).

How China and Russia are running rings around Washington establishment politics (Salon).

The balance of power just changed in the Middle East (Nation of Change).


DAMMIT, WE NEED MORE GUNS ... OR DO WE?
Florida road rage incident turns deadly in horrifying 'stand your ground' killing (Raw Story).

New Harvard study obliterates every single NRA lie about guns (Addicting Info).


MAPPING NORTH AMERICA
Which of the 11 American nations do you live in (Washington Post)?

Nine nations of North America, 30 years later (NY Times).


FOX NEWS & THE CLOSING OF THE CONSERVATIVE MIND
Sean Hannity is killing the GOP: Fox News & conservative media have the party in a stranglehold (Salon).

They don't give a damn about governing: Conservative media's influence on the Republican Party (Harvard's Shorenstein Center on MP & PP).

David Frum in 2010: "Republicans originally thought that Fox worked for us and we're discovering we work for Fox" (ABC News).

What David Frum's firing from the AEI tells us about conservative think tanks ... they're supposed to "serve as made-to-order propagandists" (Harper's Magazine).

David Frum and the closing of the conservative mind (Bruce Bartlett's Blog).


MISCELLANEOUS
What do you know ... cost growth in Medicare has been slower than in the private sector (Paul Krugman / NY Times).

Princeton Study: The U.S. is an oligarchy, not a democracy (BBC).

IMF: No bailout for Greece (Business Insider).

Deal with it - Tom Brady and the Patriots are cheaters (Boston Globe).

- Mark

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