Undernews: April 29. 2013

The end of the First American Republic: Top rot
One good way to judge the state of a culture is to check out its leadership. Absent a strong, continuing rebellion from the bottom or a conscious devolution of power, this leadership leaves its mark on every aspect of society. Read more..

Pocket paradigm: The drug trade
The illegal drug trade is estimated to be about the size of the legal pharmaceutical business. If you believe what you read and hear in the media, the drug trade must be the most honest business going since it never has lobbyists working Washington, it never contributes to political campaigns, it n.. .. read more..

Austerity bad for health as well as economy
Reuters = Austerity is having a devastating effect on health in Europe and North America, driving suicide, depression and infectious diseases and reducing access to medicines and care, researchers said. Detailing a decade of research, Oxford University political economist David Stuckler and Sanjay .. .. read more..

Boomer suicides climb
Sacramento Bee - Although experts have long thought of midlife as a time of stability and emotional contentment, baby boomers are proving to be an unfortunate exception. Reversing a longtime demographic trend, midlife suicides are on the rise for the generation born between 1946 and 1964. National .. .. read more..

CIA has been paying off Afghanistan’s Karzai wih millions in secret cash
Matthew Rosenberg, NY Times - For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan’s president ¬ courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency. Enlarge This Image.. .. read more..

On the other hand…
Thoughts of a police chief turned Episcopal minister Quotes The illegal we can do right now; the unconstitutional will take a little longer -- Henry Kissinger When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said Let us pray. We closed our eyes. When we opened them .. .. read more..

Young people do care about their privacy
Jay Stanley, ACLU - Everywhere I go, I hear some variation of the claim that “young people today just don’t care about privacy.” This is something that people widely seem to believe is “just true.” The latest claim to this effect comes in the form of a new poll, the release of which was trumpeted w.. .. read more..

Notes from the cove: My cellphone deficit disorder
Sam Smith - Watching a woman pull her bag from the train overhead bag compartment, stuff some papers into it and make her way to the door - all the time never removing her bent head from the cellphone stuck between it and her shoulder, I noticed that she at no point opened her mouth. She might have.. .. read more..

Word: The San Francisco Gay Pride sellout of Bradley Manning
Glenn Greenwald, Salon - What we see here is how even many of the most liberal precincts in America are now the leading spokespeople for and loyalists to state power as a result of their loyalty to President Obama. Thus do we have the President of the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade soun.. .. read more..

Polls: Best and least liked cities
According to Pubic Policy Polling, Seattle is America's most popular city. 57% of American voters see Seattle favorably and only 14% unfavorably, edging out Portland (52- 12) by three points on the margin. The most unpopular is Detroit, which only 22% see positively and 49% negatively. America.. .. read more..

Chris Matthews at his jerkiest
Buzzfeed - Barbara Buono, known more widely as the woman Democrats put forward to run against Chris Christie after Cory Booker took a pass, is asked her first question early, before the cameras go live and the set falls silent for the countdown to air. The state senator is in Hardball's Washington .. .. read more..

Hunger strikers at Gitmo concentration camp now number 100
Citizens for Legitimate Government - The official number of hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay reached 100 on Saturday -- three more than the day before. Twenty of the detainees are receiving enteral feeds, five of whom are being observed in a detainee hospital. Lawyers for the detainees contest the.. .. read more..

The bulletproof student
Guardian, UK - The pink bulletproof rucksack that 5-year-old Jaliyah wears to school every day reaches almost down to her knees and weighs 3lbs even when empty, but for her Colorado father, the size and solidity are part of the attraction. "If you put it on her back, it almost covers her whole body.. .. read more..

About that war on terror
From the State Department's report on 2011 terrorism: U.S. citizens worldwide killed as a result of incidents of terrorism: 17 U.S. citizens worldwide injured as a result of incidents of terrorism: 14 U.S. citizens worldwide kidnapped as a result of incidents of terrorism: 3 That same year, Washingt.. .. read more..

Pocket Paradigms: Doubt
Sam Smith - If we had been born in a time in which the therapy for doubt was punishment, even death, we would not be in such a fix. We would thank or fear whatever gods may be and go about our business if not happily at least with certitude. But the gift of decriminalized doubt changed all that. We.. .. read more..

Shop talk
With Google Reader going down for good, we've been looking around for a new RSS headline substitute. The best we've been able to find is Feedly. Go for All and Titles .. read more..

San Francisco gay group sells out to Pentagon
Glenn Greenwald, Guardian, UK - News reports indicated that Bradley Manning, widely known to be gay, had been selected to be one of the Grand Marshals of the annual San Francisco gay pride parade, named by the LGBT Pride Celebration Committee. When the predictable backlash instantly ens.. .. read more..

Mark Zuckerberg joins the rightwing propaganda machine
Think Progress - Mark Zuckerberg’s new political group, which bills itself as a bipartisan entity dedicated to passing immigration reform, has spent considerable resources on ads advocating a host of anti-environmental causes ¬ including driling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and constructi.. .. read more..

Americans 270 times more likely to die in a workplace than from a terrorist atta..
In These Ti mes - Although Americans were 270 times more likely to die a workplace accident than a terrorist attack in 2011, the Department of Homeland Security’s budget that year was $47 billion, while OSHA’s budget was only $558 million. And while the Senate has grilled top intelligence officials.. .. read more..

Thoughts of a police chief turned Episcopal minister

Quotes
The illegal we can do right now; the unconstitutional will take a little longer -- Henry Kissinger

When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said Let us pray. We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.- Desmond Tutu

One of the things I learned, the easiest of lessons, was that the better you do your job, often going against conventional mores, the less popular you are likely to be. (So, if you seek popularity, this is probably not the profession for you.) . . . .By and large, the more famous you are, the less of a journalist you are - David Halberstam

Tweets
@GeorgeCarlinSez - The word bipartisan means some larger-than-usual deception is being carried out

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