Like Clockwork...

Isn't that gorgeous?

Links!

CISA: the dirty deal between Google and the NSA that no one is talking about "One of the things that civil liberties activists like to lament about is that the general public seems to care more about Google and Facebook using their personal data to target advertising than the government using it to target drone strikes. The reality is that both types of abuse are dangerous, and they work hand in hand.[...] The Internet makes a lot of good things possible, but it also makes it possible for corporations and governments to exploit us in ways they never could before. The debate over CISA is not about hackers, or China, or cybersecurity -- it’s about whether we want to further normalize ubiquitous monitoring, warrantless surveillance, and unfettered manipulation of our vulnerabilities, or if we want to protect the Internet as a promising platform for freedom and self expression."

Environmentalists, union members protest Pacific trade pact being negotiated at Maui resort "Protest organizers say the trade agreement would benefit a few major corporations while sacrificing protections for public health, the environment, local jobs and indigenous rights. 'It's pilau, pilau, pilau,' said veteran Hawaii activist Walter Ritte, using the Hawaiian word for rotten."

The FBI Built a Database That Can Catch Rapists — Almost Nobody Uses It "Local cops say the system is confusing and cumbersome. Entering a single case into the database can take an hour and hits — where an unsolved crime is connected to a prior incident — are rare. False positives are common. Many also said the FBI does little to teach cops how to use the system. Training has dropped from a high of about 5,500 officers in 2012 to 1,200 last year."
Police Shootings Won't Stop Unless We Also Stop Shaking Down Black People Sure, there are a few bad cops giving all cops a bad name - but they're bad cops produced by a broken system. If we seriously want to get rid of bad cops, we need to address the underlying system that encourages them.
Religious post: Two Church Robberies, Two Very Different Responses I'm reminded of Les Miserables' Bishop Myriel, Monseigneur Bienvenu, who offers the newly-freed convict food and shelter, and is, in response, robbed. When Valjean is caught, Monseigneur Bienvenu tells the police that the silver was a gift (and fusses at Valjean for leaving the candlesticks behind); he then tells the thief that the silver is the price paid to redeem his soul for God and to, in essence, "Go, and sin no more." That seems, in my opinion, to be a better model for the Church than the pastor packin' heat, leading sinners in prayer at gunpoint.

Bernie Sanders Hosts a Nationwide House Party for Over 100,000 Would-Be Foot Soldiers Related: Bernie Beer? Sanders Candidacy Inspires Purses, Shirts, and More
The Kochs freeze out Donald Trump Can you even be a Republican candidate if you're not Koch endorsed? I guess we'll find out!
Get Ready for Scott Walker… and the Ruthless Politics of Walkerism "Although this preacher’s son has developed a reputation for peddling many versions of the truth, Scott Walker never lies to billionaires who write campaign checks.[...] Walker’s relationship with ALEC illustrates his approach to governing: He likes to download and follow templates that are vetted by powerful campaign donors and lobbyists.[...] If this man is elected president, we will be done with elections as we know them. We will enter a new age of winner-take-all politics, where ruthlessly ambitious tacticians assemble billionaire donors, cultivate an echo-chamber media, shove aside idealists, reimagine parties as reflections of themselves, and remake government as a vessel to be filled by the highest bidder." Sounds like the Kochs' Golden Boy.
Obama Is Reinstating Pell Grants for Prisoners

Steampunk Gypsy