Good morning! Here are some of the stories we’re reading as we get up to speed for the day…

Militia –> Three Georgia men were charged with plotting an attack against the US government, reports Ryan Reilly for HuffPo.

Not just trolling –> Glenn Greenwald reveals the secrets of covert online manipulation by corporate spooks for The Intercept.

Civil rights –> Eric Holder wades into the marriage equality debate at the state level, saying that attorneys general aren’t required to defend laws they consider to be discriminatory. Matt Apuzzo reports for the NYT.

Who to blame for your cable bill –> At Salon, Justyn Dillingham draws the line between conservative legal scholarship and the end of serious anti-trust enforcement that’s led to huge monopolies ripping us off.

In pictures –> Danny Vinnik breaks down Chuck Hagel’s proposed Pentagon cuts in four charts for TNR.

Conventional wisdom –> At The Washington Monthly, Curtis Gans takes a critical look at what 2014 midterm projections are based on.

One topic, two good ones –> In response to the LGBT Jim Crow laws springing up in several states, Paul Brandeis Raushenbush writes at HuffPo that the invocation of “sincerely held religious beliefs” threatens to turn the idea of rights on its head. And at TAP, Paul Waldman says that religious conservatives are seeking an elevated level of citizenship in which they can pick and choose what laws apply to them.

It’s a racket –> Politico’s Matt Stroud looks at private prisons’ awful performance record and wonders why we keep giving them business.

Worst person in the world –> Struggling GOP lobbyist admits that his proposed law banning gay athletes from the NFL is a publicity stunt. Turns out he has a gay brother, who isn’t happy.

A pen, a phone… and a timer –> Ben Goad reports for The Hill that the Obama administration is racing against the clock to enact regulatory changes that could determine his legacy given that Congress is a dead-end.

Fifty years ago today –> Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston, and Greg Mitchell gives us a taste of the black radical politics of the day for The Nation.

Sorry, young-Earthers –> At 4.4 billion years, a zircon crystal found at an Australian sheep farm is the oldest piece of the planet ever discovered. Via: Reuters.