Good morning! Here are some of the stories we’re reading on yet another frigid day in NYC…
Stat of the day: $1.95 trillion — the amount of cash the 307 biggest US-based multinationals are holding offshore and out of sight of the IRS, according to Bloomberg.
Blockage –> The White House says it supports the congressional probe into the CIA’s “War on Terror” under Bush, but Jonathan Landay, Ali Watkins and Marisa Taylor report for McClatchy that the Obama administration is sitting on thousands of documents that Senate investigators want to see.
Non-corporate people go to jail for less –> Wells Fargo charged with setting up “detailed internal procedures to fabricate foreclosure papers on demand,” according to The NY Post’s Catherine Curan.
NSA –> Edward Snowden’s leaked docs reveal that the intelligence agency planned to infect millions of computers with malware. Ryan Gallagher and Glenn Greenwald report for The Intercept.
Dog whistles are supposed to be subtle –> Paul Ryan, who will work just 113 days this year, as he did in 2013, said poverty is a result of lazy “inner city” men not wanting to work.
Robbed by police –> At Forbes, Nick Sibilla looks at forfeiture abuse — where police seize cash and property from people without charging them with a crime.
“Nasty, brutish and short” –> After reporter Joseph Williams lost his job, he found retail work in a sporting goods shop and it turned out to be a nightmare. He writes about his experience at The Atlantic.
Florida-13 –> Slate’s Dave Weigel offers three things the media is getting wrong about that special election Republicans won in Florida on Tuesday.
World vs Keystone –> Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline — which Esquire’s Charles Pierce calls “the death funnel” — left twice as many comments with the State Department as its supporters, and WaPo’s Juliet Eilperin notes that almost half of them were from outside the US.
A people’s budget –> At Policy Shop, David Callahan looks at the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ alternative budget.
“Didn’t Tom Cruise Already Make This Movie?” –> Darwin Bond Graham and Ali Winston report for Truthout that police agencies are using data analytics to predict where crime may occur in the future — a technique first embraced by the military for counterinsurgency operations.
Schooled –> At the LAT, Michael Hiltzik looks at what happens when an actual expert on Canada’s health care system tangles with a senator — NC Republican Richard Burr — whose expertise appears to be largely Fox News-based. Spoiler alert: it didn’t end well for him.
New and… white –> At The Guardian, Emily Bell notes that bleeding edge new media startups under Nate Silver and Ezra Klein aren’t exactly models of diversity.
Death stars and dark matter –> Scientists have a new theory — highly speculative at this point — that discs of “dark matter” may have played a role in the extinction of the dinosaurs. Elizabeth Gibney reports for Nature, via HuffPo.
