Good morning — and a happy Kamehameha Day to our friends in Hawaii!
Shocker –> Everybody’s spinning their version this morning of how House Majority Leader Eric Cantor got whipped by an underfunded, no-name tea partier in Virginia’s GOP primary. WaPo’s Robert Costa, Laura Vozzella and David Fahrenthold have a straight report.
“Disastrous ruling” –> That’s what public education advocates are calling a judge’s decision in Vergara vs. California, which gutted protections for public school teachers and likely opened the door for a wave of similar suits across the country. Sandi Behrns has the details at Liberaland.
Progressive cities –> The Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel, Salon’s Joan Walsh and MSNBC commentator Zerlina Maxwell sat down with NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio to discuss how progressive mayors are becoming a major force for reform.
“Just the latest in a long line of recent far-right, anti-government acts of violence” –> Eric Boehlert on the Las Vegas killings and how Fox News covers right-wing domestic terrorism.
Dispatches from an alternate universe –> Robert Murray, the owner of the country’s largest independent coal producer, is threatening to sue the EPA for “lying” about global warming. Murray’s gotten hold of one of the silliest claims made by climate change deniers: that the Earth is actually cooling. Emily Atkin reports for ThinkProgress.
Related –> At Ecowatch, climatologist Michael Mann agrees with Paul Krugman’s analysis of how ideology drives people to reject the scientific evidence of global warming. But Mann thinks the economist gives short shrift to the impact of industry’s well-funded campaign to sow doubt.
Slavery –> Yes, it’s 2014, but according to The Guardian’s Felicity Lawrence, slave labor is being used in the Thai fishing industry and the product is being shipped to some of our biggest retailers — including Costo and Wal-Mart.
“A history that includes sexual abuse and poor medical care” –> Truthout’s Victoria Law on the for-profit prison company GEO Group. The state of California is turning to the company for a new women’s prison, seeking relief for its overcrowded system.
Bad policing is costly –> Jennifer Peltz reports for the AP that New York City settled a false arrest claim with 14 Occupy Wall Street protesters by paying out $583,000, “the largest settlement to date in a single Occupy-related civil rights case.”
Austerity is a trainwreck –> At Slate, using a devastating graphic showing the negative impact of belt tightening on employment, Jordan Weissmann proves that a picture is worth a thousand words.
Sketchy guy gets lawsuit –> We told you about the white Arizona Republican who changed his name to Cesar Chavez, intending to run for Congress as a Democrat in a heavily Latino district. Ben Giles reports for the Arizona Capital Times that the grandson of legendary labor activist Cesar Chavez is suing to have him kicked off the ballot.
He’s all-American now! –> The Dallas Morning News: “No, Canada: Sen. Ted Cruz has formally shed his dual citizenship.”
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