A government can say they are taking a holistic approach to something like the ‘war on terror’ but that does not mean that they are actually doing it. The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice has a new report out showing just how poorly the United States is doing in this area.

• The kabuki continues.
• The collapse of the Murdoch Mafia?
• Israelis intercept another flotilla.
• Run, Liz — run!
• Progress.

Murdoch, his son, and his indicted “fifth” daughter get ready to testify before Parliament later this morning.

The Script – For The First Time and Eric Church – Homeboy

I read a lot of post-apocalyptic lit and come in contact with its fanboys, and the some of them clearly are just dying for the world to explode so that they can be kings. Sure, in this life they’re pathetic Cheeto-dusted losers, but when the earth caves in and we really NEED somebody who’s read every issue of Soldier of Fortune cover to cover to run our new proto-colony of nuclear holocaust survivors, then we’ll be sorry. Then every hot club girl who wouldn’t blow them will HAVE TO so she can get her ration of flour for the day, and won’t that be just and correct?

State and federal regulators are currently negotiating a broad settlement over foreclosure fraud and mortgage documentation issues, despite no real investigation on the extent of the fraud. It’s difficult to see how you could reach an appropriate settlement without knowing what you’re settling, and Elizabeth Warren’s comment aligning herself with Sheila Bair certainly expresses that concern.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney declined comment Monday on questions on President Obama’s position on widely discredited “ex-gay” reparative therapy aimed at changing gay individuals into being straight.

Under questioning from the Washington Blade, Carney said he hasn’t had any conversations with the president on reparative therapy — or whether Medicaid funding should support the practice — and deferred inquiries to the Department of Health & Human Services.

I cried while watching Bob and the Monster during a scene where the movie’s subject, musician/drug counselor Bob Forrest, recounts receiving a letter from an inmate in a maximum security prison. The inmate writes that hearing Bob play his song “Memphis” live on the radio gave him hope; he threw a noose he had fashioned into his cell’s metal toilet and made the decision to live.

Calling attention to how the US government’s counter-terrorism measures impact women and sexual minorities (those in the LGBTI community), the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) has released a report that suggests the USG government cannot continue to claim it is taking a “holistic” approach to countering terrorism while at the same time failing to address how the so-called “war on terrorism” impacts women, men and sexual minorities differently.

I think we’re so used in America to see corporate malfeasance get a free pass that we’re not particularly inclined to believe that News Corp. will be fatally wounded by this phone hacking scandal. I’m not so sure of that, not least because the story originated in, and is still being adjudicated in, Britain. To be sure, their government is completely compromised and in bed with Murdoch’s company as well, but in a way that’s forcing them to be more aggressive than they would otherwise. Already we’ve seen huge dominoes fall – Rebekah Brooks, Les Hinton, the BSkyB deal. And now the Board of Directors of News Corp. is starting to wonder if Murdoch himself is in the position to continue.