They're mostly about basic cost-benefit analysis, which I've heard little of so far (yet we're already effectively at war).
Running Scared →
An incredible story:
The “why” is easy to answer: Georgia has roughly 700,000 unregistered black voters. If Democrats could cut that number by less than a third—and bring nearly 200,000 likely Democrats to the polls—they would turn a red state purple, and land a major blow to the national Republican Party.
And it doesn't end there. There's a lot of pushback (if that's even an appropriate word) across several counties:
Under the old Voting Rights Act, Georgia officials had to clear voting changes with the Justice Department, and for good reason: The state had a long history of disenfranchisement, and “preclearance” was a way to pre-empt discrimination or prevent it entirely.
That changed with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Shelby County v. Holder last year,which struck preclearance from the VRA. Now, along with other Southern states, Georgia was free to change its laws and procedures for voting. And it did. That year, in Augusta—which has a large black population—officials moved municipal electionsfrom their traditional November dates, a change with huge, negative effects on turnout. (For a case study, look to Ferguson, Missouri.)
Race and the Wealth Gap →
But new Fed data shows that the top 10% of whites possess over 65% of all US wealth.
‘Money-in-Politics’ Amendment Ignored →
What could be the biggest event of the year, uniting nearly all Americans, is largely out of the limelight:
The ignored debate is on a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution – the 28th in its history – that would empower Congress to restrict campaign financing and spending in an effort to rein in the deep-pocketed oligarchs who have been spending billions of dollars in recent years to influence electoral outcomes.
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In 2012, just 32 donors gave more to Super PACs than 3.7 million average Americans who donated amounts under $200 to presidential candidates Mitt Romney or Barack Obama.
On Campus, Grenade Launchers, M-16s, and Armored Vehicles →
At least 117 colleges have acquired equipment from the department through a federal program, known as the 1033 program, that transfers military surplus to law-enforcement agencies across the country, according to records The Chronicle received after filing Freedom of Information requests with state governments (see table of equipment).
Most People Are Not Doing Well in Today's Economy →
The item that many may find surprising is that median wealth was lower in 2013 than it was in 2010 is spite of the boom in the stock market over this period.
Mehleb orders execution of court order to dissolve Freedom and Justice Party →
Egypt's Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb has ordered Wednesday the execution of the supreme administrative court's verdict to dissolve the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and liquidate its assets.
ISIS Doesn't Have Much Of An Ability To Strike The Continental US — At Least For Now →
But at present, the actual extent of the group's danger to the U.S. homeland is a matter of speculation, and its dangers are dulled somewhat thanks to ISIS's current capabilities and goals, and American counter-terror advances since the September 11th attacks.
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The group has connected its legitimacy to its ability to hold onto land, while also provoking every potential rival fighting force on its "Caliphate's" periphery.
"Once ISIS begins to experience a reversal, things could go badly for it very quickly," says Gartenstein-Ross.