December 15, 2014
- ISIS began in 2004 at an American-run prison in Iraq—a golden opportunity for future terrorists.
- Senate passes spending bill, but not without another shutdown scare from Ted Cruz.
- Following the dismantling of Hong Kong's final Occupy site, protesters urge people to refuse to pay taxes in "small and symbolic amounts."
- Japanese PM Abe prevails in snap election, but low turnout underscores the public's disengagement with the political process.
- An estimated 100,000 children labor in Mexico's crop fields, with some produce exported to the US.
- Veterans of two decades of climate change negotiations called the turnaround in America's image profound.
- Julian Assange wants to build a "Monument to Courage"—of himself.
- Sexual violence...is no longer relegated to feminist blogs and women’s magazines.
- Tech employees may be the biggest threat to user privacy, but few companies have policies in place to prevent snooping.
- Uber's viability depends on a friendly regulatory environment—it's pouring money into a fraught lobbying effort headed by ex-Obama exec.
- The cutting edge of documentary film is in a Harvard ethnography lab.
- Martin Freeman on SNL means you have to do The Office: Middle Earth.
- The NHL's mumps outbreak can be traced to the fact that only three out of 10 Canadian provinces require childhood vaccinations.
- The band Skinny Puppy invoices the US government $666K in royalties for using its music as a Guantanamo torture device.