Edward Snowden's Worst Fear Has Not Been Realised – Thankfully

Glenn Greenwald The Guardian
In my first substantive discussion with Edward Snowden, which took place via encrypted online chat, he told me he had only one fear -that the disclosures he was making, momentous though they were, would fail to trigger a worldwide debate because the public had already been taught to accept that they have no right to privacy in the digital age. Snowden, at least in that regard, can rest easy. The fallout from the Guardian's first week of revelations is intense.

The Sword Drops on Food Stamps

George Zornick The Nation
Congress is about to slash food stamp funding in the midst of a deep economic recession, when more people rely on food stamps than ever before. The only hope now to at least moderate the cuts is a band of House Democrats who have pledged to fight the food stamp cuts ferociously.

Real-Life True Blood: Synthetic Blood Is Coming

Devon Maloney Wired
Season 6 of HBO’s vampire drama True Blood premieres on Sunday night, presumably following up on last year’s cliffhanger where the factory that produces Tru-Blood — the bottled synthetic blood that allows vampires go “vegetarian” — was burned to the ground, destroying the product that made it possible for vampires to non-violently co-exist with people. But out here in the real world, the future of synthetic blood is just beginning.

Reading Marx in Tehran

Mansour Osanloo The New York Times
In the face of Iran's economic crisis and declining living conditions, none of the current candidates on the ballot has put forward a tangible economic plan that addresses workers’ concerns. They have made references to difficulties and criticized the Ahmadinejad administration’s mismanagement and corruption, but they have not proposed or discussed any solutions to the workers’ plight.

Friday Nite Videos -- June 14, 2013

Portside
Conservatives applaud President Obama's PRISM program. Mavis Staples' One True Vine released. The Rap Guide to Evolution. Maurice Sendak Google Doodle. Lewis Black's Future Tech. Richie Havens opens Woodstock.