friday reads

The Department of Justice is investigating whether a former intelligence officer illegally disclosed classified information in interviews he gave on how the CIA interrogated a suspected senior al Qaida member.


A series of court decisions this week supporting voting rights advocates in Florida and Arizona may bode well for more open and accountable elections in 2008.


During the next hurricane in Texas, evacuees may be subject to criminal background checks.


After protesters skirmished with police inside and outside New Orleans City Hall on Thursday, the City Council voted unanimously to approve a federal plan to demolish a vast swath of public housing.


Death by Spreadsheet: A 17-year old died just hours after her health insurance company reversed its decision not to pay for a liver transplant that doctors said the girl needed.


The World's Top Executioners: China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, The United States (hat tip BlondeSense)


With millions more foreclosures likely, it’s a good bet that homeownership will be lower at the Bush administration’s end than it was at the start.


Comparative Planetology: An Interview With Kim Stanley Robinson


Almost half of common European birds are heading towards "continental extinction", a new report warns today.


The Story of Stuff (hat tip Seeing the Forest)