Capitol City Project - 12/13/13, Joe Schoffstall

Every member who sits on the committees that oversee government intelligence operations has received campaign contributions from the top twenty largest intelligence companies in the United States, according to a new report.

Amid the NSA scandal, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence — the committees in charge of oversight — denied stricter reform attempts to the NSA programs and instead propelled legislation aimed at restoring their trust. The committees are intended to keep waste, fraud, and abuse in check given most of these programs are hidden from the general public.

The Guardian - 12/12/13, Dominic Rushe

Belfast Telegraph - 12/14/13, John Hall

The Corbett Report - 12/11/13, James Corbett

Late last month former Bank of Canada governor and recently-appointed Bank of England governor Mark Carney surprised many by criticizing the quality of the economic data being provided by the UK’s Office for National Statistics. Measurement of investment in Britain was one source of discomfort for the former Goldman Sachs insider, who said that “We’re not putting full weight on that data and it has to be said that it doesn’t entirely feel right that investment is, as measured, falling at a time when we see continued strengthening investment intention.” He added that “a lot of work” would have to be done to bring Britain’s flow of funds data up to international standards.

To be clear, what was surprising was not that the ONS data is incomplete and misleading; everyone with an ounce of economic understanding already knew this. What is surprising is that a high-ranking bank official was admitting that the data they and the market in general is relying on is so unreliable.

The New York Times - 12/11/13, by DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and ANDREW E. KRAMER

Mobilizing after midnight, thousands of riot police officers and Interior Ministry troops broke through barricades around Independence Square, pushed demonstrators back and formed tight cordons around them. They then called in bulldozers and other heavy equipment to raze some of the protesters’ tents and barricades.

The security forces clashed with protesters and briefly tried to regain control of City Hall. Then at 10:30 a.m., they abruptly withdrew, raising new questions about Mr. Yanukovich’s handling of the crisis, which has seemed increasingly erratic. The retreat let protesters reclaim the square and they quickly rebuilt their barriers, this time using heaping bags of snow.