Larwyn's Linx: Justice Whistleblower Warns Senate on Labor Pick Perez

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Nation

Justice Whistleblower Warns Senate on Labor Pick Perez: WFB
America's March Toward Cyprus Status: Ticker
Levin rips GOP "rebranding": Boehner, Priebus need to be ejected: Scoop

Tom Perez: The Most Radical Cabinet Nominee Ever: Adams
NASA’s Chinese Spy Problem: NoisyRm
Is Biden Making False Excuses for Obama?: Dossier

McCain and Graham, Irrelevant or Dangerous: RWN
The ammo shortage is not a conspiracy: Gun Nuts
Surprise: Campus Gun Ban Didn't Stop Shooter With IED: Sooper

Economy

Free Healthcare for Illegal Aliens: MB
Elizabeth Warren: why isn't minimum wage $22 an hour?: Malkin
Five reasons gold will hit an all-time record this year: Mining

Now they tell us: Obamacare debut will be 'messy': Exam
The first step in truly balancing the budget: Commentary
Health premiums may rise 149% to 189% in 2014: CaliHealth

Cyprus offers a scary economic lesson for America: Peth
Cyprus deal is a dangerous game: FX Street
3 Reasons Why Direct Ramifications From Cyprus Will Be Contained - Goldman Sachs: EFX News

Scandal Central

GLORY KILLER: Sandy Hook shooter wanted a new “high score”: GSL
Sandy Hook murderer had planned strike for years. Armed guards would have stopped attack.: Owens
Hellish Personal Experience With Heterosexual Marriage Drives Hillary to Endorse Gay Unions: Powers

Fed Preserves US-Mexico Food Stamp ‘Partnership,’ While USDA Prepares for Meat Inspector Furloughs: Bruce
Obama’s Middle East Map Erases Israeli Territory: WFB
GOP Should Subpoena Benghazi's Silenced Witnesses: IBD

Climate & Energy

Final ClimateGate Email Download; All 220,000 Emails Released to Selected Reviewers: Ace
The Hockey Stick, Broken Again: Power Line
A Green Politician Sees Black Gold In A Blue State: IBD

Media

Study: MSNBC Coverage Almost 100% Opinion, Fox News Includes More Factual Reporting: Mediaite
Pew 'State of the Media' Study Bemoans Weakening 'Filter,' 'Shrinking Reporting Power': NB
History Channel: Hey, sorry about that whole Obama/Satan thing.: BuzzFeed

Cavuto: What’s Happening in Cyprus Is Just Like Obamacare’s 3.8% Home Sales Tax: GWP
The CPAC 2013 Experience In Pictures: RWN
CNN Reporter Labeled 'Rape Apologist' After Steubenville Comments: Mashable

World

Speaking truth to impotence in the Middle East: Spengler
North Korean Video Propaganda: Foundry
Measuring Freedom Around the World: American

The Secret Document That Set Obama’s Middle East Policy: BRubin
An Early Morning Response To A Gun Control Advocate: Extrano's Alley
Why President Obama’s Concept of the Middle East Will Fail: Just Listen to It: BRubin

Deep Respect for the Oval Office: WZ
FrackNation: ObjStd
Hacker Begins Distributing Confidential Memos Sent To Hillary Clinton On Libya, Benghazi Attack: TSG

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Good crowdfunding: Kiva hits $400m in micro-loans, reaching 1 million borrowers: NextWeb
3D-Printed Gun Maker Gets Federal License to Sell Firearms: Mashable
Kaifu Lee Tracks How Many Of His Weibo Posts Have Been Deleted: Crunch

Cornucopia

Walter Weyl (1873-1919): The state has a “primordial, intrinsic, underlying right to all property”: Cary
Cold Comfort: Hopenchange Cartoons
Learning with Git-Some: An Approach to Poverty: Fred on Everything

Image: Curmudgeonly & Skeptical
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: American Digest

QOTD: "The extraordinary Eurogroup meeting on Friday evening ended with a deal on a EUR10bn rescue package for Cyprus after lengthy discussions. From a market point of view, the most important element of the deal is that depositors in Cypriot banks will have to take a haircut. The haircut, or “upfront one-off stability levy” as it is called, is 9.99% for deposits above EUR100,000 and 6.75% for deposits below this threshold. Cypriot banks are closed for holidays today...

...The levy is being introduced despite promises that such a haircut would not take place. On 11 January, Olli Rehn said that “a haircut is not an option for us”. In the same way it was said that there would be no defaults on euro area government bonds until the Greek PSI was introduced. It is clear that such measures cannot be announced beforehand, but it certainly does not increase the credibility of promises from e.g. the European Commission.

The purpose of having deposit guarantee schemes is to avoid bank runs. Deposits up to EUR100,000 are protected under these schemes, so that depositors are fully reimbursed if a bank fails. Given that the deal on Cyprus introduces a new kind of loss for which depositors are not protected, the likelihood of bank runs has just gone up." --Frank Øland Hansen