Today’s Links: January 18, 2012

OPINION

TIM CARNEY: “The False Frame of Regulation vs. Inequality
“I think when people say the economy is rigged for the rich, they are pointing, at least in part, at things like bailouts, subsidies, and other murky advantages gained by lobbying and cronyism. I notice that while the Post didn’t give it as an option, still 5 percent said that overregulation and inequality were equally bad.”

DANIEL STONE: “Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich Lament Super PACs, But Backed Ruling That Made Them
“Gingrich has adopted the same reasoning, suggesting that super PACs are out of control this election season. ‘These super PACs have huge amounts of money,’ he said. ‘They’re totally irresponsible, totally secret, and I think it’s a problem,’ he said last week in New Hampshire. Yet the irony wasn’t lost on political reporters that both men have been two of the biggest beneficiaries of campaign-finance decisions by the Supreme Court that effectively created Super PACs. Both supported the controversial 2010 ruling inCitizens United that government should not restrict political speech in the form of campaign ads, which has flooded the attacks financed by anonymous donors.”

EMILY WILLINGHAM: “The Very Real Paranoia Over Genetically Modified Foods
“Were you among the thousands who saw last week’s Atlantic piece on ‘The Very Real Danger of Genetically Modified Foods’? Food writer Ari LeVaux sought to use recent research findings on the biology of digesting plant materials to argue for an overhaul of regulations for genetically modified (GM) food in the United States. The scientific missteps in his article and nonexistent link between the study he cites and any specific danger from GM foods led a number of science writers to crack knuckles and get to rebutting.

NEWS

SOPA BLACKOUT – Wikipedia Goes Dark for 24 Hours to Protest Web Piracy Bills
“Can the world live without Wikipedia for a day? The online encyclopedia is one of the Internet’s most visited sites, and at midnight Eastern Standard Time it began a 24-hour “blackout” in protest against proposed anti-piracy legislation that many leading websites — including Reddit, Google, Facebook, Amazon and others — contend will make it challenging if not impossible for them to operate.”

TSA – TSA Apologies to Elderly Women for Strip Search at Kennedy Airport
“In an about-face, the feds have admitted wrongdoing in the cases of two elderly women who say they were strip-searched at Kennedy Airport by overzealous screeners.”

WALL STREET – Federal Officials Charge Seven in Insider Probe
“Federal authorities on Wednesday announced charges against seven people in an expanding an insider-trading investigation that directly involves some of Wall Street’s most prominent money managers.”