Day after Thanksgiving news update:
* American consumers have been forced to do the safety tests the federal government won't.
* Welcome to George Bush's America, Part 512: Probable cause no longer required for search warrants. Via MeFi and Matt Yglesias.
* The United States's prison population has quadrupled since 1980, despite the well-documented decrease in the crime rate during the 1990s. It currently stands at around 2.2 million behind bars and 4.8 million more on probation or parole—the highest rate in the world. China, a authoritarian state of 1.3 billion people, comes in at number 2 with 1.5 million incarcerated, though in fairness some people estimate that China's prison population may actually be much higher. If this offends you, check out "Unlocking America," a forty-page proposal for prison reform. Also via MeFi.
* "It's one minute before 12." An hour-long lecture explains what we all already know to be true: growth and expansion simply cannot last forever.
* Finally, Noam Chomsky explains the manufacturing of the Iran "crisis." Via Crooks and Liars.
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