Friday, August 30, 2013   Published Weekday Mornings   To see the full version of today's cartoon, click on the preview graphic of the cartoon (below the Commentary) to be taken to the full version in your favorite web browser. Forward Motion-AKA Progress Same-Sex Married Couples To Get Federal Tax Recognition Regardless Of State IRS will recognize same-sex marriages, even if states do not Federal Judge Strikes Down Law Barring Same-Sex Couples From Receiving Veterans' Benefits U.S. DOJ Won't Sue to Reverse States' Legalization of Marijuana Sarah Kliff: Justice Dept. won't stop states from legalizing pot. Here's what that means. DOJ Paves Way For Banks To Work With Pot Shops, Citing Public Safety Pres. Obama changes rules to close two gun loopholes Swiss & U.S. Agree on Penalties for Banks That Aided Tax Cheats The War Over There Teresa Tritch: Putting 'Labor' Back in Labor Day Labor Day By The Numbers War In Syria British parliament rejects military strike against Syria French President Francoise Hollande says its ready to punish Syria despite British no vote White House 'Sources': Obama Willing To Pursue Solo Syria Strikes Reminder: New York Times Published Bad, Unsourced, Unskeptical Stories In Run Up To Iraq War U.S. military officers have deep doubts about impact, wisdom of a U.S. strike on Syria NBC poll: Americans highly skeptical of U.S. intervention in Syria 162 Representatives, Including 64 Democrats, Call for Debate and Vote Before War With Syria Rep. Alan Grayson on Syria strike: Military-industrial complex wants it, Americans don't Syria: The very, very basics Syrian Strike Won't Eliminate Chemical-Weapons Threat & Could Spark Unintended Consequences. Adam Serwer: Striking Syria will likely be illegal - and legality won't matter Jonathan Chait: Obama Better Have the Goods on Syria Charli Carpenter: Is The Responsibility to Protect or Punish in Syria? An open letter on Syria to Western narcissists from a Middle Easterner Health Care Checkup Misleading Study on Obamacare Premiums: Not So Unaffordable After All How the ObamaCare defunding fight became a political showdown Energy, Climate & Environment Study: Air pollution causes 200,000 early deaths each year in the U.S. Unusua tropical ocean cooling key to climate change's temporary 'hiatus' Nations In Turmoil Brotherhood supporters continue to hold small rallies in Egypt Congo rebels cease combat, pull back from frontline The War Over There Afghanistan suicide attack kills Kunduz district governor, civilians Afghanistan lacks official presidential candidates to replace Hamid Karzai Al Qaeda claims responsibility for bombings in Iraq International News Saudi Arabia Passes Domestic Abuse Ban For First Time Ever Portuguese court rules government's austerity plan is unconstitutional Indonesia upholds drug smuggling death sentence for UK woman States Of Confusion McAuliffe Up by Seven Points in Virginia Gov. Race de Blasio Leading Strongly as NYC Mayoral Primary Nears Midwest Roundup Early end to season for nearly 30 Neb. state parks, historical sites Expanded Memorial Stadium set to welcome 92K to Husker home opener Part of Iowa now falls into "severe drought" category Pointed Examples of Forward Motion After an unexpectedly busy August filled with news, we're excited today. A full three-day weekend away from the drawing board and keyboards is staring us in the face, with time for our families, friends, and the opening weekend of college football. We plan on celebrating the true meaning of Labor Day too, a time to remember the struggles and sacrifices of past working class Americans, who fought - and sometimes even died - so Americans today can have things like a 40 hour work week and safe working conditions. Some workers, like those who went on strike across the country on Thursday, need no reminder of what it means to fight for fair wages. That fight against injustice has sometimes seemed pointless in the face of policies like the newly rigged voting laws in Texas, North Carolina, and elsewhere. After yesterday, though, we're a bit more hopeful that almost anything is possible, if we just prepare and keep hacking away at the problem. We stress 'almost anything', though. After all, we're not in charge of finding Democratic candidates to run for Congress in Nebraska in the 2014 election. Still, there was slew of good news yesterday afternoon, even in the midst of all the rumors surrounding Syria... To continue reading... click here. And now, for your Daily Felltoon preview for August 30, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) The Spying Game Gellman & Miller: U.S. spy network's successes,failures & objectives finally detailed in 'black budget' summary NSA paying U.S. companies for access to communications networks U.S. intelligence spending has doubled since 9/11, top secret budget reveals U.S. Intelligence Spending Now Higher Than During the Cold War | Leaked Info: To hunt bin Laden, satellites watched over Abbottabad, Pakistan, and Navy SEALs Snowden impersonated NSA officials, sources say UK authorities: Stolen classified docs carried by Greenwald's partner enabled ID of UK intelligence assets French prosecutor to investigate U.S. Prism spying scheme Jobs & The Economy U.S. consumer spending up weak 0.1 percent in July U.S. economic growth revised way up in second quarter Wall Street Watch Merrill Lynch to pay out $160M in racial bias suit Making 'Too Big To Fail' Banks Help Poor Borrowers Shutdown Showdown White House, Republican senators give up on budget talks The Fight For The Fed The Economist magazine endorses Janet Yellin for Fed Chair The Fight To Vote Bouie: Republicans Admit Voter-ID Laws Are Aimed at Democratic Voters Chris Cillizza: The state of voting rights' fights in the states The Spying Game Republicans Telegraph Slow Death Of Immigration Reform The truth behind GOP's immigration reform sabotage Communications Breakdown Poynter: Philly Inquirer reportedly cutting opinion pages | As Syria Attack Looms, Few U.S. News Outlets Report From Damascus Here It Is! Your Paul Fell PREDICTION preview for August 30, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) White House Update White House officials brief congressional leaders on Syria Pres. Obama to travel to Los Angeles for labor event, DNC fundraiser News From Capitol Hill Congress: President Obama needs Syria OK from us Still no firm plan for Farm Bill in the House when Congress returns On The Left Brad Plumer: How Obama demobilized the antiwar movement Jonathan Bernstein: The complexity of giving the president a hard time Pelosi: I Don't Want to Be Speaker Again On The Right Republicans Supported Attacking Syria, Now They Don't. Guess Why? GOP leader Cantor chose oil industry over attending with MLK marchers Former Pres. George W. Bush 'feeling pretty good' after heart surgery Sports & Politics Ed Kilgore: College Sports, Markets and "Exploitation" N.F.L. Agrees to Settle Concussion Suit for $765 Million | Breaking Down The $765 Million NFL Concussion Lawsuit Settlement Dave Zirin: The NFL Concussion Deal - Rotten from All Sides We hope you enjoy "The Daily Felltoon" every business day. Thanks for continuing to be a member! Paul Fell Shawn "Smith" Peirce Paul Fell Cartoons, Inc.