Silicon Valley is the New Political Power in D.C.
Guardian
America's five biggest tech firms have increased their lobbying presence in Washington so much that they now outspend Wall Street 2 to 1. Silicon Valley executives, like others from the private sector, now routinely move in and out of senior government positions through the capital's infamous "revolving door." The tech giants have learned from the Microsoft antitrust suits of the 1990s: Not having influence on Capitol Hill can be very bad for business. Stuck Inside of Media With the Labor Day Blues, Again
RealClearInvestigations
For Labor Day it's practically de riguer for the media to roll out fairly downbeat takeouts on the plight of workers -- even if employment and economic growth haven't been this robust in years. This holiday weekend, the outsourcing, gig economy is again in the crosshairs. The New York Times looks at "Janitors at Two Top Companies, Then and Now," to explain why the present-day janitor represents rising inequality: She's working for an outside contractor. In "Behind a $13 Shirt, a $6-an-Hour Worker," the Los Angeles Times reports that webs of contractors insulate clothing retailers from wage laws. And the Wall Street Journal presents a big data dump in noting that "the safety net that once came with full-time work has frayed." Public School Teachers Behind Violent Antifa Group
Daily Caller
Public school teachers are behind a leading far-left militant group in the Antifa network that federal officials say is committing "domestic terrorist violence." By Any Means Necessary, which has played a key role in riots in Berkeley, Sacramento and elsewhere, has dozens of public school teachers among its members, including among its most prominent leaders. The Secret History of FEMA
Wired
The Federal Emergency Management Agency wasn't always the go-to agency for natural disaster relief. Over the past seven decades, it has evolved from a top-secret series of bunkers designed to protect U.S. officials in case of a nuclear attack to a sprawling bureaucratic agency tasked with mobilizing help in the midst of calamity. The transition has not been smooth, to say the least. The Unlikely Jihadi
The Intercept
Harlem Suarez expressed sympathy for ISIS, started gathering weapons and practiced making bombs, but he also had clear mental deficiencies and no network. The FBI pressured him into a bomb plot. He tried to back out, and now he's serving life in prison. This is the latest in a series on the hundreds of people prosecuted by the U.S. for terrorism since 9/11, most of whom never committed an act of violence. Investigative Classics: Rise of the Ku Klux Klan, 1868
RealClearInvestigations
The original Ku Klux Klan was started in Tennessee almost immediately after the Civil War by defeated Confederates from the heavily Democratic South opposing Reconstruction, forced upon them by Radical Republicans. Here is a selection of contemporary accounts and commentaries. | 
