More like Sunday Brunch this week, but a few interesting reads:

Man walks down the street in Colorado Springs just shooting people with a rifle. Looks like he killed three, including a bicyclist who got between the gunman and a woman.  No information yet about who or why, but Colorado’s fairly liberal carry laws apparently did not deter the man.  This was not a “gun-free” zone.

A pretty good outline in Salon of how today’s Republican Party has moved away from real Conservatism from Mary Barker,.  I have to say I like the term “Conservatives in Name Only.”

Speaking of Conservatives in name only, here’s the Bearing Drift take on the CNBC debate.  Anyone who watched the debate or read the transcripts can easily see that his complaint about “gotcha” questions holds little water.  The question that sent Senator Cruz off on his “liberal media” rant was about the budget compromise deal John Boehner and President Obama made the day before.  Cruz didn’t want to answer it so he changed the subject.  At the end of the day, GOP candidates in that debate could have discussed anything they wished, and their choice to attack news organizations instead of laying out their vision for the nation says a lot.

Interesting interview with Joseph Stieglitz, who points out that the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal has more to do with restricting the power of national governments to regulate than about free trade (via Lawyers, Guns and Money).  Some political science research suggests that corporate power and private authority have been eroding State power for some time.  The State is in retreat, and not just domestically.