Under the banner Idle No More, thousands of Canada's aboriginal peoples (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) and their allies have staged mass demonstrations in cities and towns all around the country in protest of the abusive treatment of indigenous people in Canada by the Canadian government. Mass marches have peacefully taken over the streets in Ottawa, while Round Dance flashmobs (nodding to both traditional indigenous dances and social media-fueled protest practices of late) have popped in around Canada and even in a handful of U.S. cities in solidarity.

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And if the administration does find a target, officials say it still has to weigh whether the short-term payoff of exacting retribution on al-Qaida is worth the risk that such strikes could elevate the group's profile in the region, alienate governments the U.S. needs to fight the group in the future and do little to slow the growing terror threat in North Africa.

Details on the administration's position and on its search for a possible target were provided by three current and one former administration official, as well as an analyst who was approached by the White House for help. All four spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the high-level debates publicly.

In another effort to bolster Libyan security, the Pentagon and State Department have been developing a plan to train and equip a special operations force in Libya, according to a senior defense official.

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Wired explains the threat that the open pipeline creates:

That proliferation fear illustrates the dilemma that the Obama administration’s Syria policy has created for itself. The CIA helps keep the pipeline to the rebels open, while seeking to gather intelligence on the Syrian opposition itself. But the official line is that the U.S. isn’t providing any rifles, rockets, mortars, missiles or spy tools to the rebels directly, partially out of concern that the U.S. doesn’t sufficiently know whom it’s arming. Critics, like Sen. John McCain, argue that President Obama is “AWOL” on Syria, allowing Iran-backed dictator Bashar Assad to slaughter civilians, and call for greater U.S. support for the rebels. But that could lead to a situation where the U.S. inadvertently arms its regional adversaries, as it did in Afghanistan in the 1980s, or unleashes weapons whose ultimate destination spreads far beyond the battlefield, as occurred in Libya during last year’s war.

However, Little said, “I’m not going to speculate on prospective changes in policy." For now, the pipeline remains open.

h/t Wired

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During a CNN appearance Thursday, Cutter said that "the entire reason that this has become the, you know, political topic it is is because of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan ... It's a big part of their stump speech." She went on to lambaste Ryan for making the tragedy a "political circus."

Critical responses emerged on Twitter within minutes. Fox News analyst Monica Crowley tweeted,  "can't get much lower than the despicable [Cutter]." RNC Spokesman Tim Miller wrote that Cutter's comment belonged "in the annals of people believing their own BS." Meanwhile, journalist and author Jeremy Scahill lambasted "partisan cogs" in general:

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For weeks now, as Salon has noted, partisan spats have characterized the discourse in Washington over the embassy attack in which Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed.

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In her BBC blog, Malala wrote about not wearing her uniform to school after officials warned it might attract the Taliban's attention, and how many other students moved out of the valley after the Taliban issued an edict banning girls from school. She wrote about how the Taliban movement had kept her family from going out after sunset.

While chairing a children's assembly supported by UNICEF in the valley last year, the then-13-year-old championed a greater role for young people.

"Girl members play an active role," she said, according to an article on the U.N. organization's website. "We have highlighted important issues concerning children, especially promoting girls' education in Swat."

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The Guardian reports:

A court ruled on Monday that the payments must be made within a month by nine friends and backers who in 2010 pledged £140,000 to guarantee Assange would abide by bail conditions during a failed legal challenge to extradition proceedings brought by authorities in Sweden, where he faces allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Chief magistrate at Westminster magistrates court Howard Riddle said of the ruling that, "I accept that they trusted Mr Assange to surrender himself as required." He added, "I accept that they followed the proceedings and made necessary arrangements to remain in contact with him. However, they failed in their basic duty, to ensure his surrender."

h/t The Guardian

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Hedges:

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Some, from visitors to downtown business owners, wonder if the convention security is all a little too much.

"I think it's overwhelming," said Ellen Brown, the owner of a bookstore in downtown Tampa. "It seems oppressive to me."

"It's overdone," said Tom Neal, a guest of the Texas GOP delegation. "Once you go this far, you're only a step away from becoming a police state."

During a normal August, downtown Tampa is a bit sleepy. Workers shuffle from air-conditioned offices into the steamy outdoors, past palm trees that sag under the oppressive humidity and through the city's lush green parks.

But with the convention in town, the city looks somewhat like it's under siege. Helicopters fly almost constantly overhead and packs of police cruise by on bicycles. Fast boats whiz by the region's three bridges, looking for unseen threats. Tall chain-link fences shield the pretty parks along the Hillsborough River from view. The main library is closed.

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Global Times, a newspaper directly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, reported Wednesday that China was developing the capability to put multiple warheads on intercontinental ballistic missiles.

According to Larry M. Wortzel, who sits on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, China has been developing the capability to put up to 10 nuclear warheads on intercontinental ballistic missiles, though dummy warheads could be substituted for some of the nuclear warheads.

“The bigger implication of this is that, as they begin to field a force of missiles with multiple warheads, it means everything we assume about the size of their nuclear arsenal becomes wrong,” Wortzel said.

In addition, China has tested submarine-launched missiles within recent weeks, Wortzel said.

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The Washington Post reports that the study provides "another sign of the stubborn weakness of the economic recovery," adding that incomes have dropped more since the beginning of the recovery than they did during the recession itself, when they declined 2.6 percent. Median income is now 7.2 percent below its December 2007 level and 8.1 percent below where it stood in January 2000.

The Post spoke with Gary Burtless, a Brookings Institution economist, who said “the character of the recovery has been one that has benefited businesses more than it has workers."

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The lawsuit, filed in January, specifically targets a vague paragraph that identifies potential detainees as: "A person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces."

The government argued that the law had not granted any new powers to the military, the Village Voice reported. It had only reiterated what Congress had authorized shortly after 9/11.

Judge Katherine Forrest, who granted a temporary injunction against the disputed section earlier this year, did not seem convinced, according to the Voice. Even though Forrest ended the hearing by saying she had not made up her mind, the government has already appealed in a higher court.

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The Justice Department does not rule out charging executives. However, a government enforcer official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Times that in many cases it's too expensive and difficult to gather the evidence needed to prosecute high-positioned individuals.

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The defection might mark yet another turning point in the ongoing conflict, according to White House press secretary. During today's press briefing, Carney told reporters that there was no reason to doubt reports about the defection. "The momentum is with the opposition and with the Syrian people," he added. "It's clear that these defections are reaching the highest levels of the Syrian government and Assad cannot restore his control over the country because the Syrian people will not allow it.  The quickest way to end the bloodshed and suffering of the Syrian people is for Assad to step aside to enable a peaceful political transition to a government that is responsive to the aspirations of the Syrian people."

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The trouble started in February when five members of the collective performed an anti-Putin song inside a Moscow church – for just 30 seconds. Security guards quickly booted the women, and within two weeks, three of the women had been arrested, Gawker reported. Despite the judge’s denial of nearly all of the defense team’s objections, there is hope: This week Putin said that the women mustn’t be “judged ‘too harshly.'”

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