Commentary on politics intruding on the health of women, bring pig to power, numbers that hide shame, the word game, Euro-elites, risky European banks, and a Canadian income challenge.

In the ‘fiction matters more than science’ category America still can’t accept birth control.

New Yorker – Obama’s Science Fictions
Nearly three years ago, Barack Obama vowed in his Inaugural Address to “return science to its rightful place” at the heart of a country that had suffered through eight years of the Bush Administration’s blatant opposition to the primacy of data and the idea of progress.

The other pig in Russian politics.

New York Times -- A United Russia? Far From It
A FEW months before this week’s parliamentary elections, around 10 of us gathered in a small room at the Andrei Sakharov Museum and Public Center, a place meant to honor freedom of thought, a place that no one visits.

The numbers game can't hide Canada's shame. Thanks to Simon of Victoria.

Huffington Post -- Attawapiskat: You Want to Be Shown the Money? Here it Is

Reading the news coverage on Attawapiskat doesn't feel very healthy sometimes.

How the republicans have mastered the communication game.

Bloomberg -- Gingrich Uses Fog of Words to Cloud Our Memory: Jonathan Alter

Newt Gingrich is back in contention for the Republican presidential nomination partly because he understands the power of words, the pervasiveness of amnesia, and the dark art of making them work together.

The danger of Euro Zone Elites. Thanks to David of London.

The arrogance of eurozone elites could kill the European Union
Disaster in the eurozone will lead to a democratic crisis unless EU reforms have popular consent.

German banks on the run.

Spiegel -- Berlin May Have to Nationalize Giant Commerzbank
Europe's banks urgently need fresh capital to meet tougher EU rules, but they will have problems raising it amid the current crisis of confidence plaguing the euro zone.

Canadian income inequality, causes and dangers.

Globe and Mail -- Income inequality: deep, complex and growing
Good for the NDP leadership candidates for talking about income inequality in Canada.