by Carrie Tian, policy intern

• President Obama named Keith Harper, who netted record donations from Native American tribes for the 2012 campaign, the new U.S. representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council. (Washington Post)
• Continuing the trend of top Obama staffers leaving for lucrative new careers: the former White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, and assistant White House press secretary, Ben LaBolt, have started a new communications company under New Partners Consulting, the Democratic consulting shop. (Huffington Post)
• Though state judicial races used to be relatively low-key, they are increasingly influenced by political ads – many of them paid for by national political groups located outside of the state. (Public Integrity) 
• Sick of news like this? You might be sympathetic to a provocative new ad to take money out of politics. Fair warning: NSFW – or indeed, your eyes. (Roll Call)
• A Florida television station uncovered the intersection of money, technology, policy, and safety in traffic lights, of all things. The Florida Department of Transportation shortened the length of yellow lights, collecting more in traffic fines, but also increasing the likelihood of dangerous accidents. (TechPresident)

TODAY:

• ‘The Democratic Disconnect: Western Democracy in Crisis at Home, Implications Abroad’. Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Room 500 – The Bernstein-Offit Building.