Happy new year, everyone. Let’s take a look at what’s going on around the nation:

• New York: Two protestors were arrested in Grand Central Station during a demonstration against the NDAA. The video is available on YouTube here.
• Los Angeles: Protestors arrested for expressing their right to free speech are now being allowed to avoid court if they… take “classes” on free speech. If this doesn’t make your blood boil, you may want to check your pulse.
• Iowa: Matt Taibbi, he of the “vampire squid sucking on the face of America” fame, has a new article out about the recent Iowa primaries. Taibbi blasts both the 2012 primaries and the presidential race as a “limp” farce. The money quote: “[T]he ugly reality [...] is that the candidate who raises the most money wins an astonishing 94% of the time in America.” All emphasis Taibbi’s.
• On that note, in New Hampshire, Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney got a rather chilly response from his home state. Huffington Post notes that, “[T]hree of the first four questioners were openly hostile to Romney, although one of them was an Occupy Manchester activist. And even the endorsement and appearance of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) failed to arouse much of a reaction from the Granite Staters in attendance.” (Not really sure what “although one of them was an Occupy Manchester activist” was supposed to quantify there. I guess it’s supposed to explain away the hostility as an outlier? Very poor wording. —ed.)
• And finally, in New York again, city council members, state senators, the New York City Civil Liberties Group, and a host of others are planning a rally for NYPD accountability. The rally is take place Jan. 7th at Grand Army Plaza, 1:00 PM. (That’s today, folks! Spread the word! —ed.)