Facebook's team of mad data scientists caught flak this summer for experimenting on their users' emotions. But the company has a proud history of turning people into unwitting research subjects. For at least six years, the social network has been mining the political preferences of its users without their consent. The company will pull personal political data for the 2016 election as well, but this time Facebook will share its findings.

Silicon Valley's leaders usually do a good job finding things to agree on (regulations: bad; disruption: good; workplace diversity: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). But when it comes to campaign finance reform, the tech industry can't make up its damn mind. While Bay Area billionaires are financing super PACs focused on getting money out of politics, they're simultaneously spending millions on their favorite candidates and parties.

For much of Ed Lee's first term as Mayor of San Francisco, he enjoyed both the popular support of the public and the financial backing of tech tycoons. Last March, a stunning 65 percent of local voters approved of Lee's handling of the job. Then the Google Bus protests happened, the cost of living kept rising, and evictions hit crisis levels. Within 13 months, Lee's approval rating sunk by 20 points.

In recent months, companies like Facebook, Google, and Yahoo have dialed back their most egregious political donations, pulling support from climate change-denying groups like ALEC and the Chamber of Commerce. But tech firms continue funneling money into right-wing campaigns, and the Silicon Valley liberals who financed them are pissed.

Airbnb just cleared an important hurdle towards becoming legal in San Francisco. The city's Planning Commission approved legislation that allows tenants to rent apartments for 90 days per year. Airbnb wanted more, but called the vote "an important step forward."

San Francisco's politicians have been working hard to make nice with Airbnb. They even let Airbnb's lobbyists make the city's "home sharing" regulations more liberal, allowing homeowners to host with Airbnb without obtaining an expensive bed and breakfast permit. But now that the proposed rules have been amended by the city's Planning Department, the company is staging protests against them.

Tim Draper, legendary venture capitalist, has a plan to cement Silicon Valley's status as the most-hated locale in America: make it its own state. It sounds crazy, because it is—but the insane campaign's supporters say it's actually headed to ballots.

The person on Oakland mayoral candidate and former tech exec Bryan Parker's staff who granted this interview made a very serious mistake. No one—you'd hope—is going to vote for a man who thinks the cure for American poverty is Bitcoin.

An app that lets you send disappearing pictures and videos now has an at least very slight influence in our American democratic process, The Hill reports.

President Barack Obama just wrapped up a meeting with some of Silicon Valley's brassiest brass. Marissa and Sheryl got very good seats. [Photo: Getty]

After months of chanting We could have done sooo-oo much better, TIME reports America's tech sector will have a chance to school President Obama on Healthcare.gov and NSA surveillance. But he probably should have reconsidered some of these choices.

Silicon Valley's anti-government fervor hasn't spread to the main-est of the mainstream so far: no calls for secession from Zuck or Dorsey. But that doesn't mean big tech money isn't reaching radical elements. The Washington Post reports that Google's given money to the people grinding federal politics to a halt.

Where does a man like Ted Cruz get the confidence to IRL troll the United States Senate for 21 hours? Knowing that PayPal billionaire and Silicon Valley kingpin Peter Thiel has his back surely helps.

The Facebook Alumni Association's top (or at least certainly most attractive) power couple now has a YouTube video to lean on, showing, in vibrant detail, how the couple will buy its way into the political favor of the Hudson Valley. Watch as local business owners thank Eldridge for giving them money—this is very Transparency 4.0.

Zuck has dined with Barack Obama, and now his political arm in Washington is pushing for a man who very recently tried to end Obama's presidency. Politico reports FWD.us, the Silicon Valley lobbying cabal, is dropping $350,000 on pro-Ryan ads.

You know the story: Mark Zuckerberg and his (largely liberal) friends want to hire more foreign engineers, so they're pushing for an immigration bill that needs strong conservative support. They've had to play dirty—and their latest TV ad is maybe the silliest sellout yet.

When last we saw Stanley Druckenmiller, he was predicting the next financial implosion. But the Wall Street winner and GOP-supporter must think America will be around for at least another couple years, because he's joining the FWD.us party.

While original Facebook employee Chris Hughes is busy trying to restart The New Republic, his equally cherubic husband Sean Eldridge has a project of his own: let's get elected to Congress in a place we aren't from.

We know FWD.us has been working both sides of the aisle with covert TV ads, but the social network's corporate PAC is also pushing its immigration agenda with a more traditional ploy: cash handouts. Here's who's on the take, and for how much:

Just in regarding that fat immigration reform bill: a preliminary vote in the Senate shows "15 Republicans backing the measure and no Democrats opposing it," a sign of "growing momentum" in DC, says the WSJ. Zuck (and friends), looks like you did it.