TARP Repayments Surpass Loans from the Wall Street Journal
"The Treasury Department on Friday said the money repaid to taxpayers for government funds used to bail out U.S. companies has for the first time surpassed the amount of loans."
This should be a HUGE story. My bet: it will get almost no coverage -- it does damage to too many pre-existing media narratives.
Brazil's Self-Defeating 'Exotic and Immature' Iran Diplomacy (Editorial) from Folha [of Brazil in English]
"How to explain our alignment with Tehran when contrasted with our vital and traditional political and economic allies such as the U.S., Germany, the U.K., France, and the Arab countries (who are just as frightened of an Iranian bomb as Israel)? What do we gain by defending such an oppressive regime that has so many enemies?"
A Year After Election, Iran's Rifts Have Hardened from the New York Times
"The veneer of calm masks what many here call the “fire under the ash,” a low-grade burn of cynicism and distrust. The major demonstrations and protests are gone, but the hard feelings remain, coursing through the routine of daily life..."
Proposed Sanctions on Iran are Significant, if Imperfect (Gerald Seib) from the Wall Street Journal
"The announcement this week that the U.S. and the other permanent powers on the U.N. Security Council have agreed on a proposed new set of sanctions on Iran represents a significant moment in the tangled, long-running drama over Iran's nuclear program."
Don't Expect Obama to be Superman (Op-Ed) from the Washington Post
"Americans like to read politics and history as a tale of the Great Man -- they are eager subscribers to the Hercules myth of how the world works. Obama in particular plays to this seductive but fanciful notion. In electing him president in 2008, Americans seemed to think that "yes, we can" would become, almost overnight, "and so we have done...""
Spreading Thoughts of Freedom Among North Koreans (Michael Gerson) from the Washington Post
"How does a mind -- born into comprehensive tyranny, conditioned for loyalty, fed on lies -- eventually change? What shifts or clicks or breaks? ... What might spark a revolution in North Korea."
Unity Through Soccer? Not in the Middle East... from Foreign Policy Magazine
"It should have been a moment for the Arab world to cherish. Yet when Algeria qualified at the expense of Egypt,the Desert Foxes' passage to arguably the greatest sporting event on the planet was littered with broken glass, fire and political recriminations across three continents. It was, in its own way, a fitting epitaph to the Middle East's attempts to qualify for the World Cup, providing an uncanny analysis of the region."
Politics of Spill Passes Obama by in Florida (Edward Luce) from the Financial Times [of London]
"If, as the pundits maintain, Barack Obama is turning into the main political casualty of the oil spill, then somebody forgot to tell the people of Pensacola. Residents of the Florida tourist town, which is the part of the sunshine state that is most vulnerable to the oil slick wreaking such damage in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, blame BPunanimously – and so far, it seems, exclusively – for their growing plight."
In Jail for Being in Debt from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune
"You committed no crime, but an officer is knocking on your door. More Minnesotans are surprised to find themselves being locked up over debts."
Stunning. I will have to say -- in the last year or so, with the big bailouts, the treatment of the auto companies and now BP, I've never seen such blatant evidence of class warfare in the US in my lifetime. I am not a populist, anti-Wall Street ranter, but when you see AIG get a gov't bailout while these people in MN get the slammer (even for just a couple of days) for basically the same thing (being financially over extended), you see clearly who's really writing the laws and who they are enforced for. Sad.
On Cable TV and Talk Radio, A Push Toward Polarization (Michael Smerconish) from the Washington Post
"Any conversation about political polarization would be incomplete without a look at the media's role in shaping opinions. From my view on the front lines, I have seen a rapid escalation of extreme dialogue -- sadly, something sure to guarantee high ratings. ... I'd argue that the climate in Washington is being shaped by an artificial presentation of attitudes on cable TV and talk radio."
Decision Time for Obama, Dems, and GOP (Robert Shrum) from The Week
"The GOP must decide whether to follow the Tea Party over a cliff. Dems must decide whether to distance themselves from Obama. And the president must prove once again that he can tip events in his favor."
'Tea Party' Candidates Hurt by Lack of Organization in Movement (Amy Gardner) from the Washington Post
"Tuesday's primary results provided fresh evidence of the amorphous network's struggle to convert activist anger and energy into winning results. Frustrated and lacking agreement on what to do next, self-identified tea party leaders say the movement may be in danger of breaking apart before it ever really comes together."
Gee, I'm so surprised!!
ANCIENT EGYPT NUGGET!!
Underwater Ruins Give Glimpse of Cleopatra from ABC News
More on this fabulous find in the harbor of Alexandria.
"Deep beneath the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt's ancient capital Alexandria lies a wealth of archaeological artifacts. It's a treasure trove of 20,000 objects and counting, thousands of years old providing archaeologists the key to unlocking the mystery of ancient Egypt and its rulers."
AUTHOR NUGGET!!
The Meteoric Rise, and Decline, of a Talented Young Writer: A Review of 'Pearl Buck in China' from the Sunday New York Times Book Review
"Chinese intellectuals never embraced “The Good Earth,” resentful perhaps that an American was exploring aspects of Chinese life they’d neglected. American literary types didn’t warm to Buck, either."
BOOK NUGGET!!
Sex Symbols Squared: A Review of Books by Raquel Welch and Pam Grier from the New York Times [in May]
"Welch is blatant about it, coming down hard and loud in favor of restraint and respect rather than licentiousness. Grier is less obvious, dishing in moderately graphic detail about her relationships with men like Richard Pryor and Freddie Prinze but painting herself as the moral rock in the immoral seas such people lived in."
No comments:
Post a Comment