A view of Italy and the Adriatic from the space station. From National Geographic.
UP-FRONT SCIENCE NUGGET!!
Climate Scientists Plan Campaign Against Global Warming Skeptics from the Los Angeles Times
"The American Geophysical Union plans to announce that 700 researchers have agreed to speak out on the issue. Other scientists plan a pushback against congressional conservatives who have vowed to kill regulations on greenhouse gas emissions."
It is ABOUT TIME!! Serious climate scientists have largely absented themselves from the public arena for decades, ceding the space to global warming critics and hacks. It will take these folks years to make up the ground they've lost.
Obama's China Ambush (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"The President will skip China on his Asia tour, but his itinerary signals America's growing unease with the superpower's global clout. Peter Beinart on why Obama's cozying up to China's rivals this week—and how his policy is more hawkish than Bush's. "
Obama Backs India for Security Council Seat from the New York Times
"President Obama announced here on Monday that the United States will back India’s bid for a permanent seat on an expanded United Nations Security Council, a major policy shift that could aggravate China, which opposes such a move."
Obama Sends India a Signal of Partnership (George Condon) from National Journal
"Backing for Security Council spot is seen as affirming nation's emergence."
Long Overdue: Adding Permanent Members to the UN Security Council (Editorial) from the National Interest
"More significant, though, is that Obama’s endorsement sends a clear signal that the United States acknowledges India as not only a rapidly rising economic power, but a significant political and security player in the international system as well. The president’s comments also reduce concerns that the arms control crowd in his administration might roll back the improved relationship that had developed between the two countries during the Bush years."
How Obama Saved Capitalism and Lost the Midterms (Timothy Egan) from the New York Times
"If I were one of the big corporate donors who bankrolled the Republican tide that carried into office more than 50 new Republicans in the House, I would be wary of what you just bought. For no matter your view of President Obama, he effectively saved capitalism. And for that, he paid a terrible political price."
For Afghan Wives, a Desperate, Fiery Way Out from the New York Times
"Even the poorest families in Afghanistan have matches and cooking fuel. The combination usually sustains life. But it also can be the makings of a horrifying escape: from poverty, from forced marriages, from the abuse and despondency that can be the fate of Afghan women."s
Here Come the Jobs! The Case for Economic Optimism in 2011 (Derek Thompson) from the Atlantic
"If it's not easy to find evidence of a strong economic recovery next year, it's not impossible either. So I'm rounding up whispers, rumors and green shoots for a surprising economic bounce back and making a list you can use as a resource or a rebuttal to the doom and gloom."
Personally, I'm a convinced doom-and-gloomer at this point -- but I'm open to being wrong!
Health Care Reform Challenge Rejected by Supreme Court from the Associated Press via Huffington Post
"The Supreme Court has turned down the first preliminary challenge to President Barack Obama's health care overhaul….Of more significance is the sign that all the justices took part in rejecting the appeal."
Hispanic Vote a 2012 Wild Card from Politico
"Hispanic voters saved the Democratic Party Tuesday — buoying Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, keeping California blue, playing an outsize role in preserving the party’s Senate majority and demonstrating a partisan loyalty Democrats didn’t exactly earn in two years of inaction on immigration policy. But that support is anything but certain for 2012, and both parties face difficult and immediate choices when it comes to the Latino vote as they
position themselves for the presidential election."
Obama's Populism Problem (Christopher Orr) from the Atlantic
"resident Obama is a black man--and, as such, has unique cause to be wary of the adjective "angry." Even when Obama has been at his cucumber-coolest--and has earned abuse from the left and center for it--figures on the right have aggressively tried to hang the "angry black man" label on him. "
I agree with the general idea here. Obama can't do Huey Long or William Jennings Bryan -- because in the eyes and ears of many whites he wouldn't come off as Long or Bryan -- but simply as a 1960s radical "angry black guy". Black populism is simply to threatening to many working-class whites.
The Unready Republicans (Ross Douthat) from New York Times
"Instead, they tend to fall back on the reassuring story they’ve been spinning for the last two years, in which they lost to the Democrats only because they failed to hold the line on spending. It’s a narrative that flatters conservative self-regard, while absolving Republicans of the obligation to think too deeply about policy."
The Tea Party: Old Whine in New Bottles (Gary Younge) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"This incoherent group has no leaders, no policies, no headquarters. It is held together by Fox TV and big money."
JFK NUGGET!!
JFK's Election: On 50th Anniversary, Never-Seen Photos Emerge from the Atlantic
"While his 1,000 days in office are well-documented, Life magazine has just released never-before-published photos that cover the campaign of 1960."
BOOK REVIEW NUGGET!!
George Bush's Unmemorable Memoir (Jacob Heilbrunn) from the National Interest
"George W. Bush's book is an inadvertent reminder that you needn't be an interesting leader to be a terrible one."
OUCH!!
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