The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers from Foreign Policy Magazine
"#3: Barack Obama: … To Obama has fallen a tough task: the hard work that accompanies the building of a new order to succeed America's unchallenged rule as the lone post-Cold War superpower. But luckily for the world it is a task Obama embraces, if still hesitantly at times."
The Global Thinkers Book Club from Foreign Policy Magazine
"What the smart set is reading -- from definitive guides to the global economic crash to the most unexpected new maps of the human psyche. And no surprise: They're all reading each other."
Diplomacy in Action: What the WikiLeaks Documents Tell Us about the Practice of Foreign Policy (Fred Kaplan) from Slate
"Mainly they illustrate principles about the "great game" of power politics dating back to Thucydides—that nations behave according to their material interests and that a big part of diplomacy lies in appealing to, threatening, or manipulating those interests. And they show that, within the narrowing realm in which the United States (or any country) can influence others in the post-Cold War world, the Obama administration has been playing the game fairly well."
A Glimpse into the Dark from the Economist [of London]
"They suggest that among the younger generation of Chinese officials there is a growing desire to relinquish support for North Korea. One official apparently stated that all of Korea “should be unified under ROK [South Korean] control”."
Hitting the North: North Korea's Four Unique Points of Vulnerability from the Los Angeles Times
"The response by Seoul and Washington this time should be to impose a palpable penalty on Pyongyang. North Korea, by its own choice, is unique in the world. "
The Enemy of My Frenemy … (Owen Matthews) from Newsweek
"What the WikiLeaks cables reveal about the possibility of a regional war with Iran and the surprising ways the U.S. and Russia are collaborating to contain that threat."
What We Know About the Sabotage of Iran's Nuclear Program from the Atlantic
"Today was a very bad day for Iran's illicit nuclear program."
Ahmadinejad: Iran's Nuclear Program Hit by Sabotage from the Washington Post
"Iran's uranium-enrichment program has been the target of sabotage, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday, but he refused to say whether the Stuxnet computer virus had been responsible for the problems."
Everyone already knows. See, for example:
Iran: Computer Malware Sabotaged Uranium Centrifuges from Wired Magazine
"In what appears to be the first confirmation that the Stuxnet malware hit Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday that malicious computer code launched by “enemies” of the state had sabotaged centrifuges used in Iran’s nuclear-enrichment program."
Ah! But then there's this:
Iran: West behind Scientist's Death from Al Jazeera
"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has accused Israel and Western governments of being behind the killing of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist."
Jared's prediction: these Iranian nuclear scientists who are being assassinated are being killed by the order of the Iranian government itself. Why? Because these scientists have been working for western intelligence for some time. Ahmadinejad gets a twofer here -- he wipes out a deeply imbedded spy -- and get's to whip up domestic support for his regime by blaming the US and Israel. You can bet that he and the Iranian secret police are looking feverishly to track down how their nuke program got sabotaged by stuxnet and other "techno-flies" in their nuclear ointment.
Some more detail is HERE from PBS's Frontline. Also, a supporting piece of evidence can be found HERE from the Christian Science Monitor from January of 2010: Killing of Iran Nuclear Scientist: Charges Fly Over Who's Responsible
Tea Party Complications (Michael Gerson) from the Washington Post
"That the movement views compromise as a problem is a problem."
Like ... WHO did not see this coming!? To tweak Mr. Gerson, I am surprised that anyone is surprised! It says something about our political class and their acceptance that people campaigning for political office will say anything to get in ... and then actually completely do something else -- as if somehow that is good governance! It explains in part why voters pay less and less attention to the MSM.
The Next Kennedy (Aaron Blake) from the Washington Post
"When retiring Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy exits the House next month, it will be the first time in 64 years that no member of the Democratic party's first family will be serving in Washington.
How long the drought will last is already the subject of much debate, with the 2012 election already looking ripe for the next Kennedy to step forward."
WHALING NUGGET!!
'Fastest and Strongest' Anti-whaling Ship Yet Launched to Disrupt Japanese Vessels at Sea from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"The new state-of-the-art interceptor vessel has taken to the sea with a promise that it has the potential to stop the Japanese in their tracks. The director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Jeff Hansen, hailed the $4m (£2.57m) craft today and promised it wouldn't suffer the same fate as its predecessor, which lost its bow in a confrontation with whalers."
Are we BAD or what!!? More seriously though, Watson and the Sea Shepherd folks need to watch it -- because if I remember correctly the Japanese vessel that ran over last season's version of this boat GOT OFF! They were not penalized for what they did. What's to stop them them from even more deliberately running over this new one? It will be interesting to see how they fair this year.
TIGER NUGGET!!
These Pussycats are NOT Afraid of Water from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"The trio of unusual underwater playmates fight each other underwater as they chase after a chunk of meat at the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Zoo, near San Francisco."
TRANSFORMATIONAL PROGRAM NUGGET!!
You’re O.K., but I’m Not. Let’s Share from the New York Times
"Though Landmark is viewed by some as an incubator for overly assertive or blissed-out automatons who bear a strange predilection for the phrase “got it,” the eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, the Boston Philharmonic conductor Benjamin Zander and Paul Fireman, the former Reebok chief executive, are all Landmark graduates, as are employees of Exxon Mobil, JPMorgan Chase, NASA and the Pentagon, who have been coached by the company’s consulting firm, the Vanto Group."
See also THIS ITEM from Business Week.
HIGHER ED NUGGET!!
French Professors Find Life in U.S. Hard to Resist from the New York Times
"Academics are increasingly leaving France for the United States, which carries the risk of a “brain drain” in France, according to a report this month by an independent study group."
No comments:
Post a Comment