The foot and claws of an American Alligator. What an amazing image!! From National Geographic."This has been a strange and unsettling year for Chinese geopolitical strategists. Like French generals, they seem intent on fighting the last war, even as new challenges appear on their doorstep. ... Developments in Taiwan, Myanmar, and, of all places, Zambia, send important signals - and they are not merely warning signs of aggressive US rollback under the Obama administration. In each of these countries, China has labored to deliver the economic goods. But in each country, the political system is poised to administer a rebuke."
WikiLeaks Cable Hints At Motive For Alleged Iran Plot (Mike Shuster) from NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday
"The answer may lie in the WikiLeaks documents, says Jonathan Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "It is conceivable to me that somebody saw some of the comments that the ambassador made in WikiLeaks about Iran that he attributed to the king and said the way to do this is we could punish the ambassador," he says."
Democrats Losing Patience with Obama Over Foreclosures from the McClatchy News Service
"Unhappy California lawmakers on Wednesday escalated pressure on the Obama administration to aggressively aid the state's distressed homeowners."
There are no modest solutions that will make any difference here. The only initiatives that could seriously impact foreclosures are pretty drastic (e.g. large across-the-board reductions in base mortgages for those that are underwater)!
The 1930s Sure Sound Familiar (Joe Nocera) from the New York Times
"Not long ago, someone suggested that I read “Since Yesterday,” a book by Frederick Lewis Allen, a popular historian of the 1930s and 1940s. Published in 1940, it turned out to be a shrewd, concise, wonderfully written account of America in the ’30s. It also turned out to be something else: a reminder of why history matters."
Protesters Plan to 'Occupy' London Stock Exchange from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Protest spreads from Wall Street with demonstrations planned in London and other cities worldwide. How the Occupy movement is spreading via social media."
Reuters also has a story on how OWS is going global.
Chinese Draw Lessons from ’Occupy Wall Street’ (Adam Minter) from the Bloomberg News Service
"In the past week, the credit crisis deepened. ... To many in the Chinese public, this event symbolized a systemic government failure and a major shortcoming in Chinese society. It inspired China's microbloggers to stop tweeting about movies, pop stars and online games and express their strong populist reaction to the ever-increasing bailout of corrupt companies. At times, Chinese microbloggers' reactions echoed populist U.S. reaction to the Wall Street bailouts."
Occupy Wall Street’s ‘Political Disobedience’ (Bernard Harcourt) from the New York Times
"The Wall Street protests represent a refusal to engage the worn-out ideologies rooted in the Cold War."
Obama Plans to Turn Anti-Wall Street Anger on Mitt Romney, Republicans (Peter Wallsten) from the Washington Post
"President Obama and his team have decided to turn public anger at Wall Street into a central tenet of their reelection strategy. The move comes as the Occupy Wall Street protests gain momentum across the country and as polls show deep public distrust of the nation’s major financial institutions. And it sets up what strategists see as a potent line of attack against Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, a former investment executive whom Obama aides plan to portray as a wealthy Wall Street sympathizer."
Health Care’s Brave New World of Compulsory Wellness (Ezra Klein) from the Bloomberg News Service
"With 40,000 employees, the clinic is the second-largest employer in Ohio. Like most employers, it struggles to contain health-care costs. But according to Michael Roizen, the clinic’s director of wellness, over the past seven years a series of reforms instituted by the clinic’s chief executive officer, Delos Cosgrove, slowed and then arrested the growth in employee health-care costs at the clinic."
Gas Boom Aids Pennsylvania, but Some Worry Over the Risk from the New York Times
"Other residents also began taking advantage of the “gas rush.” Some supplied the companies with machine parts; others laid pipe. One entrepreneurial couple opened a food wagon where they also sell alpaca socks to drillers from Louisiana and Texas who were unprepared for the cold. The gas boom is transforming small towns like this one (population 4,400 and growing) and revitalizing the economy of this once-forgotten stretch of rural northeastern Pennsylvania."
Lesson of Perry's Candidacy: Think Before You Run (Byron York) from the Washington Examiner
"The Rick Perry who has taken the stage in four Republican debates so far is a man who, for all his governing success in Texas, appears not to have thought enough about why he wants to be president of the United States and what he would do if he achieved his goal. When critics gently say that Perry's presentations have been "light on details," they're really saying Perry doesn't seem to have thought things through."
The Frustrated Cain Vote (Douglas Schoen) from the Daily Beast
"No mistake, Herman Cain is now the GOP presidential front-runner. But while the Cain phenomenon reflects an unpredictable political season, it’s also a sign of widespread U.S discontent."
TINTIN MOVIE NUGGET!!
The first reviews are in ... from Belgium! Looking good!
Tintin-nabulations (Richard Brody) from the New Yorker
"We emerged from the theatre with our eyes sparkling like a crystal ball…. Spielberg succeeds, hands down, in making a great popular adventure film, in the best sense of the term…. The enthusiasm and the spirit of childhood, indissociable from Spielberg’s cinema, are unreservedly infectious."
PLAGUE NUGGET!!
The End of the World: A Review of The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly (Joan Acocella) from the New Yorker
OBAMA "ON A LIGHTER NOTE" NUGGET!!
Statuesque Michelle Shines Despite the Showers at White House Dinner for South Korean President from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
The photos are really interesting!
"Hemlines were soaked and raindrops spattered tuxedos, but not even a thunderous downpour could dampen the excitement of guests at one of Washington's most exclusive social events. President Barack Obama last night hosted a state dinner for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at the White House."
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