Iran, Hobbled by Sanctions, Finds Few Buyers for Oil (Joby Warrick and Steven Mufson) from the Washington Post
"Facing a growing boycott of its petroleum, Iran’s oil tankers ply the ocean in search of ports and customers but many times find no place to go, U.S. officials say."
Why Philippines Stands Up to China (James R. Holmes) from The Diplomat
"The Philippines is hopelessly mismatched against China in pure military terms. But there are historical reasons why it won't back down in the South China Sea."
China Growth Seen at 13-Year Low by Pimco from the Bloomberg News Service
"China’s slowdown may deepen as policy makers unwind the excesses of a record credit boom while gradually stepping up stimulus, leaving 2012 growth at the weakest in 13 years, Pacific Investment Management Co. says. “The economy is unlikely to bottom until the third quarter,” Ramin Toloui, Pimco’s global co-head of emerging markets portfolio management in Singapore, said in e-mailed comments yesterday. "
Saving the Lives of Moms (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times
"On Mother’s Day, let’s celebrate a fistula hospital that you readers helped build, and the many African women whose lives it will surely save."
Moscow Looking More Like Cairo (Victor Davidoff) from the Moscow Times [in English]
"Sometimes development seems to freeze for many years and almost comes to a standstill, only to suddenly surge ahead at a gallop. Events during the first weeks of May were a striking illustration of this. The trigger was the opposition demonstration on May 6, which was planned to be peaceful but unexpectedly turned violent. This was the first time in the post-Soviet period that violence erupted so close to the Kremlin and the first time there was so much bloodshed."
Obama’s Embrace of Gay Marriage Makes for a Spiritual Mother’s Day (Lisa Miller) from the Washington Post
"This Mother’s Day, Obama’s declaration gives gay and lesbian couples, as well as interracial couples, infertile couples and single parents — as well as every mother who fears she’s not doing it right — a reason to rejoice."
Former News of the World Reporter Claims Journalists Made Up Stories from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Sunday tabloid was driven by culture of fear and unethical practices were rife, BBC told."
Journey for Racial Justice is Not Over (Eli Hager) from the Washington Post
"In our national conversation about race and other forms of inequality, presidential candidates and the media have fostered a consensus that the civil rights movement is finished. ... I teach eighth grade in the Mississippi Delta — 20 minutes from the town where Emmett Till was murdered and an hour from where James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were murdered a decade later — and I disagree. In fact, my students attend schools that are still fundamentally separate and unequal."
I’m Not Quitting the Church (E.J. Dionne) from the Washington Post
"I’d like the FFRF to learn more about the good Pope John, but I wish our current bishops would think more about him, too. I wonder if the bishops realize how some in their ranks have strengthened the hands of the church’s adversaries (and disheartened many of the faithful) with public statements — including that odious comparison of President Obama to Hitler by a Peoria prelate last month — that threaten to shrink the church into a narrow, conservative sect."
On Barack Obama: The First Gay President (andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
"The president’s bold support shifted the mainstream. Andrew Sullivan on why it shouldn't be surprising—Obama’s life as a biracial man has deep ties to the gay experience."
Evangelicals Unhappy With GOP’s Gay Marriage Strategy from Talking Points Memo
"Evangelicals and social conservatives are urging Republicans to make the fight against same-sex marriage an election-year priority and go after President Obama over his new-found support for the cause. So far, the GOP establishment is resisting."
Right Wants More from John Boehner from Politico
"The cautious approach that top Republicans have taken on whether to vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress has sparked a new round of hand-wringing over the party’s direction on Capitol Hill. Specifically, conservatives want bolder, more aggressive leadership from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the rest of GOP high command — on Holder and the broader Republican agenda heading into November."
How the ‘War on Women’ Quashed Feminist Stereotypes (Rebecca Traister) from the Washington Post
"What does a feminist look like? The stereotype promoted by conservatives is dead."
Is There a Romney Doctrine? (David Sanger) from the New York Times
"Dozens of subtle position papers flow through Mitt Romney’s policy shop, but they seem to have little influence on his hawkish-sounding pronouncements."
Memo to Mitt: Time to Fess Up on Bullying (John Cassidy) from the New Yorker
"Day two of the great Mitt Scissorhands scandal, and the campaign hack pack remains consumed. In my occasional role as an unpaid provider of unsolicited advice to both Presidential candidates, here is an urgent action memo addressed to the Barber of Cranbrook."
Too late. The Romney brain trust has already locked their candidate into an untenable situation where the only way out will simply reinforce some other bad Romney narrative.
Newest Kennedy on Stump May Renew Family’s Franchise (Albert R. Hunt) from the Bloomberg News Service
"A candidate for a Massachusetts seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is Joseph P. Kennedy III, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy and a grandnephew of the president and the senator. He’s running in a congressional district now largely represented by Democratic Representative Barney Frank, who’s retiring. It’s not just the name; veteran politicians and Kennedy- watchers say the 31-year-old is the real deal. He draws comparisons to the young Jack Kennedy, and especially to Ted Kennedy in his first race for the Senate in 1962."
ARCHITECTURE NUGGET!!
Architect Frank Gehry’s Eisenhower Memorial Design: The Plan and What Went Wrong from the Washington Post
"More than a decade after the commission had been formed to create a memorial to the 34th president of the United States and the man who led Allied troops to victory in Europe in World War II, the Eisenhower Memorial was suddenly in the news, attacked from all sides, including by the grandchildren of the man it was meant to honor."
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