Syrian Army Unable to Stop Flood of Deserters from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"The Syrian regime's troops are still able to attack insurgents almost anywhere and at any time, but they can no longer control the whole country, as the number of army defectors continues to grow. But the rebels dread the next stage of the conflict, when they expect President Assad to order his air force to attack."
A Step Forward in Iranian Nuclear Talks (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"“They backed down,” a European diplomat who is involved in the talks told me Monday. “They had been setting up a failure in Moscow and preparing to blame us for it,” he said, arguing that the renewed agreement to engage, after several weeks of foot-dragging, was “a small diplomatic victory” for Ashton."
What Flame’s Connection To Stuxnet Really Means from Talking Points Memo
"In both the case of Stuxnet and Flame, the code in common was used to install and propagate the malware onto computers from an infected USB stick by causing the victim’s computer to “autorun” the malware once the stick had been inserted. The implications of the finding are still being sorted out by Kaspersky and other security firms analyzing Flame’s source code, but they could be enormous..."
Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran (David Sanger) from the New York Times
"From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program."
A VERY interesting story from earlier this month.
Europe Unprepared as Euro Crisis Deepens (Stefan Kaiser) from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"The weekend announcement that Spanish banks would be bailed out briefly drove up markets around the world. But optimism was short lived. The euro crisis is rapidly intensifying and Europe is not prepared."
How Not to Solve a Crisis (Joe Nocera) from the New York Times
"The American and European responses to their respective financial crises are studies in contrast. The Bush administration and the Federal Reserve took an “all-hands-on-deck” approach: not just saving A.I.G. and recapitalizing the banks, but buying billions of dollars worth of subprime mortgages that were poisoning the banking system, and guaranteeing virtually all bank debt. Say what you will about the moral hazard that comes with bailing out too-big-to-fail banks, the strategy worked. ... Throughout the euro crisis, the response of Europe’s political leaders has been tepid, reluctant and unconvincing."
Family Net Worth Plummets Nearly 40% from CNN
"The average American family's net worth dropped almost 40% between 2007 and 2010, according to a triennial study released Monday by the Federal Reserve. The stunning drop in median net worth -- from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010 -- indicates that the recession wiped away 18 years of savings and investment by families."
Dems Grapple with Endgame in Bush Tax Cut Fight (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"...a few progressive Dems seem to be quietly floating another scenario entirely: letting all the tax cuts expire, coming back and voting on recutting middle class tax rates, and challenging Republicans to vote against the Dem-proposed tax cuts. Remember: If Democrats do nothing, all of the Bush tax cuts will expire. And Dems recognize that their leverage turns heavily on whether they appear willing to let them all expire."
Are Gay Parents Worse Than Straight Parents? (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
"This deeply flawed study simply shows we do not know the impact of more stable, committed civil marriages for gays on the social and personal outcomes for their kids. The only way to figure that out definitively is to try it in the real world."
Win-Win Strategy: A Foolproof Plan for Obama (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"The country faces a series of crises. Fortunately there’s a way for Obama to make the GOP choose between doing something to help—and looking like losers."
Don't Be Surprised Bain Attacks Are Working (Matt Taylor) from Slate
"Obama's re-election team apparently did the polling and testing -- and saw how Ted Kennedy's brutal, relentless campaign against Romney in 1994 worked so well -- and decided the attacks were just too promising to pass up."
Not Jeb Bush’s GOP (John Dickerson) from Slate
"Does the Republican hero and former Florida governor have a place in his own party?"
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