America’s Secret Wars (AUDIO) (Jacki Lyden) from NPR's On Point program
"A look at the Obama administration’s top secret battlefields — from the tribal areas of Pakistan to cyberspace."
An excellent overview of Obama's approach to national security with a very good long interview with David Sanger of the New York Times.
The new Obama Doctrine: A Six-Point Plan for Global War (Nick Turse) from Salon
"Special ops, drones, spy games, civilian soldiers, proxy fighters and cyber warfare."
Italy Struggles to Break Out of Downward Spiral (Hans-Jürgen Schlamp) from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"After Spain, the focus of the euro crisis has now shifted to Italy, which is struggling with a shrinking economy and rising bond yields. Prime Minister Mario Monti has denied that his country will ask for an EU bailout, but optimism about Italy's future is in short supply."
Why the U.S. Is Not Greece (Froma Harrop) from Real Clear Politics
"America is not going the way of Greece, and North Dakota has shown us why. Residents were given the opportunity Tuesday to vote their property taxes out of existence, and they chose not to take it."
THREE REACTIONS TO OBAMA'S ECONOMIC SPEECH!!
(1) Live-Blogging Obama's Cleveland Speech (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
"My bottom line? A home run. Simply constructed, carefully reframed, aggressive while positive: the Obamaites have been listening to critics and are responding. If this is his message, and if he is able to keep articulating it this clearly, he will win. "
(2) Obama to America: Romney’s Got Nothin’ (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"Crucially, he said the main obstacle to progress on the deficit and on jobs legislation is GOP opposition to raising taxes on the wealthy. “It’s the biggest source of gridlock in Washington today — and the only thing that can break the stalemate is you.”"
(3) Obama: Romney’s Policies are the Incumbent (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"Romney’s line follows the conventional wisdom that elections are a referendum on the incumbent. Obama’s speech was an effort to subvert that dynamic: to argue that while Mitt Romney might be the challenger, Republican policies -- or at least their aftermath -- are, in a way, the incumbent."
The Last Tower: The Decline and Fall of Public Housing (Ben Austen) from Harpers Magazine
"Today, what seems harder to fathom than the erasure of entire high-rise neighborhoods is that they were ever erected in the first place. For years the projects had stood as monuments to a bygone effort to provide affordable housing for the poor and working-class, the reflection of a belief in a deeper social contract. And although that effort had by most accounts failed, the problems represented by the likes of Cabrini-Green persist, and nothing remotely adequate has been built to replace what has been demolished."
Elderly Inmate Population Soared 1,300 Percent Since 1980s: Report from the Huffington Post
"The population of aging and elderly prisoners in U.S. prisons exploded over the past three decades, with nearly 125,000 inmates aged 55 or older now behind bars, according to a report published Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union. This represents an increase of over 1,300 percent since the early 1980s. More than $16 billion is spent annually by states and the federal government to incarcerate elderly prisoners, despite ample evidence that most prisoners over age 50 pose little or no threat to public safety, the report said."
Between "three-strikes-and-you're-out" and other forms of mandatory sentencing, there should be no surprise here. But the way this article frames the story is (in my view) deeply misleading. The article is filled with evidence like this: "...while elderly inmates released from prison will require medical care and other public services, a fiscal analysis by the ACLU found that states would save an average of more than $66,000 per year for each elderly prisoner they release." The key words here are "medical care and other public services." Yes -- they will need these things -- and, in the current budgetary climate, the likelihood of them getting them is miniscule! Many (if not a majority) of these inmates have little or no work history that would qualify them for social security. In these days when medicare and other social programs are targeted for big cuts, how are these people supposed to survive? Or get the health care they need? Who's going to stand up and advocate for elderly murderers, drug dealers and rapists? They are the perfect targets for the budgetary axe -- move them out of prison now that meaningful work is near impossible for them. They will end up on the street or in already overwhelmed homeless shelters. The smart ones will make a bee-line for the nearest bank to hold it up so they can be put back in prison again.
Times Have Changed, It's Okay to Lie (Kevin Drum) from Mother Jones Magazine
"Politicians have increasingly discovered over the past couple of decades that even on a national stage you can lie pretty blatantly and pay no price since the mainstream media, trapped in its culture of objectivity, won't really call you on it, limiting themselves to fact checking pieces like Kessler's buried on an inside page. And because virtually nobody except political junkies ever sees this stuff, it doesn't hurt their campaigns at all."
Romney Does Face the Nation, his First Non-Fox Sunday Show from the Washington Post
"Romney has been interviewed several times on ”Fox News Sunday” this campaign cycle, but has declined repeated invitations to appear on any of the other Sunday shows, occasionally drawing scorn from veteran anchors accustomed to interviewing presidential candidates."
‘Fundamental Error’ in Argument Against Obama’s Campaign Message (Jonathan Capehart) from the Washington Post
"Despite poll after poll after poll showing that the American people and Obama are in sync on the question of blame, Republicans and conservatives have whined and continue to whine that the president is ducking responsibility for his role in the economy’s lackluster performance."
HOLLYWOOD NUGGET!!
Scandals of Classic Hollywood: That Divine Gary Cooper (Anne Helen Petersen) from the Hairpin
"Cooper played heroic cowboys and espoused all-American values while the studio system helped hide his offscreen affairs.."
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