Asia’s Real Challenge: China’s “Potemkin” Rise (Minxin Pei) from The Diplomat
"... we may overlook a problem far bigger than fake GDP data. The real scandal in China’s rise is not its exaggerated speed, but the shockingly low quality of its growth. Low-quality growth has undermined China’s social fabric and individual welfare. It also makes China look far stronger on paper than in reality."
N Korea 'Removes' Missiles from East Coast Launch Site from the BBC
"North Korea has removed two medium-range missiles from a coastal launch site, indicating a lowering of tension on the peninsula, a US official said."
Obama called North Korea's bluff and it appears that Kim Jong-Un was indeed sitting with a pair of deuces, Unclear if there were any behind the scenes deals -- but its hard to see how the North Koreans don't lose some major face over how this standoff seems to be concluding.
What to Expect at Wednesday’s Benghazi Hearing from the National Journal
"The White House's accounting of what transpired in Libya is expected to be contradicted by three self-described whistleblowers. ... Thompson’s charges were denied by State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. And Daniel Benjamin, who ran the State Department’s counterterrorism bureau's Foreign Emergency Support Team at the time of the Benghazi attacks said in a statement that “I can say now with certainty, as the former Coordinator for Counterterrorism, that this charge is simply untrue.”"
The Idled Young Americans (David Leonhardt) from the New York Times
"For all of Europe’s troubles — a left-right combination of sclerotic labor markets and austerity — the United States has quietly surpassed much of Europe in the percentage of young adults without jobs. ... The grim shift — “a historic turnaround,” says Robert A. Moffitt, a Johns Hopkins University economist — stems from two underappreciated aspects of our long economic slump."
‘New Jim Crow’ Incarcerations Raise Uncomfortable Questions (Mary Mithcell) from the Chicago Sun-Times
"Although many of us might believe the criminal justice system has its flaws, the notion that the system is intentionally biased against black and poor people is too sinister to contemplate. But that’s exactly what Alexander is suggesting. In a speech at the Union League Club of Chicago last Friday, Alexander pointed out that even though the nation elected its first black president, a couple of blocks from the White House are neighborhoods in which three out of four young black men have already spent time behind bars. Because of mass incarceration “a vast new racial undercast now exists in America,” Alexander said."
No Poor and Huddled Need Apply (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post
"... Rector said in response to another question, from Roll Call’s David Drucker, the current immigration system, with 11 million here illegally, “is an enormously better deal for the taxpayer.” But even if you accept Heritage’s calculations, immigration isn’t purely a fiscal question. If Republicans don’t find a way to deal with illegal immigrants in the country, they risk political oblivion as the swelling ranks of Latino voters turn against them."
The Justice Regrets (Jeffrey Toobin) from the New Yorker
"Sandra Day O’Connor’s shift on Bush v. Gore reflects a larger change in the Republican Party…"
DENIAL: Homosexuality Is a "Choice," Right? (Jonathan Rauch) from the Huffington Post
"I am always bitterly amused when I hear people say that homosexuality is a choice. Even many otherwise thoughtful people maintain that the homosexual is a heterosexual who perversely ignores, or at least somehow represses, his natural cravings. I say "otherwise thoughtful" because I know of no position which collapses more quickly, under even a moment's examination, than this one."
PRES-2016: Rand Paul, Marco Rubio Face 2016 Bind from Politico
"Sens. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio are facing a big obstacle if they seek the White House in 2016 — and it’s not each other. State laws could force the two GOP senators into a difficult choice: run for president or run for reelection to the Senate that same year. Because in their home states of Kentucky and Florida, neither Republican can be on the ballot for both offices at the same time."
Ohio Tea Party Groups Considering GOP Insurrection (Alex Brown) from the National Journal
"The Ohio tea party's fracturing of the state GOP could be a serious worry, we noted last Friday, if the harsh rhetoric is followed by real action. Today, a report in the Columbus Dispatch shows just how bad things have gotten in the Buckeye State. Tea party groups, writes Joe Hallett, are considering three options: a clean split (either to form a new party or join another), primary challenges to "anybody who every crossed us" or under-voting to punish Republicans who don't pass the tea party litmus test."
Mediaite Learns: ‘Vast Majority Of National Advertisers Now Refuse To Air Ads During Limbaugh’s Show’ from Mediaite
"The company’s CEO has blamed ad revenue losses on the conservative talkers’ controversial 2012 “slut” comments about Georgetown student Sandra Fluke. Mediaite’s own sources confirm that the ad troubles in connection with Limbaugh’s show are, indeed, severe."
TORNADO PHOTOS NUGGET!!
A Colossal Supercell Thunderstorm Cloud Over Montana and Other Astonishing Photos of the Massive Storm Systems from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"The images below may seem like something from out of this world, but they are actually rare thunderstorm clouds called a supercells. The colossal storm systems center on mesocyclones, which are rotating updrafts that can span several kilometers and deliver torrential rain and high winds including tornadoes."
These are AMAZING pictures of very menacing-looking supercells!!
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