News Nuggets 1281

DAYLEE PICTURE:  Musk's Hyperloop project.

UP-FRONT TRANSPORTATION NUGGET!!
Revealed: Elon Musk Explains the Hyperloop, the Solar-Powered High-Speed Future of Inter-City Transportation from Businessweek
"Almost a year after Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla Motors (TSLA) and SpaceX, first floated the idea of a superfast mode of transportation, he has finally revealed the details: a solar-powered, city-to-city elevated transit system that could take passengers and cars from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes."

UP-FRONT POLITICS NUGGET!!
North Carolina Republicans Sign Voting Restrictions into Law, Betray Fear (Markos Moulitsas) from Daily Kos
"Those are not the tactics of a party confident it can win the majority of the state's vote in free, fair and open elections. Those are the tactics of a party that is afraid of its own citizens, aware that the only way it can maintain its hold on power is by disenfranchising large percentages of the voting population. Those are the tactics of fear, the politics of exclusion."
Y'know.  I know a lot of Democrats are concerned about this voting suppression stuff.  But I think Kos is closer to the mark with his analysis here.  The voter suppression tactics are last-ditch efforts by a party that knows it's going down.  It is no accident that Obama and the Dems have shifted their focus to the DC Circuit Court and other court appointments.  Harry Reid is threatening the "nuclear option" to break GOP filibustering of Obama court nominees.  Republicans know that advantageous court decisions like Citizens United and the Voting Rights decision could (if relitigated) easily get overturned if Obama gets his nominees in place.  The same is true for the litigation involving Eric Holder's challenges to Texas's voting suppression tactics.  Holder is litigating (in part) because just a few new justices here or there (including on the Supreme Court) could easily reverse the decision.

What's China Got Against the U.S. Constitution? (Benjamin Carlson) from the Global Post
"This week, in three front-page commentaries published over three days, the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily attacked America's constitutional structure, claiming that "there is no such thing as democracy and freedom under US constitutional governance." ... calls for constitutionalism in China were being propagated by the United States as a form of "psychological warfare" intended to overturn the Communist Party's rule."
The incoherence of the "arguments" presented is both breath-taking and (I suspect) indicative of a regime in trouble -- and that seems to be the way the Chinese blogosphere is reading this.

Obama Raises the Stakes of Putin's Repression (David J. Kramer) from the Moscow Times 
"This typifies a schizophrenia Putin has toward the U.S. On one hand, he demonizes the U.S. and cites it as a threat to try to justify his way of ruling the country and consolidating power, starting with the takeover of television networks in his early presidential days, to his abuse of the legal system to go after leading opposition figures ... But at the same time, Putin wants the legitimacy and acceptance of the West to accompany his tough-guy image."

For Better Schools, Start With the Evidence from Businessweek
"... most policy changes in America and worldwide are based on ideology rather than strong evidence of what works. A nascent, evidence-based policy movement is trying to change that."

Reid Pushes to Flip Balance of D.C. Circuit Court, Hints at Another Filibuster Battle (Niels Lesniewski) from Roll Call
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says Democrats are still focused on getting at least one more judge confirmed to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals — and hinted at more changes to Senate rules unless Republicans stop filibustering “literally everything.”"

Oprah Winfrey's Only Misdemeanour was to Travel and be Black (Maurice Mcleod) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"I can sympathise with the TV star who was refused service in a Swiss store, but for a black person going on holiday this is all too familiar."

Paul Ryan Spending Cuts Face Backlash From Moderate Republicans from the Huffington Post
"Midway between the 2012 and 2014 election campaigns, moderate Republican conservatives are beginning to foment a revolt of their own – a backlash to anti-spending tea party shrillness as budget cuts begin to significantly shrink defense and domestic programs."

Birtherism Continues to Plague the Republican Party (Jon Terbush) from The Week
"It's hard to envision a renewed focus on birtherism doing anything positive for the Republican Party.  For one, the belief is discredited and deeply unpopular. Nearly eight in ten Americans said Obama was born in the U.S. in a 2011 Washington Post-ABC News poll; only nine percent said there was "solid evidence" he wasn't. That brings up the second problem with the persistent birther movement. Its most vocal proponents hail from the fringe of the GOP, and cast the party in the most unflattering light. "
I THINK that GOP contenders in 2014 and 2016 need to come out and take a stand against Obama on JUST this issue!

Are Seniors Souring on the Republican Party? (Molly Ball) from the Atlantic
"The GOP has lost more support among voters over 65 than any other demographic group in recent months, according to a new poll."

Just Being Hillary Clinton Isn’t Enough (Richard Cohen) from the Washington Post
"... if she is to run for president at the age of 68, she must rediscover her youth. She has to revert to the brave and inspiring woman who was the first student to deliver the commencement address at Wellesley College (a seven-minute ovation) and made her a national figure overnight. In other words, she has to lead."

More than 1,000 Days Before the Election, Presidential Hopefuls are Already Stumping in Iowa (Keith Wagstaff) from The Week
"It's never too early to pander to your base.  ... "The reception for Santorum was appreciative, consistent, and steady," Bob Vander Plaats, organizer of the event, told the Washington Examiner. "The anticipation for and reception of Cruz was over the top.""
AWESOME!  Wing nuts of the world UNITE!

Attention, Reince Priebus: Send in the Clown Cars (Roger Simon) from Politico
"Priebus’s threat is a thoroughly empty one. The Republican National Committee controls neither the debates nor the candidates. The candidates will appear at whatever debates they choose, sponsored by whatever outlets they choose. Priebus thinks he owns the circus. But, in reality, he doesn’t even control the clowns."

Cory Booker's Opponents Are Furious That He's a Good Candidate and They're Not (Devin Leonard) from Businessweek
"Having multiple opponents only helps Booker. One might have had a chance. The three are just dividing up the paltry anti-Booker vote. Plus, name one candidate who ever pouted to victory."

Social Conservatives’ 2016 Plea: Double Down! (Zeke Miller) from Time Magazine
"Presidential hopefuls and others urge the GOP not to surrender the culture war. Facing a generational divide that is sapping their relevance, a group of evangelical conservatives argued Saturday that they need to become even more vocal in their support for often unpopular social positions."

Santorum Eyes Repeat Run in 2016 (Zeke Miller) from Time Magazine
"The conservative culture warrior sees a populist path to appeal to downscale voters whom Romney "marginalized."

GOP in a Panic Over Georgia Primary Freak Show (Joan McCarter) from Daily Kos
"They let Erick son of Erickson matter, and now he has basically declared war on the Republican establishment. They're facing one more election where they should be able to regain the Senate, and they're probably going to screw it up again. Case in point, the clown show that is the Georgia Senate primary."