News Nuggets 1283

DAYLEE PICTURE: Antelope Canyon in Arizona.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT WORK & TECHNOLOGY NUGGETS!!
Will Robots Take All Our Blue-Collar Jobs? from the Editorial Board of Bloomberg
"Many traditional working-class jobs -- from truck driving to administrative work to retail to tending bar -- are being replaced by automated technology. The trend seems likely to accelerate. How do we ensure that the kids of tomorrow can do something useful? And how do we help today’s working class transition to the economy of the future?"

Here's the report cited in the above editorial:
Dancing with Robots: Human Skills for Computerized Work (Frank Levy and Richard Murnane) from Third Way
"With this report Third Way is continuing NEXT—a series of in-depth commissioned research papers that look at the economic trends that will shape policy over the coming decades. In particular, we’re bringing this deeper, more provocative academic work to bear on what we see as the central domestic policy challenge of the 21st century: how to ensure American middle class prosperity and individual success in an era of ever-intensifying globalization and technological upheaval."

Obama, Snowden and Putin (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times 
"... rather than punch Putin in the face, which would elevate him with his followers, it would be much better to hit him where it would really hurt by publicly challenging the notion that he is making Russia strong. Here’s what Obama could have said when asked about Putin last week: ..."

Julian and Ed's Not-So-Excellent Adventure (Michael Ellis and Scott Glabe) from Real Clear Politics
"The self-styled “whistleblower” struck that system at its core: A state’s ability to protect its internal communications is a necessary precursor to the conduct of meaningful diplomacy. Snowden revealed American surveillance programs because electronic eavesdropping is “wrong no matter the target.” ... Snowden and Assange have thus become prisoners of the very concepts they hoped to transcend, forced to wrap themselves in the protections of the state system as they simultaneously advocate for its destruction."

Time for ‘Big Mac’ Statesmanship (Matt Miller) from the Washington Post 
"The corporate response to such protests follows a standard playbook. ... In short: stand firm, lay low and hope things blow over. Call it Risk Aversion 101. That strategy may once have worked, but it won’t make the issue go away today. That’s because these strikes take place against the backdrop of widespread anxiety in an era in which global competition and rapid technological changes have put the middle class at risk."

Food Stamp Cut Backed by Republicans With Voters on Rolls (John McCormick & Greg Giroux) from Bloomberg
"... now the program comes with an irony, as the Republicans seeking to cut it also represent vast numbers of recipients. Among the 254 counties where food stamp recipients doubled between 2007 and 2011, Republican Mitt Romney won 213 of them in last year’s presidential election"

Obamacare: Still Not a “Trainwreck” (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"Republicans seem to think that if they kick enough noise about the law, it will reinforce the narrative that it is a catastrophe, helping them in 2014. But whether or not that will work among persuadable voters ... this particular case reinforces the incoherence and even potential political weakness of the overall GOP posture on health care."

The Big Savings Obamacare Critics Miss (Jonathan Cohn) from the New Republic
"To review: Obamacare provides offers tax credits to offset the cost of insurance. If your income is less than four times the poverty line, and if you're buying through one of the new insurance exchanges, then the tax credit will operate like a discount. The less money you have, the bigger the discount."

The Right’s Obamacare Boycott Will Only Hurt Conservatives (Matthew Yglesias) from Slate
"Conservative leaders are trying to trick their followers into ignoring the health law’s benefits."

Just How Stupid Does Heritage think Republican Politicians are? (Jonathan Bernstein) from the Washington Post
"Heritage is asking Republicans in Congress to base their choices about the next fiscal showdown on a partisan poll of GOP House districts. So we have a loaded sample asked loaded questions — and Republican politicians are supposed to stake their careers on it?"

The GOP’s Obamacare Whale Hunt (Scot Lehigh) from the Boston Globe 
"For the GOP’s ideological Captain Ahabs, it has become a public-policy white whale, a leviathan that must be harpooned at any cost. So it is that the Tea Party types are now demanding that Republican officeholders resort to shut-down-the-government brinksmanship to slay the cetaceous statute."

The Quiet Gay-Rights Revolution in America's Churches (Molly Ball) from the Atlantic
"A shift among people of faith is moving public opinion -- and changing gay Americans' lives in profound ways."

Republicans' Big Problem with Crazy (Michael Cohen) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"... Republican senators and congressmen are finding themselves under withering assault from Tea Party critics. After three and a half years of legislative hostage-taking and policy nihilism and unceasing, uncompromising obstructionism of President Obama's agenda, the message from the Tea Party is a simple one: we want more crazy."

Hillary 2016 Brings Back Boomer Clinton Rage (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"There are already signs Hillary’s presidential campaign will drudge up the weird, obsessive hatred the Boomer left developed for the Clintons in the 1990s. But this time, their derision will only have the power to do one thing: help her win."

Marco Rubio, Has Been (Charles P. Pierce) from Esquire Magazine
"He was going to be the guy who led his party out of its increasingly tiny, and largely melanin-free, wilderness. He was the party's voice of reason on Immigration Reform. Christ above, did he back the wrong horse. He discovered to his horror that his party likes being in the wilderness."

INTER-GALACTIC NUGGET!!
Eclipse of Alien Planet Captured for the First Time as dazzling Blue 'Hot Jupiter' Passes Close to its Sun-like Star from the Daily Mail [of the UK] 
"HD 189733b is 63 light-years from Earth and orbits its star every 2.2 days It is over 1000°C and rains glass in 7,000 kilometre-per-hour winds Star may be evaporating atmosphere of planet faster than first thought."