The Russia Left Behind: A Journey Through a Heartland on the Slow Road to Ruin from the New York Times
"The reasons are many, but his view boils down to this: “Gradually,” he said, explaining his view of Lyuban, “everything is rotting.” Vladimir G. Naperkovsky explains how ambulances are unable to reach patients across the tracks in Lyuban, a city bisected by the high-speed rail link between St. Petersburg and Moscow. At the edges of Russia’s two great cities, another Russia begins."
This story indirectly supports something I have been saying for some time: that the media narrative about Russia (as one of BRICS countries) that it "is on the rise" is complete nonsense. Russia has the patina of a modern high-tech economy -- but it is very thin and is overlaid on a rotting foundation left over from the soviet era. It is all the Moscow bureaucrats and fixers can do to keep the country from declining even further.
The Rapid Advance of Artificial Intelligence from the New York Times
"Scientists and engineers are creating a world in which cars drive themselves, machines recognize people and humanoid robots travel unattended."
Why College Costs Will Soon Plunge (Barton Hinkle) from Real Clear Politics
"College costs will drop because of market forces politicians will be powerless to stop. In his new book Average Is Over, George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen explains why: Thanks to the Internet, you no longer have to sit in a lecture hall to get a superb education. ... He can take the class online. Just as deregulation made air travel available to (nearly) all, online education will make college available to nearly all as well."
This is complete BS. A "superb education"?! I don't think so. Everything I have seen and read tells me that the quality of online courses falls somewhere between barely adequate and complete rip-off waste-of-time-and-money with the majority falling in the latter category. The "benefits" of online education put forward by this author are mostly hypothetical and do not reflect the current reality. Moreover, in a backhanded kind of way, Hinkle touts the benefits of online education by claiming that big-name state universities don't provide a very good education anyway. Who knows? Maybe someday, online courses can provide students with intellectual rigor, probing dynamic discussion, and make students truly active rather than passive learners. Most of what I see out there now is either deeply passive learning or con jobs designed to take students' money and give them as little of value as possible.
What Barack Obama, Republicans Get with a Deal from Politico
"It’s not a perfect deal for the White House — but it’s a worse deal for Republicans. Democrats won’t say it too loudly just yet, but the emerging budget agreement leaves Republicans with remarkably little to show for forcing the first government shutdown in 17 years: They barely nicked Obamacare and their poll numbers are in tank."
Thirteen Things that Define the New American Center from the Editors of Esquire Magazine
"An exclusive Esquire-NBC News survey shows us that everything we are told about politics in America today—that there is no middle ground between left and right, blue and red, us and them—is wrong. The data, compiled by the Benenson Strategy Group (pollster for Obama for America '08 and '12) and Neil Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies (lead pollster for Romney for President), show us there is a large group of American voters—even a majority—who make up a New American Center that is passionate, persuadable, and very real. They are merely waiting for Washington to find them."
Debt Ceiling Deal May Be Struck, but the Crisis Is Not Over Yet (David Frum) from the Daily Beast
"Congress is heaving a sigh of relief over a reported deal to avert a default—but the crisis is nowhere near ended. David Frum on why the ruthless politics won’t stop until the larger crisis in American life finds some resolution."
A Tea Party Exit Would be a Blessing for GOP (David Frum) from CNN
"Maybe the right answer to the threat, "Shut down the government or we quit" is: "So sad you feel that way. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.""
It will be interesting to see if Frum's view here takes hold among the "establishment" GOPers out there. Until now, the Tea Party crowd has overwhelmingly been the folks looking to leave the Republican Party. When deeply implanted moderates like Frum urge the Tea Party folks to hit the road, it further deepens the risk of a major party schism. For a schism to be meaningful and long lasting, both sides need to conclude that they are better off without the other. Frum's view as stated here suggests we are moving into that territory.
Democrats Up the Ante on GOP’s Poor Hand (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post
"A crazy thing is happening in shuttered, dysfunctional Washington: Democrats are pushing back. This phenomenon is so novel and disorienting that many Republicans in Congress, especially the tea party bullies, seem unable to grasp what’s going on. They keep expecting President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to fold like a cheap suit because, well, such a thing has happened before. I guess it’s understandable that the GOP might have forgotten the difference between bluffing and actually holding a winning hand."
How the Tea Party Broke the Constitution (Timothy B. Lee) from the Washington Post
"Obama has offered concessions to help reach agreement with Republican leaders, but they haven't reciprocated. To the contrary, each time Democrats have agreed to cut spending, House Republicans have used the new figure as a new baseline for the next round of negotiation. ... In short, Obama is negotiating with a party that always demands further concessions and is never willing to reciprocate. After a certain number of rounds of this, any rational negotiator is going to dig in his heels and refuse to give more ground."
Government Shutdown Unleashes Racism (Roger Simon) from Politico
"Question: If Ted Cruz and John Boehner were both on a sinking ship, who would be saved? Answer: America. Harsh? Look around you at what is happening to America and you will see harsh. ... Boehner does not bend to the will of his Kamikaze Caucus because he is an evil man. He does so because he is a weak man. To borrow a line from Theodore Roosevelt, I could carve a better man out of a banana."
Conservatism Meets Occupy Wall Street (Michael Gerson) from the Washington Post
This conservative columnist is SPOT ON both with his description of the Tea Party leadership and (hate to say it) of the Occupy Wall Street movement. And (in my view) this Tea Party tantrum will end in roughly the same place as OWS: disillusionment and a lot of people just walking away. The next several weeks will I think tell the tale.
"Sen. Ted Cruz’s straw poll victory at the Values Voter Summit on Saturday, just as his strategy to block Obamacare was collapsing in recrimination and desperation on Capitol Hill, indicates that some voters don’t place much value on political realism. While it is difficult to call Cruz’s 317 votes significant by itself, the summit measured the mood in a portion of the right. Two themes were common: apocalyptic diagnosis and utopian solutions. ... When intentions are all that matter, no outcome can be discrediting."
Tea Party Wants to Take America Back -- to the 18th Century (Joseph Ellis) from the Los Angles Times
"... their ultimate destination, I believe, is the 1780s and our dysfunctional government under the Articles of Confederation. The states were sovereign in that post-revolutionary arrangement, and the federal government was virtually powerless."
How the Shutdown Derailed the Republican Rebranding Campaign from the Washington Post
"In choosing to take the hard-line stance favored by its most conservative wing, Republican leaders in Congress have not only alienated electorally critical independents and other key demographic groups that their 2012 presidential nominee won but also further revealed the deep schism within their own party."
Poll: Republicans Losing No-Win Game from the Washington Post
"All of Washington’s elected leaders earn negative marks for handling budget negotiations, but the public’s ire toward Republicans in Congress has hardened quicker than disapproval of President Obama and Democrats through a fortnight of failed negotiations."
Senate Republicans Don't Get It: The Democrats Aren't Bluffing (Jonathan Cohn) from the New Republic
"Democratic aides I interviewed over the weekend kept stressing one thing: Democrats won’t make a swap that doesn’t make sense on its own terms. ... Republicans have heard this before. Many hoped it was just a bluff. So far, at least, it hasn't been."
House Republicans are Falling for the Sunk Cost Fallacy (Neil Irwin) from the Washington Post
"In extremes, the sunk cost fallacy can be disastrous. World War I and the Vietnam War were examples of nations falling for the error, with combatants doubling down on failed strategies, in part because they had already invested so much, making decisions based on what had happened in the past rather than solely on the costs and benefits for the future."
Saving face ... or saving the country? I know it's a tough choice.
Republicans Aren't The 'Daddy Party' Anymore from Business Insider
"If Republicans were once the daddy party, now they're the abusive ex-husband with a substance abuse problem party. Instead of telling hard truths, Republicans are wildly misleading voters, both about policy ("America is going to be destroyed by Obamacare") and political reality ("Democrats are feeling the heat" because Republicans shut down the government)."
What This Cruel War Was Over (Ta-Nehisi Coates) from the Atlantic
"It is not so much the behavior of the lone idiot that matters, but the tenor of the crowd around him. ... the Confederate flag does not merely carry the stain of slavery, of "useful killing," but the stain of
attempting to end the Union itself. You cannot possibly wave that flag and honestly claim any sincere understanding of your country. It is not possible."
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