Report: President Obama Unaware of Spying from Politico
"The monitoring of 35 world leaders’ communications was brought to light during an internal review of NSA programs this summer, an administration official told The Wall Street Journal. Obama halted the monitoring of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others immediately, and some remaining monitoring programs are being phased out, the official said."
Chinese Communism and the 70-Year Itch (Larry Diamond) from the Atlantic
"China's government is approaching an age that has often proven fatal for other single-party regimes. Will Xi Jinping make the necessary reforms to avoid a crisis?"
In Hungary, Anti-Semitism Rises Again (Marianne Szegedy-Maszak) from the New York Times
"My father saw the devastation of Nazi rule. What would he make of Hungary today?"
This is Why Obamacare is Canceling Some People’s Insurance Plans (Sarah Kliff) from the Washington Post
"These cancellations are, essentially, a lot of grandfathered plans exiting the insurance marketplace. From an insurance company's vantage point, grandfathered plans are a bit of a dead end: They can't enroll new subscribers and are really constrained in their ability to tweak the benefit package or cost-sharing structure."
Obamacare Rate Shock and Premium Joy: Now It's Real (Jonathan Cohn) from the New Republic
"The people who stand to benefit from this transition don’t know it yet, because they aren’t able to log on and see how much they’ll save. That’s a big reason the stories of rate hikes are getting so much attention—and one more reason the federal governmetn needs to fix its website soon."
Why Normal Debate About Obamacare is Impossible (Grag Sargent) from the Washington Post
"... the GOP outrage about Americans supposedly “losing” coverage is largely just more of the same old misdirection. It’s a subset of a larger Republican refusal to have an actual debate about the law’s tradeoffs — one in which the law’s benefits for millions of Americans are also reckoned with in a serious way. On the substance of this argument, Igor Volsky has a good response, noting that these Americans aren’t “losing” coverage at all:..."
Democrats Introduce Bill to End Debt Limit Brinkmanship (Meredith Shiner) from Roll Call
"Three Democratic senators, led by Charles E. Schumer of New York, introduced legislation Tuesday to permanently install a new procedure on the debt limit that would all-but-eliminate the threat of default. The bill would make permanent a rule devised in 2011 by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that uses resolutions of disapproval to enable the president to extend the debt limit while also technically allowing minority lawmakers to vote against that authorization— a maneuver
McConnell said was designed to be used on a case-by-case basis."
Why 2014 Is Do-or-Die For the GOP (Charlie Cook) from the National Journal
"After having had plentiful Democratic targets in 2012 and 2014, it will be Republicans in 2016 who will have the most incumbents in the crosshairs. All of this is to say that Republicans really have to do well in the Senate elections in 2014, largely because they will have few opportunities for gains in 2016, a year in which they will be playing defense, not offense."
Against Despair: The Bad Ideas Behind the Shutdown (Ramesh Ponnuru & Rich Lowry) from the National Review
From two well-connected, well-informed conservative columnists.
"From one point of view, the entire episode was all rather pointless; from another it was quite important. It was the latest and most consequential expression of an apocalyptic conservative politics. It is a politics of perpetual intra-Republican denunciation. It focuses its fire on other conservatives as much as on liberals."
A Huge Victory for GOP’s “Whites-only” Coalition (Brian Beutler) from Salon
"Immigration reform's failure didn't just sink Rubio's political ambitions, it sank the idea of a multicultural GOP."
Conservative Businessmen Challenging Tea Party Republicans from the Huffington Post
"A slice of corporate America thinks tea partyers have overstayed their welcome in Washington and should be shown the door in next year's congressional elections."
Lowell Weicker, Former Republican Senator, Slams GOP, Joe Lieberman from the Huffington Post
"Lowell Weicker, a Republican who has served in both the U.S. House and Senate, revealed his seasoned views on American politics in an interview with Josh Eidelson of Salon published Monday. The former Senator held no punches, taking on the Republican party, past political foes, taxation and U.S. institutions."
A Year After Romney Loss, GOP In Even Worse Shape from Talking Points Memo
"A year after losing a presidential race many Republicans thought was winnable, the party arguably is in worse shape than before. The GOP is struggling to control tensions between its tea party and establishment wings and watching approval ratings sink to record lows. It's almost quaint to recall that soon after Mitt Romney lost to President Barack Obama, the Republican National Committee recommended only one policy change: endorsing an immigration overhaul, in hopes of attracting Hispanic voters."
Poll Finds Vast Gaps in Basic Views on Gender, Race, Religion and Politics from ABC News
"An almost unfathomable gap divides public attitudes on basic issues involving gender, race, religion and politics in America, fueled by dramatic ideological and partisan divisions that offer the prospect of more of the bitter political battles that played out in Washington this month."
AUTOMOBILE NUGGET!!
Here’s What it Would Take for Self-driving Cars to Catch On (Brad Plumer) from the Washington Post
"Some day in the near future, cars will drive themselves. Traffic jams and deadly accidents will become obsolete. Morning commutes will evolve into less-stressful affairs, as riders can sit back with their coffee and let computers handle the trip. ... yet, as a new report (pdf) from the Eno Center for Transportation details, there are all sorts of obstacles that still need to be overcome before self-driving cars ever take over our highways."
OUTRAGEOUS REVISIONIST HISTORY NUGGET!!
Cheney Insists Iraq War Was Worth It Because Of WMD from Think Progress
"Former Vice President Dick Cheney said on Monday that what the United States gained as a result of the war in Iraq was that Iraq now does not have weapons of mass destruction. ... Of course, Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction to eliminate."
ANIMAL NUGGET!!
The Mystery of Animal Grief [partial subscription wall] from Time Magazine
"Scientists are finding new evidence that beasts honor, mourn and even hold wakes for their dead. What it reveals about them--and us."
SURFING NUGGET!!
St Jude's Gale Creates Off Portugal Some of the Biggest Waves to Ever be Conquered by Boards from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Father-of-two Andrew Cotton, 34, took on the monster waves at Praia do Norte, near Nazare at 8am yesterday. Beach known among surfers for huge waves because it picks up full brunt of violent Atlantic storm swells. Maya Gabeira, from Brazil, nearly drowned and had to be resuscitated on the beach after falling on a wave."
CHILD PHOTO NUGGET!!
Mother Takes Adorable Photos Capturing her Sleeping Son in Flights of the Imagination from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Artist Queenie Liao created the photographs while her baby Wengenn slept. She used coloured material, soft toys and household items to set the scene. A book of the photo series has been published in Taiwan."
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