UP-FRONT HOUSING MARKET NUGGET!!
Backlog of Cases Gives a Reprieve on Foreclosures from the New York Times
"Millions of homeowners in distress are getting some unexpected breathing room — lots of it in some places. In New York State, it would take lenders 62 years at their current pace, the longest time frame in the nation, to repossess the 213,000 houses now in severe default or foreclosure, according to calculations by LPS Applied Analytics, a prominent real estate data firm."
MAN!! LOTS of dysfunctionality in the foreclosures market described here -- this may explain in part some of the broader trouble the housing market is experiencing. UNLESS you are a AAA+++ borrower, WHY would any bank lend out money for a mortgage if the threat of foreclosure is as LAME as this article suggests?
Should Islamists Have a Role in the Arab Spring? (Irena L. Sargsyan) from USA Today
"Islamicization of politics is most likely to occur when a new government fails to carry out its promises of political, economic, and social reforms — not when Islamist opposition parties run in elections."
In my view, the only way we could keep the Taliban out permanently is for us to stay there -- permanently. And we are NOT doing that!
Further making the point:
Talks with the Taliban Will be a Condition of Any Endgame from the Independent [of the UK]
"...the late Richard Holbrooke, repeatedly insisted on the need to engage the Taliban, proposing a distinction between the "moderate" majority who should be wooed, and the jihadist minority, to whom no quarter should be given. That became official US policy, but it never appeared to enjoy the full support of US commanders, ... The death last month of Osama bin Laden, who had been tracked down to a family compound in Pakistan, changed many calculations."
Bad Guys Still Matter: Why 2011 is turning out to be a very bad year for dictators (Paul Collier) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"What followed was the logical culmination to a decade in which democracy had been undermined both by incumbents' low tricks and China's high growth. In what might have been the coup de grâce for democracy in Africa, Gbagbo declared himself to be the winner despite the vote. And then came the disaster of 2011, which in its first few months was already a dark year in the annals of autocracy."
Osama bin Laden a 'Ranting Chief Executive' from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"Osama bin Laden was like a "ranting chief executive" who was fixated with theatrical extravagance and bringing economies to their knees, according to the treasure trove of intelligence found at his compound."
War Evolves With Drones, Some Tiny as Bugs from the New York Times
"From blimps to bugs, an explosion in aerial drones is transforming the way America fights and thinks about its wars. Predator drones, the Cessna-sized workhorses that have dominated unmanned flight since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, are by now a brand name, known and feared around the world. But far less widely known are the sheer size, variety and audaciousness of a rapidly expanding drone universe, along with the dilemmas that come with it."
Beyond Tahrir Square: From Revolution to Politics (Jenna Krajeski) from the World Policy Institute
"Youssef sees Egypt as having awakened from a long slumber, one steeped in a longing for the past, rather than a hope for the future. “I grew up in a nostalgic era,” he says. “My parents were longing for their past, and I was longing for a life I had not even lived.” The time has come, he believes, to set aside those ways of thinking. “Nostalgia is a prison,” he says."
Egypt Elections Expose Divisions in Muslim Brotherhood from the New York Times
"Abdel Moneim Abou el-Fotouh is a popular leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and a candidate to become Egypt’s first president since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. But he is not running as a Brotherhood candidate; in fact, he is running despite its opposition and openly criticizing many of its decisions."
With ‘Big Gun’, Iraqi Soldiers See Hope from the New York Times
"In a country where eager soldiers still believe a bigger weapon makes a bigger man, the fact that Iraq’s artillery capability was wiped out in the American-led invasion of 2003 has never sat well with Iraqi commanders. Until now, said Col. Alaa A. Abdalrida, of the 2nd Division, “without the Americans I couldn’t defend the country.’’"
Everything You Think You Know About the Collapse of the Soviet Union Is Wrong (Leon Aron) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Although the market reforms of the 1990s and today's oil prices have combined to produce historically unprecedented prosperity for millions, the brazen corruption of the ruling elite, new-style censorship, and open disdain for public opinion have spawned alienation and cynicism that are beginning to reach (if not indeed surpass) the level of the early 1980s. One needs only to spend a few days in Moscow talking to the intelligentsia or, better yet, to take a quick look at the blogs on LiveJournal (Zhivoy Zhurnal), Russia's most popular Internet platform, or at the sites of the top independent and opposition groups to see that the motto of the 1980s -- "We cannot live like this any longer!" -- is becoming an article of faith again. The moral imperative of freedom is reasserting itself, and not just among the limited circles of pro-democracy activists and intellectuals."
For Obama in 2012, Closer Look at State Unemployment Numbers Shows Silver Lining (Chris Cillizza) from the Washington Post
"The national unemployment rate — 9.1 percent in May — paints a grim political picture for President Obama as he turns his attention to the 2012 race. But dig slightly further into the numbers and the economic news is far less ominous for him."
For Giffords, a Brief Taste of Her Old Life in Tucson from the New York Times
"It was a low-key homecoming that featured no public events but plenty of private meetings with Ms. Giffords’s close circle of friends and relatives. The trip back to her hometown, a place she has represented in Congress since 2007, represented another step in Ms. Giffords’s recovery."
Rand and Rubio (Ross Douthat) from the New York Times
"For the first time in a decade, it seems, the Republican Party doesn’t know where it stands on foreign policy. Instead of being united around George W. Bush’s vision of democratic revolution, conservatives are increasingly divided over what lessons to draw from America’s post-9/11 interventions. But while this division shows up in the current presidential field, it’s distilled to its essence in two high-profile Republicans who aren’t running (not in 2012, at least): Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky."
Rick Perry is Hot Button Topic at Republican Conference from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Republicans gathered in New Orleans say Rick Perry would be frontrunner for presidential nomination – if he decides to run."
The Education of Michele Bachmann (Tim Murphy) from Mother Jones Magazine
"Where the Minnesota Republican's conspiratorial views about government come from."
Jon Stewart on FOX Viewers: The ‘Most Consistently Misinformed Media Viewers’ (Steve Benen) from Washington Monthly
"“In polls,” Stewart said, in a surprisingly angry tone, “who are the most consistently misinformed media viewers? The most consistently misinformed? Fox. Fox viewers. Consistently. Every poll.” Wallace then changed the subject."
FOREIGN POLICY BOOK NUGGET!!
Get Smart: How to Cram for 2012 (Daniel Drezner) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The foreign-policy books you should be reading to get ready for election season."
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