Grassland in the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Park in South Dakota. From National Geographic.
Due to technical breakdowns, a slightly attenuated list of nuggets today.
"Though opinions in some quarters have begun to shift, commentators and analysts readily accept the narrative advanced by many officials and so-called terrorism experts, who argue that al Qaeda remains the West’s greatest threat. These officials and experts are wrong."
But ... but what will the GOP do if they can't make people deathly afraid of Al Qaeda?! Ah -- they'll make them deathly afraid of Democrats. Oh, wait -- they're already doing that!
Our Decimated Military (Lawrence Korb) from Democracy Journal
"The United States’ reaction to 9/11, however, created long-term problems both in our domestic policy and our international affairs. The “Global War on Terror” declared in the aftermath of the attacks led to regime-change missions in two Muslim countries, efforts that have carried a large cost in lives, financial stability, and America’s standing in the world. In an attempt to defeat the purportedly existential threat of Al Qaeda, the United States paid an overwhelming cost: tens of thousands of American troops killed or wounded, trillions of dollars spent on the wars at levels not seen in the United States since World War II (running up a massive federal deficit to boot), civil liberties imperiled at home, and our reputation and influence in the world depressed to new lows."
Read the entire piece -- an excerpt doesn't do it justice. Moreover, check out many of the other offerings in the Fall edition of Democracy Journal.
A Book Review of "Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World" by Robin Wright from the Washington Post
"With the Arab Spring still unfolding, former Washington Post reporter Robin Wright’s latest book puts the popular uprisings that have swept the Arabic-speaking Middle East from North Africa and the Levant to the Persian Gulf in the context of a larger movement: counter-jihad."
After the fall: How Much Would a Eurozone Break Up Cost? from the Economist [of London]
"THE costs of efforts to save the euro are justified by the claim that the alternative would be too dreadful to contemplate. ... So how do the costs of sustaining the euro compare with the costs of its falling apart?"
Rick Perry Social Security 'Ponzi Scheme' Criticism Fails To Faze Republicans: Poll from the Huffington Post
"Texas Governor Rick Perry's characterization of Social Security as a "Ponzi scheme" doesn't appear to be a problem for most Republicans, according to a new Gallup poll. The survey, released on Friday, finds that the harsh words repeatedly used by Perry to define his stance on the program are largely non-issue for members of his party."
WHO CALLED IT!?!
New Sarah Palin Tell-All Biography Tells Us More About Ourselves (Colbert King) from the Washington Post
An interesting comment from a liberal columnist.
"Sarah Palin doesn’t deserve this. Neither does any other similarly situated public figure, whether on the political right, left or in the middle. But worthiness has nothing to do with this, not when there’s a chance of driving up book sales and bringing down the celebrity you despise at the same time. Enter Joe McGinniss."
THREE EDUCATION NUGGETS:
1. America's Least Rigorous Colleges from the Daily Beast
Yes -- inquiring slackers want to know!
"Workloads at even the best colleges vary widely. Newsweek ranks the schools that will get you a top-notch degree for the least amount of work."
2. My Family’s Experiment in Extreme Schooling from the New York Times
"They hugged me goodbye, clinging a little too long, and as I rode the metro to my office, I said a kind of silent prayer to myself that they would get through the day without falling apart. But Arden had just spent the minutes between class periods hiding in the bathroom so no one would see her crying. Finally, she composed herself, found her teacher and pantomimed that she needed to talk to me. “I don’t understand . . . anything,” she told me. I tried to respond with soothing words, but I had no idea what to do."
3. What if the Secret to Success Is Failure? from the New York Times
"Why our children’s success — and happiness — may depend less on perfect performance than on learning how to deal with failure."
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