Social Policy and Change

Monday, December 05, 2011

Monday's Daily Brief

Monday, December 5, 2011

Highly Radioactive Water Leaks From Crippled Japanese Facility

	MEDIA Mitt Romney Gets Scared Of Another Reporter
	TECHNOLOGY Deb Roy: The Birth Of A Word
	POLITICS What's Behind Newt's Religious Revival?
	ENTERTAINMENT Fox News: The Muppets Are Communist, Captain Planet Evil
	DC Occupy DC Arrests At McPherson Square (PHOTOS)

BLOG POSTS

	Lynn Forester de Rothschild: 2012: The Year of the Independent? In an environment of unprecedented political gridlock in Washington and broad-based dissatisfaction with the leading candidates of both parties, 2012 may finally be the year when an independent candidate becomes president of the United States.
	Lee Woodruff: Horsing Around in the Shower Abuse of power is an age-old story. But those who wield their authority over a child for sexual pleasure are in a whole other category entirely. How do you effectively teach a young child to respect their elders, yet be continually alert for transgressions?
	Edward Zwick: The Sad Truth About the Fight Against Blood Diamonds The Kimberley Process's refusal to address the clear links between diamonds, violence and tyranny has rendered it hopelessly ineffectual. In effect, it has become an accomplice to diamond laundering.
	Leo W. Gerard: Hey, GOP: Give the 99 Percent Some Lovin' To serve the 1 percent, Republicans discarded all of their supposedly sacrosanct philosophy about taxes during last week's struggle over extending the temporary payroll tax cut.
	Therese Borchard: 8 Ways to Keep Your Sanity During the Holidays Yes, the holidays do bring a magic and excitement to the month of December, but the stress, loneliness and blues pre-packaged with the festivities can be enough to drag one-fourth of us across the tenuous line from sanity to insanity.

Saturday, December 03, 2011

Alter: Why Senator Rubio Is No Dream Veep


	Saturday, December 03, 2011

The Big Story, By Jonathan Alter

Rubio, Republican Dream VP, Won't Fix Party Woes

Although he claims to have no interest in the job, Florida Senator Marco Rubio is the most likely VP choice for any Republican nominee. But in truth, Rubio is not the ideal vice-presidential candidate to solve Republicans' trouble with Hispanics. READ MORE

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My Front Pages By Joe Conason

Trump? The Republican Primary Is Now Officially A Gong Show

Marketing genius is perhaps the most appropriate way to describe Donald J. Trump's newest incarnation as the announced host -- he can hardly be called a "moderator" -- of a post-Christmas Republican debate sponsored by Newsmax, the conservative magazine and website. Why would the candidates agree to join this spectacle? READ MORE

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Friday, December 02, 2011

Friday's Daily Brief

Friday, December 2, 2011

Best of TEDTalks 2011: Kathryn Schulz On Regret (Premiere)

	BUSINESS U.S. Unemployment Rate Falls To Lowest Level In Nearly Three Years
	POLITICS Herman Cain On 'Hannity': 'I Am Going To Reestablish My Character'
	TECHNOLOGY Apple, Verizon, Google, Microsoft, AT&T And Others Speak Out On Phone 'Tracking' Controversy
	BUSINESS Honda Recalls 304,000 Vehicles For Air-Bag Problem
	GREEN Geoengineering Could Save Earth -- Or Destroy It

BLOG POSTS

	Jared Bernstein: Jobs Report, First Impressions Employment was up 120,000 last month and the unemployment rate dropped significantly, to 8.6 percent in November down from 9 percent in October. While the employment story has improved over the past few months, the decline in the November unemployment rate isn't as good as it sounds. There's still a great deal of slack in the job market and we're a long way away from providing job seekers and workers with the job and wage increases they need to get ahead. Outside of the public sector, we're at least moving in the right direction -- but very slowly.
	Cecile Richards: What Siri's Blind Spot on Women's Health Really Means Apple's trusty little phone wizard is clueless about birth control or abortion care. While this may be nothing more than a programming glitch, it is a modern-day example of the historic struggle women have always faced in getting access to health care and health information.
	Carl Pope: Letter From Durban Although the formal negotiating process is a disappointment -- particularly the U.S. role -- the opportunities we face keep increasing, along with the challenges. Can Durban be the turning point?
	Gretchen Rubin: 8 Splendid Truths of Happiness In my study of happiness, I've labored to identify its fundamental principles. Because I get a tremendous kick out of the numbered lists that pop up throughout Buddhism, I decided to dub these fundamental principles as my Eight Splendid Truths.
	Gisele Bundchen: End Mother to Child Transmission -- Together, We Can Make a Difference Today, more than 1,000 babies are born with HIV every day in the developing world. As a mother, this statistic really breaks my heart, especially when as many as 98% of these cases could be prevented.