The Morning Blog

Obama's War Day 7: Well, it started last Saturday afternoon. This is the point where the pledge that we would be involved in this mess for "days, not weeks" will be proven to be true or false. And there is fortunately, some room for very, very cautious optimism. NATO has reached a consensus on taking over the no-fly zone. Shouldn't be that challenging for our allies given that by all accounts, Qaddafi doesn't really have any planes anymore. Unless he unleashes his dreaded Hang Glider Corps, they should be good. Unfortunately, it is unclear whether or not NATO will be willing to make strikes against ground targets. If it's decided that tanks and rocket launchers are off the list, the no-fly zone won't serve much of a purpose.

90 days?

Maybe I should stop calling it "war". I'll admit, "enforcing a resolution that has a very clear set of goals, which is protecting the Libyan people, averting a humanitarian crisis, and setting up a no-fly zone" certainly has a nicer ring to it.

With a weeks worth of war, I've been a bit distracted from the Japanese nuclear crisis. It's alarming that the Japanese government is now quietly encouraging folks to "maybe move just a little bit further away". I can't help but feel that they continue to be somewhat less than transparent about the seriousness of the threat.

Yikes... not another one...

Hey, archeology! Young Americans: Evidence has emerged that humans may have been in North America quite some time prior to the Clovis civilization. Naturally, I take this to be a slight against my region, since previously, the oldest known site for human habitation was just outside of Pittsburgh. Assuming things haven't changed much, the inhabitants of the Meadowcroft site probably stuck around long enough to get a degree and then moved elsewhere once they realized there were no jobs in their fields.

Fortunately, they would not have been preyed upon by the fearsome saber-toothed vegetarian.

Speaking of dead things, is that a deer head in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Foreign Policy provides a very interesting look at the growth of cities, particularly in the developing world. The argument is an interesting one: with some 600 cities accounting for a whopping 60% of global GDP, is thinking of the world in terms of countries no longer specific enough?

In the event you haven't prepared your taxes yet, you may consider talking to the accountants at General Electric. Quite astonishingly, they've managed to lay claim to worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, $5.1 billion from within the United States and have a tax obligation of...nothing. In fact, they've managed to claim a tax benefit of $3.2 billion. That's some fancy math!

Huh... investing in pot? It's an interesting idea...I think it's highly likely that the number of patients using medical marijuana will grow substantially so there is a potential for very...ahem...high returns. I'd think that the major reason to not invest though is the threat of legality. Clearly, the only thing that makes marijuana a valuable commodity is that it's illicit. The costs of growing it are infinitesimal in comparison to the costs of transporting it and that's a key reason why it's so pricey. The second it becomes legal, it loses it's value considerably. It is after all, nothing more than a weed.

I am consistently stunned at the staggering ability of celebrities to get involved in causes they have little or no expertise in, lend their name and money to an issue and achieve absolutely nothing. In trying to do something as simple as building a school, the Material Girl flushed her money away.

Members of the Jewish-American advocacy group, J Street and some Israeli parliamentarians held a rather fractious debate concerning J Streets position on settlements and...well, just about everything. The criticism being leveled against J Street comes down to:

“J Street is not a Zionist organization. It offers love with strings attached. They say, ‘We love you only if you behave the way we like.’ ”

To me that seems quite sensible. I recall a line from Albert Camus' "Letters to a German Friend", in which he says something along the lines of "I love my country too much to be a nationalist." The point being that a healthy love of a country does not permit one to overlook it's flaws. Rather it insists on working towards a greater and more just polity.

How would a Bachmann candidacy affect the 2012 elections? Well, it would certainly bring the craziness. I would LOVE to see a Palin/Bachmann debate of course. If that fails to actually occur, I hope it won't stop Saturday Night Live from staging one anyways.

It's always fun to see what football players will be doing with themselves in the event the 2011 season fails to occur. For example, instead of playing football, the deeply obnoxious Chad Ochocinco will be playing football.

Oh my...As the competition for Worst Company in America 2011 heats up, Comcast has responded by trying to fix the vote.

Critters!

Sort of seems like an obvious headline to me. If they'd said that he'd "lawfully killed 12 people" that would certainly be something else.

Kacee Bait: Huh...Good question: Why on Earth would a spaceship need lights?