The Hollywood Liberal

Iraq’s two major Shiite political blocs to unite in effort to form government
BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s coalition and another Shiite political bloc announced Tuesday night that they would band together to form a new government.


Iraq – Shia Islam – Middle East – Warfare and Conflict – Baghdad

18 states refuse to run insurance pools for those with preexisting conditions
Eighteen states have said they will not administer a stopgap program to provide insurance coverage to people whose preexisting conditions have left them uninsured, forcing the federal government to do the work.


Insurance – Financial Services – Business – Agents and Marketers – United States

Oil spill, failed bombing offer Obama a challenge of message, management
Barack Obama’s presidency has not lacked for crises. But the two that have dominated this week — a spreading environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and a failed car bombing that narrowly missed creating carnage in Times Square — have produced a delicate challenge of management and message…


Oil spill – Environment – Barack Obama – Energy – Petroleum in the Environment

Have We Lowered Our Guard Against Terror?
Timothy Noah, Slate
The scene of the Times Square bomb scareFaisal Shahzad, the Pakistan-born American citizen arrested on suspicion of being Times Square's would-be May Day bomber, did not act alone. Reportedly he's told authorities he received bomb training in Waziristan, a Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold. In Pakistan, a man named Muhammad Rehan, who was seen with Shahzad on a recent visit, has been arrested; Rehan's mosque is reportedly linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed, the same al-Qaida affiliate that five young Muslim Americans from Alexandria, Va., contacted in Pakistan this past December, leading…

Border-First Hallucinations
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
WASHINGTON — The notion that the first thing to do is “secure the border” between the United States and Mexico — and only then worry about comprehensive immigration reform — falls somewhere between hopeful fantasy and cynical cop-out. It's a good sound bite but would be a ridiculous policy.Fact-based analysis is increasingly out of fashion, however, and so the border-first hallucination has become popular among politicians and pundits reacting to Arizona's new “breathing while Latino” law. The measure, which has sparked angry protests nationwide, orders…

A Whirlwind Tour of the British Campaign
Jacob Weisberg, Slate
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg In London last week for a hack's holiday, I was asked several times: Do Americans care about the British election? The truthful answer is no, we don't, mainly because we haven't developed a relationship with any of the candidates. Unlike the Blair-Clinton years, there is no fraternal bond between New Labor and the Democrats. Unlike the Blair-Bush years, there's no prayerful union between prime minister and president.What's more, it's difficult to argue that America should care who wins. The range of policies proposed by the…