Public Rejects Cuts to Medicare, Social Security
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on March 14th, 2011 4:31 am by HL
Public Rejects Cuts to Medicare, Social Security
Albert Hunt, Bloomberg
Albert R. HuntThe American comic strip Pogo once famously noted, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." This may be the best way to describe the current fracas in Washington over the deficit. Politicians of both parties have done a poor job of educating the public, and voters are sending conflicting, and in some cases, misguided, messages. A Bloomberg National Poll published last week, in line with other surveys, is instructive. Americans consider the widening deficit and debt a big deal; they also reject most of the measures necessary to deal with the threat by warning…
Are Japan Nuclear Fears Overblown?
Josh Dzieza, The Daily Beast
Shortly after Japan was hit with the double disaster of a magnitude 8.9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, a possible third reared its head: nuclear meltdown. The quake caused 11 of Japan's nuclear reactors to shut down automatically, including three at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, 170 miles northeast of Tokyo. But the quake also cut Fukushima off from the power grid, forcing plant operators to switch to emergency diesel generators in order to continue cooling the reactor core, generators that then failed shortly after the tsunami hit.
In Japan, Much Searching But Few Are Rescued
Fackler & McDonald, NYT
NATORI, Japan — The tsunami that barreled into northeast Japan on Friday was so murderous and efficient that not much was left when search-and-rescue teams finally reached Natori on Monday. There was searching, but not much rescuing. There was, essentially, nobody left to rescue. NYTimes.com is compiling photographs from readers in the region affected by the earthquake and tsunami. The streets in Ishimaki City, Japan, were still flooded on Sunday. The government ordered 100,000 troops to take part in the relief effort "” nearly half the country's…
Egypt Needs a Culture of Tolerance
David Ignatius, Washington Post
