Visual source: Newseum
Juan Cole:
Top Ten Ways that Libya 2011 is Not Iraq 2003
Number 0 is that George W. Bush is not President, with everything that implies.
Eugene Robinson:
Anyone looking for principle and logic in the attack on Moammar Gaddafi’s tyrannical regime will be disappointed. President Obama and his advisers should acknowledge the obvious truth: They are reacting to the revolutionary fervor in the Arab world with the arbitrary “realism” that is a superpower’s prerogative.
Kevin Drum:
I'm not likely to blog very much about Libya, but I have to say there's an air of unreality surrounding a lot of the commentary that's starting to get on my nerves. Criticizing Obama for not consulting Congress is one thing. It's not as if this is some kind of unprecedented break with past practice or anything, but still. I get it.
But the "dithering" complaint? Give me a break. When did it suddenly become a personality defect to decline to intervene in a foreign rebellion the instant it broke out? Isn't there anyone left who appreciates the fact that Obama still retains a few shreds of anti-interventionist instinct and moves in a deliberate fashion?
From the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists:
Japan in focus: A collection of the Bulletin's coverage
As the Bulletin continues to publish erudite analysis and opinion pieces from the world's top experts, these writings will be archived here to create a valuable resource for our readers...
Reflections on Fukushima: A time to mourn, to learn, and to teach
By Robert Socolow | 21 March 2011
Japan faces prolonged anxiety and distress in its quest to find answers to the Fukushima disaster. One answer may be that a conventional back-up system was in the wrong place. There is much to learn.
Fukushima and the Seoul 2012 Nuclear Security Summit
By Duyeon Kim | 20 March 2011
In the wake of Fukushima, it may be time to broaden the scope of the Seoul 2012 Nuclear Security Summit to include safety issues as well as security.
In this nuclear world, what is the meaning of 'safe'?
By Barbara Rose Johnston | 20 March 2011
Before the world's nations refine energy development plans, countries must ensure that one word -- safety -- is not lost in translation.
Facing fears with facts and reason: Managing energy risks after Fukushima
By Thomas Rosenbaum | 20 March 2011
The energy future must take into account the needs of the world's growing population and protect the future viability of the planet. And this does not come without risk.
NPR:
Junichi Moshitate grew up in the town of Minamisoma near the Fukushima nuclear plant and worked faithfully for TEPCO for 18 years as a security guard.
On March 11, he was on duty when the earthquake shook the plant so badly that he fell to the floor on his knees. He just made it out before the tsunami hit. As he has watched the drama at the power plant unfold in the past 10 days, he has become more and more concerned with the way TEPCO has handled it.
"Now I just feel hatred towards TEPCO," he says. "It is very difficult for me to say this since I have worked for them for 18 years. But I just think they should come clean with all the information they have."
Tom Jensen/PPP:
Over the last few weeks we've found that voters in Ohio and Wisconsin have quickly soured on their new Republican Governors, John Kasich and Scott Walker respectively. But Michigan's Rick Snyder wasn't like Kasich and Walker. He campaigned as a moderate and won by 18 points in a state bluer than either Ohio or Wisconsin while his counterparts were just squeaking by in their races. You would think that even if Snyder's popularity has fallen after two months in office it hasn't fallen as far as Kasich and Walker's.
Think again. Snyder actually now has the worst numbers of this new trio of GOP Governors, with only 33% of voters approving of him to 50% who disapprove. And despite his overwhelming victory last fall voters now say that if they could do it over they'd pick Virg Bernero over Snyder by a 47-45 margin. Snyder's current status is definitely emblematic of the adage that the higher you climb the farther you fall.
Leonard Pitts, Jr:
It seems a majority of the American people now favor allowing gay men and lesbians to wed. , , ,
. . . That is cause for celebration.
But lurking at the edge of celebration there is, for me, at least, a nagging, impatient vexation. That vexation is based in what is arguably an esoteric question: In extolling the fact that the majority now approves same sex marriage, do we not also tacitly accept the notion that the majority has the right to judge?
Try to imagine for a moment the consternation upon some woman’s face if a story in the paper announced that “X” percentage of Americans now favors allowing women to work outside the home. Try to picture the brisk dialogue that would ensue if you informed some Jewish man that you now supported his right to practice his religion.