Good morning…
Thirty years ago today, the world awoke to the worst industrial disaster in human history. Overnight, 40 metric tons of methyl isocyanate had been released from storage tanks at a Union Carbide facility in Bhopal, India. Over a half-million people were exposed; the official death toll was around 5,300, but activists claim that closer to 25,000 people died of complications from the exposure over the following years.
Bhopal: an ongoing disaster –> Danish Siddiqui and Nita Bhalla report for Reuters that human rights activists say that “the toxic legacy of this factory lives on… as thousands of tons of hazardous waste remains buried underground, slowly poisoning the drinking water of more than 50,000 people and affecting their health.” AND: The Australian Broadcasting Company reports that activists are still fighting for compensation for the victims. AND: AJA recalls when Dow Chemicals, which bought Union Carbide, hired a private intelligence company to spy on American activists seeking to highlight the plight of the Bhopal victims. ALSO: The Atlantic has some vivid images from the aftermath of the disaster.
Drew the short straw –> Obama has selected Ashton Carter, a physicist and historian, to serve as his new secretary of defense. Several other potential candidates had made it clear that they wouldn’t take what many people see as a thankless job that will likely require getting through a brutal confirmation hearing. Helene Cooper and Mark Landler report for the NYT.
Ray of light –> The Iraqi government has struck a deal with the semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government to share oil revenues. Dan Murphy reports for The Christian Science Monitor that the deal ends a divisive, long-running dispute.
New Cold War –> Military.com reports that the Pentagon plans to boost its “armored presence in Poland and the Baltic states and keep rotations of US troops there through next year and possibly beyond to counter Russia.”
Confirming what everyone knew –> In a moment of candor, Mitch McConnell acknowledged that the latest legal challenge to Obamacare is an attempt to use the courts to repeal a law that the legislature is unable to kill. WaPo’s Greg Sargent has the story.
Dueling videos –> An African-American man in Michigan posted a video he made when he was stopped by a police officer and questioned about why he he had his hands in his pockets. The video went viral, and was viewed three million times. But the cop also recorded the incident, and his superiors say the full video tells a different story. Kate Abbey-Lambertz has the he said-she said at HuffPo.
Base radicalization –> At TAP, Paul Waldman argues that while much has been said about the ideological movement of Republican lawmakers in recent years, polls show that rank-and-file Republican voters have also moved sharply to the right during the Obama administration.
Related –> MoJo’s David Corn writes that for Oklahoma’s James Inhofe, who will chair the Senate Environmental Committee next year, global warming is a grand conspiracy orchestrated by Barbra Streisand and other “Hollywood liberals.”
“Genetics’ embarrassing, cranky old uncle” –> James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA, has been shunned by his scientific peers after making a series of blatantly racist and sexist statements. Laura Helmuth reports for Slate that now, “in a fit of pique and self-pity, Watson is selling his Nobel Prize medallion.” He will be the first person to do so.
Better late than never? –> Cristina Marcos at The Hill: “House passes bill to end benefits for Nazis.”
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