Inequality is Holding Back the Recovery: “[T]he hollowing out of the middle class since the 1970s, a phenomenon interrupted only briefly in the 1990s, means that they are unable to invest in their future, by educating themselves and their children and by starting or improving businesses.” [Joseph E. Stiglitz in The New York Times]
Clinic owner Diane Derzis stands outside the Jackson Women's Health Organization Inc., Mississippis only commercial abortion clinic in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. Activists pro-and anti-abortion marked 40 years since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling established a nationwide right to abortion, with protests at the Capitol and at the clinic. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Visit the Tiny Town Where Big Coal Will Meet Its Fate: “The Port of Morrow, where coal would be transferred from inland trains onto outbound river barges in the small town of Boardman, is just one of five proposed new coal export terminals now under consideration in Oregon and Washington. If built, the terminals could more than double the amount of coal the US ships overseas, most of it bound for insatiable markets in China, India, South Korea, and a suite of other Asian nations.” [Mother Jones]
Prancing on a Volcano: “Today we know almost everything, but can’t seem to act on the knowledge or even take it seriously. As George Orwell famously observed, ‘To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.’ Geospatial satellites can tell us—literally—where we are at any moment, but they can’t ensure that we move in a sensible direction.” [Vanity Fair]
For Second-Term Presidents, a Shorter Honeymoon: “[I]t used to be that presidents enjoyed a “honeymoon period” at the beginning of their second term, with a large number of Americans who had failed to vote for them nevertheless expressing their best wishes.” [Nate Silver in The New York Times]
