Morning Reads

Good morning! On this date in 1901, Connecticut enacted the first speed limit in America — 12 mph in towns and 15 mph on country roads. In ’27, Charles Lindbergh landed in Paris after completing the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight in history. Exactly five years later, Amelia Earhart became the second pilot, and the first woman, to accomplish the feat.

Stat of the day: 28 percent — the share of tea partiers who say they “trust scientists as a source of information about environmental issues,” according to a new poll. That was less than half the rate for Republicans who don’t identify with the tea party movement.

Reprieve… for now –> Early this morning, Justice Samuel Alito stayed the execution of a Missouri death row inmate who’s suffering from serious health problems that his lawyers say would make it more likely that he would die a grueling death. Lindsey Bever has the story at WaPo.

Hollow victory? –> The conventional wisdom is that the GOP “establishment” crushed the tea party in several closely watched primaries last night, but Salon’s Jim Newell writes that in order to do so the “establishment” candidates adopted every tea party position there is. So in reality, he argues, there really is no “establishment.”

Dark clouds on the horizon –> Is the prolonged economic pain resulting from Europe’s misguided austerity policies fueling the rise of Eurofascism? Robert Kuttner sounds the alarm at HuffPo.

Not just the Western Antarctic –> A week after two studies found the Western Antarctic ice sheet in a state of collapse, a new study suggests that Greenland’s ice sheet is also melting rapidly. Joe Romm has the bad news at ThinkProgress. ALSO: Nate Cohn writes at the NYT that there’s a 75 percent likelihood of a hot El Niño event this fall, which he says could not only “bring devastating droughts to Australia or heavy rains to the southern United States,” but might also alter the political debate.

One-a-day –> On Monday, a federal judge ruled that Oregon’s ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional and yesterday Pennsylvania’s ban was struck down. The frosting on this one is that the judge was recommended for the bench by Rick Santorum and appointed by George W. Bush — and he cited Antonin Scalia heavily in his decision.

No lunch for city kids –> At TPM, Josh Marshall wonders why it’s not bigger news that the GOP took a pilot program that gives poor kids free lunches when school is out for the summer and made it available only in rural areas.

Drones –> The Justice Department announced that it would release a redacted copy of the memo justifying drone strikes against US citizens overseas in advance of the Senate confirmation hearing for David Barron, the Obama judicial nominee who wrote the memo. Nedra Pickler reports for the AP.

Not loving your cable overlords –> At BGR, Brad Reed reports that “among all businesses across every industry, Comcast and Time Warner Cable are the two most hated companies in America.” ALSO: According to Chris Morran at The Consumerist, the price of a basic cable package increased four times faster than inflation in 2012. And it wasn’t an aberration — between 1995 and 2013, cable rates increased by 6.1 percent annually, while the cost of living went up by 2.4 percent.

The next fight over the safety net –> WaPo’s Greg Sargent reports that Republicans are likely to target Social Security’s disability insurance fund, and Democrats may answer with a call to expand Social Security rather than cut it.

Visiting one of the most dangerous places on earth” –> CNN’s Will Ripley tours the “red zone” at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Stop meddling –> The Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity is trying to scuttle a broadly supported settlement deal that would end a ten-month impasse over Detroit’s pension obligations to its retired public workers, according to David Eggert at TPM.

Dream job –> Over 100,000 people reportedly have applied to be nanny for a bunch of adorable baby pandas in China.

Don’t forget that you can get our Morning Reads delivered to your inbox every weekday! Just enter your email address below…

  • submit to reddit