Good morning! It’s National Day in Vietnam, where they’re commemorating their 1945 declaration of independence from France.
Global war –> US forces struck al-Shabab militants in Somalia on Monday. James Rosen reports for McClatchy that details of the attack are limited at this time.
Floodgates opened –> WaPo’s Matea Gold reports that in the wake of the Supreme Court’s McCutcheon decision striking down individual limits on campaign donations, “more than 300 donors have seized the opportunity, writing checks at such a furious pace that they have exceeded the old limit of $123,200 for this election cycle.” Gold adds that “wealthy political contributors have more access than ever to candidates since the ruling.”
That was fast –> “Former House majority leader Eric Cantor is joining a Wall Street investment bank as vice chairman and managing director,” WaPo’s Fred Barbash writes. The firm, Moelis & Co., is a 500-employee “boutique” that advises on mergers, acquisition and risk. Based in New York, it is planning to open a Washington office.
Tragic neglect –> At The Daily Beast, Monica Potts writes about how America has utterly failed the mentally ill.
Counterspin –> Slate’s Phil Plait, with a long, tired sigh, knocks down global warming deniers’ latest tale — that Arctic ice is “recovering.”
“Land grab” –> Chaim Levinson reports for Ha’aretz that the US State Department has condemned the Israeli government’s decision to take over 988 acres of land belonging to five Palestinian villages in the West Bank as “counterproductive.”
New Cold War –> Ewen MacAskill reports for The Guardian that NATO will “create a 4,000-strong ‘spearhead’ high-readiness force that can be deployed rapidly in eastern Europe and the Baltic states to help protect member nations against potential Russian aggression.”
Cruel and unusual –> At Reason, Aaron Malin interviews a Missouri man serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling marijuana — a victim of the state’s three-strike law. Malin describes him as a “working class guy with a small side gig as a low-level pot dealer. He never hurt anyone, never brandished a weapon, and never sold to children.”
“Living wage surcharges and the nickel-and-diming of America” –> At Salon, Peter Lawrence Kane lays out how “corporations and the right hope to make America hate” the minimum wage.
The power of mental pictures –> Britt Peterson writes in The Chronicle of Higher Education that “metaphor studies” — which provided the insight that we judge political issues according to subconscious moral frameworks, rather than the details — are going strong.
The plan –> At In These Times, Julie Kushner and Rafael Navar look at the strategy behind the Working Families Party.
The ultimate sacrifice –> In July, Russia launched five geckos into outer space to help scientists understand how a zero-gravity environment might impact sexual reproduction. We’re sorry to inform you that all five of them perished during the arduous mission. Via: Wired.
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