And at LAT, "About (Late) Last Night: Natalie Portman, injured on set, is healthy for Oscar season."
Dr. Johnson's interest in Asia began in 1953, after he graduated with an economics degree from the University of California at Berkeley and became an officer in the Navy aboard a landing ship tank, a shallow-bottomed cargo vessel.The full obituary at the link.
During his wartime service, Dr. Johnson's ship ferried North Korean prisoners back across the demarcation line but often experienced mechanical trouble and was sent to Yokohama, Japan, for repairs.
While waiting for the vessel to be fixed, Dr. Johnson bided his time by learning Japanese and examining the country's culture, economy and longtime turbulent relationship with China.
When he returned to Berkeley in 1955, Dr. Johnson began studying political science and immersed himself in texts related to Asia. For his doctoral thesis, Dr. Johnson explored the rise of the Communist party in China, which he claimed was rooted in a contagious zeitgeist of nationalism shared among much of the country's poor.
To illustrate his point, he compared the rise of Communism in China to that of Yugoslavia shortly after the Germans invaded that eastern European country in World War II, where many peasants became fervently nationalistic and mobilized under the Yugoslav Communist party leadership.
He received a doctorate in 1961 and embarked on a year-long Ford Foundation fellowship in Tokyo. During that time, he revised his thesis and in 1962 it was released as a book - "Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power: The Emergence of Revolutionary China, 1937-1945," - the same year he joined the Berkeley political science faculty.
In 1982, Dr. Johnson released "MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975," where he reported on the Japanese government's control over the country's capitalistic market.
It was in the research to that book that Dr. Johnson said he initially became disillusioned with what he would later term "American imperialism" abroad and would lead him "to see clearly for the first time the shape of the empire that I had so long uncritically supported."
PREVIOUSLY: "Casting the Victoria's Secret Show."
OC's ONLY TEEN MEGA CLUB:Plus:All Club dates will be announced on our home page. There will be specific dates throughout the school year. We become weekly during the summer. Club Starz is an all age dance club geared toward the high school crowd. Club Starz is ages 14-19 only. Club Starz serves absolutely NO ALCOHOL. We do have for purchase soda, water and energy drinks. Playing the hottest in Top 40, Techno, Hip Hop, Electro, progressive, house, remixes and mash-ups. You must present your student ID, driver’s license or passport at the door. Our security staff is on duty inside and outside the club the entire evening. Everyone entering Club Starz is searched by security to ensure safety for everyone. We are open rain or shine.
General Dress Code:As long as it's not a rave.No baggy clothing of any kind
No jerseys
No long t-shirts
No excessive amounts of jewelry
No bandanas, du rags, caps, hoodies
Nothing that supports gang attire
No jersey tank tops
No lingerie
Shoes must be worn at all times.
Full-body scans and aggressive pat-downs now under scrutiny are designed to seek out the explosive powder that was used in several failed terrorist bombings recently, officials say.RELATED: At The Hill, "Next step for body scanners could be trains, boats, metro" (via Memeorandum).
New airport security procedures that have stirred the emotions of air travelers — full-body scans and aggressive pat-downs — were largely designed to detect an explosive powder called PETN, which has been a staple of Al Qaeda bomb makers for nearly a decade.
It was PETN that was molded into the sole of Richard Reid's black high-top sneaker when he walked onto American Airlines Flight 63 bound for Miami in December 2001.
It was PETN that was sewn into the underwear of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, authorities say, when he boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 for Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.
And it was PETN that suspected Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen packed inside computer printer cartridges that were shipped Oct. 28, intending to blow up planes en route to Chicago.
None of the plots succeeded in taking down an aircraft, but top U.S. officials are concerned about fresh indications that Al Qaeda remains determined to get PETN on airplanes by trying to exploit vulnerabilities in passenger and cargo screening.
Not only has the terrorist network acknowledged its role in bomb plots, it is also sharing what it knows about building bombs on the Web and elsewhere.
PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate, presents some vexing problems for security experts. A powder about the consistency of fine popcorn salt, it will not trigger an alarm on a metal detector. Because of its more stable molecules, PETN gives off less vapor, making it more difficult to detect by bomb-sniffing dogs and the trace swabs used by the Transportation Security Administration.
PETN's stability makes it easy to hide and easily transformed. When mixed with rubber cement or putty, it becomes a rudimentary plastic explosive — a baseball-sized amount can blow a hole in an airplane fuselage.
"PETN is hard to detect and lends itself to being concealed," said an intelligence official who was not authorized to speak on the record. "It packs a punch."
With transportation security officers increasingly under fire from some quarters, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Tuesday sent an email to all Transportation Security Administration employees, saying she wanted to "take a moment to personally thank you for the work you are doing to keep the traveling public safe."Meanwhile, at Michelle's, "The no-grope list: Look who gets a junk-touching exemption," and at ABC News, "Airport Pat-Downs: TSA Says it Can Fine You for Backing Out" (via Memeorandum)
"The threats we face in the aviation sector are real and evolving, and we are meeting them with a strong and dynamic response," she said. "Serving on the front lines, you ensure safe and efficient travel for the millions of people who rely on our aviation system every day" ...
"Travelers and the public realize that your job is difficult and demanding," she said. "This holiday season, I am confident you will again demonstrate your commitment to ensuring the safety of the traveling public to everyone who passes through an airport security checkpoint."
She said that as the threats against the United States "continue to evolve, the nation continues to count on you as their last line of defense against terrorism and rely upon you to execute your mission efficiently, professionally and courteously."
North Korea launched a massive artillery barrage on a South Korean island Tuesday, killing two South Korean marines, wounding at least 19 other people and setting more than 60 buildings ablaze in the most serious confrontation since the North's sinking of a South Korean warship in March.RTWT.
South Korea immediately responded with its own artillery fire and put its fighter jets on high alert, bringing the two sides - which technically have remained in a state of war since the Korean armistice in 1953 - close to the brink of a major conflagration.
And from Yonhap News, "Foreign Ministry Accuses N. Korea of Violating Armistice":
South Korea's foreign ministry on Tuesday called North Korea's artillery attack a "clear provocation" that violates multiple agreements between the two nations and instructed all of its overseas missions to be on emergency alert.Also, at WSJ, "North Korea Aggression Sets Major Test for President Obama":
Ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun said Tuesday's attack violates the inter-Korean armistice, the United Nations Charter and other agreements that call for non-aggression between the two sides.
When America wakes up this morning the world will look to Washington and weigh President Obama’s words. For all China’s growing power, and its status as North Korea’s principal supporter, in an international crisis the U.S. president is still in the hot seat. The situation demands a clear-throated response and a robust commitment to support South Korea that the North Korean government and the Chinese hear properly. The alternative, a load of waffling, won’t be taken seriously by the aggressor.Well, I'm not holding my breath.
RELATED: At ABC News, "John F. Kennedy Assassination Still Intrigues, 47 Years Later: New JFK Documentary and Motion Picture Will Probe Grim Day in Dallas."
President Barack Obama does not deserve a second term, American voters say 49 - 43 percent, and he is in a statistical dead heat with possible Republican challengers Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. President Obama leads Sarah Palin 48 - 40 percent.More at the link.
Romney, Huckabee, Palin and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are bunched together when Republican voters are asked who they prefer for the GOP's 2012 presidential nomination, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University survey finds.
Democratic voters say 64 - 27 percent they do not want anyone to challenge President Obama for their party's nomination in 2012.
"The Democratic base remains squarely behind President Barack Obama when it comes to his re-election, but his weakness among independent voters at this point makes his 2012 election prospects uncertain," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
"The demographic splits in the electorate when voters are asked whether the president deserves a second term is a roadmap for his re-election strategists on how they need to focus their appeal. Only 39 percent of men, 34 percent of whites, 35 percent of political independents and 38 percent of those over age 35 think he deserves four more years in the Oval Office."
In trial heats for 2012, former Massachusetts Gov. Romney receives 45 percent to 44 percent for Obama, while the president gets 46 percent to 44 percent for Mr. Huckabee. Matched against Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a virtual unknown to most voters, the president leads 45 - 36 percent.
"At this point, former Alaska Gov. Palin runs the worst against President Obama. Daniels is essentially a generic Republican because of his anonymity to most voters. Obama only gets 45 percent against him while he gets 48 percent against Ms. Palin," said Brown. "She is very unpopular among independents and although she recently said she thought she could defeat Obama, the data does not now necessarily support that assertion."
"Unlike Daniels, who is a political unknown to most Americans, virtually all voters have formed an opinion about Palin and that opinion is not encouraging for her candidacy."
It is important to understand the impact of all this debt. As it grows, interest rates inevitably rise. As they do, the U.S. government's annual interest expense -- the cost of borrowing money -- will rise from one percent of GDP to four percent or more. At that point, interest expense would rival defense expenditures. And it would exceed all domestic discretionary spending, a category that includes spending on infrastructure, education, energy, and agriculture -- in effect, anything other than entitlements and national security. The U.S. Treasury would need to borrow a staggering $5 trillion every single year, both to finance deficits and to refinance maturing debt.More at the link.
Yet the real outlook for deficits and debt is much worse than these forecasts. For one thing, the debt that the United States effectively guarantees but that is not included in official totals is almost equal to the Treasury Department's stated $9 trillion total. In particular, the debt of government-sponsored enterprises is another $8 trillion. The biggest of these are the essentially bankrupt housing finance agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They have been placed into federal conservatorship, and for all practical purposes, their debt is equivalent to U.S. Treasury debt. The American taxpayer stands fully behind it.
State and local governments also owe huge amounts, on the order of $3 trillion. And again, Washington indirectly stands behind much or all of it. This sector is deeply distressed, with the largest state, California, recently issuing IOUs. Moreover, many state and municipal pension systems use an antiquated pay-as-you-go funding approach, which has left them underfunded by another $1 trillion.
The post-2020 fiscal outlook is downright apocalyptic, for two reasons. First, the aging of the U.S. population will drive sharp increases in health care costs (and at the same time, more Americans will be retired). Second, federal interest expense will rise exponentially, as the Treasury's borrowing costs grow with the debt. The Congressional Budget Office projects that official federal debt (excluding government-sponsored enterprises) could hit 110 percent of GDP by 2025 and 180 percent by 2035. Adjusting these forecasts for the inevitably slower growth that would accompany such quickly rising debt levels means hitting those stratospheric ratios sooner.
Why is this scenario so dangerous? One reason is that a large amount of federal borrowing would eat up the stock of private capital that is available to finance investment. A higher and higher percentage of personal savings would be diverted to purchasing government debt and away from productivity-enhancing investments in equipment and technology. This would shrink the base of productive capital and flatten GDP and family incomes. As more and more debt piled up, growth would slow and Americans' standard of living would fall.
In addition, interest expense would become so large as to crowd out whole categories of federal spending. Budgets for research, education, and infrastructure, to name but three examples, would inevitably decline in inflation-adjusted terms. Washington's capacity to respond to domestic crises, such as the recent recession, would also fade. All of this would further undermine families' incomes.
You know, I've about had it up to here with the MSM worship of Warren Buffett. With all due respect to an arch-capitalist who's made a considerable pile with his investment philosophy, Buffett is yet another lifelong Democrat who blindly supports creeping socialism without a clue as to how destructive it is. He's sort of like George Soros in sheep's clothing.Via Memeorandum.
More dancing, and beauties, at YankeePhil, "Well it is Sunday, so it is time for Rule 5 Shameless Plugging."
I enjoyed Taylor Swift --- and she's got a hot makeover --- but follow the link for the grade.Katy Perry, "Firework." Like the pyrotechnic toys the song takes its name from, Perry's AMA take is all bombast, no substance. All the cliches needed for a big-event moment were here. Gaggle of singing children? Check (Hey, she can be serious, too! It's not all skimpy outfits and giant fruit). String section? You betcha! At least she didn't sing that "Peacock" thing. D
