Things to Know - 4 May

1.  This article from Truthout may take you some time to read...but READ IT.  It is the revelation of all of the stories, faked information, CIA leaks, and political posturing done in the identification of Osama Bin Laden's location and demise.   It is important to read, so that we can perhaps understand what is going on, and what went on.   Of particular note is that it appears that Bin Laden, for almost the last 10 years, was put out to pasture by his colleagues and placed in an assisted living in environment in Abbottabad, and letting him still think he was in charge.   This story reads like the beginning of a screen play for a fascinating spy thriller:

http://truth-out.org/news/item/8866-finding-bin-laden-the-truth-behind-the-official-story?tmpl=component&print=1

2.  If there is an America in decline it may be because there is a confusing and convoluted perspective on what is dangerous, or politically correct.   The Republicans exemplify this weird piece of evidence:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/water-guns-banned-handguns-allowed-at-gop-convention/

3.  Here's some other news items covered by Thom Hartmann:

http://truth-out.org/news/item/8894-on-the-news-with-thom-hartmann-big-corporate-money-is-heating-up-in-wisconsin?tmpl=component&print=1

4.  As you may know, some of America's leading and "elite" universities are now beginning to get into offering courses over the Internet.   David Brooks offers his opinion.   I guess you drop a course by hitting the Delete Key:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/opinion/brooks-the-campus-tsunami.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

5.  An excellent opinion by Paul Krugman.  The "economic depression" we are experiencing right now is headed for a double-dip or an extension, but not by a rehash of the same problems.   It is because of the public policy and inaction of the extremist fringe of the Republican Party.   Is it possible that a Milton Friedman of yesteryear would be looked upon as a Keynesian today?:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/opinion/krugman-plutocracy-paralysis-perplexity.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print:

6.  Timothy Egan supplement's the view above, but in a different tone.  Timothy does not have a Pulitzer Prise:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/do-nothings-and-know-nothings/?pagemode=print

7.  Here is a view into the life of a refugee of the gutter of the Tenderloin District in San Francisco.  Some of the grit of his experience comes through on how he got to where he was, how he got out, and where he is today.  It is a good story about the life of one person in a great city:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tenderloin-20120504,0,5449997,print.story

--
Juan

"I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known." 
       --Walt Disney

"It's not a matter of whether or not someone's watching over you. It's just a question of their intentions." 
       -- Randy K. Milholland

"By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity. Another man's, I mean." 
       -- Mark Twain

"The scientific name for an animal that doesn't either run from or fight its enemies is lunch." 
       -- Michael Friedman

"Famous remarks are very seldom quoted correctly." 
       -- Simeon Strunsky