Tuesday: 6/18/13

Immigration

The Overview

Why both parties want immigration reform.  "While politics is zero-sum competition, policy isn’t ... The Democratic Party’s long-term prospects matter less to Obama than burnishing his legacy and resolving a knotty problem in American life ... Now, if a bill passes, the credit will surely be shared, and Democrats will probably get the bigger half, since their guy is the one who gets to sign the bill ... It’s conceivable that a successful bill could strengthen ... the Democrats’ standing in the Latino community. But Republicans have to do something to rehabilitate their standing with Latino voters, or they’re sunk. And ... comprehensive immigration reform is the straightest shot Republicans have."  Jonathan Chait at New York Magazine.

A guide to immigration reform and federal benefits.  Dylan Matthews at Wonkblog.

Immigration reform smacks into fights from the healthcare battles of 2009. "The Congressional Hispanic Caucus was emphatic that illegal immigrants should be included when the landmark health care bill was being negotiated in 2009. But the White House and Democratic leaders said it was not the right time and health care would be taken care of when immigration was overhauled. Now ... Hispanic lawmakers are again being told that now is not the time. Barring a dramatic change of course, neither the bipartisan Senate bill nor a bipartisan House measure that’s now being crafted would help millions of uninsured, illegal immigrants get health insurance."  Dena Bunis at Roll Call.

The fiscal benefits.  "The CBO’s score of the Gang of Eight immigration reform bill is out and it’s very positive. While the bill increases spending by $262 billion over 10 years, it increases revenue by $459 billion, for a deficit reduction of $197 billion in total. Additionally, it projects $690 billion in deficit reduction in the second decade of implementation, from 2024 to 2033."  Ezra Klein at Wonkblog.

The House

It all rides on Boehner.  "Which is why, ultimately, the question that really matters is WWJBD? What will John Boehner do? ... The question then is whether Boehner is open to bringing that legislation to the House floor even if a majority of House Republicans don’t want to vote for it. Anonymous sources tell the Washington Examiner that Boehner would never do such a thing, but the speaker himself has been more equivocal in public, and the truth is he probably doesn’t know what he will or won’t do this far in advance — it’ll depend on how the politics look, and how his members feel, in the endgame. But that’s the question that most in the Senate and in the House think really matters."  Evan Soltas at Wonkblog.

On immigration and the Hastert rule.  Ezra Klein at Wonkblog.

Conservatives in the House are scared that Boehner won't take their side. "Rep. Dana Rohrabacher ... warned Speaker John Boehner ... would face a conference revolt that could threaten his Speakership if he allows a House vote on the immigration bill presently being debated in the Senate. Conservatives have been pressuring Boehner to adhere to the unwritten 'Hastert Rule' ... that says no bill should come to the House floor unless it has the backing of a majority of a chamber's majority party. Rohrabacher said if Boehner moves forward with a vote on immigration reform without a Republican majority, it would be a 'betrayal' of his party."  Jonathan Easley at the Hill.

So the leadership has to get the members on their side.  "Republicans on and off the Hill say Boehner ... Eric Cantor, and ... Kevin McCarthy all want to do something on immigration ... So House leaders have been meeting privately with members, making the case that inaction on immigration will be more costly than doing something. Weeks into the debate, it remains a hard sell among reform opponents, particularly members who do not want to offer citizenship ... It’s a hard argument to win."  Chris Frates at the National Journal.

Which means House Republicans have to be able to vote against the bill, while still wanting it to pass.  "The truth is that it’s fairly hard to see any majority for action on immigration in the House except for a mostly-Democrats bill similar to what the Senate is doing ... If something is going to pass, it will have to be over the votes of most House Republicans — but that it will only happen if some of them want a bill as long as they don’t have to vote for it."  Jonathan Bernstein at the Washington Post.

The Senate

Dems in the Senate still can't agree on how many votes they need.  "The 70-vote strategy has splintered Senate Democratic leaders, with Durbin and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) seeking to focus on securing 60 votes — enough to defeat a GOP filibuster — and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a leader of the Gang of Eight, pushing for a vote tally north of 70. Durbin and Reid fear the bill will be yanked too far to the right to run up the vote total. But Schumer — as well as other Gang members like Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) – want overwhelming passage in the Senate to enact more pressure on the GOP-led House on immigration reform."  Seung Min Kim + Video at Politico.

Rubio's incentive to sabotage the bill.  "If Rubio does want to run for president ... with the intensely nativist GOP caucus-goers of Iowa, it’s hard to imagine that signing-ceremony moment with Barack Obama serving as anything other than his political death warrant ... John McCain himself might have never survived his championship of immigration reform when he ran for president in 2008 had the 2007 bill actually been signed into law by George W. Bush. Substituting “Obama” for “Bush” in the equation makes the peril involved immensely larger, and thus makes Rubio a likely subversive in the final stages of the current legislation."  Ed Kilgore at the Washington Monthly.

Elections

2014

Usually open House seats end in close races.  Maybe not in 2014.  "Open seats are supposed to be opportunities. Without longtime incumbents on the ballot, these districts should be easier to takeover. But six months into the 2014 cycle, that just isn’t the case on the House side. So far, there are 10 districts slated to be open seats because the member is running for higher office or retiring in 2014. Either President Barack Obama or Mitt Romney won all of them with at least 55 percent last year."  Nathan Gonzales at the Rothenberg Political Report.

Senate math looks good for Republicans in 2014.  But they still have problems to overcome.  "All of these mathematical opportunities for Republicans are just theoretical unless the GOP recruits and nominates good candidates, a problem that plagued the party the 2010 and 2012 cycles, and begins to cut into its lack of support among minority, younger, female, and moderate voters. In 2010, a great Republican year, the GOP lost five of the seven Senate seats The Cook Political Report rated as Toss-Ups ... and also lost eight of the 10 Toss-Ups in 2012—providing a sobering counterpoint to the argument of extensive Democratic exposure."  Charlie Cook at the National Journal.

2014 - Alaska

Alaska Lt. Governor to challenge Sen. Begich.  "The Republican Lt. Governor of Alaska has thrown his hat into the ring and will challenge Senator Mark Begich in 2014 ... Treadwell begins the race as perhaps the favorite to face Begich in the general election, though he is expected to face primary opposition ... The question will be how he’ll fare against a Tea Party favorite like Miller, who managed to beat incumbent Lisa Murkowski in the GOP Primary in 2010 before ultimately losing to her write-in bid in the General Election. Assuming Miller actually does run, this will be an interesting primary race to watch."  Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway.

2014 - Florida

Current Republican Gov. Rick Scott trailing former Republican-turned-Democrat Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida polling.  "Of the Republican elected Governor in the GOP wave election of 2010, Florida’s Rick Scott has been among the most vulnerable thanks in no small part to a number of unpopular decisions on his part and the prospect that former Governor Charlie Crist will end up running against him in 2014. According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, Scott’s numbers have improved somewhat but he continues to trail his predecessor by double digits."  Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway.

2016

The NSA revelations are creating divisions in the Democratic party and new complications for presidential contenders.  "Revelations about the Obama administration’s expansive domestic surveillance programs have opened a chasm between Democratic elected officials and their progressive base — one that could be tricky for the party’s future presidential hopefuls to bridge. Have Democratic voters become more accepting of surveillance tactics after blasting them during the Bush administration? Or could this become the 2016 version of the 2008 Democratic Party brawl over who voted for the Iraq War? ... It is too soon to say."  Maggie Haberman at Politico.

Rubio is putting himself in a good position.  "Rubio's push on immigration reform is going to get him some insider credit ... Most donors like Rubio's new role. He's also bound to win plaudits from the GOP establishment in the Senate ... Overall, this is definitely the correct move for a person who might otherwise be seen as too 'outsidery' ... Immigration reform has the additional advantage of being seen as a moderating force ... At the same time, Rubio can point to other issues where he is an outsider conservative, such as the debt ceiling. Rubio is proving, perhaps, that he knows how to balance the wings of his party correctly."  Harry Enten at the Guardian.

Rick 'Oops' Perry is back.  "His latest decisions—including a string of more than two dozen vetoes—seems to only further confirm what most Texas insiders have been saying for months: Perry is paving the way for a second act and a second bid for the White House. And he’s not moving toward the center. The series of votoes has placed him clearly on the right and in a position to play to a national audience."  Abby Rapoport at the American Prospect.

Miscellaneous

Colorado's recall elections are part of a broader trend of partisanship.  "Several state legislators in Colorado are currently facing the threat of a recall election. This is happening not because of any alleged criminal or immoral activity on their parts ... Rather, it’s because they voted for several gun control restrictions earlier this year, and that made gun rights activists mad ... If you’re thinking that recall elections have become more commonplace lately, you’re entirely right ... The recall ... is one of those rarely-used political tools that suddenly becomes commonplace during a period of intense partisanship."  Seth Masket at Pacific Standard Magazine.

SCOTUSwatch

Affirmative Action

Why America still needs affirmative action.  "In a merit-based system, family ties shouldn’t matter ... But ... Americans tend to follow the earnings paths of their parents ... For folks who start out in the cellar of U.S. society, even climbing up to the parlor level is quite a feat, and one that, these days, often demands a college education. That is why the Texas case is so important ... Schools in poor areas tend to be worse than their counterparts in rich areas, and that, in general, their students get lower test scores. Here was a way to address that reality, while, at the same time, rewarding merit, ambition, and hard work."  John Cassidy at the New Yorker.

Big Pharma

Good news on pharmaceuticals.  "Pharmaceutical companies that pay rivals to keep less-expensive generic versions of best-selling drugs off the market can expect greater federal scrutiny after a Supreme Court ruling on Monday. In a 5-to-3 vote, the justices effectively said that the Federal Trade Commission can sue pharmaceutical companies for potential antitrust violations, a decision that is likely to increase the number of generic drugs in the marketplace and benefit consumers."  Edward Wyatt at the New York Times.

Fifth Amendment

A bad decision on the Fifth Amendment.  "The court ruled that a suspect’s failure to answer a police officer’s questions before an arrest may be used against the suspect at trial ... Justice Stephen G. Breyer, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, said allowing 'a prosecutor to comment on a defendant’s constitutionally protected silence would put that defendant in an impossible predicament.' Mr. Salinas’s choice, Justice Breyer wrote, was 'between incrimination through speech and incrimination through silence.'"  Adam Liptak at the New York Times.

Same Sex Marriage

Fears of a same-sex marriage backlash are overblown.  "Fears that a pro-marriage equality ruling at the Supreme Court in the next two weeks might provoke a public backlash against LGBT Americans are unfounded, according to a new analysis by a group of political scientists ... These results held among both evangelicals and Americans who were 'dissatisfied' with the direction of the country, two of the groups most likely to backlash against a court ruling ... Historical experience backs up the scholars’ finding. Support for marriage equality in Massachusetts and Iowa did not drop off and, according to most polling, continued to increase after each state’s court ruled in favor of equality."  Zack Beauchamp at Think Progress.

Voting Rights

States may not have 'proof of citizenship' requirements for voting.  "States may not require additional proof of citizenship on federal forms designed to streamline voter-registration procedures, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. The court rejected a requirement passed by Arizona voters in 2004 that potential voters supply proof of eligibility beyond an applicant’s oath on the federal form that he or she is a citizen."  Robert Barnes at the Washington Post.

Miscellaneous

Inside the mind of Clarence Thomas. "Justice Clarence Thomas followed his ... originalism in Alleyne v. U.S. ... in holding that a fact that increases a defendant’s mandatory minimum sentence must be found true by the jury, not by the judge alone. Just a few minutes earlier, however ... Thomas had provided the deciding vote in Salinas v. Texas, arguing that a defendant’s exercising the right to remain silent can be used by the prosecutor to argue to the jury that silence is evidence of guilt. From a policy perspective, these two opinions ... make no sense. The only way to reconcile them is to enter the mind of Justice Thomas, in which the court’s job is to bring us back to the nation’s founding." Noah Feldman at Bloomberg.

Headdesk. "Monday marked the first time ever that Bush v. Gore was cited by a Supreme Court justice in an opinion since the controversial 2000 decision ... Justice Clarence Thomas cited the case in his dissent in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council, a case involving a voting law in Arizona ... Some scholars have argued that the lack of Supreme Court citation of the major case is evidence that it was based on shoddy legal reasoning. Blackman, who calls Bush v. Gore an "unprecedent," quoted a famous line from the 2000 majority opinion saying the jurisprudence was "limited to the present circumstances, for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities."  Sahil Kapur at Talking Points Memo.

Politics

Abortion

Stunts to please the base pass as lawmaking.  "House Republicans will spend the day approving the most restrictive anti-abortion bill considered in Congress in the last decade, even though they have many reasons not to. The bill won't be signed into law; it's unconstitutional; and it badly undermines the GOP's flailing "rebranding" campaign, while further alienating women voters. So why bother? Because ... 'Republican leaders acknowledge that its purpose is to satisfy vocal elements of their base." And apparently, that's all that matters -- the base is a beast that must be fed, even if it's a pointless vanity exercise, and even if it undermines the party's interests.'"  Steve Benen at Maddowblog.

DOD

Pentagon says women in all combat units by 2016.  "The Pentagon unveiled plans Tuesday for fully integrating women into front-line and special combat roles, including elite forces such as Army Rangers and Navy SEALs ... Women are permitted to serve in some hazardous jobs and did so in Iraq and Afghanistan where a number were killed. But it wasn't until January that then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta formally lifted the official ban on women in combat. Top leadership embraced the overall concept and goal of completing the change by January 2016."  CNN.

Drones

The states take on drones. "Domestic drone privacy bills have been introduced in a majority of state legislatures this year. On Friday, Gov. Rick Perry’s signature made Texas at least the sixth state to regulate drone use. Illinois will become the seventh if Gov. Pat Quinn signs the bill that’s now on his desk ... Bills in Florida, Montana, Tennessee and Virginia, as well as the pending Illinois bill, focus on drone surveillance by law enforcement. Most bills prohibit images gathered with drones from being used in court, and some prohibit ... public agencies from using drones altogether. In contrast, Idaho and Texas have passed bills that regulate drone surveillance by public and private parties."  Timothy Lee at Wonkblog.

The status of the drone bills in the states.  Allie Bohm at the ACLU.

The Economy

The negative impacts of welfare reform.  "Welfare reform is pretty popular. A Rasmussen poll last July found that 83 percent of American adults favor the work requirement placed on welfare by the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, commonly known as the welfare reform law ... But it’s not that simple. Indeed, the health consequences of the change, a new study suggests, are potentially quite large, and quite negative ... Welfare reform increases mortality among recipients, reducing life expectancy by about nine months."  Dylan Matthews at Wonkblog.

Unpaid internships and economic fairness.  "This sort of intrusion in the marketplace is precisely what government should do to regulate commerce ... An unregulated market that permits employers to take work for free ... has a dramatic, and unfair, effect. There are three actors ... employers (who want low labor costs), interns (who will work for free), and workers who need money ... Employers and interns have joined forces ... to the economic disadvantage of workers ... Paid entry-level work is scarcer, and some workers lose out. The ones who can't afford to work for free lose out on the training and networking that unpaid interns enjoy. Judge Pauley said that isn't fair and it isn't legal."  Cullen Seltzer at Slate.

The economy and education.  "Things are looking grim for young Americans starting work. According to a new report on the state of US education from the Council on Foreign Relations, Americans going into the labor force today are less educated than those retiring from it. This phenomenon is unique among developed countries. For 55- to 64-year-olds, the US has the highest percentage of high-school graduates and the third-highest percentage of college graduates; in people aged 25 to 34, the country is 10th and 13th respectively."  Lauren Alix Brown at Quartz.

Farm Bill

FBI

Interesting trend.  "'The F.B.I. takes very seriously any shooting incidents involving our agents, and as such we have an effective, time-tested process for addressing them internally,' a bureau spokesman said. But if such internal investigations are time-tested, their outcomes are also predictable: from 1993 to early 2011, F.B.I. agents fatally shot about 70 'subjects' and wounded about 80 others — and every one of those episodes was deemed justified ... The last two years have followed the same pattern: an F.B.I. spokesman said that since 2011, there had been no findings of improper intentional shootings."  Charlie Savage and Michael Schmidt at the New York Times.

Filibuster Fights

Empty threats.  "Harry Reid has been threatening to change the Senate rules on nominations, so that a minority ... can’t prevent a president from filling vacancies in the judiciary or his own administration ... If Reid does that, whenever McConnell gets the majority, he’ll change the rules to allow a straight majority rule on everything ... McConnell is trying to scare Democrats into preserving an arrangement that ... gives his party more power ... There’s zero evidence that Senate Democrats ... have the internal party discipline to deploy those kinds of hardball tactics. They’re being asked to preserve minority powers that are used against them but that they’ll never use. It’s a really easy choice."  Jonathan Chait at New York Magazine.

Foreign Policy

US/Taliban/Afghanistan peace talks.  "The U.S. will have its first formal meeting with the Taliban in more than a year over the next couple of days in Doha, which will be followed by a Taliban meeting with the Afghan High Peace Council, the White House announced Tuesday. The news of the coming U.S.-Taliban meetings followed an announcement by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that the peace process will be led by the Afghan government—and will move to Afghanistan following an undetermined number of initial rounds of talks to be held in Doha, the capital of the Gulf island nation of Qatar, near Saudi Arabia, where the Taliban has a representative office."  Josh Rogin at the Daily Beast.

Senator Corker blocks aid to Afghanistan.  "Until the Obama administration explains the rationale behind the payments, the Afghan government will have to go without $75 million in American aid. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, announced Monday that he was putting a hold on the aid until the White House offered 'sufficient assurances' that the bags of cash being delivered to Mr. Karzai by the C.I.A. were not fueling the corruption that pervades the Afghan government."  Matthew Rosenberg at the New York Times.

Rouhani's election doesn't guarantee US-Iran nuclear talks.  "After the surprise victory this weekend of Hassan Rowhani—the most moderate candidate given permission to run—the administration says it’s eager to return to negotiations with Iran. But that doesn’t mean the Obama administration is ready to ease pressure on the Iranian regime, let alone cut a deal with it ... Obama said the elections showed 'the Iranian people want to move in a different direction,' but he said that sanctions 'will not be lifted in the absence of significant steps' demonstrating 'that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon.'"  Carla Anne Robbins at Bloomberg.

GOP

A party facing demographic doom.  "The lesson for the Republican Party is sobering: A political coalition being stretched is at risk of being shattered. For the GOP — beating against heavy demographic and generational tides — the attempt to modernize is unavoidable. In the next few elections, the ebb might be overcome with just the right presidential candidate, in just the right political circumstance. But in the long run, Republicans are borne away from power. There won’t be enough white and gray voters to win national elections."  Michael Gerson at the Washington Post.

Bobby Jindal: The Republican Party's problem.  "Jindal has gone from diagnosing what’s wrong with the Republican Party to personifying it. The GOP’s problem ... it insults its own intelligence. It’s come up with a theory of liberal governance that has obviated the need for a theory of conservative governance ... Jindal is proposing a variant of that exact same mistake ... Jindal’s come up with a ridiculous caricature of liberalism and is assuming its failures will win the country back for conservatism ... That’s how the GOP becomes the stupid party: Republican Party elites like Jindal convince Republican Party activists of things that aren’t true."  Ezra Klein at Wonkblog.

Guns

The ATF Director fight continues.  "The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate is readying legislation aimed at pressuring the gun lobby to endorse the confirmation of a permanent Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) director. The bill being crafted by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin ... would allow for the ATF’s functions to be shifted to another agency, such as the FBI, effectively bypassing the need for the Senate to confirm a director of the embattled bureau ... President Obama’s nominee to fill the position ... acting Director B. Todd Jones, is currently making his way through confirmation proceedings ... but has come up against stiff Republican opposition." Jordy Yager at the Hill.

Health

Ezra Klein and Avik Roy discuss the Affordable Care Act.  Wonkblog.

IRS

Can we be done with this yet?  "Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have just released a full transcript of testimony from a key witness in the investigation of IRS targeting of conservatives — and it appears to confirm that the initial targeting did originate with a low-level employee in the Cincinnati office. It also shows a key witness and IRS screening manager – a self described conservative Republican — denying any communication with the White House or senior IRS officials about the targeting."  Greg Sargent at the Plum Line.

NASA

Half of NASA's 8 new astronauts are women.  "NASA named eight new astronaut candidates today from a pool of more than 6,000 applicants - the second-largest applicant pool in NASA history. Four of those eight astronauts are women -- the highest percentage ever selected by NASA."  Lee Roop at All Alabama.

NSA

Despite Snowden's personal politics, espionage isn't going away.  "One of the strange and discomforting things about the current Snowden sensation ... is the specter of a younger generation that finds any espionage intrinsically illegitimate and immoral. Here we have the fusing of techno-utopianism and an Assange-like belief that any state secrecy is unacceptable: in all, a strange brew of naivete and nihilism. The historical truth, of course, is that states have been performing espionage as long as there have been anything like states ... States have regarded espionage ... as core state business for millennia ... Espionage is not going away anytime soon."  John Schindler at the XX Committee.

Let's get something straight - there's a big difference between Obama and Bush.  "s far as we know right now, the Obama administration has complied with the law. The Bush administration ignored the law. I know that some of you are going to call this Obama apologetics, but you know what? I don't care, and you're placing your own smug certainty about the alleged indistinguishable evil of systems above the facts. You should acknowledge that this is an actual factual difference, and an important one."  Michael Tomasky at the Daily Beast.

NSA pushback continues.  "The National Security Agency surveillance programs made public this month have helped foil more than 50 terrorist plots since Sept. 11, including one to blow up the New York Stock Exchange, top intelligence officials told Congress on Tuesday."  Eric McClam at NBC.

President Obama

The dip in Obama's approval should reverse itself soon. "The president’s approval rating has dipped, probably because of the NSA surveillance revelations or the accumulated effect of supposed or actual scandals ... The question is whether the recent drop presages a long-term decline in the president’s credibility, or if the president’s approval ratings should be expected to recover. Without additional bad news, a recovery seems likelier ... Without additional revelations, what’s going to keep the NSA controversy alive? My hunch: nothing, just like the controversies that preceded it."  Nate Cohn at the New Republic.

International

Global

The WHO goes after junk food.  "The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday sharply criticized the food industry’s decision to market its unhealthy products to children, saying that strategy has been 'disastrously effective' at fueling the global obesity epidemic. The United Nations health agency called for tighter regulation in this area to prevent corporations from advertising fatty, salty, and calorie-heavy foods to kids."  Tara Culp-Ressler at Think Progress.

Asia

Alternative narratives on Chinese urbanization.  "The narrative about forced migration — with its charged language about 'top down' approaches ... its reference to the 'disastrous Maoist campaign to industrialize overnight' — has an obvious emotional appeal for a popular audience that is comfortable with narratives about good guys and bad guys. The alternative narrative — one about governments all over the world that are trying to cope with the billions of people who want to move to urban opportunity — better captures the deepest and most important undercurrent in the global economy the we and our children will face."  Paul Romer at the Urbanization Project.

Europe

Russia - keeping it classy.  Not.  "Russia's State Duma has approved a bill ... that would ban the adoption of children by foreign same-sex couples ... The amendments ban adoption of Russian orphans by foreign same-sex couples and single foreign nationals from countries where same-sex marriages are legalized ... President Vladimir Putin publicly stated two weeks ago that he would sign the law banning Russian children's adoption by foreign same-sex couples if approved by the parliament."  Radio Free Europe.

Middle East

Afghanistan takes over security from the US, NATO.  "U.S.-led troops handed complete control of security to Afghanistan authorities Tuesday – an act of faith in country’s fledgling police and army in the face of near-constant insurgent attacks. The formal transfer of responsibility is major milestone in the process of withdrawal from the country, 12 years after NATO-led mission ISAF began its mission to end Taliban rule."  Akbar Shinwari and Sohel Uddin + Video at NBC.

South America

Protests in Brazil.  "Bringing to mind the ongoing protests in Turkey, what began last week as an improvised demonstration against a small hike in bus and subway fares flared into an outright revolt, sweeping a dozen Brazilian cities and throwing a harsh light on the shortcomings of a nation anxious to claim the stage in world affairs. Triggering the revolt was an innocuous-seeming fare increase of about nine cents for public transportation in São Paulo. But the outrage touched a nerve in this sprawling metropolis of 18 million, where 7 million people depend on a precarious network of buses and subways, and where commuting to and from work can be a four-hour ordeal."  Mac Margolis at the Daily Beast.

Science

Why it is possible to walk on lava.  "The biggest thing most people don’t realize is just how viscous lava is. It isn’t like water, where if you step into a pool, you sink to the bottom because the water lacks any strength to hold you up. Lava does have strength and ... even when red hot, does offer a lot of resistance ... If that flow has a decent crust ... and is moving fairly slow ... and if you move quickly, your weight isn’t going to be enough to cause you to sink into the flow."  Erik Klemetti + Video at Wired.

Buildings might be made of artificial bone in the near future.  "Move over nanotubes, there's a new futuristic building material in town and its origins may surprise you. Developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), human bone is the inspiration behind the latest high-tech composite, which can be made in just a few hours using a 3D printer. The new material — which is lauded for its durability, low density and environmentally sustainable constituents — gets its strength from its bone-like structure."  Elizabeth Palermo at Tech News Daily.

Miscellaneous

Weather was correlated with the expulsion of Jews from cities in medieval Europe. "Inclement weather in Europe made the expulsion of Jewish communities more likely during the Middle Ages ... When looking at 785 city-level expulsions of Jews from 933 European cities between 1100 and 1800, ... 'one standard deviation decrease in average growing season temperature in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was associated with a one to two percentage point increase in the likelihood that a Jewish community would be expelled.' Of course, the issue isn't the weather so much as agricultural productivity levels and their impact on the regional economy -- for which Jews tended to get blamed."  Joshua Keating at War of Ideas.

Jack Lew's new signature.  Not as cool as the original.  Zachary Goldfarb at Wonkblog.