This is the craziest shit I’ve read in a while:

The force is intended to conduct special operations missions inside and outside the country, defend oil pipelines and skyscrapers from terrorist attacks and put down internal revolts, the documents show. Such troops could be deployed if the Emirates faced unrest or were challenged by pro-democracy demonstrations in its crowded labor camps or democracy protests like those sweeping the Arab world this year.

A little later on:

People involved in the project and American officials said that the Emiratis were interested in deploying the battalion to respond to terrorist attacks and put down uprisings inside the country’s sprawling labor camps, which house the Pakistanis, Filipinos and other foreigners who make up the bulk of the country’s work force. The foreign military force was planned months before the so-called Arab Spring revolts that many experts believe are unlikely to spread to the U.A.E. Iran was a particular concern.

And this:

Mr. Rincón’s visa carried a special stamp from the U.A.E. military intelligence branch, which is overseeing the entire project, that allowed him to move through customs and immigration without being questioned.

Wow.

Frighteningly:

In 2007, there were 20.9 Americans 65 and older for every 100 Americans between the ages of 20 and 64 — that is, the people of normal working age who essentially provide the tax base that supports federal spending. The Social Security Administration expects that number to rise to 27.5 by 2020, and 31.7 by 2025. That’s a lot more people relying on federal social insurance programs.

We’re in trouble.

Looks like they just ran another one, I fired up their iPhone app this morning and look at the mug I see:

Yep, our fair governor, Paul LePage.

Here’s the story “G.O.P. Pushes to Deregulate Environment at State Level” nyti.ms/gmRgz0 (Sorry link is wonky, I’m on my phone).

In fact, LePage leads off the story, and also contributes more than a few juicy quotes:

Governor LePage summed up the animus while defending his program in a radio address. “Maine’s working families and small businesses are endangered,” he said. “It is time we start defending the interests of those who want to work and invest in Maine with the same vigor that we defend tree frogs and Canadian lynx.”

I’m so sick of all of the Canadian lynxes coming down here and taking all the good jobs. I’m glad someone is finally standing up for the straight, white males …

But in all seriousness, it’s not like when people think of Maine they think of nature …

It’s pretty much about the upcoming November 23, 2011 film The Muppets.

Odd quote (can’t tell if it’s good or bad?):

“This is the first Muppet production of any size that is really being spearheaded by fans instead of hard-core Muppet professionals,” said Lisa Henson, Jim Henson’s daughter and chief executive of the Henson Company.

I for one can’t wait!

Let’s add the New York Times to the list: http://nyti.ms/fWiWA5

They get bonus points for mentioning the thing with employing his daughter in a $41,000 entry level job …

It’s so amazing it was hard to find just one key quote:

The two principal traits that underlie the human evolutionary success, in Dr. Hill’s view, are the unusual ability of nonrelatives to cooperate – in almost all other species, only closely related individuals will help each other – and social learning, the ability to copy and learn from what others are doing. A large social network can generate knowledge and adopt innovations far more easily than a cluster of small, hostile groups constantly at war with each other, the default state of chimpanzee society.

It’s the most concise report detailing the transition from primates to humans – it’s got it all from walking upright to tools to monogamy, to the building of societies.

Clever.

Key quote:

If Americans do, indeed, have a different and larger conception of the self than they did a few decades ago, I wonder if this is connected to some of the social and political problems we have observed over the past few years.

I wonder if the rise of consumption and debt is in part influenced by people’s desire to adorn their lives with the things they feel befit their station. I wonder if the rise in partisanship is influenced in part by a narcissistic sense that, “I know how the country should be run and anybody who disagrees with me is just in the way.”

Most pervasively, I wonder if there is a link between a possible magnification of self and a declining saliency of the virtues associated with citizenship.

Citizenship, after all, is built on an awareness that we are not all that special but are, instead, enmeshed in a common enterprise. Our lives are given meaning by the service we supply to the nation. I wonder if Americans are unwilling to support the sacrifices that will be required to avert fiscal catastrophe in part because they are less conscious of themselves as components of a national project.

“On the Left Hand, There Are No Easy Answers”

I don’t care for how the author used the word “wrong” a few times, but he ended with Jon Lester, so that’s something …

Key quote:

“But my favorite new way to use coconut oil is for popcorn. The oil brings out the nutty sweetness of the corn itself while adding a rich creamy sensation, without having to pour melted butter on the top.”

I had to pick some up.

Whole Foods, amazingly, had three different varieties of virgin coconut oil.

Over the weekend we made popcorn with it, and it was fantastic. Just like the article said, no butter needed.

Did you know that in the United States right now one in seven new marriages is between spouses of different races or ethnicities?

Key quote:

Many young adults of mixed backgrounds are rejecting the color lines that have defined Americans for generations in favor of a much more fluid sense of identity. Ask Michelle López-Mullins, a 20-year-old junior and the president of the Multiracial and Biracial Student Association, how she marks her race on forms like the census, and she says, “It depends on the day, and it depends on the options.”

Maybe this is hitting me more strongly because I’m half-way through The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America by Nicholas Lemann for a class at USM. It’s a terribly interesting book that I think every college student should have to read. I want to talk more about it here soon, but for now, just go read the Times article.