TUESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Afghanistan: “Eight Americans died in combat in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, bringing October’s total to 53 and making it the deadliest month for Americans in the eight-year war. September and October were both deadlier months overall for NATO troops.”
* The significance of Matthew Hoh’s resignation in Afghanistan: “[I]n a move that has sent ripples all the way to the White House, Hoh, 36, became the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war, which he had come to believe simply fueled the insurgency. ‘I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan,’ he wrote Sept. 10 in a four-page letter to the department’s head of personnel.”
* Iran responds to nuke offer: “Iran accepted the general framework of a U.N.-draft nuclear deal Tuesday, but said it would seek ‘important changes’ that could test the willingness of world powers to make concessions in exchange for a pact to rein in Tehran’s ability to make atomic warheads.”
* Good move: “The Obama administration is giving a jolt to the futuristic ‘smart’ electric grid, hoping to more quickly bring America’s power transmission system into the digital age. President Barack Obama, during a visit to a solar energy facility in Arcadia, Fla., is announcing Tuesday that he is making available $3.4 billion in government support for 100 projects aimed at modernizing the power grid.”
* Global cooling doesn’t exist. Quick, someone let Inhofe know.
* In May, a new credit card law stopped banks from arbitrarily raising interest rates. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) is taking the next step, proposing “freezing interest rates and fees on existing credit card balances until a new law took effect.”
* The votes still aren’t there for a robust public option in the House.
* Snowe’s prepared to support the GOP filibuster.
* This Politico piece is easily the most annoying thing you’ll read all week.
* At the mercy of big-time college athletics.
* Ordering Hispanic workers at a New Mexico hotel to Anglicize their names is crazy.
* And right-wing activist Randall Terry “has launched a contest to encourage people to make videos burning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in effigy.” Seriously.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
