memeorandum: Against Learned Helplessness (Paul Krugman/New York Times)

2:40 PM ET, May 30, 2011

Top Items:

Gennette Cordova / NY Daily News:

Statement from Gennette Cordova, student who was sent lewd Twitter photo from Rep. Weiner's account — Friday evening I logged onto Twitter to find that I had about a dozen new mentions in less than an hour, which is a rare occurrence. When I checked one of the posts that I had been tagged …

New York Post:

Weiner goes to great lengths — By S.A. MILLER in Washington, DC and SALLY GOLDENBERG and LEONARD GREENE in NY — US Rep. Anthony Weiner yesterday spent the day on the grill after a lewd photo purporting to be of him was sent to a pretty Seattle coed from his Twitter account — but the young woman insisted a stalker was the culprit.

Discussion: alicublog, The Last Tradition, Verum Serum and FrumForum

Maria Newman / New York Times:
Congressman Says Hacker Sent Lewd Photo Using His Name

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Daily Kos, Althouse, Don Surber and New York Magazine

NY Daily News:
Student who got lewd pic from Rep. Anthony Weiner's Twitter account denies she's his mistress

Discussion: Gawker, Weasel Zippers and The Daily What

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
Alleged Recipient Of Alleged Rep. Weiner Photo Gennette Nicole Issues Statement

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Ace of Spades HQ, Balloon Juice, Verum Serum, Big Government and Datechguy's Blog

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:

Palin Family Tours Washington ‘Incognito’ — Sarah Palin and her family sneaked out in Washington on Sunday night for what she called an “incognito” tour of the national monuments, having successfully created a media frenzy and then ditched the press. — Details of the visit …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Talking Points Memo, Guardian, Daily Kos, Politics and Althouse

SarahPAC:

Of the People, By the People, For the People — Took an incognito tour of our beautiful national monuments tonight. We met some great everyday citizens who were also “taking it all in” in honor of the greatest nation on earth. One couple we met traveled from Michigan to celebrate …

Discussion: National Review

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Palin's Path May Be Unclear, but Her Ride Is Revved Up — WASHINGTON — For sheer mastery of celebrity theater, Sarah Palin cannot be beat. — Ms. Palin, the former governor of Alaska, let the anticipation build for hours on Sunday in the Pentagon's North Parking Lot, where thousands of bikers …

Discussion: NY Daily News, Don Surber, neo-neocon, The Caucus and FrumForum

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Palin mum on run in latest stop

Discussion: The Politico and Gawker

Andy Barr / The Politico:
Sarah Palin swarmed at first bus tour stop

Discussion: Swampland, The Daily Pulp, Conservatives4Palin, The Raw Story, The Note, Pirate's Cove and SarahPAC

Heidi Przybyla / Bloomberg:
Sarah Palin Joins Bikers for ‘Ride to Freedom’

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

What the media establishment refuses to understand — It was quite a roundtable on “Meet the Press” yesterday. Viewers got to see a Republican strategist, a conservative pundit, a conservative Democrat, and an ostensibly center-left columnist who thinks that Democrats are big meanies when it comes to Medicare.

Discussion: Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Against Learned Helplessness — Unemployment is a terrible scourge across much of the Western world. Almost 14 million Americans are jobless, and millions more are stuck with part-time work or jobs that fail to use their skills. Some European countries have it even worse: 21 percent of Spanish workers are unemployed.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Economist's View, Prairie Weather, Clusterstock and Corrente

Frank Newport / Gallup:

U.S. Military Personnel, Veterans Give Obama Lower Marks — Younger, active-duty military less likely to have an opinion on Obama either way — PRINCETON, NJ — U.S. military veterans and those currently on active military duty are less likely to approve of President Obama's job performance …

Discussion: BLACKFIVE, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, NewsBusters.org, Don Surber and The Last Tradition

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

Pawlenty should rethink the ‘doofus’ line — Tim Pawlenty talked to CNN the other day, and raised a line of attack I hadn't heard him make before. … It's a strange pitch, and not just because of Pawlenty's apparent willingness to refer to the president as a “doofus.”

Discussion: Daily Kos

Brian C. Mooney / Boston Globe:

Romney and health care: In the thick of history — The former governor has faced a fusillade from the right for the plan they call RomneyCare. But a look back at the birth of the Mass. law shows why he can't, and won't, back away. It was an amazing political feat, and no one's role was bigger than his.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and TPMDC

David W. Blight / New York Times:

Forgetting Why We Remember — MOST Americans know that Memorial Day is about honoring the nation's war dead. It is also a holiday devoted to department store sales, half-marathons, picnics, baseball and auto racing. But where did it begin, who created it, and why?

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Connecting.the.Dots and Outside the Beltway

Stephen Evans / BBC:

Germany: Nuclear power plants to close by 2022 — Germany saw mass anti-nuclear protests in the wake of the Fukushima disaster — Germany's coalition government has announced a reversal of policy that will see all the country's nuclear power plants phased out by 2022.

Discussion: Truthdig

Associated Press:
Germany Will Shut Down All Nuke Plants by 2022

Discussion: Stop The ACLU

No Sheeples Here:

This Memorial Day, Be Their Hero — Every Memorial Day, families and communities across the nation take time to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation. There are parades and picnics and concerts in the park. Many people today view it as simply another long weekend that marks the beginning of summer.