On Sunday chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers Austan Goolsbee appeared on ABC’s “This Week” defending the administration’s record on helping to produce jobs. “It’s not a jobless recovery” he said. Later in the program, economist Paul Krugman said: “The fact is, for about 18 months, we’ve had an economy that’s recovering in a…

AP is reporting today: “Japan’s government has doubled the estimate of how much radiation leaked from a tsunami-hit nuclear plant and says the damage to the reactors was greater than previously thought.” CNN International reports: “All three operating reactors at Fukushima Daiichi melted down after the plant was swamped by the tsunami that followed northern…

Nearly two years ago, Chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers Austan Goolsbee, told Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert, “A year from now we’re going to be in a very happy place.” (June 15, 2009, 1:40 mark of the video.) TIMOTHY CANOVA, canova at chapman.edu Canova is a professor of international economic law at…

The Christian Science Monitor is reporting: “Yemen slipped closer to a full-blown civil war today as opposition tribesmen attacked the compound of President Ali Abdullah Saleh for the first time. While the president appears to have narrowly escaped serious injury, the escalating fighting represents an unprecedented challenge to his 32-year rule.” ABDUL GHANI AL-ERYANI, agiryani…

The Wall Street Journal reports: “House Republican leaders on Wednesday abruptly canceled a vote on a resolution forcing U.S. withdrawal from Libya amid signs an … alliance of liberals and conservatives could approve the measure, indicating Congress’s growing dissatisfaction with the extent of U.S. military operations overseas. “The House had been scheduled to vote on…

ALEXANDER MAIN, main at cepr.net Senior associate for international policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Main said today: “Following the June 2009 coup d’etat that forcibly removed President Zelaya from power, Honduras’ participation in the OAS was suspended by unanimous decision of the 33 member states. Today, nearly two years later, there appears to…

AP reports: “Europe’s economic powerhouse, Germany, announced plans Monday to abandon nuclear energy over the next 11 years, outlining an ambitious strategy in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster to replace atomic power with renewable energy sources.”

Today, online Egyptian media are reporting the noted blogger Hossam El-Hamalawy and TV presenter Reem Maged were scheduled to be questioned by the military prosecution for criticizing Egypt’s ruling military on air; but following an outcry, the military only asked them “to provide evidence of alleged military police violations,” AhramOnline reports. El-Hamalawy has tweeted that…

“President Zelaya’s return offers a brief glimmer of hope, but the ongoing repression by current President Porfirio Lobo’s military regime — now even worse than immediately after the coup — remains undiminished, as state security forces now routinely use tear gas canisters as lethal weapons, and teachers, trade unionists and campesinos in the opposition are…

MARK HERTSGAARD, mark at markhertsgaard.com “I’m glad the New York Times has started covering what cutting-edge local leaders are doing to adapt to climate disruption,” says Hertsgaard, who has reported on climate change for two decades for outlets including Vanity Fair, The Nation and NPR and recently published the first popular book on climate adaptation, HOT:…