Thursday, September 12, 2013 Published Weekday Mornings   To see the full version of today's cartoon, click on the preview graphic of the cartoon (below the Commentary) to be taken to the full version in your favorite web browser. Syria: In A Holding Pattern Kerry to meet Russia's Lavrov in Geneva to discuss Syrian chemical weapons Geneva Talks Mark Big Test for U.S. & Russia Vladimir Putin: A Plea for Caution And Patience From Russia Russia's Syria Calculus: Behind Moscow's Plan to Avert U.S. Missile Strikes Assad credits Russian offer, not fear of U.S., with chem. weapons move Nicholas Kristof: No Matter What Assad Claims, It's Obvious The U.S. Threat Worked WH Press Sec. Carney: No timeline for weighing Syria chem weapons offer U.S. and Iran also edge toward direct talks over Syria Syria Confrontation Gives A Rare Public View of Obama's Ability To Pivot on Policy Americans exhale in relief over indefinitely delayed Syrian airstrikes they didn't want Congress Privately Thrilled There's No Syria Vote CIA finally begins weapons delivery to Syrian rebels Human Rights group says Assad regime responsible for chemical attack Breaking: U.N. Report Will Point to Assad Regime in Massive Chemical Attack GOP Civil War House GOP to delay vote on government funding measure House pulls CR amid GOP division Government Shutdown Looms, As House GOP Leaders Face Rebellion CNN Poll: Who would get blamed for government shutdown? Republicans, mostly. House GOP: United against Obama on Syria, divided on everything else Jonathan Bernstein: GOP lawmakers, cowed by the right, drop pretense of policy sanity Greg Sargent: John Boehner must cut loose the Tea Party Sean Sullivan: Meet John Boehner's new problem. Same as his old problem. Health Care Checkup Trader Joe's Drops Health Care Coverage For Part-Time Employees Employers Actually Plan To Hire More Full-Time Workers As Obamacare Rolls Out Sarah Kliff: Obamacare created 22 new health insurance plans. Can they succeed? Unions' Misgivings on Health Law Burst Into View Guns & America California Passes Gun Control Bill Banning 'Assault' Weapons Missouri House Votes to Override Veto of Gun Bill Energy, Climate & Environment Despite Hard Push From Industry, New Coal Plants Could See Serious Carbon Restrictions Nations In Turmoil Suicide Bombs Hit Egypt Military in Sinai, Kill 9 Philippine rebels attack second southern Philippine island Somali Islamic militant group al-Shabaab kills American & British jihadis International News Satellite image suggests North Korea has restarted Yongbyon nuclear reactor Huge Aquifers Are Discovered In North Kenya Al Jazeera to take legal action against Egypt after abuse and intimidation of its journalists Terrorism In America Nine facts about terrorism in the United States since 9/11 Dylan Matthews: Twelve years after 9/11, we still have no idea how to fight terrorism. Money in Politics Vandehei & Allen: The Koch brothers' secret bank Billionaire Sheldon Adelson Assesses the 2016 Field, Doesn't Even Acknowledge Cruz or Paul Midwest Roundup GOP state Sen. McCoy announces he will run for governor in Nebraska Billionaire investor joins Keystone pipeline foes in Nebraska Iowa State Univ. sees record enrollment, UNI up, U of Iowa holds steady Iowa exports decline, but still carry weight Holding Patterns It's been difficult lately, covering the rapidly changing events of the Syrian debate that have dominated nearly every space available for news, while equally important news stories like the upcoming budget battles in Washington or the 'One Percent recovery' have been given short shrift or been buried completely. Thankfully it appears that cooler heads have prevailed for now. President Obama has sent Secretary Kerry to Geneva, Switzerland today to meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to nail down the details of the international group that will remove Syria's chemical weapons. Even Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling for caution and patience, on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times. Whether anti-war liberals and isolationist conservatives want to admit it or not, the biggest reason the international debate over Syria is now in a holding pattern is because President Obama's threat to use American military force is still very real. That threat appears to have given both Syria and Russia a pause for sanity - which means we can finally give one of those other important stories at least a little time today. We wouldn't exactly recommend relaxing, though, since it now looks like at least some Congressional Republicans may actually be willing to shut down the government at the end of this month. In case you missed it, the House Republican leadership pulled their warped spending plan of a Continuing Resolution - a "CR", in Congress-speak - on Wednesday, in large part because of the GOP's own ongoing internal civil war... To continue reading... click here. And now, for your Daily Felltoon preview for September 12, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) Jobs & The Economy Weekly U.S. jobless claims fall to 292,000 Jobless Claims Hit 7-Year Low, But Data Weren't Complete Due Initial Jobless Claims Slump as Two U.S. States Underreport Wall Street Watch Neil Irwin: Five years after the financial crisis, 13 charts that show what's fixed and what isn't. David Dayen: Five years ago this week, titans of finance wrecked the American economy. Here's why they're still happy as ever An Unequal Recovery Income Gap Hits Widest Point Since 1920s The One Percent recovery: 95 percent of gains since 2009 have gone to the top one percent. Ed Kilgore: Recoveries Are Not For Poor People | Andrew Sullivan: America's Recovery Is In Full Swing - But Only For The Rich Dylan Matthews: How the 1 percent won the recovery, in one table Paul Krugman: Toxic Economic Inequality In America Intolerance in America Minnesota Catholic School fires second educator this year for being gay | Michigan Republicans Once Again Propose 'License To Discriminate' For Adoption Agencies Media Matters Dylan Byers: Tina Brown to leave Daily Beast, start new company Newsweek names new editor in chief, Jim Impoco, by way of Thomson Reuters Digital Communications Breakdown WSJ op-ed writer Elizabeth O'Bagy fired for serious resume lie Esquire magazine slammed after 9/11 'Falling Man' image shows up in link about commuting It's Your Cap News Toon for September 12, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) White House Update Federal deficit on track for Obama-administration low White House cancels annual picnic for Congress News From Capitol Hill Senate moving on from Syria resolution - for now Gallup: Americans' Approval of Congress Up to 19% In Last Month On The Left E.J. Dionne: Bill De Blasio's progressive call for New York Brad Plumer: What if a typical family spent like the federal government? It'd be a very weird family. On The Right Secession Fever Sweeps Texas, Maryland, Colorado, and California Dana Milbank: Conservatives tarnish memory of Sept. 11 as they attack Obama States Of Confusion One dead as flash flooding hits parts of Colorado, stranding drivers & prompting evacuations North Carolina reversal on death penalty law reopens old discrimination wounds Nevada Gets Sued For Dumping Homeless Patients With Mental Illnesses Onto Buses Flori-duh Extremist right-wing Pastor Terry Jones arrested with kerosene-soaked Qurans in Florida Florida tells health care 'navigators' to stay away from FL county health departments Trayvon Martin medical examiner claims Florida state prosecutors intentionally lost case We hope you enjoy "The Daily Felltoon" every business day. Thanks for continuing to be a member! 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