Hump de Bump: Wednesday Links After the Jump

As we hurtle into the middle of the week, it's time for another morning update - this one, Politico-themed:

- President Obama made a "surprise visit" to troops and Afghan leadership yesterday in Kabul, pledging to abide by existing plans for a full withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by 2014. NATO troops will stay in the country for at least a decade after 2014, ensuring that some U.S. presence in the region will remain [Politico; CNN].

- Ric Grenell, Foreign Policy spokesman for Mitt Romney's campaign, has resigned over "personal issues"

- Think you've seen it all before? Think again: Congress is getting even more bipartisan and split along the "core ideologies" of both parties. But does this necessarily preclude passing critical legislation?

Speaking of seen it all...Anyone familiar with The Burning Man festival?



one of the tamer images that come up in a search. He will be burning.


We've been speaking of anarchy for the past day, and The Burning Man is like the anarchist's Mecca - "radical inclusion," "decommodification," "radical self-expression" are the order of the day, but now the festival's organizers and lobbyists have descended upon the Capitol (as in D.C., not Hunger Games) to promote the event. The festival has been placed on probation this year by the Bureau of Land Management for exceeding its 53,000 capacity limit, but hopes to expand to 70,000 in the future.

The festival has captured the imagination of popular culture along with the likes of DayGlow, Warped Tour, Coachella et. al., but still retains its original indie vibe and distinctive character. In fact, long-time "burners" would probably regurgitate at my comparison of TBM with the aforementioned festivals.

- New York Times readership up, Washington Post not so lucky - although at less than a million online subscribers, the NYT can hardly be compared with the dedicated userbases of the social networking giants. I wonder how much the "Social Reader" app can help or harm the struggling journalism industry in general?

- Politico's Roger Simon: Stay outraged at the Supreme Court's (SCOTUS) blatant partisanship

- And finally, more of our favorite Secretary of State: Hillary sends rejection letter to Jason Segal

</3