Author: Andrew Sullivan

(Hat tip: TDW)

Joel Wing updates us:

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has until December 25, 2010 to put together a ruling coalition. He has promised to do so with time to spare. The jockeying over the points system [to divide up government posts] doesn’t seem to make that likely. The ministries are being hotly contested, and the major lists want as many of them as they can possibly get. It’s already taken them eight months to just get to a power sharing agreement. It’s probably going to take some more hard fought talks over the coming weeks to work everything out, so a more realistic prediction for when a new Iraqi government is finally going to be created is early 2011. 

Scott Brown, the Republican senator from Massachusetts who won Ted Kennedy's old seat in a massive upset, seems to have a decent shot at re-election:

Brown is one of the most popular Senators in the country, with 53% of voters approving of his job performance and only 29% disapproving. He continues to have incredible appeal to independents, with whom his approval spread is 61/25. He also breaks nearly even among Democrats with 35% approving and 41% disapproving of what he's done so far. The only other Republican Senators PPP's polled on this year with that much appeal to Democrats are Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and Lindsey Graham. What sets Brown apart from that trio is he's managed to generate that popularity across party lines without antagonizing voters in his own party- Republicans give him a 74/13 approval.

Given his comments at the hearing today and his political realities, Adam Bink thinks Brown might vote for DADT repeal:

If you read between the lines, Scott Brown may be a very real possibility (he announced his opposition to repeal over the summer, but has since said he would pay close attention to the report). His phrasing and even substance of questions, his body language, all are that of someone positioning himself to move.He asked for assurance of Secretary Gates, “you will not certify you feel the process can move forward without damage to safety, security of men and women serving, and that effectiveness to fight will not be jeopardized?” He mused about how he’s never asked whether veterans who have died in the line of duty, or gravely injured, whether they were straight or gay, and how he didn’t care. He asked a number of other thoughtful questions on timing, which units would be “integrated” first. He was even one of only four Senators left, with all three others (Levin, McCain, Lieberman) being a lot more out front on this issue than he. In other words, if I were someone concerned about my upcoming re-election who wanted to painstakingly make a case for why I’m switching positions, and ask for the kind of assurance that would make him and his constituents/supporters comfortable in their shoes with this, I would do exactly what Scott Brown did today.

Pelosi wins round one.

A snow covered deer is pictured in Knowle Park in Kent, southern England on December 1, 2010. Britain's transport links with the rest of the world were disrupted by the early winter snowfall as key airports closed Wednesday and international Eurostar train services were cut. London Gatwick Airport, Europe's eighth busiest passenger air hub, was closed until at least 6:00 am (0600 GMT) Thursday as staff worked on clearing the two runways. By Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images.

A reader writes:

My Spanish (erm, Catalan) fiancé and I met at Columbia five years ago and since since suffered a double whammy of senseless U.S immigration policy.

Even though he graduated into a strong job market from a top program, he was unable to obtain an H1-B visa to stay and work in the U.S. The following year I left the U.S. to work in London, availing of the dual Irish citizenship I was lucky to obtain because of my Ireland-born grandmother. I've been out of the U.S. ever since and find it difficult to return to a place where my relationship is so pigheadedly rejected.

Furthermore, should we seek to marry in the U.S. (where he enters as a tourist and marries me there) it is possible to run afoul of his visa-waiver entry, because he can't declare intent to enter to marry a US citizen on a tourist visa. But there is, of course, no visa that covers this.

The only option we have to legally live in the U.S. together is for me to apply as an Irish citizen for a J-1 student visa and bring him as a partner without work privileges. But that would provoke an immigration status schizophrenia greater than I want to imagine. So here we are, two educated people with international experience who the U.S. has lost because of these discriminatory policies.

I honestly don't think even many equality-minded people are aware of this problem. Anyone I mention this to thinks that marrying in one of the legal jurisdiction will just magically produce a green card. So kudos to you for raising awareness, and many thanks to Joshua and Henry for going public with their fight. I think that this issue is one of the ugliest public faces of DOMA and deserves wider attention.

Another writes:

Hardly anybody pays attention to this issue. Hardly anybody even knows of it. A Human Rights Campaign worker who hit me up for donations on a Manhattan street last May had never heard about it.

Having exited my American homeland because of this, and preparing for permanent expatriation from here on out, I find Americans dumfounded that it could be true, as if it mars their very concept of their country. I can sense them thinking, That can't be right; your partner must have done something wrong.

Thank you for being the first commentator I have seen use the word "contempt" in characterizing Washington's posture toward me and others, because whenever I bother to look, I spot that contempt whooshing at me. To defuse it, I have made the unforeseeable realization that the United States is simply overrated, which might sound rash but holds up under scrutiny when one carefully mulls this issue. It's the tiny issue that reveals much.

On the bright side, it has sent me on a great multi-national adventure. But it took me years to embrace that thought, and it's mind-boggling that somehow, a former Little League second baseman who wrote an unassigned booklet in fifth grade titled "This Great Country" and grew up dreaming of New York, will march a few years hence into some U.S. Embassy and renounce.

Dana McCourt nitpicks an earlier reader.

A reader writes:

"Whale Song" is not only a preachy and syrupy affront to Top 10 AM radio, it is an affront to bubblegum television. You know that a teen idol TV vehicle has jumped the shark when it features the stock-in-trade evil entrepreneur/capitalist who will exploit a stranded whale for his own advantage. The telegenic family publicizes the sad plight of this whale, whales in general, and the whole environmental mess of the 1970s – clad in velvet and ruffled jumpsuits with the whale singing along. The world is enlightened and a whale is saved – in 30 minutes! (counting, um, commercial breaks)

But no song at all to the ones who won't hear
And if people don't listen, and if people don't know
Might the song of the man be the next song to go.

We know what song needs to go.

A reader writes:

Coincidentally, I just returned from a trip to England, where I was able to enjoy the amazing pubs in London and in some of the smaller towns in Shropshire. While I can't speak to the regulations or culture in DC and New York, I believe I do have an insight as to why there are no corner pubs in the rest of the country: Most of America is suburban, and in suburban America we don't have corner anything. Pub culture is town and city culture. It's walking culture. A pub that everyone has to drive to is no longer a pub. It's a piece of kitch that sells drinks and hamburgers.

Another writes:

Actually, America did have a pub culture just like that of England today.  It just disappeared over time. 

If you look at any city that had a huge influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe 100 years ago, places such as Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, you can still see remnants of what it was like: neighborhood bars on virtually every block, places you just walked to from your home or right after work.  (For example, the town of Depew, NY, just outside of Buffalo, was once in the Guinness Book of World Records in the 1940s for more bars per acre than any other place in the world.  That's because a major railroad coupling factory was just down the street, and the men would stop by for a beer or three after work every day.)

Many still exist, but barely hang on.  Washington never had an immigrant culture from that part of the world and so never developed it. My grandparents operated several bars of this type, so I know exactly what had happened.

What changed?  The flight to the suburbs, of course.  Suburbs are far less dense than urban area, so bars are spread out over a greater distance.  Any new bar would have to open in a strip plaza or other new construction, meaning that the rent is at a premium.  Premium rents mean you can't survive unless your bar is packed on the weekends.  Additionally, once you are settled in a suburban house, you now have to drive to get to a bar, and that makes is a hassle just to get there.

If you want more, read Verlyn Klinginborg's book, "The Last Fine Time," which describes the exactly the culture you hint at.  He married a woman from Buffalo who was in the tavern business, and his book is perfect about what we have lost.

Another:

I think we'd see a lot more corner pubs if most people didn't commute to the city from the suburbs by car.  When I lived in Australia, another country with lots of pubs, I would often stop for a pint or two after work with my mates before catching the train home.  I rarely, if ever, do that now that I'm back in the U.S. because I have to drive for 45 minutes and don't want to be impaired.

Another:

While researching for an article on lagers and ales, I came across an interesting statistic that might help explain the lack of corner pubs in America.  In the UK, 80% of beer is consumed in pubs and other public accommodations, with the remaining 20% is consumed in the home.  In the US it is the exact opposite, with 80% of beer being consumed in the home, and only 20% in public bars.

Another:

America's corner pubs are on just about every corner. Conveniently, they all have the same name: Starbucks.

Craig Ferguson testifies (in dance) to the enduring appeal of Dr Who.

Maybe not:

Pending home sales jumped in October. The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index increased by an impressive 10.4% during the month. Even with this rise, however, demand remains relatively weak. … As noted yesterday, housing was pretty much the only dim spot in an otherwise great month for the U.S. economy in October. Even if demand doesn't approach astronomical levels, a relatively healthy number of sales may be enough to keep the broader economic recovery moving confidently in the right direction.

Calculated Risk explains how to read the new housing numbers. An earlier look at the housing market here.