4/21 Roundup: Lat-Am,

Leader: Lat-Am

- The Caucus reports on a new poll from Sergio Bendixen that finds most Cuban-Americans are in favor of the relaxation in US-Cuba relations proposed by President Obama.  Sergio was instrumental in the development of our own proposal for US-Cuba relations, and we're glad to see his work demonstrating what a sensible policy course this is.

- The NY Times has a big editorial today on immigration, arguing that there is an economic advantage and moral imperative to fixing our very badly broken immigration system.

“You may not want to do this because you like José Rodríguez,” Mr. [Eliseo] Medina said, “but this affects you. Your standard of living is not going to improve, and you’re not going to be in a stronger position to solve your problems as long as you have all of these people out there without any rights — without any ability to contribute. Things will only get worse, not better.”

Politics

- The Pentagon's Joint Strike Fighter project was breached by hackers who were able to download several terabytes of data about the design and electronics of the aircraft.  Former officials suggest the cyber-attack likely came from China, but that appears to be nothing more than speculation at this point.

- We live in a nation of 20 million bloggers, where half a million can say that blogging is the primary source of their income-- that's more than we have firefighters, bartenders, or computer programmers.  I was going to laugh and scoff... but maybe I'm one of them.

- Ezra Klein calls attention to Eliot Spitzer's prescient prediction of the financial crisis, and suggests it's high time we welcomed him back.

Economy

- The special investigator overseeing the Treasury bailout has launched 20 criminal investigations of people suspected of abusing the bailout process and making off with money they shouldn't have.

The disclosures reinforce fears that the hastily designed and rapidly changing bailout program run by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve is going to carry a heavy price of fraud against taxpayers -- even as questions grow about its ability to stabilize the nation's financial system.

-  Chrysler turned down a $750 million loan from the government because the auto manufacturer didn't want to abide by the limits on executive pay.  Instead, Chrysler borrowed from private institutions at higher rates, pushing them even further over the edge.

International

- The sole surviving pirate from the Maersk Alabama episode arrived in New York yesterday, and will be brought to court today on piracy and hostage-taking charges.  He's a Somali teenager, and his parents appealed from their poor town in Somalia for their son to be released, saying he was misled into becoming a pirate.

- Spain is suffering from just the kind of galloping deflation that can cripple an economy for a long, long time.

New From NDN

- Morley Winograd and Mike Hais have a new essay on the day that President Obama will sign the Ted Kennedy Serve America Act.

- Zuraya Tapia-Alfaro's Weekly Immigration Update looks at the ongoing debate over foreign workers.

One More Thing

- We here at NDN are an enthusiastic bunch of soccer players, parents, and fans. I assure you, however, we are far more civil than the group of ballistic soccer moms and dads who flipped their wigs on the ref, and were forever banished to 100 yards from the sideline of their kids' games.

- Last, Dick Cheney is still in love with the idea that talking to your rivals is an admission of defeat.  Can we please send this man back into the hole from whence he came?