4/28 Roundup: Swine, Science, AutoTune Winston Churchill

Leader: Swine

- The Swine Flu is on the march, with 40 cases in the United States-- 28 of them connected to a high school in Queens, NY-- and new cases detected in New Zealand, Israel, and Mexico.  To date, the disease has only proven fatal in Mexico, where 152 people have died.  The WHO raised the global threat level from three to four; I won't tell you what happens at level six, but trust me that we don't want to get there.

- WHO officials say a pandemic is not inevitable, but they no longer think it can be contained.  Their efforts going forward will focus on slowing its spread and working toward a vaccine.  The Obama Administration is facing the significant challenge of preventing panic, while not treating the subject too lightly. The WaPo notes that the White House may be a bit understaffed, as many senior health positions have not yet been filled.

- Henry Miller has an op-ed in the WSJ, explaining the epidemiology behind a virus like this, and how we can go about preventing its spread.

Politics

- President Obama spoke yesterday about the necessity of science, setting the goal of devoting more than 3% of GDP toward R&D:

Just think what this will allow us to accomplish: solar cells as cheap as paint; green buildings that produce all the energy they consume; learning software as effective as a personal tutor; prosthetics so advanced that you could play the piano again; an expansion of the frontiers of human knowledge about ourselves and world the around us. We can do this.

- Steven Gray in Time wonders if Artur Davis could lead Alabama to becoming ground zero for a Democratic revival in the South.

- Ryan Lizza profiles Peter Orzag, looking closely at his challenge of keeping the White House's ambitious goals within the limits of reality.

- The NY Times maintains coverage of the rise of cyberwarfare, reporting that the Obama Administration is doing a major review of our strategy:

Just as the invention of the atomic bomb changed warfare and deterrence 64 years ago, a new international race has begun to develop cyberweapons and systems to protect against them.

Economy

- GM has conceded that, if it is to remain a viable manufacturer of automobiles, it will need to become a lot smaller.  Their next challenge will be to convince the Obama Administration they mean it when they say it.

- The White House will unveil today a new set of incentives for lenders to work with struggling homeowners renegotiate second mortgages.

International

- Fighting in Pakistan has spread from Swat into the Lower Dir district, a region that links Swat to the border with Afghanistan.  Many fear that Lower Dir could serve as a pipeline for Taliban fighters to move interchangeably between Swat and Afghanistan.

- It's a slightly longer trip, but there is also evidence that terrorists are moving from the Af-Pak region all the way to Somalia, taking advantage of the failed state as a lawless haven. Could Somalia be the next Afghanistan?

New From NDN

- NDN hosted UK Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander yesterday, as he gave a major address indicating a new course for British foreign aid. An excerpt from his speech is available on HuffPo-- we'll have video and a transcript of the speech soon.

- Zuraya's Weekly Immigration Update is out, looking at progress on reform coming from the other side of the border.

One More Thing

- Maybe you've seen AutoTune the News (if not, you should).  But you probably haven't seen AutoTune Winston Churchill: