Monday Morning And He Sure Looks Fine

Barack Obama is taking some flack for campaigning in Europe. Even Garry Trudeau applies a gentle tweak here. In a sense, though, there's a larger point to be taken from Trudeau's joke. America's prestige and reputation has taken a beating under Bush and Cheney. Many on the right don't give a damn about that one way or another, but for those of us who do Obama's election offers a means of restoring both...

For a panoramic, 360-degree version of the AP photo above, go here...

The Nation Institute's Investigative Fund provides support for the research costs associated with investigative journalism. The Fund emphasizes reporting on subjects often ignored by the mainstream media, and seeks to improve the scope and overall quality of investigative reporting in the independent press. Institute Director Ham Fish writes in the Institute Index  that "we set up our Journalism Fellowship program at the Institute to provide financial support and a protected space to indispensable, gifted, independent writers who would not otherwise be able to report on complex social and political subjects." Here are links to three articles supported by the Institute's investigative fund:

The Subprime Swindle. Kai Wright examines the disproportionate impact of recent foreclosures on African Americans—what he calls "a massive strip mining of hard-won wealth."

Why The Economy Went South. Wall Street insider Nomi Prins focuses on what went wrong in Congress and what should be done to alleviate the crisis in her article and accompanying timeline, Where Credit is Due.

Meet The Wealth Gap (Gabriel Thompson). At lunchtime on the East Side of Manhattan, the worlds of poverty and privilege collide when deliverymen hand CEOs their lunch. Thompson examines the class inequalities he finds in buildings on Park and Madison avenues. The titans of finance who have offices on the top floors of these skyscrapers break income records while the wage-earning security guards and delivery men lack even the union protection to demand higher compensation.