Sunday roundup

A compelling, concise analysis of the Somalia clusterf*. Read it if only to experience an island of effective journalism in the sea of crap that's out there.

Economic displacement and resentment in Tibet.

Turkey finds a new BFF in Syria, but there might be drama.

Meet the world's new cocoa baron.

Hugo Chavez is full of $hit (and anything but Simon Bolivar's heir). If you are looking for Marxism, the Chinese Communist Party is not a bad place to look, contrary to appearances.

Could the oil spill be the crisis that begets the impetus to restore the Gulf and its rich ecosystem? And to deal with or at least talk about our dependence on oil? If that's too hard we could just blame excessive regulation.

The country's transit systems are strained.

It's not out of defense for the show that I get annoyed when people describe "Mad Men" as sexist; it's because that's a really silly way to look at it. As Jon Hamm says in that interview, those three lead women are very strong. And the show doesn't pit them against each other or reduce them to a single dimension.

The show is such an interesting study in eras that Frank Rich starts his column on what the Sherrod episode really says with a "Mad Men" reference. Van Jones adds to the Sherrod discussion from the perspective of regaining political sanity in the 24-hour media culture... as does Ruth Marcus. Maureen Dowd adds her two cents. On a different but related note, Kathleen Parker laments a media culture where journalists and pundits are pounced on instantly. And while we're on the topic of journalistic responsibility: governments are entitled to their secrets, but a knee-jerk leave-it-unreported reaction serves no one.