Tuesday morning roundup

Things in North Korea are bad.

Japan inches toward a (still defensive) regional military role. To anyone who knows the region, this is a massive paradigm shift:

In a measure of the geopolitical changes roiling the region, however, concerns about any resurgent Japanese militarism appear to be fading in some countries embroiled in their own territorial disputes with China, like Vietnam and the Philippines, the scene of fierce fighting during the war.

The drought--now covering 60 percent of the country, as reported this weekend--will impact commerce that depends on the free-flowing Mississippi.

IRC's refugee-agriculture programs are awesome.

We apparently have a maritime border dispute with Canada.

David Brooks on personal change:

You can tell people that they are fat and that they shouldn’t eat more French fries, but that doesn’t mean they will stop. You can make all sorts of New Year’s resolutions, earnestly deciding to behave better, but that doesn’t mean you will.

People don’t behave badly because they lack information about their shortcomings. They behave badly because they’ve fallen into patterns of destructive behavior from which they’re unable to escape.

Human behavior flows from hidden springs and calls for constant and crafty prodding more than blunt hectoring. The way to get someone out of a negative cascade is not with a ferocious e-mail trying to attack their bad behavior. It’s to go on offense and try to maximize some alternative good behavior. There’s a trove of research suggesting that it’s best to tackle negative behaviors obliquely, by redirecting attention toward different, positive ones.

Yes! I've had trouble shopping for basic blazers, because they're all bedazzled now. But I'm not on TV and I still like a blazer to throw over my dress when I need something more formal then a sweater. And with regard to, "You can get a really nice dress for $300," you can get a really nice dress for $40.

Last but not least: how to close your envelopes.