Today’s Links: January 10, 2012

OPINION

SALON DEBATE: “What is Plagiarism?”
“The last weeks of 2011 were littered with debates over the originality of high-profile published work from spy novels to political cartoons — and the supposed failure of prominent artists and creators to cite their source material. In the coming year, we’re likely to see more pitched battles related to plagiarism and copyright infringements — not least the much-buzzed-about appeal of artist Richard Prince. Cases of alleged plagiarism or copyright infringement are rarely black-and-white. We asked a diverse group of commentators — including journalists, lawyers, psychologists and writers — to answer our questions about what exactly plagiarism is, how accusations of plagiarism should be addressed, and whether it’s possible for artists to copy others’ work unconsciously. ”

MATT WELCH: “Goodnight Moonshot”
“‘Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we’d beat them to the moon,’ President Barack Obama said in his 2011 State of the Union speech. ‘The science wasn’t there yet. NASA didn’t even exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn’t just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs. This is our generation’s Sputnik moment.’ Was the president rising to the challenge of some new technology that America’s adversaries were mastering? Was he doubling down on the vague, far-off promise by his predecessor to send a mission to Mars? No. He was talking about government loans for solar panels, federal spending on research, and the even more prosaic work of getting his preferred budget passed.”

JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: “Romney Doesn’t Need to Apologize for Bain Career”
“Romney was really good at what he did. And what he did, initially, was venture capital, providing dough to promising young firms. Then he shifted to private equity, which is a) using investor money and debt to take over a business, b) attempting to improve its profitability (which may mean cutting the workforce), and c) selling the business and, as the WSJ, puts it, ‘extracting fees and sometimes dividends.'”

NEWS

MARKET – Samsung’s ‘Future-Proof’ Voice-Controlled Television
“A ‘smart’ internet-connected television that has the ability to have its hardware upgraded every year has been unveiled by Samsung.”

POLITICS – Gingrich: Bain Capital ‘Undermined’ Capitalism
“Speaking Tuesday in interviews on ‘Fox & Friends’ and Bloomberg as New Hampshire primary voters headed to the polls, the former House Speaker outlined what he believed to be the difference between noble and ignoble methods of capitalism.”

LABOR – Indiana House Committee Advances Right to Work Bill
“An Indiana state House committee advanced Republican backed right-to-work legislation to the full House in a 15-minute meeting on Tuesday, one day after Democrats ended a boycott that had blocked its path.”