News Nuggets 179

Spinner Dolphins off the coast of Hawaii -- from the Diary Rescue at Daily Kos

UP-FRONT BIG-QUESTION-OF-THE-DAY NUGGET!!

Questions Grow as Ahmadinejad Stays Out of Sight from the Guardian [of the UK]

Now where did he go?!

"Speculation is intensifying about the whereabouts of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who claimed victory in the Iranian presidential election but has not been seen in public since Monday, when he was in Russia for a conference."

VIDEO NUGGET!!

Opposition Supporters March in Tehran from the BBC

Interior Police Scared and Covering Their Faces (Nico Pitney) from live-blogging at the Huffington Post

"12:41 AM ET -- "Basaji scared and cover their faces." The tide turns:

The Basij have now begun to cover their faces, whereas previously they hadn't. This indicates they are becoming more scared of retaliation from the general public. Also, we have heard that cell phone service is cut off at night. There have been efforts to identify members of the Basij who have used violence against demonstrators, through facebook and other social networking websites.  It's interesting to see some in the feared militias themselves becoming afraid of retaliation."

My Name is Iran (Roger Cohen) from the New York Times

Cohen, of course, is on the ground in Tehran.

"At the immense opposition demonstration earlier this week, I asked a young woman her name. She said, “My name is Iran.” A nation has stirred. Provoked, it has risen. “Silence equals protest,” says one banner. The vast crowds move in a hush of indignation, anger distilled to a wordless essence."

Iran Arrests Reformers as Huge Protests Continue from the Wall Street Journal

"Two rival forces are competing for the upper hand in Iran's postelection dispute: public demonstrations in the streets and waves of quiet arrests of dozens of prominent reform and opposition figures.  The Iranian government, meanwhile, accused the U.S. for the first time of interfering in the postelection dispute."

Tear Down This Cyberwall! (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times

"The unrest unfolding in Iran is the quintessential 21st-century conflict. On one side are government thugs firing bullets. On the other side are young protesters firing “tweets.”"

Iran Treads Lightly in a Culture of Martyrs from the Los Angeles Times

They may tread lightly today.  Tomorrow?  Who knows?

"A Tiananmen-style massacre there would create a new set of heroes for the protest movement."

Turmoil in Tehran (Editorial) from the Nation

"What accounts for the extraordinary spirit of opposition among a population that until recently seemed to have given up on electoral politics? Part of the answer lies in the peculiar nature of Moussavi's coalition. One wing of it consists of key sectors of the business community and veterans of the Islamic Revolution, many of them former stalwarts like Moussavi himself, or establishment figures like former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who have lost patience with Ahmadinejad's belligerent posturing on the world stage and his incompetent management of the economy. "

Iran's Women's Revolution from the Daily Beast

"An underreported part of the Iranian protests is that women are leading the way. Dana Goldstein on why Iran’s feminists decided they’d finally had enough."

Twitter Counts More Than Armouries in the New Politics of People Power (Timothy Garton Ash) of the Guardian [of the UK]

"Iran's green drama combines the energy of a dissatisfied youth with the rivalries of a fragmented regime."

A Friend in Need: Obama Gets Tough on Bibi (Jacob Weisberg) from Newsweek

"Since the first stirrings of the Arab-Israeli peace process after the Yom Kippur war in 1973, America's relations with Israel have been characterized by a paradox: those presidents regarded as the least friendly to the Jewish state have done it the most good. Its strong allies have proved much less helpful."

Nobel Lauriet: I Will Stone Obama if He Visits Nigeria from Baobab Magazine [of Nigeria in English]

THAT'S RIGHT!  Barack and Michelle are going to Ghana soon.

"The message he is sending by going to Ghana is so obvious, is so brilliant that he must not render it flawed by coming to Nigeria any time soon,” said Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka."

Obama's Choice to Visit Ghana and Not Nigeria Should be a Lesson to Us (Editorial) from This Day [of Nigeria in English]

Disappointing as the America's decision is, what it suggests is that Nigeria should stop sulking over the neglect it has suffered and work on its obvious deficiencies."

GOP Posts Lowest Ever Favorable Numbers in NYT Poll from MyDD

"With the Democrats being viewed more favorably than the Republicans by over a 2-to-1 margin, consider this: As bad as the political environment has been for the Republicans over the past four years, it's only getting worse."

Dem. GOP Centrist Meet in Secret on Health Care Reform from The Hill

"Centrist House lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are working together privately on healthcare reform.   The talks have been so secretive and politically sensitive that some members interviewed by The Hill refused to name other legislators involved in the bipartisan effort."

Michelle Obama to Daughters: More to Music Than Hip-Hop (Lynn Sweet) from Politics Daily

"There's a certain formula emerging from each speech or set of remarks that First Lady Michelle Obama delivers. The part I wait for usually comes at the middle or end, when she brings up some story from her own life that relates to the matter at hand. She did that Monday when she talked about the role of jazz in her life at the debut of the White House Music Series."

FATHER'S DAY NUGGET!

Obama and the Black Daddy Dilemma from the Nation

"I suspect that had the elder Barack Obama remained married to Ann Dunham and present in the young Barack's life he would not now be the President of the United States. President Obama's particular life experiences, his challenges, his search for self-identity, and his exceptional achievements were possible, in part, because his father was absent. "

HISTORY/RELIGION NUGGET!

In German Birthplace of Reformation, a Revival of Interest from the Washington Post

"The presence of organized religion is so limited in Wittenberg that some U.S. Lutheran organizations are trying to fill the void. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America established a ministry here 10 years ago to cater to the thousands of American pilgrims who visit annually. "