News Nuggets 263

Example of extreme melting in antarctica -- from the Daily Beast

The Post-Imperial Presidency (Fareed Zakaria) from Newsweek

"He wants a clearer, more discriminating foreign policy, one that pares down the vast commitments and open-ended interventions of the Bush era, perhaps one that is more disciplined even than Bill Clinton's approach to the world. ... But America is in the midst of a war that is not going well, and scaling back now would look like cutting and running. Obama is searching for a post-imperial policy in the midst of an imperial crisis."

How Obama Came to Plan for 'Surge' in Afghanistan from the New York Times

An interesting long-form look at Obama's decision-making

"His advisers say he was haunted by the human toll as he wrestled with what to do about the eight-year-old war. Just a month earlier, he had mentioned to them his visits to wounded soldiers at the Army hospital in Washington. “I don’t want to be going to Walter Reed for another eight years,” he said then."

Can He Inspire America on Afghanistan? (Joe Klein) from Time Magazine

"Obama's leadership of this process was the source of some amazement by those who participated in it. He was all business. Unlike Bill Clinton, he didn't allow the conversations to ramble; unlike George W. Bush, he ran the meetings himself. He asked sharp, Socratic questions of everyone in the Situation Room."

Congressional Research Service Praises Obama's Lobby Reforms from Politico

"This week, congressional researchers concluded that the administration’s crackdown has “already changed the relationship between lobbyists and covered executive branch officials” and suggested that Congress might consider enacting similar restrictions on itself."

Seeing Obama Through Educator's Eyes (Eleanor Clift) from Newsweek

"If it were President Bush standing at the lectern at West Point warning of Qaeda plotting attacks, I would have dismissed it as fearmongering. But I've got to believe that Obama, in going through the methodical review that he did, came to the right conclusion, and he's got my trust, for now."

Eleanor completely recreates my perspective here.

With Ascent to the Presidency, Obama Worthy of Nobel (Editorial) from the Chicago Tribune

"Maybe Obama will persuade the lion and lamb to lie down together. Maybe he won't. Either way, I'll still think he deserved the Nobel. He earned it in record time, the way I figure. The laurels were his from the moment the votes were counted that made him president because it got all of us -- black, white, Americans and people across the world -- over a hurdle that seemed impassable only a few years ago."

Illinois Prison Likely to House Detainees from the Washington Post

"Despite opposition from congressional Republicans, the Obama administration is signaling that a state prison in rural Thomson, Ill., will probably become the new home for scores of terrorism suspects now housed at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."

TWO CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMET PRIMERS!!

1. The Climate Showdown from the Daily Beast

"As the world readies for the global warming summit in Copenhagen, The Daily Beast offers a user’s guide to the players, the deniers’ game plan—and the best place to ride out the melting glaciers."

2. Obama's New Climate Plan (Richard Wolffe) from the Daily Beast

"Could Obama actually return from Copenhagen with a deal? The White House is suddenly feeling a gust of optimism. Richard Wolffe on how he might earn that Nobel Prize after all. Plus, read our user's guide to the state of the climate-change debate."

A Clever Conservative Talking Point (Michael Tomasky) from the [Manchester] Guardian

Our ON-THE-MONEY pundit of the day!!

"The people who started "Conservapedia" did so because they say Wikipedia has a liberal bias. What say you to that, Brother Wales? He says: I think maybe for some people not having a bias is the same as having a liberal bias. As my friend Mary B. likes to say: Egggggg-xactly. This is possibly the greatest con the modern right has pulled."

Cable Guise (Matt Bai) from the New York Times

"The door between politics and television news now isn’t merely revolving; it spins so fast and so continuously that a fair number of people no longer seem to belong neatly on one side or the other. Is Sarah Palin, at this point, a politician, or is she the star of some “frontier family” reality show? In fact, she seems to realize that the changed environment allows her to be both at the same time."

MONKEYS NUGGET!!

Monkeys Recognize Their Pals in Photos from HealthDay News

"Monkeys can recognize photographs of other monkeys they know, proving that they can both detect differences in faces and figure out if they've seen them before, researchers report."

HILARIOUS PET NUGGETS!!

Over at Americablog, they have a wonderful series of interesting and funny pictures of pets.

BIG BOAT NUGGET!!

The latest luxury cruise ship -- bigger than an AIRCRAFT CARRIER!!

The Biggest Ship Ever: Hope Floats from the Atlantic.

"IN NOVEMBER, ROYAL Caribbean will take delivery of a true sea monster. Now in its final phase of construction, the Oasis of the Seas will be the biggest (longest, tallest, widest, heaviest) passenger ship ever built—and the most expensive."