Obama Lowers Nuclear Temperature from the BBC
"In his nuclear weapons review, President Obama is trying to raise the nuclear threshold and lower the nuclear temperature. He is taking a step backwards from the policies of President George W Bush, which suggested that a nuclear response might be required if the US faced a significant non-nuclear attack."
For Sake of the Terror Fight, Anti-Americanism Must End (Editorial) from Gazeta [of Russia in English]
"Propaganda of the hard anti-West kind long ago brought its result: a majority of Russians see the West as an enemy which, led by the U.S., initially destroyed the USSR, and now would like to bring Russia to the same condition. ... False targets set by anti-Western rhetoric, before a country that stands in the midst of a very real battle with terrorism, are dangerous."
Earning His Nobel Prize (Michael Scheer) from Truthdig.org
Scheer, like Matt Miller from the other day, is a regular on the NPR program, Left, Right, and Center.
"At last, a believable sighting of that peace president many of us thought we had elected. Give Barack Obama credit, big time, for the startling progress he has made in tempering the threat of nuclear annihilation."
Obama Finds His Stride (Editorial) from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"Barack Obama has stepped off his pedestal and started governing with a mixture of idealism and pragmatism. It has lost a preacher, but the bitterly divided country has plenty of those. Finally, 14 months into his term, America has the reform-minded president it needs."
For Obama, What A Difference A Week Made from NPR
"The protracted health care battle looks to have taught the White House something about power, says presidential historian Gil Troy — a lesson that will inform Obama's pursuit of his initiatives going forward. "I think that Obama realizes that presidential power is a muscle, and the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets," Troy says. "
Who's Up for Building Bridges? (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"I’m no expert on American politics, but I do know something about holes. And watching the way the Republican Party is reacting to the passage of health care, it seems to me the G.O.P. is violating the first rule of holes: “When you’re in one, stop digging.”"
The Church's Judas Moment (Maureen Dowd) from the New York Times
"I’ve been wondering, given the vitriolic reaction of the New York archbishop to my column defending nuns and the dismissive reaction of the Vatican to my column denouncing the church’s response to the pedophilia scandal, if they are able to take a woman’s voice seriously."
David Brooks: What I Read from the Atlantic
"How do other people deal with the torrent of information that pours down on us all? Do they have some secret? Perhaps. We are asking various journalists who seem well-informed to describe their media diets. This is from a conversation with New York Times columnist David Brooks"
Olbermann: Gov. Jindal 'Blackmailed or Bribed' His Attorney General from Rawstory.com
It was a borderline call whether to post this or not. Olbermann is not a very reliable source. We'll see if more substance develops.
"MSNBC's Keith Olbermann on Tuesday named Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal "the worst person in the world" over claims the Republican governor "blackmailed or bribed" his Democratic attorney general into joining a multi-state lawsuit challenging the health care overhaul."
How the GOP Purged Me (Commentary) from the FrumForum
"Maybe I am too old and too cynical, but I think the Republican party is in the last stages of agony. If nothing happens, we might win an election or even two, but in the long run we will lose America."
Proud of Being Ignorant (Ta-Nehisi Coates) from the Atlantic
"The GOP is, effectively, the party of willfully unlettered Utopians. It is the party of choice for those who believe global warming is a hoax, that humans roamed the earth with dinosaurs, and that homosexuals should work harder at not being gay. That the party of unadulterated quackery also believes that Birth Of A Nation is more true to the Civil War than Battle Cry Of Freedom, is to be expected."
Cash Scarcity Worries GOP from the Wall Street Journal
""There just isn't a lot of cash available." GOP consultant Scott Reed said that "usually, at this phase of the game you are raising and saving a lot of money. But that's not what is happening.""
The Incredible Shrinking Michael Steele (David Weigel) from the Washington Post
"Steele, instead of crafting some new, fuzzy, moderate GOP image, has been playing a lot of catch-up to the conservative base. I have yet to meet a Republican who thinks Steele can win another term, but I don't know why he'd try."
Bush Still Blamed for Economy from Politico
"Former President George W. Bush gets more blame for the country’s economic troubles than his successor or the Democrats who control Congress, according to a Harris poll out Wednesday. "
RECESSION NUGGET!! [of a sort]
Destitute and Desperate, Icelanders Opt for Exile from Agence France Presse
""I just don't see any future here. There isn't going to be any future in this country for the next 20 years, everything is going backwards," lamented the 46-year-old single mother, who plans to move to Norway in June."
AUDIO RECESSION NUGGET!!
Graydon Carter and Michael Lewis:The Unabridged Conversation About the Financial Collapse from Vanity Fair
An in-depth interview with Michael Lewis on his new book, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, which tackles the question of what caused the U.S. economy to tank.
WEIRD ANIMAL NUGGET!!
'Oriental Yeti' That Looks Like a Bear Without Fur Shipped for Tests from the Times [of London]
Personally I don't see the 'bear' or the 'yeti' comparison -- but it is odd-looking nonetheless.
"“It also does not sound like a bear — it has a voice like a cat and it is calling all the time — perhaps it is looking for the rest of its kind or maybe it's the last one."
Probably the latter. Sad.
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