Beetle-shaped sand dunes are starting to lose their carbon-dioxide icing in the northern hemisphere of Mars - from NASA via National Geographic News. See the Planet Nugget below.
Why So Glum? Numbers Point to a Recovery (Floyd Norris) from the New York Times
"The American economy appears to be in a cyclical recovery that is gaining strength. Firms have begun to hire and consumer spending seems to be accelerating. That is what usually happens after particularly sharp recessions, so it is surprising that many commentators, whether economists or politicians, seem to doubt that such a thing could possibly be happening."
Ronald Wilson Obama (Robert Shrum) from The Week
"Looking back, from the vantage of Barack Obama's decisive 2012 re-election victory, we can see the building blocks of a transformative presidency. Ronald Reagan would find it strikingly familiar."
Reagan/Bush I Appointee to GOPers: Don't Mess with START from Mother Jones
"George H.W. Bush's chief arms negotiator warns Senate Republicans not to block the new Start treaty."
US-Russia Nuclear Treaty: Republicans Expected to Support Obama Deal from the Associated Press via the Huffington Post
"Despite near gridlock in the Senate, Republicans were expected to swing behind a new arms control treaty with Russia that President Barack Obama said they will like, even though some are reserving judgment until Obama can assure them the pact won't set back U.S. defenses against other potential foes such as North Korea and Iran."
I'm HIGHLY skeptical that, in the end, GOP senators will support this treaty in any numbers close to enough for passage. With Beck and Limbaugh against it, the vast majority will run for cover by sinking it.
Bush 'Knew Guantanamo Prisoners were Innocent' from Agence France Presse via Raw Story
"Former US president George W. Bush and his top aides were accused Friday of covering up that many Guantanamo Bay detainees were innocent, amid fears releasing them could harm the 'war on terror'."
THIS, on the day that former Republican Rep J.C.Watts declares, "Some might think that George W. Bush had his shortcomings," said Watts, "but let me tell you something -- history's going to be kind to George W. Bush." Given the rivers of right-wing misinformation that are constantly washing over the public these days, Watts is probably correct.
An Excellent Supreme Court Shortlist (Stuart Taylor) from National Journal
"None -- or at most one -- of the four brainy and well-qualified public servants at the top of the shortlists that have made their way into the media from inside sources seems likely to move the Court left. None of the four is clearly more liberal than Stevens, who is in turn a lot less liberal than, say, the late Justices William Brennan or Thurgood Marshall."
Cameron's Tories Point to Isolation from the Financial Times [of London]
"The Tories have a particular problem with the US because their sister-party is the Republicans. Like many youngish politicians, Mr Cameron would dearly love to embrace President Barack Obama and to drink deeply from his aura – if such a thing is possible. But the Tory leader has to pretend that the US politicians he is closest too are the likes of Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin. This is a pretence that is increasingly painful."
Pope's Hope to Revive Europe's Christian Heritage Imperiled from the National Catholic Reporter
"Pope Benedict is reeling from reports of sex abuse scandals mushrooming across Europe that risk undermining a central mission of his papacy: promoting and reviving Europe's Christian heritage. Worse, some analysts say, the scandals may accelerate the drift away from the Roman Catholic Church that has been underway here for decades."
To a large extent, Benedict's agenda for Europe in this area is much more than "imperiled" -- it is dead. And the Pope only needs to look in the mirror to see why.
Rebel Yell (Steve Tuttle) from Newsweek
"There are few subjects that I really know a lot about, but one is definitely the Cult of the Lost Cause, or the fetishization of the old Confederacy and all its supposed glory. Thanks to Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who recently decided it was a good idea again to declare April Confederate History Month, now we're all going to learn a lot more about it."
Power Struggle: Inside the Battle for the Soul of the Democratic Party from the Huffington Post
"The Democrats celebrating their victory in the bar tonight are of a decidedly conservative variety, the result of a conscious strategy to move the party to the right in order to take back the House and pad the majority. They may be the ones partying, but it's Grijalva and his progressive allies who are picking up the tab."
The New Political Violence (Matthew Dallek) from the Daily Beast
"When the House Speaker is getting death threats, militants are spinning out of control. Matthew Dallek on what the radicals of the 1960s can teach us about today’s dangerous fringe."
Tone Down the Hatefulness in Politics (Michael Gerson) from the Washington Post
"What is so wrong about Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell declaring April to be Confederate History Month? Can't we respect Robert E. Lee's high-minded sense of honor? The average Confederate soldier's outnumbered stubbornness? Americans can appreciate these things, and do. But when a public official celebrates Confederate history without mentioning slavery, there is a problem."
Closing of the Conservative Mind: The Sarah Palin Test from Salon
"I've been reading Julian Sanchez's interesting posts on "epistemic closure" or the idea that conservatives have, or are trying to create, a media environment in which they only talk to each other and are totally cut off from the larger flow of information"
I think this conversation really tracks the larger agenda of leaders on the right.
The Conservative Misinformation Feedback Loop, Cont'd (Jonathan Chait) from the New Republic
"Once some factual misapprehension has made its way into the right-wing echo chamber, it's nearly impossible to dislodge. The same basic phenomenon can be seen is debates over climate change, supply-side economics, and other issues. You have a whole ideological movement that, to a substantial degree, relies upon the pseudo-expertise of cranks and hacks."
What Makes NPR (and the Economist) So Special? (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"Both brands have morphed into statements. For better or worse, carrying the Economist is sort of like wearing a shirt that says "I'm smart and worldly and interested in knowing things about Ghana.""
PLANET NUGGET!!
Springtime for Phoenix, Summer on Triton from National Geographic News
"On northern Mars, spring has been revving up for a few months now, with signs of change all over the polar regions."
Some VERY COOL images from Mars and Neptune!
HOLLYWOOD NUGGET [from 2000]
The Real McQueen from Vanity Fair
"In a new book of photographs—the result of unprecedented access during the 1960s—William Claxton catches the signature moments of a fast-lived stardom. The result, the author finds, is laced with humor, glamour, and the brutal honesty that defined McQueen both on and off the screen."
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