Divers hanging out with rare sperm whales. Also from the Globe and Mail [of the UK]. See the Whale Nugget below.Foreign Policy for a Positive Sum World (Matthew Yglesias) from his blog
"On foreign policy, I think progressives tend to fall into the Goldilocks Trap of simply trying to define our stance as a wise middle ground between militarism and pacifism. The problem with that is that actually everyone agrees that we should seek a wise middle ground. People just disagree as to who’s wise and what’s the middle."
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? from Foreign Policy Magazine
"World leaders are fast converging on Washington for Barack Obama's nuclear security summit. Here's FP's definitive guide to who they are and what they want."
Young Superheroes in a Hut (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times
"Why is Africa poor? Is it a legacy of colonial exploitation? Tropical diseases and parasites? Or is it that local mammals, like the zebra and the African elephant, were difficult to domesticate and harness in agriculture? There’s truth in each of these explanations. But a visit to Zimbabwe highlights perhaps the main reason: bad governance. The tyrannical, incompetent and corrupt rule of Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, has turned one of Africa’s most advanced countries into a shambles."
For a while now, people in development aid have been increasingly emphasizing this as the biggest problem now in Africa (and elsewhere).
Five Ways to Keep America Great (Mort Zuckerman) from US News and World Report
I think we can do without Zuckerman's rah-rah tone -- but his general points are interesting.
"There are good news days and there are bad news days, but altogether Americans are a little sadder. ... Sadness should not give way to despair. If the new frontier of the world today is the global economy, we are as well placed to exploit that as we were in the new continental marketplace of a century ago."
Why Obamanomics is Working from Businessweek via MSNBC
"It is worth stepping back to consider, in cool-headed policy terms, how all of this came to be — and whether the Obama team's approach amounts to a set of successful emergency measures or a new economic philosophy: Obamanomics."
HERE's a reply to Yglesias's comment from The Compass at RealClearWorld
How to Tell When the Recession is Over from US News and World Report
"There are two kinds of recessions: the one that economists measure, and the one that ordinary people feel. The official recession is over. ... "It's a recovery, but it sure doesn't feel like it," says Nariman Behravesh, chief economist for forecasting firm IHS Global Insight. Here are five things that still must happen for a robust recovery to kick in."
One Hundred Places to Remember Before They Disappear from Newsweek
An astonishing collection of some of the most beautiful places in the world with reminders that they are magical, fragile, and, ultimately, transient.
How to Gauge Your Middle-Class Status from the US News and World Report
"Despite the so-called recovery, many families continue to struggle, with income and other living standards slipping below thresholds that typically represent middle-class quality of life. We’ve assembled a variety of metrics to help determine whether you’re getting ahead, holding steady, or slipping further than most.."
More Documents Link Ratzinger to Abuse Cases from the National Catholic Reporter
"More documents have been discovered linking Pope Benedict to particular cases in the clergy sex abuse scandal, and other regions of the world are being drawn into the scandal."
Like a rock rolling down hill, it wasn't hard to predict this development in the scandal.
The Gender Conflict in Catholic Church Hierarchy (Mary Kate Cary) from US News and World Report
"The nuns may or may not have "policy people," but when it comes to pro-life work "day in and day out," they've got a lot more street cred than the bishops do. Not only do nuns see the holes in our healthcare system as frontline caregivers, but many don't have anything close to a "Cadillac" healthcare plan for themselves. "
In a similar vein is Maureen Dowd's piece today in the New York Times.
ACORN Video: Lies From Coast to Coast (Joe Conason) from Salon
"So ACORN has been effectively wrecked when the real scandal, it appears, was in the propaganda methods that passed for journalism, not only at "fair and balanced" Fox but in some of the most professional newsrooms across the country."
Southern Discomfort (Jon Meacham) from the New York Times
"It is revealing that Virginia’s neo-Confederates are refighting the Civil War in 2010. Whitewashing the war is one way for the right — alienated, anxious and angry about the president, health care reform and all manner of threats, mostly imaginary — to express its unease with the Age of Obama, disguising hate as heritage."
Sarah Palin's Playground (Hart Seely) from Slate
"In this era of unintelligible, lawyerly doubletalk, Palin's refreshing use of childhood imagery could launch a breakthrough in political discourse. Imagine how it might work with other issues."
Newt Gingrich on Barack Obama: Trust Me, I'm a Historian from the Economist [of London]
"Really, Mr Gingrich? That's what your doctoral work on Belgian education policy in the Congo taught you? That Barack Obama is the most radical president in American history and we should vote Republican?"
HARSH! This -- from the Economist! Not exactly a left-wing rag!
WHALE NUGGET!!
Diving with Giants: Extraordinary Shots that Capture the Gentleness of Nature's Largest Predator from the Globe and Mail [of the UK]
"These incredible pictures shows the gentleness of giant sperm whales as they play near the surface. Taken in Dominica in the Caribbean, the pod even allows snorkellers to touch and interact with them. Hunted for their oil and demonised as savage brutes in fiction such as Herman Melville's Moby Dick, these pictures show a gentler side to one of the planet's largest mammals."
BIG RABBIT NUGGET!!
Beware of the Beaster Bunny: World's Biggest Rabbit is 4ft 3in and Weighs More than Boy of Five from the Globe and Mail [of the UK]
"At 4ft 3in from nose to tail, Darius the Continental Giant has been crowned the world's biggest rabbit. And he's still growing."
COMEDY NUGGET!!
Chris Rock Comments on Health Care and Obama from Real Time with Bill Maher via Utube
Speaking as an inner city person who was once poor, Rock's cuts on the old health care system are both hilarious and tragic.
WHITE HOUSE PHOTO NUGGET!!
The Obamas Behind the Scenes from US News and World Report
The Photo Gallery in the lower left has an OUTSTANDING series of various images over the last year or so. Check'em out!
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