News Nuggets 331

A Fennec Fox at the Amneville Zoo in France. From Agence France Presse.

Europe in Crisis (Walter Russell Mead) from The American Interest

"Internally, the Greek problem is showing signs of mutating into a full scale crisis of the European project. Externally, the decisive shift of Ukraine into Russia’s orbit reveals the bankruptcy of European foreign policy and the inability of the 27 member European Union to formulate, much less carry out, a comprehensive foreign policy on matters affecting its vital interests."

I'm not usually a fan of The American Interest -- but I consider Water Russell Mead someone worth listening to.

Eight Days in April (Hendrik Hertzberg) from the New Yorker

This is SO Obama!

"The New Start treaty was concluded a little behind schedule, thanks to last-minute Russian foot-dragging. That “Dmitri, we agreed” of Obama’s came in a phone call after Medvedev started to backtrack on some missile-defense detail. Obama got mad, according to the Times. “We can’t do this,” he went on. “If it means we’re going to walk away from this treaty and not get it done, so be it. But we’re not going to go down this path.” Then he hung up, and Medvedev decided, on reflection, not to walk away."

Russian Child Adoption Record Dismal Compared to US (Editorial) from New Region [of Russia in English]

"When 8 year-old Artem Saveliev was returned to Russia with a note of 'rejection' from his adoptive American parents, it caused a firestorm in Russia. … But according to experts, Russians are biased against adoption, and have almost no tradition of raising children in temporary foster homes. Therefore, rejecting the adoption of children by foreigners is premature."

Breathing While Undocumented (Linda Greenhouse) from the New York Times

"I’m glad I’ve already seen the Grand Canyon. Because I’m not going back to Arizona as long as it remains a police state, which is what the appalling anti-immigrant bill that Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law last week has turned it into."

HARSH -- but true. For those who are not familiar with Greenhouse's work, she is the only Supreme Court reporter who has received a Pulitzer. She (and Nina Totenberg at NPR) are the divas of SCOTUS journalism!

The GOP's Short-Sighted Immigration Strategy (Opinion) from AOL News

"Pushed through by a Republican state legislature and a GOP governor, the law is a virtual recipe for police intimidation and harassment of both legal and illegal Hispanic residents. After all, in a state with a significant number of illegal immigrants from Mexico, what exactly is “reasonable suspicion” for being an illegal other than being Hispanic?"

Wheel Dividends (Derrick Jackson) from the Boston Globe

"While America spends $82 billion hoping bankrupt companies retool for President Obama’s 35-mile-per-gallon standards by 2016, other countries are already into high gear getting cars off the street completely."

All-Night Votes Planned for Wall Street Reform from the Huffington Post

""Americans are counting on us to get results, so we are going to do our jobs and keep the Senate open all night - we will vote again and again, until Republicans stop protecting Wall Street and join us in moving forward to an open, public debate about how to hold Wall Street accountable," said Reid spokesman Jim Manley."

Reid is not likely to win in Nevada in November -- but it sure seems like he's going to go out smoking!

Post-ABC Poll Indicators Suggest Possible Political Climate Change from the Washington Post

"There are some indicators that something less seismic might occur. They include signs that Democratic rank-and-file may be feeling better about things, which could result in more energy in the base than has existed for much of the past six months. At the same time, it's clear that many people are not fully sold on the Republicans and are continuing to assess the two parties. Finally, there is some evidence that Obama has learned some lessons from a difficult first year."

Six Primaries That Could Matter from the National Journal

"Talk to any Dem strategist and you'll hear a common refrain: GOPers will leave seats on the table because competitive primaries will sap eventual nominees of money and hinder their ability to bring together a winning coalition. GOPers believe the same about several Dem primaries, too."

'Retconning,' Death Panels and Bailouts (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post

""Retconning" is, well, a nerd term for "the deliberate changing of previously established facts in a work of serial fiction." Say you want to change Captain America's creation myth to accommodate the plot of a new storyline."

'Epistemic Closure'? Those Are Fighting Words (Op-Ed) from the New York Times

"It is hard to believe that a phrase as dry as “epistemic closure” could get anyone excited, but the term has sparked a heated argument among conservatives in recent weeks about their movement’s intellectual health."

The Party of Yes (M.S. Winters) from the National Catholic Reporter

"The Republican Party has been worried that they will be tagged as “the Party of No” but I think they actually face a different worry, that they will be tagged as “the Party of Yes.” In their obstructionism to anything and everything that President Obama supports, they have put themselves into the unenviable situation of saying, repeatedly, “yes” to the status quo."

Senate Republican Candidates Mired in Season of Discontent (Sam Stein) from the Huffington Post

"In several races throughout the country, candidates who either have the explicit backing of the party apparatus or are widely considered the establishment picks find themselves either in deep electoral holes or seriously challenged on personal or policy grounds."

A Test of Arizona's Political Character (Michael Gerson) from the Washington Post

"Chaos at the border is not an argument for states to take control of American immigration policy -- an authority that Arizona has seized in order to abuse. American states have broad powers. But they are not permitted their own foreign or immigration policy. One reason is that immigration law concerns not only the treatment of illegal immigrants but also the proper treatment of American citizens. And here the Arizona law fails badly."

Terry Goddard (D) Leads Jan Brewer (R) in AZ Gov's Race; Hispanic voters Flocking to Democratic Party from Public Policy Polling via Huffington Post

"Hispanic voters also appear to be flocking to Goddard -- his support among that group has more than doubled since September. Hispanics prefer Goddard over Brewer by a 71 percent to 25 percent margin, according to the poll."

VERY predictable.

Who is Barack Obama?: A Review of The Bridge by David Remnick from the New York Review of Books

"In this setting, David Remnick’s energetic entry into the Obama biography sweepstakes is a welcome reminder that the current occupant of the White House may have a broader, more durable sense of narrative than the pack of bloggers who considered him a slow learner."

FOUNTAIN NUGGET!!

The Dubai Fountain to the Tune of Baba Yetu (Andrew Sullivan's blog) at the Atlantic

This is pretty cool!

ENVIRONMENTAL BOOK NUGGET!!

Icons of Oblivion: A Review of Nature's Ghosts from the Nation

"Mark Barrow is less concerned with gazing into the hazy future than clarifying the growing awareness of humankind's role in extinction. In Nature's Ghosts, he explains how naturalists, driven by affection for the nonhuman world, gradually became worried about the "specter of extinction" and eventually "mobilized to act.""

HISTORY BOOK NUGGET!!

Behing the Scenes of the Dark Cold War (Review) from the New York Times

This looks very interesting! I believe it won or was nominated for a Pulitzer.

A review of The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy by David Hoffman.

ENGLISH NOVEL NUGGET!!

The Dark Side of Dickens (Christopher Hitchens) from the Atlantic

"Why Charles Dickens was among the best of writers and the worst of men."