News Nuggets 333

Some images from the news nuggets pet portfolio. These are from Americablog.

In Shift, Pakistan Considers Attack on Militant Lair from the New York Times

"The Pakistani military, long reluctant to heed American urging that it attack Pakistani militant groups in their main base in North Waziristan, is coming around to the idea that it must do so, in its own interests."

Fayyad's Road to Palestine (Roger Cohen) from the International Herald Tribune

"I spoke to the Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, for 90 minutes, and the word he uttered most often, by far, was “security.” As in, “The absence of security has been our undoing.” When Palestinian leaders are talking about their self-inflicted undoing, as well as the undoing inflicted on them by Israel, things may be starting to move."

The Winners and Losers in Bank Reform: A Wall Street Prospective from the Wall Street Journal

"The question investors is not whether this reform is ”good” or “bad”. Let’s hope for the best and try to make money either way."

Signs of a Democratic Upturn (Joe Conason) from Salon

"Anyone who examined the poll data hoping to find bad news for Democrats was likely to be disappointed, because the Post poll actually shows the first signs of an upward turn for President Obama and his party."

Is the Holy See Above International Law? from the Times [of London]

"Richard Dawkins is reported to be planning a “legal ambush” to have the Pope arrested for “crimes against humanity” on his visit, this September to the UK. The atheist Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens are consulting human rights lawyers at present (including Geoffrey Robertson) to ask them to produce a case for charging Pope Benedict XVI over an alleged cover up of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church."

These two are nothing but anti-catholic ambulance chasers as far as I can see.

US Court Action Accuses Pope of Failing to Protect Children from Priest from the Times [of London]

"The legal action, which will put even more pressure on the Catholic Church over its legacy of child abuse scandals around the world, came as two more bishops resigned and new allegations came to light."

Hawaii Civil Union Bill Passes Legislature from the Associated Press

"In a move that still needs the governor's signature to become law, the House of Representatives Thursday night approved a measure that has drawn some of the state's biggest protest rallies. Republican Gov. Linda Lingle hasn't said whether she'll reject it or sign it into law but her office said later that she will carefully review the bill."

Stay Away from Arizona (Bill Boyarsky) from Truthdig

"This is much more than an immigrant issue. Giving police the authority to stop a person on the “reasonable suspicion” he or she is an illegal immigrant clears the way for the arrest of anyone from an American-born Latino doctor to an Indian-American professor to an English immigrant who somehow offended an angry, ignorant or oversensitive police officer."

Can a Polarized American Party System be "Healthy"? (William Galston) from the Brookings Institute

"The current Congress–the 111th–is the most ideologically polarized in modern history. In both the House and the Senate, the most conservative Democrat is more liberal than is the most liberal Republican. If one defines the congressional “center” as the overlap between the two parties, the center has disappeared. "

Midterm's Past: The '66 Parallel (Rhodes Cook) from Larry Sabato's Virginia Center for Politics

"For months now, this election has been compared to that of 1994, when Republicans scored huge gains and won both houses of Congress. It is a decent model. But given the recent passage of health care reform – something that did not happen in ’94 – this might be a good occasion to look at another midterm election for instruction, that of 1966."

I think Cook is on the mark here concerning November.

NRSC Trips Over Grass Roots from Politico

"A strong class of GOP recruits in marquee Senate races is in danger of being upended in contentious primary elections, thanks to the emergence of a group of formerly long-shot primary challengers who have gone from being skunks at the party to belles of the ball. "

GOPanic (Timothy Noah) from Slate

"If the Democrats are doomed in November, why is it Republicans who are freaking out?"

Crist to Make Senate Bid as an Independent: Here's How He'll Do It from the Wall Street Journal

"Mr. Crist has scheduled a formal announcement for Thursday in his hometown of St. Petersburg, Fla. If the governor follows through, he would upend one of the country's most closely watched campaigns."

Breaking Down a 3-Way Race in Florida from the New York Times

"Even the most experienced strategists here are dumbfounded. Never before, they say, has there been a three party Senate race in a major swing state, with each candidate well-financed, and so much at stake in terms of the Washington power balance."

Speaking as an out-of-stater, this is quite interesting.

Crist Exit Could Signal Insider Purge from Politico

"While Crist, lagging badly in his Senate primary bid, is sure to pin the blame on a party-that-left-him, his move can’t simply be chalked up as a response to an ongoing purge of moderates."

The Charlie Crist Blame Game (Benjamin Sarlin) from the Daily Beast

"As Florida’s Senate hopeful bolts the GOP to become an independent, conservatives are railing about the national GOP’s record of placing bad bets. Benjamin Sarlin on the rumblings in the ranks."

The Tea Party's Immigration Hypocrisy (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast

"The right frets that Obama is turning America into a police state. So why are grass-roots conservatives silent when Arizona is doing just that?"

OLD CANARDS NUGGET!!

Has the Ship Finally Come in for Noah's Ark Devotees? from AOL News

"After 4,800 years, the mystery is over at last: Noah's Ark has been found, and it's sitting 13,000 feet above sea level near the peak of Turkey's Mount Ararat. ... Carbon dating of the seven wooden compartments discovered beneath the snow on Mount Ararat -- long thought by believers to be the ark's final resting place -- shows they are about 5,000 years old, the group says."

Seems like they have found SOMETHING that's old and potentially interesting. Make of it what you will.