News Nuggets 356

In India, an elderly elephant still gets his daily workout. See the Elephant Nugget below.

Sanctions Put Pressures on Iran From Without and Within (Barbara Slavin) from AOL News

"The Obama administration's multilateral approach to the world's tough problems is beginning to yield some results. "

It Takes a Crisis to Make a Continent (Gabor Steingart) from the New York Times

"While we should of course worry about Greek debt, we should also have hope that we are witnessing the end of the euro zone as an abstraction and the birth of the United States of Europe."

The Autonomy of Bishops, and Suing the Vatican from National Catholic Reporter

"At first blush, most people probably assume that the sexual abuse crisis will result in tighter control from Rome over local bishops. The logic is impeccable: The failure of some bishops to do the right thing is a core element of the crisis, and only the pope can really hold bishops accountable. Yet at the moment, the ecclesiological fallout from the crisis, especially in the United States, seems to cut in the opposite direction -- promoting the autonomy of individual bishops."

Oil Spill, Kagan Show Obama's Pragmatic Streak (Kenneth Walsh) from US News & World Report

"The pattern is clear. Despite claims by some of his conservative critics, and to the disappointment of his party's left, Obama is not turning out to be a liberal zealot. "He leans toward problem solving, doing what works, and what is politically sellable," says Princeton University historian Julian Zelizer. "He is not an ideologue.""

Reforms Put Wall Street in its Place (Thomas Noyes) from the Guardian [of the UK]

"Passage of Obama's financial reform bill restores Wall Street to its proper role as the economy's servant – and not its master."

Democrats Can Win in November (Eliot Spitzer) from Slate

"The portents of doom are, as usual, overblown. A closer look at the results should give substantial comfort to a White House whose mantras are still "Change," "Hope," and "Yes We Can.""

Arizona Senator Behind SB-1070 Plans Next Bill: ‘Target the Mother’ by Going After the ‘Anchor Baby Racket.’ from ThinkProgress

"Pearce said he intends to push for an “anchor baby” bill that would essentially overturn the 14th amendment by no longer granting citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants born on U.S. soil."

Rage on the Right (Mark Potok) from the Southern Poverty Law Center

"The anger seething across the American political landscape — over racial changes in the population, soaring public debt and the terrible economy, the bailouts of bankers and other elites, and an array of initiatives by the relatively liberal Obama Administration that are seen as "socialist" or even "fascist" — goes beyond the radical right. The "tea parties" and similar groups that have sprung up in recent months cannot fairly be considered extremist groups, but they are shot through with rich veins of radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism."

Republicans Ignore Anti-Immigrant Debacles (Albert Hunt) from Bloomberg News Service

"“There are a lot of similarities between what’s happening in Arizona and what happened in California in 1994,” says Sergio Bendixen, a political pollster and consultant specializing in the Hispanic vote. “That made California a deep blue state (as in Democratic) and Republicans are making the same mistake now trying to benefit on anti-immigration.”"

The Roots of Rand Paul's Civil Rights Resentment (Joe Conason) from Salon

"Lurking beneath the Paul family's libertarian politics is a strategy of pandering to "populists" --- like Pat Buchanan."

Rand Paul: Radical Ayn Rand Rookie (Clarence Page) from the Chicago Tribune

"For teen guys, what's not to like about that? Rand's books were a big hit in my high school, especially among us dweebs on the debate team, student newspaper and chess club. As my own college-age son has since demonstrated with his futile arguments for "freedom" against mom and dad's "fascist oppression," reading Ayn Rand can be as much fun as defying your parents without worrying about getting grounded. But running for public office, as Rand-fan Rand Paul is learning, is the right time to put aside childish things to reconcile one's ideology with other people's reality."

Rand Paul and the Perils of Textbook Libertarianism (Sam Tenenhaus) from the New York Times

"Mr. Paul’s position is complicated. He has emerged as the politician most closely identified with the Tea Party movement. Its adherents are drawn to him because he has come forward as a kind of libertarian originalist, unbending in his anti-government stance. The farther he retreats from ideological purity, the more he resembles other, less attractive politicians."

The Randslide and Its Discontents (Frank Rich) from the New York Times

"IF there is one certain outcome to recent American elections, it’s this: The results will invariably prove most of the Beltway’s settled political narratives wrong."

ELEPHANT NUGGET!!

Making a Splash, the 60-Year-Old Elephant Going for His Morning Swim from the Daily Mail [of the UK]

"Weighing 3.5 tons and standing at just under four metres, meet Rajan one of the last surviving elephants who helped with logging on the Andaman and Nicobar Island chain near the end of the Bay of Bengal. Photographed by Cesare Naldi, these amazing images show the unique bond between 60-year-old Rajan and 58-year-old mahout (elephant driver), Nasru."

BOOK NUGGET!!

After Keeping Us Waiting for a Century, Mark Twain Will Finally Reveal All from the Independent [of the UK]

"The great American writer left instructions not to publish his autobiography until 100 years after his death, which is now."

This sounds REALLY interesting!!