A secretary bird at the Tierpark Friedrichsfelde zoo in Berlin. From Getty images.
The Nuggetsman will be away for several days. We will resume daylee postings on Sunday.
The Worst of the Worst: Bad Dude Dictators and General Coconut Heads from Foreign Policy Magazine
Let me just say -- I can't believe the subtitle they used for this article!
"A continent away from Kyrgyzstan, Africans like myself cheered this spring as a coalition of opposition groups ousted the country's dictator, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. "One coconut down, 39 more to harvest!" we shouted. There are at least 40 dictators around the world today, and approximately 1.9 billion people live under the grip of the 23 autocrats on this list alone. There are plenty of coconuts to go around."
McChrystal Tests Obama's Priorities from the New York Times
"Whether General McChrystal stays or goes for what he said to Rolling Stone — and for his staff’s vivid, MacArthur-like declarations that their civilian bosses were clueless and their European allies were wimps — the nation is likely to learn a lot about Barack Obama."
Obama and His Generals (Peter Feaver) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The put-downs are remarkably sophomoric -- "Biden? Did you say: Bite me?" -- and the entire affair reads like a bad high school feud (cue the writers of Glee looking for material for next season). Like a petty high school feud, this new flare-up is just the latest round in a back-and-forth that has gone on for a long time."
WH Hints McChrystal's Job in Doubt from Politico
"The White House made it clear Tuesday that Gen. Stanley McChrystal's job is very much in doubt. ... Asked whether the general's job was safe following his comments and those of his aides in Rolling Stone, Gibbs said "we'll have more to say" after the President's meeting with McChrystal Wednesday. "
Signs Point to McChrystal Ouster from Politico
"Public and private signs from the administration point to President Barack Obama firing — or accepting the resignation of — Gen. Stanley McChrystal after careless, smart-aleck comments he and his staff made to Rolling Stone. "
Why McChrystal Has to Go from the Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal
"He is one of the fathers of victory in Iraq, because his organization dismantled the leadership of al Qaeda there. Few Americans know, or will know, how well he has served this country—and as a shrewd, humane commander, not merely a lethal one. President Obama should, nonetheless, fire him."
Farewell to McChrystal, Hello to Mattis? (Thomas Ricks) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"My bet is that Gen. Stanley McChrystal will be gone within a week or so. Defense Secretary Gates canned Admiral Fallon as Central Command chief in the spring of 2007 for less pointed remarks, so he will look like a hypocrite if he does less here in response to McChrystal dissing Obama, Biden, and the White House in a new article in Rolling Stone. At any rate, it may be time for a whole new team in Afghanistan."
With McChrystal, the Pope Mouths Off (Andrew Sullivan) from the Atlantic
"It doesn't take a genius to see this contempt as rooted in the growing recognition among many and the growing fear among the McChrystal clique that Biden has been right all along, that the McChrystal strategy was a product of hope over experience, and that the arrogance that drove it was part of what had long been wrong with the conduct of both tragically flawed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. You see the same fear in McChrystal's contempt for Eikenberry, who took the Biden position."
Sullivan's critique rings the most true of the ones I've read so far.
Geithner Say Banks Have Repaid 75% of Bailout from the New York Times
"Mr. Geithner told a watchdog panel that banks had repaid about 75 percent of the bailout money they received, and the government’s investments in those banks had brought taxpayers $21 billion."
Whaling Reduction Talks Collapse Amid Scandal (Jonathan Adams) from Politics Daily
"Talks on a resumption of commercial whaling broke down today on the third day of an international whaling meeting that's being held under a cloud of scandal and legal disputes."
Unclear what this means for this year's whaling season.
Impolite Pols May Face Doom (Roger Simon) from Politico
"“Two out of three Americans consider a general lack of civility to be a major problem for the nation, and 72 percent think that poor behavior has gotten worse in recent years,” according to a new study by Powell Tate/Weber Shandwick in partnership with KRC Research. (How did all of them get along? I wonder.) "
Orrin Hatch: Drug Test the Unemployed (Ryan Grimm) from Huffington Post
Oh, YES!! DO IT!! Then you'll find out how much the unemployed are just regular voting Americans!! This says volumes about how the GOP views the unemployed -- even in a global recession like the one we have now.
"Utah voters have reacted enthusiastically to Sen. Orrin Hatch's legislation to drug test the unemployed and those receiving other forms of government cash assistance, the Utah Republican told the Huffington Post after introducing his measure last week."
Crazy Texas Republicans (John Avalon) from the Daily Beast
"Joe Barton and the state GOP’s anti-gay platform are just the tip of the iceberg in the Lone Star State. John Avlon on how Texas Republicans risk becoming a national embarrassment."
PA-Sen: Sestak, Toomey Tied from Public Policy Polling
"Joe Sestak and Pat Toomey are tied in the Pennsylvania Senate race, representing a six point improvement for Sestak from when PPP last polled the race in late March and found Toomey ahead 42-36."
ANCIENT ROME NUGGET!!
Home Away from Rome from Smithsonian Magazine
"Excavations of villas where Roman emperors escaped the office are giving archaeologists new insights into the imperial way of life."
BIBLE HISTORY NUGGET!!
Oldest Portrait of Apostles Found from Discovery News
"Dating from the end of the 4th century, the full-face paintings depict three of Jesus’ original 12 apostles -- St. Peter, St. Andrew and St. John -- as well as St. Paul, who became an apostle after Christ’s death."
DINOSAUR NUGGET!!
World's Largest Dinosaur Graveyard Found from the Vancouver Sun [of Canada]
"A 2.3-square-kilometre bonebed containing thousands of bones belonging to a horned dinosaur called the centrosaurus was found near Hilda, Alta., a community near the Saskatchewan border, according to David Eberth, a senior research assistant with the province's Royal Tyrrell Museum."
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