Here's wishing you'all a happy Thanksgiving! The nuggets will return
as a regular feature next week. If anything extra-amazing shows
up, I may do some sporadic posts. Keep well. Jared
THANKSGIVING DAY NUGGET!!
On the Menu: Thanksgiving 1900 from the New Yorker
"The menu comes to us via “Mark Twain Himself: a Pictorial Biography.” This book contains a description of the event and a reproduction of the physical menu, which featured a list of all nine courses surrounded by charming illustrations of scenes from Twain’s life."
How to Respond to North Korea (Max Fisher) from the Atlantic
"Korea analysts have long warned that the prospect of a North-South war, though highly unlikely, would rapidly eclipse the violence of Iraq or Afghanistan as some of the world's largest militaries converge on one of the world's most militarized borders. What options do the U.S., South Korea, China, and the rest of the world face for responding to this attack and deterring the escalation of violence that South Korea has already threatened?"
When It Comes to North Korea, Obama is as Hamstrung as His Predecessors (Matthew Cooper) from National Journal
"For 12 presidents, the peninsula has been a political and military minefield."
Assembly Pushes to Oust Iran President from the Wall Street Journal
"Iran's parliament revealed it planned to impeach President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but refrained under orders from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, exposing a deepening division within the regime."
I suspect Khamenei knows that if Ahmadinejad goes, his enemies will force him out shortly thereafter.
Iran's Nuclear Program Reportedly Struggling from the New York Times
"Iran's nuclear program has experienced serious problems, including unexplained fluctuations in the performance of the thousands of centrifuges enriching uranium, leading to a rare but temporary shutdown, international inspectors are expected to reveal Tuesday."
The article is too brief for such a critical headline -- I could actually write a longer piece on why it might be struggling.. But this does further confirm my sense of this. Can't wait for Tuesday's report!!
One Nation, Divisible from the Economist [of London]
Gotta check out the numbers presented here -- very interesting!
"The new Congress will be more polarised than at any time since Reconstruction, reckon some political scientists. But these swings, however large and consequential, are arguably only symptoms. If people feel as if the country is changing quickly, that’s because it is."
51 Percent of Americans Want to Keep or Expand Health Care Law from the McClatchy News Service
"A majority of Americans want Congress to keep the new health care law or actually expand it, despite Republican claims that they have a mandate from the people to kill it, according to a new McClatchy Newspapers-Marist poll."
Why are the Marines the Military's Biggest Backers of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'? (Tammy S. Schultz) from the Washington Post
"I am an openly gay woman, equally comfortable at Quantico and in Dupont Circle. Each of these worlds holds negative stereotypes about the other, and like all stereotypes, they tend to break down on an individual level. Yet for some in both cultures, the notion of a gay Marine seems almost impossible, as though this most masculine and punishing service simply isn't for gay people. You don't need to spend time with Marines, as I have, to realize how important the warrior ethos is to them. "
What Would the GOP Do? (Daniel Gross) from New York Magazine
"Probably nothing that different from what’s being done. And yet—outrage!"
How the Midterms Tilted the GOP Primary Battlefield for 2012 (Ed Kilgore) from the Democratic Strategist
"How will the Republican primary election of 2012 unfold? It's impossible to predict the exact result, but now that the midterms are over, we are in a position to make some educated guesses."
Attack on Michelle Obama Shows Palin's Ignorance of History (Richard Cohen) from the New York Times
"Michelle Obama, a young woman who felt, or was made to feel, "more aware of my 'blackness' than ever before." This was not a statement of racism. This was a statement of fact.
It's appalling that Palin and too many others fail to understand that fact - indeed so many facts of American history."
Motor Trend Magazine Disembowels Rush Limbaugh (Ray Gustin) from the Atlantic
"Writes Todd Lassa, the magazine's Detroit editor, in a scathing item addressed directly to Limbaugh: 'Assuming you’ve been anywhere near the biggest automotive technological breakthrough since … I don’t know, maybe the self-starter, could you even find your way to the front seat? Or are you happy attacking a car that you’ve never even seen in person?"
It is SOOO rare that anyone ever actually takes on these talk radio blowhard, when it happens it's really quite startling!
“Operation: Stop Palin” Gets Rolling (David Frum) from the FrumForum
"The Republican establishment’s increasingly frantic search for ways to stop the Palin for President campaign. Most of the search is happening below the surface of things. You see it in the flow of big-dollar money in every other direction but Palin’s."
This should be interesting! There's some further discussion of this operation HERE and HERE.
BOOK REVIEW NUGGET!!
The Adventures of Samuel Clemens: A Review of the Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1 (Edmund Morris) from the Wall Street Journal
"Twain's autobiography confirms that he was a fabulously successful writer who had a black view of himself that went beyond questions of sex or mendacity."
BOOK NUGGET!!
The Zealotry Of Free Thinkers: A Review of A Wicked Company from the Wall Street Journal
"He has an admirable ability to get to the heart of what Spinoza, Hume or Voltaire argued. If readers weary of the ins and outs of philosophical materialism, never mind, since another bodice-ripping liaison dangeureuse is just around the corner."
EXTREME PLANT NUGGET!!
Exotic Plant's Once-a-Century Bloom in Pictures from National Geographic News
"A man surveys a flowering Queen of the Andes plant—which blooms only once in its 80- to 100-year lifetime—near Thumi, Bolivia, in a picture taken last week."
NEW YORK CITY NUGGET!!
Miracle on 33rd Street (Tom Scocca and Choire Sicha) from the New York Times
"Why New York’s reviled Penn Station is really a triumph."
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