Bin Laden's Lonely Crusade (Peter Bergen) from Vanity Fair
"A decade after White House aide Richard Clarke’s famous memo warning against al-Qaeda, it’s time for a reality check: the 9/11 attacks did not achieve what Osama bin Laden had hoped, and the list of his enemies is growing. Keeping the threat in perspective is the surest way to prevail."
America's 'Iran Watchers': A Coordinated Effort to Get Information about Tehran from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"In 2006, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice realized that Washington needed to know a lot more about Iran. Since then, observation posts in surrounding countries have been supplying information, including rumors of a slap for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."
In 2006, the US was well into plans to bomb Iran [see Seymour Hirsh's items in the New Yorker]. So …, like what does this mean? Rice & co. actually wanted to KNOW something about the country they were about to obliterate!? What was that all about!?
Guarding the State Department's Secrets (Davo Oloppade) from the Daily Beast
"The release of the WikiLeaks cables sent Hillary Clinton's team scrambling to do damage control. Dayo Olopade talks to State Dept. officials about their efforts to step up cybersecurity."
So Much For The Conspiracy Theories from Newsweek
"WikiLeaks cables are not expected to support claims of U.S. plots to destabilize Latin America."
WikiLeaks.org Domain Taken Down: DNS Host Cites ‘Mass Attacks’ as Site Vanishes from Web from Raw Story
"Amid international pressure and a series of crushing denial of service attacks, the site WikiLeaks.org has finally slipped underneath the waves. Its DNS host, EveryDNS.com, killed the domain late Thursday night, according to an update posted to WikiLeaks' Twitter account. The host cited "mass attacks," the whistleblower organization said."
This is a really fascinating story!! My first reaction (and still my main reaction) is that these attacks are coming from large 'state actors' (guess who?). This story line is supported HERE by Assange's lawyers. But it also seems clear that the cyber attacks are coming from a VERY BROAD range of additional actors. See THIS ITEM from the Financial Times of London. It's kind of like the wolves, hyenas, vultures, AND the dung beetles all converging on the wounded wildebeest. I'm unclear how wikileaks can survive in this kind of environment.
More news in this same line:
PayPal cuts WikiLeaks from Money Flow (Juergen Baetz) from RealClearWorld
And then there's this:
Wikileaks and Neocons (Jacob Heilbrunn) from the National Interest
"Charles Krauthammer raises the specter of KGB tactics to take out Wikileaks major domo Julian Assange. Sure, if you want to make him a martyr."
You Thought Passing Health Reform Was Hard? Try Repealing It (Jonathan Cohn) from the New Republic
"Critics of health care reform this week thought they would get their first win in the campaign to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Instead they got a lesson in just how politically challenging a wholesale repeal might be."
Poll Shows Americans as Ideological Conservatives, Operational Liberals (Alan Abromowitz) from the Democratic Strategist
"Abramowitz devises an interesting scale depicting support for government activism among various demographic groups as indicated by the poll, and concludes: Despite the dramatic gains made by the Republican Party in the 2010 midterm elections, support for activist government remains very strong in the American public."
Which half of brain is going to show up at the polls?
The Sight of Women's Breasts Won't Deter Islamists – They're Obsessed with Sex (Pravenn Swami) from the Telegraph [of the UK]
"Denmark’s government is being called upon to employ a lethal new weapon in the fight against Islamist extremism: bare breasts."
This strikes me as a milder version of the burka ban in France -- a too-cleaver-by-half way of having conservative islamists self-select themselves OUT of immigrating to Europe. I WILL say it conjures up all kinds of interesting cultural "tests" states could invent to scare off the culturally conservative.
How the Tea Party Is Wrecking Republican Foreign Policy (Barry Gewen) from the New Republic
"On some issues, the Tea Partiers will predictably line up with the Republican leadership, but on others they may find they have more in common with Democrats. They may even provide Barack Obama with unexpected support. Those who think Sarah Palin speaks for the Tea Party on foreign policy haven’t been paying attention."
WHAT A SHAME!!
Sarah Palin's Meanest Critics: The Conservative Elite (Colbert King) from the Washington Post
"The recent attacks on Sarah Palin by establishment conservatives make her Democratic opponents seem like wusses. The prospect of a Palin presidential candidacy in 2012 has obviously spooked the GOP elite. But do they have to be so mean?"
The interesting thing about this fire from the right against Palin is that (based on recent profiles in Vanity Fair) she is the kind of person who will run for President in 2012 -- just to spite these elite conservatives. It's possible that the more they attack her, the more likely she is to run.
AMAZING STORMS NUGGET!!
Eye of the Storm: The Jaw-dropping Image of an Enormous 'Supercell' Cloud (PHOTOS) from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"It looks like something from the film Independence Day. But although it may seem like an alien mothership, this incredible picture is actually an impressive thunderstorm cloud known as a supercell."
HORSE NUGGET!!
Call the Cavalry! Team of Firefighters Rescues Horse from Icy Swimming Pool (PHOTOS) from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"The gelding only made it as far as a neighbouring house's back garden, where it fell into an ice-covered swimming pool full of freezing cold water. Luckily, the householders in Essen heard the noise made by the panicked animal."
Really interesting pictures of the process it took to extricate the poor animal.
SCENIC ROAD NUGGET!!
21 Coolest Roads in the World (PHOTOS) from the Huffington Post
"Driving the open road is one of the rare pleasures in life. The ability to roll the windows down and enjoy the view is such a treat. There is much to be said for scenic drives, but what about scenic roads? The roads that, in themselves, are pretty amazing."
SLEEP NUGGET!!
Sleep Cherry-Picks Memories, Boosts Cleverness from National Geographic News
"Sleeping brain "calculates" what to remember and what to forget, study says."
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