News Nugget 508

One of 250 islands that make up Palau, a country in the Pacific 500 miles east of the Philippines.  From National Geographic.

Splitting Sudan from PRI's America Abroad program
"Sudan has been at war with itself for decades. Arab Muslims in the north have long dominated Christian and animist Africans in the south. But, in a referendum scheduled for January 2011, southerners are expected to vote for separation. And the divorce may not be pretty. "
For those of you looking for a primer on what is coming up in Sudan [in a week], listen to this hour-long program.  It will bring you up to speed as to the problems and possibilities faced with the referendum on secession.

Freedom and Repression With Chinese Characteristics: Part I (Iain Mills) from World Politics Review
"Chinese society is more open than is commonly believed, and in certain spheres, Chinese citizens may even enjoy greater liberty than their Western counterparts. Moving to a more realistic appreciation of the distribution of freedom and repression in contemporary China can not only improve the quality of international debates on the subject, but also moderate perceptions and elucidate the true nature of "the China threat.""

Facing Wikileaks Threat, Bank of America Plays Defense from the New York Times
"On Nov. 29, the director of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, said in an interview that he intended to “take down” a major American bank and reveal an “ecosystem of corruption” with a cache of data from an executive’s hard drive. With Bank of America’s share price falling on the widely held suspicion that the hard drive was theirs, the executives on the call concluded it was time to take action. Since then, a team of 15 to 20 top Bank of America officials, led by the chief risk officer, Bruce R. Thompson, has been overseeing a broad internal investigation"

What Will Happen in 2011? (Jacob Heilbrunn) from the National Interest
"The top prediction for 2011: Osama bin Laden will finally be caught."

You Know, 2010 Wasn't a Bad Year for Obama (Steve Kornacki) from Salon
"But while 2010 provided plenty of reasons for Obama's allies to doubt him, the bigger story of the year was how much Obama was able to accomplish -- and how successful he was at keeping his core supporters on board."
True on substance -- but it's not a year likely to get one re-elected though.

An Evangelical Backlash Against Environmentalism (John Rudolf) from the New York Times
"…while a growing number of local and national nonprofit groups have formed to spread the “creation care” message, an increasingly fierce backlash against the mingling of Christianity and environmentalism has emerged from other quarters of the evangelical movement."

11 Politicians to Watch in 2011 (Samuel Jacobs) from the Daily Beast
"As the new Congress starts its first week, Washington’s got a new sheriff in Darrell Issa, a charismatic Mama Grizzly in Kristi Noem, and a rejuvenated Joe Lieberman. Samuel P. Jacobs on who to keep your eye on in the political year to come."

What A GOP Congress Might Bring (E.J.Dionne) from the Washington Post
"From its inception, the Tea Party movement has treated the nation's great founding document not as the collection of shrewd political compromises that it is but as the equivalent of sacred scripture.  …  An examination of the Constitution that views it as something other than the books of Genesis or Leviticus would be good for the country."

Merle Haggard, America-Hating Elitist (Michael Tomasky) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"When he met President Obama at the White House earlier this month, legendary country singer Merle Haggard said he found him to be "very different" from the way he's portrayed in the media: "Not conceited.""

ASIA NUGGET!!
Welcome to Minegolia from Foreign Policy Magazine
"How the land of Genghis Khan became a new  Gold Rush San Francisco on the steppe."


BIRD SONG NUGGET!!
Simple Rubber Device Mimics Complex Bird-Song from the BBC
"A simple rubber device that replicates complex bird songs has been developed by a team of US researchers."

OUTER SPACE NUGGET!!
NASA Solar Probe Sets Controls for the Heart of the Sun, Literally from Popular Science
"In a mission to learn more about the sun’s inner workings, NASA is planning to launch a specially shielded spacecraft in 2018 that will plunge into the solar atmosphere. The car-sized Solar Probe Plus will explore an area just 4 million miles from the star’s surface, the last region of the solar system to be explored by humans."

HELPFUL MONKEY NUGGET!!
Trained Monkeys Proving Trusty Companions for Those in Need from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"Specially-trained Capuchin monkeys in the US are helping physically disabled people with the housework by performing tasks such as removing garbage, fetching the telephone or switching on the microwave. The furry companions are also helping paraplegics cope with loneliness."
I had long heard that monkeys were too independent-minded and contrarian to do this kind of work -- but who know?

FOOTBALL NUGGET!!
The Early History of Football’s Forward Pass from Smithsonian Magazine
"The forward pass was once ridiculed by college football’s powerhouse teams only to be proved wrong by Pop Warner and his Indians."

CIVIL WAR NUGGET!!
War in the Cabinet (Jamie Malinowski) from the New York Times
"Give me a place to stand, said Archimedes, and I shall move the world. Major Robert Anderson chose to stand at Fort Sumter, and he has moved the disunion crisis onto an entirely new footing."

WORLD WAR II NUGGET!!
Finest Hours: The Making of Winston Churchill (Adam Gopnik) from the New Yorker
"At that moment when all seemed lost, something was found, as Winston Churchill pronounced some of the most famous lines of the past century. “We shall go on to the end,” he said defiantly, in tones plummy and, on the surviving recordings, surprisingly thick-tongued. “We shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” Churchill’s words did all that words can do in the world. They said what had to be done; they announced why it had to be done then; they inspired those who had to do it."