News Nuggets 510

A wild whooping swan at Hokkaido's Notsuke Bay in Japan.  From National Geographic.

The American Perspective on Hard and Soft Power (Paul Pillar) from the National Interest
"Americans bring some distinctively American perspectives to the employment of different instruments of power, hard and soft. … We see those perspectives manifested in particular policies of particular administrations, but those policies have deeper roots. … Consider two major aspects, one bad and one good, of the place of the United States in the world."


 The Wages of Arab Decay (Marc Lynch) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"These four seemingly unrelated incidents over the last month all draw attention to the accelerating decay of the institutional foundations and fraying of the social fabric across many of the so-called "moderate," pro-Western Arab regimes."

Africa's Old Guard on the Run? from Al Jazeera
"Cote d'Ivoire's Laurent Gbagbo is just the latest in a line of African strongmen who find themselves pressed."

Taboo and Fear Among Muslim Girls in Europe from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"Young Muslim women are often forced to lead double lives in Europe. They have sex in public restrooms and stuff mobile phones in their bras to hide their secret existences from strict families. They are often forbidden from visiting gynecologists or receiving sex ed. In the worst cases, they undergo hymen reconstruction surgery, have late-term abortions or even commit suicide."

Harmed Forces: Military Leaders Who Spout Slurs Belie Efforts to Halt Sexual Assaults (Derrick Z. Jackson) from the Boston Globe
"The videos are easy to Google and one look at them makes you wonder not only about sexual attitudes at the highest levels of command, but how the Navy let such an infantile man command the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a ship that is about to be deployed to Afghanistan."

Brave New WikiWorld (James Jay Carafano) from the National Interest
"WikiLeaks acts as if secrecy is inherently evil. It is not. We cannot secure liberty by ignoring the necessity of security."

A Tale of Two Expats: Life is Easier for Western Expatriates in China Than it is for Chinese Expatriates in the West from the Economist [of London]
"Western expats in China have typically moved from a liberal democracy with a sluggish economy to an authoritarian state with a fast-growing one. Chinese expats in the West have done the opposite. Each journey presents its own challenges. This article seeks to illustrate them, unscientifically, by contrasting the life of a Western expat in China with that of a Chinese expat in Europe."

When It Comes to History, African Americans Must Bear Witness (Leonard Pitts, Jr.) from the Seattle Times
"Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's sugarcoating of African-American history offers a stark reminder, writes columnist Leonard Pitts Jr., that if the nation's black population doesn't tell its stories, someone else will."

Lanny Davis Puts Dems to Shame (Robert Scheer) from the Nation
"The fact that the White House lawyer who most ardently defended Clinton has since put his dissembling talents at the service of ruthless dictators is not the fault of the former president or his wife, but it is a reminder of the shameful opportunism that characterized the Clinton presidency and which some so-called "New Democrats" like Davis insist the Obama presidency should emulate."
As so many liberals swoon over Bill Clinton's latest appearances, this timely article should remind everyone how many world-class s@#% heels the Clintons elevated to prominence during their tenure.  Lanny Davis, Dick Morris, Terry McAuliffe, Mark Penn to name just a few.  Like the smell of rotten fish, these folks just seem to linger at the highest levels of Democratic politics.  For all the carping there has been about Obama from the left, I have been struck by how few of these types of folks have positions of prominence in his WH.

The Republican Party's Next 5 Nightmares (Matt Latimer) from the Daily Beast
"As Republicans prepare to decide Michael Steele’s fate, the party has no agenda, a Palin management problem, and a resurgent president. Matt Latimer on the GOP’s pre-2012 punch list."

Republicans: Good at Theatre, Dreadful at Governing – as We'll See Tomorrow (Michael Tomasky) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"For years Republicans have shown no aptitude for running the country. Not surprising when they don't really believe in it"

New GOP House Can't Govern with Rhetoric Alone (E.J. Dionne) from the Washington Post
"Edmund Burke, one of history's greatest conservatives, warned that abstractions are the enemy of responsible government. … the new Republican majority that took control of the House on Wednesday is embarked on an experiment in government by abstractions. … Their rhetoric is nearly devoid of talk about solving practical problems - how to improve our health care, education and transportation systems, or how to create more middle-class jobs."

Promised GOP Budget Cuts May Be Much Lower Than Expected (Howard Fineman) from the Huffinton Post
"Republicans campaigned coast to coast on, among other things, a promise to cut $100 billion out of the federal budget. But now they are talking about cuts as slim as $30 billion, blaming the change on the fine print that no one read -- or if they read, did not understand. It turns out the $100-billion figure meant $100 billion from a budget that President Barack Obama proposed, which was never passed. And now that the fiscal year is nearly half over, well, there's just no way …"
I AM SO SHOCKED!!

And in the larger picture:
Republicans Drop Some Promises in Rising to Power in House from the Associated Press via Huffington Post
"Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House."

Democratic Praise for Huntsman Could be the GOP Kiss of Death (Josh Rogin) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman is a model Obama administration official, praised by his colleagues and admired by top Asia hands. Republicans, however, don't look favorably on his role as an integral member of Obama's China team and see it as a detriment to his 2012 presidential chances."
Huntsman is WAY TOO CONSCIENTIOUS to ever be taken seriously by the GOP.

POLITICAL PROFILE NUGGET!!
The Crying Shame of John Boehner (Matt Taibbi) from Rolling Stone Magazine
An interesting, informative and funny long-form look at the new Speaker.
"The new speaker is a lazy, double-talking shill for corporate interests. So how's he going to fare with the Tea Party?"

INDIA CULTURE NUGGET!!
The Caste Buster from the New York Times Sunday Magazine
"Ravindra Misal rejected tradition to become a self-made man. With his “personality contests” and idiomatic-English lessons, he’s trying to help others do the same."

BUILDING MATERIALS NUGGET!!
Mortar This Than Meets the Eye: The 'Transparent' Cement that Lets Daylight Flood into a Room from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"A team of architects have created a ‘transparent cement’ that lets light pour into a room so that the walls look like giant windows. The material, called i.light, has dozens of tiny holes in it which lets light through without compromising the structural integrity."
What won't people think up next!?