News Nuggets 531

Demonstrators burning a police station in Suez in Egypt.  From the Guardian of the UK.

A Region in Upheaval: Confused about All the Protests? Here is Everything You Need to Know from Global Post
"What happened? And what does the future hold for this volatile region of the world? Here’s everything you need to know about the leaders, the protesters and the problems in each of the nations that have been gripped by protests over these last few weeks."

Seizing a Moment, Al Jazeera Galvanizes Arab Frustration from the New York Times
"The protests rocking the Arab world this week have one thread uniting them: Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite channel whose aggressive coverage has helped propel insurgent emotions from one capital to the next."

‘Hosni Mubarak, the Plane is Waiting’ (Yasmine El Rashidi) from the New York Review of Books
"On the 25th, I had made a plan with a journalist friend to head out early and stop by several of the designated protest locations—the Supreme Court, Cairo University, the popular Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque, and Shubra—before deciding where to go. Admittedly, we were skeptical. Just weeks before, in a similar call for demonstrations in Egypt in solidarity with the Tunisian uprising, I had arrived at a downtown square to find it barricaded by 200 shielded riot police. Inside were only nine protesters holding up three small banners. But this time was different."

In Egypt, Protests Show Signs of Cohesion from the Washington Post
"The demonstrations, which continued Wednesday despite a strong police presence and hundreds of arrests, drew experienced activists and those who had never marched before. There were secularists, socialists and Islamists all walking together and demanding change with a unity that for years eluded Egypt's opposition."

Don't Fear Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood (Bruce Reidel) from the Daily Beast
"The secretive Islamic opposition group has long renounced violence and may be the most reasonable option. Bruce Riedel on why Obama shouldn't panic—and should let Egyptians decide their fate."
Easy to say.  The stakes are enormous.

After Tunisia: Obama's Impossible Dilemma in Egypt (Shadi Hamid) from the Brookings Institution
"…in the growing battle between Arab autocrats and popular oppositions, the United States is finding itself torn between the reliable allies it needs and the democratic reformers it wants. Nowhere is the U.S. dilemma more urgent than in Egypt."

As Arabs Protest, Obama Administration Offers Assertive Support from the Washington Post
"The Obama administration is openly supporting the anti-government demonstrations shaking the Arab Middle East, a stance that is far less tempered than the one the president has taken during past unrest in the region."
Mubarak's government is doomed.  According to NPR this morning, the Egyptian army command has told Mubarak that they will NOT intervene to save his regime.  That leave's the police and security services as the last base of his support -- and according to the BBC this morning, those services are *fully extended* right now.  Practically speaking, the only thing they can do to alter the course of events now is significantly escalate the violence. See Tienanmen Square.  Will they go there?

Egypt: Rage against the Mubaraks from the Guardian [of the UK]
"There is one cry that stands out in Egypt: dictatorship will no longer hold us down."

Unrest Spells End to Mideast Dynasties from the Financial Times [of the UK]
"For Egyptians, and many Arabs across the region, the trend towards tawrith – inherited rule – has long been considered the ultimate insult for societies aspiring to greater freedom. With protests spreading through the Arab world, triggered by the Tunisian revolt, dynastic succession in the region’s republics is likely to emerge as the main casualty."

In Tunisia, Most Members of Old Cabinet Step Down from the New York Times
"Tunisia’s interim government on Thursday purged almost all the cabinet ministers left over from the government of the ousted dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, bowing to two weeks of mounting street protests against the cabinet’s continued dominance by the old governing party and resolving an impasse that had threatened to bog down the new government."

Arabs, Christians, and the Lessons of History (Mohammed Abdel Haq) from the Independent [of the UK]
"Both faiths are entitled to live in peace, and to have their property and freedom of worship protected. Those of us around the world who value the religious protection and freedom we find in the West should not remain silent as we see it being destroyed elsewhere."

From Bullets to Megabytes (Richard Falkenrath) from the New York Times
"STUXNET, the computer worm that last year disrupted many of the gas centrifuges central to Iran’s nuclear program, is a powerful weapon in the new age of global information warfare. A sophisticated half-megabyte of computer code apparently accomplished what a half-decade of United Nations Security Council resolutions could not. This new form of warfare has several implications that are only now becoming apparent, and that will define the shape of what will likely become the next global arms race — albeit one measured in computer code rather than firepower."

Morning in Obama's America (Robert Shrum) from The Week
"The president sounds like Reagan. His opponents have a bad case of malaise."

Obama’s Evolution (Ronald Brownstein) from the National Journal
"The president is shifting from leading a political party to leading the nation."

Obama Finds a New Angle to Reach Old Goals (E.J. Dionne) from the Washington Post
"In fact, what Americans must be ready for now is the paradoxical phase of Barack Obama's presidency. Many things will not be exactly as they appear."

Obama Shows Why Election was a Mistake (Joe Conason) from Salon via RealClearPolitics
"Complaints about President Obama's State of the Union address on both sides of the political divide (which was obscured but not obliterated by the evening's novel seating arrangements) seemed to miss its point and purpose. Like every successful speech of its kind, Obama's message resonated on more than one level. So while he conceded little ground to the right, the president nevertheless sought to draw his adversaries -- and even more so the independent voters who temporarily sided with them -- into the American story he told."

'We Do Big Things': The Annotated State of the Union (James Fallows) from the Atlantic
"There's another way in which SOTU speeches "work," and don't -- with the public, as opposed to the professional commentariat. Political and media pros tend to complain about the length, and the run-through of policy possibilities known in the DC as the "laundry list," that typify these speeches -- but post-speech polls often indicate that ordinary-citizen viewers actually like hearing all these details, and stay for the whole show even when the president runs long. They may not remember any of the proposals, or believe they'll happen -- but evidence suggests that people like to hear these things said."

State of the Union Address: Not Classic But Effective (Michael Tomasky) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Such setpieces are rarely game-changing, but Obama made the most of it by moving to the centre at the Republicans' expense."

G.O.P. Splits Over Plans to Cut Defense Budget from the New York Times
"To hear the Republican leadership tell it, the once-sacred Pentagon budget, protected by the party for generations, is suddenly on the table. But a closer look shows that even as Speaker John A. Boehner and Representative Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, insist on the need for military cuts, divisions have opened among Republicans about whether, and how much, to chop Pentagon spending that comes to more than a half trillion dollars a year."

Old Rules Won't Determine GOP Presidential Candidate (Michael Barone) from the Washington DC Examiner via RealClearPolitics
"So it may be worthwhile, before trying to assess the chances of likely, putative and possible Republican candidates in the 2012 cycle, to dismiss some of the rules of thumb that have arisen over the years."

Reid, McConnell Reach Rules Refom Agreement (Sam Stein) from the Huffington Post
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have reached agreement on a set of relatively small changes to the upper chamber's rules, including an informal pact to reduce the number of filibusters in exchange for allowing more amendments from the minority party."

US CIVIL WAR NUGGET!!
Old Hickory's Ghost (Russell McClintock) from the New York Times
"…the dynamics of secession also drew attention to a more recent historical event – the Nullification Crisis of 1833 – and brought back to the center of debate that most controversial of early Americans, Andrew Jackson. Conflicting interpretations of his legacy tell a lot about how the North and South – and Democrats and Republicans within the North – saw the crisis."

PARIS FASHIONS NUGGET!!
The Best of Paris Haute Couture Spring 2011 (Isabell Wilkinson) from the Daily Beast
"Spring is in the air! This week in Paris, Karl Lagerfeld lit up Chanel, Christian Dior ushered in a return to 1950s glamour, and a “punk CanCan” ruled the runway at Jean Paul Gaultier. See highlights from Haute Couture."
More often than not, I find new couture fashion to be more hilarious than beautiful.  No exception here.  Some look like a cross between Michael Jackson and Batman.  Pop culture and  Broadway clearly had their influence.