News Nuggets 544

A baby African Elephant at a Zoo in Wuppertal, Germany.  From Zooborns.

The Crumbling Anchors of Mubarak's Support (Ashraf Khalil) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Mubarak may be holding on for now, but every day a little bit more, his base of support is eroding beneath him."

Protest in Egypt Takes a Turn as Workers Go on Strike from the New York Times
"As reports filtered in of strikes and unrest spreading to other parts of the city and the country, the government seemed to dig in deeper. Mr. Mubarak’s handpicked successor, Vice President Omar Suleiman, warned Tuesday that the only alternative to constitutional talks was a “coup” and added: “We don’t want to deal with Egyptian society with police tools.” But the pressure on Mr. Mubarak’s government was intensifying."

In Egypt, Why the Movement Believes Making Crowds Ever Larger is the Only Way to Win (Thanassis Cambanis) from the Atlantic
"Organizers of Tahrir Square are playing a numbers game. If more people show up each time they call for a big crowd - as happened on Tuesday, which drew perhaps the greatest amount of people since it all began on January 25 - then the revolution advances. That's their gamble."

Egypt's State-run Media Starting to Shift from Pro-Mubarak Coverage from the Washington Post
"Over the past few days, journalists working for Egyptian state media have orchestrated a remarkable uprising of their own: They have begun reporting news that casts the embattled government in a negative light."

Dictators' Sons, From Egypt to Libya, Are Doomed (Stephen Kinzer) from the Daily Beast
"Qaddafi's son has been linked to arms smuggling. Saddam's kids were rapists and torturers. Despot's children often hasten their fathers' downfall. Just ask Mubarak."

Will February 12 Bring Revolution to Algeria? from Foreign Policy Magazine
"While press coverage of the Middle East and North Africa has spent the past month focused on Tunisia and Egypt, Algerian opposition groups calling for mass protests on February 12 have stirred speculation that their country, now set to be the largest in Africa (given South Sudan's recent vote for secession), may be the next domino to fall."

Special Report: In Saudi Arabia, a Clamor for Education from Reuters News Service
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sits on more than a fifth of the globe's oil reserves and thanks to high oil prices it has almost tripled its foreign assets to more than $400 billion since 2005. The region's thinkers had a profound influence on the evolving western science of the Middle Ages. But from kindergarten to university, its state education system has barely entered the modern age. Focused on religious and Arabic studies, it has long struggled to produce the scientists, engineers, economists and lawyers that Saudi needs."
Boy -- I had assumed with all their oil wealth that Saudi youth would be getting a half-way decent education.  Guess not.  And for the brilliant Saudi leadership that thought this up, what kind of future did they think they were providing for young people!? Especially since they KNOW the oil spout won't last forever!  DUMB!

In the Middle East, a Catch-22 for the CIA (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"Here's the bottom line: The CIA is caught in a jam that's emblematic of America's larger problem in the Middle East. The agency has been so focused on stopping al-Qaeda that it has been distracted from other questions. America depends on good intelligence as never before, and the simple truth is that the CIA has to lift its game."

52% of Americans Have Heard Little or Nothing about Egyptian Demonstrations from Pew Research via Americablog
"Our foreign policy decisions would be a lot better of people bothered to pay attention."
One the one hand, I think this is probably good for Obama, given the foreign policy contortions he and his team have had to go through in the last three weeks.  On the other hand -- it so showcases why the US seems to learn NOTHING from our own foreign policy mistakes.

Don’t Worry. Be Happy. (Gail Collins) from the New York Times
"In troubled times it’s important to pace yourself. There’s only so much you can worry about at once, and we’ve already got Egypt, the weird weather, rising food prices and unemployment. … At moments like this, I find it soothing to make lists of things that we don’t have to worry about at all."

Ideas Are Not The Same As Race (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"Every once in a while you get stories like this one, about the underrepresentation of conservatives in academics, that treat ideological divides as being somehow equivalent to racial differences. This is a really, really bad analogy."

Spokesman: Giffords Recovering Part of Her Ability to Speak from CNN
"U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, recovering from a gunshot wound to the head sustained January 8, is regaining part of her ability to speak, her spokesman said Wednesday. C.J. Karamargin would not divulge what Giffords has said, other than saying she asked for toast. "It's very good news," he told CNN."

Following up on yesterday's story about the GOP's failure to pass the renewal of the Patriot Act:
House GOP Has the Wheels Come Off... on Day 12 from Daily Kos
"In what was officially just the 12th day in session for the new House Republican majority, the wheels have come off the GOP vote-counting machinery. There were just two bills schedule for floor action yesterday, both under suspension of the rules, meaning they were thought to be non-controversial enough to pass with the required 2/3 majority. Neither one made it."

Republicans in House Battle Turmoil in Their Ranks from the New York Times
"Under pressure to make deeper spending cuts and blindsided by embarrassing floor defeats, House Republican leaders are quickly discovering the limits of control over their ideologically driven and independent-minded new majority."

Who Killed the Patriot Act? (Jacob Heilbrunn) from the National Interest
"One thing the vote suggests is that it will be more difficult for the GOP to demagogue national security as it did during the George W. Bush era. Bush used the Patriot Act as a club to bash Democrats as soft on fighting terrorism."

And the GOP Front-Runner Is … (Doyle McManus) from the Los Angeles Times
"There are really only two spots on the GOP presidential ballot. One is reserved for Mitt Romney. The other is for someone who isn't Mitt Romney."
I actually disagree with this assessment.  If Huntsman gets in, the centrist/business wing of the GOP will split just like the rest of the field.

SUBWAY ART NUGGET!!
Underground Art? Amazing Pictures Show Beauty of Swedish Subway Network from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Often described as 'the longest art exhibition in the world', the roof of one Stockholm station is red-lit, making it appear to be covered in billowing flames, and another boasts ancient-looking statues carved out of the tunnel walls."

ANIMAL NUGGET!!
Animals Make Friends Too from Discovery News
"Elephants, dolphins, primates and now bats have been shown to form human-like friendships."