Gaddafi's Final Days from the Daily Beast
"Libyan protesters are celebrating the impending end of Gaddafi's control and troops are abandoning the strongman, with one general saying the regime "will fall in the coming days.""
Dictator Loses Grip in Desert from Wall Street Journal
"With Col. Gadhafi inciting more clashes and the streets around Tripoli still heavily patrolled by uniformed security forces, many Libyans feared that the nation could fracture on tribal or regional lines."
The Dogs of War: Mercenaries in the Middle East from Time Magazine
"While the protests convulsing Bahrain and Libya this past week occurred in vastly different contexts — and will likely produce very different results — both were met with conspicuously swift crackdowns. And in both cases, reports suggest the Libyan and Bahraini regimes deployed foreign fighters and mercenaries against their own citizens, lethal clashes that left scores wounded and many dead."
WikiLeaks Cables Detail Qaddafi Family’s Exploits from the New York Times
"As the Qaddafi clan conducts a bloody struggle to hold onto power in Libya, cables obtained by WikiLeaks offer a vivid account of the lavish spending, rampant nepotism and bitter rivalries that have defined what a 2006 cable called “Qadhafi Incorporated,” using the State Department’s preference from the multiple spellings for Libya’s troubled first family."
And a new quarter heard from:
Oman Protesters Call for Political Reform, Pay Rise from RealClearWorld
"MUSCAT (Reuters) - About 300 people demanded political reforms and better pay in a peaceful protest in Oman on Friday as unrest in other Middle East countries and North Africa turned increasingly violent."
If Not Now, When? (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"What’s unfolding in the Arab world today is the mother of all wake-up calls. And what the voice on the other end of the line is telling us is clear as a bell: “America, you have built your house at the foot of a volcano. That volcano is now spewing lava from different cracks and is rumbling like it’s going to blow. Move your house!” In this case, “move your house” means “end your addiction to oil.”"
Watch Out, Mr. President (Leslie Gelb) from the Daily Beast
"With Libya's regime crumbling and protests spreading across the Middle East, neither Obama nor the experts really know whether America should now cheer or cringe."
Obama's Complicated Mideast Multitasking (Brian Katulis) from the Center for American Progress via RealClearPolitics
"The Obama administration will need to multitask as it responds to fast-moving events in multiple countries and works to help these societies deal with overwhelming political, economic, social, and demographic problems. In addition to the new uprisings, the administration will need to continue dealing with the other major challenges that existed long before the uprisings-the Arab-Israeli conflict, Iran's nuclear program, Iraq's reintegration into the Middle East, and ongoing threats from terrorist groups based in the region."
Berlusconi’s Arab Dancer (Roger Cohen) from the New York Times
"All manner of worthy things may be wished for Arabs just across the Mediterranean — and they were by President Nicolas Sarkozy’s fatuous brainchild, the 43-member Union for the Mediterranean — but of course democracy and freedom are not among them."
Iran's Repressive Regime Cannot Last (Meir Javedanfar) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Not only is the green movement alive, it is also showing resilience and stamina and making progress."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/22/iran-regime-green-movement
Blogs Wane as the Young Drift to Sites Like Twitter from the New York Times
"Like any aspiring filmmaker, Michael McDonald, a high school senior, used a blog to show off his videos. But discouraged by how few people bothered to visit, he instead started posting his clips on Facebook, where his friends were sure to see and comment on his editing skills."
Obama Recruits an Army of Community Organizers to Carry his 'Movement Forward for Years to Come' from the Los Angeles Times
"The community organizer who became president has launched a massive pre-reelection year campaign to assemble and train an army of new community organizers to carry Obama's "movement forward for years to come." Strengthening "our democracy" presumably has something to do with reelecting the revered leader in 2012."
GOP Acts Out Revenge Fantasy (Bill Schnieder) from Politico
"The orgy of budget cutting on the House floor last week was not about the deficit. It was about ideology. The House Republican majority acted out a revenge fantasy against President Barack Obama and the Democrats in retaliation for what they see as the left-wing ideological aggression of the last two years. They are the counterrevolution."
Thousands March on State Capitols as Union Fight Spreads from the New York Times
"First Wisconsin. Now Ohio and Indiana. Battles with public employees’ unions spread on Tuesday, with Republican-dominated Legislatures pressing bills that would weaken collective bargaining and thousands of pro-union protesters marching on Capitol buildings in Columbus and Indianapolis."
Wisconsin Power Play (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"On paper, we’re a one-person-one-vote nation; in reality, we’re more than a bit of an oligarchy, in which a handful of wealthy people dominate. Given this reality, it’s important to have institutions that can act as counterweights to the power of big money. And unions are among the most important of these institutions."
John Nichols: Democracy Does Not End on Election Day from the Cap Times [from Wisconsin]
"When the leader of the governing party stumbles so badly that he cannot advance his legislative agenda, that is the point at which new elections are called in order to get a clear read from the voters about whether the agenda has popular support.
The lack of popular support for Walker’s proposal is evident by now."
Has Wisconsin's Governor Overreached? (Steve Kornacki) from Salon
"…there is a new survey making the rounds that suggests a backlash may be stirring, with 52 percent of respondents opposing Walker's plan and 61 percent expressing a favorable view of public employees (compared with just 39 percent for the governor)."
Poll: Americans Favor Union Bargaining Rights from USA Today
"Americans strongly oppose laws taking away the collective bargaining power of public employee unions, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. The poll found 61% would oppose a law in their state similar to such a proposal in Wisconsin, compared with 33% who would favor such a law."
Mitch Daniels Calls On State GOP To Abandon Union-Busting Bill from TalkingPointsMemo
"Members of the Democratic state House caucus in Indiana have found an unlikely ally in their quest to stop the GOP majority from pushing through a bill that critics say would destroy union organizing in the state. Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) took to the airwaves today to call on members of his party to drop the controversial "right to work" bill that led to Democrats going AWOL."
Still some sane heads within the GOP.
BIZARRE [and SAVVY] THEME PARK NUGGET!!
'Joyland' Blizzard Theme Park Being Built In China (PHOTOS) from Huffington Post
"So geek fantasies do come true. At least they do In Wunjin district, China. Reported way back on February 7, 2011 by a French gaming blog, the videogame studio Blizzard's World of Warcraft and StarCraft themed amusement park appears to be more than just rumor after recent photos of the construction surfaced along with a Chinese news report."
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