A Serengeti sunset in Tanzania. From National Geographic.
The Battle for Pakistan is Intensifying (Bruce Riedel) from the Daily Star [of Lebanon in English]
"The struggle for control of Pakistan – soon to be the fifth most populous country in the world with the fifth largest nuclear arsenal – intensifies every day. The outcome is far from certain. The key player, Pakistan’s army, seems dangerously ambivalent about which side should prevail: the jihadist Frankenstein it created or the democratically elected civilian government it despises."
Why Pakistan’s Ship Is Sinking (Arif Rafiq) from The Diplomat
"Pakistan’s military has had a bad couple of months. Unless it rethinks its priorities, expect tactical gains to lead to strategic disaster."
Libyan Rebels Make Fresh Advances from Al Jazeera English
"Pro-democracy fighters gain ground on government troops in the west and east of the country, wresting the town of Kikla."
Tripoli Bides Time as Gaddafi Support Ebbs Away from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Libya's intransigent leader appears increasingly isolated as capital's wary residents wait for rebellion to break through."
Assad Stands Alone (Henri J. Barkey) from the National Interest
"Even longtime ally Turkey has finally seen the writing on the wall. Syria's fall is inevitable."
Syria on the Boil, US Warship in Black Sea (M K Bhadrakumar) from the Asia Times [of Hong Kong in English]
"The US claims that this is a routine naval exercise. On the other hand, Moscow asks: "If this is an ordinary visit, then it is unclear why a warship with this type of armament was chosen to move to this quite sensitive region." Without doubt, the US is stepping up pressure on Russia's Black Sea fleet. The US's provocation is taking place against the backdrop of the turmoil in Syria."
Teaching Justice Goes Global (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"“Are we morally responsible for righting the wrongs of our grandparents’ generation?” Students offer competing answers, challenge one another across the hall, debate with the philosophers — and learn the art of reasoned moral argument along the way. Besides being educational, the classes make great theater — so much so that Harvard and WGBH (Boston’s PBS station) filmed them and created a public television series that aired across the country in 2009. "
A FASCINATING development!! Check out the article! The professor's actual course can be seen HERE! An article on his reception in Japan is HERE!
The Hotel Maid: From African Village to Center of Ordeal from the New York Times
"She was born in a mud hut in an isolated hamlet in Africa with no electricity or running water, a 10-minute hike to the nearest road. Unschooled, she was married off to a distant cousin as a teenager, had a daughter and was soon widowed. ... In dozens of interviews with people who know her or are familiar with her life, the woman, now 32, is portrayed as an unassuming and hard-working single mother."
Alan Greenspan: Flawed Titan of the Fed from Newsweek
"A new documentary on the financial crisis paints Alan Greenspan as an embodiment of what went wrong with America."
Is It OK to Walk Away From Your Mortgage? from Time Magazine
"According to new data from CoreLogic, 22.7 percent of homes with mortgages were underwater in the first quarter of this, versus 23.1 percent in the fourth quarter last year."
Surging College Costs Price Out Middle Class from CNN Money
"The crux of the problem: Tuition and fees at public universities, according to the College Board, have surged almost 130% over the last 20 years -- while middle class incomes have stagnated."
Bible Cited as Reason for Kicking Gay Men Out of Public Pool from Raw Story
"Activists in Kentucky are planning a peaceful response after two gay men with developmental and intellectual disabilities were kicked out of a public pool. A maintenance technician reportedly cited the Bible while telling the two men they couldn't swim at The Pavilion, a government-funded recreational facility in Hazard, Kentucky."
John Aravosis of Americablog has some commentary on this story HERE.
Grover Norquist Rebuked By GOP from Huffington Post
"Grover Norquist's grip on the Republican Party's tax policy slipped dramatically on Tuesday, a development that is likely to have significant repercussions on the debate over spending, revenue and the federal deficit"
This is EXCELLENT news. At some point, GOP lawmakers MUST put tax increases back on the table and this move suggests that future may be coming into view!
For GOP, Old Inaccuracies Get New Life (Glenn Kessler) from the Washington Post
"That was some collection of facts and statistics during the GOP debate in New Hampshire on Monday night that aired on CNN. We’re going to take an instant stab at some of them, and then perhaps come back later this week with a more extended look at other assertions. Depressingly, some of these we have heard before. We will have to keep dinging the candidates till they get their facts right."
New Hampshire Debate: The Ghost of George W. Bush (Ryan Lizza) from the New Yorker
"While Obama may have been vilified by the seven Republican candidates in New Hampshire, Bush and his legacy suffered the most."
The GOP Goes Soft, Withdraws From the World (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"At Monday's debate, we learned that the GOP is no longer the party of George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Don Rumsfeld. Michael Tomasky on the eclipse of the neocons."
A related item:
For GOP Neo-Cons, It's Evening in America from Foreign Policy Magazine
"At the first GOP presidential debate, the Bush-era neoconservative movement seemed as good as dead."
Michele Bachmann's Unrivaled Extremism (Michelle Goldberg) from the Daily Beast
"Her anti-gay platform has alienated parts of her family. A mentor she described as a "great influence" has a history of addresses to white supremacists. A book she collaborated on advocates theocracy. Michele Bachmann's impressive performance at Monday's debate has catapulted her near the front of the GOP pack, but her ideological radicalism may turn off the newly minted Republican presidential candidate's new fans. Michelle Goldberg reports."
REGIONAL ENVIRONMENT NUGGET!!
Impact Fee Proposed on Natural Gas Wells from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A state Senate measure to charge natural gas drillers a per-well impact fee will be getting some tweaks today, in an effort to move forward on the measure as lawmakers head into final budget talks."
There are so many different aspects of fracking that need to be addressed -- at least it seems that SOMETHING is happening. MUCH MORE is needed around testing, protection, regulation and enforcement!
IN-CASE-YOU-MISSED-IT POLITICAL NUGGET!!
I think this assessment of the conservative mindset is right on-the-money. It certainly explains why you NEVER see a right-wing version of FactCheck.org.
The Conservative War on Facts (Hunter) from Daily Kos
"...a hallmark of the modern conservative movement, including punditry, elected officials, and the base itself, is that science and knowledge is only valuable to the extent to which it can shore up conservative beliefs. A historian is a "proper" historian if their history produces a perceivable conservative message."
Want to see this approach in action? See this item:
Tea Party Group Offers Summer Camp from the St. Petersburg Times
"Still another example: Children will blow bubbles from a single container of soapy solution, and then pop each other's bubbles with squirt guns in an arrangement that mimics socialism. They are to count how many bubbles they pop. Then they will work with individual bottles of solution and pop their own bubbles."
These folks make Glenn Beck look like a brilliant scholar.
DOG NUGGET!!
Dogs Can Instinctively Sense a Friendly Face from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"It is what many dog owners have long suspected – their pets can read their personalities and know instinctively who is more likely to be friendly or give them a treat."
HISTORY EDUCATION NUGGET [of a sort]!!
How Just 13% of America's High School Students Know Their U.S. History from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"They say that to know where you're going, you should know where you come from. In that case, America's high school students are in trouble. Just 13 per cent appear to know anything about U.S. history, according to the test dubbed the Nation's Report Card, released today."
No surprise! More on this HERE from the NY Times. Info on the tests can be found HERE. It's difficult to get a sense of what the original test questions were.
HUMAN EMOTION NUGGET!!
Reason Seen More as Weapon Than Path to Truth from the New York Times
"For centuries thinkers have assumed that the uniquely human capacity for reasoning has existed to let people reach beyond mere perception and reflex in the search for truth. Rationality allowed a solitary thinker to blaze a path to philosophical, moral and scientific enlightenment. Now some researchers are suggesting that reason evolved for a completely different purpose: to win arguments. "
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