News Nuggets 735

The Eiffel Tower being struck by lightening last month.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND NOTE!

Due to the holiday, we will not be posting regularly here until Tuesday.  Have a happy and safe weekend!

What the Left Doesn’t Understand About Obama (Jonathan Chait) from the New York Times
"Just as the conservative repudiation of George W. Bush boiled down to “he spent too much,” the liberal repudiation of Obama has settled on “he didn’t spend enough.” ... the wave of criticism from the left over the stimulus is fundamentally flawed: it ignores the real choices Obama faced (and the progressive decisions he made) and wishes away any constraints upon his power."
A very good corrective to the liberal rants one is hearing about Obama's handling of the economy in the first years of his presidency.

Tripoli’s Sudden Fall Revealed Rotten Heart of Gaddafi’s Regime from the Washington Post
"The guns have been collected, but abandoned uniforms still litter the ground around the television station and elsewhere in Tripoli, evidence of a gigantic loss of nerve, the sudden crumbling of a regime built on brutality and fear."

India's Great Middle Class Moment (Nitin Pai) from the Atlantic
"After decades on the sidelines, the growing ranks of Middle India are starting to find their voice. But can the political system respond?"

Worst Decade Ever? (Ronald Brownstein) from the National Journal
"The 10 years since the terrorism attacks of 9/11 rank among America’s most troubled."

100 Million Elderly: China's Demographic Time Bomb from Time Magazine
"Proof is multiplying that China is aging at an alarming pace... China's elderly demographic will surpass 200 million in just three years, and top 300 million by 2025. By 2042, more than 30% of China's total population will be over 60."
VERY bad news for China's medium & long-term economic picture.

Generation Limbo: Waiting It Out from the New York Times
"Meet the members of what might be called Generation Limbo: highly educated 20-somethings, whose careers are stuck in neutral, coping with dead-end jobs and listless prospects."

Bush and Cheney Remind Us How We Got into this Mess (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post
"Thank you, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, for emerging from your secure, undisclosed locations to remind us how we got into this mess: It didn’t happen by accident."

Cheney: A Freewheeling Debate on the Legacy of America's Most Controversial Vice President from Foreign Policy Magazine
"As Dick Cheney's punch-throwing memoir hits store shelves, Foreign Policy hosts a freewheeling debate on the legacy of America's most controversial vice president."
NINE really interesting assessments here.

Rick Perry's Book a Treasure Trove for Foes from Politico
"Rick Perry describes Social Security as a “violent” attack on core American values. He says Sarah Palin may have been right that the Affordable Care Act created death panels. He says it was “unprincipled” to establish the Department of Homeland Security. That’s not the provocative, distorted language of a 2012 attack ad — at least, not yet. Rather, those are words right out of the Texas governor’s 2010 book, “Fed Up!” — a slim volume that may be one of the biggest gifts ever given to the opponents of a presidential candidate."

Perry’s Campaign Against the New Deal (Michael Gerson) from the Washington Post
A pretty clear-eyed assessment of what could happen in 2012 with a Perry nomination.
"Perhaps this ideological moment is just different, in the same way the 1930s or the 1980s were different. Another dip into recession — a continuing, sputtering failure of the American job-creation machine — might do more than call three years of Obama policies into question. It might call seven decades of accumulating entitlement commitments into question. ... A sense of economic desperation expands the range of policy options."

A Romantic Guide to 2012 GOP Suitors (Margaret Carlson) from Bloomberg News Service via the Miami Herald
"The Republican Party has been speed dating, racing through presidential prospects like a Hollywood starlet working her way through leading men. The fickleness suggests a party that doesn’t know whether its tea-party heart or its establishment head should prevail in 2012."

HOME-BUILDING NUGGET!!
Company Makes Tiny, 65 sq ft Build-it-Yourself Homes from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"For those who are too broke to get on the housing ladder, an American firm is here to help. Jay Shafer's Tumbleweed Tiny House Company makes cute little homes that start from the bargain price of $99."