News Nuggets 783

Lower Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona. From National Best Photography Magazine.

GRAPHIC PHOTOS WARNING!!
The following item shows far and away the most graphic images of what appears to be Qaddafi's final minutes of life.  They are quite disturbing.  I suspect they also presage upcoming events in Syria and perhaps elsewhere in the Middle East.
Is This the Moment Gaddafi was Killed by a Bullet in the Head? from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"The last few moments of Gaddafi's life became clearer today as pictures surfaced of the moment a handgun was pushed to his temple. Seconds later the spluttering dictator can no longer be heard. The next scenes show the tyrant's lifeless body on the ground. His eyes are closed and he's not breathing."

Seeing Limits to ‘New’ Kind of War in Libya from the New York Times
"Even as Washington put a European mask of command on the operation — an effort described as “leading from behind” — shortages in allied intelligence-gathering aircraft, aerial refueling tankers and precision-guidance kits for bombs proved the United States remained the backbone of any NATO offensive."

Next Arab Domino May Be Oil Darling Algeria (Reuel Marc Gerecht) from the Bloomberg News Service
"With Qaddafi’s fall and next week’s elections in Tunisia, the odds are decent that the Great Arab Revolt will start to shake Algeria. The country is now surrounded by states in transition: Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, where the king just might be laying the groundwork for the Middle East’s first real constitutional monarchy"

Obama's Difficult Choice on Iraq: Democracy Over Security (Max Fisher) from the Atlantic
"The U.S. decision to honor Iraq's barely functional political process, even when it doesn't make the smartest choice, might be the best thing for both countries."

Good Riddance to a Woebegone War (Paul R. Pillar) from the National Interest
The whole thing is worth reading -- here are some lengthy excerpts.
"This long national nightmare will finally be ending. The return of the last combat troops from Iraq will be a good time to reflect on the nature and broader consequences of what future historians will regard as one of the biggest blunders in U.S. history. ... In response to any doubt that this is the right thing to do, the main question to ask is: if not after almost nine years, then when? Given that the troops' return merely fulfills an agreement that the previous U.S. administration reached with Iraq, one could also ask: if not George W. Bush, then who? Yet another question is: if the purpose of being in Iraq is supposedly to help another nation in need, why would we want to stay if the other country doesn't want us?"

On Iraq, Obama's GOP Critics Take the Political Low Road (Paul Thornton) from the Los Angeles Times
"Before the economy tanked in late 2008, the quagmire had already made President George W. Bush one of the least popular commanders in chief in history; it's the real reason we ended up with an Obama presidency. So when Obama (finally) makes good on his wildly popular campaign promise, the Republicans pointedly criticize him. Naturally."

World Becoming Less Violent: Despite Global Conflict, Statistics Show Violence In Steady Decline from the Associated Press via the Huffington Post
"Yes, thousands of people have died in bloody unrest from Africa to Pakistan, while terrorists plot bombings and kidnappings. Wars drag on in Iraq and Afghanistan. ... Yet, historically, we've never had it this peaceful."

US 'Misery Index' Rises to Highest Since 1983 from CNBC
"An unofficial gauge of human misery in the United States rose last month to a 28-year high as Americans struggled with rising inflation and high unemployment."

Speaking of misery, here's some that is long overdue:
Eurozone to Banks: Take Bigger Loss on Greek Debt from the Associated Press
"The eurozone's 17 finance ministers have agreed that banks must accept substantially bigger losses on their Greek bonds, and a new report suggests that writedowns of up to 60 percent may be necessary."

Can Obama Win as a War President? (Jill Lawrence) from the Atlantic
"With high unemployment and minimal job growth, Obama can't run on the economy. Can he win as commander in chief?"

Another Win for the Obama Doctrine (Michael Williams) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"In contrast to Bush's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama's pragmatic approach of military restraint has borne fruit in Libya."

Farms Can't Find Pickers from the Christian Science Monitor
"In some areas, farm labor is so scarce that inmates in nearby penitentiaries are picking crops."
Yeah, God forbid that we should pay 4 cents more a pound for produce and actually pay living wages that would attract native born workers!

Drilling Down on the Family Farm (Seamus McGraw) from the New York Times
"But now that it was happening on our 100 acres, I could understand in a much more visceral way why the word to describe this process — fracking — stirs such fear. I could even feel the stirring of that fear myself."

You Say You Want a Revolution (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
Andrew Sullivan on how he learned to love the ‘goddam hippies’—and why their protests aren’t going to end."

VOLCANO NUGGET!!
Undersea Volcano Erupts, Stains Seas (PHOTOS) from National Geographic News
"Since last week, the volcano has been spewing gas and fragments of smoking lava, staining the ocean surface green and brown, as seen above."

WORLD WAR II NUGGET!!
British Mustard Gas Attack Didn't Blind Hitler: His Invented Trenches Myth Concealed Bout of Mental Illness from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"He claimed to have been blinded by a British mustard gas attack as a heroic First World War soldier. Now research has exposed Hitler’s account of his own gallantry as a sham and revealed that his temporary loss of sight was actually caused by a mental disorder known as ‘hysterical blindness’."
As the recent study Hitler's First War has shown, Hitler lied about almost everything when it came to his WWI experience.  Interesting story nonetheless.

LAWMAKER PROFILE NUGGET!!
Bernie Sanders: America's No. 1 Socialist Makes his Move into the Mainstream from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Vermont senator, for years a political exile, insists his left-wing beliefs chime with Americans far more than people think."