News Nuggets 802

A bear wandering near the glowing blue glacier of the Harding Ice Field in the Kenai Mountains of Alaska.  From National Geographic.  

UP-FRONT LOCAL VOTING NUGGET!!
One for the Books: Libraries and Democrats Won Big in this Election from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The most encouraging result in Tuesday's election was the overwhelming support that voters gave to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh."

Libya Looks Cautiously Toward Elections from the Washington Post
"Many observers are cautiously optimistic about the prospect of a fair vote here. The ruling council has called for transparency — a sharp contrast with Egypt, where the army, which took control after the fall of Hosni Mubarak in February, said in July that foreign observers would not be allowed during elections later this month."

Girls Just Want to Go to School (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times
"Sometimes you see your own country more sharply from a distance. That’s how I felt as I dropped in on a shack in this remote area of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam."

Legends of the Fail (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"... what’s the meaning of the eurodebacle? As always happens when disaster strikes, there’s a rush by ideologues to claim that the disaster vindicates their views. So it’s time to start debunking."

France Plots Eurozone 'Breakaway Group’ (Bruno Waterfield) from the Daily Telegraph
"France is drawing up plans to create a breakaway organisation of eurozone countries with its own treaty, parliament and headquarters – a move that could significantly undermine the existing European Union."

Why Barack Obama Has a Good Chance of Winning a Second Term. And Why Nate Silver May Have Underestimated his Chances (Alan I. Abramowitz) from the Univ. of Virginia Center for Politics
"According to the Time-for-Change forecasting model, which has correctly predicted the winner of the popular vote in every presidential election since 1988, Barack Obama has a good chance of winning a second term in the White House next November."

Obama's Mini-Surge (John Cassidy) from the New Yorker
"With all the weird stuff going on in the Republican race, another important story, perhaps related, has been underreported. President Obama is enjoying something of a political renaissance."

Obama Warns He'll Block Any Attempt to Avoid Debt Deal Spending Triggers from The Hill
"President Obama has warned leaders of the supercommittee he will not accept any effort to turn off a mechanism enforcing spending cuts if the panel fails to reach a deal to reduce the deficit."

Congress Members Took Part in Insider Trading: Abramoff from CNBC
"As many as a dozen members of Congress and their aides took part in insider trading based on foreknowledge of market moving information on Capitol Hill, disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff told CNBC in an interview."

The Values Debate We’re Not Having (Richard Cizik) from the Washington Post
"As an evangelical Christian who believes the Republican Party does not have a monopoly on moral values, I believe this discussion is long overdue. The “compassionate conservatism” espoused by President George W. Bush and many prominent evangelical leaders has been supplanted by a Tea Party ideology that bears more resemblance to the anti-Christian philosophy of Ayn Rand than it does to the Gospel."

In GOP Debate, Rick Perry Wasn’t Alone in Not Making Sense (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post
"Don’t laugh too hard at Rick Perry for his mortifying episode of brain-lock at Wednesday’s GOP presidential candidates’ debate. His opponents managed to remember their lines but didn’t do any better at making sense."

The Moment Rick Perry’s Candidacy Collapsed (Steve Kornacki) from Salon
"He provides what may be the most painful, cringe-inducing slip-up in debate history."

Rick Perry Commits Political Suicide Onstage at the Ninth GOP Debate (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"And that's it for Rick Perry. His latest debate performance was so world-historically awful that it truly seems beyond all repair."

National Spotlight Might Shine Too Bright for Gaffe-Prone Perry (Ross Ramsey) from the New York Times
"He was winning right up to the moment he entered the competition. That momentum carried for a short time, but when it was time for him to show his stuff, his stuff wasn’t good enough."

HEALTH & WEIGHT NUGGET [OF A SORT]!!
Drug Offers Hope in Obesity Fight from the Wall Street Journal
"Treatment Targeting Fat Cells Caused Significant Weight Loss in Monkeys; Human Trials."

LOYAL DOG NUGGET!!
One Good Turn Deserves Another: St. Bernard Fends Off Intruder... Hours After Family Rescues Him From Shelter from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Hercules was adopted by a couple in Hillsboro, Ohio, who saw the ailing 135-pound St. Bernard at the animal shelter and feared he would be euthanized.  Six hours later, the heroic canine repaid his new owners' kindness when a dark-clothed thug broke into the couple's house."