Syria Comes of Age (David Kenner) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"An extraordinary population boom fuels the revolt against Bashar al-Assad's regime."
Russian Opposition Prepares for Massive Rally from the Associated Press
"The decision to let up to 30,000 protesters rally on Saturday on a square across the river from the Kremlin appears to be an attempt to avoid the violence that occurred at demonstrations after last Sunday's parliamentary election."
Russian Web Gets Protesters’ Word Out from the Washington Post
"“The Internet has arrived,” he said. “Facebook has arrived. Vkontakte [a Russian social-media site] has arrived.” And on Saturday, thanks to the Web, organizers are expecting more than 30,000 people to demonstrate against what they see as the rigged results of last Sunday’s elections — because that’s how many have committed themselves to a sign-up sheet on Facebook. "
Are we seeing the 'Arab Spring' come to ... Red Square? Who'd have thought it?!
A Fascinating Chinese View of the Occupy Movement (James Fallows) from the Atlantic
A very interesting essay! The full translation of the original essay can be read HERE.
"For an essay that says interesting things about America, and even more interesting ones about China, please check out a new dispatch at China Geeks. It is a translation, by Alec Ash, of a Chinese essay by Wu Yun called "Let's 'Occupy Chang'An Avenue.' " To get the joke you mainly need to know that Chang'An -- "Eternal Peace" -- Avenue runs between Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City in Beijing, so it is shorthand for the Chinese locus of combined political/financial power."
The President Chooses his Ground: Barack Obama Offers America a New Square Deal from the Economist [of the UK]
"In essence, he is attempting to direct the widespread sense that America has lost its way—something that would normally count against him—into exasperation with the Republicans."
EPA Declares Fracking, a Drilling Process, to be a Potential Source of Pollution from Associated Press via the Patriot-News [of Harrisburg]
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today for the first time that fracking — a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells — may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution. The draft finding could have a chilling effect in states like Pennsylvania trying to determine how to regulate the process."
The GOP’s Death Wish (Kathleen Parker) from the Washington Post
"“Anybody but Mitt” has become a familiar mantra throughout the Republican primary campaign. It is also weird and self-defeating. Republicans apparently want to nominate anyone except the one person who can defeat Barack Obama. And for all the strangest reasons:"
The Gingrich Tragedy (David Brooks) from the New York Times
A VERY PERCEPTIVE observation on Brooks' part today!
"In the two main Republican contenders, we have one man, Romney, who seems to have walked straight out of the 1950s, and another, Gingrich, who seems to have walked straight out of the 1960s. He has every negative character trait that conservatives associate with ’60s excess: narcissism, self-righteousness, self-indulgence and intemperance. He just has those traits in Republican form."
Newt Gingrich Will Not be the Republican Nominee — Even if it Means a Brokered Convention (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"There’s just no way the Republican establishment lets Gingrich become their nominee."
Newt's Moment of Truth (Chuck Todd, et al.) from MSNBC
"...the attacks themselves on Gingrich are not easy to sell. Why? Because he has one golden ticket with most conservative Republicans: he did it; he led conservative Republicans out of a 40-year desert. So no ONE thing (Freddie Mac, three marriages, health-care mandate, Pelosi/global warming, criticizing Paul Ryan) will take him down like it could for another politician. "
Gingrich as Manager (Major Garrett) from the National Journal
"What Newt’s tenure as a House Republican leader says about his ability to lead an organization."
Eye of Newt (Leslie Savan) from the Nation
"Maybe we shouldn’t be shocked at Gingrich’s rise. After all, today’s tantrum-throwing, hostage-taking GOP was created by people like Newt."
Mitt's Granite Fortress Under Siege from Politico
"Mitt Romney, whose team has been working New Hampshire for nearly five years, has a coordinator in most of the state’s 234 towns. Newt Gingrich, who opened an office here less than a month ago, has a state director who’s never worked on a campaign before. Despite the disparities, Gingrich is catching on."
ROBOT NUGGET [of a sort]!!
The $400,000 Poop-Scooping Robot from Discovery News
"Say hello to the Perception Of Offensive Products and Sensorizied Control Of Object Pickup, also known as POOP SCOOP. It's a robot designed by the GRASP Lab researchers that is capable of finding and removing 95 percent of pooch's poo at a sidewalk-sparkling rate of one ppm (that's poo per minute)."
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