TEN BEST NUGGETS OF THE WEEK!!
1. The President's Underappreciated, Undersold Success Stories (David Rothkopf) from Foreign Policy Magazine"Perhaps the greatest weakness of the Obama administration is its inability to own its successes. While this is hardly a weakness that will be cited by the president's opponents in the upcoming campaign, or even one that they will acknowledge, perhaps, it will impact the outcome next November. Because the Obama track record on many fronts is much better than the administration gives itself credit for. They could be doing much, much more to tout what is an impressive litany of successes. "
2. Iran’s Growing State of Desperation (Fareed Zakaria) from the Washington Post
"...the real story is that Iran is weak and getting weaker. Sanctions have pushed its economy into a nose-dive. The political system is fractured and fragmenting. Abroad, its closest ally and the regime of which it is almost the sole supporter — Syria — is itself crumbling. The Persian Gulf monarchies have banded together against Iran and shored up their relations with Washington. ... The price of food staples has soared 40 percent the past few months, Reuters reported this week."
3. Al Qaeda on the Ropes: One Fighter's Inside Story (Yousafzai and Moreau) from the Daily Beast
"A young jihadist returns to his former unit on the Afghan border and finds only the desperate remnants of bin Laden’s once-dreaded organization."
4. Under Obama, an Emerging Global Apparatus for Drone Killing from the Washington Post
"The Obama administration’s counterterrorism accomplishments are most apparent in what it has been able to dismantle, including CIA prisons and entire tiers of al-Qaeda’s leadership. But what the administration has assembled, hidden from public view, may be equally consequential. In the space of three years, the administration has built an extensive apparatus for using drones to carry out targeted killings of suspected terrorists and stealth surveillance of other adversaries."
5. The Coming Collapse of China: 2012 Edition (Gordon Chang) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Many analysts assume this growth streak can continue indefinitely. For instance, Justin Yifu Lin, the World Bank's chief economist, believes the country can grow for at least two more decades at 8 percent, and the International Monetary Fund predicts China's economy will surpass America's in size by 2016. Don't believe any of this."
6. The Grand Strategy Behind Obama’s Recess Appointment (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"President Obama’s decision to use a recess appointment to seat Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was a no-brainer — such a no-brainer, in fact, that many of us were racking our brains to figure out why he didn’t do it sooner. It’s an important move that brings together four important battles the Obama administration is waging:"
7. Did Psychopaths Take Over Wall Street? (William Cohen) from the Bloomberg News Service
"Clive R. Boddy, most recently a professor at the Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University, says psychopaths are the 1 percent of “people who, perhaps due to physical factors to do with abnormal brain connectivity and chemistry” lack a “conscience, have few emotions and display an inability to have any feelings, sympathy or empathy for other people.” ... Boddy says psychopaths take advantage of the “relative chaotic nature of the modern corporation,” including “rapid change, constant renewal” and high turnover of “key personnel.” Such circumstances allow them to ascend through a combination of “charm” and “charisma,” which makes “their behaviour invisible” and “makes them appear normal and even to be ideal leaders.”"
8. So Much Fun. So Irrelevant (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"Two things have struck me about the Republican presidential candidate debates leading up to the Iowa caucuses. One is how entertaining they were. The other is how disconnected they were from the biggest trends shaping the job market of the 21st century. What if the 2012 campaign were actually about the world in which we’re living and how we adapt to it? What would the candidates be talking about?"
9. Yes We Can (Can't We?) (Andrew Romano) from the Daily Beast
"Team Obama has quietly built a juggernaut reelection machine in Chicago. Andrew Romano goes inside."
10. Un-American Activities: Santorum's Efforts to Go 'Beyond his Base' (George Packer) from the New Yorker
"Several things are worth noting here. The first is that, in today’s Republican politics, one reliable way to reach beyond the Christian base is by whipping up nationalistic hysteria with language lifted straight from the McCarthy era. If criminalizing all abortions and nullifying all gay marriages are a little too sectarian for you, surely you’d like to try some old-fashioned traitor-hunting. (Santorum has also accused Obama of “sid[ing] with evil” in Iran, a country with which he plainly wants to go to war.) The second is that this kind of gutter rhetoric is so routine in the Republican campaign that it’s not worth a political journalist’s time to point it out. ... And the third, related point is that, once demagogy and falsehoods become routine, there isn’t much for the political journalist to do except handicap the race and report on the candidate’s mood."
Now -- to today's daylee nuggets!!
UP-FRONT ENVIRONMENTAL NUGGET!!
Geologists say Ohio Quakes Directly Tied to Fracking from MSNBC
"Recent earthquakes in Ohio and Oklahoma have been directly linked to deep wells used to dispose of liquid wastes for hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" of natural gas, according to geological experts."
Iran’s Bluster and Weakness (Benjamin H. Friedman) from the National Interest
" Recent news reports have cited U.S. military officials, defense analysts, and even an anonymous Iranian official arguing that Iran likely lacks the will and ability to block shipping in the strait. That argument isn’t new: ... The obviousness of Iran’s bluster suggests its weakness."
Bold Lie Turned Run-In at Sea Into Rescue from New York Times
"After their ship was taken hostage at gunpoint, Iranian fishermen survived six weeks by relying on calm nerves, prayer, camaraderie and, in the end, duplicity."
Scores More Soldiers Defect from Syrian Army from Al Jazeera [in English]
"Colonel and 50 of his men say they have taken on new mission to keep protesters in Hama safe during demonstrations."
Obama Closes the Book on the 9/11 Era (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"When you ask Obama administration officials to explain their foreign policy agenda for 2012, they point first to the defense budget. That’s where they want to make a “pivot” in U.S. strategy — away from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and toward the 21st-century priority of China and the Pacific."
Finally, a Jobs Report With Really Good News (Felix Salmon) from the Daily Beast
"Friday’s jobs report may not show an economy on fire, but it does show unemployment falling to a three-year low—and Felix Salmon is no longer worried about us falling below stall speed."
Barack Obama’s (Mostly) Good Week from Politico
"The Republican presidential contenders are pummeling one another. Liberals are happier with their president. And the unemployment rate dropped to a three-year low. To the White House, this past week was about as good as it gets."
Weak Man Romney Running for President (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"Democrats have convinced themselves that Mitt Romney will be a formidable opponent in November. But recent revelations show it isn’t true, says Michael Tomasky."
Michelle Obama and the Evolution of a First Lady (Jodi Kantor) from the New York Times
"The first lady never confronted the advisers directly — that was not her way — but they found out about her displeasure from the president. “She feels as if our rudder isn’t set right,” Mr. Obama confided, according to aides."
TECHNOLOGY NUGGET!!
The Battle for TV: New Tech War Brewing as Google and Apple Race to Bring Out Internet Sets from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"They have been locked in combat over mobile devices - and now Google and Apple are set to do battle in a technology war over 'smart' TVs. LG Electronics will next week unveil its first internet-connected TV to run on the Android interface next week."
NAZI GERMANY NUGGET!!
Books About Nazi Henchmen (Jacob Heilbrunn) from the New York Times
"None of Hitler’s lieutenants did more to realize the Final Solution than Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich."
MILITARY HARDWARE NUGGET [of a sort]!!
Military Reveals Revolutionary Pilotless Cargo Drone that can Deliver Supplies to Territories Plagued by Roadside Bombs from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"The U.S. military is testing a revolutionary new drone for its arsenal, a pilotless helicopter intended to fly cargo missions to remote outposts where frequent roadside bombs threaten access by road convoys."
No comments:
Post a Comment