News Nuggets 901

DAYLEE PICTURE: Blue ice in Antarctica.  From Smithsonian Magazine's Photo-of-the-Year competition via the Daily Mail of the UK.

TEN BEST NUGGETS OF THE WEEK!!

1.  The Ritz-Carlton of Failed States (Michael Wise) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Welcome to the Serena Hotels, outposts of multi-star luxury in countries with zero-star conditions."

2.  Redesigning People: How Medtech Could Expand Beyond the Injured (David Ewing Duncan) from the Atlantic
"Radical human modification is coming, like it or not, by the end of this century—if not earlier. How much are you willing to alter yourself?"

3.  'Hallwalkers': The Ghosts Of The State Department from NPR's All Things Considered
"The halls of the State Department are haunted, not by actual ghosts, but by people who might as well be ghosts: whistleblowers, people who angered someone powerful and people who for one reason or another, can't be fired. "People like me, that the State Department no longer wants, but for some reason can't or won't fire, are assigned to what we call 'hallwalking,'" says author Peter Van Buren."

4.  2012 or Never (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"The modern GOP—the party of Nixon, Reagan, and both Bushes—is staring down its own demographic extinction. Right-wing warnings of impending tyranny express, in hyperbolic form, well-grounded dread: that conservative America will soon come to be dominated, in a semi-permanent fashion, by an ascendant Democratic coalition hostile to its outlook and interests. And this impending doom has colored the party’s frantic, fearful response to the Obama presidency."

5.  That Presidential Voice (Todd S. Purdum) from Vanity Fair
"It’s one thing to look like a president—the right genes and the right coiffure can do the trick. But sounding like a president? So far, that’s something that no one in the G.O.P. field has come close to doing."

6.  It’s a College, Not a Cloister (Frank Bruni) from the New York Times  
"What good are ideas formed and fortified in a protective cocoon, without exposure to other ways of thinking? Or convictions that haven’t been tested by, and defended against, competing ones? Not much, I’d submit. And in this, as in so much else, I apparently part company with Rick
Santorum.Rick Santorum misses the belief-testing point of education."

7.  The Possum Republicans (David Brooks) from the New York Times
 "In recent decades, one pattern has been constant within the Republican Party: Wingers fight to take over the party, mainstream Republicans bob and weave to keep their seats."

8.  Three Percent (Erick Erickson) from Redstate.com
"Seriously, putting it bluntly, conservatives may not like Barack Obama, but most other people do. And when faced with a guy you like and a guy you don’t like who says he can fix an economy that no longer needs fixing, you’re going to go with the guy you like."

9.  Santorum and the Sexual Revolution (Charles Blow) from the New York Times 
"Various comments made by the Republican presidential candidate illuminate his war with the 1960s."

10.  Andrew Breitbart, 1969-2012 (David Frum) from the Daily Beast 
"“Of the dead, speak nothing but what is good.” It’s an ancient rule and a wise one, but one that does not do justice to the life and career of Andrew Breitbart, dead today aged 43. It is impossible to speak nothing of a man who traced such a spectacular course through the contemporary media. But to speak only “good” of Andrew Breitbart would be to miss the story and indeed to misunderstand the man. ... it is wrong to see Breitbart as racially motivated. Had Breitbart decided he hated a politician whose ancestors came over on the Mayflower, Breitbart would have been just as delighted to attack that politicians with a different set of codes. The attack was everything, the details nothing."

Now, for the regular news nuggets for Sunday, March 4th.

Hamas Rattles the Resistance Axis (Rami G. Khouri) from the Daily Star [of Lebanon)
"The decision last week by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to abandon its external headquarters in Damascus and support Syrians demonstrating for the removal of Bashar Assad’s regime is noteworthy on several levels. All of them affirm the vulnerable and changing nature of strategic conditions across the Middle East."

The Man Vladimir Putin Fears Most (Matthew Kaminiski) from the Wall Street Journal
"Alexei Navalny, the rising star of Russia's opposition, on his political strategy and why the latest czar is 'trapped' by power."

Obama and the Militarized American State of Mind (Paul R. Pillar) from the National Interest
"In analyzing the considerable continuity between the latter part of the Bush administration and the Obama administration in counterterrorist policy and practices, Marc Lynch has noted how the “media and political class” have “deeply internalized Global War on Terror framing” even though the war-on-terror terminology is no longer in official vogue"

GOP Headwinds in the Senate (Charlie Cook) from the National Journal 
"It once looked likely that Republicans would win control of the Senate. Now it’s a much closer call."

With Kerrey Coming and Snowe Going, Senate Dems confident (Alexander Bolton) from The Hill
"Senate Democrats are buoyantly optimistic about keeping control of the upper chamber after developments this past week increased their chances of winning races in Maine and Nebraska. They sought to capitalize on the new wave of optimism by blasting out a fundraising email Friday touting the “seismic” shift of the Senate electoral map."

Romney Struggles for Blue-Collar Vote: Connecting with Working Class is Key to GOP Prospects (Michael Levenson) from the Boston Globe
"In state after state, exit polling has shown a clear pattern in the Republican presidential primary: Mitt Romney performs worst among low-income whites and those without college degrees, groups who form a core part of the Republican base."
This is exceptionally bad news for Romney.  To have any chance at all in the Fall, he MUST win big with this demographic.  Pure and simple.

Santorum Calls for Investigation of Michigan Republican Party (Michael Shear) from the New York Times
"Rick Santorum has asked the Republican National Committee to investigate the actions of the Michigan Republican Party, which on Thursday switched its decision to award a delegate to Mr. Santorum, giving it to Mitt Romney instead."
Has this been the worst GOP primary season in memory or what?

Well, I was wrong.  The gaseous one did apologize!  Will miracles never cease.  I guess the libel suits and the sponsor pull-outs were piling up!
Rush Limbaugh 'Apologizes' if Any Sluts were Offended by Being Called Sluts from Daily Kos
"Obviously, the campaign to demand that Rush's sponsors pull their advertising from his show is working."

Limbaugh Lost and Other Notes on the Contraception Controversy (Joe Klein) from Time Magazine
"Our supple democracy often throws up supperating pustules like Limbaugh; sooner or later, a decent society builds antibodies to reject them. Glenn Beck–you remember him–managed to complete this cycle in about two years. Today’s tiny Republican rebellion may be the first sign that Limbaugh is losing his hold on the GOP."

MORTGAGE NUGGET [of a sort]!!
An Occupy movement of a different kind entirely!
A Million-Dollar Mortgage Goes Unpaid for Years While Couple Fights Foreclosure from the Washington Post
"In five years, they have never made a mortgage payment, a fact that amazes even the most seasoned veterans of the foreclosure crisis. The Ritters have kept the sheriff at bay by repeatedly filing for bankruptcy and by exploiting changes in Maryland’s laws designed to help delinquent homeowners avoid foreclosure."
And what follows is a "how to" guide for those who want to do the same thing!  I'm sure Citibank and Bank of America are just thrilled about the appearance of this little item.

HOLLYWOOD NUGGET!!
Steve McQueen Opens Up the Doors of his California Home for an Intimate Photo Shoot from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"In the spring of 1963, Steve McQueen opened up the doors of his Palm Springs home to Life magazine photographer John Dominis. ... He captured some intimate and now-iconic images – only a handful of which were ever published – and here is a selection that was not featured in the magazine at the time."