News Nuggets 907

DAYLEE PICTURE: White Pocket on the Paria Plateau in Arizona.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT SAVING DOLPHINS VIDEO NUGGET!!
Amazing Video Captures Moment Sunbathers Rescue 30 Beached Dolphins in Brazil (VIDEO) from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
When I see things like this, I get very moved by the difference education can make when it comes to saving endangered animals around the world.  At almost any other time in human history, the beaching of these animals would have been seen as just a great opportunity to have a dolphin barbeque.  And yet, with everyone on this beach in Brazil (ALL of them!), they knew that those dolphins didn't have long to live ... and that the best thing to do was to jump in the surf and save them.  Amazing!
"Dragging them desperately by their tails, this is the dramatic moment beachgoers leapt into the sea to save around 30 dolphins from certain death. The rescuers had been sunning themselves on the Rio de Janeiro coastline in Brazil when the dolphins appeared out of nowhere and suddenly beached en masse. Initially stunned, the sunbathers soon realise the impending danger and race into the surf as the mammals let out piercing squeals of distress."

Now, to our regular nuggets!
How to Sink Iran’s Regime? Sanctions, Not Bombs (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"After another week of near-constant talk about war with Iran, here’s one counterintuitive possibility: The Obama administration, in its eagerness to deter an Israeli strike, has committed itself to a pressure campaign that, if pursued vigorously, could eventually lead to regime change in Iran."

We Can Live with a Nuclear Iran (Paul Pillar) from Washington Monthly 
"Fears of a bomb in Tehran’s hands are overhyped, and a war to prevent it would be a disaster."

The Incomplete Greatness of Barack Obama (Paul Glastris) from the Washington Monthly
"In short, when judging Obama’s record so far, conservatives measure him against their fears, liberals against their hopes, and the rest of us against our pocketbooks. But if you measure Obama against other
presidents—arguably the more relevant yardstick—a couple of things come to light. Speaking again in terms of sheer tonnage, Obama has gotten more done than any president since LBJ. But the effects of some of those achievements have yet to be felt by most Americans, often by design. Here, too, Obama is in good historical company."

China and Iran Breaking Up? (Javad Heydarian) from The Diplomat
"What separates opportunistic partnership from genuine alliance isn’t necessarily treaties, but a willingness among both parties to hang onto their relationship when the going gets tough. With Iran’s growing isolation over its nuclear program, China’s ties with Tehran are being put to the test as never before."

Syrian Official Defects, Calls Regime Sinking Ship from the Associated Press via the National Memo
"Abdo Husameddine, a 58-year-old father of four, on Thursday became the highest-ranking civilian official to join the opposition, and he urged his countrymen to "abandon this sinking ship" as the nation spirals toward civil war."

The 51% Tragedy: A Majority of Young Greek Workers Are Now Unemployed (Derek Thompson) from the Atlantic
"For the first time on record, the majority of young Greek workers are unemployed—and it's just going to get worse."
Any length of time at this number and Greece will have a revolution on its hands.  All those hyper-austerity hawks out there need to take note.  What good is some German-style cuts-only approach (no matter how financially sound) if it causes profound political upheaval and even the end of the democracy upon which the financial system is based? If it is still like this (or worse) six months or a year from now and I'm Greek, I'd say "screw this!"  A situation tailor made for hard-line demagogues,
neo-fascists and the like.

A Field of Hawks (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post
"Unless Ron Paul somehow wins the nomination, it looks as if a vote for the Republican presidential candidate this fall will be a vote for war with Iran. No other conclusion can be drawn from parsing the candidates’ public remarks. Paul, of course, is basically an isolationist who believes it is none of our business if Iran wants to build nuclear weapons. He questions even the use of sanctions, such as those now in force. But Paul has about as much chance of winning the GOP nomination as I do."

Ignorance Is Strength (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"... now one of our two major political parties has taken a hard right turn against education, or at least against education that working Americans can afford. Remarkably, this new hostility to education is shared by the social conservative and economic conservative wings of the Republican coalition, now embodied in the persons of Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney. And this comes at a time when American education is already in deep trouble."

Recent Debate Over Contraception Comes as GOP Loses Gains Among Women from the Washington Post
I am SOOO surprised!!
"The fragile gains Republicans had been making among female voters have been erased, a shift that has coincided with what has become a national shouting match over reproductive issues, potentially handing President Obama and the Democrats an enormous advantage this fall."

The Aspirin Strategy (William Saletan) from Slate
"What happens to college sex when you stop subsidizing birth control? Rush Limbaugh won’t like the answer."

A GOP War on Women? (Kathleen Parker) from the Washington Post
"Not to tempt the gods of non sequitur, but contrary to what the White House insists, Rush Limbaugh is not the leader of the GOP. Even so, he does have a large audience and it is disconcerting that so many seem to share his obvious hostility toward women. Several of his cohorts in discourtesy are snorting and grunting in my inbox even now."

Can't Teach an Old Party New Tricks (Steve Erickson) from the American Prospect
"Republicans did not have a good week. Don't expect them to learn from their mistakes, though."

Republican Presidential Hopefuls Have Met the Enemy ... it's Themselves (Mike Lupica) from the New York Daily News
"There were bogeymen everywhere, in the Middle East and in Obamacare and big government and the deficit and the bailout and the budget and, well, that just seemed like the short list. Decent people were supposed to fear all of that. Only you know what really scares the Republicans to death these days? Their own candidates."

Meet the Republicans, Education Bashers (Michael Medved) from the Wall Street Journal
"The number of Americans with college degrees is growing, so why are GOP candidates trying to alienate them?"

Romney Must Solve His Stereotype Problem (Michael Gerson) from the Washington Post
"Having decided on their nominee, Republicans seem determined to humiliate him a few more times. ... Primary campaigns are often long, close, bloody affairs. Recall Bush vs. McCain in 2000, or Obama vs. Clinton in 2008. But these, compared with 2012, were clashes of titans. Romney has shown weakness against a series of relatively weak opponents."

Mitt Romney’s High Cost per Vote: $17.14 (Michael Sherer) from Time Magazine
"According to the Washington Post’s tally of television advertising, Romney and the PACs supporting him have put up about $33.5 million in ads so far. The numbers for his rivals, including supportive PACs, are much smaller: $4.4 million for Santorum, $6.9 million for Gingrich and $3 million for Paul. So counting only TV spending, what is Romney’s cost per vote? $10.43, which is nearly three times the $3.89 that Gingrich and his allies spent, more than three times the $3.33 from Paul and company and nearly five times the $2.14 for Santorum."

Your Favorite GOP Vice President: Hotline's Veepstakes Power Rankings: Second Edition from National Journal
"Mitt Romney hasn't secured the nomination yet, but as he's the clear front-runner, we'll assume for the sake of argument that he eventually gets the 1,144 delegates needed to win. With that in mind, we rank the potential Republican vice presidential contenders as Romney's team might see them today..."

OBAMA LIFE HISTORY NUGGET!!
The Luck that Propelled President Obama’s Rise (David Maraniss) from the Washington Post
"On Sept. 5, 2001, at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., the political career of state Sen. Barack Obama received a huge lift. If not for that odd moment, he might not be where he is now, in the Oval Office, heading into a difficult reelection campaign in which his prospects nonetheless appear slightly more favorable week by week. What happened that day in the land of Lincoln was a matter of luck and chance. His future was pulled out of Old Abe’s stovepipe hat."

CIVIL WAR NUGGET!!
Man in Civil War photo, Long Unidentified, Finally Gets His Name Back from the Washington Post
"Last Sunday, Karen Thatcher of Martinsburg, W.Va., opened a Washington Post Civil War history supplement. She spotted the picture in a Library of Congress advertisement, and realized: “That’s Uncle Dave!” In an instant, for posterity, the soldier was given back his name — and his story."

ANOTHER CIVIL WAR NUGGET!!
Faces from the Civil War: Forensic Scientists Reconstruct Images of Two Sailors After their 150-year-old Skulls are Found at the Bottom of the Ocean from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
Amazing images!
"When the turret of the USS Monitor was raised from the ocean bottom, two skeletons and the tattered remnants of their uniforms were discovered in the rusted hulk of the Union Civil War ironclad, mute and nameless witnesses to the cost of war. A rubber comb was found by one of the remains, a ring was on a finger of the other. Now, thanks to forensic reconstruction, the two have faces. In a longshot bid that combines science and educated guesswork, researchers hope those reconstructed faces will help someone identify the unknown Union sailors who went down with the Monitor 150 years ago."

ZOO NUGGET!!
The Gorilla and the Rabbit: a Tale of Friendship at the Erie Zoo from GoErie.com
"Samantha and Panda. The gorilla and the Dutch rabbit. Erie Zoo officials introduced the two in mid-February after deciding that Samantha, a 47-year-old western lowland gorilla, ought to have a companion."