News Nuggets 921

DAYLEE PICTURE: The beach on Fraser Island in Australia.  From National Geographic.

Syria Accepts Peace Plan Offered By U.N. Envoy Kofi Annan from the Associated Press via the Huffington Post
"Syria has accepted a peace plan by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan that includes a government cease-fire, but the bloodshed persisted Tuesday as intense clashes between soldiers and rebels spilled across the border into Lebanon, officials said."
I guess the "accepts" part needs to be in quotes.  

Etching a Foreign Policy (Paul R. Pillar) from the National Interest 
"The choice between Romney and Obama comes down to the choice between a populist and a realist foreign policy."

Bin Laden's Family to be Indicted from United Press International
"A Pakistani court is preparing to indict Osama bin Laden's three widows and two children for illegal entry into the country, officials say."
Indicted for illegal entry ... and what else?  These three women will be quietly put away some where.  They know too much about Pakistan's complicity in Bin Laden's hiding out in the country.

EPA Introduces First Greenhouse-Gas Limits for Power Plants from Bloomberg News Service
"The Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from U.S. power plants, the largest source of carbon dioxide linked to climate change. The rules will permit emissions from new power plants at 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour, about the level for a modern natural-gas plant, the EPA said today in an e-mailed statement. The limit would effectively preclude construction of new coal-fired plants, which are struggling to compete with decade-low natural gas prices."

George Zimmerman’s Account of Fight With Trayvon Martin Questioned from the Daily Beast
"Supporters of Trayvon Martin say 911 tapes contradict Zimmerman’s claim that the teenager followed him—and wonder why the shooter didn’t need prompt medical attention for his injuries. Allison Samuels reports."
There are emerging some aspects of this case that make Zimmerman's general claims of self-defense appear plausible -- but the details he has provided create an incident that is just not credible.

Why Conservatives Are Smearing Trayvon Martin’s Reputation (Michelle Goldberg) from the Daily Beast
"Conservatives are focusing on Trayvon’s tweets, appearance, school suspension over marijuana traces, and the hoodie he was wearing to blame him for his own death—and to show that his killing had nothing to do with racism."

Fugitive Slave Mentality (Robert Gooding-Williams) from the New York Times 
"In the Trayvon Martin murder case, there are echoes of the Fugitive Slave Act."

Supreme Court Health Reform Law: Obama Administration Finds Optimism (Sam Stein) from the Huffington Post
"When the dust settled, defenders of the law still maintained some (albeit limited) reason for optimism. As noted by several administration officials, similarly adversarial questions had been offered by lower court judges, who went on to rule that the mandate should be upheld."

Is the Health-Care Act Really on the Ropes? (Andrew Cohen) from the Atlantic
"The justices asked some harsh questions this morning. But when it comes time to make a decision, most of the issues they raised won't matter."

If the Mandate Fails, Single Payer Awaits (George Zornick) from the Nation 
"I tend to give more credence to the accounts that things weren’t actually that bad—the questioning during these proceedings is not predictive of the final outcome, and Justice Anthony Kennedy has plenty of room to side with the government—but it’s worth considering what would happen if, indeed, the individual mandate is junked."

In the Presidential Race, it's the '60s All Over Again (Robin Abcarian) from the McClatchy News Service
This isn't just a battle over contraception and sexual mores. Every four years, it seems, presidential contests turn up the heat on long-simmering tensions that have their origins in the last century's social and political upheavals. "Every four years, it seems, the country is fated to litigate anew "the '60s" - an era that historians generally agree extended beyond the decade's literal 10-year window by a few years on both sides."

Evangelicals Seek Positive Change (Tom Krattenmaker) from USA Today 
"In a refreshing departure from the culture war mind-set that has come to characterize this and other recent elections, some of evangelicalism's leading thinkers and spokespeople are trumpeting an important insight: Christians too fixated on politics are bound to end up frustrated and tarnished. And politics is not the only way to create positive change."

A Daunting Obama Ground Game Awaits Romney from the Los Angeles Times 
"A GOP primary fight devours time and money while the president's campaign pours millions into a national field effort."

Who Else for Vice President but Marco Rubio? (Stuart Rothenberg) from the National Journal
"... if and when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney becomes his party’s standard-bearer, he’ll need to look for the right running mate to help him unify the party and breathe some excitement into the Republican ticket. In other words, he’ll need Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Rubio, of course, isn’t the only Republican who could enhance a Romney ticket."

DOG RESCUE VIDEO NUGGET!!
Fiona's Amazing Story from YouTube via Americablog
"Fiona's amazing story - please share on Facebook & Twitter. Thanks!"

More on Fiona can be seen here.