News Nuggets 944

DAYLEE PICTURE: A canyon in Zion National Park in Utah.  From National Geographic.

Is North Korea Losing China? (Christopher Hill) from Project Syndicate 
"As the unanimous adoption of a United Nations Security Council statement on April 16 suggests, no one, including the Chinese, is trying the make the case any more for nuance in dealing with the North.  The Chinese, in particular, appear to have lost patience."

NATO After Libya from the Editorial Board of the New York Times
"The military campaign, according to the alliance’s own confidential assessment, exposed unsustainable gaps in Europe’s capabilities."

China’s Achilles Heel from the Economist [of London]
"A comparison with America reveals a deep flaw in China’s model of growth."

The Third Industrial Revolution from the Economist [of London]
"The digitisation of manufacturing will transform the way goods are made—and change the politics of jobs too."

America's 10 Fastest-Growing Industries: Report from the Huffington Post 
"One surprising sector that made the list: For-profit colleges. With heightened competition and rising tuition at private and public universities, options such as DeVry and University of Phoenix have recently attracted more students, even though enrollees at for-profit schools reportedly wind up with fewer post-graduate options and more debt. Here are the top ten fastest-growing industries:"

Vatican Orders Crackdown on American Nuns from the Washington Post
"The Vatican has launched a crackdown on the umbrella group that represents most of America’s 55,000 Catholic nuns, saying that the group was not speaking out strongly enough against gay marriage, abortion and women’s ordination. Rome also chided the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) for sponsoring conferences that featured “a prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.”"

Two-Paycheck Couples, Working Because They Must (E.J. Dionne Jr.) from the Washington Post
"Thus the importance of a study released this week by the Center for American Progress that deserves wide attention. The report demonstrates conclusively that the ruckus over Ann Romney’s decisions is 30 years out of date. Its core conclusion: “Most children today are growing up in families without a full-time, stay-at-home caregiver.”"

Barack Obama and the 'Centrist' Fantasy About Dealing With the GOP (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"Columnists are free to hope that Republicans will compromise for the good of the country. But Obama doesn’t have that luxury, says Michael Tomasky."

Poll: Obama Still Quite the Ladies' Man (Jackie Koszczuk) from The Hill 
"Obama “has a big lead among women and is seen as the candidate most in tune with their needs. He is seen as more in touch with average Americans,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute."

Mitt Romney is the Dorian Gray of 2012 (Robert Shrum) from The Week 
"The presumed GOP nominee would like to keep the true portrait of his character stashed away while he Etch A Sketches a new public persona. Too late, Mitt."

The Doomed Marriage Between Mitt Romney and Congressional Republicans (Norman Ornstein) from the New Republic
"... there’s good reason to believe the relationship between Romney and the Tea Party-driven congressional Republicans will be exceptional only in the severity of its uneasiness. This is not an example of passionate matrimony, but a mere wedding of convenience—and it’s safe to say the honeymoon won’t last long."

What Newt Gingrich Lost by Running for President (Molly Ball) from the Atlantic
"His almost certainly failed campaign for the Republican nomination leaves his stature diminished -- and his empire in shambles."

MICHELLE OBAMA NUGGET!!
Michelle Obama's Top 10 Rules To Live By from the Daily Beast
"In writing my new book “What Would Michelle Do: A Modern Day Guide to Living With Substance and Style?’’, I wanted to give readers insight into the philosophies, character and specific choices that have enabled the Chicago native to successfully balance the demanding roles of wife, mother, leader and First Lady.  Here are a few Michelle’s tried-and-true rules for success."

ROBOT NUGGET [of a sort]!!
We've been specializing this week in scary robots of the future stories.  Here's the ultimate finisher.
Sex Robots Will Revolutionize Sex Tourism, Report Says from the Huffington Post
"They don't spread disease and they can't be sold into sex slavery. Those are just two of the advantages of robot prostitutes, which will be edging out their human competition in the sex tourism market by the year 2050, according to an article published in the journal Futures."

AUTHOR NUGGET!!
Why LBJ Should be Ranked Alongside Lincoln (Ron Rosenbaum) from Smithsonian Magazine
"It has become one of the great suspense stories in American letters, the nonfiction equivalent of Ahab and the white whale: Robert Caro and his leviathan, Lyndon Baines Johnson. Caro, perhaps the pre-eminent historian of 20th-century America, and Johnson, one of the most transformative 20th-century presidents—in ways triumphant and tragic—and one of the great divided souls in American history or literature."

SPACE SHUTTLE NUGGET!!
Smithsonian Welcomes Space Shuttle Discovery (PHOTOS) from the Washington Post
I had not realized how beat up the Discovery was.  Good thing it was retired when it was.
"Space shuttle Discovery is preparing to move into its new home at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum annex in northern Virginia."

JIM CROW HISTORY NUGGET!!
Inside the New $1.3m Museum of Racist Memorabilia with 9,000 Exhibits that Leave Most Visitors 'Angry or Offended' from the Daily Mail [of the UK] 
The images, while not surprising, are still quite disturbing.
"Provocative exhibits include items which portray black men as lazy, violent or inarticulate Museum is 'all about teaching, not a shrine to racism,' says the founder and curator."

CHEETAH & DOG NUGGET!!
A Bond To Last A Lifetime, One Year Later from Zooborns
"Monday, April 16 marked the one-year anniversary of the first time park guests got to see an 8-week-old male cheetah cub and a 16-week-old female yellow Labrador puppy start to strike up a friendship that the park’s animal experts expect to last a lifetime."