TEN BEST NUGGETS OF THE WEEK!!
1. The Stage is Set for a Deal with Iran (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post"So far, Iran is following the script for a gradual, face-saving exit from a nuclear program that even Russia and China have signaled is too dangerous. The Iranians will bargain up to the edge of the cliff, but they don’t seem eager to jump."
If you have not been following Chinese defense policy (and America's response to it) the following two stories from this last week are MUST-READS!
2. China's A Broken String of Pearls (Stefano Casertano) from The European
"In 2004, the consultancy firm Booz Allen Hamilton coined a term for China’s energy supply strategy, terming it a “String of Pearls.” Loading barrels in the Middle East, Chinese tankers travel half of the globe to their home ports and are escorted by Chinese vessels along the way. A complex network of alliances provides for supplies and happy sailors’ nights out. The “pearls” are all those countries that are adjacent to the tankers’ sea lanes, such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Burma. ... The string has never been a full-fledged structure but rather a “strategic model” to be pursued through progressive actions that ranged from financial assistance to navy maneuvers and the construction of military bases abroad. ... China is revamping its energy supply: Away from global trade routes, and towards regional cooperation with Russia."
3. Rotting From Within: Investigating the Massive Corruption of the Chinese Military (John Garnaut) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"In many fields of international competition, China is less sanguine about its abilities than outsiders. ... What should most worry Beijing, and provide some comfort to those who fear Chinese military expansionism, is the state of corruption in the People's Liberation Army (PLA)."
4. The Rise of the Killer Drones: How America Goes to War in Secret from Rolling Stone Magazine
"An inside look at how killing by remote control has changed the way we fight."
5. Truth or Consequences on Bush's Air National Guard Service (Joe Hagan) from Texas Monthly
"Eight years ago, Dan Rather broadcast an explosive report on the Air National Guard service of President George W. Bush. For 36 years, it made its way through the swamps of state government as it led up to the collision between two powerful Texans on the national stage. And by the time it was over, no one—not Dan Rather, not George W. Bush—would be left unbloodied."
6. Obama Lessons in Robert Caro’s Lyndon Johnson (David Frum) from the Daily Beast
The latest volume of Robert A. Caro’s biography of Lyndon Johnson charts his transformation from an isolated and belittled vice president into a leader who wielded power with unmatched ruthlessness."
7. 'Bully': Getting Past 'Boys Will be Boys' (Laura Clawson) from Daily Kos
"The warning the new documentary Bully deserves is not the R rating it fought over its depiction of kids saying "fuck" a few too many times. The warning it deserves is that you will cry. You will cry because every time you are tempted to think that what Alex, the boy the movie follows through a year of being bullied, endures is just the routine stuff of adolescence, you will be reminded that those experiences kill."
8. The Provocateur: A Profile of Andrew Breitbart (David Carr) from the New York Times
"... even though his Web site, run by his business partner and lifelong friend Larry Solov, is fully staffed and unveiled a redesign after his death, there could be no real replacement. For good or ill (and most would say ill), no one did it like Mr. Breitbart."
9. PETMAN Robot Climbs Stairs In New VIDEO From DARPA, Boston Dynamics from the Huffington Post
"PETMAN, a humanoid robot built in 2011 for the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), has been modified to climb stairs, as shown in this unsettling video."
10. The Missionary's New Position: Former Pastor Opens Sex Shop For Christians (Alexander Krex) from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
Boy, they sure don't grow evangelicals in Europe the way they grow them in the US!!
"While lust might be considered a deadly sin by many Christians, one former Dutch pastor is on a crusade against lust "phobia." He has opened an online sex shop for Christians in the hope of improving their private lives and helping them to embrace sexuality."
Now, for the regular news nuggets of Sunday, April 22nd.
Successful Nuclear Diplomacy with Iran? (Sir Ricahrd Dalton) from the British think tank, Chatham House
"Two words stand out from the reporting of the recently concluded Iranian negotiations: constructive and useful. Six further words attributed to a Western diplomat tell of the relief experienced by the teams: 'No dramatic breakthroughs. No unpleasant surprises'. The Iranian negotiator went further. The talks were 'very successful'."
April Is the Cruelest Month … for China (Sophie Richardson) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Beijing's leaders are finding out the hard way that being a superpower isn't all it's cracked up to be."
Voting for Yesterday in France (Olivier Guez) from the New York Times
"The candidates and the citizens agree: Repeal the 21st century."
How America Came To Torture Its Prisoners (Larry Siems) from Slate
"I read nearly 140,000 formerly classified documents about America’s abuse of prisoners since 2001. Here is what I learned."
The Paradox of College: The Rising Cost of Going (and Not Going!) to School (Derek Thompson) from the Atlantic
"Over the last three decades, the cost of going to college has increased at nearly the exact same rate as the cost not going to college. How can the price of getting something and not getting something both rise at the same time? That is the paradox of college costs."
Obama’s Race to Save the Rust Belt (Andrew Leonard) from Salon
"Decades of bad industrial policies helped destroy the midwest. An old-school economic plan might be the cure."
Republican Rhetoric Over the Top (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post
"Nugent doesn’t just characterize those with different political views as misguided or wrong. He seeks to paint them as alien and anti-American — as enemies of this nation, rather than citizens with whom he disagrees. In a subsequent interview, Nugent called Nancy Pelosi a “sub-human scoundrel” and referred to liberals as cockroaches to “stomp” in November. This is what distinguishes the flame-throwers of the far right from those of the far left. Nugent and his ilk seek to deny their political opponents the very right to believe in a different philosophy. Agree with me, he says, or be stomped."
How Mitt Romney Beats the Press, Avoiding Most National Interviews (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"The candidate is carefully avoiding most national interviews outside of Fox. Howard Kurtz on why Mitt resents the media—and what his isolation is costing him."
This has become standard GOP practice now. The right-wing universe is so unaligned with reality that their candidates can't risk the cosmic dissonance that would result from an unscripted encounter with it.
The Boys Who Cried Fox (Nicole Hemmer) from the New York Times
"How did we get to the point where Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum could complain about the bias of Fox News and National Review?"
Near Death, Explained (Mario Beauregard) from Salon
"New science is shedding light on what really happens during out-of-body experiences -- with shocking results."
ZEPPELIN NUGGET!!
Recovered Letters Reveal the Lost History of the Hindenburg from the Atlantic
"The Smithsonian's National Postal Museum has created a new exhibit around the twin catastrophes called "Fire & Ice: Hindenburg and Titanic," focusing on letters that were recovered, and the stories they can tell about the people who were unlucky enough to be there."
PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY BOOK NUGGET!!
He Made it Look Easy: A Review of Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith (John Lewis Gaddis) from the New York Times
"Eisenhower knew how to lead without appearing to."
For those who may not have Smith's works on your nightstand, his bio, FDR, is an exceptional one-volume life of Roosevelt. This is a review of his latest book.
HEARING-FOR-THE-FIRST-TIME NUGGET!!
I posted this viral video clip last year -- it was quite moving. What is new here is the women's LONG BLOG POST describing her life after this event. Very, very interesting -- and very 21st century in how our media responded -- and then how she responded to that media coverage.
29 Years Old and Hearing Myself for the 1st Time from YouTube
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