Why Pick a Fight With China? (Walter C. Clemens) from The Diplomat
"China faces numerous challenges if it wants to maintain its rise. The U.S. should stop acting as if tensions – or worse – are inevitable."
My sentiment precisely. What many people don't realize is that there are many Chinese (a lot in high places) who are stirring the pot in exactly the same way on their side, a formula that could all too easily lead these two giant powers to stumble into a quickly escalating conflict and seeing the dangers too late.
Chen Guangcheng's Blind Injustice (Melinda Liu) from the Daily Beast
"The true story of a dissident’s life–and daring escape."
Militant Tied to U.S.S. Cole Bombing Said to Be Killed from the New York Times
"A senior Qaeda militant in Yemen linked to the deadly bombing of an American warship there in 2000 was killed in an airstrike on Sunday, the Yemeni government said, in the latest sign of an escalating American campaign to counter the terrorist threat there. Yemeni authorities said the militant, Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso, 37, who has been on the F.B.I.’s Most Wanted list in connection with the bombing of the Navy destroyer Cole that killed 17 sailors in October 2000, died in the strike in Shabwa Province in one of the rugged tribal areas controlled by insurgents."
Austerity Faces Sharper Debate After European Elections from the New York Times
"After weekend elections in France and Greece punished leaders advocating austerity, Europeans on Monday contemplated a new and untested political landscape shaped by competing demands."
Voter Anger Sweeps Europe from the Wall Street Journal
"With his victory over conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in the second and final round of voting, Mr. Hollande—France's first Socialist president in 17 years—won a mandate to challenge German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has imposed spending cuts as the main remedy to repair the public finances of heavily indebted European countries."
Those Revolting Europeans (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"How dare the French and Greeks reject a failed strategy!"
Europe Finds Austerity a Tight Fit (Harold Meyerson) from the Washington Post
"Europe has seen austerity, and it doesn’t work. With governments across the continent slashing their budgets, unemployment in the 17-nation euro zone hit 10.9 percent in March, its highest level since the euro was first minted in 1999. Eleven European countries — including a couple that are not in the euro zone but have nonetheless inflicted austerity on themselves, such as Britain — are officially in recession."
Grueling Job Hunt Awaits Grads from the Wall Street Journal
"Graduating college students face a mixed job market at best this year, and most will leave school without an offer in hand, despite an uptick in hiring by on-campus recruiters."
The Passivity of the Catholic Church from the Editorial Board of the Washington Post
"In its reluctance to discipline Catholic leaders who covered up or ignored sex crimes, the church also deepens the impression that it remains focused more on safeguarding its image than protecting victims. That’s the lesson in the story of the Rev. Bradley M. Schaeffer, for many years one of the most prominent Jesuit leaders in America."
Can the Colleges Be Saved? A Review of College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be by Andrew Delbanco (Anthony Grafton) from the New York Review of Books
"These people are all, in their various ways, arguing that higher education has become a strange ghost world, whose practices and beliefs are foreign to those of most ordinary Americans, and whose benefits, intellectual or practical, may be few. What’s clear to everyone on both sides is that American higher education rests on shaky economic foundations."
Is Democracy Still Up to the Job? (Fred Hyatt) from the Washington Post
"Around the world, people are asking whether democracy is still up to the job. ... But if a modern-day Toqueville were to tour the United States, I think he would (after fretting over whether he could recoup his costs in an e-book era) find many successes of democracy."
I rarely find much of value in neo-con Fred Hyatt's musings -- but there is much merit to what he says here.
Do as I Do, Not as I Say (T.M. Luhrmann) from the New York Times
"If Democrats want to reach more evangelical voters, they should use a political language that evangelicals can hear."
The Power of the Incumbency (Jules Witcover) from the Chicago Tribune
"As Mitt Romney continues his quest for the silver bullet that will wipe out all the deep reservations about his qualifications to be president, the man who still owns the job is demonstrating every day why incumbency gives him a major advantage in striving to keep it."
Proof the Right Used Pre-Rally Picture To Claim Obama Arena Was Empty (Jason Easley) from Politicus USA
"The right has tried to claim that the arena was empty for Obama’s Ohio rally, but an analysis of the photo reveals that the picture was taken before the president went on stage. ... The so called empty arena wasn’t empty at all. Over 14,000 people showed up in Columbus to kick off Obama’s reelection campaign."
This kind of story involves an issue I usually regard as too petty to warrant a post here at the News Nuggets -- but I will have to say when I heard that critics were claiming that the arena was half empty, it SO did not jive with my sense of the event! Sure enough. Straight BS. Check out the video clip at the end of this article.
MEDIEVAL JEWLRY NUGGET!!
Amateur Treasure Hunter Finds Tiny 14th century Heart-shaped Gold Brooch Worth £25,000 in Farmer's Field from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Shaped like a heart - and with two hands clasped together in decorative sleeves at its base - ... the item - no bigger than a pound coin - has now been dated to between 1350 and 1450 and is thought to have originally been a betrothal gift because the hands appear to be male and female. Furthermore, it is worth an astonishing £25,000."
OLD TURTLE NUGGET!!
Turtle with Boy's Initials Carved on its Shell Found by his Father 47 Years Later in Same Backyard from KDKA of Pittsburgh via the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"In 1965 The Beatles played Shea Stadium, Malcolm X was assassinated and Goldfinger had just hit screen across the country. It was also the year when 13-year-old Jeff Cokeley discovered an eastern box turtle in his backyard. Flashforward 47-years and the boy's 85-year-old father, who still lives on the property, finds a box turtle in his backyard turns it over and discovers it is the exact same turtle."
BIZARRE HOUSE NUGGET!!
No Need to Adjust Your Screens! The House that was Deliberately Built Upside Down from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"At first glance, this house looks like it's been uprooted by a mighty tornado and planted on its roof. Amazingly it was built this way, as an Austrian tourist attraction, by architects Irek Glowacki and Marek Rozhanski."
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