News Nuggets 973

DAYLEE PICTURE:  Icebergs in Antarctica.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

UP-FRONT ANIMAL RESCUE CHARITY NUGGET!!
Many of you may recall our showcase of the rescue of Fiona, the blind dog from several weeks ago.  The responsible animal rescue organization, Hope-for-Paws out of LA is now the OFFICIAL charity of the Daylee News Nuggets website.  Organizers Eldad and Audrey Hagar focus on hard-to-capture stray dogs combined with highly intentional fostering and adoption services.  In my view, Eldad has an astonishing gift with stray dogs!  Their videos (over 100 at their YouTube channel) of their rescues are amazing and inspiring!  TODAY they are involved in a contest to win a Toyota Highlander to serve as the charity's new rescue vehicle.  What YOU need to do is go to THIS SITE, locate Hope-for-Paws, and click on it to vote for them to win the contest.  To see if they win, check in with their facebook page tomorrow.
  
To give you a sense of the work they do, included here is an update from one of the really moving rescues they did a while ago involving the dog, Edie, a very frightened animal scheduled for euthanasia.  Here's the original story. 

Here's the update.

Heading Into Talks With Iran, U.S. Sees Hopeful Signs from the New York Times
"As American negotiators prepare for nuclear talks next week in Baghdad, they say recent statements from Iran and pressure from sanctions have raised the chances of compromise."

China’s Wobbly Transition (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post 
"Perhaps when Chinese leaders began to speak over the past several years about a new “Beijing Consensus” and the triumph of the “China Model,” that was a warning that the bubble was about to burst. And we’re seeing that hubris play out now, as China’s leaders struggle with the greatest internal crisis since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989."

Meet the GUTS (Jones and Wright) from Foreign Policy Magazine
The West isn't declining. Here are four world powers enjoying an astonishing renaissance."

The New World Disorder (Kevin Sullivan) from Real Clear Politics
"If the United States and its Western allies are no longer willing or able to lead, then who will? In his latest book, "Every Nation for Itself: Winners and Losers in a G-Zero World," author and global risk analyst Ian Bremmer sets out to answer that very question."
A very thought-provoking piece.

A New Energy Era (Jay Zawatsky ) from the National Interest
A very pro-fracking article.
"The United States sits on top of the world’s largest supply of natural gas. In the last half-dozen years, the often-demonized oil companies have perfected two technologies that can deliver that clean-burning resource in quantities sufficient to replace imported oil as a transportation fuel."

How Competition Is Killing Higher Education (Mark Taylor) from Bloomberg News Service
"Competition, we are constantly told, encourages individuals, institutions and companies to take the risks necessary for innovation and efficiency. But in higher education, competition often discourages risk taking, leads to overly cautious short-term decisions, produces a mediocre product for the price, and promotes excessive spending on physical plants and bureaucracies."

Will You Get a Health Insurance Rebate from Obamacare? (Dan Caplinger) from the Motley Fool
"As it turns out, several insurers haven't met the tests that the law spells out, and as a result, those insurers will have to refund premiums to their customers. The amount of the rebates is truly staggering. According to analysis cited in The Wall Street Journal, the rebates could add up to between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion."

Right Infighting Over Health Care from Politico
"Thirty minutes. That’s roughly the time it took for conservatives to jump all over Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his leadership team after the GOP’s game plan for dealing with President Barack Obama’s health care law leaked to the media. Their gripe? Republicans would try to replicate popular parts of Obama’s health care law if the Supreme Court overturns the law this summer."

Obama Campaign Working to Counter New Voter ID Laws (Amy Gardner) from the Washington Post
"President Obama’s reelection campaign launched a national drive Friday to counter new restrictive voter-access laws, which advisers said threaten his electoral chances in November."

Our Pundit-of-the-Day!!
‘Metrosexual Black Abe Lincoln’ (Charles Blow) from the New York Times 
"“The metrosexual black Abe Lincoln has emerged as a hyper-partisan, hyper-liberal, elitist politician with more than a bit of the trimmer in him.” This sentence is just so deliciously ridiculous, insulting and incendiary — perfect Republican fodder. Let’s dissect it, shall we? Scalpel!"

Three Lessons of Jeremiah Wright Plan Against Obama (Linda Feldman) from the Christian Science Monitor
"When The New York Times broke the story about a proposal to use the Rev. Jeremiah Wright against President Obama in a GOP “super PAC” ad campaign, the political world combusted. Charges of “race-baiting” flew, and suddenly the idea was an orphan. All involved, either directly or
tangentially, have disavowed it, and it’s safe to say, the ads will never be made. But there is carnage in its wake, and lessons to be learned. Here’s our list:"

Who had the Worst Week in Washington? GOP Strategist Fred Davis (Chris Cillizza) from the Washington Post
"Fred Davis had a Jerry Maguire moment this week. Remember in the movie when Maguire (played by Tom Cruise) writes his “mission statement” outlining everything that’s wrong with the the sports agent business and how to fix it? He gives a copy of the memo to all of his colleagues — and is promptly fired."

The Wright stuff: Obama's Pastor and the Ricketts Smear (Ana Marie Cox) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Republicans are rightly shamed by a Super Pac ad plan to tag Obama as a black radical. The irony is his very lack of radicalism."

Romney Dealing with Headstrong Allies (Karen Tumulty and Rosalind S. Helderman) from the Washington Post
"He wants to talk about the economy, but his party could drown him out."

Mitt Romney Fails to See America (Colbert I. King) from the Washington Post
"Missing in his Liberty offering, as with some other Romney speeches, is any recognition — not praises, mind you, but simple acknowledgment — that 21st-century America is more than a white, middle-class country."

Advice to Would-be Romney Running Mates: Run for the Hills (Walter Shapiro) from Yahoo News
"Since 1972, there are eight people in this camp. (There have been ten elections, but two of the losing running mates -- Walter Mondale and Dan Quayle -- were sitting vice presidents who were voted out of office.) Exactly one of them, Lloyd Bentsen, who ran with Michael Dukakis in 1988, had his reputation burnished by the experience. Nearly all the others would have been much better off had they turned down the invitation."