News Nuggets 1012

DAYLEE PICTURE: Canada Geese in the Netherlands.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT ROMNEY NUGGET!!
Mitt Romney's 'Big Lie' on Bain: 6 Ways it Hurts Him from The Week 
"Romney caps off a bad week with a big fight over whether he lied about when he left Bain Capital. Here's why such a small dispute matters so much."

The Predicaments of Chinese Power (Minghao Zhao) from the New York Times 
"China increasingly realizes the predicaments it faces while its power has been growing rapidly. Indeed, the disturbance of China’s regional diplomacy in recent years suggests that it is encountering daunting challenges on exercising and securing power."

Floating Base Gives U.S. New Footing in the Persian Gulf from the New York Times
"One of the Navy’s oldest transport ships, now converted into one of its newest platforms for warfare, arrived in waters off Bahrain late last week, a major addition to the enlarged presence of American forces in the Persian Gulf designed as a counter to Iran."

Iran Nuclear Talks Are Working (Robert Dreyfuss) from The Diplomat 
"Despite hawks' chest thumping, what the ongoing talks have shown is a path to success, says Robert Dreyfuss."

Why Israel Won’t Bomb Iran: At least Until the U.S. Presidential Election, Netanyahu Won’t Risk Angering Obama (Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman) from The Tablet
"Although the decision rests in the hands of only two men, and ultimately in Netanyahu’s alone, it can be said with confidence that there will be no Israeli military strike on Iran before America’s Election Day this year. ... What makes us so confident?"

Youth Unemployment in Europe: The Scariest Chart in Europe Just Got Even Scarier (Derek Thompson) from the Atlantic
"In March this year, for the first time on record, more than half of the young people in Spain and Greece were counted as unemployed by the OECD, which provided the chart above. Three months later, the situation is still getting worse."

The World Desperately Wants to Loan Us Money (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"...And it means we have the opportunity to get capital for almost nothing and invest it productively.
Actually, I got something wrong there. I said “almost nothing.” But that 1.459 percent doesn’t account for inflation. And so when you do account for inflation, it’s not “almost nothing.” It’s “less than nothing.”"

Democrats Think the Tables Are Turning on the ACA, and Some Predict a Public Option (George Zornick) from the Nation
"“Ultimately you’re going to get to controlling cost. And one of the ways to do it is a public option. And so I think that will come onto the agenda when we get into the 2013 session..."

Massive Coalition Fights Congress Over Looming Domestic Cuts from Talking Points Memo
"...nearly 3,000 organizations that benefit from non-defense discretionary spending, including heavy hitters like AARP, have aligned to push Congress to sort out not just the tax and defense issues, but across the board cuts that threaten medical research, border security and everything in
between."

Was There An Eyewitness To The Trayvon Martin Killing? from Talking Points Memo
"In the raft of evidence made public Thursday in the killing of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, one woman appears to be the closest thing prosecutors have to an eyewitness in their second-degree murder case against George Zimmerman."

Evangelicals Struggle to Address Premarital Sex and Abortion (David Sessions) from the Daily Beast
"Their theological line against premarital sex is falling on the deaf ears of young believers, some of whom get pregnant and have abortions, thanks to their ignorance about contraception. Now, evangelicals are debating whether churches can embrace contraception as a backup plan."

Obama Holds Lead, Romney Trails on Most Issues from the Pew Research Center
"Despite the stagnant economy and broad dissatisfaction with national conditions, Barack Obama holds a significant lead over Mitt Romney."

Obama Does Not Always Get Good Job Ratings but His Likeability May Be the Key to a Win (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"People often disparage the president in polls, but they like him a lot more than they like Romney, and that could prove crucial in November, writes Peter Beinart."

Mitt’s Self-inflicted Wounds (Joan Walsh) from Salon
"The real problem is that Romney made his qualifications as a business leader his main calling card as a presidential candidate – and immediately began backpedaling away from his career."

Mitt Romney Bain Mess Shows Stonewalling Consequences (Howard Fineman) from the Huffington Post
"It takes perverse talent to turn a two-day mini-story into a major three-week distraction. But that is precisely what Mitt Romney's campaign has done with a June 21 story in the Washington Post. As a result, they're losing valuable media time playing defense..."

Bain Barrage Worries Republicans from Politico
"The problem for the Romney campaign, when it comes to the Bain issue, is that things are reaching the point where the facts don’t really matter. The bigger problem is that the Bain cloud now hanging over the former Massachusetts governor is growing daily, and the Romney campaign still hasn’t found a compelling way to respond to what’s becoming the driving narrative, fairly or unfairly, of the 2012 campaign."

MONKEY NUGGET!!
The Great Ape escape: Panic at German Zoo as Five Chimpanzees Create Makeshift Ladder Out of Branches from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"2,500 visitors evacuated by police and zookeepers armed with pepper spray.  Five year old girl and elderly man hurt in the panic.  Four of the chimps returned of their own accord"