News Nuggets 1020

DAYLEE PICTURE: From Florida, a peacock's feathers.  From National Geographic.

A Lovefest Between Milton Friedman and J.M. Keynes (Nicholas Wapshott) from the Daily Beast
"Libertarians worship Milton Friedman, and liberals lionize John Maynard Keynes. But a long-lost essay shows that the champion of small government admired the prince of the New Deal."

The Conversion of a Climate-Change Skeptic (Richard Muller) from the New York Times
"My total turnaround, in such a short time, is the result of careful and objective analysis by the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project, which I founded with my daughter Elizabeth. Our results show that the average temperature of the earth’s land has risen by two and a half degrees Fahrenheit over the past 250 years, including an increase of one and a half degrees over the most recent 50 years. Moreover, it appears likely that essentially all of this increase results from the human emission of greenhouse gases."

Swing States Give Obama the Edge from The Hill
"President Obama "has an overall edge in the 12 decisive battleground states that is measurably greater than his advantage in national polling, ... The dynamic, which may reflect a combination of lower swing-state unemployment rates and demographic advantages for the president, is causing stirrings of unease among Republicans, even as they emphasize that it is important not to read too much into the state of the race right now."

Romney's World View (James Zogby) from the Huffington Post
"George W. Bush's rhetoric often conflated the good/evil world view of neo-conservatism with the Manichaeism of right-wing Christian Fundamentalism. In Romney's case there is a disturbing mix of
neo-conservative hawkishness and militaristic American supremacy with Mormonism's narrative of divinely ordained American exceptionalism. Just as Bush's interpretation of Christianity was not shared by most Christians, Romney's America-on-steroids is a minority view among Mormons."

Romney: Israel’s Superior Economy To Palestinians Result Of ‘Culture,’ ‘Providence’ (Benjy Sarlin) from Talking Points Memo
"“It is a racist statement and this man doesn’t realize that the
Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation,” Saeb Erakat, a senior Palestinian Authority official, told the AP. Romney attributed the gap in success in part to Israel’s “culture.”"

Romney's Rules of Diplomacy: Some Slipped Out of the Briefing Book (James Kitfield) from the National Journal
"In Israel, he interjects God and cultural superiority into an ethnic-religious conflict."

Romney Versus the World Bank (Hussein Ibish) from the Daily Beast
"Trying to solidify his “pro-Israel” bona fides, Romney compared the GDPs of Israel and the Palestinian territories. Hussein Ibish on the candidate's latest failure abroad. Plus, Dan Stone on the faux pas."

Exclusive: John McCain Stages Romney Intervention (Howard Kurtz) from Newsweek
"John McCain is dying to help Mitt Romney. But is his advice wanted? Howard Kurtz reports exclusively on the 2008 nominee’s failed efforts to counsel Romney, his frustration at a behind-the-scenes role in the campaign—and his damning faint praise for Romney’s foreign-policy
instincts."

The Pollsters: Who's Good, Who's Not, and How Bouncy They All Are from Daily Kos
"... for a heavily polled contest like the national presidential numbers, you can, if you like, preserve your sanity by ignoring individual polls, and follow a polling average instead..."

Mitt Romney's Wimp Factor (Michael Tomasky) from Newsweek
"Dodging reporters, fearing his base, hiding his taxes—is Mitt Romney just too insecure to be president? In Newsweek, Michael Tomasky surveys a history of presidential manliness and asks just where Mitt would fit amid the studly swagger of Dubya and Reagan."

Why Mitt Screws Up (Justin Frank) from Salon
"Let's put Romney on the shrink's couch: His disastrous London gaffes reveal a deep-seated anxiety."

Mitt Romney and the Go-for-Broke Election (E.J. Dionne Jr.) from the Washington Post
"...this is a moment when abnormal levels of economic turmoil are feeding a profound mistrust of government. Conservatives are making a large bet that if ever there was a year when they could mainstream out-of-the-mainstream ideas, this is it."

URBAN TECHNOLOGY NUGGET!!
Pictures: 10 Green-Tech City Solutions for Beating the Heat from National Geographic
"Using plants and trees in a unique way, Singapore officials opened Gardens by the Bay this year. The 11-million-square foot (1-million-square-meter) complex—the size of nearly 250 U.S. football fields—aims to curb the heat island effect while bringing botanical bliss to urbanites."
Each one of these structures is quite interesting!!

HIDDEN TREASURE NUGGET!!
Priceless Pot of Gold Discovered in 13th Century Castle of Richard the Lionheart and his Crusaders... and There May be More from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"A thousand-year-old pot of gold coins has been found hidden under the floor of a 13th century Crusader castle on the spot where Richard the Lionheart defeated Saladin.  The 108 ancient coins, one of the biggest collections found in Israel, were in a ceramic pot buried beneath a tile floor of the clifftop coastal ruins at Arsuf."