UP-FRONT LGBT NUGGET!!
'Gay Cure' Ban Heads For Vote In California from the Huffington Post
"Two months ago, Guay testified at a hearing on a new bill in the California State Legislature that would ban the "gay cure," as this type of therapy is known. The bill is the first of its kind in the U.S., and observers expect it to pass by the end of August. If Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs it, licensed therapists who try to change the sexual orientation of minors will run the risk of losing their licenses."
Chinese Take to Streets as Japan Dispute Escalates from the New York Times
"Protesters filled the streets in nearly a dozen Chinese cities in response to Japan’s detention and deportation of activists from Hong Kong, Macau and China who had landed on a disputed island."
How WikiLeaks Blew It: The Sad Downfall of Julian Assange and His Empire of Secrets (Joshua Keating) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"How did an organization that once touted itself as the future of journalism -- and for a time seemed to have a credible case for the claim -- devolve into one man's soap opera? If one looks back, several key tactical errors landed WikiLeaks in its current predicament."
Exclusive: White House Studying Potential Oil Reserve Release from Reuters
"The White House is "dusting off old plans" for a potential release of oil reserves to dampen prices and prevent high energy costs from undermining sanctions against Iran, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Thursday."
Obama’s (Perceived) Transformation (Ta-Nahisi Coates) from the New York Times
"For those of us who remember the attacks on Obama in 2008, this is a notable shift. Four years ago the book on Obama was not that he would fight dirty but that he would not fight at all."
Big Gulf Between Political Parties, Divisions Within (Dan Balz and Jon Cohen) from the Washington Post
"American politics has long been defined as red vs. blue, and everything about the 2012 election speaks to the chasm that separates the two parties. But a major new study highlights how those divisions are only a part of the dynamic shaping the political landscape."
For Selfish Seniors Only (David Firestone) from the New York Times
"Those three words “not for you,” encapsulate the Republican Party’s approach to that “massive” program, the Affordable Care Act, as a wedge issue. It’s not enough to say that President Obama took $716 billion out of Medicare, because Paul Ryan’s budget did the same thing. The point is that those billions are being spent on the wrong people, those unnamed others who inevitably lurk just outside of Republican ads."
Romney Tax Plan on Table. Debt Collapses Table (Ezra Klein) from Bloomberg News Service
"I can describe Mitt Romney’s tax policy promises in two words: mathematically impossible. Those aren’t my words. They’re the words of the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, which has conducted the most comprehensive analysis to date of Romney’s tax plan and which bent over backward to make his promises add up. "
Fareed Zakaria’s Critics Are Just Jealous (Tunku Varadarajan) from the Daily Beast
"The celebrity journalist was suspended from Time and CNN over trumped-up charges of plagiarism—and then quickly reinstated. Why the public lynching reeks of envy."
INCREDIBLE GOP NUTINESS NUGGET!!
Republican Senate Nominee: Victims Of ‘Legitimate Rape’ Don’t Get Pregnant from Talking Points Memo
"Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for Senate in Missouri who is running against Sen. Claire McCaskill, justified his opposition to abortion rights even in case of rape with a claim that victims of
“legitimate rape” have unnamed biological defenses that prevent pregnancy."
And another for good measure:
Doug Priesse: Ohio Early Voting Process Should Not Accommodate Black Voters from the Huffington Post
""I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban -- read African-American -- voter-turnout machine," Doug Priesse said in an email to the Columbus Dispatch Sunday. "Let's be fair and reasonable.""
OLYMPICS NUGGET [of a sort]!!
The Best and Worst Countries to be a Returning Athlete (J. Dana Stuster) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Some will receive heroes' welcomes, others, less so. Where are the best and worst places to go home to as an international athlete?"
A related story:
What the Olympics Medal Count Says About Who Runs the World (Richard N. Haass) from the Washington Post
"Now we can focus on the question about the Olympics that is truly on everyone’s mind: What does the final medal tally reveal about contemporary theories of international relations?"
ELEPHANT NUGGET!!
Adorable Moment Chendra the Elephant Befriends Sea Lion at Oregon Zoo from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Chendra, the smallest Asian elephant at the Oregon zoo, was taking her morning stroll with a couple of her handlers when someone caught her eye. Stopping for a breather at the zoo's Stellar Cove, Gus the sea lion swam over to make an acquaintance. And, as this heart-warming photo shows, Chendra was delighted that he did."
US HISTORY NUGGET!!
USS Constitution Sails Again to Mark 200th Anniversary of Warship's Triumph over British Warship in 1812 from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"The U.S. Navy's oldest commissioned warship sailed under its own power for just the second time in more than a century to commemorate the battle that won it the nickname 'Old Ironsides.'"
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