News Nuggets 1024

DAYLEE PICTURE: A knob-tailed gecko in Australia.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT OUTER SPACE EXPLORATION NUGGET!!
Mars Rover Curiosity Set to Land in ‘7 Minutes of Terror’ on Monday (Marc Kaufman) from the Washington Post
This is a big deal.
"Approaching at 13,200 mph after a 354 million-mile trip, its landing will be among the riskiest ever tried."

UP-FRONT CAMPAIGN ANALYSIS NUGGET!!
Hey Mitt, Now You Know How It Feels to be a Democrat from No More Mister Nice blog
"Logic tells us that Reid couldn't possibly have heard this from multiple sources, so he's just blowing smoke. And yet, even if it's a lie, Reid's put Romney on the spot, because what he's saying sounds plausible to a lot of people. Y'know, it's a bit like saying that the current president is a secret Muslim socialist who lied about his U.S. birth and has a fake Social Security number and is secretly plotting to take away all privately owned guns if he's reelected, either before or after he finishes the job of deliberately destroying American capitalism."

A more nuanced take:
Right Where You Want Him (David Kurtz) from Talking Points Memo
"... in the spectrum of vicious political attacks, this doesn’t rank. It’s not the unprovable, unknowable, can’t-wash-off-the-stink, scurrilous savagery that any candidate is defenseless against. That’s the beauty of it, if you’re an Obama partisan like Reid is. Romney’s best, most logical defense is simply to release the taxes. Case closed."

Get It Right on Gas (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"We can have a natural gas revolution that transforms our whole country or one that just transforms the electric grid. What’s it going to be?"

On the (Possible) Coming Obama Landslide (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"Liberals don’t want to jinx it. It terrifies the right. And the press would prefer a nail-biter. But the fact is that finding Romney’s path to victory is getting harder every day."

Why Harry Reid Keeps Attacking Mitt Romney from Politico
"“What Republicans don’t get is the more they fire back at Reid, the more he will fight,” said another top Reid confidante. “And in the end, what will the topic be? Romney and his taxes.”"

Mitt's "Culture" War (Erik Nielson) from Salon
"His comment about Palestinians wasn't a gaffe: It was part of his concerted efforts to demonize his opponents."

Pew: Obama Lead Persists, Now Ahead 51-41 (DemFromCT) from Daily Kos 
"Think this is a tie race, a dead heat as the media would have you believe? Not so, says Nate Silver."

How The Obama Campaign Is Spinning A Boring Report Into Campaign Gold from Talking Points Memo
"Chopping the study’s key finding — that Romney’s tax plan will raise taxes on just about everyone except the exceptionally wealthy — into a convenient take home-size was a central focus of the Obama campaign this week and it used every method available to it to do so, including the president himself."

Cause for Concern (Bill Kristol) from the Weekly Standard
"...doesn't it seem likely that the Obama attack on Romney is working where it is deployed in full measure? I think many analysts have erroneously concluded that because the national tracking has not moved, the Obama attack on Romney's wealth, Bain, taxes, etc. is not effective. The results in these states suggest otherwise. (And the partisan splits in the polls may be following the ballot test in these states—if you're turning away from Romney, you're less likely to self-identify as a Republican. So the polls aren't necessarily bad. The real trends could well be bad.)"

Romney’s Overseas Trip: The Real Toll (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"Voters won’t remember the disastrous details of Romney’s overseas jaunt, Peter Beinart writes in Newsweek, but they’ll remember that it didn’t go well, and that’s the real damage."

Romney’s ‘Kiss My…’ Spokesman Takes Time Off Campaign Trail from ABC News 
Finally ... FINALLY we see someone in the Romney campaign pay a price for inflicting damage on their own campaign!!  For Romney supporters, they should hope that more high-level people will be taking "time off".
"Spokesman Rick Gorka, whose curse-laden flap with the press in Poland rounded out the news reports culminating Romney’s trip, is “taking some time off the trail” after a week abroad, per a Romney aide. Gorka normally serves as the traveling spokesman for Romney on all his campaign trips."

The Long, Lawless Ride of Sheriff Joe Arpaio (Joe Hagan) from Rolling Stone Magazine
A long-read look at this corrupt figure.
"Locking up the innocent. Arresting his critics. Racial profiling. Meet America's meanest and most corrupt politician."

99 Ways to Be Naughty in Kazakhstan: How Cosmo Conquered the World from the New York Times
"Cosmopolitan magazine is often spurned as "mindless," but it has also grown into 64 editions worldwide, and a readership of 100 million teens and young women in more than 100 nations—including those "where any discussion of sex is taboo":"

NEW YORK CITY NUGGET!!
New York’s Forgotten Tunnels (Sharon Blumberg) from Salon
"Exploring the city's abandoned infrastructure with journalist Steve Duncan, subway and sewage system."

ENTERTAINMENT NUGGET!!
Celebrities Who Are Alive and Well -- Post 80 (Pat Gallagher) from the Huffington Post
I hate to say it -- I could have sworn most of these people had passed away years ago!
"Baby boomers have great memories. Our recollection of making mud pies in the back yard, watching television together with the whole family in our living rooms, going to the movies to see our favorite movie stars or listening to our favorite Top 40 AM radio station in the car are just part of the fabric of our lives that we now refer to as the "good ol' days." Curiosity is a brain teaser, so I researched to see who is still with us from our "happy days" when we were all growing up in the Tinker Toy generation"

WALRUS NUGGET!!
Alaska SeaLife Center Walrus Calf Charms Caretakers (VIDEO) from the Huffington Post
"He’s sweet, snuggly and loves a good bottle. At 200 pounds, the orphaned walrus who’s getting around-the-clock care from staff members at the Alaska SeaLife Center is also one very big baby."