News Nuggets 1218

DAYLEE PICTURE: The Milky Way as seen from New Zealand.  From National Geographic.

There's No North Korea Crisis (Robert A. Manning) from the National Interest
"... there is no crisis, only a farce. This time around, it is louder and more melodramatic. But we have seen time and again North Korea throwing a political tantrum in response to annual U.S.-ROK military exercises or the latest round of UN Security Council sanctions in response to Pyongyang testing a nuclear device or launching a missile. ... The world is not on the brink of an imminent nuclear confrontation. North Korean troops and artillery are not about to pour across the Demilitarized Zone. This is all nothing more than political theater."

New Details About Lockheed's Latest Stealth Drone (John Reed) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Remember, the sea service is looking to field an unmanned, stealthy, fighter-size jet capable of taking off from aircraft carriers and doing everything from spying to bombing to conducting air-to-air refueling by 2020 under a program called Unmanned Carrier Launched Surveillance and Strike -- or UCLASS."

A New Budget for a New Party (Ron Brownstein) from National Journal 
"Obama's fiscal proposal aligns him with the politics of minority, millennial, and college-educated voters."

The 'Emerging Democratic Majority' Isn't Assured—Unless the GOP Refuses to Change (Nate Cohn) from the New Republic
"If the white share of the electorate declines further, Republicans won’t just need to match their best performance of the last 24 years among white voters, they’ll also need to match their best performance of the last 24 years among non-white voters. If they can’t make the requisite 16-point gain among non-white voters—a tall order, to say the least—then the next Republican candidate will enter truly uncharted territory, potentially needing to win up to 64 percent of the white vote just to break 50 percent of the popular vote."

Social Conservatives Threaten Revolt Against GOP (Henry Decker) from National Memo
"Social conservatives are threatening to revolt against the the Republican Party, in the latest sign that the Republican National Committee’s “Growth & Opportunity Project” has little to no chance of success."

Family Research Council Says 'Don't Send a Dime' to GOP (Justin Sink) from The Hill
""Until the RNC and the other national Republican organizations grow a backbone and start defending core principles, don’t send them a dime of your hard-earned money," Perkins said in the email, a copy of which was obtained by CNN."
YOU tell'em, Tony!!  I've been telling people not to send money to the RNC for years!

Did Being Black Cost Obama Votes? from Taegan Goddard's Political Wire 
"A new Harvard study concludes that "racial animus in the United States appears to have cost Obama roughly four percentage points of the national popular vote in both 2008 and 2012.""

RNC's Celeb Plan Falls Flat in Hollywood from Politico
"The Republican National Committee is meeting this week in the most touristy part of Tinseltown, but it’s apparent the “Celebrity Task Force” recommended by last month’s “autopsy” report isn’t going to happen. The proposed task force was the most mocked of 219 suggestions from a five-member committee tasked with looking into why the party fared so poorly in 2012."

Jane Fonda Tells Veterans Boycotting Her Movie 'The Butler' to 'Get a Life' from Fox News
"This week, Fonda had a simple message for Reyes and the page's fans. “Get a life." In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Fonda said of her casting: “If it creates hoopla, it will cause more people to see the movie… I figured it would tweak the right. Who cares?” ... But Fonda isn’t the only casting choice in "The Butler" causing some to roll their eyes."
This story is so interesting on so many fronts not least of which is how it showcases perfectly the on-going centrality of Vietnam and the 1960s issues set to the contemporary conservative movement.   Any time right wingers can resurrect the left-wing ghosts from that era just sends them into peals of partsan rapture -- never mind that most Americans could not care less!  Fonda sees this clearly.

"CRAZY AS LUNES" GOP NUGGET!!
State GOP to Auction AR-15 Style Rifle at Dinner (Jim Brunner) from the Seattle Times
"When the Washington State Republican Party holds its annual fundraising dinner this weekend, one of the items up for auction will be an AR-15 style rifle  — the type of semi-automatic weapon targeted by many gun-control advocates since Adam Lanza used one to rapidly kill 20 children and six adults at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school."
WOW!!  The latest from the numb and dumb wing of the GOP.  This is almost like the times back in the early 20th century when people would sell hangman's noose type souvenirs after particularly gruesome lynchings.  The "f--- you!" message to the victims in Newtown is hard to miss here.

TEENAGER NUGGET!!
How Teenagers Spend Money (Derek Thompson) from the Atlantic
"Ah, life without a mortgage, insurance, or savings."

GAY MARRIAGE NUGGET [of a sort]!!
Gay Man Separated from Husband in Hospital was Beaten and Harassed from Raw Story
"New information from an account of Gorley’s arrest published online and from an interview that Gorley’s daughter Amanda did with John Aravosis from Americablog paint an upsetting and disturbing picture of the ordeal that Gorley faced trying to assert his legal rights of power of attorney at his husband’s bedside."

HOPE-FOR-PAWS DOG RESCUE NUGGET!!
Annie Hart: "I Set Out to Rescue Dogs, But the Dogs Rescued Me" from the Huffington Post
"Over the past year, I've been getting involved with several animal rescue groups in the Los Angeles area where I live. Their Facebook pages are compelling and the dramatic rescue videos they post often go viral - with good reason. Nothing tugs at the heartstrings like a homeless, terrified, dog being saved from a horrible, lonely death on the streets. One local group - the Bill Foundation - stands out from the crowd, taking on the most desperate, seemingly hopeless dogs you could imagine."

BASEBALL HISTORY NUGGET!!
Jackie Robinson Again (Roger Angell) from the New Yorker
"... he very first black player in the majors: a carefully selected twenty-eight-year-old college graduate and Army veteran primed and prepped in 1947 by Dodger President Branch Rickey, who exacted a promise from him that he would never respond, never complain, never talk back, no matter what taunts or trash came at him from enemy players out of the stands. He did us proud, but at a cost beyond the paying."