News Nuggets 1243

DAYLEE PICTURE: A sunset in Manhattan.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

Poll: Huge Majority Says Economy Should Trump Congressional Investigations from Talking Points Memo
"An overwhelming majority of Americans said that the economy and
unemployment should take precedence over the Congressional investigations into the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups, the Justice Department's subpoena of Associated Press phone records and last year's deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya, according to a new poll from Quinnipiac University released Thursday."

Another Obamacare Train Wreck Not Happening: Federal Exchanges Look Like They'll Have Plenty of Insurance Options (Jonathan Cohn) from the New Republic
"One of these days, a dire prediction about Obamacare will come true. Today isn’t it. The Administration on Thursday released new information about the “Federally Facilitated Marketplaces.” Under Obamacare, every state must have an exchange—a place where people without
employer-sponsored insurance can find insurance. Some states are running their own exchanges."

Republican Red Flags All Over in Bellwether States from National Journal 
"For all the lip service given by Republicans to the party's efforts to modernize its image, a quick look at the GOP's standing in two must-win battlegrounds doesn't paint a promising picture of their efforts.  ... The GOP's recruitment struggles in Virginia and Colorado don't bode well for the party's long-term health."

The GOP is Too Juvenile to Govern (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post
"With budgetary tantrums in the Senate and investigative play-acting in the House, the Republican Party is proving once again that it simply cannot be taken seriously. ... What we don’t need is the steady diet of obstruction, diversion and gamesmanship that Republicans are trying to ram down the nation’s throat. It’s not as if President Obama and the Democrats are doing everything right. It’s just that the GOP shrinks from doing anything meaningful at all."

Why GOP Scandal Mongers Can’t Have Nice Things (Josh Marshall) from Talking Points Memo
"...here we have another good example of why Republicans so often have bad luck these days with bogus scandals they’re so hyped up about or ones that actually are legitimate scandals but which get overrun by so much hysterical nonsense that the actual scandal gets forgotten amidst a lava-like deluge of The Crazy. In a few words, most of the right-wing press is just astonishingly bad."

RI-GOV: Lincoln Chafee’s long journey from Republican to Democrat (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"Chafee is a strong supporter of President Obama, who issued a statement warmly embracing his switch. Chafee campaigned for the president in 2008 and spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. But what’s remarkable is that someone with Chafee’s priorities was once a Republican. Chafee left the GOP six years ago, largely because he had decided it had squandered its mantle as a party of fiscal responsibility. Since then, however, his view of his former party has only dimmed, if Vareika’s quotes are any indication."

Michele Bachmann No Force in Congress from Politico
"Establishment Republicans have spent years tiptoeing around the tea party, concerned that its hot rhetoric and deep pockets could wreak havoc in their ranks and further disrupt the national party leadership’s carefully-laid plans. But Rep. Michele Bachmann’s sudden fall exposes the reality of tea party players: their power in Congress is mostly a mirage."

Michele Bachmann, GOP Squeaky Wheel, Ready to Retire (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post
"It’s hard to see the mothballing of Bachmann as anything but unalloyed good news, for the party and the country."

Michele Bachmann Retires As President of Crazyland (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"She is President of Crazyland, a title she has jostled for and maintained, in the face of unrelenting intraparty competition, since 2009. In that sense, Bachmann is walking away at the top of her game. Bachmann’s contributions as president were manifold."

I was a Liberal Mole at Fox News (Joe Muto) from Salon
"... it was more a decentralized, entrepreneurial approach. Each show was an autonomous unit. Each showrunner — who had not risen to their position by being stupid — knew exactly what was expected of them, knew what topics and guests would be acceptable. ... "

Why the Boomers Are the Most Hated Generation (Edward Tenner) from the Atlantic
"F. Scott Fitzgerald's flappers also grew up in a time of plenty, but they were allowed to age out of their sybaritic image. What makes the Boomers different?"

RELIGION NUGGET!!
Belief Is the Least Part of Faith (T.M. Luhrman) from the New York Times 
"It is more helpful to think about faith as the questions people choose to focus on, rather than the propositions observers think they must hold."

NYC ARCHITECTURE NUGGET!!
Architects Unveil Wildly Futuristic Mock-ups for a Penn Station Makeover from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Four teams of architects presented plans Wednesday for the reimagined train station. The design challenge was sponsored by the Municipal Art Society  It was prompted by an upcoming vote by New York's City Council on renewing Madison Square Garden's permit to operate on top of Penn
Station."

MAMMOTH NUGGET!!
Russians Find Mammoth Carcass With Liquid Blood from the Associated Press via Talking Points Memo
"A perfectly preserved woolly mammoth carcass with liquid blood has been found on a remote Arctic island, fueling hopes of cloning the Ice Age animal, Russian scientists said Thursday."

SOUTHERN AFRICA PHOTO NUGGET!!
Lets 'Chute Some Photos: Bird’s Eye View of the World’s Most Beautiful Landscapes, Taken by Paragliding Photographer from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
The images of Mozambique are breath-taking!!
"These are the breathtaking images of the world's most beautiful landscapes, taken by a globetrotting paraglider. Highflying photographer Jody Macdonald, 37 sailed at speeds of 35kph and reached altitudes of 20,000ft over some of the most remote landscapes in the world to get her photographs."