News Nuggets 1293

DAYLEE PICTURE: Cliffside caves in the sand in Nepal.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

One Great Big War (David Brooks) from the New York Times
"What’s the biggest threat to world peace right now? ... it’s the possibility of a wave of sectarian strife building across the Middle East. ... we are seeing the emergence of a single big conflict that could be part of a generation-long devolution, which could end up toppling regimes and redrawing the national borders that were established after World War I."

Meet the Military Forces Gathering on Syria's Doorstep (John Reed) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"While the United States is ready to strike a handful of targets on the ground in Syria, any international conflict there will take place on a much larger stage. The entire region is full of a witches' brew of military hardware from more than half a dozen nations with interests in the Syrian conflict."

Syria Isn’t Iraq. Everything Isn’t Iraq (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"The purpose of air strikes is to impose a cost on regimes that deploy chemical weapons against civilians. Attacking the Syrian regime won’t stop all future massacres of civilians, or even all chemical attacks on civilians, but it does strike, on balance, as better than doing nothing at all."

The Unsaved World (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"Greece, where output is down more than 20 percent since 2007 and is still falling fast. Nobody knows when recovery will begin, and my guess is that few observers expect to see the Greek economy recover to pre-crisis levels this decade. Why are things so much worse this time?"

Fast-Food Workers Hold Massive Nationwide Strike For Livable Wages from Talking Points Memo
"Thursday’s walkouts and protests reached about 60 cities, including New York, Chicago and Detroit, organizers said. But the turnout varied significantly. Some targeted restaurants were temporarily unable to do business because they had too few employees, and others seemingly operated normally."

A Record-High Number of Young People Are Still Living With Their Parents: Why? from the Atlantic
"A story about jobs, bachelors, bachelor's degrees -- and a very weird government definition of "home""

Refusing To Help Constituents With Obamacare: Ethically Wrong? from Talking Points Memo
"What is perhaps an unprecedented refusal by some House Republicans to assist constituents in navigating Obamacare raises an interesting question about where principled opposition bleeds over into dereliction of duty."

Summers Pick Fits Obama’s Preference for Beaten Path (Era Klein) from Bloomberg
"Four years later, any newcomers Obama appointed are gone. The top slots on the economic team are all held by members of the Clinton clique."

Hogtie Texas: Voter suppression draws a strong federal response from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"An onerous voter ID law and a redistricting plan dared federal reaction and now deservedly gets it."

Our Congressional Fantasy from the Washington Post (Mann and Ornstein) from the Washington Post
"For a moment, we want to rise above the pessimism about politics that permeates the capital and the nation and imagine a best-case scenario for what might happen when Congress returns from its August recess."

GOP's Sad, Empty Threats (Brian Beutler) from Salon
"House conservatives evoke shipwrecked sailors marooned on a desert island who don't realize the war ended years ago.  ... The administration’s position is unshakable. The GOP’s is so ridden with loopholes, it’s a wonder more Republicans aren’t copping to the fact that the “whale of a fight” John Boehner predicted will be more like a staged professional wrestling match."

Leaderless Republican Party Endures Humiliating Week (Brian Beutler) from Salon
"Republicans' flailing spectacle during the March on Washington anniversary displayed a party with no direction."

The GOP Shouldn’t Run a Fool’s Errand (Charlie Cook) from National Journal 
"GOP lawmakers who want to shut down the government or impeach President Obama are just plain dumb."

A Party Full of Rodeo Clowns: GOP Flips the Bird to Racial Justice (Joan Walsh) from Salon
"By spurning invitations to celebrate the 1963 March, Republicans show they don't care about seeming racist anymore."

Toxic Populi (Timothy Egan) from the New York Times
"The digital village square is the marketplace of ideas. But what if that marketplace looks like the “Star Wars” bar — or worse?"