DAYLEE PICTURE: Ballooning over Bagan in Myanmar. From National Geographic.
UP-FRONT POLITICS NUGGET!!
Former Boehner Aides, GOP Sources: House Speaker Will Step Down After 2014 Elections from the Huffington Post
"Former aides to John Boehner and other high-level GOP operatives are increasingly convinced that the House Speaker will step aside after the 2014 midterm elections, according to interviews with a dozen Republican sources."
If you read this article, it is not quite so definitive that Boehner is going to do this - but it's interesting that this conversation is happening so openly.
Enemy Inside the Wire: The Untold Story of the Battle of Bastion from GQ Magazine
"What followed was a bloody confrontation highlighting a startling security lapse, with hundreds of millions in matériel lost in a matter of hours—the worst day for American airpower since the Tet Offensive. Yet the attack faded from view before anyone could figure out what went wrong. For the first time, Matthieu Aikins relives those heart-pounding moments and offers an extraordinary account of the Battle of Bastion."
Prince Harry was one of the targets of this raid.
Hillary Clinton backs Obama on Syria from Politico
"Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backs President Barack Obama’s move to urge Congress to back a targeted effort in Syria, in the first comments from her camp since the president unveiled his plan, POLITICO has learned."
The Right Questions on Syria (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times
This is not one of Kristof's most clear and coherent columns -- but it begins to capture my own sense of where the central issues are on Syrian intervention.
"To me, the central question isn’t, “What are the risks of cruise missile strikes on Syria?” I grant that those risks are considerable, from errant missiles to Hezbollah retaliation. It’s this: “Are the risks greater if we launch missiles, or if we continue to sit on our hands?”
Shadow of a Doubt (Maureen Dowd) from the New York Times
"We now actually have a president who understands the difference between Sunnis and Shiites. But our previous gigantic misreadings of the Middle East, and the treacherous job of fathoming which sides to support in the Arab uprisings — are the rebels in these countries the good guys or Al Qaeda sympathizers? — have left us literally gun shy."
‘They Must be Really Bad if Even Hitler Wouldn’t Use Them’ (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"Richard Price is a political scientist at the University of British Columbia and author of “The Chemical Weapons Taboo.” We spoke this afternoon about the history of the prohibition on chemical weapons, past efforts to punish violations and whether the norm will fall apart if the United States doesn’t strike Syria."
The GOP Wants to Have it Both Ways on Syria (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post
"As Inhofe’s conversion on the road to Damascus indicates, Republicans don’t like what Obama is doing in Syria — whatever it is."
The Robert Taft Republicans Return Isolationism has never served the interests of America, or the GOP (Bret Stephens) from the Wall Street Journal
"... the views of Messrs. Paul, Lee and Amash would have sat well with Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio (1889-1953), son of a president, a man of unimpeachable integrity, high principles, probing intelligence—and unfailing bad judgment."
My Tea Party Mom Loves Al Jazeera America (Elizabeth Wurtzel) from the Daily Beast
Sick of hardballing, roundtabling, and punditry in general, Elizabeth Wurtzel’s Tea Partier mom has turned to the new Al Jazeera America—and is loving it. Welcome back, real cable news."
EXTINCT SPECIES NUGGET!!
The end of extinction? Scientists are close to 'cloning' an Australian frog that no longer exists - and there are plans to resurrect more dead species from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Researchers in Australia have made the first steps towards bringing the southern gastric-brooding frog back to life. Other scientists are working on genome sequencing for extinct pigeons and even the woolly mammoth..."
STORM NUGGETS!!
Breath-taking images of the world’s most brutal storms captured by fearless photographer, 31, who gets so close he gets knocked over by the shockwaves from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"These are the breath-taking images of super storms taken by possibly the luckiest photographer alive. Lightning-lover Marko Korosec, 31, risks his life as he captures photos and video of some of the world's most brutal storms."
A psychedelic rainbow reef world : Biology student captures incredibly detailed images of the stunning - and very strange - coral specimens found in collectors' tanks from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Daniel Stoupin photographed the corals in studios owned by aquarists and coral collectors instead of underwater. He spent four months photographing the specimens due to the complexity of the techniques he used, including high magnification, and spent up to 10 hours producing one or two images"
A heart warming story of over coming the odds like a Champ from Hope-for-Paws
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