News Nuggets 1302

DAYLEE PICTURE:  Bats in tamarind trees in Madagascar.  From the New York Times.

UP-FRONT GOP MELTDOWN NUGGET!!
Ted Cruz Infuriates House Republicans By Conceding Defeat On Obamacare Repeal from the Huffington Post
"Cruz, a tea party favorite, is one of the most vocal proponents of defunding the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's health care reform law. He's spent months championing the cause. But on Wednesday, as House Republican leaders unveiled their latest plan for sinking Obamacare -- tying a measure to defund the law to a must-pass resolution that keeps the government running -- Cruz thanked House Republicans for their fight, and said they're on their own."
Ha, ha!  I was just kidding!  Oh, did you really believe me when I said all that crap!?  I never really meant for you, my fellow GOP lawmakers, to take what I said seriously.  That was all for my hillbilly rube constituents back home!  Given how you speak to your own voters, I just assumed you would have known that.  Humor aside, this is actually an important development.  One of the key unknowables to the budget standoff has been how long Tea Party wingnuts could actually sustain the illusion that their defunding strategy could actually work. This flip by Cruz, as Tea Party a wingnut as there is out there, is a good bellweather that some breaking point may be near.

Republican Civil War Over Obamacare Explodes on Twitter from the National Journal
"Tensions between House and Senate conservatives has been brewing for weeks over a scheme to try to force a government shutdown unless Obamacare gets defunded, but the friction spilled into the public and onto social media Wednesday night after Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz acknowledged that the plan is probably doomed in the upper chamber."

Ted Cruz Unmasks his Own Confidence Game (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"It’s unclear how exactly we’ll get to that inevitable point or how much blood will be left on the floor along the way or who will end up spilling most of it. But one thing that seems clear is that the scam perpetrated by Senate conservatives is running out, and Ted Cruz is the reason why."

New Test Could Expose GOP’s Pack of Charlatans (Brian Beutler) from Salon 
"Conservatives in the Senate have spent weeks and weeks hectoring House Republicans to stand true to GOP principles and make funding for the federal government contingent upon Democrats agreeing to defund Obamacare. It’s about to blow up in their faces, and probably turn several of their more moderate colleagues into collateral damage."

Senate GOP, Chamber of Commerce Call On House GOP To Give Up from Talking Points Memo
"Senate Republicans and the Chamber of Commerce are urging House Republicans to back off their threats of a government shutdown or debt default if President Barack Obama doesn’t agree to defund or delay Obamacare."

World War O (Gail Collins) from the New York Times
"... the message is clear. The new health care law is going to be terrible, wreaking havoc on American families, ruining their lives. And they are going to love it so much they will never have the self-control necessary to give it up."

The GOP Is Threatening Murder-Suicide With New Shutdown Warnings (Kristen Powers) from the Daily Beast
"The Republican Party is destroying America. Harsh words, yes. But inescapably true. It’s a bit of a murder-suicide. House Republicans’ willingness to lay waste to the country to satisfy their fringiest faction will ultimately guarantee the GOP irrelevancy as a national party, unless they change their ways.."

House GOP Plan To Defund Obamacare Still A 'Dumb Idea': Senate Republicans from the Huffington Post
"As House Republicans prepare to vote this week on a continuing resolution that would defund Obamacare, several Senate Republicans continue to think they're playing a losing hand. ...  "I said it was the dumbest idea I'd ever heard of," Burr said. "I still think it's a dumb idea, because you can't defund Obamacare.""

Democrats Giddy Over Boehner-Cruz Shutdown Threat as GOP Begins to Panic (Jed Lewison) from Daily Kos
"... check out the contrast between how Democratic operatives are
approaching the potential of a government shutdown... and how Republican operatives like Karl Rove are approaching it:..."

The Great GOP Leadership Turnaround (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post
"They’re “united,” all right — but only in the sense that the leaders, about to be trampled by their own lines, picked up batons and pretended they were leading a parade."
When the "leadership" is so conspicuously ignored, do you still have a party in any meaningful sense of the word?

GOP vs. GOP in Hill Obamacare Squabble from Politico
"Vitter’s crusade has effectively put his GOP colleagues in the unenviable position of hurting themselves and their staff financially or siding with another political attack on a law the party universally despises. The latest pushback is another sign of how the long-running GOP fight to repeal Obamacare has suddenly degenerated into an internal Republican battle, prompting widespread concerns among party elders."

Obama is Criticized for Right Result on Syria (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"What’s puzzling about this latest bout of Obama-phobia is that recent developments in Syria have generally been positive from the standpoint of U.S. interests. Obama has accomplished goals that most Americans endorse, given the unpalatable menu of choices."

Why Greece Is Not Weimar (Roger Cohen) from the New York Times
"I have little doubt that if Greece were not part of the European Union, with the protection and example afforded by this much maligned democratic club, it would have tumbled into catastrophe by now, much as a humiliated Germany did after 1918. Europe has been Greece’s protector even as the single euro currency has been its tormentor."

Death of an Adjunct (Daniel Kovalik) from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
"Margaret Mary was an adjunct professor, meaning that, unlike a well-paid tenured professor, Margaret Mary worked on a contract basis from semester to semester, with no job security, no benefits and with a salary of between $3,000 and just over $3,500 per three-credit course. Adjuncts now make up well over 50 percent of the faculty at colleges and universities. ... Margaret Mary, a 25-year professor, was not making ends meet. Even during the best of times, when she was teaching three classes a semester and two during the summer, she was not even clearing $25,000 a year, and she received absolutely no health care benefits."

Online Courses are Failing as a Teaching Tool from Politico
An extended excerpt is warranted here!
"Massive open online courses were supposed to revolutionize — and democratize — higher education. But two years since their debut, the initial buzz seems like nothing but hype. Millions have signed up for online courses sponsored by elite colleges, yet they report high dropout rates and disappointing student performance among those who stick it out.  A quietly released report last week on a partnership between San José State University and major course provider Udacity found that at-risk kids performed particularly poorly and students found the courses confusing. Collective statistics aren’t available, but by one tracker’s account, most MOOCs have completion rates of less than 10 percent."
Almost anyone who has actually taught in front of a college classroom should have seen this coming.  Most online courses that I have seen are such passive learning environments I can't imagine them ever being very effective.  Dynamic interaction and rigor are what make college courses effective.  Unfortunately, now there is SO MUCH big money invested in this scam that I fear it will be with us for the foreseeable future.

Electrifying America's Greatest Wonder: Photographer Captures Incredible Moment Ferocious Lightning Bolt Hits the Grand Canyon from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Photographer Rolf Maeder captured the multiple strikes under the stormy skies as the sun set over Nevada.  The area experiences localised thundertsorms in the summer as high temperatures combine with moisture."