News Nuggets 1339

DAYLEE PICTURE: Light of a sunset in Titusville, Florida.  From Smithsonian Magazine.

The Return of Russian Hard Power? (Michael Weiss) from the Daily Beast 
"As Russia plays war games on imaginary NATO targets and Putin pumps billions into the army, the country’s Eastern bloc neighbors are growing increasingly concerned about the return of Kremlin’s military muscle."
This story should come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog.  Here we've been tracking for some time the return of fascism to Europe in the wake of the Great Recession; and three of the key ingredients to fascism are (1) hyper-nationalism; (2) militarism; and (3) authoritarianism.  All of these elements are now clearly established in Russia (and are resurgent in nearby states such as Belorussia and Hungary). What's next?  What's predictable is a new race to rearm by central and western European powers -- it's my sense that Poland is already moving in that direction. Western European countries are completely asleep.

More analysis of Russia's moves in this area is here:
The Biggest Story You're Not Paying Attention to (Marc Ambinder) from The Week
"Some events change the world overnight. Others take years to gestate, and even longer to show signs of influence. They often escape our notice entirely.  Something very important just happened in Eurasia, and the U.S.-Russian relationship will be forever changed because of it. ... John Schindler, a military historian, put it succinctly on Twitter: "Since 1991, Ukraine's ultimate political destination — East or West — has been contested and up for grabs. It's over. Now we know.""

Backstage Brawl Over a Deal (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post 
"The Israeli-Saudi mutual dislike of the Iran nuclear deal, and their de facto alliance against it, may weirdly prove one of the “silver linings” of this negotiation. Indeed, if the Israelis become a protector and defender of the Sunni Muslim countries, that could have lasting security benefits for Israel and might even open the way for progress on the Palestinian issue — without the usual American mediation."

Stuxnet's Secret Twin (Ralph Langer) from Foreign Policy Magazine
""The real program to sabotage Iran's nuclear facilities was far more sophisticated than anyone realized."

NOTABLE HEALTH CARE NUGGET!!
In Rural Kentucky, Health-care Debate Takes Back Seat as the Long-Uninsured Line Up from the Washington Post
"Places such as Breathitt County, in the Appalachian foothills of eastern Kentucky, are driving the state’s relatively high enrollment figures, which are helping to drive national enrollment figures as the federal health exchange has floundered. In a state where 15 percent of the population, about 640,000 people, are uninsured, 56,422 have signed up for new health-care coverage, with 45,622 of them enrolled in Medicaid and the rest in private health plans, according to figures released by the governor’s office Friday. If the health-care law is having a troubled rollout across the country, Kentucky — and Breathitt County in particular — shows what can happen in a place where things are working as the law’s supporters envisioned."

There’s a ‘November Surge’ in Obamacare Enrollments (Sarah Kliff) from the Washington Post
"Welcome to Health Reform Watch, Sarah Kliff’s regular look at how the Affordable Care Act is changing the American health-care system — and being changed by it. "

A Pebble Watches the Avalanche: First-hand Report from the Most Epic Netroots Victory Ever (Chris Bowers) from Daily Kos
"The result will be thoroughgoing, long-lasting change as the doors to the judicial branch of government are finally unlocked and thrown open to progressives. All the destructive court decisions we have recently suffered through on reproductive rights, on rights at work, on Citizens United, on the Voting Rights Act, on making the expansion of Medicaid optional to states and so much more—we now finally have a path to reverse all of that damage."

The (Really) Do-Nothing Congress from Politico
"Sen. Tom Carper had been wavering over the “nuclear option” for days — until one of his colleagues issued a blunt judgment of Congress. “My colleague said, ‘It’s hard to imagine it getting much worse because we’re not getting anything done,’” the veteran Delaware Democrat said. “If there was an a-ha moment, that was probably it.” Indeed, the 113th Congress is on track to go down as the least productive in history — a legacy that may be cemented after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gutted the filibuster on presidential nominees by deploying the “nuclear option.”"

Dear GOP, You REALLY Want that Filibuster Back? Here's How to Do It (Markos Moulitsas) from Daily Kos
"If you care so much about minority rights, do something about it! ... if the filibuster is that important to you, add one to the House. Problem solved! Glad I could help. Hugs and kisses, kos"

In Immigration Battle, Advocates for Overhaul Single Out Republicans from the New York Times
"Representative Scott Tipton, a Republican of Colorado, rode a Tea Party wave to Congress, but now faces the pressure of his district's demographics."

Filibuster Change Clears Path for Obama Climate Regs Crackdown (Laura Barron-Lopez) from The Hill
"Green groups might be the biggest winners from Senate Democrats’ decision to gut the minority party’s filibuster rights on nominations.  Their top priority — President Obama’s second-term regulations on climate change — is likely to have a better shot at surviving legal challenges once Obama’s nominees are confirmed for the crucial U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia."

One Huge Effect of Filibuster Reform: Obama Can Actually Fire People (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"This became a standard excuse for why no one is losing their job over the HealthCare.gov debacle: Firing any of the appointees in charge would just trigger a disastrous confirmation process that would lead the agency rudderless and chaotic for months -- and possibly for the rest of Obama's term. Simultaneously, the rules change makes it far easier to hire new people."

The Filibuster Controversy: How Republican Intransigence Keeps Backfiring (Jon Terbush) from The Week
"The GOP has gone from the Party of No to the Party of Oops."

GOP May Be About To Fold In Protracted Food Stamp Fight from Talking Points Memo
"The perception on Capitol Hill is that House leadership would like to put the farm bill behind it and is even willing to pass a bill with a significant number of Democrats. The farm bill has been a source of serious embarrassment for the leadership this year."

Right vs. Left in the Midwest (Lawrence Jacobs) from the New York Times 
"... they began a natural experiment that compares the agendas of modern progressivism and the new right. Wisconsin elected Republicans to majorities in the Legislature and selected a bold and vigorous Republican governor, Scott Walker. Minnesotans elected one of the most progressive candidates for governor in the country, Mark Dayton of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party."

Ted Cruz Readies Second Attempt To Peg Obamacare Repeal To Budget Deal from the Huffington Post 
"Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a leader in the anti-Obamacare showdown that shut the federal government last month, is plotting how he might exploit the next budget crisis for another try at repealing President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. While members of Congress negotiate plans to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling, Cruz, during a Bloomberg TV appearance Thursday, jumped at the opportunity to reiterate his steadfast disproval of Obamacare and said he remains focused on its repeal."

Slavery, Katrina and Watergate: The Right’s Obsession with Exaggerating (Paul Rosenberg) from Salon
"To unburden historical guilt, the right uses trumped-up charges against liberals. It's their form of blame-shifting."

TEACHING NUGGET!!
Don't Give Up on the Lecture (Abigail Walthausen) from the Atlantic 
"Teachers who stand in front of their classes and deliver instruction are not "out-of-touch experts"—they're role models."

WINE HISTORY NUGGET!!
What 3,700-Year-Old Wine Tasted Like from the Atlantic
"Archaeologists reveal the "sweet, strong" flavor of ancient booze, and wonder whether they might be able to recreate it."

REALITY TV NUGGET!!
The World’s Most Jaw-Dropping Reality TV Shows from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Live sex, human Tetris, baby giveaways, and more."

GENDER AND POLITICS BOOK NUGGET [of a sort]!!
Even Madder Men: A Review of Angry White Men by Michael Kimmel from the New York Times
"The characters populating Michael Kimmel’s new book, “Angry White Men,” are familiar types: Rush Limbaugh’s ditto­heads, neo-Nazis, wife beaters, rampaging shooters and the divorced rageaholics of the men’s rights movement. Crowded together under one banner, they make for a scary and unpleasant lot: full of fury and blaming everyone but themselves for their problems. Mostly, they blame women... Their sin, according to Kimmel, is a failure to adjust. These guys refuse to admit they’ve been handed
privilege all these years by a world that puts white men on top. White men, he writes, “have been running with the wind at our backs all these years,” and “what we think of as ‘fairness’ to us has been built on the backs of others.”"

TORNADO VIDEO NUGGET!!
This Is The Most Surreal Illinois Tornado Footage We've Seen Yet from the Huffington Post
"It is heart-wrenching to watch. Just before an EF-4 tornado hit his Washington, Ill. home on Sunday, Marc Wells' camera was still rolling -- and continued to shoot video as he and his daughter sought cover from the storm in his home's basement."