News Nuggets 561

From last year, a wooden church in Greenland.  From National Geographic.

No to a No-fly Zone in Libya from the Editorial Board of the Los Angeles Times
"The U.S. should avoid any military involvement in Libya."

‘Volcano of Rage’ (Max Rodenbeck) from the New York Review of Books
"Arab rulers had grown too isolated, too inflated with pretense and hypocrisy, and too complacently confident in the power of their police. Their overwhelmingly youthful populations suffered perpetual humiliation at the hands of government officials, faced dim work prospects, and had little means of influencing politics. They felt, in the famous words of the Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous, that they were “sentenced to hope.” More sophisticated and exposed to the world than the generation that ruled them, they had lost faith in the whole patriarchal construct that seemed to hem in their lives."

This Is Just the Start (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"Future historians will long puzzle over how the self-immolation of a Tunisian street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, in protest over the confiscation of his fruit stand, managed to trigger popular uprisings across the Arab/Muslim world. We know the big causes — tyranny, rising food prices, youth unemployment and social media. But since being in Egypt, I’ve been putting together my own back-of-the-envelope guess list of what I’d call the “not-so-obvious forces” that fed this mass revolt.  Here it is: THE OBAMA FACTOR Americans have never fully appreciated what a radical thing we did — in the eyes of the rest of the world — in electing an African-American with the middle name Hussein as president."

Burying Pan-Arabism (Leon Hadar) from the National Interest
"Instead of embracing a strategy out of excessive hope (democratic-liberal transformation) or excessive fear (Islamist radicalization), Washington should utilize a realistic approach – a “nationalism narrative.” Like other revolutions that have shaken the world, the most important legacy that the Arab Awakening may leave behind will be new nationalist forces that could shape the balance of power in the Middle East in ways that are not necessarily antithetical to long-term American interests."

Crackdowns Display Beijing's Fears (Frank Ching) of the China Post [of Hong Kong in English]
"Professor Whyte, who gave testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission last Friday, acknowledged that there has been a rising tide of social protests in China, which he attributes to abuses of power and other procedural injustices rather than to an unequal distribution of wealth."

Tripoli Today, Havana Tomorrow? (Nicholas Gvosdev) from the National Interest
"When Obama lifted some of the Bush-era bans in January, there was optimism that in several months, he might take more steps to end the trade embargo altogether. In light of the protests sweeping through the Arab world, however, that assumption may no longer be valid. Castro survived the 1989 wave that brought down communist regimes in Eastern Europe, but will he and his brother be able to withstand the 2011 iteration blowing from the Levant? All bets are off."

Julian Assange 'Jewish Conspiracy' Comments Spark Row from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Ian Hislop writes in Private Eye that Assange accused him, the Guardian and Index on Censorship, before withdrawing claim."

The Strategy Behind the Budget Battles (Allan Lichtman) from CommonDreams.org
"Republican responses to budget challenges nationally and in Wisconsin come together as part of a long-standing strategy to destroy institutions that allegedly sustain the American left. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Republicans in the state legislature have targeted teachers’ unions. Republicans budget-cutters in Congress have targeted Planned Parenthood, the Public Broadcasting Corporation, and the Legal Services Corporation, among other groups. Their budget inflicts little or no pain on Republican-leaning organizations such as the agribusinesses that garner most farm payments or the oil companies that receive billions in special tax subsidies. … In attempting to weaken the foundations of American liberalism, Republicans may have reached too far. Since their successful demonstrations in the battle for Florida after the 2000 election, conservatives have dominated the streets. Now, for the first time in recent memory, liberal protesters have taken to the streets in large numbers, portending perhaps the rise of the grassroots leftwing base that Obama promised, but failed to deliver thus far."
Lichtman is a noted historian and TV pundit.  While I often find his TV work on CNN and elsewhere to be overdone -- his point here is right on the money.

Wisconsin, Collective Bargaining and Public Opinion (Adam Sorenson) from Time Magazine
"Democrats lack the votes in Wisconsin and other state legislatures to block collective bargaining restrictions from making it into law. Their hope to is to rally an opposition movement under the banner of public opinion. And there's every indication they've managed to put Republicans on the defensive."

Wisconsin Governor is Waging 'Jihad' against Unions (Mark Mellman) from The Hill
"Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) jihad against public employee unions is about 30 years late and likely to make Republicans even less popular with voters, who endorse collective bargaining rights for public employees — professionals for whom they have abiding respect. It’s no wonder smart Republican governors, who are a bit closer to their constituencies than their congressional counterparts, regularly demur when asked to endorse Walker’s approach. "

Late 2012 GOP Start a Boon for Obama from The Hill
"The late start by Gingrich and other GOP hopefuls has been a boon for Obama, Democrats say.  After the midterm defeat, President Obama needed time to rehabilitate himself and reinvent his administration as sympathetic to the wants, needs and anger of the American electorate."

Mitt Romeny's Southern Problem (Sam Shepherd) from the National Journal
"Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is lagging behind other prospective Republican presidential candidates in Southern states, according to new polling, presenting an obstacle for the nominal front-runner for the party's nomination."

GOP's Anti-immigrant Stance Could Turn Texas into a Blue State (Harold Meyerson) from the Washington Post
"Don't look now, but Texas is turning blue. Not today, to be sure, nor tomorrow. But to read the newly released census data on the Lone Star State is to understand that Texas, the linchpin of any Republican electoral college majority, is turning Latino and, unless the Republicans change their spots, Democratic."

Raucous First Caucus For House Tea Partiers Exposes Dangerous Rifts (Dan Froomkin) from the Huffington Post
"A boisterous first meeting of the House's Tea Party Caucus on Monday night exposed two potential rifts -- one between its members and state-level Tea Party activists, who have no appetite for compromise, and another between its members and Republican Party leaders, who will soon be asking them to do just that."

WRITER NUGGET!!
Self-Published Author Amanda Hocking Makes Millions From eBook Sales from the Huffington Post
"Unknown, living paycheck to paycheck in Austin, Minnesota, rejected by publishers all over New York, Amanda Hocking decided to self-publish on ebook platforms only. She sold 100,000 of her works in December, and over 10 months she's had more than 900,000 in sales. She's 26 and is now making enough money to quit her day job"

TIME CAPSULE NUGGET!!
Trapped in Time: Chateau Left in the Dark for a Century on the Wishes of Obsessive Owner Finally Reveals its Splendour to the World from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"When wealthy French bachelor Louis Mantin demanded that nobody touch his lavish mansion for 100 years after his death, even the occupying German army paid heed. The eccentric recluse, who died in 1905, wrote in his will that he wanted Maison Mantin, in Moulins, Central France, to be turned into a museum dedicated to himself and his gentlemanly lifestyle."