A view from Dutch Harbor in Alaska looking out onto the Bering Sea. From National Geographic.
Obama Takes Hard Line With Libya After Shift by Clinton from the New York Times
"Only the day before, Mrs. Clinton — along with her boss, President Obama — was a skeptic on whether the United States should take military action in Libya. But that night, with Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces turning back the rebellion that threatened his rule, Mrs. Clinton changed course, forming an unlikely alliance with a handful of top administration aides who had been arguing for intervention."
Libya: A Good Intervention is Hard to Pull Off – But We Should Still Try (Charles Moore) from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"Where would the West stand if it let Gaddafi murder his way back to control of Libya?"
Libya Finally Forces Barack Obama's Hand as He Goes for Broke (Simon Tisdall) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"After weeks pondering, prevaricating and posturing, the US wants Muammar Gaddafi's head. And it will fight to get it."
Inside Classified Hill Briefing, Administration Spells Out War Plan for Libya (Josh Rogin) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Several administration officials held a classified briefing for all senators on Thursday afternoon in the bowels of the Capitol building, leaving lawmakers convinced President Barack Obama is ready to attack Libya but wondering if it isn't too late to help the rebels there."
'No-fly' Win for Lame-Duck Clinton (Glenn Thrush) from Politico
"Clinton’s persistence in the anti-Qadhafi cause has been such a constant in the White House in recent days that Obama, according to reports, joked about Clinton lobbing rocks through his window during his remarks at Saturday night’s Gridiron dinner. "
What's Next for North Africa? (Katherine Ashton) from the New York Times
"Sometimes the toughest question in world politics is: “And then what?” It is the question I shall be asking — and starting to answer — at Saturday’s summit in Paris to discuss Libya. History is littered with examples of wars won, only for the subsequent peace to be lost."
Obama Weighs Talking to the Taliban, Hezbollah (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"In a rapidly changing Islamic world, the Obama administration is weighing how best to talk with adversaries such as the Taliban and, perhaps, Hezbollah. One model for the administration, as it thinks about engagement of enemies, is the British process of dialogue during the 1990s with Sinn Fein, the legal political wing of the terrorist Irish Republican Army. That outreach led to breakthrough peace talks and settlement of a conflict that had been raging for more than a century."
U.S. Nuclear Officials Suspect Japanese Plant has a Dire Breach from the Los Angeles Times
""A leak in a spent fuel pool at the Fukushima nuclear plant would be an unprecedented problem with no clear remedy, experts say."
Japan’s Try-Anything Nuclear Response Draws Criticism, and Sympathy from the New York Times
"For a country that is known for its industrial robots, advanced cellphones and hybrid vehicles, Japan’s efforts to cool the hobbled nuclear reactors in Fukushima have seemed, at least to a world watching on television, to be decidedly low-tech."
Yakuza to the Rescue from the Daily Beast
"Even Japan’s infamous mafia groups are helping out with the relief efforts and showing a strain of civic duty. Jake Adelstein reports on why the police don’t want you to know about it"
Atomic Dogs (Charles Homans) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Fukushima wasn't the only nuclear accident waiting to happen. From Bulgaria to New York, here are five other nuclear power plants to keep an eye on."
Anti-Teacher Climate Humbles the Conservative Husband of a Cleveland Educator (Connie Schultz) from the Cleveland Plain Dealer
"I apologize: For letting people tease you about having the summer off and not asking them to thank you for the tough days ahead that begin in early August. I know for a fact you work more hours in those 10 months than many people do in 12. All those hours are earned."
An Advocate Who Scares Republicans (Joe Nocera) from the New York Times
"Many Republicans fear Elizabeth Warren will run the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, fighting for consumers by cracking down on banks, Joe Nocera writes."
In WI, Effort Seeks to Counter Boycotts from the Wisconsin State Journal
"Business groups and their supporters are pushing back against efforts to boycott businesses whose executives donated to Republican Gov. Scott Walker, urging supporters to "stand up to ... union boss intimidation.""
Union Workers Boo Mich. Gov. Rick Snyder at Ford Celebration VIDEO from RawReplay
“Snyder has taken heat from organized labor in recent weeks over plans to tax pensions and his support for a new law allowing state-appointed emergency financial managers to void public union contracts deemed unaffordable for struggling municipalities or school districts,”
Obama’s Approval Ratings: Some Encouraging Signs for the President (Ronald Brownstein) from the National Journal
"A slow warming trend toward President Obama continued in the latest Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll, although the country remains closely divided on his performance and agenda."
Red vs. Blue: The Great Midwestern Backlash (Andrew Leonard) from Salon
"New GOP governors in Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan are suddenly unpopular. The economy gives, and it takes away."
In MI, Emergency Manager Law Quickly Impacting Unions in Michigan Teachers Union Considers Authorizing Strike from the Washington Independent
"The new law that allows the governor to appoint Emergency Managers with broad powers to fire elected officials, break contracts and dissolve towns is already forcing public workers to accept new concessions."
Another Sign of Nervousness about Wisconsin Recalls: Major GOP Firm Testing Hard-core Anti-union Messages in the State (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"Here’s another sign that some folks may be getting mighty nervous about the Dem drives to recall Wisconsin GOP state senators: I’m told that a major national Republican polling firm is in the field in the state testing some hard-core anti-union messages, including ones about how pro-union forces targeted a GOP state senator with death threats. It’s another sign that the Wisconsin standoff has escalated further into a protracted, high-stakes national war."
Making History: The Right Has Been Relentless in Explaining American History Through a Conservative Prism (Elbert Ventura) from Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
"From race to foreign policy to the economy, conservatives have often been on the wrong side of history—which is why they feverishly seek to revise it."
The Palin Implosion (John Avlon) from the Daily Beast
"Sarah Palin has gone from the most divisive figure in politics to the most polarizing within the GOP. John Avlon on the polls that show her path to the nomination keeps getting steeper."
These beltway blogging bullies!! Don't you pay them any mind, Sarah honey! You GO FOR IT!!
That’s Political Entertainment! (James Wolcott) from Vanity Fair
"The old punditocracy, grounded in facts, credentials, and rational debate, has been overpowered by a new breed of political entertainer, who deals in raw emotion. Sure, there’s some brainy blue-state satire out there, from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. But the likes of Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Kelsey Grammer, et al. aren’t trying to change the way people think, the author argues—they don’t want their audiences to think at all."
INTER-PLANETARY NUGGET!!
The Rain on This Plain Is Mainly Methane from the Wall Street Journal
"When the weather forecast calls for April showers on Titan, the clouds of Saturn's largest moon rain methane, scientists reported Thursday. As winter on the mysterious smoggy moon recently turned to spring, researchers using an infra-red camera aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft detected signs of a "substantial" spring rain of the liquefied natural gas sprinkling across vast fields of dunes near Titan's equator. It's the first documented example of extraterrestrial rain, researchers said."
RELIGION NUGGET!!
God's Wife Edited Out of the Bible - Almost from Discovery News
"God's wife, Asherah, was a powerful fertility goddess, according to a theologian."
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