News Nuggets 584

A spadefish off the Bonin Islands of Japan.  From National Geographic.

Libyan Rebels Return to Ajdabiya (Babak Dehghanpisheh) from the Daily Beast
"Firing celebratory gunshots, rebels streamed back into Ajdabiya, a city wrested from Gaddafi with the help of coalition airstrikes. Babak Dehghanpisheh on why this could be a turning point."

Libyan Rebel Push Towards Tripoli Gathers Momentum from Agence France-Presse via Raw Story
"Libyan rebels' push westwards towards Tripoli gathered momentum on Sunday as their pursuit of Moamer Kadhafi's forces saw them wrest back control of key oil town Ras Lanuf."

Arab Hypocrisy on Libya from the Editorial Board of the Daily Star [of Lebanon in English]
A ripping critique of established Arab leadership in the face of Libya's crisis.
"If the issue was so clear to the various Arab heads of state that Gadhafi had to be stopped, then why didn’t they do anything about it themselves? If such a legitimate cause for military intervention arose in the Arab world, why couldn’t the Arab nations manage any significant part of that intervention on their own?  Alas, the military capabilities of Arab states represent just one more item on the list of failures of the Arab world’s largely tyrannical and corrupt leaders. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been wasted in the Middle East to fashion armies that can charitably be called impotent."

A related item:

Libya’s Friends from the Editorial Board of Arab News [of Saudi Arabia in English]
"The need of the hour is protecting civilians, not sterile arguments about sovereignty.  ... China has hardened its stance against the military action being undertaken by the US-led coalition, demanding an end to it. So too has Russia ... We believe them to be profoundly wrong in this instance. In the present circumstances, governments cannot say they support the Libyan people and want an end to the military campaign in the same breath. That is illogical."
I think in the Arab world (particularly among those under 40) there is very little of the hand-wringing and vitriol we hear among the western commentariate.  While I probably shouldn't be, I have been rather taken aback by the monday-morning quarter-backing that has surrounded Obama's Libya decision.
 
From Revolution to Revolution: How Egyptians View Libya from Yahoo News [from February]
"Despite the flight of the Egyptians back into their own country, there is a sense of solidarity. The Egyptians, returning to a homeland just emerging from its own revolution, clearly feel for the Libyans who are in the middle of their own fight. "The Libyans and the Egyptians are one," says an Egyptian worker named Reda, standing with people from both countries. "We protect each other.""

Egyptian Joins 'Jihad' on Libyan Front from Al Masry Al Youm [of Egypt in English]
"He eventually joined up with a group of young Libyans holding a position about 15km north of Ajdabiya, a city besieged and partly taken by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammer Qadhafi, which rebels hope to recapture."
As I suggested yesterday, activists from Egypt are booking across the border to assist the Libyan rebels.  They know (I suspect) that if Qaddafi wins, he will do whatever he can to undermine Egypt's recent revolution.  Increasingly, I think you will see the Middle East fall into (at least) two camps: a small set of emerging revolutionary gov'ts opposed to and opposed by the old long-entrenched regimes who will be sewing trouble for these new gov'ts.

And word from *another front* in this Middle East revolutionary cycle:
Hundreds of Saudi Shi'ites Protest in East from Reuters
"Hundreds of Saudi Shi'ites staged a protest in the kingdom's oil-producing Eastern Province Friday calling for prisoner releases and a withdrawal of Saudi forces from Bahrain, activists said."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/us-saudi-protests-idUSTRE72O3RL20110325
Prediction: As these revolutionary forces develop in the Gulf states, look for these protests to get very ugly.  In this part of the Middle East, the Sunni-Shiite divisions have taken on Cold War-like dimensions with the Saudis/UAE on one side and Iran on the other -- and the Saudi leadership tends to view growing protests through this almost existential lens.  Not only are they NOT going to compromise, they will intervene in their neighbors' affairs to make sure these protests fail (See Bahrain).  Likewise, look for Iran to intervene on whichever sides are AGAINST the Saudis.

Doubt it?  See this long form analysis:
The Middle East Crisis Has Just Begun (Robert Kaplan) from the Wall Street Journal
"For the U.S., democracy's fate in the region matters much less than the struggle between the Saudis and Iran."

Germany's Stage Fright from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Just when Europe is in desperate need of a strong, forward-thinking leader, Germany is nowhere to be found."
With the global recession's impact on the EU (and the load that Germany has had to cary in that), Japan's nuclear problems and how Germans have reacted, and Merkel's sudden political downturn, I can understand why they've become so reticent.

Household Wealth Down 23% in 2 Years from CNN
"The average American family's household net worth declined 23% between 2007 and 2009, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.  A rare survey of U.S. households, first performed in 2007 but repeated in 2009 in order to gauge the effects of the recession, reveals the median net worth of households fell from $125,000 in 2007 to $96,000 in 2009."
Now, DON'T evade the real issue!  The real issue is cutting NPR funding and stopping gay marriage!!

Sorry, GOP: Tax Revenue Needs to Go Up (Editorial) from CNN Money
"The GOP is right about one thing: The country is spending more than it can afford. And economists on the left and right generally agree that big tax increases can hurt economic growth. (Fix budget before a crisis) But there is abundant evidence showing that taxes must be part of debt reduction, however distasteful the GOP finds them. Why? Because the looming debt problem is just too big."

GOP's Growing Overt Hostility to ... Public Schools (Steve Benen) from the Washington Monthly
"Just last week, Rick Santorum brought his presidential ambitions to New Hampshire, and after targeting the usual suspects, the former senator turned his fire on ... public schools.  "Just call them what they are," Santorum said. "Public schools? That's a nice way of putting it. These are government-run schools."  He's not alone."
In many ways, you don't have to look much further than here to locate why our public schools have been declining -- despite extraordinary interventions at seemingly all levels.  Increasingly, one party is becoming hostile to their very existence (I still think it is a minority view within the GOP).  Once you start looking at local and state ed policy through this lens, it will never look the same again.  What we've seen in Pittsburgh is a seemingly endless series of "reforms" and interventions by wealthy sugar-daddies, each layered one on top of the other, such that the dominant perception teachers, students, and administrators have is one of years-long chaos, upheaval, job insecurity, and (unless I'm mistaken) very little student improvement.  If you're one of these conservative "gov'ment school" critics, the chaos doesn't matter -- it actually helps to substantiate the underlying contention.  Who cares how bad it gets?  Your kids are either in private/charter schools or are home-schooled. HERE's a related story from Reuters.

WikiLosers: Julian Assange said WikiLeaks Would Change the World. At the Very Least, it Changed These People's Lives Forever from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Nearly four months after WikiLeaks dropped its first State Department cables, no one can say that Julian Assange's radical transparency project hasn't left a sizable mark on global politics. But whom exactly has he brought down? It's not necessarily the people we might have expected..."

How Obama Can Win the Budget Fight (Ed Kilgore) from the Daily Beast
"The president’s refusal to publicly attack the GOP over budget cuts has progressives terrified that he'll submit to their demands. But Ed Kilgore says Obama has no intention of caving."

New Kaiser Poll Shreds GOP Healthcare Myths (J.P. Greene) from the Democratic Strategist
"Asked, "What would you like to see Congress do when it comes to the health care law?," 30 percent agreed that "They should expand the law," while 20 percent said "They should keep the law as is.  Only 19 percent agreed that "They should repeal the law and replace it with a Republican-sponsored alternative and 20 percent said "they should repeal the law and not replace it." 10 percent selecting "don't know/refused." It gets worse for the repeal advocates."

Wisconsin's Most Dangerous Professor (Andrew Leonard) from Salon
"Why are Republicans desperate to see Bill Cronon's emails? Because ideas and history matter."

Wisconsin Universities Form Unions Despite Scott Walker's Union-busting from Daily Kos
"Wisconsin's workers haven't only fought back with protests and recall efforts. Since Scott Walker began his attack on Wisconsin's public employees, faculty at three University of Wisconsin campuses have voted to join the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)."

GOP Can't Ignore Wisconsin Recall Battle (Salena Zito) from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via RealClearPolitics
"Democrats are wise to see more at stake than a single state Senate majority and a new political map that could unseat two freshmen Republican congressmen. They know this is the first battle of 2012 -- their version of 2010's surprise election of Scott Brown, R-Mass., who won a blue-state U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Democrat Ted Kennedy. ... Massachusetts Democrats got ambushed. Will Republicans let that happen to them in Wisconsin?"
I LOVE it!  This conservative columnist gives you a hint that the GOP is NOT doing much to help their folks in WI.  I'm surprised -- because Zito is DEAD-ON in her sense of how the Dems are approaching this fight!

The Talented Mr. Romney (Nate Silver) from the New York Times
"I think I’m still in the “buy” category on Romeny at this price. Part of this is because of weaknesses that exist with some of some of the other candidates. Mr. Romney seems to have several tactical advantages."

Minnesota's Bachmannization (John Avlon) from the Daily Beast
"As Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty flirt with 2012 presidential runs, their home state's GOP is increasingly radicalized. John Avlon on how the swing state became wingnut territory."
I've been wondering about this for some time!

Who Wins and Who Loses if Bachmann Runs in 2012? (Michael Shear) from the New York Times
"Ms. Bachmann may yet decide not to run for president this year. But Republican strategists for her potential rivals believe she is serious about mounting a run for the Republican nomination, and they are planning accordingly."

Looking Ahead to the 2012 Election Cycle by Looking Back from Daily Kos
"On the Obama vs. the GOP front, Democrats are probably most keen on the new numbers out this week from Pew, which gives the President a double-digit edge over that hallowed foe: Generic Republican. ..."

OBIT MEMORIAL NUGGET!!
Because of Ferraro, Women Won (Beth Reinhard) from the National Journal
"In her 1985 campaign memoir, Geraldine Ferraro recalls her annoyance during an interview on “Meet the Press’’ when she was asked, “Are you strong enough to push the button?’’ ... Line up that moment in history against the trio of powerful women – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and Office of Multilateral and Human Rights Director Samantha Power – recently making the case for air strikes against Libya."

SILLY OBAMA NUGGET!!
Irish Village of Moneygall Gets Ready for Barack Obama's Visit from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Barack Obama's distant Irish cousin (eight times removed) helps village get spruced up as US president returns to his Irish roots."

COOL INTERACTIVE WHITE HOUSE NUGGET!!
Closer Look: Inside Obama's West Wing (Brian McGill) from National Journal