News Nuggets 590

Mineral pools on the terraced hills of Maras, Peru.  From National Geographic.

Libyan Rebels Say They Would Accept Cease-fire if Gaddafi Lifts Sieges, Allows Protests from the Washington Post
"Rebels battling the regime of Moammar Gaddafi would accept a cease-fire if government forces pull out of besieged cities in western Libya and allow freedom of expression, the head of the opposition’s interim government said Friday."

Gaddafi Feeling Isolated and Alone – Official Sources from Asharq Al-Awsat [pan-Arab news from London in English]
"Sources close to Gaddafi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Libyan leader was speechless upon hearing the news of Musa Kusa's defection, describing Gaddafi's reaction as being one of deep shock. ... The same sources also claimed that Libyan intelligence Chief Bouzeid Dorda, Libyan parliamentary speaker Abu al-Qasim al-Zawi, Libyan Prime Minister Dr. al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi, are all in the process of defecting from the Gaddafi regime. The sources claimed that the three senior government figures al informed close aides of their intention to defect during the recent period."

Libya Exposes Fault Lines in the Mediterranean Part IV (Harsh V. Pant) from YaleGlobal Online
"A new world order – depending on the BRICs – is not emerging anytime soon."
The first three parts of this series look quite interesting.

Meanwhile in the Maghreb (Azzedine Layachi) from Foreign Affairs
"Have Algeria and Morocco Avoided North Africa’s Unrest?"

Afghan Mob Kills 10 United Nations Workers for Koran Burning in FLA from the New York Times
"Protesters angered by the burning of a Koran by a fringe American pastor in Florida mobbed offices of the United Nations in northern Afghanistan on Friday, killing ten foreign staff members and beheading two of the victims, according to an Afghan police spokesman. Five Afghans were also killed."
I'm waiting.  I'm WAITING to see what these off-the-charts fools in Florida have to say for their brilliant media-whoring PR stunt!!

Well, this morning, I got my response.  It is worth quoting at length:
Pastor Who Burned Koran Demands Retribution from the New York Times
"In a statement, Mr. Jones demanded that the United States and United Nations take “immediate action” against Muslim nations in retaliation for the deaths. “The time has come to hold Islam accountable,” he said. He also called on the United Nations to act against “Muslim-dominated countries,” which he said “must alter the laws that govern their countries to allow for individual freedoms and rights, such as the right to worship, free speech and to move freely without fear of being attacked or killed.”" Some members of the Dove World Outreach Center said they feared they would be attacked. “We have a huge stack of death threats,” Ms. Ingram said. “We take precautions. I have a handgun. A lot of us have concealed weapons permits. We’re a small church, and we don’t have money to hire security.”"
They have more to say -- and it is all equally loopy.  This incident reminds me of something Mario Savio said at the end of the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley in 1965.  To paraphrase: "Now that the students have won their right to speak freely, with that right comes great responsibility.  I am confident that the students of Berkeley will exercise that right with same responsibility that they exercised in winning that right."  I think somewhere in Rev. Jones's thinking, he lost track of the "responsibility" piece to free speech.  I also suspect that he and his congregants are nuts.  Prediction: Rev. Jones's response will be to BURN ANOTHER KORAN.  You watch.  He's on a roll now. 

Are the Fukushima 50 Doomed to Death? from The Week
"Japan's nuclear heroes are credited with protecting their nation from a catastrophic meltdown. But at what cost to themselves? An instant guide."

The New Imperialism: China in Angola (Rafael Marques de Morais) from the World Affairs Journal
"Because of their growing visibility and growing power, along with their support of an increasingly corrupt government, the Chinese in Angola, to use an American phrase from the 1960s, have become part of the problem rather than part of the solution. "
Coming to a poor developing country near you!  Definitely another preview of how China wants to assert itself around the world, a form of neo-neo-colonialism!  Having so recently seen this program before, I suspect it won't take generations for the peoples of these poor countries to give the Chinese the boot.

Many Low-Wage Jobs Seen as Failing to Meet Basic Needs from the New York Times
"... many of the jobs being added in retail, hospitality and home health care, to name a few categories, are unlikely to pay enough for workers to cover the cost of fundamentals like housing, utilities, food, health care, transportation and, in the case of working parents, child care.  A separate report being released Friday tries to go beyond traditional measurements like the poverty line and minimum wage to show what people need to earn to achieve a basic standard of living."

US Workers Join International Team Tackling Japan's Nuclear Crisis from AOL News
"Who's willing to kiss their family goodbye and fly halfway around the world into a radioactive cauldron, toiling at 12-hour shifts in potentially life-threatening conditions and surviving on emergency rations, all in the hopes of saving Japan from nuclear disaster? More people than you might think."

What's in Store for Japan's Embattled Nuclear Workers? from Time Magazine
"As more details emerge from inside the evacuation zone in Fukushima, it's becoming more and more evident that workers at the Daiichi power plant, feted as heroes since the early days of Japan's nuclear crisis, will be bearing their burden for years to come."

Job Growth Alters Playbook for Obama and His Critics (Jackie Calmes) from the New York Times
"“If the economy continues to improve over the next year, the fact is it will strengthen President Obama’s political position,” said Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster. “And,” he added, “if the economy slows down in the next year, the Republicans put themselves in a position to take a good share of the blame for that..."

Here's Daily Kos's useful take on the new economic data.  Here's a key take-away: 
"At the current rate of hiring, however, the number of Americans with a job will not reach the pre-recession peak until January 2014. And the current rate of hiring is exactly what most analysts predict will be the case." 

Disgruntlement Left and Right (Michael Tomasky) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"You'll hear a lot of commentators say "both parties fear their extremes," but that's boring. What's interesting is that they fear them in very different ways. Republicans truly fear their base, and they treat them with respect and kid gloves (to a fault, actually) and do their best to placate them. Democrats fear their base in the sense that they fear that they (Dems) will tagged as extreme if they don't make aggressive public moves to demonstrate that they aren't really like their base."

Cops, Firefighters Turn on GOP in Labor Fight from Politico
"It’s a political shift that could have significant repercussions, and not just because these right-leaning union members vote for Republicans in sizable numbers. Angry cops and firefighters make for bad PR – especially after Republicans."

Unions Deploy Money and Muscle in Battle of Wisconsin (Byron York) from the Washington Examiner
"Weeks after Gov. Walker signed the budget bill into law, the battle over union prerogatives is not only not subsiding -- it's spreading to new fronts."

Wisconsin Union Law Passage To Be Examined By Judge from the Associated Press via Huffington Post
"A judge ruled Friday that the restraining order will stay in place for at least two months she while considers whether Republicans passed the law illegally. It was the second blow to Republicans in as many days after the same judge declared Thursday that the law hadn't been properly published and wasn't in effect as they claimed. Republicans now must either wait for the case to wind its way through the courts or pass the law again to get around complaints it wasn't done properly the first time. One GOP leader said Friday he didn't see much point in that."

First Wisconsin Recall Petition to be Filed Against Republican State Senator Dan Kapanke from Daily Kos
"La Crosse area Democrats say they will file petitions today with enough signatures to trigger a recall election of Sen. Dan Kapanke, one of eight Senate Republicans targeted over votes to curtail collective bargaining rights for public workers. If approved, it would be just the fifth recall election of a Wisconsin legislator."

Dem Party of Wisconsin: Expect at Least Six Recall Elections from Firedoglake
"The chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is confident that at least six of the eight recall elections of state Senators that the party is seeking will be successful, leading to an unprecedented set of recall elections in the summer or fall."

Univ. of Wisconsin Responds To GOP's Open-Records Request Against Professor from TalkingPointsMemo
"The University of Wisconsin-Madison has announced that it is legally complying with the state Republican Party's open-records request, which sought the e-mails of Professor William Cronon after he had written a blog post critical of Gov. Scott Walker's anti-public employee union bill. But there's a big catch."

Hard-hitting Ads Go Up Against GOP Judge in WI.  See them  HERE and HERE
As many of you know, the next phase of the labor battle in WI involves a special election on Tuesday for state judge.  Whoever wins will be the deciding vote on whether Gov. Walker's union-busting law is legal or not -- thus the stakes are unusually high.  Two ads went on TV yesterday and all you can say is "Wow" -- organized labor is taking its queue straight from Karl Rove's playbook.  I can't recall seeing the Dems ever put up ads quite like these.  If I were the Democrats in WI, I would be a little concerned about OVERDOING it at this point.  Right now, they own the high ground on the larger issue of collective organizing -- they risk losing it with these types of visceral attacks.

Maine Republicans Seek to Loosen Child Labor Laws from Raw Story
"The bill, LD 1346, establishes a "training wage" for employees under 20 years of age at $5.25 per hour for their first 180 days of employment and increases the amount of hours minors can legally work. The proposed "training wage" is over two dollars less than the state's current minimum wage."

CNN Poll: Americans Flunk Budget IQ Test from CNN
"According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday, most Americans think that the government spends a lot more money than it actually does on such unpopular programs as foreign aid and public broadcasting. ... According to our poll the public estimates that the government spent five percent of its budget last year on public television and radio. Not even close. The real answer is about one-tenth of one percent." 

WATERGATE SCANDAL NUGGET!!
Nixon Library Opens a Door Some Would Prefer Left Closed from the New York Times
"Most presidential libraries are as much celebrations of a president as historical repositories. They are packed with official papers, photographs, limousines, proclamations and baby shoes representing the president’s life and times; dark chapters are traditionally ignored or at least understated. That tradition was exploded Thursday as the Watergate Gallery opened here at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum."
I can remember when Nixon's library first opened up -- and the interpretive stuff was very much skewed in Nixon's favor with little said of Watergate.  It was said at the time that EVENTUALLY the interpretive stuff would get in line with mainstream historiography.  I'm glad to see clear evidence that that is happening!  Now, let's look for the same thing at Reagan's library!