News Nuggets 594

A recent photo of Galaxy Tango.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT PUNDIT-OF-THE-DAY!!
The Right Just Doesn't Get Journalism (Alex Pareene) from Salon
"So many professional conservatives don't really understand how journalism works, when it works. They really only "get" its cousin, propaganda. ... The problem is that right-wingers -- especially campaign hacks like Rove and true believers like Breitbart -- have internalized the "liberal media" attack line. In their imaginings, simple bias has mutated into active malice. So when right-wingers form their own media, they use the model that they imagine the MSM works under. Advance your cause by any means necessary."

Libyan Rebels Build Rudiments of a Nation from the Washington Post
"Rebel leaders say they won’t rest until they’ve taken Tripoli. But as progress on the battlefield stalls, eastern Libya is settling into its status as a de facto separate state."

Is America Addicted to War? (Stephen Walt) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The top 5 reasons why we keep getting into foolish fights."

Dispatch From the Frontlines: Why the Libyan Rebels are Struggling (Barack Barfi) from the New Republic
"Although Qaddafi’s army was humiliated in its last war with neighboring Chad, 24 years ago, and its elite forces are busy protecting the capital of Tripoli, it is not hard to understand why the rebels cannot advance. Rear units often fire on their own retreating forces, because they do not know how to aim their weapons correctly. They have not figured out how to create effective supply lines, abandoning vehicles at the front when they run out of gas. Many of the rebels have yet to pass Fighting 101."

Confronting a Distant and Uncertain Result in Libya (Jean-Claude Kiefer) from Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace [of France in English]
"Obama must be relieved to see the Europeans, mainly the French and British, assume operational political responsibility … in terms of Arab opinion, partition would spell political disaster. The entire operation carried out to rescue the Libyan people would quickly be summarized as a war over oil."

West's Diplomacy Trumps China Fear (Richard Weitz) from The Diplomat
"China and Russia were both worried about Western military action in Libya. So why didn’t they veto it when they had the chance?"

China's Widening Net (Renee Xia) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"China's crackdown on human-rights lawyers, activists, and online dissidents goes from bad to worse."

U.S.-China Relationship: A Shift in Perceptions of Power from the Los Angeles Times
"One should be skeptical about dire projections of China's rise and America's decline. China still has a long way to go to catch up in military, economic and soft-power resources."

China's Role Continues to Evolve (Frank Ching) from the China Post [of Hong Kong in English]
"Even in 1990, during the crisis sparked by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, “China had few direct interests” in the Middle East, former foreign minister Qian Qichen wrote in his memoirs. Today, things are different. China is now the world's second largest economy and one of its major trading powers. Beijing still espouses the principle of non-intervention in other countries' internal affairs but its interpretation of that principle is evolving as its own international stake grows."

U.S. Sees Array of New Threats at Japan’s Nuclear Plant from the New York Times
"United States government engineers sent to help with the crisis in Japan are warning that the troubled nuclear plant there is facing a wide array of fresh threats that could persist indefinitely, and that in some cases are expected to increase as a result of the very measures being taken to keep the plant stable, according to a confidential assessment prepared by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission."

Don't Mess With Taxes (Charles Kenny) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Sorry, Tea Partiers -- taxation isn't the source of America's ills, and your income has more to do with dumb luck than hard work."

Muslim Women Face Choices As France's Veil Ban Looms from the Associated Press via Huffington Post
"Karima has a plan. If police stop her for wearing a veil over her face, she'll remove it – then put it back on once they're out of sight. If that doesn't work, she'll stay home, or even leave France.  For Muslim women who cover their faces with veils, it is the moment for making plans. Starting April 11, a new law banning garments that hide the face takes effect. Women who disobey it risk a fine, special classes and a police record."

First Thoughts: The Importance of Quitting While You're Ahead (Chuck Todd et al.,) from MSNBC
"If congressional Republicans should have learned any lesson from the budget showdown in Wisconsin, it was this: quit while you’re ahead.

Who’s Hurt by Paul Ryan’s Budget Proposal (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post
"If it does nothing else, the budget that House Republicans unveiled Tuesday provides the first real Republican program for the 21st century, and it is this: Repeal the 20th century."

How a Government Shutdown Screws Paul Ryan (John Avlon) from the Daily Beast
"Rep. Paul Ryan’s ambitious budget plan, which slashes $6 trillion off the deficit and debt over 10 years, could start a vital national conversation about our fiscal future—if a government shutdown spurred by hyper-partisan squabbling doesn’t kill it first."

Could Shale Gas Power the World? (Bryan Walsh) from Time Magazine
Time's cover story for this we
"If its boosters are to be believed, gas will change geopolitics, trimming the power of states in the troubled Middle East by reducing the demand for their oil; save the lives of thousands of people who would otherwise die from mining coal or breathing its filthy residue; and make it a little easier to handle the challenges of climate change — all thanks to vast new onshore deposits of what is called shale gas."

Wisconsin and Beyond (Harold Meyerson) from the American Prospect
"How far will the backlash against union-busting go?"

Wisconsin, Obama and the Democrats' Future (Joan Walsh) from Salon
"Organizing behind state and local progressives is more important than joining Obama 2012 right now."

Supreme Court Race Still Too Close to Call, Kloppenburg has Narrow Lead from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg took a very narrow lead over Justice David Prosser in the state Supreme Court race early Wednesday, after a hard-fought campaign dominated by political forces and outside interest groups."

SHARK NUGGET!!
Sharks Taught to Hunt Alien Lionfish, the Rats of the Ocean PHOTOS from National Geographic News
"Working with park officials, local divers are attempting to give sharks a taste for the alien reef species, which are native to the Pacific and Indian Oceans. With no natural predators, lionfish populations have exploded throughout the waters of the Caribbean and U.S."