News Nuggets 605

The Hang En Cave in Vietnam.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT LOCAL ENVIRONMENT NUGGET!!
Chemicals Were Injected Into Wells, Report Says from New York Times
"Oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals into wells in more than 13 states from 2005 to 2009, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats."

Libyan Rebels Say They’re Being Sent Weapons from the New York Times
"The rebel military leader, Gen. Abdel Fattah Younes, said Saturday in an interview with Al Arabiya, a satellite news channel, that his forces had received weapons supplies from unidentified nations that supported their uprising. ... Asked whether any arms shipments had arrived yet, a spokesman for the rebel military, Col. Ahmed Bani, smiled broadly, but then insisted, “I didn’t quite confirm it.”"

Khyber Impasse (James Traub) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"How long can the United States and Pakistan keep pretending that they actually have any interests in common?

NATO Back in the Saddle (James Joyner) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"How Libya helped NATO get its groove back."

U.S. and Allies Seek Possible Refuge for Qaddafi from the New York Times
"The Obama administration has begun seeking a country, most likely in Africa, that might be willing to provide shelter to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi if he were forced out of Libya, even as a new wave of intelligence reports suggest that no rebel leader has emerged as a credible successor to the Libyan dictator.

As Inmates 23 and 24, Stunned Mubaraks Adjust from the New York Times
"Gamal Mubarak, a prince of the political scene, now prisoner No. 23, and his older brother, Alaa, leader among the business elite, prisoner No. 24; the prime minister, Ahmed Nazif, a patrician man who once said Egyptians were not ready for democracy; ... They make docile inmates, their captors say, still stunned to find themselves behind bars."
When you stop and think about it, this is QUITE remarkable.  It is actually very rare that the core people of a dictatorship are EVER held to account.  And yet, here you have the core people in the docket in a matter of weeks after having been overthrown.  AMAZING!

The Power of Mockery (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times
"The juiciest story behind the Middle East uprisings doesn’t concern Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s “voluptuous” Ukrainian nurse or C.I.A. bags of cash. Rather, it’s the tale of how a nonviolent revolutionary strategy crafted by Serbian students and an octogenarian American scholar came to challenge dictators in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain and many other countries. This “uprising in a bottle” blueprint was developed by the Serbian youth movement, Otpor, to overthrow Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. One of Otpor’s insights was that the most effective weapon against dictators isn’t bombs or fiery speeches. It’s mockery."

Is Obama a Centrist? (David Rothkop) from Foreign Policy Magazine
An interesting - and I suspect on-the-money assessment of the intersection of Obama's values and actions.
"Personally, I think Obama is a liberal at heart (his writings and record before becoming president suggest this) who is also profoundly pragmatic. (Just like I think Boehner is a conservative at heart who is also profoundly pragmatic.) Pragmatism may sound cheap and valueless, but compared to inaction in the face of urgent issues it's not so bad. Many of Obama's policy choices are compromises. Some are between him and the right, some are between him and the hawks in his administration, some are between him and our European allies, some are between him and the left and no doubt many are between him and his conscience or his own aspirations. This makes idealists crazy because they feel like he should fall on his sword and bleed to death for the purest expression of the most extreme form of his values..."

Think Again: Education (Ben Wildavsky) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Relax, America. Chinese math whizzes and Indian engineers aren't stealing your kids' future."

In Senate, 2012 Federal Budget Drama Could Take Bipartisan Turn from the Christian Science Monitor
"The House passed its federal budget bill Friday on a near party-line vote, but both the Senate and the president are working hard to forge a bipartisan alternative."

With Obama's Speech, Momentum Gathering to Cut Defense Spending from the Christian Science Monitor
"Like Medicare and Social Security, cutting defense spending has been something of a 'do not enter' zone for many lawmakers. But that may be changing."
I hope so.  Along with raising taxes, it has become a litmus test for me in the "measure of seriousness" department.

How Obama Seized the Political High Ground in Budget War (Robert Creamer) from the Huffington Post
"ith his speech yesterday, President Obama seized the high political ground in the budget war that will heavily define his second two years in office. Four factors have changed the political equation."

Why Democrats Could Take Back the House in 2012 (Adam Abramowitz) from the University of Virginia Center for Politics
"... there are three reasons to believe that Democrats have a decent chance of taking back control of the House in 2012."

So far I a have been giving only passing attention to the News Corps scandal that has been brewing.  But the scandal just seems to be getting bigger. I hope/wonder if Murdoch himself is implicated?
91 Victims and Rising: Met Police Admits Scale of Phone Hacking from the Guardian [of the UK]
"High court proposes four test case hearings as Sienna Miller offered £100,000 to settle."

Maine's Madman Governor Paul LePage Strikes Again (Colin Woodard) from the Daily Beast
"Just 100 days into Gov. Paul LePage’s Tea Party-fueled administration, his fellow Republicans are fighting back, defeating his push to bring back toxic baby bottles. Now Maine faces a choice between the Republicanism of moderate Olympia Snowe or the more bellicose LePage, reports Colin Woodard."

Trump's Tea Party Triumph (Jim DeFede) from the Daily Beast
"The Donald, suddenly riding high in the 2012 polls, drew rave reviews at a Tea rally in Boca Raton. ... Trump's plan: Tell those world leaders that they have to do what the United States wants for now on. In Iraq, Trump said, "we should just take all the oil," adding "to the victor goes the spoils." The same philosophy goes for China and Saudi Arabia and Japan and Europe. With Trump as president, he will tell them all to jump, and all they get to say in return is, "How high?""
Breath-taking.   THESE are the people who will determine who will be the GOP nominee.  Absolutely breath-taking.