News Nuggets 624

 A cottonmouth snake in North Carolina.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT 'STRANGE-DOINGS-IN-IRAN' NUGGETS!!
Ahmadinejad Allies Charged with Sorcery from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Close allies of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been accused of using supernatural powers to further his policies amid an increasingly bitter power struggle between him and the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei."
Despite the absurdity of the headline, I think the Supreme Leader in Iran is, as we speak, making his move to oust Ahmadinejad and his highest appointees.  How this unfolds this weekend could spell a new phase of the 'Arab Spring' in the Middle East and South Asia.   According to reports, Ahmadinejad has offered to resign, Khamenei has accepted that resignation -- and now Ahmadinejad is 'thinking about it."  Remember: as Reuters reported back in November, Khamenei has terminal cancer.  In other words, what may be unfolding is a period (potentially in a few months) where BOTH Ahmadinejad AND Khamenei will be gone from the scene in Iran!  A consummation devoutly to be wished!

Internal Strife Emerges as Tehran Looks Westward (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"When there’s political upheaval in Tehran, it’s often interwoven with the explosive question of possible outreach to the United States. And that may be the case with a recent feud between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei."

Obama Thanks SEAL Team Who Killed OBL For 'Job Well Done' from Talking Points Memo
"President Obama flew to Fort Campbell, Ky., Friday to personally congratulate the special operations team responsible for the killing of Osama bin Laden, telling them and the rest of the troops on the base "job well done.""
Watch Obama's full speech at Fort Campbell HERE.

The Hunt: A Different Sort of Search Requires a New Set of Tactics from the Washington Post
A long-form article/small book on the hunt for bin Laden.
"The bomb was pushed out of the back of a C-130 transport plane. It struck with such force that it vaporized men deep inside caves. The devastation spread across an area as big as five football fields, killing numerous al-Qaeda fighters - including, Berntsen believed, bin Laden. It was three months after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and Berntsen thought, "I've got him now.""

The Real Housewife of Abbottabad: What bin Laden's Spouse Knows from Time Magazine
""To me, it's astonishing that she came back to join him [in Pakistan]," said the source with former ties to al-Qaeda. "None of the other fighters brought back their wives.""

Does Osama bin Laden's Death Make Barack Obama Invincible? (Roger Simon) from Politico
"It’s the oldest truism in politics: You can’t beat something with nothing. For 2012, the Democrats have something: Barack Obama. The Republicans, so far, have nothing."

The Long Road Home from the Economist [of London]
"How Osama bin Laden’s death, and life, have changed America."

Is the Asian Century a Dream or Reality? (Haruhiko Kuroda) from the Jakarta Post [of Indonesia in English]
"An Asia producing over half of global GDP? Three billion Asians considered part of the “rich world” by 2050? A dream… or plausible reality? It could happen if the region’s economy keeps growing at its current rate and if new Asian generations grab the baton and run with it. That baton, however, could be a very slippery one. There are several daunting multigenerational challenges and risks that must be overcome along the way."

Freedom From Fear (James Traub) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Now that he's accomplished the central aim of George W. Bush's foreign policy, Barack Obama can finally get started on his own."

Will Obama's Most Bush-like Moment Free the True Obama? (David Rothkopf) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The bin Laden mission contains all these elements which is why, though the post-bin Laden world is in most important ways identical the world on the day before his death, this moment will seem a watershed for so many people."

Life After Death (Ronald Brownstein) from National Journal
"How bin Laden’s killing could create new, if fragile, opportunities for Obama."

China: The Most Surprising Demographic Crisis from the Economist [of London]
"A new census raises questions about the future of China’s one-child policy. ... The data imply that the total fertility rate, which is the number of children a woman of child-bearing age can expect to have, on average, during her lifetime, may now be just 1.4, far below the “replacement rate” of 2.1, which eventually leads to the population stabilising. Slower growth is matched by a dramatic ageing of the population."

China's Growing Interests in Siberia from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"There are just 6 million Russians left on the Siberian side of the border with China. Ninety million Chinese, backed by a voracious economy, live on the other side. China's influence in Russia's far east is growing rapidly and Siberia has become the raw material supplier to Beijing's economic miracle."
The commercial ties are one thing.  However, there is talk at the highest levels in China of a more aquisitive nature when it comes to the long-term future of Siberia.  Translation: annexation.  The emerging Chinese attitude (in some circles) is "Since the Russians don't seem to be using it, once we're powerful enough, we will simply take it.

Greece Considers Exit from Euro Zone from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"The debt crisis in Greece has taken on a dramatic new twist. Sources with information about the government's actions have informed SPIEGEL ONLINE that Athens is considering withdrawing from the euro zone. The common currency area's finance ministers and representatives of the European Commission are holding a secret crisis meeting in Luxembourg on Friday."
As the article lays out, Greece withdrawing from the Euro Zone would send shock waves through the global economy (Europe especially).  NOT GOOD.

Hillary Clinton: Woman of the World (Jonathan Alter) from Vanity Fair
"In her ninth year as America’s most admired woman, Hillary Clinton is dealing with radical change across the globe, as well as trying to transform U.S. diplomacy on the nuts-and-coffee level. But despite the secretary of state’s punishing pace—half a million miles in her Boeing 757—and the complex relationship between her and President Obama, Clinton seems clear about what she can (and can’t) accomplish, and, as Jonathan Alter reports, her friends are clear about something else: Madam Secretary is in her element."

Strong Job Report Shows U.S. Economy Gaining Steam from the New York Times
"The United States economy added far more jobs than expected in April, but with more than 13 million people still out of work, analysts cautioned that it was too early to say whether the momentum could be sustained for a full recovery in the labor market."

Medicare Fight Exposes House GOP’s Internal Rifts from Politico
"The House Republican confusion over the party’s Medicare stance Thursday underscores two worries for the GOP — an often insecure, rivalrous leadership and a very bright Budget Committee chairman given to jumping ahead of his troops."
"Very bright"? We'll see.

The Budget Battles on Which His Reelection Depends (Michael Tomasky) from the New York Review of Books
"Washington is awash in numbers of various kinds, but here are two, both from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a liberal policy analysis group whose work is respected across ideological lines, that seem especially relevant. I have not seen them paired together, but when they are, they describe for me better than any other numbers why we’re in the fix we’re in, what needs to be done—and why the budget battles coming this fall and next year will determine not only whether Barack Obama can get himself reelected but whether the American welfare state that was built in the twentieth century will survive."
I have to say that, generally, I like Michael Tomasky.  But, there has been lots of talk about what will determine whether Obama gets re-elected next year: the budget deal, the economy, gas prices, etc.  Increasingly, however, I think some of the standard memes surrounding reelection MAY not apply this time around.  I think most voters are resigned that *any elected official* is going to do anything about the economy or jobs -- and that the GOP is disproportiantely to blame for our economic condition.  So why vote for them?  Moreover, I'm increasingly coming to the conclusion that what will determine next year's results will be who the GOP nominates.  Given what showed up at the debates last night, Obama has little to fear -- and I DON'T think the standard-issue indicators (baring castrophe) will create the space for any of them to win. The more serious contenders [Romney, Daniels, and, in my book anyway, Huntsman] have a chance -- but they will need to have circumstances completely go their way.



John Yoo, Still a War Criminal (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
"The war criminal Dick Cheney presided over the worst lapse in national security since Pearl Harbor, resulting in the deaths of more than 3,000 people. This rank incompetent failed to get bin Laden at Tora Bora, and then dragged the US on false pretenses into a war in Iraq, empowering Iran's dictatorship, and killing another 5,000 more Americans on a wild goose chase. ... On the other hand, the man who abolished torture as soon as he took office, Barack Obama, captured and killed Osama
bin Laden, and captured a massive trove of intelligence, more than two years later. No Americans died in the operation. What on earth are we debating? How have these delusional maniacs managed to even get us onto this turf? Because they have to."

The GOP’s Message Challenge (Michael Gerson) from the Washington Post
"New Hampshire exemplifies the Republican message challenge on the economy. The rise of the Tea Party has transformed the state’s Republican Party ... But with no Democratic contest this time around, independents will vote in the Republican primary in large numbers. Candidates must motivate an impatient base without alienating centrists — not a bad description of their national task."

The First GOP Debate (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
"I'm sorry to say I couldn't handle it, with gauze jammed in my mouth and Vicodin addling my brain. (On the other hand, perhaps those were the ideal conditions for viewing.) But here are some reactions."