Polar bears at the new exhibit at the San Diego Zoo. From the Daily Mail of the UK.
An Arab Spring in Their Step from the Wall Street Journal
"For all the worries about the region's turmoil, there is also cause for hope in the Middle East."
Obama: Commander in Chief (Andrew Romano and Daniel Klaidman) from Newsweek
"The daring bin Laden raid is being billed as the new Obama. The truth is, he's been itching to pull this trigger all along."
Obama Re-focuses on War in Libya from USA Today
"President Obama is re-focusing U.S. efforts in Libya, amid reports that Moammar Gadhafi is struggling."
NATO Rattles Gadhafi's Home Base from the Wall Street Journal
"The assault accompanied military and diplomatic advances by rebels in their battle to end the colonel's four decades of rule. On Wednesday, rebel forces captured the airport and large sectors of territory around Misrata, a city in western Libya that has been encircled by government troops, according to residents and rebel officials."
Muammar Gaddafi is Hoping that a 'Dignified' Exit Will Halt Air Strikes from the Guardian [of the UK]
"From his hiding place in Tripoli, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is desperately trying to pave a way for an exit from public life."
I think Gaddafi HAD his chance to negotiate something a month ago. I suspect not anymore. I think Obama is looking to bring the Libyan conflict (at least this phase of it) to a close -- and Gaddafi's mendacity hasn't fooled anyone. Instead, I think it has left the US and its NATO allies convinced that Gaddafi can't be relied on to do anything he might agree to. Thus ... yeah, he's going to exit public life ... in a pine box. If it goes that way, there is a part of me that very much hopes that the Libyans themselves do the deed. While it may play well in some high-testosterone quarters in the US, I think it would behoove Obama in the long run not to be the direct author of Gaddafi's death.
Captive Soldiers Tell of Discord in Libyan Army from the New York Times
"In interviews this week in a rebel-run detention center where more than 100 prisoners from the Libyan military are housed, the prisoners consistently described hardships in the field and officers who deceived or failed them. They spoke bitterly of their lot."
Iran's Leadership Struggle Reveals Secular-Islamist Split from World Politics Review
"At the heart of the widening leadership dispute in Iran is President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's increasing independence from the system of "guardianship of the (religious) jurist," on which Iran's Shiite theocracy is based."
Ahmadinejad Sacks Government Ministers from Al Jazeera English
"Iranian president shake up government by also abolishing three departments, including the country's oil ministry."
No doubt the latest twist in Amhamedinejad's battle with the Khomenei.
'I am a Man' (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"Watching the Arab uprisings these days leaves me with a smile on my face and a pit in my stomach. The smile comes from witnessing a whole swath of humanity losing its fear and regaining its dignity. The pit comes from a rising worry that the Arab Spring may have been both inevitable and too late. If you are not feeling both these impulses, you’re not paying attention."
Pakistan City Nervous About U.S. Hunt for Taliban Chief Omar from Reuters via RealClearWorld
"Pakistan rejects assertions that Omar is in Pakistan, or even that the so-called Quetta shura exists. But such denials ring hollow after the al Qaeda leader was found in the country after years of similar protestations. People in Quetta are nervous and some are scornful of both sides in the fight against Islamist militancy."
Sulks and Self-delusion (Irfan Husain) from The Dawn [of Pakistan in English]
"While conspiracy theories and accusations are being hurled back and forth, nobody`s asking: what next? This confusion is more pronounced in Pakistan where a humiliated high command is issuing angry statements to little purpose. ... This sulky behaviour exposes a military leadership unaccustomed to public scrutiny and criticism. ... But these words ring as hollow as the ones contained in a declaration issued by the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen`s Association..."
American Exceptionalist (Ed Kilgore) from the New Republic
"How does bin Laden affect the Republican field’s critique of Obama's foreign policy?"
Osama's Dirty Mind (Asra Q. Nomani) from the Daily Beast
"The smut in bin Laden's compound reveals the Muslim world's dirty secret: porn is rife, everyone looks at it—and the U.S. finds it in militants' hideouts all the time. "
The Arab Street Searches for George Washingtons (John Miller) from the Seattle Times
"With the Arab spring presenting many opportunities for change in Middle Eastern leadership, guest columnist John Miller reflects on how American's first president paved the way for a republic that embraced orderly leadership transitions."
A Tectonic Shift in Central Europe from Stratfor Global Intelligence via RealClearWorld
"At a Thursday meeting, the defense ministers of the Visegrad Four (V4) - a loose regional grouping of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia - decided to create a battle group. The decision is significant but expected. It's significant because it shows that the V4 states are willing to upgrade their loose alliance to the security and military level. It's expected because STRATFOR has long forecast that they would be forced to take security matters into their own hands by NATO's lack of focus on the singular issue that concerns them: Russian resurgence in the post-Soviet sphere."
Another reason we need to move towards concluding our mission in Afghanistan. What does it say about the NATO alliance if members don't feel they can rely on it in their own neighborhood?
Income Distortions Affecting Our Democracy (Mike McCabe) from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"We have reached the point in which the richest 1% of Americans have more wealth than the bottom 95% combined, a sad truth verified in 2009 by PolitiFact.com. The 400 richest Americans have a bigger net worth than half of all Americans collectively, another harrowing statistic confirmed by PolitiFact earlier this year. Such a grotesque redistribution of wealth from the many to a privileged few is inconsistent with any legitimate notion of economic justice, not to mention incompatible with democracy."
In NY, Donors to G.O.P. Are Backing Gay Marriage Push from the New York Times
"As gay rights advocates intensify their campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, the bulk of their money is coming from an unexpected source: a group of conservative financiers and wealthy donors to the Republican Party, most of whom are known for bankrolling right-leaning candidates and causes."
FILM DIRECTOR NUGGET!!
The Children of Terrence Malick from Salon
"Slide show: As the legendary director's "Tree of Life" approaches, we look at how his films have transformed cinema."
DINOSAUR NUGGET!!
Chinese 'Dinosaur City' Reshapes Understanding of Prehistoric Era from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Troves of early Cretaceous and Jurassic relics in country where palaeontology is just taking off has ignited evolutionary debate."
CHECK OUT the images of new species of dinosaurs!
AMAZING FILM NEWS NUGGET!!
Sci-Fi Film of the Century: 'Metropolis' Lives Again from Die Welt [of Germany in English]
A miraculous discovery in Buenos Aires has brought the classic German silent film Metropolis close to the way its producers originally intended before decades of brutal editing."
Great news!! Metropolis is an AMAZING film!
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