UP-FRONT IN-CASE-YOU-MISSED-IT POLITICS NUGGET!!
Looking for Love in All the Right Places (James Wolcott) from Vanity Fair
I had posted this the other day -- and it is worth a second post in case you missed it. It's a HILARIOUS look at the clown parade that makes up the GOP presidential field right now!
"Persistent nuisance Newt Gingrich and dirigible tycoon Donald Trump have been flirting with running, acting as if they’re doing us a favor by bellying up to the beauty pageant, but their puffy egos are a prophylactic. They don’t fluff the love of the crowd, because no one could possibly love them more than they love themselves, and without the need to get love, how does one give love? This is a question that haunts many a Barry Manilow song."Bibi and Barack (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"In such a moment, President Obama has to show the same decisiveness he showed in tracking down Osama bin Laden. A useful analogy for this moment comes from climate science, where a popular motto says: Given how much climate change is already baked into our future, the best we can do now is manage the unavoidable and avoid the unmanageable."
Bin Laden Raiders Knew Mission A One-Shot Deal from the Associated Press via Huffington Post
"Those who planned the secret mission to get Osama bin Laden in Pakistan knew it was a one-shot deal, and it nearly went terribly wrong. The U.S. deliberately hid the operation from Pakistan, and predicted that national outrage over the breach of Pakistani sovereignty would make it impossible to try again if the raid on bin Laden's suspected redoubt came up dry. Once the raiders reached their target, things started to go awry almost immediately, officials briefed on the operation said."
Post-bin Laden: Pakistan’s Hour of Choice (Sadanand Dhume) from YaleGlobal
"Pressured by the US and bloodied by terrorists, Pakistan must choose its destiny."
How the Bin Laden Raid Went Very Wrong Before It Went Right (Uri Friedman) from the Atlantic
"New details about the U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, unearthed today by the Associated Press, reveal just how badly the much-celebrated mission started out."
With bin Laden's Killing, the Americans have Denied Germans a 'Happy Ending' (Editorial) from Die Welt [of Germany in English]
""He was critical of Israel, the United States, capitalism and globalization - just like us. … he also strongly opposed the war in Afghanistan and for years demanded the withdrawal of Western forces. … Why couldn't we have integrated Osama into society? True, he used to be a hothead, he attacked a few American cities, okay, but Joschka Fischer once beat up a few policemen, yet later became one of Germany’s favorite politicians. … You have denied us of a good man, you uncultured Mickey Mouse!""
Al Qaeda Facilitators Operate Openly in Pakistan from the Express Tribune [of Pakistan in English]
"As US investigators scour the material found at Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad residence, groups that facilitated al Qaeda after 9/11 operate openly in Pakistan. Key among these are Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Tablighi Jamaat. A narrative of complicity emerges in the files of Guantanamo Bay detainees released by WikiLeaks, which also implicates the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)."
Syrians Plan National Strike as EU, US Put More Pressure on Assad Regime from Al Arabia [of Saudi Arabia in English]
"In a new tactic designed to highlight the nonviolent rebellion, pro-democracy Syrian protesters called for a one-day nationwide general strike on Wednesday, while Western powers plan for tighter measures against the Syrian regime."
Oooh! A GENERAL STRIKE! Now you're talking. Looks like the rebels in Syria are going to go with some serious 'old school' protesting! If they pull it off, this could be Syria's contribution to the 'Arab Spring' regional protest movement.
US Reduces Military Presence in Pakistan from the Express Tribune [of Pakistan in English]
"The US has reduced its military presence in Pakistan after Pakistan’s military establishment decided “there is no need for unnecessary presence of its troops,” according to a senior military official."
This RELATED story:
US Flexes Muscle in the Black Sea (M K Bhadrakumar) from the Asia Times [of Hong Kong in English]
"The US had requested to use Romania's two military infrastructures as transit place for the carriage of troops and military hardware to and from Iraq and Afghanistan to Europe. ... The emerging cooperation goes far beyond logistical support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Libyan Oil Minister Defects to Tunisia from the New York Times
"The chief of Libya’s oil ministry fled to Tunisia over the weekend, the Tunisian interior ministry said Tuesday, in a high-level defection that appeared to further isolate the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi."
'Mad Dog' in The Hague? (James Goldston) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"It might seem quixotic for the International Criminal Court to indict Libya's unrepentant leader, Muammar al-Qaddafi. But the call for justice can have a pragmatic effect too."
One thing it does is sends a clear shot across the bow to Assad in Syria and others looking to shoot their way to victory in the 'Arab Spring' revolts.
Bashar al-Assad’s Endgame: Can a Bloodbath be Avoided? (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"Syria’s Bashar al-Assad is becoming increasingly isolated and vulnerable as major nations conclude that his regime cannot survive. The newly urgent question is how to negotiate a transition arrangement that will avert a bloodbath there between Assad’s ruling Alawite sect and the Sunni majority."
China's Ghost Cities: Could The Real Estate Bubble Burst? (VIDEO) from the Huffington Post
"Kangbashi, a city in Inner Mongolia, is the subject of Bloomberg's first video installment on these underpopulated, but investment-heavy "ghost cities." And Kangbashi is just one city in the government's larger plan to create rough"
Assessing New U.S. Cyber-strategy: Open, Interoperable, Secure, and Reliable (Adam Segal) from the Council on Foreign Relations
"The strategy has a very heavy deterrence component, clearly stating that the United States “will respond to hostile acts in cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country.” All means—diplomatic, informational, military, and economic—are on the table."
Iraq's North Offers Educational Oasis from the Wall Street Journal
"Universities Proliferate in Kurdish Region as Students Seek Refuge From Violence in Baghdad and Other Areas."
Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Suicide Watch: Report from the Daily Beast
"The stakes are rising: at a meeting of European finance ministers today, the first calls for scandalized IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn to resign were issued. He's now on suicide watch at Rikers Island."
Andrew Sullivan has an interesting commentary HERE on the elites in France and elsewhere who have rushed to defend DSK.
DSK: Powerful and Primitive (Maureen Dowd) from the New York Times
"Oh, she wanted it. She wanted it bad. That’s what every hard-working, God-fearing, young widow who breaks her back doing menial labor at a Times Square hotel to support her teenage daughter, justify her immigration status and take advantage of the opportunities in America wants — a crazed, rutting, wrinkly old satyr charging naked out of a bathroom, lunging at her and dragging her around the room, caveman-style. Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s reputation as a thrice-married French seducer loses something in the translation."
Catholic Church Report Cites Social Tumult in Priest Scandals from the New York Times
"...abuse occurred because priests who were poorly prepared and monitored, and were under stress, landed in the midst of the social and sexual turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s. Known incidents of sexual abuse of minors by priests rose sharply during those decades, the report found, and the problem grew worse when the church’s hierarchy responded by showing more care for the perpetrators than the victims."
Tens of Thousands Rally in Wisconsin to Declare: 'This Fight is NOT Over!' (John Nichols) from the Nation
"Protest fatigue? Not in Wisconsin. Three months after Governor Scott Walker proposed to strip state, county and municipal employees and public-school teachers of their collective bargaining rights, the governor's agenda remains stymied. Legal challenges,moves to recall Republican legislators who have sided with the governor and the fear on the part of legislative leaders of mass protests have prevented implementation.
Huntsman: More or Less Than Meets the Eye? (Stuart Rothenberg) from Roll Call
"When it comes to Jon Huntsman’s impending presidential run, it isn’t yet clear whether the former Utah governor is a political powerhouse about to shake up the GOP race or a Potemkin village candidate who isn’t as real as he looks."
Gingrich to House GOP: Drop Dead from the Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal
"The Republican Presidential campaign is off to a slow start, but judging by the last week not slow enough. First Mitt Romney defends his ObamaCare prototype in Massachusetts, and now Newt Gingrich has decided to run against House Republicans on Medicare. They must be loving this at the White House."
Newt Gingrich's Flame-Out Says As Much About Campaigns As About The Former Speaker (Sam Stein) from the Huffington Post
"The very sharp and largely negative reaction to Newt Gingrich's first days on the presidential campaign trail say as much about the requirements of modern campaigning as they do about the former House speaker's politics."
Wow -- you could count the life of Gingrich's campaign in ... hours, it crashed and burned so fast!
The Biggest Political Lesson of the Trump "Campaign" (Alex Pareene) from Salon
"The NBC star's withdrawal from the 2012 race provides a blueprint for beating every single other Republican"
OWL AND PUSSY CAT VIDEO NUGGET!!
What an amazing pair! Check out the video! My cat, Rocky, wanted to leap through the computer screen when he saw it!
HIGHER ED NUGGET [of a sort]!!
Faulty Towers: The Crisis in Higher Education (William Deresiewicz) from the Nation
"A few years ago, when I was still teaching at Yale, I was approached by a student who was interested in going to graduate school. She had her eye on Columbia; did I know someone there she could talk with? I did, an old professor of mine. But when I wrote to arrange the introduction, he refused to even meet with her. “I won’t talk to students about graduate school anymore,” he explained. “Going to grad school’s a suicide mission." The policy may be extreme, but the feeling is universal. Most professors I know are willing to talk with students about pursuing a PhD, but their advice comes down to three words: don’t do it."
GUN CONTROL AUTHOR NUGGET!!
The NRA vs. One Historian: Fire at Will (Jon Wiener) from the Nation
"The attack against Arming America actually started well before its publication two years ago. ... From such beginnings, the effort to discredit Bellesiles has spread beyond the NRA and gun websites... the institution that gave Bellesiles the Bancroft Prize, has been urged to retract it; in May the National Endowment for the Humanities had its name removed from a $30,000 fellowship Bellesiles was completing in Chicago under the aegis of the Newberry Library; Bellesiles himself has been the target of hate mail and death threats; and finally, the campaign has focused on pressuring Emory University in Atlanta, where he teaches, to fire him."
I WONDERED what happened with this historian! I remember when the controversy first appeared -- but never heard the end of it. What an INCREDIBLE story!
HAPPINESS NUGGET!!
A New Gauge to See What’s Beyond Happiness from the New York Times
"As president of the American Pyschological Association in the late 1990s, he criticized his colleagues for focusing relentlessly on mental illness and other problems. He prodded them to study life’s joys, and wrote a best seller in 2002 titled “Authentic Happiness.”"
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