News Nuggets 645

 A pretty "edgy" new form of camping.  See the story at the Daily Mail of the UK.

Struggling to Lead our Hectic World (Philip Stephens) from the Financial Times [of the UK]
"The other day I was chided by a senior US official for writing that Barack Obama had been slow to respond to the uprisings. Measured against Washington’s response to, say, the fall of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, Mr Obama had acted at the speed of light. This is true enough. But the world of the mid-1980s turned in slow motion."

Don't Bank on the Eclipse of the West (Mary Dejevsky) from the Independent [of the UK]
"Obama's thesis - that social progress is not just measured in GDP - can't just be dismissed as simplistic American cheerleading."

The Multipolar Middle East (Paul Pillar) from the National Interest
"The GCC aka The Arab Monarch's Club. Soon to be on the wrong side of history."

Saudi Arabia Scrambles to Limit Region’s Upheaval from the New York Times
"Saudi Arabia is flexing its financial and diplomatic might across the Middle East in a wide-ranging bid to contain the tide of change, shield other monarchies from popular discontent and avert the overthrow of any more leaders struggling to calm turbulent nations."

Hands Off the Wheel: The Most Ridiculous Saudi Arguments Against Women Drivers (Cameron Abadi) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Saudi Arabia has largely been immune to the uprisings and revolutions sweeping the region: minor rumblings by the Shiite minority in the Eastern Province were quickly quieted, and the government handed out billions of dollars to citizens in a preemptive measure to quell any would-be dissent. But a campaign by Saudi women claiming the right to drive -- the conservative gulf monarchy is the only country in the world that forbids women to operate automobiles -- threatens to shake-up the status quo."

Shale Boom in Texas Could Increase U.S. Oil Output But... from the New York Times
"Advocates of pulling oil from packed rock say it could raise the nation’s oil output by 25 percent, but evidence is mounting that the extraction technique threatens water supplies."

Meet the New Optimists (Ellis Cose) from Newsweek
"Despite all the problems facing the U.S. these days, one group is surprisingly upbeat: African-Americans."

If I Take Down Fox, Is All Forgiven? A Profile of David Brock (Jason Zengerle) from New York Magazine
"David Brock has spent the last decade apologizing to liberals for his role in creating the vast right-wing conspiracy. Now he’s trying something more ambitious and hoping it gains him the respect he craves from the White House."

Endangered Ryan-os (Charles Blow) from the New York Times
"Aside from the rich, the electorate is hurting — a pulsing mass of tender nerves, hypersensitive to things that portend pain, reflexively reacting to the thump of even the softest mallet. Needless to say, this is not the time for sledgehammer solutions. Yet that’s exactly what Paul Ryan offered."

NY's 26th is Not Alone from Democracy Corps
"Disapproval of the Republicans in the House of Representatives has surged from 46 percent in February to 55 percent in April to a striking 59 percent now.  Disapproval outnumbers approval two-to-one; intense disapproval by three-to-one."

Sarah Palin's Calling the Shots for the 2012 GOP Field (Mark McKinnon) from the Daily Beast
If the 2012 Republican field may be a circus, Sarah Palin is unquestionably its ringmaster, kicking off a bus tour next week that’s much more than a publicity stunt. But Mark McKinnon says she’s about to hit an immovable object."

In Northeast, Sarah Palin Goes Behind Enemy Lines from Politico
"“There’s no doubt in my mind the northeast is the least favorable area of the country to Sarah Palin,” said Terry Madonna, a longtime Pennsylvania pollster and analyst who directs the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College. “But she has to show she can broaden her appeal. She can’t just go to where she’s already won voters.”"

Rick Perry: The Coyote Candidate (Gail Collins) from the New York Times
"The G.O.P. is desperately seeking someone who can save the party from the fate of nominating Mitt Romney. But every time a non-Mitt throws his hat in the ring, the hat explodes."

Spotlight Takes Toll on First Lady's Staff from Politico
"The turnover, greater than under recent first ladies, underscores the pressure and high expectations of working in an operation known for its polish and discipline. A crucial political asset to her husband and his administration, Michelle Obama has enjoyed consistently high job approval ratings because of charm, activism — and by avoiding mistakes and controversy."

US CIVIL WAR - MEMORIAL DAY NUGGET!
Green-Wood Cemetery Staff ID More Than 4,000 Civil War Graves from the Huffington Post
"Today, the 478-acre expanse of greenery and statuary covering the cemetery's rolling hills is believed to be the final resting place of about 8,000 Civil War veterans. A team of volunteers and Green-Wood staff has spent nearly a decade trying to identify all those graves. When the project began in September 2002, cemetery officials figured they had, at most, 500 veterans of the nation's bloodiest war buried here."
What an inspiring effort!

COLONIAL HISTORY NUGGET!!
The Very Violent Road to America: A Review of Before the Revolution: America’s Ancient Pasts by Daniel K. Richter (J.H. Elliott) from the New York Review of Books
"Over the last fifty years the writing of North American colonial history has undergone a great transformation.  ... Over the past few decades all three pillars supporting the structure of colonial history have come to look increasingly insecure, partly as a consequence of changes in the discipline of history, but also because of the enormous political, social, and cultural changes that have transformed the world itself."