News Nuggets 670

 See the Up-Front Pet Nugget!

UP-FRONT PET NUGGET!!
Dying Man's Final Wish to be Reunited With Dog from KCRG-TV [from Cedar Rapids IA]
I reposted this story from yesterday -- it's very touching.  See the still photos that go with the video HERE.
"The dog Yurt used to live with a homeless Cedar Rapids man, 57-year-old Kevin McClain, in his car. But a month ago he became ill with lung cancer. ... From the day Yurt and Kevin were separated, he asked to see her. It was his dying wish."

Avoiding a Summer of Blood (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
President Obama is embracing the logic of a political settlement for Afghanistan with his speech Wednesday night. With Osama bin Laden dead, Obama can claim that America's core mission of combating al-Qaeda is succeeding. He can bring some troops home, and also step up diplomatic negotiations with the Taliban to reach a broad peace deal by 2014."

Benghazi on the Hill: Why Libya is Still Worth Fighting For (Marc Lynch) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Beyond the political jockeying, however, the sudden burst of attention to Libya should be an opportunity for the public to take a fresh look at what is actually happening in Libya. This is a good time to realize that the war in Libya was very much worth fighting and that it is moving in a positive direction."

Broadcasting to Libya in Berber from Al Jazeera English
"Berber culture and language revived in Libya after decades of neglect and mistrust under Gaddafi."

Ahmadinejad vs. The Ayatollah (Abbas Milani) from the National Interest
"A battle royal between the president and the supreme leader has engulfed Tehran. The result? Khamenei and his allies are methodically and ruthlessly establishing the planet’s most unabashed theocratic despotism."

Pakistan's Risky China Card (Kevin Rafferty) from the Japan Times [in English]
"Scared Pakistani political leaders are drawing the wrong conclusions. The enemies of Pakistan are not the Americans — nor India — but terrorists operating in the name of Islamic fundamentalism, plus the politicians themselves in failing to solve urgent domestic economic and social problems. But Pakistan is playing the China card, with potentially perilous consequences for the whole of Asia."

New Delhi's Abbottabad Mission (Bruce Riedel) from the National Interest
"Obama changed the rules of the game. India may want the next turn at bat."

Is the 'China Model' Failing? (Max Fisher) from the Atlantic
"The country's economic growth, long thought to ensure Communist Party rule, has done little to curb the protests and violence that have erupted across the country in recent weeks"

PIMCO Founder To Deficit-Obsessed Congress: Get Back To Reality from Talking Points Memo
"In a prospectus for clients, Bill Gross, a co-founder of investment management giant PIMCO, says members' of Congress incessant focus on deficit -- and in particular, the manner in which they obsess about deficits -- is foolhardy, and a recipe for disaster. What the country needs, Gross said, is real stimulus now, and a measured return toward fiscal balance in the years ahead."

Air Quality Concerns Threaten Natural Gas' Image from NPR's All Things Considered
"Gas production already has caused unhealthy air in Wyoming's Sublette County and Utah's Uintah Basin. And experts project that booming shale gas developments like Haynesville, that stretches through Texas and Louisiana, and Marcellus, which lies beneath several Mid-Atlantic states, will start contributing to unhealthy levels of ozone or smog in coming years."

The Sullivan Persuasion (Hendrik Hertzberg) from the New Yorker
"... over the past decade—especially since he manfully renounced his initial support of the Iraq war— Andrew Sullivan has become one of the more merciless critics of the increasingly unhinged “movement” conservatism of his adopted country."

The Beginning of the End for the Tea Party? (Daniel W. Drezner) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Hey, remember a few months ago, when I wrote that, "the Tea Party's influence on American foreign policy has peaked and will be on the downswing for quite some time."?  How has time treated that statement? "

It's Grover Time: Huntsman Rejects No-Tax Pledge, Pawlenty Waivers (Howard Fineman) from the Huffington Post
"Most Republican presidential contenders have signed since Norquist started demanding that they do so back in 1988. But there are signs that his grip on the Party may be weakening a bit, which presents an opening for Huntsman and a dilemma for Tim Pawlenty."

Jon Huntsman’s First Step Toward Oblivion (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post
"I wish Huntsman luck in this noble pursuit, but the high road almost always leads to political oblivion. For Huntsman to maintain his course all the way to the Republican presidential nomination would turn politics on its head. More likely, he will join other decent men — Richard Lugar, Orrin Hatch — whose presidential campaigns were quickly forgotten."
For Obama's sake, I hope he is right.  I'm not betting on it though.

Newt Gingrich 2012 Campaign Finance Team Quits from the Associated Press via the Huffington Post
"The top fundraisers for Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign have abandoned his struggling bid amid anemic fundraising and heavy spending"
Gringrich's campaign is devolving into an epic joke.  Who thought this guy should be president?!

First lady Michelle Obama visits ex-president Nelson Mandela in South Africa from the Washington Post
"First lady Michelle Obama has said she hopes to inspire young adults during her visit this week to South Africa and Botswana, but she seemed inspired herself after a brief visit Tuesday with former South African president Nelson Mandela."

RECENT RUSSIAN HISTORY NUGGET!!
Meltdown from Foreign Policy Magazine
"For the first time, Boris Yeltsin's right-hand man tells the inside story of the coup that killed glasnost -- and changed the world."