Syria Pulls Armed Forces Back From Some Areas from the New York Times
"The Syrian military and the government’s security forces have largely withdrawn from one of the country’s largest cities as well as other areas, residents and activists said Wednesday, leaving territory to protesters whose demonstrations have grown larger and whose chants have taunted a leadership that once inspired deep fear."
2011 is Turning Out to be a Bad Year for Very Bad Men (David Rothkopf) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The Axis of Evil may never be the same. A changing of the guard is looming for the James Bond villains of the world, and the bedtime stories with which we scare our children are going to have to go searching for new bogeymen."
Where the Axe Will Fall in Greece from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"The Greek government on Wednesday voted to approve highly divisive austerity measures that have led tens of thousands of people to take part in heated street protests this week. With its radical savings program, the government in Athens hopes to save close to 80 billion euros. SPIEGEL ONLINE provides an overview of the plans."
Hacker Attack Cripples al-Qaida Web Communications from NBC News
"Computer hackers shut down al-Qaida's ability to communicate its messages to the world through the Internet, interrupting the group's flow of videos and communiqués, according to a terrorism expert. "Al-Qaida's online communications have been temporarily crippled, and it does not have a single trusted distribution channel available on the Internet," said Evan Kohlmann, of Flashpoint Global Partners, which monitors the group's communications. "
Nuked: An FP Special Roundtable on Japan’s Post-Tsunami Future from Foreign Policy Magazine
"After centuries of earthquakes, tsunamis, war, and a long list of other disasters, natural and unnatural, the Japanese people are accustomed to building back stronger -- but how do they recover from such a devastating blow, and what will that new future look like? FP's latest ebook, Tsunami: Japan's Post-Fukushima Future, the in-depth look at the quake's aftermath, assembles an exclusive collection of the top writers and scholars working in Japan today to answer these questions."
Rhode Island Lawmakers Approve Civil Unions from the New York Times
"Less than a week after same-sex marriage was legalized in New York, the Rhode Island State Senate on Wednesday evening approved a bill allowing not marriage, but civil unions for gay couples, despite fierce opposition from gay rights advocates who called the legislation discriminatory."
The Health Care Mandate’s Big Win in the Sixth Circuit (Andrew Koppelman) from the New Republic
"On Wednesday, the Obama Administration won its first Court of Appeals battle over the constitutionality of the health care mandate. ... The big news is Sutton’s vote to uphold the law. This is the first time in this protracted battle that voting on the constitutionality of health care did not follow party lines."
The NY Times has related commentary on this decision HERE.
Hot Under the Collar in the Shale Gas Boom (Steve LeVine) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Is there an exaggerated quality to the extraordinary projections and tens of billions of dollars pouring into shale gas, the newly available fuel that has shaken up markets and geopolitics? The answer is yes -- estimates for global shale gas reserves and future production are all but certainly over the top; likewise, the world's major energy companies -- ExxonMobil, Shell, Total, Sinopec, Statoil, and so on -- have probably committed excessive sums to this new source of energy."
Why the Blame Game Matters for Obama (Steve Benen) from Washington Monthly
"Fifty percent of voters said they had favorable impressions of him, while 44 percent didn’t, and by 2-1 Americans said that today’s economic conditions mostly were something the president inherited rather than the result of his own policies."
What the Media Gets Wrong About Huntsman (Michael Medved) from the Daily Beast
"Pundits won't stop talking about Jon Huntsman's remarkable "civility”—and predicting his niceness will doom his campaign. But Michael Medved says Hunstman's biggest Achilles’ heel has nothing to do with demeanor."
WILD BIRD NUGGET!!
Crows' Excellent Memory Helps Them Tell Human Friend from Foe from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"They may not crow about it, but if you get on the wrong side of them, they’re not going to forget it in a hurry. Crows have an excellent memory for human faces, a study has revealed."
RENAISSANCE PAINTER NUGGET!!
New Leonardo Da Vinci Painting To Be Made Public (PHOTO) from Huffington Post
"A lost work by Leonardo da Vinci has been found in a private American collection. The painting " Salvator Mundi," (below) which shows Christ raising his hand in blessing, will be unveiled a the National Gallery in London later this year."
UNDERWATER TREASURE NUGGET!!
'Biggest-ever' Haul of Ming Dynasty Pottery Found in Shipwreck... and it's Worth £43 Million from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Divers have discovered the 'biggest-ever' haul of Ming Dynasty pottery in a shipwreck, worth an incredible £43million. The artefacts, which date from around 1580, have been found on the ocean floor 93 miles off the Indonesian coast and 600ft below the waves."
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