News Nuggets 685

The newly-discovered blue-tongued lizard of Australia.  From National Geographic.

Keeping Up with Mideast Changes (Barbara Slavin) from Politico
"The Obama administration took two important steps last week that demonstrated much-needed realism and nuance in the evolving U.S. relationship with political Islam."

Libyan Rebels Launch Dual Offensive from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Misrata death toll rises as rebel forces from the city and from a stronghold further west begin assault against Gaddafi troops."

Time to Wake Up, Germany (Wolfgang Ischinger) from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"China is booming, the Arab world is in tumult and the Internet is fundamentally changing the way we live -- and what is Germany doing? Instead of taking an active role in shaping the future, politicians are in standby mode. Worse yet, the German people have developed a preference for the status quo."

Building Boom in China Stirs Fears of Debt Overload from the New York Times
"This is the first in a series of articles examining China’s system of government-managed capitalism, and the potential weaknesses that could threaten the nation’s remarkable economic growth."

So What is the Obama Doctrine? (Fareed Zakaria) from the Washington Post
"In fact, the search itself is misguided. The doctrinal approach to foreign policy doesn’t make much sense anymore. Every American foreign policy “doctrine” but one was formulated during the Cold War, for a bipolar world, when American policy toward one country — the Soviet Union — dominated all U.S. strategy and was the defining aspect of global affairs."

The Defense Budget: The Army's Next Big Fight (Fred Kaplan) from Slate
"It's a fair bet that when Leon Panetta took the helm of the Pentagon last week, one of his marching orders was to find more ways to cut the defense budget, and not just around the edges. One result of this is that the Army will very likely take a whacking."

European Union Mustn't Allow China to Fill U.S. Military Void (Enriques Arias Vega) from El Semanal [of Spain in English]
"The disproportionate price of U.S. military efforts has resulted in a lower level of social welfare than citizens of a country with the greatest GDP in the world deserve, and condescending criticism from Europeans, who have lived splendidly thanks to America's sacrifice."

France, the U.S. and Strauss-Kahn (Sylvie Kauffmann) from the New York Times
"This is not just another Franco-American quarrel — Washington and Paris have wisely kept out of the Strauss-Kahn affair, which is being handled by the New York State legal system. But the media and political treatment of Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the two countries does highlight profound differences in at least four areas: justice, gender relations, transparency and money."

Knives Out Against Murdoch from the Daily Beast
"David Cameron and the British press are denouncing the News of the World as new details of the tabloid’s illegal tactics come to light. William Underhill reports on the loss of Murdoch’s clout."

Does The 14th Amendment Impact The Debt Debate? (Melissa Block and Jeffrey Rosen) from NPR's All Things Considered
"While congressional leaders and the White House play chicken with spending, taxes and what to do about the national debt, some analysts are murmuring that a dusty constitutional remnant of the Civil War may provide the president an out. Melissa Block talks with Jeffrey Rosen of the George Washington University School of Law about the possibility of using the Fourteenth Amendment to back federal deficit spending."

Bargaining and Blackmail from the Economist [of London]
"How the Republicans’ intransigence on tax increases might rebound against them."

Swing-State Voters Favor Taxing The Rich To Lower Deficit: Poll from the Huffington Post
"Republicans may find a resolution to make the rich share more of the pain in debt-reduction "rather pathetic," but new survey data suggest voters in swing states favor the idea -- strongly."

Mitt Romney Fundraising Sparks Republican Fears from Politico
"The Republican presidential fundraising reports are still coming in, but a clear winner has already emerged: Barack Obama. Whoever claims the GOP nomination is going to find it close to impossible to keep pace with the president’s fundraising juggernaut."

Rust Belt Paradox (Josh Kraushaar) from the National Journal
"Republicans struggle to recruit Senate candidates in states where Obama has lost ground."
They know the GOP shelf life expired months ago in the states.

The GOP Feedback Loop (Ed Kilgore) from the New Republic
"In a highly competitive primary field where most of the candidates are not in federal office, and all are campaigning avidly against “Washington,” they are not exerting pressure on the party and its representatives in Congress to move towards “the center,” and, in many cases, they are pushing in the opposite direction."

DOG HISTORY NUGGET!!
The Dogs (and Bears, and Camels) of War (Cate Lineberry) from the New York Times
"As Union and Confederate soldiers left the comforts of home for the grim realities of war, many brought along family pets or adopted stray or wild animals, which quickly took on semi-official roles."