News Nuggets 702

The "Wall of Death" stunt at a fair in Srinagar, India.  From National Geographic.

US Shines at ASEAN Forum (Luke Hunt) from The Diplomat
"With trade dominating Southeast Asian nations’ agendas, it’s left to the US to save the organisation’s moral bacon, says Luke Hunt."

In 3 Countries, Challenging the Vatican on Female Priests (Laurie Goldstein) from the New York Times
"While these disparate acts hardly amount to a clerical uprising and are unlikely to result in change, church scholars note that for the first time in years, groups of priests in several countries are standing with those who are challenging the church to rethink the all-male celibate priesthood."

Poll: Anti-Muslim Sentiment Grew After Bin Laden Death from the Huffington Post
"Many Muslim Americans had hoped that the death of Osama bin Laden would improve their image among other Americans, but according to a new survey, just the opposite has happened."

The 14th Amendment, the Debt Ceiling and a Way Out (Adam Liptak) from the New York Times
"A few days ago, former President Bill Clinton identified a constitutional escape hatch should President Obama and Congress fail to come to terms on a deficit reduction plan before the government hits its borrowing ceiling. He pointed to an obscure provision in the 14th Amendment, saying he would unilaterally invoke it “without hesitation” to raise the debt ceiling “and force the courts to stop me.”"

Boehner's Market Signals? Did August 2nd Just Become Tomorrow? (Steve Clemons) from the Atlantic
"Reports have emerged that House Speaker Boehner told his caucus that their team needs to "provide a positive signal on a plan to avert a U.S. default by tomorrow."  That's right, by the time markets in Asia open tomorrow."

Republicans, Zealots and Our Security (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times
"IF China or Iran threatened our national credit rating and tried to drive up our interest rates, or if they sought to damage our education system, we would erupt in outrage."

Durbin to GOP: 'You Break It, You Own It’ (Alicia M. Cohn) from The Hill
"The second most powerful Democrat in the Senate warned Republicans Sunday that they are toying with a fragile economy and would take the blame for any fallout from a debt default."
I like this line of argument.

In Cantor’s District, Republicans Spread the Blame Around from the Washington Post
"A hundred miles south of the bickering in the nation’s capital, Republicans in the district of one of the chief negotiators, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R), delivered a mixed and sometimes contradictory picture on Saturday of what they hope will emerge from the talks."

With Response, Obama Makes Case to Left and Independents (Aamer Madhani) from the National Journal
"Substantively, the collapse of debt talks may have marked the biggest disappointment of his presidency. But the president deftly managed to play to both his liberal base and independent voters at the same time. Obama showed the left he’s willing to fight, while forcefully making a pitch to independents—the folks that will ultimately decide whether or not he serves a second term—that he’s the adult in the room that is a deeply-divided Washington."

11 Days Until Disaster, Three Options to Prevent It (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"...you can’t get a deal unless you can get the votes. And what’s been clear for some time is Speaker John Boehner cannot get the votes."

News of the Betrayed from the Sydney Morning Herald [of Australia]
"The sheer number of phone-hacking victims means Rupert Murdoch will be paying for years to come. Robert Wainwright reports from London."

Tipping Points: How the News Corp. Scandal Blossomed (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"It was Ed Miliband, the British Labor Party leader, who posed the haunting question in Wednesday’s parliamentary debate about the phone-hacking scandal: “Why didn’t more of us speak out about this earlier?”"

Why Obama Will Win in 2012 (Jamelle Bouie) from the American Prospect
"It might be “the economy, stupid,” but radicalism on the right will doom Republicans’ chances at the presidency."

Michele Bachmann Launches Scathing Attack on Tim Pawlenty from Politico
"Michele Bachmann delivers a harsh counterattack on her former home-state governor, hitting back at his charge that she lacks the experience to be president and blaming Tim Pawlenty for a "multi-billion-dollar budget mess" back home:"