News Nuggets 721

Antelope Canyon in Arizona.  From National Geographic.

Gadhafi Making Plans for Leaving Libya from NBC News
"Leader, family could be granted exile in Tunisia, US intelligence reports say."

Why Germany Might Let Europe Fall (Fareed Zakaria) from CNN
"Germany is the only country that can pay. But Germany is increasingly reluctant to do so.  What we're watching is the rise of a new, ‘normal’ Germany, which in turn will lead to the unraveling of the old, highly unnatural structure of Europe."

In Berlin, Car Burnings are a 'Precursor to Terrorism' from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"The last three nights have seen an unprecedented wave of car torchings in Berlin, but police are not sure who to arrest. Politicians on the left and right warn the attacks could lead to more dangerous forms of protest. "

New York Subpoenas Energy Companies Over Fracking (Adam Martin) from the Atlantic
"New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has subpoenaed three major energy companies over claims they made about the potential yield of oil and gas wells, widening the debate over a controversial drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking."

Polls in Three Swing States Show Obama Leading Despite Poor Approvals (David Nir) from Daily Kos
"In spite of everything—including a drop to record lows in his national job approval numbers—Barack Obama is edging Mitt Romney and keeping clear leads on the rest of the field."

Proof of Republican 'Doublethink' (Hadley Freeman) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"The Republican world view is a mash-up of Orwell's 1984 and It's a Wonderful Life – with 'doublethink' at its heart."

Memo to the GOP: Independent Voters Are Required to Win the General Election (Charlie Cook) from the National Journal
"...we have an opposing party whose center of gravity and energy levels have swung so far to one side of the ideological spectrum as to have been designed to alienate the independent and swing voters, the people who will effectively decide this presidential election. To put it more simply, this election is the Republican Party’s to lose, and yet, they may pull it off, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory."

Rick Perry’s Domino Effect (Jill Lawrence) from the Daily Beast
"Every candidate, including Barack Obama, is rethinking the 2012 presidential race after the bombastic debut of the Texas governor. Jill Lawrence on what each contender needs to do now."

Perry: King of the Know-Nothings (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"Liberals called George W. Bush a simpleton, but as Michael Tomasky argues, he was deeply informed compared with Rick Perry, who seems to delight in demonstrating his ignorance.:

In Defense of Karl Rove (Robert Shrum) from The Week
"It's not that Rove has a score to settle with Rick Perry. He just knows this Texas governor would make a disastrous GOP nominee."

The Dirty Thirties (Larry J. Sabato) from the University of Virginia Center for Politics
"Every White House dreads the day it falls below 40%. A psychological barrier is breached, opponents become emboldened, Congress becomes even more recalcitrant, and political vultures smell death. But if there’s any comfort for Obama, it is that every president since Lyndon Johnson has become familiar with the “dirty thirties” at some point in his tenure."

Bachmann: The American People Are Concerned About "The Rise Of The Soviet Union" from Right Wing Watch
"During the discussion, Bachmann asserted that why the American people are very concerned about the state of the economy, they are concerned about other issues as well like abortion, defending marriage ... and the rise of the Soviet Union."

Jon Huntsman: The Outsider (Jacob Weisberg) from Vogue Magazine
"...it's hard not to notice the commonalities with the man he would challenge in 2012 -- the hazard Obama hoped to forestall by sending him to Beijing. There is, to begin with, the physical resemblance. Huntsman is slender, athletic, and stylish, with a winning smile. Huntsman is 51, Obama is 50, and both have an unusual reserve, a cool unflappability. More important is a shared fundamental outlook: substantive, patient, with a preference for compromise over confrontation, and a pragmatic rather than ideological approach to politics.""

At Last There's Proof: Jon Huntsman Is Aiming for 2016 (James Fallows) from the Atlantic
"...obviously these views are going nowhere with the Republican primary electorate this time around. Good to see this "what the hell, I might as well keep my dignity" spirit taking hold on Team Huntsman!"

HIGHER ED NUGGET [of a sort]!!
The Debt Crisis at American Colleges from the Atlantic
"Borrowing looms large in American life from homes to cars. But the explosion of student debt in the last decade is a pernicious trend that the colleges themselves are encouraging."

NEOLITHIC NUGGET!!
Woolly Mammoth Calf Discovered in Russia's Arctic from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Reindeer herder reports finding well-preserved remains of baby woolly mammoth in ice."