News Nuggets 728

The Tuareg desert in Algeria.  From National Geographic.

Libyan Rebels Say Muammar Gaddafi Surrounded from Reuters
"A group of rebels besieging a cluster of apartment buildings near the compound of Muammar Gaddafi said they believed the man who led Libya for four decades was hiding in the buildings with some of his sons."
This story has been challenged this morning.  May be a false alarm. 

Going, Going…: End-game in Libya from the Economist [of London]
"The fall of Muammar Qaddafi will transform Libya, the Middle East and NATO."

Tripoli, the Morning After (Khaled Darwish) from the New York Times
"In Libya, citizens re-emerged on the day after Tripoli’s liberation to streets of damaged beauty."

The Arab Awakening (Rami G. Khouri) from the Nation
"The revolt we are witnessing is not about ideology. It is mostly about men and women who, so brutalized by their own and foreign powers, are asserting their fundamental humanity—their right to use all their human faculties; to read, speak, listen, think, debate, create and enjoy to the full extent of their God-given ability or desire, whether in culture, politics, art, media, technology or any other arena."

U.S. May Back Refinance Plan for Mortgages from the New York Times
"The Obama administration is considering further actions to strengthen the housing market, but the bar is high: plans must help a broad swath of homeowners, stimulate the economy and cost next to nothing. One proposal would allow millions of homeowners with government-backed mortgages to refinance them at today’s lower interest rates, about 4 percent, according to two people briefed on the administration’s discussions..."
An important development -- if Obama can do anything to get the housing market off its back, it could represent an important economic recovery measure.  Daily Kos provides some useful anaysis HERE.

Asking Candidates Tougher Questions About Faith (Bill Keller) from the New York Times
"If a candidate for president said he believed that space aliens dwell among us, would that affect your willingness to vote for him? Personally, I might not disqualify him out of hand; one out of three Americans believe we have had Visitors and, hey, who knows? But I would certainly want to ask a few questions. Like, where does he get his information? Does he talk to the aliens? Do they have an economic plan? Yet when it comes to the religious beliefs of our would-be presidents, we are a little squeamish about probing too aggressively."

How the Working Poor Became the New Welfare Queens (Ed Kilgore) from the New Republic
"...now, even as the "working poor" (the bipartisan heroes of welfare reform) are bearing much of the brunt of the Great Recession, they have become the objects of a new and intense wave of conservative hostility that treats them as parasites just like the "welfare queens" of yore."

Conservatives Can’t Stop Buying into the Myth of What Happened in Wisconsin (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"The fact that conservatives see the need to keep dissembling about the core truth here — that neither Wisconsinites nor the American people ever endorse Walker’s radical union-busting — is itself proof that they are well aware that Walker overreached in the eyes of the American people, and that there’s no meaningful public mandate for what you might call “Walkerism.”"

Perry’s Fragile Lead (David Frum) from the Frum Forum
"Do Republicans really want to run a candidate who has put in writing his opposition to Social Security and Medicare? ... House Republicans have already voted to end the Medicare guarantee for future generations. So deniability is getting to be a problem here. Or is the plan to follow Rumsfeld’s rule: If you can’t solve a problem, make it bigger?"

The Scary Thing About Rick Perry’s ‘Frontrunner’ Status (Stephen Stromberg) from the Washington Post
"I still think that Perry’s candidacy will flame out, a burst of know-nothing right-wing populism with a truly mean edge to it that ultimately can’t succeed with enough voters. ... Still, Gallup’s poll makes one wonder just what he’ll have to say to repel those who currently favor him."

Huntsman Up Close (Josh Marshall) from Talking Points Memo
"... he cut a considerably more impressive, substantial figure in person. The Obama folks are right to hope he doesn't get near the nomination. ... Setting aside looks and atmospherics, he's just clearly a very knowledgable guy. So sounds like I was impressed? Yeah, I was."
I confess that, in the universe of GOP political figures, I have long been impressed with Huntsman.  I disagree with many of his positions -- but as he has said, he lives in the real world.

EXTRAORDINARY NEWS MEDIA NUGGET!!
Fox News: ‘Facts Are Certainly’ On The Side Of Global Warming, But ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ (Brad Johnson) from Think Progress
"On Fox & Friends Sunday, anchor Clayton Morris admitted that Fox News factcheckers have confirmed that man-made global warming is “certainly” real, but argued that it “doesn’t matter” because climate denial is popular among Fox News-watching conservatives."
World-altering environmental problem!!  We won't say so because our viewers don't like to hear about it.  Clearly, a news organization designed for the 21st century!  

THIRD REICH BOOK NUGGET!!
Adolf & Eva: A Review of Eva Braun: Life with Hitler by Heike B. Görtemaker from the National Interest
"Who was Eva Braun? Why did she link her fate so inextricably to that of the German dictator? Why was her existence kept so secret for so long?"
VERY INTERESTING review.

FRANCE NUGGET!!
The Decline and Fall of the French Language? (Gary Girod) from New Geography
"...though English has not — despite predictions — crushed all other languages (German, Russian, and Spanish, to cite the prime examples, all remain strong), one language does seem to be undergoing the predicted cataclysmic collapse. English may not yet have won the globe, but French has definitely lost it."

E-BOOK NUGGET!!
Bells and Whistles for a Few E-Books from the New York Times
"Booktrack, a start-up in New York, is planning to release e-books with soundtracks that play throughout the books, an experimental technology that its founders hope will change the way many novels are read."
I'm skeptical that this will in any way "enhance" my reading experience -- but who knows?

LIBERTARIAN EXPERIMENT NUGGET!!
Silicon Valley Billionaire Reveals Plan to Launch Floating 'Start Up Country' Off Coast of San Francisco from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"PayPal founder wants to create libertarian society on oil-rig style platforms."
A fiasco in the making.

GRAMMAR NUGGET!!
8 Common Grammar Mistakes (Sue Sommer) from the Huffington Post
"I've left out the copious regulations that govern spellings and word usage and instead have given simple ideas to assist you with what is generally accepted among the well informed."

PLANETARY NUGGET!!
Astronomers Discover Planet Made of Diamonds from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"It is certainly what you could call a gem of a discovery. Astronomers believe they have found an entire planet made of diamonds."