News Nuggets 740

Central Park in the morning, afternoon and evening -- using a new type of time-lapse photography.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

A Radical Revolution (Michael Slackman and Mona El-Naggar) from the New York Times
"The Arab Spring uprisings showed hard-line Islamists who had embraced violence a peaceful path to change. ... “We believed that the use of violence was the only path to change because every other door was shut to us,” said Gamal El Helali, 49, a member of a once-militant organization, the Islamic Group, who had been jailed for 10 years in Egypt. “The revolution opened the door to peaceful change.”"
A CRITICAL dimension to the Arab Spring uprisings that has gone largely overlooked in western media!  

Ending America's Longest War (Lewis W. Diuguid) from the Kansas City Star
"The growing price tag for two wars now makes peace look far more affordable. ... It has taken a decade, but public opinion finally has shifted from backing military action to seeking diplomatic and international remedies for the terrorist attacks. Thank the Great Recession and the continuing economic slump."

There's No Way for Democrats to Dump Obama (Ed Kilgore) from Salon
"The left is losing patience, but most Democrats like the president and he's still competitive against GOP rivals."

Give-em Hell, Barry? (Henrik Hertzberg) from the New Yorker
"Obama was in fighting form for the first time since the brutal finish of the health-care slog, when he put caution aside, rejected the fearful counsel of some of his advisers, and pushed into the end zone.
The President spoke in strong, simple words, free of jargon—from the name of the bill (the American Jobs Act) to the blunt calls for action..."

Obama’s Angry, Direct, and Eloquent Defense of Government (John B. Judis) from the Atlantic
"Barack Obama gave the best speech of his presidency tonight. It was angry, direct, and entirely appropriate to the occasion—an “economic crisis,” which, as he said, has been made worse by a “political crisis.” He spoke to the Congress, but also over their head to their constituents, and appealed to them to put pressure on their representatives."

The Republican Debate: Rick Perry May be the Candidate the GOP has been Looking for from Daily Kos
"The post-debate consensus seems to be focusing on Romney and Perry as two poles of a party that is deeply divided in both style and substance:"

MUSIC EDUCATION NUGGET!!
Beyond Baby Mozart, Students Who Rock (David Bornstein) from the New York Times
"A program that taps into students’ passion for pop and rock is revitalizing music education."

WORLD WAR II RUSSIA NUGGET!!
The Anne Frank of Leningrad: Diary of Russian Teenager Who Survived 872-day Nazi Siege from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"A harrowing diary written by a Russian teenage girl during the Nazi siege of Leningrad 70 years ago has drawn comparisons with that of Anne Frank after being published for the first time. Lena Mukhina began writing the diary in May 1941 aged 16, describing the horror of watching her family die, as well as the pains of growing up."

ENERGY NUGGET!!
Britain and US Join Forces as  Laser Flash Releases More Power Than the Whole World was Using from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Britain has joined forces with America to investigate a hi-tech new way of producing 'clean energy' - not from wind or waves, but from firing huge arrays of high-powered lasers at pellets of hydrogen.  The process causes the hydrogen atoms to fuse together into helium - the same reaction found in hydrogen bombs and stars such as our Sun - but in a controlled reaction that could power homes and businesses."

HISTORY PROGRAM NUGGET!!
The Contenders: They Ran and Lost But Changed Political History from C-SPAN
"As the presidential campaign gets in full swing this fall, C-SPAN is premiering a new history series, 14 live weekly programs that help put America's present electoral politics in historical perspective. Starting Sept. 9 and coinciding with the traditional post-Labor Day campaign kickoff, "The Contenders" will reach across time, political parties, and geography to present some key figures who have run for president and lost, but changed political history nevertheless."
This looks REALLY interesting!

WORLD HISTORY BOOK NUGGET!!
Why Vasco da Gama Went to India: A Review of Holy War: How Vasco da Gama’s Epic Voyages Turned the Tide in a Centuries-Old Clash of Civilizations by Nigel Cliff from the New York Times
"Cliff’s narrative covers a huge span of time. For once the term “epic” seems an understatement. Da Gama’s exploits alone demand such terms."

ECONOMICS BOOK NUGGET!!
Follow the Money: A Review of Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius by Sylvia Nasar from the Wall Street Journal
"In "Grand Pursuit," Sylvia Nasar tells the story of modern economics through the lens of the lives of influential economic thinkers such as Marx, Keynes, Schumpeter and Hayek."