News Nuggets 514

Australian flood victims!! These baby Australian bats have been rescued and sent to a wildlife rehabilitation center.  See the Australian Bat Nugget below. Form the Daily Mail.

Obama and Clinton's Iran strategy: More There Than Meets the Eye? (David Rothkopf) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"From its start, I have viewed the Iran sanctions regime the Obama administration has helped devise with great skepticism. However, if recent reports are to be believed, the sanctions may someday be seen in retrospect as a vital element of an effective strategy to curtail the Iranian nuclear program. In fact, the possibility is beginning to emerge that they could be seen as part of what may someday be seen as one of the signal triumphs of Obama-Clinton foreign policy."
I am not surprised.  I've had a pretty high level of confidence that Obama's approach here would ultimately win.  I think the biggest difference between me and so many "skeptics" like Rothkopf (who is not a nut job by any means) is that I'm clear (just like the Joint Chiefs) that the US is in NO WAY WHATSOEVER ready to go to war against Iran.  Folks like Rothkopf (for a range of reasons) wrongly continue to view war with Iran as an option, that somehow it is still on the table.  Under Obama, it is not and never has been.  Faced with having to make sanctions work, Obama was meticulous almost to a fault in constructing the web of sanctions that now ensnares Iran's leaders.  The bigger question at this point is -- what now?

Rising Wages Will Burst China's Bubble (Peter Tasker) from the Financial Times [of the UK]
"Who has survived the global credit crisis in the best shape? As Zhou Enlai is reputed to have said about the impact of the French Revolution, it is still too early to judge. The snap verdict that China is the big winner and the US and rest of the old Group of Seven big losers is already looking questionable."

Has anyone been following the unlikely stories coming out of the north African Arab states?  See the following two items:
Amid Rioting, Tunisia Closes Universities from the New York Times
"The Tunisian government ordered the closing of all schools and universities in the country on Monday until further notice in an attempt to quell escalating riots over poverty and unemployment."

Algeria's National 'Protesta' (Hugh Roberts) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The massive wave of protests that have engulfed Algeria and the recent unrest in Tunisia are both premised on a fundamental political deficit -- the absence of credible political institutions capable of ensuring adequate representation of the society and so keeping the executive branch of the state under the kind of critical observation and pressure necessary to good government."

Bloodshed and Invective in Arizona from the Editorial Board of the New York Times
"…it is legitimate to hold Republicans and particularly their most virulent supporters in the media responsible for the gale of anger that has produced the vast majority of these threats, setting the nation on edge. Many on the right have exploited the arguments of division, reaping political power by demonizing immigrants, or welfare recipients, or bureaucrats. They seem to have persuaded many Americans that the government is not just misguided, but the enemy of the people."

After Arizona Shooting, Obama Should Fight Fringe Extremism Like Clinton Did (Ari Berman) from the Nation
"On May 6, 1995, two weeks after the Oklahoma City bombing, Bill Clinton gave the commencement speech at Michigan State University and used the opportunity to assail the rise of antigovernment, pro-militia sentiment among America‘s far right. "There is nothing patriotic about hating your government," Clinton said, "or pretending you can hate your government but love your country." In the wake of Saturday‘s horrific shooting in Arizona, those words are as true today as they were fifteen years ago."

Why Gun Control is Dead in America (Justin Elliott) from Salon
"As the immediate shock of the mass shooting in Arizona subsides and the conversation turns to gun control, it's becoming increasingly clear that there is little chance that new anti-gun measures will pass the Republican-dominated Congress.  But a picture is also coming into focus of a gun control movement that has been on the retreat for at least a decade, facing setbacks not only in Congress, but also in the courts and in public opinion polls, and of a Democratic Party that, from President Obama on down, has all but ceded the issue to the National Rifle Association."
The gun control ISSUE was and remains a TOTAL LOSER for Democrats and they were right to take a hike on it -- they had (and still have) bigger fish to fry.

For Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, a McKinley Moment? (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post
"If any good can come of the horror in Tucson, it will be that this becomes a McKinley moment for Sarah Palin and her chief spokesman, Glenn Beck."

Obama Soundly Beats Christie and All Other Republicans from Public Policy Polling
"The president would easily retain New Jersey’s 14 electoral votes against any comer,…"

PUBLIC TELEVISION NUGGET!!
Masterpiece Theater, Icon of PBS, Turns 40 (Jace Lacob) from the Daily Beast
"PBS' venerable anthology series Masterpiece celebrates its 40th birthday today. Jace Lacob talks with executive producer Rebecca Eaton and picks 12 of the best shows from the last four decades."

A related article on the upcoming hit series from Britain, Downton Abbey is HERE.

BUILDING MATERIALS NUGGET!!
New Glass Tops Steel in Strength and Toughness from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
"Glass stronger and tougher than steel? A new type of damage-tolerant metallic glass, demonstrating a strength and toughness beyond that of any known material, has been developed and tested by a collaboration of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)and the California Institute of Technology. What’s more, even better versions of this new glass may be on the way."

AUSTRALIAN BAT NUGGET!!
It's Not Only the Humans Who Have Lost Their Homes in the Australian Floods from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Torrential rain has brought chaos to Australia, and not just to the humans who live there. Australian Bat Clinic and Wildlife Trauma Centre director Trish Wimberley and her carers have helped save 130 orphaned bats on the Gold Coast in past weeks."

REVOLUTIONARY ERA BOOK NUGGET!!
No Thanks for the Memories: A Review of The Whites of Their Eyes: The Tea Party’s Revolution and the Battle Over American History by Jill Lepore (Gordon Wood) from the New York Review of Books
"The Tea Partiers are certainly not scholars, but their emotional instincts about the Revolution they are trying to remember on behalf of their cause may be more accurate than Lepore is willing to grant. Popular memory is not history, and that important distinction seems to be the source of the problem with Lepore’s book."
A very interesting critique!


News Nuggets 513

The newly discovered 'Pink Meanie' jellyfish native to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.  From Discovery News.

A New Chapter for Africa (Peter Pham) from the National Interest
"The breakup of Sudan is part of an inevitable redrawing of Africa's boundaries. Will that process continue to be bloody?"

Unconventional Wisdom: And China Isn't Beating the US (Daniel Drezner) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Right now, the United States is vastly more powerful than the People's Republic of China. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling you something."
FP has a whole series of articles they put out challenging "conventional wisdom" in a lot of key areas.  Most of them are worth checking out.  The full list with links is HERE.

US Troops Wage War with Cash in Afghanistan from Agence France Presse
"At the entrance to a military base in southern Afghanistan, US Army Staff Sergeant Andrew Cunningham hands out money to locals employed to help rebuild their villages devastated by war. … after months of fighting in which six coalition troops and three Afghans were killed, the US military says the rebels have been pushed out -- and they want to make sure that they cannot return."
I don't know what to make of this story.  Throw cash, not bullets.  I suppose if you pay the people whose country you're occupying ENOUGH, they very well could stop trying to kill you.  Win their wallets and their hearts and minds will follow?!  It's so … so American.

Cyber Victory in Iran‪‪: Derailment of Iran's nuclear program is greatest under-reported news story of 2010‬‬ from Y-Net News [of Israel in English]
"Three attacks on developing nuclear centers have occurred in the world, the most recent scant months ago. It is amazing that the year 2010, pegged universally as crunch time regarding Iran's atomic ambitions, ended with such a whimper, not a bang. It was to be a year characterized ultimately by a crippling counter-blow to Teheran's plans -with nary a peep from the media. No "top 10 stories of 2010" inclusions. Not even a Wiki-leak."
It was a top-ten story on THIS BLOG!!

Israel and the Iranian Nuclear Timetable (Paul Pillar) from the National Interest
"Why are Israeli officials suddenly so sanguine about Iran's nuclear-weapons program?"

Iraqi Cleric Embraces State in Comeback Speech from the New York Times
"Mr. Sadr’s challenge now is to reshape a powerful street movement into a political one, and to reconcile its self-image as the permanent face of opposition even as its ministers and deputies fill the government."
Ah, the future is now.  This guy and his organization sponsored terrorism directed at US and UN targets from 2004 to 2008 and is openly supported by Iran.  You hear it here first: he's going to be the next president of Iraq.  And, no matter how much Bush, Cheney and Rove and their neo-con surrogates try to argue otherwise, the regime that will be left in place when we leave will look way more like what Iran looks like now rather than some moderate, US-supporting showcase democracy for the rest of the Middle East.  Iran WILL be the big winner for all the lives and resources we will have wasted there.

Loughner Friend Explains Alleged Gunman's Grudge Against Giffords from Mother Jones Magazine
"Loughner's animus toward Giffords intensified after he attended one of her campaign events and she did not, in his view, sufficiently answer a question he had posed, Tierney says. He also describes Loughner as being obsessed with "lucid dreaming"—that is, the idea that conscious dreams are an alternative reality that a person can inhabit and control—and says Loughner became "more interested in this world than our reality.""
Whacked.

A Turning Point in the Discourse, but in Which Direction? (Matt Bai) from the New York Times
"… scrubbing them from the Internet couldn’t erase all evidence of the rhetorical recklessness that permeates our political moment. The question is whether Saturday’s shooting marks the logical end point of such a moment — or rather the beginning of a terrifying new one."

Tucson Shooting Marks Turning Point for Sarah Palin from Politico
"So far, the former Alaska governor has said little, only posting a brief message on her Facebook page Saturday offering condolences to those affected by the shooting. But the rush on the left to affix some of the blame on her for the assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has suddenly turned the tragedy into a defining moment in Palin’s meteoric political career."
Her supporters wouldn't change their views of Queen Sarah even if she had been the actual shooter.  But the tragedy may represent a turning point for the rest of the country.  We'll see.

Climate of Hate (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen? Put me in the latter category."

In the US, Where Hate Rules at the Ballot Box, This Tragedy has been Coming for a Long Time (Michael Tomasky) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"The shooting of Gabrielle Giffords may lead to the temporary hibernation of rightwing rage, but it is encoded in conservative DNA."

Let Obama's Reagan Revolution Begin (Frank Rich) from the New York Times
"…if Obama actually read Cannon, his comeback could have legs. It’s full of leadership lessons that will be particularly useful in outfoxing political adversaries who seem not to have consulted so much as a picture book about the president they claim as their patron saint."

Dems Will Turn Around Health Care Debate (E.J.Dionne) from RealClearPolitics
"Rule One of politics: When you have the advantage, don't allow your opponents to turn the tables. House Republicans violated this rule when they decided to make repeal of the health care law their first major act in the 112th Congress. The mistake will haunt them for years."

From Ugly to Just Plain American (Gregory Rodriguez) from the Los Angeles Times
"Diversity stateside, the weak dollar and the rise of other global powers have changed how U.S. visitors act overseas and how Europeans see them."

VIETNAM NUGGET!!
An Island of Economic Instability in Asia from the New York Times
"The New Year’s decorations are coming down in this frenetic city, replaced by hammer and sickle flags that flutter near luxury boutiques competing for access to the wallets of the newly rich.  Ho Chi Minh City, the seemingly irrepressible bastion of Vietnamese capitalism, is dutifully marking the start on Tuesday of the Communist Party’s National Congress, an event that comes every five years and is meant to chart the future course of a country that has witnessed an economic miracle in recent decades. But this time, things are different."

ANTARCTIC NUGGET!!
Huge Observatory 1.5 Miles Deep in Antarctic Ice from National Geographic News
"Situated at the geographic South Pole, the U.S. $279 million observatory—the largest of its kind—will search for neutrinos, mysterious subatomic particles that can travel through almost any type of matter."

News Nuggets 512

An Emerald Katydid, a newly discovered species in Papua, New Guinea.  A brilliantly colored bug if ever I've seen one!

THE SHOOTING IN ARIZONA:
Most of these articles speak for themselves.  My only comment is this: much of what I have read so far tells me that the right-wing media (Beck, Limbaugh, etc.) WILL find some way to blame Democrats for this tragedy. 
Jared Lee Loughner: Details on Gabrielle Giffords' Alleged Shooter from the Daily Beast
"Arizona officials have identified 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner as the alleged shooter behind today’s attack. They're also seeking a second suspect, citing reason to believe that the gunman didn't act alone. Plus, Newsweek's Eve Conant on Loughner's long Internet trail. "

"I Can't Trust the Government" Gunman Shoots Arizona Congresswoman, Kills Federal Judge from The Nation
"Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a moderate Democrat who stirred the wrath of right-wingers with her vote for health care reform before being narrowly reelected in November, was shot Saturday by a gunman who posted "I can't trust the government" videos on the Internet."

Arizona Suspect’s Recent Acts Offer Hints of Alienation from the New York Times
"He had posted on his Myspace page at some point a photograph of a United States history textbook, on top of which he had placed a handgun. He prepared a series of Internet videos filled with rambling statements on topics including the gold standard, mind control and SWAT teams. And he had started to act oddly during his classes at Pima Community College, causing unease among other students."

Gabrielle Giffords Shooting: Hatred Ravages AZ Over Immigration (Terry Sterling) from the Daily Beast
"As Rep. Gabrielle Giffords clings to life—regaining consciousness Saturday night—Terry Greene Sterling reports on the immigration wars, violence, and hate ravaging Arizona that put Giffords in danger."

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is Alive, & Out of Surgery from KGUN Channel 9 News [of Arizona]
"Officials at University Medical Center have confirmed that U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords is alive.  She is out of surgery.  Doctors are optimistic about her chances of recovery."
Thank God.

Rep. Grijalva: Tea Party Must Look at Their Own Behavior (Ryan Grim) from the Huffington Post
"Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who represents a district adjacent to Gabrielle Giffords's, said that Saturday's shooting is a consequence of the vitriolic rhetoric that has arisen over the past few years among extreme elements of the Tea Party."

Bloodshed Puts New Focus on Vitriol in Politics from the New York Times
"The shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and others at a neighborhood meeting in Arizona on Saturday set off what is likely to be a wrenching debate over anger and violence in American politics."

In other news:
US Hardliners Lose Ground on Iran? (Robert Dreyfuss) from The Diplomat
"…while it’s exceedingly unlikely that the talks will achieve a breakthrough, for the first time in quite a while there’s actually some reason for optimism."

Buying Time with Iran (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"The Obama administration has concluded that Iran's nuclear program has been slowed by a combination of sanctions, sabotage and Iran's own technical troubles. Because of the delay, U.S. officials see what one describes as "a little bit of space" before any military showdown with Iran."

Russia Woos Orthodox Sect to Repopulate Siberia from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"Not many people want to live in the isolated tracts of Siberia, where temperatures can fall to minus 40. But for the Old Believers, members of an offshoot of the Russian Orthodox Church who were persecuted by the Soviets, it's paradise. Now Moscow is trying to lure the deeply devout ethnic Russians back out of exile in a bid to repopulate the region."
WOW!! For months there have been leaks coming from high-up in the Chinese leadership that they've been eyeing Russia's far eastern regions for eventual annexation to China.  The thinking in Beijing has apparently been that: "well, since the Russians don't seem to be using it, we'll eventually just take it!  We need it for our expanding population."  Based on this item, it seems Putin is beginning to take this message semi-seriously.  If he really wanted to populate Siberia, though -- and to populate it fast -- I'm wondering if he could just institute some kind of Russian version of the "homestead act."

Democrats Mount Second Sales Pitch on Health-care Law as Republicans Seek Repeal from the Washington Post
"The debate over repealing the health-care law offers Dems something rare in politics: a do-over."
The GOP (at best) is hoping for a symbolic (but largely meaningless) vote that will satisfy their base.  The Dems seem to be planning to make the repeal vote an opportunity to "re-sell" the health care legislation.  Done right, I could see this being a HUGE Opportunity for the Dems.

Republicans Find Governing Isn't Easy from Politico
"Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans celebrated a historic return to power this week, promising to slash spending, reform Congress and keep in mind that they can be yanked back out of office if they fall out of touch with the public. They also learned just how tough it is to run the House."

CPAC, Homosexuality, and the Crack-Up of Conservatism (Nancy Pearcey) from the Daily Caller
"The conservative coalition has always been unstable. And homosexuality may be the issue on which it shatters."

Reports: John Edwards Engaged to Rielle Hunter from Politico
"The Jan. 17 issue of the National Enquirers says that the ex-North Carolina senator asked the mother of his lovechild to marry him only three weeks after burying his wife, Elizabeth, who died from cancer. The couple is said to be tying the knot some time this summer."
Elizabeth is barely COLD IN HER GRAVE!!  What a moral imbecile!!

Jeb Bush and What the GOP Thinks About 2012 (Steve Kornacki) from Salon
"They'll never say it publicly, but are Republicans privately putting their bets on Obama?"

CIVIL WAR NUGGET!!
Five Myths About Why the South Seceded from the Washington Post
"As the nation begins to commemorate the anniversaries of the war's various battles -- from Fort Sumter to Appomattox -- let's first dispense with some of the more prevalent myths about why it all began.  1. The South seceded over states' rights. …"

SOUTHEAST ASIA HISTORY NUGGET!!
Phnom Penh, Cambodia from the New York Times
"“All the intelligent Cambodians either fled the Khmer Rouge or were killed by them,” my Cambodian friend and fixer, Phin Chanda, once said to me, lightly, as if joking. “We’re the residue.”"

RUSSIAN LITERATURE NUGGET!!
For Tolstoy and Russia, Still No Happy Ending from the New York Times
"A couple of months ago one of Russia’s elder statesmen set out on a paradoxical mission: to rehabilitate one of the most beloved figures in Russian history, Tolstoy. This would have seemed unnecessary in 2010, a century after the author’s death. But last year Russians wrestled over Tolstoy much as they did when he was alive."

WORLD WAR II BOOK NUGGET!!
Nazi Occupation, When the City of Light Had Its Darkest Hour: A Review of And the Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris by Alan Riding from the Washington Post
"It is certainly one of the finest works of serious popular history since the heyday of Barbara Tuchman. If you're a Francophile or a Francophobe, this is the holiday present you should have received." 

SENTIMENTAL PICTURE NUGGET!! 

When it comes to sentimental holiday pictures, there is so much contrived schmaltz out there.  So -- I was touched by this simple picture that captured something more authentic:

From Americablog.

News Nuggets 511

A little playhouse for the kiddies!! It's a tiny version of ONE of the family's homes in Switzerland.  In fact, they're actually going to have it transported to Switzerland to join the original.  Doesn't this charming gesture just warm the cuckolds of your heart!? See the Obscene Spending Nugget below.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

Africa's Impressive Growth from the Economist [of London]
"Over the past decade the simple unweighted average of countries’ growth rates was virtually identical in Africa and Asia. Over the next five years Africa is likely to take the lead. In other words, the average African economy will outpace its Asian counterpart."

Israel Says It Sees No Iranian Atom Bomb Before 2015 from Reuters News Service
"Israel believes Iran will not be able to produce a nuclear bomb before 2015 and a top Israeli official has counseled against pre-emptive military strikes, intelligence assessments published Friday showed."
Wow!  The Iran nuclear program must be SERIOUSLY compromised!  Israeli authorities said 2013 just last week.  Anyone for 2018? Going…going… 

The Future of Sudan: An Interactive Map from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
"The Sudan referendum on January 9 was designed to be the culmination of a peace process ending decades of conflict between the north and the south, but there are lingering fears that tensions could erupt into violence."
This map is PRETTY COOL!!  It communicates a lot!

The Rise of Tibetan Soft Power from the International Relations and Security Network [of Switzerland in English]
"Tibetan ‘soft power’ has ensured that we are going to see a continued rise in Tibetan nationalistic aspirations along with the flourishing of Tibetan culture and civilization, in tandem with the rise of China as a global power."

Study: U.S. Torture Techniques Unethical, Ineffective (Janelle Weaver) from LiveScience
This was stated ad nauseum back in Bush's time, but it is still worth making the point … for the millions of die-hards out there.
"Prolonged sleep deprivation, forced nudity and painful body positions are some of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" that the U.S. government approved after Sept. 11, 2001. Three doctors who advocate human rights argue that not only are these methods unethical, but the scientific basis used to validate them was flawed."

Where the Jobs Are: Finding the Right Spots in the Recovery from Time Magazine
""In the last six months we're back to 5 million jobs in our database. So there are some reasons to be optimistic." The $64,000 question is, So where are those 5 million jobs?"

Repeal of Healthcare Law Would Add to Federal Deficit, Congressional Budget Office Warns from the Los Angeles Times
"If congressional Republicans are successful in killing the healthcare reform law, the Congressional Budget Office says, the deficit will grow by $230 billion over the next decade and the number of uninsured Americans will increase. But GOP lawmaker says the legislation is a 'job killer,' as repeal hearing begins."

The Texas Omen (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"Texas? Wasn’t Texas supposed to be thriving even as the rest of America suffered? Didn’t its governor declare, during his re-election campaign, that “we have billions in surplus”? Yes, it was, and yes, he did. But reality has now intruded, in the form of a deficit expected to run as high as $25 billion over the next two years. … Texas is where the modern conservative theory of budgeting — the belief that you should never raise taxes under any circumstances, that you can always balance the budget by cutting wasteful spending — has been implemented most completely. If the theory can’t make it there, it can’t make it anywhere."

The William Daley Paradox (Daniel Stone) from the Daily Beast
"President Obama has picked William Daley to be his new chief of staff even though he was against health-care reform and the Consumer Protection Bureau. Daniel Stone on what Obama gains."

Promises, Promises: GOP Drops Some Out of the Gate from the Associated Press
"Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House.  Their pledge to cut $100 billion from the budget in one year won't be kept. And for a coming vote seeking to repeal the health care overhaul, the first major initiative of the new Congress, lawmakers won't be allowed to propose changes to the legislation despite Republican promises to end such heavy-handed tactics from the days of Democratic control."

Notable Passages of Constitution Left Out of Reading in the House from the Washington Post
Some of the deletions are understandable … others not.

Obama Leads All Comers in Pennsylvania from Public Policy Polling
"Barack Obama would have a harder time winning Pennsylvania than he did in 2008 if he had to stand for reelection today...but he still leads all of the top Republican contenders for 2012 in the state."

BAD BANKS NUGGET!!
At Banks, New Fees Replacing Old Levies from the Wall Street Journal
"Banks, in an attempt to wring more revenue out of customer accounts, are conjuring up new ways to raise fees on basic products like debit cards, cash machines and checking accounts."

COLD WAR BOOK NUGGET!!
Guilty of Innocence: A Review of God-Fearing and Free: A Spiritual History of America's Cold War by Jason W. Stevens from the New Republic
"He follows Miller and Douglas in his intuition that American culture has been “raised on conservative Protestantism.” American traditions and American rebellions, American arguments and American dreams, are plants growing on Calvinist soil, America’s native ground. Stevens applies this ancient premise to the cold war, and with startling creativity."

EDUCATION BOOK NUGGET!!
The Nixon-Obama Compromise: A Review of Five Miles Away, A World Apart: One City, Two Schools, and the Story of Educational Opportunity in Modern America by James E. Ryan from the New Republic
"James E. Ryan’s excellent book points out that, if structured properly, public school choice can also tackle the single biggest problem in American education: the separation of poor and middle-class children. Rather than dropping the right to transfer, Ryan notes, the Obama administration should expand and strengthen it."

OBSCENE SPENDING NUGGET!!
The Ultimate Present: Billionaire has £150,000 Wendy House Built for his Children…and Transports it to Switzerland from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"For anyone who has shed blood, sweat and tears creating a creaky play house for their beloved offspring, this beautifully sculpted version will come as a hammer blow. Costing £150,000 - almost as much as the average house in England and Wales - the two-storey timber structure has double glazing, solid pine flooring with underfloor heating, and 400 decorative bulbs."
"Obscene" is almost too mild a word!

CIVIL WAR NUGGET!!
First South Carolina.  Then New York? (John Lockwood & Charles Lockwood) from the New York Times
"The South wasn't the only part of the Union contemplating secession in January 1861. So was New York City."
I have learned so much about the US Civil War from this series in the NY Times!

ELDERLY CARE NUGGET!!
Giving Alzheimer’s Patients Their Way, Even Chocolate from the New York Times
"Margaret Nance was, to put it mildly, a difficult case. Agitated, combative, often reluctant to eat, she would hit staff members and fellow residents at nursing homes, several of which kicked her out. But when Beatitudes nursing home agreed to an urgent plea to accept her, all that changed."
I missed this when it appeared last week.  There's a very good letter-to-the-editor in response to it HERE.

News Nuggets 510

A wild whooping swan at Hokkaido's Notsuke Bay in Japan.  From National Geographic.

The American Perspective on Hard and Soft Power (Paul Pillar) from the National Interest
"Americans bring some distinctively American perspectives to the employment of different instruments of power, hard and soft. … We see those perspectives manifested in particular policies of particular administrations, but those policies have deeper roots. … Consider two major aspects, one bad and one good, of the place of the United States in the world."


 The Wages of Arab Decay (Marc Lynch) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"These four seemingly unrelated incidents over the last month all draw attention to the accelerating decay of the institutional foundations and fraying of the social fabric across many of the so-called "moderate," pro-Western Arab regimes."

Africa's Old Guard on the Run? from Al Jazeera
"Cote d'Ivoire's Laurent Gbagbo is just the latest in a line of African strongmen who find themselves pressed."

Taboo and Fear Among Muslim Girls in Europe from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"Young Muslim women are often forced to lead double lives in Europe. They have sex in public restrooms and stuff mobile phones in their bras to hide their secret existences from strict families. They are often forbidden from visiting gynecologists or receiving sex ed. In the worst cases, they undergo hymen reconstruction surgery, have late-term abortions or even commit suicide."

Harmed Forces: Military Leaders Who Spout Slurs Belie Efforts to Halt Sexual Assaults (Derrick Z. Jackson) from the Boston Globe
"The videos are easy to Google and one look at them makes you wonder not only about sexual attitudes at the highest levels of command, but how the Navy let such an infantile man command the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a ship that is about to be deployed to Afghanistan."

Brave New WikiWorld (James Jay Carafano) from the National Interest
"WikiLeaks acts as if secrecy is inherently evil. It is not. We cannot secure liberty by ignoring the necessity of security."

A Tale of Two Expats: Life is Easier for Western Expatriates in China Than it is for Chinese Expatriates in the West from the Economist [of London]
"Western expats in China have typically moved from a liberal democracy with a sluggish economy to an authoritarian state with a fast-growing one. Chinese expats in the West have done the opposite. Each journey presents its own challenges. This article seeks to illustrate them, unscientifically, by contrasting the life of a Western expat in China with that of a Chinese expat in Europe."

When It Comes to History, African Americans Must Bear Witness (Leonard Pitts, Jr.) from the Seattle Times
"Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's sugarcoating of African-American history offers a stark reminder, writes columnist Leonard Pitts Jr., that if the nation's black population doesn't tell its stories, someone else will."

Lanny Davis Puts Dems to Shame (Robert Scheer) from the Nation
"The fact that the White House lawyer who most ardently defended Clinton has since put his dissembling talents at the service of ruthless dictators is not the fault of the former president or his wife, but it is a reminder of the shameful opportunism that characterized the Clinton presidency and which some so-called "New Democrats" like Davis insist the Obama presidency should emulate."
As so many liberals swoon over Bill Clinton's latest appearances, this timely article should remind everyone how many world-class s@#% heels the Clintons elevated to prominence during their tenure.  Lanny Davis, Dick Morris, Terry McAuliffe, Mark Penn to name just a few.  Like the smell of rotten fish, these folks just seem to linger at the highest levels of Democratic politics.  For all the carping there has been about Obama from the left, I have been struck by how few of these types of folks have positions of prominence in his WH.

The Republican Party's Next 5 Nightmares (Matt Latimer) from the Daily Beast
"As Republicans prepare to decide Michael Steele’s fate, the party has no agenda, a Palin management problem, and a resurgent president. Matt Latimer on the GOP’s pre-2012 punch list."

Republicans: Good at Theatre, Dreadful at Governing – as We'll See Tomorrow (Michael Tomasky) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"For years Republicans have shown no aptitude for running the country. Not surprising when they don't really believe in it"

New GOP House Can't Govern with Rhetoric Alone (E.J. Dionne) from the Washington Post
"Edmund Burke, one of history's greatest conservatives, warned that abstractions are the enemy of responsible government. … the new Republican majority that took control of the House on Wednesday is embarked on an experiment in government by abstractions. … Their rhetoric is nearly devoid of talk about solving practical problems - how to improve our health care, education and transportation systems, or how to create more middle-class jobs."

Promised GOP Budget Cuts May Be Much Lower Than Expected (Howard Fineman) from the Huffinton Post
"Republicans campaigned coast to coast on, among other things, a promise to cut $100 billion out of the federal budget. But now they are talking about cuts as slim as $30 billion, blaming the change on the fine print that no one read -- or if they read, did not understand. It turns out the $100-billion figure meant $100 billion from a budget that President Barack Obama proposed, which was never passed. And now that the fiscal year is nearly half over, well, there's just no way …"
I AM SO SHOCKED!!

And in the larger picture:
Republicans Drop Some Promises in Rising to Power in House from the Associated Press via Huffington Post
"Republicans have already violated some of the vows they made in taking stewardship of the House."

Democratic Praise for Huntsman Could be the GOP Kiss of Death (Josh Rogin) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman is a model Obama administration official, praised by his colleagues and admired by top Asia hands. Republicans, however, don't look favorably on his role as an integral member of Obama's China team and see it as a detriment to his 2012 presidential chances."
Huntsman is WAY TOO CONSCIENTIOUS to ever be taken seriously by the GOP.

POLITICAL PROFILE NUGGET!!
The Crying Shame of John Boehner (Matt Taibbi) from Rolling Stone Magazine
An interesting, informative and funny long-form look at the new Speaker.
"The new speaker is a lazy, double-talking shill for corporate interests. So how's he going to fare with the Tea Party?"

INDIA CULTURE NUGGET!!
The Caste Buster from the New York Times Sunday Magazine
"Ravindra Misal rejected tradition to become a self-made man. With his “personality contests” and idiomatic-English lessons, he’s trying to help others do the same."

BUILDING MATERIALS NUGGET!!
Mortar This Than Meets the Eye: The 'Transparent' Cement that Lets Daylight Flood into a Room from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"A team of architects have created a ‘transparent cement’ that lets light pour into a room so that the walls look like giant windows. The material, called i.light, has dozens of tiny holes in it which lets light through without compromising the structural integrity."
What won't people think up next!?

News Nuggets 509

 

A rare Somali wild ass foal in Switzerland's Zoo Basell.  From Zooborns

In Surprise, Iraq May Enforce Withdrawal Deadline (Kelly McEvers) from NPR's Morning Edition
"As Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki settles in for a second term, he's begun to talk tough on the final withdrawal of American troops, scheduled for the end of this year."
Here it comes.  As I have long said, you will know we have succeeded in creating a functioning gov't for Iraq when the Iraqis tell us to our faces: "Get the f@#$ out -- and don't let the door hit your a#@ on the way out!!"  I actually think this is a good thing if it can be managed right.  If they are keen to take charge, PLEASE let them and let's get out while the gettin's good!

What Iranians Really Think (Abbas Milani) from the National Interest
"Those who expected Iranians to ignore these threats and immediately take to the streets overlook one of the keys to the country’s long history of survival. Iranians are not dogs—an easily domesticated animal—but foxes: wily, wise and hard to tame."

Hackers Hit Tunisian Websites from Al Jazeera
"Amid anti-government protests, attack blocks access to stock exchange and ministry of foreign relations."
Wow.  It'll be interesting to see if this heralds a new front for democracy and human rights advocates looking to confront repressive regimes.  While super-repressive regimes like those in North Korea and Burma are probably pretty immune to this type of "hacker-protest" -- MANY other repressive regimes such as those in Saudi Arabia, Russia, and even China could be quite vulnerable to this kind of disruption.  Given how much Chinese authorities have invested in their own cyber-war capabilities, it would certainly be poetic justice if they became the focus for sabotage-hackers from around the world.

Poll: Most Americans Say Tax the Rich to Balance Budget from Reuters News Service
"Most Americans think the United States should raise taxes for the rich to balance the budget, according to a 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll released on Monday."
Doesn't matter.  The wealthy are way more represented in the current Congress than the average American.

The Achievement Test (David Brooks) from the New York Times
"The size of government doesn’t tell you what you need to know; the social and moral content of government action does. The budgeteers and the technicians may not like it, but it’s the values inculcated by policies that matter most. The best way to measure government is not by volume, but by what you might call the Achievement Test."
A pretty perceptive assessment by Mr. Brooks today.

Navy to Relieve Aircraft Carrier Commander Over Raunchy Videos from USA Today
"The Associated Press, quoting unidentified Defense officials, and CNN report that Capt. Owen Honors will be relieved of duty as commander of the USS Enterprise."
At some point, grown men need to start behaving like grown ups.  But, boy -- how the worm does turn!  In 2006, a sailor who says he's gay would get the axe -- now it looks like a commander who made fun of gays is going get it in the neck.  He deserved it back in 2006 -- so better late than never.  It should be noted that since this story appeared, the Navy has denied that Honors is being relieved.

Homeless - and Going to College from the Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Statistics on homeless students are difficult to pin down, but advocates for the poor believe the numbers are up."
I know students like this.  NPR did a story on this last year.  You can get that story HERE.

Muslims in Evangelical Churches from Christianity Today
Does loving your neighbor mean opening your doors to false worship? … At Heartsong Church in Cordova, Tennessee, Steve Stone and his congregants put out a sign welcoming incoming neighbors at the Memphis Islamic Center. The church then allowed these Muslim neighbors to use their sanctuary as a makeshift mosque throughout Ramadan while the Islamic Center was under construction. Stone and Heartsong received extensive national media coverage for their efforts. For Stone, allowing Muslims to worship on his church's property was a matter of "What would Jesus do?"—a matter of his United Methodist congregation modeling the love of Jesus to strangers, just as Jesus had welcomed them."
Now -- THIS is the kind of thing my CT Congregational Church would have done back in the 1970s.  It is the perfect synthesis of a genuinely Christian message imbued with the best of America's political tradition.

Obama Considering Naming Former Commerce Secretary Daley as Chief of Staff from Bloomberg News Service
"Daley, 62, has deep ties in Obama’s political base. The youngest of seven children of longtime Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, he is part of the most powerful political dynasty in Illinois. He was also a political mentor to Rahm Emanuel"
This could be a very important appointment.  If it is Daley, it clearly signals that Obama is making the economy his central issue for the next two years and that he's looking to enroll Wall Street and the business community into … something big.

Dems Playing Rough on Health Care? (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"More signs Dems are going to get aggressive in the battle with the GOP over the repeal of health reform."
"Getting aggressive"?  I'll believe that when I see it.

John Boehner's Power Shortage (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"As the Republican leader assumes the gavel as House speaker, he faces a restive Tea Party on his right and a wily president on his left. Howard Kurtz on his strengths—and the limits of his clout."

Another take on a related topic:
New Congress Likely Full of Brimstone, Talk, Little Change (David Lightman and William Douglas) from the McClatchy News Service
"Get ready for some slam-bang action from the new Republican-led House of Representatives after the 112th Congress convenes Wednesday: It's going to read the entire Constitution aloud, try to repeal the new health care law and cut federal spending dramatically. But despite what's likely to be a January full of big talk, big votes and big ideas, the most important policy decisions are unlikely for several weeks and months, and then only after some titanic power struggles."

What's the Tea Party Foreign Policy? (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"National security isn’t on the agenda of the new Republican Congress. Peter Beinart on how their constitutional vision, as applied to foreign policy, wouldn’t cut the deficit or shrink government."

The Great Fake Uprising (Glenn Greenwald) from Salon
"A new investigation of the media's false reporting of the Saddam-statute story reveals ugly truths about the press"

MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH NUGGET!!
Simple Blood Test To Reveal Cancer at Low Levels from the CBS Evening News
"Scientists Developing "Liquid Biopsy" Test To Recognize Single Cancer Cell in Blood Among a Billion Normal Cells."
This has been getting  A LOT of attention in the last 24 hours.  Some are describing it as potentially the biggest medical breakthrough of our lifetimes!

ELECTRIC CAR NUGGET!!
Diary of an Electric Car Commuter from Fortune Magazine
"When an argon-blue Nissan Leaf, the first production all-electric, zero-emission family car to hit the U.S., whispered into my garage last month, I knew instantaneously that it was a game changer. New relationships come with hopes, fears, and surprises, and ours -- the Leaf's and my union -- went quickly from blind date to a marriage of convenience. The Leaf is nothing short of a bellwether of the automotive revolution that is headed to a driveway near you."

ANCIENT EGYPT NUGGET!!
King Tut's Wife's Tomb May Emerge in 2011 from Discovery News
"The tomb of King Tut’s wife, a buried pyramid, the Great Pyramid’s secret doors, and the final resting place of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony: these discoveries could await us in 2011, according to Dr. Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities."
I'll tell you, Hawass has a flair for putting himself at the center of almost all stories relating to archeology in Egypt.  It also has to be said -- he certainly seems to be making things happen there.

News Nugget 508

One of 250 islands that make up Palau, a country in the Pacific 500 miles east of the Philippines.  From National Geographic.

Splitting Sudan from PRI's America Abroad program
"Sudan has been at war with itself for decades. Arab Muslims in the north have long dominated Christian and animist Africans in the south. But, in a referendum scheduled for January 2011, southerners are expected to vote for separation. And the divorce may not be pretty. "
For those of you looking for a primer on what is coming up in Sudan [in a week], listen to this hour-long program.  It will bring you up to speed as to the problems and possibilities faced with the referendum on secession.

Freedom and Repression With Chinese Characteristics: Part I (Iain Mills) from World Politics Review
"Chinese society is more open than is commonly believed, and in certain spheres, Chinese citizens may even enjoy greater liberty than their Western counterparts. Moving to a more realistic appreciation of the distribution of freedom and repression in contemporary China can not only improve the quality of international debates on the subject, but also moderate perceptions and elucidate the true nature of "the China threat.""

Facing Wikileaks Threat, Bank of America Plays Defense from the New York Times
"On Nov. 29, the director of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, said in an interview that he intended to “take down” a major American bank and reveal an “ecosystem of corruption” with a cache of data from an executive’s hard drive. With Bank of America’s share price falling on the widely held suspicion that the hard drive was theirs, the executives on the call concluded it was time to take action. Since then, a team of 15 to 20 top Bank of America officials, led by the chief risk officer, Bruce R. Thompson, has been overseeing a broad internal investigation"

What Will Happen in 2011? (Jacob Heilbrunn) from the National Interest
"The top prediction for 2011: Osama bin Laden will finally be caught."

You Know, 2010 Wasn't a Bad Year for Obama (Steve Kornacki) from Salon
"But while 2010 provided plenty of reasons for Obama's allies to doubt him, the bigger story of the year was how much Obama was able to accomplish -- and how successful he was at keeping his core supporters on board."
True on substance -- but it's not a year likely to get one re-elected though.

An Evangelical Backlash Against Environmentalism (John Rudolf) from the New York Times
"…while a growing number of local and national nonprofit groups have formed to spread the “creation care” message, an increasingly fierce backlash against the mingling of Christianity and environmentalism has emerged from other quarters of the evangelical movement."

11 Politicians to Watch in 2011 (Samuel Jacobs) from the Daily Beast
"As the new Congress starts its first week, Washington’s got a new sheriff in Darrell Issa, a charismatic Mama Grizzly in Kristi Noem, and a rejuvenated Joe Lieberman. Samuel P. Jacobs on who to keep your eye on in the political year to come."

What A GOP Congress Might Bring (E.J.Dionne) from the Washington Post
"From its inception, the Tea Party movement has treated the nation's great founding document not as the collection of shrewd political compromises that it is but as the equivalent of sacred scripture.  …  An examination of the Constitution that views it as something other than the books of Genesis or Leviticus would be good for the country."

Merle Haggard, America-Hating Elitist (Michael Tomasky) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"When he met President Obama at the White House earlier this month, legendary country singer Merle Haggard said he found him to be "very different" from the way he's portrayed in the media: "Not conceited.""

ASIA NUGGET!!
Welcome to Minegolia from Foreign Policy Magazine
"How the land of Genghis Khan became a new  Gold Rush San Francisco on the steppe."


BIRD SONG NUGGET!!
Simple Rubber Device Mimics Complex Bird-Song from the BBC
"A simple rubber device that replicates complex bird songs has been developed by a team of US researchers."

OUTER SPACE NUGGET!!
NASA Solar Probe Sets Controls for the Heart of the Sun, Literally from Popular Science
"In a mission to learn more about the sun’s inner workings, NASA is planning to launch a specially shielded spacecraft in 2018 that will plunge into the solar atmosphere. The car-sized Solar Probe Plus will explore an area just 4 million miles from the star’s surface, the last region of the solar system to be explored by humans."

HELPFUL MONKEY NUGGET!!
Trained Monkeys Proving Trusty Companions for Those in Need from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"Specially-trained Capuchin monkeys in the US are helping physically disabled people with the housework by performing tasks such as removing garbage, fetching the telephone or switching on the microwave. The furry companions are also helping paraplegics cope with loneliness."
I had long heard that monkeys were too independent-minded and contrarian to do this kind of work -- but who know?

FOOTBALL NUGGET!!
The Early History of Football’s Forward Pass from Smithsonian Magazine
"The forward pass was once ridiculed by college football’s powerhouse teams only to be proved wrong by Pop Warner and his Indians."

CIVIL WAR NUGGET!!
War in the Cabinet (Jamie Malinowski) from the New York Times
"Give me a place to stand, said Archimedes, and I shall move the world. Major Robert Anderson chose to stand at Fort Sumter, and he has moved the disunion crisis onto an entirely new footing."

WORLD WAR II NUGGET!!
Finest Hours: The Making of Winston Churchill (Adam Gopnik) from the New Yorker
"At that moment when all seemed lost, something was found, as Winston Churchill pronounced some of the most famous lines of the past century. “We shall go on to the end,” he said defiantly, in tones plummy and, on the surviving recordings, surprisingly thick-tongued. “We shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” Churchill’s words did all that words can do in the world. They said what had to be done; they announced why it had to be done then; they inspired those who had to do it."

News Nuggets 507

The vacation hideaway chosen by the Obamas on Oahu in Hawaii.  See the stories below.  From the New York Times.

Transforming U.S. Military Might into 21st-Century Weapons (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"What worries me is that even as the military looks forward, the brass is still clamoring to build the legacy systems - think aircraft-carrier battle groups - that will soon be vulnerable to the new weapons. It's as if the Pentagon were trying to be the old IBM, running big, clunky mainframes while trying to be an Apple-like innovator. We can't afford to do both.  The puzzle to ponder in 2011 and beyond is how the United States can retain the "legacy power" benefits that come from conventional fleets and bases around the world while transitioning to the new realities of military power."

A Brief History of Anarchism: The European Tradition from Time Magazine
"Anarchist organizations in Italy and elsewhere today may be as fringe as analysts say they are, but they are the heirs of a political credo that deeply impacted the past two centuries of world history."

The Economy in 2011 from the Editorial Board of the New York Times
"When people say that the recovery does not feel like a recovery, they are describing reality. The economy is growing, but for many Americans life is not getting better. Unemployment remains high. Home values are depressed. And state budgets are in deep trouble, presaging more layoffs, service cuts and tax increases.  The question for 2011 is whether growth will ever translate into broad prosperity."

Equality, A True Soul Food (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times
"John Steinbeck observed that “a sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ.”  That insight, now confirmed by epidemiological studies, is worth bearing in mind at a time of such polarizing inequality that the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans possess a greater collective net worth than the bottom 90 percent. There’s growing evidence that the toll of our stunning inequality is not just economic but also is a melancholy of the soul.

Health care reform 101: What will kick in Jan. 1? from the Christian Science Monitor
"Some parts of health care reform are already phasing in. Here nine key provisions that take effect Jan. 1."

Going Through the Motions on Repeal… (Steve Benen) from Washington Monthly
"The GOP wants to pursue repeal just so they can say they pursued repeal. This isn't going to be policymaking from responsible, problem-solving lawmakers; this is going to be a public-relations stunt."

Women to Watch (and Watch Out For) in 2011 (Bonnie Goldstein) from Politics Daily
"This train of thought predictably led to predictions about those daunting dames whose flames burn on and whose status (and status updates) we will surely be revisiting in the months to come."

Debt Ceiling a Major Test for GOP from Politico
"Congress is probably months away from being required to vote on increasing the nation’s ability to borrow money, though official Washington is already positioning itself for the upcoming fight – with some lawmakers signaling they’d oppose the measure, others saying they aren’t sure and the Obama administration predicting dire results if the ceiling is reached."
This showdown should be really interesting!

Soldier Vows to Quit Army Over Gays from Mother Jones Magazine
"The resigning soldier (let's call him "Braveheart") writes, without any hint of irony, that he must commit this act of disobedience in order to preserve the great military virtue of obedience:"
For every jerk like this, the repeal of DADT will allow 100+ servicemen and women to continue to serve.  Good riddance to this clown.

Leaderless Republicans Face 2012 Free-for-All (Albert Hunt) from Bloomberg News Service
"The Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, the start of the 2012 U.S. presidential race, are only a little over a year away. For more than four decades, at this stage, Republicans had either an incumbent president or an established front-runner who goes on to win the nomination. There is no such figure today, making the race more wide open."

Pres-2012: Oh Calm Down ('Huntsman 2012' Dept) (James Fallows) from the Atlantic
"Several friends in China have written to ask what I think of this Newsweek report that Jon Huntsman Jr., currently the US Ambassador to China, is planning to run for the GOP presidential nomination next year.   What I think is: Are you kidding?  Anything is possible in politics, so this could be too. But this is why it is wildly improbable."
I hope Fallows is correct.  Huntsman is one of only a handful of genuine GOP 2012 prospects (Mitch Daniels being one other) who could be REAL BAD NEWS for Obama.  The fact that Huntsman has been out of the US for the last two years (and thus has not had to take a position on most of the hyper-heated topics of the day) only makes him stronger in my view.

Let's check in with the first family:
Obama Craves Familiarity on Hawaiian Vacation from the Associated Press
"There are those who crave adventure and spontaneity during their vacations. Then, there's President Barack Obama. More than a week into his Hawaiian holiday, Obama is proving to be a creature of habit, seeking refuge in the comfort and consistency of a familiar routine."

Obama Is Serious About His Vacation. And, Please, No Shirtless Shots from the New York Times
"Here on Oahu, where Mr. Obama and his family are staying in a luxury oceanfront rental home in the sleepy town of Kailua, the president is cloaked in the comfort of a news-free zone."

Tea Party Activists Angry at G.O.P. Leaders (Kate Zernike) from the New York Times
"Just a month ago, Tea Party leaders were celebrating their movement’s victories in the midterm elections. But as Congress wrapped up an unusually productive lame-duck session last month, those same Tea Party leaders were lamenting that Washington behaved as if it barely noticed that American voters had repudiated the political establishment."

RAILROAD NUGGET!!
Bring Back the Rails! (Tony Judt) from the New York Review of Books
"The future of railways, a morbidly grim topic until very recently, is of more than passing interest. It is also quite promising. The aesthetic insecurities of the first post–World War II decades—the “New Brutalism” that favored and helped expedite the destruction of many of the greatest achievements of nineteenth-century public architecture and town planning—have passed. "

NEWS MEDIA NUGGET!!
Top World News Websites 2010 from RealClearWorld
"While WikiLeaks proved it could capture and publish documents, it took the efforts of its media partners and other media organizations to bring needed analyses to its trove. The brave new world of global media is an exciting one, but every year we at RealClearWorld like to recognize those who are helping make sense of it all. So with that, RealClearWorld is pleased to give you the best world offerings from the world wide web."
Please note that your DAYLEE NEWS NUGGETS site has been referencing all of the websites described for a long time!!

CIVIL WAR NUGGET!!
Seceding from Secession (Adam Goodheart) from the New York Times
The latest installment from the NYTimes' wonderful week-by-week homage and reflection on the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
"…these Virginian patriarchs had not come to lend their support to the rebellion. They intended, rather, to denounce it as folly, as criminality – perhaps even as treason."

RETAIL SALES NUGGET!!
Bargain Hunters Enjoy Stripped Down Offer from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"Young bargain hunters braved cold weather and indiscreet looks to queue at branches of Desigual, a contemporary fashion retailer, which launched a "cheeky" offer to unveil its winter sales. "Come in undressed and go out dressed"."

ANIMAL PHOTOS NUGGET!!
Pictures of the Year 2010: Cute Animal Photos from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
A LOT of fun images at this site!

News Nuggets 506

Two baby capybaras at the Akron Zoo.  Apparently, they are very hard to breed in captivity.  From ZooBorns.

New Year's Eve 2010:Celebrations Around the World (PHOTOS) from Huffington Post
"Multicolored starbusts and gigantic sparklers lit the midnight sky over Sydney Harbour in a dazzling fireworks show witnessed by 1.5 million enthusiastic spectators who camped out all day to ring in the new year."

Top 10 Foreign Policy Challenges Facing Barack Obama in 2011 (Toby Hernden) from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"So what will 2011 bring? Here are some of the challenges President Barack Obama will be grappling with in the coming year:"

It Was a Very Good Year for Foiling Terrorists (Susan Marinuk) from the Calgary Herald [of Canada]
"A glance back at the news events of 2010 makes it abundantly clear that sophisticated, well co-ordinated and large-scale attacks intended to devastate Western society should no longer be our primary fear. The real problem is large numbers of unsophisticated, small-scale attacks -- the unsuccessful kind that only function to wear down our vigilance."

Korea's New Cold War (David Kang) from the National Interest
"It's unsexy, but it's worked for sixty years: deterrence, patience and hope on the Korean peninsula."

Report: U.S. in Secret Talks with Syria Over Peace Accord with Israel from Al Haaretz [of Israel in English]
"The United States has been in secret contact with Syrian officials in the hopes of realizing a comprehensive Israel-Syrian peace treaty, the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper reported Saturday."

Tunisia's Inspiring Rebellion from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Demonstrations in Tunisia suggest that revolt and regime change are still possible in the Arab world."

The Next Treaties for Obama from the Editorial Board of the New York Times
"Even after the herculean effort required to win Senate ratification of the New Start treaty, President Obama has no time to rest. The treaty, which mandates modest cuts in long-range nuclear weapons, is on its way to approval by the Duma, the lower house of Parliament in Russia. Once that happens, Washington and Moscow should quickly begin discussing other, more far-reaching agreements."

New Health-Care Rules to Take Effect from the Washington Post
"The new rules are designed to help those caught in Medicare's "doughnut hole," offer seniors more preventative care, and limit how much of their customers' money health-insurance companies can keep for overhead and profit.  They all go into effect on Saturday."

'Death Panels' are Real -- Brought on by Budget Pressures (Norman Ornstein) from the Washington Post
"Sarah Palin and others railed against the "death panels" that would result from the bill. Government bureaucrats, critics said, would decide who would die and when. The bill passed - and indeed there are death panels. But they do not come from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. "Obamacare." They come from Republican administrations in states such as Arizona and Indiana."
It should be noted that Ornstein is no left-wing talking head -- he's a right-of-center leading authority on Congress with the American Enterprise Institute.

The Military's Next Step After 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell': Equal Rights for Gay Service Members (Chris Patti) from the Washington Post
"Minds should be turning to the difficult questions that remain. These are the same questions that vex our society when it comes to equal rights for homosexuals. They cross over into the "gray areas" where some start to feel uncomfortable and where the legal options are ambiguous."

Private Markets Make Up the Core of Obamanomics (Ezra Klein) from the New York Times
"When I asked participants and observers that question, they all started with the same premise: The administration didn't have time for philosophy. It had to put out fires - and fast. But faced with the greatest economic crisis in generations, a crisis that spread across many sectors, their response, in retrospect, was remarkably consistent."

Obama is Back -- Squarely in the Center (Richard Wolfe) from the Los Angeles Times
The president has been castigated from both sides of the political spectrum. But progressives should not be surprised by his compromises, and GOP leaders have just placed him in the reasonable middle of American politics.

Books Closed on the 111th Congress, What to Expect in the 112th (Thomas Mann) from the Brookings Institution
"A sizable and remarkably unified Democratic party, whose ranks reached 60 in the Senate for about half of the Congress, made possible a record more impressive in its substance than its appearance.  The new Republican House majority and diminished Democratic ranks in the Senate will almost certainly render the record of the 112th a pale shadow of its predecessor."

Sarah Palin’s Nomination Chances: A Reassessment (Nate Silver) from the New York Times
"In November 2009, I wrote an article entitled “10 Reasons That Sarah Palin Could Win the Republican Nomination.” The article wasn’t necessarily arguing that she was the favorite to take the nomination, but it did suggest she had a credible chance at it. In light of the developments of the last 13 months, it is probably worthwhile to revisit that assessment."

IRANIAN TV NUGGET!!
Expats' 'Daily Show'-style VOA Program Enthralls Iranians, Irks their Government from the Washington Post
"Lately, a couple of irreverent expats in Washington have captivated Iranians with a show that pokes fun at the absurdities of life in the Islamic republic.  Operating out of Voice of America's Persian News Network, Kambiz Hosseini and Saman Arbabi have started a weekly program, "Parazit," that has drawn comparisons to Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" for its satiric take on Iran's news of the day."
I LOVE IT!  Contrast this with the dopey, transparently-manipulative PR approach to "promoting democracy" in the Middle East embraced by Karen Hughes under Bush!

CIVIL WAR NUGGET!!
Rethinking the Old Public Functionary: Why James Buchanan Wasn't as Bad a President as You Think (Russell McClintock) from the New York Times
"By late December 1860, President James Buchanan was easily the most despised man in America, and particularly in the North. … In his own time and ever since, the 15th president has been castigated as worse than useless; his purported failure to act resolutely in the face of secession is often cast as a leading factor in the country’s descent into war."

HILARIOUS VIRAL VIDEO NUGGET!!
The One-Man Village People from U-Tube
"Halftime show from UConn Florida State game at the XL Center in Hartford Connecticut. The Amazing Christopher does the best performance with bad songs including the worse song from the 90's. "
What this guy has done is VERY CREATIVE!!  It's also way harder than it looks, I suspect.

WHALING NUGGET!!
Dancing with Death Machines at the Bottom of the World from Sea Shepherd News
"“What an awesome way to begin the New Year,” said captain of the Gojira Locky MacLean of Canada. “Our three vessels dancing dangerously through the ice packs locked in confrontation with the three harpoon ships of the Japanese whaling fleet. It was both deadly and beautiful. Deadly because of the ice and the hostility of the whalers and beautiful because of the ice, and the fact that these three killer ships are not killing whales while clashing with us.”"