News Nuggets 995

DAYLEE PICTURE: Mother and baby Masai Giraffes at the Nashville Zoo.  It's very easy to forget how big full grown giraffes actually are.  From Zooborns.

The Final Battles of Pope Benedict XVI from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"The mood at the Vatican is apocalyptic. Pope Benedict XVI seems tired, and both unable and unwilling to seize the reins amid fierce infighting and scandal. While Vatican insiders jockey for power and speculate on his successor, Joseph Ratzinger has withdrawn to focus on his still-ambiguous legacy."

Justices May Take Up Montana Campaign Finance Case Addressing Two-track System from the Los Angeles Times
"Citizens United and an appeals court ruling created a two-track campaign funding system favoring the wealthy. Now the Supreme Court is being asked to hear a Montana case to address some of the issues."

Five reactions to Obama's immigration initiative:
1.  Obama Gets Smart on Immigration With New Policy for DREAMers (Michelle Goldberg) from the Daily Beast
"Latinos frustrated by years of record deportations and ineffective policy are ecstatic at the president's executive order halting forced removals for many young undocumented immigrants. Michelle Goldberg on Obama's canny move."

2.  Obama’s Immigration Move is Huge News. Here’s Why. (Nathan Pippenger) from the New Republic
"Immigration reform advocates, whose mounting discontent over the administration’s policy dysfunction has become a serious political dilemma for the White House, are ecstatic. Marshall Fitz, an immigration expert at the Center for American Progress, called it “huge, beyond big” and said “it’s the biggest thing that we could have possibly hoped for.” That sentiment was widely echoed..."

3.  Obama’s Announcement Seizes Initiative and Puts Pressure on Romney (Helene Cooper & Trip Gabriel) from the New York Times
"In many ways, President Obama’s unilateral shift in immigration policy was a bluntly political move, a play for a key voting bloc in the states that will decide whether he gets another term. But as political moves go, it held the potential for considerable payoff."

4.  Republicans Struggle to Respond to Obama’s Immigration Decision (Aaron Blake) from the Washington Post
"Just hours after word leaked out that the Obama administration would stop deporting young illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States by their parents, the issue is already causing headaches for the Republican Party."

5.  Obama Immigration Plan Leaves Young Immigrants Hopeful, Skeptical from the Associated Press via the Huffington Post
"Scores of young undocumented immigrants who have called the United States home for most of their lives are excited by the Obama administration's decision allowing them to stay here legally, but they have a lot of questions. Most important: Is it too good to be true?"

OUR PUNDIT-OF-THE-DAY!!
Young Americans Get the Shaft (Matt Miller) from the Washington Post 
"You don’t even know it. You’re busy trying to get a degree, land a job, start a family, save for a home. You don’t follow the news. But trust me — you’ve been taken for a ride by your elders. The question isn’t whether such talk will stir up generational war. That’s already being waged — and you’re losing. The question is whether you’ll wake up and engage in a little generational self-defense. Let me see if I can motivate you."
I completely agree with Miller's critique here!  Unfortunately, the key piece here is that young people don't follow the news.  Period.  They indulge in resigned cynicism -- based on what?!  Based on only the most impressionistic understanding of either current events or recent history.  They play right into the hands of the hyper partisans out there who want nothing more than for these voters to simply shut up and go away.

Watergate’s Legacy to America (Kathleen Parker) from the Washington Post 
"...a country without faith or trust in its institutions — from the presidency to Congress to the judiciary and even to the once glorious, swashbuckling, truth-seeking press — is going to have a rough go of things. As seems to be the case. Given the spoils of what took place on June 17, 1972, at the Watergate office building, Nixon was no petty thief. He was a grand larcenist."

INTERESTING BARS NUGGET!!
Pull Up a Stool at the Coolest Bars in the World from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"For those who like enjoy a bar's decor as much as their signature drink, take a peek at this collection of the best bars the world has to offer.  From Chur, Switzerland to Truskavets, Ukraine, these watering holes are home to some of the most odd and amazing ambiance, guaranteed to accompany a night to remember - or one so good, you may not."

OBAMA BOOK NUGGET!!
The First Lady’s Family: A Review of American Tapestry by Rachel Swarns from the New York Times
"Rachel L. Swarns tells the story of several generations of Michelle Obama’s family in a book that reads like a panorama of black life in America."

TECHNOLOGY NUGGET!!
3-D Copying Makes Michelangelos of the Masses (Virginia Postrel) from Bloomberg News Service
"Wenman turned the photos into three-dimensional digital maps, using a free program called Autodesk 123D Catch. Then he used the maps to print miniature plastic replicas on the $2,000 MakerBot 3-D printer in his home office. And he made one of his best scans freely available, uploading it to the Thingiverse site where MakerBot enthusiasts share digital plans. Now, alongside the hobbyist designs for specialty tools, robot figurines and hair ornaments, you can find an 18th-century relief, John Deare’s “Venus Reclining on a Sea Monster with Cupid and a Putto.”"

SEA CREATURES NUGGET!!
Odd Sea Creatures Found at Volcanoes, Canyons (PICTURES) from National Geographic
"Scientists spotted the creature—and many others—during a three-week expedition this spring throughout four deep-sea regions in the volcano-rich Kermadec Ridge."

News Nuggets 994

DAYLEE PICTURE:  Moonlight on the Matterhorn at night.  From National Geographic.

Revealed: 64 Drone Bases on American Soil from Wired Magazine
"Public Intelligence, a non-profit that advocates for free access to information, released a map of military UAV activities in the United States on Tuesday. Assembled from military sources — especially this little-known June 2011 Air Force presentation (.pdf) – it is arguably the most comprehensive map so far of the spread of the Pentagon’s unmanned fleet. What exact missions are performed at those locations, however, is not clear."

How Shock Waves Will Hit US if Greece Drops Euro (Matthew Craft) from the Associated Press
"They think the path of a full-blown crisis would start in Greece, quickly move to the rest of Europe and then hit the U.S. Stocks and oil would plunge, the euro would sink against the U.S. dollar, and big banks would uncover losses on complex trades."

Obama Administration To Stop Deporting Younger Undocumented Immigrants And Grant Work Permits from the Huffington Post
"The Obama administration will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives. The election-year initiative addresses a top priority of an influential Latino electorate that has been vocal in its opposition to administration deportation policies."

The President's Game Changer on Young Illegal Immigrants (Garance Franke-Ruta) from the Atlantic
"His second bold move on behalf of a marginal group will now dominate the conversation."

U.S. Military Will Celebrate Its First Gay Pride Month from the Atlantic 
"Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta thanked gay and lesbian service members in a video address on Friday, as the Pentagon celebrates gay pride month for the first time. Roughly nine months after the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy was repealed, this recognition will be added to a list of racial and ethnic celebrations at the Department of Defense."

Paying to Play: Interview with a John (Antonia Crane) form the Rumpus 
"He agreed to do the interview if it were 100% anonymous. I thought of the NY broker wearing my dress in my living room, red-faced and trembling with terror at the thought of giving up control. I remembered telling him “Stand up.” I held his damp chin in my gloved hand and said to him, “You’re safe here.” This was one of those moments. Max’s gentle courage was by turns surprising and tender as he flipped from sex worker to client. I was inspired by his vulnerability. I hope you are too."

Email Bombshell: At Penn State, Growing Evidence of a Cover-up from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"NBC reported Monday that high-ranking Penn State officials had discussed whether to notify police about a 2001 incident involving Jerry Sandusky and a boy in a university locker room shower, researched whether they were required to do so and concluded that it was "humane" to the former defensive coordinator not to tell local authorities. The network said it was former Penn State president Graham Spanier and former senior vice president Gary Schultz who made that decision. Instead of reporting suspicions of child abuse, Penn State took away Mr. Sandusky's locker room keys."

His Re-Election in Trouble, Obama Goes Big and Gets Serious (Michael Scherer) from Time Magazine
"With job growth slowing, Europe teetering and his self-inflicted gaffe, “The private sector is doing fine,” the last two weeks rank among the worst of Obama’s political career. So a speech was in order on Thursday, when Obama traveled a community college in Cleveland, Ohio, the most crucial of swing states. The words he spoke—somber, substantial and filled with policy proposals–may be remembered as more consequential than even his campaign announcement in May."

Frank Rich on the National Circus: Democrats’ Premature Panic (Frank Rich) from New York Magazine
"The question is when and how the Obama campaign will knock this brittle opponent off his anodyne memorized talking points, out of his bubble and into interaction with the real world."

We Don’t Need No Education (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"A look at Mitt Romney’s accidental truth-telling reveals a lot about what conservatives really mean when they talk about shrinking government.

The Two Faces of the GOP (Ruth Marcus) from the Washington Post
"Consider the enlightening — and depressing — tale of two governors. One is the face of what the Republican Party could, and should, be. The other is the face of what it is and seems determined to remain. The first governor, not coincidentally, has “former” before his name: former Florida governor Jeb Bush. The second is current and, fresh off his recall victory, continuing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker."

How Obama Became Black (David Maraniss) from the Washington Post
"He was too dark in Indonesia. A hapa child — half and half — in Hawaii. Multicultural in Los Angeles. An “Invisible Man” in New York. And finally, Barack Obama was black on the South Side of Chicago. This journey of racial self-discovery and reinvention is chronicled in David Maraniss’s biography, “Barack Obama: The Story,” to be published June 19. These excerpts trace the young Obama’s arc toward black identity, through his words and experiences, and through the eyes of those who knew him best."

OBAMA BOOK REVIEW NUGGET!!
The Making of the President: A Review of ‘Barack Obama: The Story,’ by David Maraniss (James Fallows) from the New York Times
"... this is a revelatory book, which anyone interested in modern politics will want to read, and which will certainly shape our understanding of President Obama’s strengths, weaknesses and inscrutabilities. Every few pages Maraniss offers a factual nugget that changes or enlarges the prevailing lore."

FATHERS DAY NUGGET!!
Presidential Historian Douglas Brinkley Lists the Best and Worst First Fathers from the Washington Post
"What kind of dad really makes a kid feel like he could be president of the United States? And who doesn’t? Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley, a biographer of Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Theodore Roosevelt and, most recently, Walter Cronkite, spoke with The Washington Post’s David Beard about his favorite, and least favorite, first dads."

News Nuggets 993

DAYLEE PICTURE: Two newly-discovered species of leaf-tailed gecko in Madagascar.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

America’s Secret Wars (AUDIO) (Jacki Lyden) from NPR's On Point program
"A look at the Obama administration’s top secret battlefields — from the tribal areas of Pakistan to cyberspace."
An excellent overview of Obama's approach to national security with a very good long interview with David Sanger of the New York Times.

The new Obama Doctrine: A Six-Point Plan for Global War (Nick Turse) from Salon
"Special ops, drones, spy games, civilian soldiers, proxy fighters and cyber warfare."

Italy Struggles to Break Out of Downward Spiral (Hans-Jürgen Schlamp) from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"After Spain, the focus of the euro crisis has now shifted to Italy, which is struggling with a shrinking economy and rising bond yields. Prime Minister Mario Monti has denied that his country will ask for an EU bailout, but optimism about Italy's future is in short supply."

Why the U.S. Is Not Greece (Froma Harrop) from Real Clear Politics 
"America is not going the way of Greece, and North Dakota has shown us why. Residents were given the opportunity Tuesday to vote their property taxes out of existence, and they chose not to take it."

THREE REACTIONS TO OBAMA'S ECONOMIC SPEECH!!
(1) Live-Blogging Obama's Cleveland Speech (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
"My bottom line? A home run. Simply constructed, carefully reframed, aggressive while positive: the Obamaites have been listening to critics and are responding. If this is his message, and if he is able to keep articulating it this clearly, he will win. "

(2) Obama to America: Romney’s Got Nothin’ (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"Crucially, he said the main obstacle to progress on the deficit and on jobs legislation is GOP opposition to raising taxes on the wealthy. “It’s the biggest source of gridlock in Washington today — and the only thing that can break the stalemate is you.”"

(3) Obama: Romney’s Policies are the Incumbent (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"Romney’s line follows the conventional wisdom that elections are a referendum on the incumbent. Obama’s speech was an effort to subvert that dynamic: to argue that while Mitt Romney might be the challenger, Republican policies -- or at least their aftermath -- are, in a way, the incumbent."


The Last Tower: The Decline and Fall of Public Housing (Ben Austen) from Harpers Magazine
"Today, what seems harder to fathom than the erasure of entire high-rise neighborhoods is that they were ever erected in the first place. For years the projects had stood as monuments to a bygone effort to provide affordable housing for the poor and working-class, the reflection of a belief in a deeper social contract. And although that effort had by most accounts failed, the problems represented by the likes of Cabrini-Green persist, and nothing remotely adequate has been built to replace what has been demolished."

Elderly Inmate Population Soared 1,300 Percent Since 1980s: Report from the Huffington Post
"The population of aging and elderly prisoners in U.S. prisons exploded over the past three decades, with nearly 125,000 inmates aged 55 or older now behind bars, according to a report published Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union. This represents an increase of over 1,300 percent since the early 1980s. More than $16 billion is spent annually by states and the federal government to incarcerate elderly prisoners, despite ample evidence that most prisoners over age 50 pose little or no threat to public safety, the report said."
Between "three-strikes-and-you're-out" and other forms of mandatory sentencing, there should be no surprise here.  But the way this article frames the story is (in my view) deeply misleading.  The article is filled with evidence like this: "...while elderly inmates released from prison will require medical care and other public services, a fiscal analysis by the ACLU found that states would save an average of more than $66,000 per year for each elderly prisoner they release."  The key words here are "medical care and other public services."  Yes -- they will need these things -- and, in the current budgetary climate, the likelihood of them getting them is miniscule!  Many (if not a majority) of these inmates have little or no work history that would qualify them for social security.  In these days when medicare and other social programs are targeted for big cuts, how are these people supposed to survive? Or get the health care they need?  Who's going to stand up and advocate for elderly murderers, drug dealers and rapists?  They are the perfect targets for the budgetary axe -- move them out of prison now that meaningful work is near impossible for them.  They will end up on the street or in already overwhelmed homeless shelters.  The smart ones will make a bee-line for the nearest bank to hold it up so they can be put back in prison again.

Times Have Changed, It's Okay to Lie (Kevin Drum) from Mother Jones Magazine
"Politicians have increasingly discovered over the past couple of decades that even on a national stage you can lie pretty blatantly and pay no price since the mainstream media, trapped in its culture of objectivity, won't really call you on it, limiting themselves to fact checking pieces like Kessler's buried on an inside page. And because virtually nobody except political junkies ever sees this stuff, it doesn't hurt their campaigns at all."

Romney Does Face the Nation, his First Non-Fox Sunday Show from the Washington Post
"Romney has been interviewed several times on ”Fox News Sunday” this campaign cycle, but has declined repeated invitations to appear on any of the other Sunday shows, occasionally drawing scorn from veteran anchors accustomed to interviewing presidential candidates."

‘Fundamental Error’ in Argument Against Obama’s Campaign Message (Jonathan Capehart) from the Washington Post
"Despite poll after poll after poll showing that the American people and Obama are in sync on the question of blame, Republicans and conservatives have whined and continue to whine that the president is ducking responsibility for his role in the economy’s lackluster performance."

HOLLYWOOD NUGGET!!
Scandals of Classic Hollywood: That Divine Gary Cooper (Anne Helen Petersen) from the Hairpin
"Cooper played heroic cowboys and espoused all-American values while the studio system helped hide his offscreen affairs.."

News Nuggets 992

DAYLEE PICTURE: A Blue Kingfisher in the Daube Delta in Romania.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

More Half-Measures from Europe from the Editorial Board of the Washington Post
"Quite simply, Europe needs an approach to its problems as massive and as confidence-inspiring as the Troubled Assets Relief Program and related measures were for the United States in the fall of 2008. And it still either can’t, or won’t, devise one."

Why Berlin Is Balking on a Bailout (Hans Werner Sinn) from the New York Times
"It’s no wonder, then, that President Obama is urging Germany to share in the debt of the euro zone’s southern nations. But in doing so, he and others overlook several critical facts."
I post this editorial because I think the views presented showcase perfectly the intellectual box German policy makers have put themselves in.  The author puts forth a range of largely philosophical and/or legalistic reasons, such as this one: "[bailouts] violate the liability principle, one of the constituting principles of a market economy, which holds that it is the creditors’ responsibility to choose their debtors. If debtors cannot repay, creditors should bear the losses." Apologist orthodox do-nothing analysts like this one shut down any meaningful or creative response to the current crisis, missing, in my view, the larger crisis that is washing over Europe: the return of fascism.  Average people will not tolerate (not in the developed world anyway) 50 percent unemployment rates among the young -- with no end in sight.  Such people become the playthings of demagogues.  In his handwringing over precious "market principles,", he (like many others) misses the fundamental threat this crisis poses to the moderate political world that allows those market principles to function in the first place.  In the US we already have the faintest whiff of what can happen with the emergence of the fear-mongered, off-the-rails nutiness of the Tea Party.  It looks like Hungary and Greece are already tripping down this road.  Folks like this European commentator need to WAKE UP!

Two Worlds Cracking Up (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"It turns out that Turkey these days is neither a bridge nor a gully. It’s an island — an island of relative stability between two great geopolitical systems that are cracking apart: the euro zone that came into being after the cold war, and the Arab state system that came into being after World War I are both coming unglued."

A Humanitarian Disaster Threatens To Unfold In Greece (Nicos Devletoglou) from Forbes Magazine
"European leaders further persist in deliberately suffocating all prospects for growth in Greece.  They insist that even in the midst of a deepening five-year recession in this beautiful country, their two memoranda of ruthless austerity must nonetheless be strictly adhered to – or else.  This strikes one like the widespread medieval practice of first bleeding all patients, irrespective of varying complaints."

China's Demographic Crunch (Michael Richardson) from the Japan Times [in English]
"Just four years from now, China will pass a milestone. Its huge workforce will peak and start shrinking. This will make it more difficult for the world's second largest economy to continue the turbo-charged growth that has played a key role in the rise not just of China, but also its Asia-Pacific trade and investment partners like Japan."

Wealth Erased from the Editorial Board of the New York Times
"While the Great Recession officially ended in 2009, the recovery, so far, has been an effort to climb out of the very deep hole it blasted in the economy. A continued struggle, or worse, backsliding, is almost inevitable, unless Congress and the Federal Reserve provide more aid."

George Zimmerman's Wife Arrested, Charged with Perjury from the Orlando Sentinel
"... prosecutors say Shellie Zimmerman spent the days before that April hearing shifting tens of thousands of dollars out of her husband's account, then deliberately lied to the judge. On Tuesday, she was arrested on a perjury charge and booked into John E. Polk Correctional Facility. It's the same jail her husband has called home since the deception was revealed earlier this month, leading the judge to revoke his bond."
I still don't know if Zimmerman is guilty of murder -- but it's clear by now that he and his wife are guilty of being really stupid.

Justice Department Sues Florida Over Voter Purge from the Associated Press via the Huffington Post
"The governor's contentious push to remove thousands of potentially ineligible voters from Florida's lists has been met with a lawsuit from the Justice Department and handled very differently by the state's independent election supervisors, many of whom questioned the accuracy of the effort."

Newsflash: None of the Recent 'Game-Changers' Have Changed the Polling (Nate Cohn) from the New Republic
"Despite what you might expect based on conventional wisdom, polling suggests that a tumultuous month has done little, if anything, to alter the contours of the race: Obama continues to hold a narrow but relatively consistent lead in polls of registered voters (RV), but Romney fares better in polls of likely voters (LV)."

1980s TELEVISION NUGGET!!
Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy on the Glory Days of ‘Dallas’ (Maria Elena Fernandez) form the Daily Beast
TNT’s new ‘Dallas,’ which premieres Tuesday, has cast original actors Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, and Patrick Duffy as regulars. The three friends got together with Maria Elena Fernandez to spill some secrets from the Southfork Ranch."

BOOK TECHNOLOGY VIDEO NUGGET!!
Middle Ages Tech Support from YouTube
This is really hilarious!!  YouTube seems to be having some issues today -- so if you have trouble seeing the clip, try later.

Ever Wished You Could Live Like Barbie? Artist Turns Derelict Building into Life-Size Dolls House with Huge Wall of Glass from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"While driving to the nearest city of Brandon, Manitoba, to get art supplies she spotted the crumbling former home and pulled over to get a closer look. To anyone else, the house was a decrepit wreck, but to Heather it held a world of possibilities. She said: 'When I saw the house through the windows, I saw a life sized dollhouse. I thought to myself, that should be the main project I work on while I'm in the area."

News Nuggets 991

DAYLEE PICTURE: Deer in a shower of flower petals in Nara Park in Japan.  From National Geographic.

Syrian Army Unable to Stop Flood of Deserters from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"The Syrian regime's troops are still able to attack insurgents almost anywhere and at any time, but they can no longer control the whole country, as the number of army defectors continues to grow. But the rebels dread the next stage of the conflict, when they expect President Assad to order his air force to attack."

A Step Forward in Iranian Nuclear Talks (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"“They backed down,” a European diplomat who is involved in the talks told me Monday. “They had been setting up a failure in Moscow and preparing to blame us for it,” he said, arguing that the renewed agreement to engage, after several weeks of foot-dragging, was “a small diplomatic victory” for Ashton."

What Flame’s Connection To Stuxnet Really Means from Talking Points Memo 
"In both the case of Stuxnet and Flame, the code in common was used to install and propagate the malware onto computers from an infected USB stick by causing the victim’s computer to “autorun” the malware once the stick had been inserted. The implications of the finding are still being sorted out by Kaspersky and other security firms analyzing Flame’s source code, but they could be enormous..."

Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran (David Sanger) from the New York Times
"From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program."
A VERY interesting story from earlier this month.

Europe Unprepared as Euro Crisis Deepens (Stefan Kaiser) from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"The weekend announcement that Spanish banks would be bailed out briefly drove up markets around the world. But optimism was short lived. The euro crisis is rapidly intensifying and Europe is not prepared."

How Not to Solve a Crisis (Joe Nocera) from the New York Times
"The American and European responses to their respective financial crises are studies in contrast. The Bush administration and the Federal Reserve took an “all-hands-on-deck” approach: not just saving A.I.G. and recapitalizing the banks, but buying billions of dollars worth of subprime mortgages that were poisoning the banking system, and guaranteeing virtually all bank debt. Say what you will about the moral hazard that comes with bailing out too-big-to-fail banks, the strategy worked. ... Throughout the euro crisis, the response of Europe’s political leaders has been tepid, reluctant and unconvincing."

Family Net Worth Plummets Nearly 40% from CNN
"The average American family's net worth dropped almost 40% between 2007 and 2010, according to a triennial study released Monday by the Federal Reserve. The stunning drop in median net worth -- from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010 -- indicates that the recession wiped away 18 years of savings and investment by families."

Dems Grapple with Endgame in Bush Tax Cut Fight (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"...a few progressive Dems seem to be quietly floating another scenario entirely: letting all the tax cuts expire, coming back and voting on recutting middle class tax rates, and challenging Republicans to vote against the Dem-proposed tax cuts. Remember: If Democrats do nothing, all of the Bush tax cuts will expire. And Dems recognize that their leverage turns heavily on whether they appear willing to let them all expire."

Are Gay Parents Worse Than Straight Parents? (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
"This deeply flawed study simply shows we do not know the impact of more stable, committed civil marriages for gays on the social and personal outcomes for their kids. The only way to figure that out definitively is to try it in the real world."

Win-Win Strategy: A Foolproof Plan for Obama (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"The country faces a series of crises. Fortunately there’s a way for Obama to make the GOP choose between doing something to help—and looking like losers."

Don't Be Surprised Bain Attacks Are Working (Matt Taylor) from Slate 
"Obama's re-election team apparently did the polling and testing -- and saw how Ted Kennedy's brutal, relentless campaign against Romney in 1994 worked so well -- and decided the attacks were just too promising to pass up."

Not Jeb Bush’s GOP (John Dickerson) from Slate
"Does the Republican hero and former Florida governor have a place in his own party?"

News Nuggets 990

DAYLEE PICTURE: A cave through a glacier in Alaska.  See the Glacier Nugget below!  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

Four Myths about Drone Strikes (Shehzad H. Qazi & Shoaib Jillani) from The Diplomat
"The killing of senior al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi means drone strikes in Pakistan have made headlines again. But there’s plenty people are getting wrong."

Firepower Bristles in South China Sea as Rivalries Harden (David Lague) from Reuters
"... more than three decades after paramount leader Deng launched his reforms, that policy has seemingly lapsed or simply become unworkable as China's military muscle becomes too expansive to conceal and its ambitions too pressing to postpone. The current row with Southeast Asian nations over territorial claims in the energy-rich South China Sea is a prime manifestation of this change."

The Macroeconomics of Chinese Kleptocracy from Bonte Capital
"China is a kleptocracy of a scale never seen before in human history. ... I have chatted with – and many of the ideas are not original. Thesynthesis however is mine. Some sources do not want to be quoted. The macroeconomic effects of the Chinese kleptocracy and the massive fixed-currency crisis in Europe are the dominant macroeconomic drivers of the global economy."

Markets Relieved at Spain Bailout Deal; Financial World Still Worried (Zachary Karabell) from the Daily Beast
"Stock markets are up on the news of a $125 billion agreement to bail out Spain, but the financial commentators aren’t convinced—and are still gearing up for economic Armageddon. They’re wrong to panic, says Zachary Karabell."

Wealth of U.S. Families Drops 40 Percent, Fed Says (Ylan Q. Mui) from the Washington Post
"Families’ median wealth plunged from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010, putting them on par with median wealth in 1992, according to new government data."

Obama And The Future (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
"So what Obama has to do - what he can only do - is focus on the specifics of what must happen before the end of the year."

The Second Term (Ryan Lizza) from the New Yorker
"Congressional Republicans aren’t Iranian mullahs or five-star generals, but Obama’s approach to them is beginning to look familiar, as coöperative idealism gives way to hard-nosed realism. As his first term ebbs and threatens to take him with it, Obama seems to be learning how to be a forceful President."

Why, Even After Four Years, Pundits Cannot Seem to Fit Barack Obama into a Convenient Box (Todd S. Purdum) from Vanity Fair
"... a fundamental flaw in the various prevailing strains of criticism of the commander-in-chief. Because it’s not possible—logically, practically, psychologically—that Obama could be simultaneously a wimp and a cold-eyed dealer of death, any more than he could be simultaneously the scourge of Wall Street and a tool of Wall Street, or a liberation theologian and a radical Muslim."

Medicaid Changes Have Providers Pulling Teeth (Erika Beras) from Essential Public Radio [of Pittsburgh]
"Medicaid takes care of the poor and disabled but it varies by state. Most states don’t cover any dental care under the plan. Now, in Pennsylvania for adult Medicaid patients, Marcia Esters’ scenario is the norm. In September, the Corbett administration reduced coverage for Pennsylvania’s two million adult Medicaid patients to only having basic dental care, eliminating root canals, periodontal disease work and limiting the numbers of dentures a patient can receive. The plan now only covers cleanings, fillings and extractions."
No two ways about it, a devastating indictment of the program as it is now configured.

Queers as Folk (Mark Regnerus) from Slate
"Does it really make no difference if your parents are straight or gay?"

The Geography of Abortion in America (Richard Florida) from the Atlantic 
"Mapping data on the issue reveals some surprising truths."

Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Obama Birth Certificate Challenge from the Huffington Post
"The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal challenging President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship and his eligibility to serve as commander in chief."
It's a sad commentary on the US Supreme Court that this decision actually surprises me.

Stranger Danger: Are Parents Too Paranoid About Safety? from Time Magazine 
"When a childless man decided to sip his coffee on a bench in a Washington, D.C., playground, nervous parents dashed off emails and called the cops. Was it overreaction? Either way, one mother has a suggestion for controlling the chaos: create a family password to help kids better assess threats."

TV NUGGET!!
Why HBO Is Once Again TV’s Most Relevant Network (Dan Frankel) from Time Magazine
"...it was just one more incremental move for HBO, as the premium cable company — the leading edge of parent Time Warner’s effort to move the traditional pay TV model into the IP-device world — re-establishes itself as television’s most relevant programming brand."

GLACIER NUGGET!!
Power and Beauty: The Stunning Ice Caves Lying Deep Beneath Alaska's Glaciers from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"The sheer power of glaciers to carve out new landscapes is well documented. But less so is their ability to produce stunningly intricate and beautiful scenes beneath deep their surface."

ARCHITECTURE NUGGET!!
Giant Man-made 'Supertrees' Illuminate City as Part of Huge £350 Million Gardens Project to Make Singapore 'Botanical Capital of the World' from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
These look AMAZING!!  They are really going to put Singapore on the map!
"Trees as tall as skyscrapers have giant steel and concrete trunks and thousands of thick wire rods for branches.  They are fitted with solar panels, hanging gardens and rainwater catches, and will be used to display plants from across the globe."

News Nuggets 989

DAYLEE PICTURE:  Mother and baby snails at Batam Island, Indonesia.

EDITOR'S NOTE!!
As some of you noticed, for the first time in ages, I did not post daylee nuggets yesterday.  To be frank, for the first time in years, I found almost nothing worth your consideration.  I should also note that starting this weekend, I am preparing to move at the end of this month, so there will probably be future interruptions in blogging during those weeks.  Your forbearance will be greatly appreciated!

Daniel Klaidman on the Mind of a Drone Strike Operator (Daniel Klaidman) from the Daily Beast
"As the U.S. takes out another high-value al Qaeda target, the debate over Obama’s 'kill lists' continues. Daniel Klaidman offers a rare glimpse into what it feels like to pull the trigger."

Syrian Rebels Gaining Ground, Strength from the Washington Post
"Free Syrian Army acquiring more money, ammunition and structure as effort to aid it quietly gains pace."

Assad, the Butcher from the Editorial Board of the New York Times
"The Obama administration is making more of an effort to try to bring the Russians on board. A senior American official was in Moscow this week. Washington needs to marshal all of the pressure and shaming it can find."

Not so Warm and Fuzzy: Amid Political Tensions at Home, China’s Military Leaders Play Safe Abroad from the Economist [of London]
"FOR China’s armed forces, these are troubling times. On June 2nd in Singapore, America’s defence secretary, Leon Panetta, said that 60% of his country’s combat ships would be deployed in Asia by 2020, up from about half now. China’s generals see their country as the target, and worry that other Asian countries are ganging up with America. But politics at home appears an even greater concern."
This excerpt doesn't capture the many developments touched on in this article.

Spain to Accept Rescue From Europe for Its Ailing Banks from the New York Times
"Responding to increasingly urgent calls from across Europe and the United States, Spain on Saturday agreed to accept a bailout for its cash-starved banks as European finance ministers offered an aid package of up to $125 billion."

It's Worse Than You Think: Halftime Between Two Lost Decades (Jack Goldstone) from the Atlantic
The recovery feels extraordinarily slow because we face an extraordinary three-part crisis: a financial shock compounded by a global slowdown and a demographic time bomb. Time to think big."

Americans' Real Beliefs on Health-Care Reform (David Graham) from the Atlantic
"They still trust Obama more than Romney to handle health care."

Millennials Losing Faith In God: Survey from the Huffington Post
"Other studies appear to confirm this trend - more than half of non-religious Millennials have abandoned their childhood faith, according to a recent study by the Public Religion Research Institute and Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs."
I think the bigger story here as how many people never doubt the existence of God! The percentages even for millenials are staggering.  NEVER?!?

Will Hillary Clinton Run for President in 2016? (Anne E. Kornblut) from the Washington Post
"Whether she runs or not, Clinton is almost certain to spend 2013, at least, unshackled from the demands of government service and entering an uncharted phase in her life, as she follows her husband into the private sector and, most likely, the nonprofit world."

Pew Survey: Americans Show Most Partisan Polarization Seen in 25 Years (Meteor Blades) from Daily Kos
"The authors state: "Party has now become the single largest fissure in American society, with the values gap between Republicans and Democrats greater than gender, age, race or class divides.""

WATERGATE NUGGET!!
40 Years After the Watergate Break-in: Nixon was Worse than We Thought (Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward) from the Washington Post
"The two reporters who broke the story explain how a growing record of evidence reveals the extent of Nixon’s crimes."

SAD NPR NEWS!!
NPR’s ‘Car Talk’ Duo Retiring but Show to Continue Weekly with Rerun Versions from the Washington Post
"The comic mechanics on NPR’s “Car Talk” are pulling in to the garage.  Brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi said Friday they will stop making new episodes of their joke-filled auto advice show at the end of September, 25 years after “Car Talk” began in Boston. Repurposed versions of old shows will stay on National Public Radio indefinitely, however."

ZOO NUGGET!!
Top 10 Zoos Worldwide (PHOTOS) from the Huffington Post
"This summer, consider visiting one of the world's most impressive zoos. Doubling in most cases as research facilities, these zoos protect endangered, rare and downright adorable animals, from pandas to monkeys to lions. Which animal tops your list?"

TECHNOLOGY NUGGET!!
How the Electric, Self-Driving Miracle Car Will Change Your Life And save the world (Steven Kopits) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Will the Leaf and the Volt go the way of the ill-fated EV1, General Motors' electric car from the 1990s? If the status quo persists, they very well might. There are, however, reasons to believe that electric cars might find a viable niche after all -- if we use them in the right way. For the last several years, Google has been testing self-driving cars, primarily in California and Nevada. "

HISTORY OF FASHION NUGGET!!
Dresses that Captured the Essence of Parisian Joie de Vivre go on Sale as Former Director of the Folies Bergère Music Hall Auctions Off her Collection from the Daily Mail of the UK]
"The symbol of Parisian 'joie de vivre' at the turn of the century, the Folies Bergère was a palace of taboo-busting sensuality, replete with nearly-nude showgirls performing erotic striptease. Now, some 6,000 costumes, posters, programs from the collection of former director Helene Martini - dubbed 'The Empress of the Night' (inset left) - will be sold on June 9 and 10 by auctioneers Bailly-Pommery & Voutier."

GREAT DEPRESSION PHOTO NUGGET!!
Never Before Seen Pictures Capture Everyday Life of Destitute Americans in Great Depression from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"All 1,000 black-and-white photos showing scenes of day-to-day life during the Great Depression were made available online by the New York Public Library, where they were languishing since the 1940s. The photographs were taken under the auspices of the Farm Security Administration, which was created to combat rural poverty, and were meant to be part of a visual encyclopaedia of Depression-era U.S."

News Nuggets 988

DAYLEE PICTURE: Da Hu Park in Taipei, Taiwan.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

The Age of Unsatisfying Wars (John Nagl) from the New York Times
"Unsatisfying wars are the stock in trade of counterinsurgency; rarely will they look like a conventional victory."

Panetta: Patience with Pakistan 'Reaching Limits' from Google News 
"Panetta's explicit and repeated criticism of Pakistan's inaction, which he also voiced in his visit to India, appeared to signal a somewhat tougher stance and a suggestion that the U.S. is becoming even more willing and quick to strike terrorist targets inside Pakistan."
No surprise.  The US-Pak relationship is running out of rope, and I think a fundamental reassessment is in the offing from both sides -- if it hasn't already happened. India and Afghanistan and the former soviet central asian republics will become our new best regional buddies.  The Pakistani gov't (more the military really) is simply too much in bed with terrorist groups, and the Pakistani people are in no mood to do anything about it.

Skeptical?  Here's this related item:
New US Leverage Seen in Talks With Pakistan from the Associated Press via ABC News
"Now the U.S. may have a little more leverage on its side, thanks to an agreement struck with some Central Asian countries to carry NATO equipment out through their territory. Before this week's agreement, Pakistan provided the only available land route to pull out gear."

And another:
The Perils of Nation Rebuilding: Sesame Street and the Corruption of Pakistan (Jacob Heilbrunn) from the National Interest
"When an innocent children's show ends up being pilfered for dollars, it's time to rethink Washington's aid plan."

Israel's Military Secret (Bruce Riedel) from the National Interest 
"Revelations about Israel's nuclear-weapons program send a clear message to Tehran. The mullahs are outclassed and outgunned."

China Cuts Lending Rate as Its Economic Growth Slows from the New York Times
The quarter-point cut by China’s central bank is the strongest measure taken by the government to counteract the economic malaise that has infected Europe and the United States."

The Great Recession Once Again Proves Education is Important Matthew O'Brien) from the Atlantic
"The bad economy has been bad for everybody, but especially for people without a degree."

How Romney's Electoral Vote Goal Falls Short (Molly Ball) from the Atlantic
"His "route to 270" strategy relies on faulty math. ... The route to 270 doesn't arrive at its destination, at least not through the states cited alone. If Romney wins the seven states his pollster points to, he winds up with 260 electoral votes."

Bill in a China Shop (John Dickerson) from Slate
"What’s up with Bill Clinton? Has he lost his touch or is he playing a more devious game?

GOP Outplaying Its Wisconsin Hand (Markos Moulitsas) from Daily Kos 
"The reality is, yesterday's election was better than any phone poll, because it gave us the voting preferences of two and a half million actual voters, and this is what the exit polls tell us: If the presidential election were today, for whom would you vote? Barack Obama 51 Mitt Romney 44"

The Cure for the Tea Party? (Norman Ornstein) from Salon
"Norm Ornstein tells Salon how California’s new primary system could help combat the biggest problem in Washington."

George W. Bush Least Popular Living Ex-President, Poll Shows from Politico 
"Three and a half years after leaving office, a survey Thursday shows that former President George W. Bush remains unpopular among a majority of Americans — the only living president with an under 50 percent approval rating. Only 43 percent of respondents had a favorable view of Bush, compared with 54 percent who had an unfavorable view, according to a CNN/ORC poll."

Melvin Sister to be Fired, 8 Aides to be Furloughed from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Nine state Supreme Court employees who worked in suspended Justice Joan Orie Melvin's Downtown office soon will be out of a job while she fights criminal corruption charges, court officials said Tuesday."

NEW SPECIES NUGGET!!
Scientists Unveil 20 New Species ... Including a Giant Blue Scorpion and Massive Hairy Spider from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"To date, they have discovered more than 1,300 species new to science - although so far only 500 or so have been formally described by taxonomists, in terms of classification and naming. And now, to celebrate their 20 years of cataloguing, the group has released 20 of their favourite finds."

News Nuggets 987

DAYLEE PICTURE: A damselfly in Belgorod, Russia.  Form the Daily Mail of the UK.

Drone Strike Killed No. 2 in Al Qaeda, U.S. Official Says from the New York Times
"Abu Yahya al-Libi, the Qaeda deputy leader who escaped American custody in 2005, was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan on Monday, according to an American official."

Stuxnet Part of Obama's Broader Cyberattack Plan, Book Alleges from CBC News [of Canada]
"Computer virus developed by U.S., Israel to target Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment plant."

Mystery Iranian Deaths Amid Shadow War from United Press International 
"At least 10 high-ranking officers in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps are reported to have died recently, apparently in violent circumstances. But only two of the deaths have been made public, raising suspicions the officers may have been assassinated by Iran's enemies. The unusually large number of deaths among senior IRGC commanders followed a disclosure by Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, in April that covert Special Forces operations against "enemy countries" were becoming more intense."

Party Like It's 1989 (Perry Link) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Why China's post-Tiananmen political model is running out of steam."

U.S. Reopening World War II Bases in Pacific (Joshua Keating) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"As part of its emerging "Air-Sea Battle" concept, (see Robert Haddick for more on that) and the strategic pivot to the Pacific, the U.S. military is planning to brush out the cobwebs on a number of long-disused facilities for potential use during a new Pacific conflict."

The Obama Paradox (David Rothkopf) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"A conversation with David Sanger, author of a new book on Obama's secret wars."

The End of Germany's Illusions (Stefan Kaiser) from Der Speigel [of Germany in English]
"Germany's booming economy and plummeting unemployment has long insulated the country from the euro crisis on Europe's periphery. Those times, however, are coming to an end. The German economy is now showing it is vulnerable after all, and Chancellor Merkel will now be forced to make sacrifices."

It Can Happen Here: Europe’s Screwed Generation and America’s (Joel Kotkin) from the Daily Beast
"As the boomers have held on to generous jobs and benefits, their children have given up on raising families, writes demographer Joel Kotkin."

Lying To a Judge ... What Was George Zimmerman Thinking? (Mansfield Frazier) from the Daily Beast
"The man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin appeared to be in good position to beat the murder charge against him … until the court learned that he and his wife had lied during his bond hearing. Mansfield Frazier asks why."

America’s Worst Colleges (Andrew Leonard) from Salon
"How badly are for-profit schools serving young people? Corinthian Colleges embodies the industry's worst trends"

Can Liberals Cure Stupidity? (Thomas Schaller) from Salon
"One of the greatest obstacles to progressive causes is how ignorant Americans are about them."

Fear Factors: What Worries Romney Backers from Politico
"President Barack Obama’s campaign is threatened most by events he can’t control: a European financial catastrophe, an Israeli attack on Iran that could goose gas prices, economic stagnation. Mitt Romney’s campaign is threatened most by the man himself."

Wisconsin Recall: Two Potential Surprises from the Washington Post 
"... regardless of what happens between Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D), the results could be a split decision in a couple of ways. The first and far more likely scenario: Democrats lose the governor’s race but win control of the state Senate."

For GOP Grown-Up, a Tax Pledge Too Far (Daniel Ruth) from the Tampa Bay Times
"Jeb Bush blithely dismissed Norquist's bona fides as an influential player in national politics. A handful of other Republican candidates also have decried the pledge as absurd. Now the scion of one of the party's most revered families was undermining Norquist's dubious reputation as a power broker."

The New Normal? (Josh Marshall & a TPM reader) from Talking Points Memo 
"What really scares me is political consequences of this recession. Republicans have perfected an electoral strategy in which they almost never seem to be blamed for obstructing the economy to achieve their party’s electoral goals. That is terrifying. With no discussion of their role (or lack of it) in returning the economy to normal employment, the American electorate seems to have conceded that they just don’t care if one party tries to damage the economy for their own electoral gain."

A Generational Biography in “Barack Obama: The Story,” by David Maraniss (T.J. Stiles) from the Washington Post
"“Barack Obama” is not, in fact, an argument for or against the reelection of the president. It is an argument for the necessity of the book itself — the book as a medium. This biography possesses a richness and scope that cannot be captured in short-form journalism, magazine excerpts or a mere review. Maraniss has written a global, multigenerational saga that culminates in the emergence of a young man who is knowable, recognizable and real."

INTERESTING HOMES NUGGET!!
Homes with Unique Paint Jobs: A Slideshow from The Week
"Begone, safe shades that ensure maximum resale value. Here are five house exteriors that recklessly embrace the bright side."

News Nuggets 986

DAYLEE PICTURE: Skiing at sunset in Alta, Utah.  From National Geographic.

VACATION NOTE: The Nuggetsman will be away until June 6 -- so postings will be quite intermittent at best.  We'll be back daily next week though!

UP-FRONT ABORTION DEBATE NUGGET!!
I do like to think that I am a "reality-based" voter -- so when confronted with data that contradicts a stated position, I'm quite open to changing my mind.  Last week, a gallup poll was released that got a lot of attention showing that public support for the pro-life position was at a new high with a corresponding diminution of support for the pro-choice position.  I wrote at the time that I suspected that what we were seeing reflected a demographic issue where pro-choice support was dropping among the young even as the most passionate pro-choicers were women seniors who (of course) will slowly die off.  I shot Gallup an e-mail asking for the age demographics on that poll.  They got it to me yesterday.  And it turns out that the picture is much more complicated.  The full poll demographic breakdowns can be found HERE:

On the one hand, this breakdown clearly shows that younger voters very much support the pro-choice position.  Indeed, it shows clearly that (along with men generally) it is actually women seniors who are the most pro-life.  


On the other hand, for those who are pro-choice, the trend lines reinforce my initial argument.  This table shows some of the trend lines.

This table shows two things: first, that the drop in pro-choice support is quite broad-based, crossing all ages, sexes and regions.  Second, that, despite their strong support for choice, it is among younger voters that we have actually seen some of the biggest drops in support.  For me this clarifies what's missing from the pro-choice movement.  While advocates do need to be concerned about a demographic downturn, in the main the support is there among the young.  What seems to me is missing (and this is not something that emerges from this data) is young leadership on this issue.  As I noted in my original posting, all of the national advocates and meaningful public faces one sees on the issue are senior women.  This was not the case back in the 1970s.  

The Case Against Intervention in Syria (Fareed Zakaria) from Time Magazine 
"The U.S., the Western world, indeed the civilized world, should attempt instead to dislodge the Assad regime. Is there a smart way to do it? For a number of reasons, military intervention is unlikely to work in Syria."

China’s Economy: Seizure or Cancer? (Minxin Pei) from The Diplomat 
"The sharp slowdown in China’s economy has policy makers around the world watching carefully. Will the government have the courage to change course?"

A Family Affair: China's Princelings are Running Amok (John Garnaut) from Foreign Policy Magazine 
"...his success exemplifies the ability of regime insiders to work the system for their own personal gain -- and make a mockery of the legal system in China. Although the private wealth of the party's princelings -- the well-connected sons and daughters of top officials -- is usually well-concealed, they are increasingly dominating the market for blocking and lubricating the arteries of public- and private-sector wealth."

Is the Recession Redefining American Masculinity? from NPR's The Takeaway program
"Economists consider workers between 25 and 54 to be in their prime, and though America follows the national unemployment figures each month, a better indicator of economic health is the percentage of 25- to 54-year-olds who are working. When it comes to America’s men, the figures aren’t good. Fewer prime-age men are working than at any point since 1948."

DOMA Ruled Unconstitutional By Federal Appeals Court from the Huffington Post
"An appeals court ruled Thursday that a law that denies a host of federal benefits to gay married couples is unconstitutional. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston said the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, discriminates against gay couples."

DOMA On Life Support (Andrew Sullivan) form the Daily Beast
"If you believe in federalism, DOMA must go. But the GOP only believes in federalism when it allows for reactionary states to do as they will against minorities, not for conservative ones, seeking to encourage responsibility among all its citizens."

Right Fears Entitlements Are Killing American Dream (Ari Shapiro) from NPR's Morning Edition program
"Tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs have left this part of Ohio. But Malcolm says if the government steps in to help, that will just make people sit back and stop trying. She says she sees the impact of government assistance every day. "It's like they have a thousand dollars a month in food stamps. They have their nails done. They have really nice smartphones. And, you know, it's like here I am working my tail end off," she says. "I can't buy sushi. I can't buy filet mignon. I can't buy crab legs. ... It's just, it's very irritating." In fact, the average person on food stamps in Ohio gets $140 a month, according to Kaiser State Health Facts. But even if her statistics are off, Malcolm's strongly held belief is that government aid removes motivation to pursue the American dream.

An Open Letter to Journalists: President Obama Is A Politician (Andrew Romano) from the Daily Beast
"Breaking: President Obama is actually a politician. In an open letter to journalists, Andrew Romano says it's time to cut the crap and declare a moratorium on the false naiveté."

Michael Tomasky on the Audacity of GOP Dopes on Health Care (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"After attacking the Affordable Care Act for three years, Republicans now say they’d like to keep its most popular provisions. How convenient—and how clueless."

Mitt Romney’s Rivals Should Hold Grudges (Matt Latimer) from the Daily Beast
"The sudden Republican rallying to Romney’s side lacks honor. Ex-Gingrich adviser Matt Latimer makes case for Mitt’s recent rivals holding grudges."

Stronger, Faster, Better? Tea Party Grooms A New Breed Of Candidate from Talking Points Memo
"But for the most part, the candidates FreedomWorks has mounted this year don’t appear set to fall into the O’Donnell/Angle category. Republicans are noticing the growing sophistication of the movement’s campaign operations. “The tea party has moved from the tricorn hat phase and into the killing-off-the-slow-and-complacent-establishment phase,” said GOP consultant Rick Wilson. “Viva la revolution!”"

Bush’s Hidden Legacy (Eleanor Clift) from the Daily Beast
"As Obama unveils Bush’s official portrait Thursday, partisans see hues of 43 in the current administration. Eleanor Clift on the former president’s surprising influence on his successor."

WI-Gov: Wisconsin Reaches for the Last Resort (E.J. Dionne) from the Washington Post
"Walker is being challenged not because he pursued conservative policies but because Wisconsin has become the most glaring example of a new and genuinely alarming approach to politics on the right. It seeks to use incumbency to alter the rules and tilt the legal and electoral playing field decisively toward the interests of those in power."

PRESIDENTIAL PORTRAIT NUGGET!!
Presidents Obama and Bush Forget About Campaigning for an Afternoon so that George W.'s Official Portrait Can be Unveiled from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Political rivals turned peers Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush traded compliments and a few laughs when they spoke at the ceremony to unveil Mr Bush's formal White House portrait.  In keeping with tradition, a portrait of each President and First Lady are added to the White House collection, and the Bushes returned to their former residents to see theirs adorn the walls."
I think W's portrait looks fine -- but Laura's does not impress.  The drab background does nothing for the black dress she's wearing.

MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH NUGGET!!
Paralyzed Patients May get Revolutionary Treatment after Rats with Severed Spinal Cords Taught to Sprint Again After Just TWO WEEKS from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Paralysed patients have been given hope by a test in which rats with broken spines were able to walk again. Using a cocktail of drugs and electrical impulses, researchers were able to 'regrow' nerves linking the spinal cord and the brain. After just two weeks of intensive therapy, the animals were not only able to walk, but climb stairs and sprint while undergoing treatment."

FIFTIES INTERIOR DECORATING NUGGET!!
How Fifties Fanatic Transformed Her Home into Homage to Mid-Century Decor from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Thanks to the chic, stylised sets of Mad Men, everyone is cuckoo for mid-century interiors at the moment and in Tulsa, Oklahoma, one ranch home owner has perfected the look. Jennie Cluck, a vintage furniture enthusiast, bought her property seven years ago and quickly realised that the outdated fixtures gave her the opportunity to have fun with an aesthetic of which she had long been a fan."
It is SO Brady Bunch!!