News Nuggets 450

A bamboo forest in Japan.  From National Geographic.

The Future of Power (Joseph Nye) from Project Syndicate
"The main dilemma that the international community faces is how to include everyone and still be able to act. The answer is likely to lie in what Europeans have dubbed “variable geometry.”"

China is Using Strong Language; Could that Mean it's Weak? (Jeffrey Wasserstrom) from the Daily Star [of Lebanon in English]
"A closer look reveals that President Hu Jintao’s words and deeds are often shaped by a mixture of insecurity and cockiness, and that Chinese officials alternate between playing up and playing down their country’s rise."

Obama's War with the Pentagon (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"The clash between the White House and the military brass over the Afghan war will grow more intense under the new national security adviser. Peter Beinart on the knife fight ahead."
This is a very important story, one that has not been receiving enough attention.

Obama's India Visit (Editorial) from the Asia Sentinel [of Hong Kong in English]
"Obama's visit could not only help clear cobwebs of misunderstandings but also help the two sides define the parameters of a more global, and thus more strategic, US-India partnership. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Obama is attaching "immense importance" to his India visit and his administration has fleshed out an "ambitious agenda" to take bilateral relations to the next level."

China's Nobel Threats Backfire from the Daily Beast
"Beijing is a growing power, but blocking news of jailed rights activist Liu Xiaobo’s Peace Prize projects weakness—and warning that the honor would be seen as “an unfriendly act” may have helped him win."

Beijing Values the Nobels. That's Why This Hurts (Julia Lovell) from the Independent [of the UK]
"The Beijing government has seen the prize – like Olympic medals and entry to the World Trade Organisation – as an important source of international "face", as the chance to win global recognition as a modern world power. Since it first emerged, however, China's Nobel Complex has been mired in controversy."

More Black People Jailed in England and Wales Proportionally than in US from the Guardian [of the UK]
"New study finds seven times more black people per population are in prison – in the US number is just four times as many."
The issue of race will be one of Europe's biggest challenges for the 21st century.

Political Columnists Think America Is In Decline. Big Surprise. (David Bell) from the New Republic
"By comparing America to Rome and warning us about our imminent decline and fall, writers like Friedman think that they are issuing a necessary wake-up call; sounding an alarm in terms that cannot be ignored. But are they?"

America's Perpetual Decline (Megan McCardle) from the Atlantic
"It's worth remembering that the other declinists were powerfully convinced of their own argument.  The human brain is programmed to look for what is new, and what is dangerous.  That means that we're prone to ignore all the strengths of the American economy that are still there."
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/10/americas-perpetual-decline/64206/
For the most part, I share McCardle's opinion about the "declinists" in our midst.  Here's a related article from Daniel Drezner at Foreign Policy Magazine.

Shadowy Players in a New Class War (E.J. Dionne) from the Washington Post
"The 2010 election is turning into a class war. The wealthy and the powerful started it. This is a strange development. President Obama, after all, has been working overtime to save capitalism. Wall Street is doing just fine, and the rich are getting richer again. The financial reform bill passed by Congress was moderate, not radical. Nonetheless, corporations and affluent individuals are pouring tens of millions of dollars into attack ads aimed almost exclusively at Democrats."
I completely agree with Dionne about the class warfare.  The difficulty is that virtually no one is unambiguously on the side of low-income people.

GOP Gives Climate Science a Cold Shoulder (Ronald Brownstein) from National Journal
"His strong words make it easier to recognize that Republicans in this country are coalescing around a uniquely dismissive position on climate change. The GOP is stampeding toward an absolutist rejection of climate science that appears unmatched among major political parties around the globe, even conservative ones."

Dems Define Success Down (Major Garrett) from National Journal
"House Democrats are increasingly confident that they are going to beat back the Republican onslaught and keep control of the chamber -- even as they suffer massive losses across the country."

Democratic Upswing (Tim Fernholz) from the American Prospect
"TAP talks to the president of a progressive think tank who sees signs that November won't be so bad for Democrats after all."

Is 2010 the Year Voters Turn Polls on Their Heads? (Walter Shapiro) from Politics Daily
"The expectation of a GOP tidal wave is so ingrained in the media and politically sophisticated voters that it is easy to imagine the morning-after headlines: "In Stunning Rebuff to Republicans, GOP Only Picks Up 93 House Seats.""

Cable News Chatter is Changing the Electoral Landscape (Kurtz & Tumulty) from the Washington Post
"The increasing polarization of cable news is transforming, and in some ways shrinking, the electoral landscape. What has emerged is a form of narrowcasting, allowing candidates a welcoming platform that helps them avoid hostile press questioning and, in some cases, minimize the slog and the slip-ups of retail campaigning."

POLITICAL BOOKS NUGGET!!
Anatomy of an Uprising (Alan Brinkley) from the New York Times
"Trying to describe the ideas of the Tea Party movement is a bit like a blind man trying to describe the elephant. The movement, like the elephant, exists. But no one, not even the Tea Partiers themselves, can seem to get hands around the whole of it."

News Nuggets 449

Plitvice Lake in Croatia.  From Huffington Post

UP-FRONT RALLY NUGGET ... 

FROM PITTSBURGH'S OWN LYNN CULLEN!

Hello my friends.

It’s time to take on the lunatics before they drive us all crazy. If you’re as fed up as I am with the tone of political talk these days, I have a great idea for relief: Join me at the Rally to Restore Sanity on October 30 in Washington, DC.  This is the brainchild of Jon Stewart and what a perfect metaphor it is for the sorry state of our unhappy nation heading into the November elections.  What better way to encapsulate the total insanity and stupidity of our national debate than responding to the clarion call of the nation’s comic-in-chief?  The tea partiers have picked their clown: Glenn Beck.  We have chosen ours: Jon Stewart. 

What a get-together this is going to be on the National Mall, sure to be unlike any rally the nation’s capital has ever seen.  This is frivolity with a purpose!  This will show the nation that not all Americans have gone off the deep end. 

What better way to stick it to the whiners, the hysterics, the paranoids, the birthers, the haters, and ideological purists than a  massive dose of ridicule!?!?!?!?  And, Stephen Colbert will be hosting a “counter-rally” titled “Keep Fear Alive”.  Is this not perfect?

I have the buses gassed up and ready to go.  All you have to do is sign up to get aboard before October 22.  We have multiple pick-up points and two buses already filled.  You missed Woodstock.  You don’t want to miss this.
 
To register, email sanityexpress@deboltunlimited.com or call 1-800-4-DEBOLT.  There is also a link on Pittsburgh City Paper’s website at www.pghcitypaper.com. 

Hope to see you on the bus!

Lynn Cullen

And now ... back to our regular nuggets:
Embrace the Talks (Paul Pillar) from the National Interest
"The story in the Washington Post about preliminary talks between the Afghan Taliban and President Hamid Karzai is encouraging news in two respects."

With Talks Stalemated, Demographics Define Israeli-Palestinian Future from Yale Global
"Contrasting birth rates between Israelis and Palestinians will influence Middle East politics."
This analyst is on the mark here.  In short order, the demographics will force any 'stalemated' talks to resume.  I think this is Obama's insight and that of his team.  If there is only going to be  'one state' these demographics strongly indicate that that state will be Palestinian.

And speak of the Devil!
Israelis, Palestinians Signal Deal on Settlements from the Washington Post
"In the clearest sign that a deal may be emerging to keep the troubled U.S. Mideast peace push alive, a top Palestinian official said Thursday that his side would accept an American proposal for Israel to curtail settlement construction for two months."

Donilon to Replace Jones as National Security Adviser from the New York Times
"As deputy national security adviser, Mr. Donilon has urged what he calls a “rebalancing” of American foreign policy to rapidly disengage American forces in Iraq and to focus more on China, Iran and other emerging challenges. In the Afghanistan-Pakistan review, he argued that the United States could not engage in what he termed “endless war,” and has strongly defended Mr. Obama’s decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan next summer."
One can only assume that Obama is going to move in Donilon's direction.

Presidents: History May Not Repeat But It Certainly Rhymes (Peter Feaver) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Forget Carter: Maybe Obama is like Ike."

Foes of Health-Care Law Lose Key Court Ruling in Mich. from AOL News
"A federal judge on Thursday upheld the authority of the federal government to require everyone to have health insurance, dealing a setback to groups seeking to block the new national health care plan."

The Man Who Never Was (Todd Purdum) from Vanity Fair
"“You can tell he can barely fucking stand the fact that he was beaten by Barack Obama,” says one senior White House aide who was present. “Throughout the whole meeting, he would not look at the president, even when he was talking to him.”"

October Surprise? (James Carville and Stanley Greenberg) from Democracy Corps
"We are very close to believing that the 2010 election can move to a new place.  Our latest poll shows the Democrats with a 6-point deficit—and any shift will have a significant impact on the number of House seats and the hold on the Senate."

Poll: Tea Party Fires Up the Democrats More Than it Influences Republicans from The Hill
"Democrats break 66-15 against the Tea Party, and half say Tea Party support makes them less likely to vote for a candidate. So a Tea Party endorsement would motivate Dems to vote against a candidate slightly more than it prompts Republicans or independents to vote for one. "

White America Has Lost Its Mind from the Village Voice
"The white brain, beset with worries, finally goes haywire in spectacular fashion."

Republicans Still Lacking the Moderates from Public Policy Polling
"One of the more remarkable things about the likely big win Republicans are headed for next month is that they're doing it without having improved their appeal to the center at all since the 2008 election. … That's the reason why this year's Republican resurgence may prove to be short lived and why much of what the party gains this year could be lost again in 2012."

FL-Sen: A Florida Double Crist? from the Wall Street Journal
"Kendrick Meek might drop out of the Florida senate race and thereby pave the path to victory for Charlie Crist."
To be frank, I suspect it may be tool late for this kind of deal.  Some further analysis is HERE from Daily Kos.

ANIMAL NUGGET!!
Animals Said to Have Spiritual Experiences from Discovery News
"Animals (not just people) likely have spiritual experiences, according to a prominent neurologist who has analyzed the processes of spiritual sensation for over three decades."

DINOSAUR NUGGET!!
New Strong-Handed Dinosaur May Shatter Assumptions from National Geographic News
"Fossils of an intriguing new species with a powerful hand may reveal an edgier side of some supposedly peaceful, plant-munching dinosaurs, a new study says."

News Nuggets 448

Lake Bled in Slovenia.  See the Lakes Nugget below.  From the Huffington Post.

UP-FRONT PITTSBURGH WEEKEND NUGGET!!
Everyone in the greater Pittsburgh area:

This Sunday is what's called a Regional Asset District Day in Pittsburgh. This means that many of the really interesting cultural institutions in Pittsburgh will be open to the general public for free!  This includes the Pittsburgh Zoo, the aquarium, the Children's Museum, the History Center and other stuff.  The weather is supposed to be nice so I thought you might take in some of these places.  Some other things are also open on Saturday.

HERE's a pdf with the list of attractions and the times, etc.

Back to our regular nuggets:
Taliban in High-Level Talks with Karzai Government, Sources Say from the Washington Post
"Taliban representatives and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai have begun secret, high-level talks over a negotiated end to the war, according to Afghan and Arab sources."
It's about time.  It's the only way we will ever leave that place.

Iran's Dive Against the Dollar from the World Policy Institute
"At the end of September, the exchange rate of the rial on Iran’s black market registered a sudden depreciation against the dollar, going from 10,500 per dollar to 13,000 in one week. At the same time, the official exchange rate of the dollar remained virtually unchanged at 10,200 rial. This event is significant."

Sanctions Begin to Compound Iran's Severe Economic Problems from the Washington Post
"President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, already faced with growing opposition from competing political forces within Iran, is confronting new pressure brought on by severe economic problems, including some triggered by international sanctions."

The Salesman (Mark Bowden) from the Atlantic
"Experienced, emotional, marked by personal tragedy and political setback, Joe Biden is in many ways the antithesis of the president he serves. But his stock has risen steadily in the West Wing, and with the Democrats poised to lose much of their leverage in the midterm elections, the vice president’s unique skills and attributes may prove ever more crucial to his administration’s success."
A great profile of the VP.

Americans Underestimate US Wealth Inequality (Steve Inskeep) from NPR's Morning Edition
"The term wealth inequality refers to the unequal distribution of financial assets among a group of people. In the U.S., the top 20 percent of people have 85 percent of the wealth."
A related NPR story, "What Does 'Middle Class' Really Mean? is HERE.

Obama's Forgotten Base (Christopher Hayes) from the Nation
"According to the poll, Tea Party sympathizers constitute 29 percent of 2008 voters, while black voters, those under 30 and those making less than $30,000 a year together make up 32 percent. Project Vote positions this cohort as the anti–Tea Party, and leafing through the poll you can see why."

Obama's a Lock in 2012 (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"Sure, things look grim for the Dems this fall. But the base will rally, the economy will turn up, and the GOP will shoot itself in the foot—ensuring the president a second term."
Yes, I know it's premature for any such statements -- but it very much captures the sentiment I've had for a long time.

The Bears-and-Sneakers Theory of Democracy (Ezra Klien) from the Washington Post
"In a two-party system, you don't need people to like you to win. You just need them to like the other guys less. Think of it as the bears-and-sneakers theory of democracy. … At the end of the day, politics is about more than winning elections. The Republican Party remains in intellectual tatters."

The Bear-and-Sneakers Theory: "Two campers were hiking in the forest when all of a sudden a bear jumps out of a bush and starts chasing them. Both campers start running for their lives, when one of them stops and starts to put on his running shoes.  His partner says, “What are you doing? You can’t outrun a bear!”  His friend replies, “I don’t have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you!”"

Two New Polls Show Significant 7 Point Gains for the Democrats (Simon Rosenberg) from NDN.org
"More evidence this morning confirming the argument we've been making for the past few weeks - the Republican wave has crested, and a new dynamic in election 2010 has taken hold."
Michael Tomasky at the Guardian comments on this post HERE.

NODEL PEACE PRIZE NUGGET!!
And the Nobel Goes to… from Foreign Policy Magazine
"FP handicaps the Peace Prize shortlist, and betting on Bono isn't a bad idea."

LAKES NUGGET!!
World's Most Beautiful Lakes from Huffington Post
"There are many on this list of beautiful lakes that we have seen, and others we are dying to see"
We'll be showcasing some of these in up-coming posts.

ARCHEOLOGY NUGGET!!
Statue of King Tut's Grandfather Unearthed in Luxor from Discovery News
"The upper part of the more than 3,000-year-old double statue has been dug out at the site of the pharaoh's funerary temple in Kom El-Hittan, in the west bank of Luxor."

ANTHROPOLOGY NUGGET!!
Neanderthals Were Compassionate and Caring from Discovery News
"Neanderthals are often depicted as brutish club wielders, but a new book suggests Neanderthals had a sensitive side, displaying "a deep seated sense of compassion.""

News Nuggets 447

A good message to take on in this election season!

Iran Claims Computer Worm is a Western Plot from the Associated Press via Raw Story
"Iranian officials have suggested in recent days that the Stuxnet worm that has affected computers of employees at the Bushehr nuclear power plant could be a conspiracy to damage Iran's nuclear activities. But Tuesday's comments by Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast were the strongest accusations of Western sabotage so far."
A western plot?  Gee -- y'think?  The fact that Iranian officials are STILL going on about this suggests to me that the Stuxnet worm did some substantial damage.  I'd love to know more about the extent of its impact.

Some more background on the Stuxnet worm:
A Code for Chaos from the New York Times
"The question is: Just how dangerous has this worm and cyberwarfare become?"

Ahmadinejad Softening his Stance on Nuclear Development (Simon Tisdall) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"A combination of international sanctions and domestic unrest is pushing Iran towards greater co-operation with western powers."

Attack of the Drones: The Lesser of Two Evils (Anthony Cordesman) from the National Interest
"Some reporting makes this look like a massive bombing campaign, and one producing large numbers of unnecessary civilian casualties. Other reporting somehow makes it seem illegitimate or talks about a Pashtun honor code as if U.S. forces can only fight insurgents face-to-face with their weapons on their terms…. We have no alternative way to fight and all of the other options would be far worse even if they were available."

China Shouldn't Demand 'Face' It Denies to Others (Editorial) from the Frankfurter Rundschau [of Germany in English]
"The Beijing government distinguishes itself on the international arena with its gruff manner. It has a demonstrably tough attitude. In this way, it has achieved the opposite of what it desires most: recognition."

Games India Isn't Ready to Play (Op-Ed) from the New York Times
"Who is anxious over India’s image in the wealthy world? That particular burden is borne by India’s small affluent elite, for whom the last few months have been full of painful and awkward self-reckonings. Certainly, the fear of violence over Ayodhya was only the latest in a long line of reminders that, as the columnist Vir Sanghvi put it, “as hard as we try to build a new India ... old India still has the power to humiliate and embarrass us.”"

In the same vein:
Much More than Commonwealth Games Needed for Lasting National Prestige (Editorial) from The Hindu [of India in English]
"While India's impressive economic growth rate (recent average eight per cent) regularly makes international headlines, this single indicator, unfortunately, masks India's many shortcomings — a basic lack of infrastructure, power, irrigation and transport that slows the pace of India's economic and human development."

Tennessee County’s Subscription-Based Firefighters Watch As Family Home Burns Down from ThinkProgress
"They wouldn’t do anything to stop his house from burning. Each year, Obion County residents must pay $75 if they want fire protection from the city of South Fulton. But the Cranicks did not pay. The mayor said if homeowners don’t pay, they’re out of luck."
IN-credible!!  What if some child had been accidently left inside?! Ooops?!

Dems Gain in Polls from the Washington Post
"The political landscape remains strongly tilted toward Republicans, although Democrats have made modest improvements with voters since their late-summer low point, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll."

Democrats Seize on Signs of Hope from Politico
"Once-despondent Democrats now believe that they may be able to avert a total midterm wipeout, as several important states now appear to be trending in their direction or growing more competitive."

Schwarzenegger Says Obama Likely to Get Re-Elected from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"Barack Obama's Democrats may be facing a drubbing in upcoming US midterm congressional elections, but California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, says the US president will likely get re-elected. The Republicans, he argues, are incapable at the moment of finding a candidate viable against Obama."
I totally agree with the 'Governator' here.

GOP Re-Message Message (Joe Klein) from Time Magazine
"The G.O.P., especially its nutball "Obama's sky is falling" wing, has been setting up a perverse expectations game: if it wins 38 seats, it will have lost...because the Democrats will still control the House; if it wins 8 Senate seats, it will also have lost...because the Democrats will still control the Senate. Finally, some wiser Republican heads are re-setting expectations."

How the GOP Could Blow It (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"Face it: Republicans will win big in November. But if they actually carry out the Tea Party mandate to slash spending, the GOP will lose public support in the long run."

RECENT HISTORY BOOK NUGGET!
The Supersnooper Pursuing the Paranoid Politician: A Review of Richard Nixon, Jack Anderson, and the Rise of Washington’s Scandal Culture by Mark Feldstein from the New York Times
"There’s a great deal of high comedy in “Poisoning the Press,” Mark Feldstein’s meticulous recounting of Anderson’s life and times. We watch as Anderson, like some silent-comedy villain with a heart of gold, happily uses every greasy tool at his disposal — eavesdropping, blackmail, planting spies, poking through garbage — to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted in his influential and long-running column, “Washington Merry-Go-Round.”"

COLONIAL HISTORY BOOK NUGGET!!
Learning to be Washington: A Review of Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow from the New York Times
"Today, books about Washington continue to appear at such an astonishing rate that the publication of Ron Chernow’s prompts the inevitable question: Why another one? An obvious answer is that Chernow is no ordinary writer."
I agree.  Chernow's bio of Alexander Hamilton was a truly outstanding and revealing study. 

FASHION NUGGET!!
Would YOU Dare to Wear Spray-on Clothes? from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"I encountered Fabrican - a liquid fabric which enables outfits to be sprayed on from an aerosol, directly on to the body.  Clothes out of a can may sound like some sort of science-fiction fantasy, but some serious scientific muscle went into developing the idea."

News Nuggets 446

The egg clusters of frogs in a spring-fed mountain lake in Hungary.  What an evocative image! From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT MIDTERM ELECTIONS NUGGET!!
Print it out and carry it around … for those disenchanted Dems who ask why they should support their party in November.
So You Don't Like President Obama.  You Still Need to Vote from Salon
"Many Democrats and Progressives (especially those who registered in the last Presidential election) have signaled their intent to boycott the upcoming midterms in November.  This would be a terrible mistake."

Asia's New Cold War from Time Magazine
"The row has pulled relations between East Asia's two great powers to its lowest ebb in years, showing just how delicate the balance of power remains in a region that from 1894 to 1953 suffered from near constant war."

A related story is:
Woken Up to a Stirring Dragon (Michael Auslin) from the Wall Street Journal via RealClearWorld
"Beijing's interest in asserting territorial claims throughout its neighborhood is longstanding, but the fact that others are increasingly paying attention-and standing up to China-is new. How China's leadership reacts to the ensuing conflicts in the coming months may well determine how peacefully the entire region develops over this decade."

Tangled by China Ties: Why Moscow Should Beware of Beijing (Owen Matthews) from Newsweek
"Long term, however, the structure of these deals will entrench all that’s most flawed about the Russian economy."

Why Don't Palestinians Adopt Nonviolence? (Jonathan Chait) from the New Republic
"From the Palestinian perspective, Israel is a colonial state that was suddenly dropped on their head as a result of European crimes. Most Palestinians seem to think, like Helen Thomas said, that the fair solution is for the Jews to go back to Europe. I obviously don't see things that way, but I understand why Palestinians do."
Gandhi adopted nonviolence in the face of British colonialism.  While an interesting point, I'm not sure how well it holds up. 

Midnight Shopping on the Brink of Poverty (Jamie Tarabay) from NPR
"Last year, 3.7 million Americans joined those already living in poverty, meaning families of four living on just under $22,000. That's 14 percent of the population."

California Downgrades Pot Possession to Infraction from the San Francisco Chronicle
"Citing the need to reduce spending on prosecution and courts, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a measure that makes marijuana possession an infraction, on par with traffic and littering tickets."

With Tyler Clementi's Death, Let's Try Friending Decency (Kathleen Parker) from the Washington Post
"We should add an urgent call to renew respect for privacy. As a community of decent people, we have to rally ourselves to stop the insanity of narcissism and exhibitionism that inculcates the broader notion that nothing is off-limits."

The Radical Right Returns (Paul Starobin) from National Journal
"The Radical Right, as the Birchers and their kinfolk were known, is back. The movement has returned, if not to the center of American politics, then to some worrisome place not all that far from the mainstream. … But the bill of personal indictment against Barack Hussein Obama the man -- that is, the particular spate of accusations that cast him as somehow un-American -- is absurd."
A long-form examination of the mainstreaming of radical thought.

Movement of the Moment Looks to Long-Ago Texts from the New York Times
"The Tea Party is a thoroughly modern movement, organizing on Twitter and Facebook to become the most dynamic force of the midterm elections. But when it comes to ideology, it has reached back to dusty bookshelves for long-dormant ideas.  It has resurrected once-obscure texts by dead writers — in some cases elevating them to best-seller status — to form a kind of Tea Party canon."
Next thing you know, they'll be citing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

The Terrible Election Race Race (Gail Collins) from the New York Times
"Which state is having the most appalling campaign season?  Wow, so much competition."

GERMANY NUGGET!!
Eastern Germany on the Road to Western Prosperity from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"Almost two decades since East and West Germany merged, a new study shows that eastern states are catching up with their western neighbors. The standard of living in the former East Germany has improved significantly since the fall of the Wall, though it still trails the west."

CREEPY PLACES NUGGET!!
The World's Creepiest Places from the Huffington Post
"Here are our picks for the creepiest places on the planet. Some, such as Japan's Aokigahara Forest, maintain closely associated with the present-day macabre, while others, like Scotland's Loch Ness, are frequently disregarded as pure folklore...but then again, no one knows for sure."

MOVIE NUGGET!!
"Leaving": Why Isn't Kristin Scott Thomas a Movie Star? from Salon
"'Leaving' has got something none of those movies about middle-aged women finding love has: the amazing Kristin Scott Thomas, who keeps appearing in roles that seem bound to win her the Oscar she's deserved for so long, but inevitably don't. (She's been nominated only once, for "The English Patient" in 1997.)"
I share the critic's high regard for Thomas.

News Nuggets 445

A European lynx being released into the wilds ... of Germany's Harz Mountains.  See the Big Cat Nugget below.  From Der Spiegel. 

"Service to others is the rent we pay for living on this earth." the just-deceased actor, Tony Curtis.  See the Obituary Nugget below.

America: Once Engaged, Now Ready to Lead (Robert Kagan) from the Washington Post
"A year ago, the talk was of the post-American world. Obama seemed to be the post-American president, resigned to doing the best he could with the bad hand he'd been dealt. Today, officials exude more optimism. "
Is it a good thing when a neo-con like Kagan is saying this stuff?  Parts of his analysis I agree with and other parts are simply unrepentant, misplaced Bush bullshit.

What China Needs to Learn (Minxin Pei) from The Diplomat
"Japan wasn’t blameless in the recent spat. But Beijing must understand that great powers sometimes need to show restraint. The measure of a great power is not how it flexes its muscles, but how it refrains from doing so."
Pei's on-the-money here.

The Japan Syndrome ... for China? from Foreign Policy Magazine
"China's teetering on the verge of its own lost decade, and a meltdown in Beijing would make Japan's economic malaise look like child's play."

As the Worm Turns (David Kay) from the National Interest
"The more one digs into what are the likely origins and motivations behind the “Stuxnet” computer worm, the more it comes to resemble a cross between an Agatha Christie mystery and a Frederick Forsyth thriller."

Coalition Picks Maliki in Move That May End Iraq Stalemate from the New York Times
"Mr. Maliki’s renomination to the post he has held since 2006, …, was a breakthrough after nearly seven months of bare-knuckle, back-room bargaining that have followed the country’s election on March 7."

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (Kevin Drum) from Mother Jones Magazine
"According to CBO reports, the stimulus has created 3.5 million jobs and kept unemployment about 1 to 2 percent lower than it otherwise would have been, and apparently it's accomplished this efficiently and with minimal waste. It's a testament to what happens when you take good policy seriously."

Catholics Face Vocal 'Mutiny' Over Teachings on Gay Marriage from Huffington Post
"new corps of increasingly vocal Catholics is urging a "mutiny" against the hierarchy, in the words of one activist, particularly on gay marriage and related matters."

First Thoughts: Assessing Rahm (Chuck Todd, et al.) from MSNBC
"He played a key role in the Democrats racking up more legislative achievements than Washington has seen since the Great Society or the New Deal. His half-a-loaf-is-better-than-no-loaf approach produced big results, even if those results weren't widely embraced by a public during a time of 10% unemployment."
Being a president's chief-of-staff almost always requires a hard-nosed political realist who is willing to piss off the powers-that-be-elsewhere.  Dating back to the days of Nixon, chiefs-of-staff have tended to be tough as nails rottweilers, and Rahm was no exception.

Exit Rahm.  Left Turn Ahead (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"On his last day as chief of staff, Emanuel said that he believes “the whole country is better” for his service. Peter Beinart on the left turn Obama will take under Emanuel's successor Pete Rouse now that the liberal-baiting Rahm is gone."

Are Democrats Waking Up? (Charlie Cook) from the National Journal
"A new poll suggests Dems may turn out in higher numbers than expected."

Democrats will hold the House and Senate (Robert Shrum) from The Week
"For Democrats, it's Rove time: Rally the base and save Congress."

NEWSWEEK Poll: Anger Unlikely to Be Deciding Factor in Midterms (Andrew Romano) from Newsweek
"Self-described "angry voters" no more likely to vote; Democrats trusted more than GOP on key issues."

OBITUARY NUGGET!!
Tony Curtis, Hollywood Leading Man, Dies at 85 from the New York Times
"Tony Curtis, a classically handsome movie star who earned an Oscar nomination as an escaped convict in Stanley Kramer’s 1958 movie “The Defiant Ones,” but whose public preferred him in comic roles in films like “Some Like It Hot” (1959) and “The Great Race” (1965), died Wednesday of cardiac arrest in his Las Vegas area home. He was 85."
A GREAT actor … and a pretty decent human being as the quote at the top of today's post suggests.

WORLD WAR I NUGGET!!
World War I to Finally End for Germany This Weekend from CNN
"Germany and the Allies can call it even on World War I this weekend. On Sunday - the 20th anniversary of East and West Germany unifying about a year after the Berlin Wall fell - Deutschland will make the last in a series of reparation payments that has spanned more than nine decades."
This story is both hilarious and deeply sad at the same time.  Such a wrong-headed relic of World War I.

GERMANY NUGGET!!
An Inside Look at the Reunification Negotiations from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"When the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, nobody expected Germany to be reunified less than a year later. New documents released by the Foreign Ministry in Berlin shed new light on the dramatic negotiations that led to East and West Germany becoming one."
Check out the series of articles Der Spiegel has been running HERE on "20 Years of a United Germany."

BIG CAT NUGGET!!
Predatory Cats Return to the Harz Mountains in Germany from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"For the past decade, conservationists have been releasing zoo-bred Eurasian lynx in Germany's Harz mountains, with the goal of returning them to their natural habitat. The lynx, once targeted by hunters because they threatened farm animals and local game, disappeared from the region nearly 200 years ago."

News Nuggets 444

 Baby bearcats at a Berlin animal park.  Can't say I know much about these critters.  From the Huffington Post.

Ahmadinejad Returns to Chaos (Reza Aslan) from the Daily Beast
"Don’t let the Iranian president’s confidence at the U.N. last week fool you: He is going home to a country in political turmoil, an economy on the verge of utter collapse, and a government in total deadlock."

North Korea's 'Evil' Sister (Philip Shenon) from the Daily Beast
"Kim Kyong Hui, sister to the outgoing ruler, got a big promotion in Pyongyang Tuesday, putting her at equal standing in North Korea’s nuclear-armed military with the dictator’s youngest son and heir apparent, Kim Jong Un. Philip Shenon on the new four-star general’s reputation for being a mean drunk, bumping off political rivals, and driving her own daughter to suicide."
This country is so messed up!

US-Japan Ties in Focus After Boat Row (Editorial) from the China Post [of Taiwan in English]
"As a result of increased Chinese assertiveness — despite continued insistence that its rise will be peaceful — other countries on China's periphery, besides Japan, are also beginning to see the need to hedge against the emerging power."

Bangladesh, 'Basket Case' No More (Sadanand Dhume) from the Wall Street Journal
"For the outside world, much of the country's history can be summed up as a blur of political protests and natural disasters punctuated by outbursts of jihadist violence and the occasional military coup.  No longer."
Who knew?

NATO Confirms Senior al-Qaida Commander Killed from the Associated Press via RealClearWorld
"A NATO air strike killed a senior al-Qaida commander in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday, while Pakistan is investigating reports that a separate CIA drone-launched missile killed the insurgents' No. 3 commander in its territory"
These types of stories have become so routine that one has to wonder what the state of al-Qaida's leadership is right now.  What kind of impact are these killings having on the organization?  I'd love to know.

Welcome to the Stay-Put Economy (Derek Thompson) from the Atlantic
"Recessions have a way of freezing things. Credit, spending, labor mobility: everything seizes when uncertainty clutches the economy."

The White House, Rouse Style (Marc Ambinder) from the Atlantic
"If President Obama selects Pete Rouse, his former Senate chief of staff, to be a caretaker executive in the White House, there will be little visible manifestation of Rouse's presence to the outside world. Inside the White House, however, while circadian rhythm will be less frenetic, the changes will be significant."

Basic Religion Test Stumps Many Americans from the New York Times
"Americans are by all measures a deeply religious people, but they are also deeply ignorant about religion."
I am SOO surprised!

Imagining a Deficit Plan from Republicans (David Leonhardt) from the New York Times
"In their Pledge to America, Congressional Republicans have used the old trick of promising specific tax cuts and vague spending cuts. It’s the politically easy approach, and it is likely to be as bad for the budget as when George W. Bush tried it."

Tea and Crackers: How Corporate Interests and Republican Insiders Built the Tea Party Monster (Matt Taibbi) from Rolling Stone Magazine
"Scanning the thousands of hopped-up faces in the crowd, I am immediately struck by two things. One is that there isn't a single black person here. The other is the truly awesome quantity of medical hardware…"
This piece is REALLY funny.  The title alone is priceless!

The Tea Kettle Movement (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"Based on all I’ve heard from this movement, it feels to me like it’s all steam and no engine. It has no plan to restore America to greatness. The Tea Kettle movement can’t have a positive impact on the country because it has both misdiagnosed America’s main problem and hasn’t even offered a credible solution for the problem it has identified."

In a similar vein:
The Serious Right vs. "The Pledge" (Andrew Sullivan) from the Atlantic
"We do care about the fiscal crisis looming, and we will do all we can to highlight those conservatives and liberals serious about tackling the problem and those who aren't. The current GOP leadership is absolutely not serious about it, will have no mandate to do anything serious if they win the House this fall, and no-one, Democrat, Republican or Independent, should be under any illusions about that."

POLITICAL BOOK NUGGET!!
Mapping a Left Turn: A Book Review of Herding Donkeys from the Wall Street Journal
"Mr. Berman, a smart young liberal journalist who writes for the Nation, isn't merely a pundit hopping on the Obama bandwagon a bit too late. His book—about how grass-roots progressives helped to revive Democratic fortunes and make Mr. Obama president—is a well-reported tour de force that would be worth reading as a snapshot in time even if the Democrats went the way of the Whigs after November."

News Nuggets 443

443 

A view of the Manhattan waterfront in 1946.  See yesterday's History Book Nugget.  From the New York Times.

Abbas: No Quick Decision on Future of Middle East Peace Talks from Haaretz [of Israel in English]

"Despite threats to quit negotiations over Israel's resumption of settlement building, Palestinian president keeps hope of compromise alive."

This is very good news.  It also suggests that Abbas thinks progress is being made through the talks.  If no progress was being made, I suspect he would have used this issue to take a walk.

In the Footsteps of the Kaiser: China Boosts US power in Asia (Walter Russell Mead) from the American Interest Online

"Is China the best friend of American power?  Beijing’s recent missteps in Asia — moving ahead with reactor sales to troubled Pakistan and crudely threatening Japan over the arrest of a

Chinese fishing captain — are swiftly solidifying America’s Asian alliances."

I often disagree with Mead's views on recent history -- but this was too good to pass up!  The illusion to the strutting egotism and insistent desperation to be taken seriously and to be consulted on all global matters was SO TRUE for Germany under the Kaiser.  The comparison with modern China is quite interesting.

North Korea's Celebrations Amiss from The Diplomat

"Kim Jong-un looks set to replace his father as North Korea’s leader. But what does another Kim mean for its people?"

A related item appears here:

North Korea and the Perils of a Third Kim Regime from the Editorial Board of the Christian Science Monitor

"The ruling elite of North Korea meet this week and may anoint a successor to Kim Jong-il -- possibly his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, who was made a military general. This leadership transition, however, won't go easily. China needs to stop propping up a weak, violent regime."

Anti-Iran Computer Bug Had Powerful Backers from the Guardian [of the UK]

"Stuxnet computer code designed to infect industrial plants created by well-funded hackers, says Symantec Corp expert."

More detail on the Stuxnet worm is here:

Six Mysteries of Stuxnet from Foreign Policy Magazine

"Langner guesses that Stuxnet is aimed at Bushehr, Iran's civilian nuclear power plant, which is slated to go online this fall. Langner's case rests largely on the fact that Bushehr runs Siemens software and that Russian contractors would have had access to the facility -- and that they would have used USB drives to set up the system."

Delhi's Dirty Reality? from The Diplomat

"In a careless and inappropriate remark, Bhanot suggested that Indians and foreigners have different standards of cleanliness, causing public dismay and hand wringing. However, if the truth be told, it may not have been far off the mark."

NOTE: The Diplomat has a surprising range of interesting articles on Asia, many others of which are worth checking out. 

The Ten Companies That Will Signal The End To The Recession from 24/7 Wall Street

"24/7 Wall St. took a look at ten large companies whose success will prove that the recession has ended for most Americas – consumers and businesses alike. None of them are rapidly growing. Most are relatively mature. This makes them a good litmus tests for showing an improvement in economic growth because rapidly expanding companies such as Apple can give off false signals."

Many Wanted Health Care Law to Do More from Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

"A new Associated Press poll finds that Americans who think President Obama's health care law should have gone further outnumber the ones who think the government should stay out of health care by 2 to 1."

I have LONG suspected as much.  NOTE: The AP link was defective when I tried to use it at Political Wire.  Salon has more discussion of the poll HERE.

New Polls Give Dems Something to Smile About (Mark Blumenthal) from the Huffington Post

"It may just be the bouncing ball of randomness at work but new polls in California, Nevada, Ohio and Kentucky released over the weekend gave Democrats something to smile about, or perhaps just a little less to wince at."

AUTOMOBILE/POLITICS NUGGET!!

The Worst Drivers in America from the Daily Beast

"What was more surprising: how the breakdown between states with more dangerous drivers and safer drivers fell almost completely along the lines of the 2008 McCain-Obama election, with the Republicans again coming up on the short end. Nine of the 10 worst-performing states went for McCain, while nine of the 10 best performers voted for Obama. (Delaware and Rhode Island were the respective outliers.)"

News Nuggets 442

Tech problem: Google's "Add Images" tool isn't working -- so no daylee picture.

UP-FRONT FRAUD NUGGET!!

[Forwarded from one of our regular readers]

JURY Duty Scam

For yourself, your elderly parents, and your grown children. This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below).  It is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call. Most of us take those summonses for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty that a new and ominous kind of fraud has surfaced. 

The caller claims to be a jury DUTY coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the Scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo, your identity was just stolen. 

The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma , Illinois , and Colorado, AZ and more. This (swindle) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system. 

The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning  consumers about the fraud. 

Check it out here:http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm

And here:http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp 

Back to our regularly scheduled news nuggets:

More on Friday's headliner [at least it was headliner here]:

Software Smart Bomb Aimed at Iran from Discovery News

"A new cyber weapon may have been designed to find and sabotage a nuclear facility in Iran."

Finally the New York Times gets to the story HERE.

Reuters also has some interesting followup:

Iran says Bushehr nuclear plant not damaged by Stuxnet from Reuters

Of course they're going to say this.  The fact that they released ANY news on this tells you this was more than a few personal laptops getting infected.

"A computer virus that experts said may have been created by a state did not affect Iran's nuclear plant or government systems, but did hit computers of staff at the plant and Internet providers, officials said on Sunday."

Our on-the-money pundit for the day!

Step Up to the Plate: Rising Powers Need to Act like Powers (Fareed Zakaria) from Newsweek

"The newly rising powers—China, India, Brazil—rightly insist that they be more centrally involved in the structures of power and global decision making. But when given the opportunity, do they step up to the plate and act as great powers with broad interests? On trade? Energy use? Climate change? No.  …  Says Shimon Peres, “You can call yourself a decision maker, but if you are not ready to donate, to sacrifice life, to take risks—not because your country is being attacked but because peace is being put into danger—then it’s more of a perception than reality.”"
I agree with Zakaria -- but it raises several interesting questions.  Are up-and-comers REALLY going to focus on that last set of issues?  Or are those issues simply a global convention adopted since, say World War II?  Will Chinese leaders ever really care about peace in Africa -- or anywhere where their vital interest aren't directly at stake?  I'm skeptical.

Their Moon Shot and Ours (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times

"China is doing moon shots. Yes, that’s plural. When I say “moon shots” I mean big, multibillion-dollar, 25-year-horizon, game-changing investments. … Not to worry. America today also has its own multibillion-dollar, 25-year-horizon, game-changing moon shot: fixing Afghanistan. This contrast is not good."

Fiscal Crises and Imperial Collapses: Historical Perspective on Current Predicaments (Niall Ferguson) from the Peterson Institute for International Economics

"What I want to emphasize this evening is the nonlinearity of fiscal history, the suddenness with which things can go wrong in the realm of public finance and from there, to the realm of geopolitics."

See Ferguson's slides along with the video feed.

'Polarities' Old Hat in Newest of World Orders (editorial) from the Irish Times

"Multipolarity is too statist for this century, he argues, in agreement with Haass about the dispersal of power. ... The idea that the EU will become a pole should be tested rather than asserted. It will be a trans-Pacific rather than a trans-Atlantic century, making that a much greater priority for EU policy."

Downhill With the GOP (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times

"Once upon a time, a Latin American political party promised to help motorists save money on gasoline. How? By building highways that ran only downhill. … For these days one of America’s two great political parties routinely makes equally nonsensical promises. Never mind the war on terror, the party’s main concern seems to be the war on arithmetic. And this party has a better than even chance of retaking at least one house of Congress this November.  Banana republic, here we come.

For Many Youths, Hunting Loses the Battle for Attention from the New York Times

"Whether it is about killing or simply about being out in the woods, in the cold and wet of fall dragging a big animal over steep terrain, hunting is just not cool to many young people."

FUTURIST NUGGET!!

What Will Future Generations Condemn Us For? (Op-Ed) from the New York Times

"Looking back at such horrors, it is easy to ask: What were people thinking?  Yet, the chances are that our own descendants will ask the same question, with the same incomprehension, about some of our practices today.  Is there a way to guess which ones?

PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY NUGGET!!

When Kennedy Met Nixon: The Real Story (Ted Sorenson) from the New York Times

"Six myths have persisted throughout the innumerable reports on this historic confrontation. As someone who helped Kennedy prepare and negotiate the terms for the Chicago debate, I’d like to set the half-century-old record straight."

ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY NUGGET!!

From Seat of Power, Battling Many Crises: A Review of Jimmy Carter's Diaries from the New York Times

"Mr. Carter’s 25th book, “White House Diary,” the edited and annotated journals of his turbulent years in office, reminds one of the plagues visited on him, many beyond his control, and the way he stumbled, suffered, tried to do the right thing, tried to understand his errors and seemed to believe that politics in a fallen world doomed him to being unappreciated."

HISTORY BOOK NUGGET!!

Waterfront Jungle: A Review of Dark Harbor: The War for the New York Waterfront from the New York Times

"Say you’re a New York City newspaper reporter and the year is 1948. Your editor tells you to go down to the docks and check out the latest in a string of murders. For some reporters, the task would have meant an afternoon of work. For Malcolm Johnson, the New York Sun reporter who took this particular handoff from his boss, the assignment led deep into the world of organized crime…"