News Nuggets 702

The "Wall of Death" stunt at a fair in Srinagar, India.  From National Geographic.

US Shines at ASEAN Forum (Luke Hunt) from The Diplomat
"With trade dominating Southeast Asian nations’ agendas, it’s left to the US to save the organisation’s moral bacon, says Luke Hunt."

In 3 Countries, Challenging the Vatican on Female Priests (Laurie Goldstein) from the New York Times
"While these disparate acts hardly amount to a clerical uprising and are unlikely to result in change, church scholars note that for the first time in years, groups of priests in several countries are standing with those who are challenging the church to rethink the all-male celibate priesthood."

Poll: Anti-Muslim Sentiment Grew After Bin Laden Death from the Huffington Post
"Many Muslim Americans had hoped that the death of Osama bin Laden would improve their image among other Americans, but according to a new survey, just the opposite has happened."

The 14th Amendment, the Debt Ceiling and a Way Out (Adam Liptak) from the New York Times
"A few days ago, former President Bill Clinton identified a constitutional escape hatch should President Obama and Congress fail to come to terms on a deficit reduction plan before the government hits its borrowing ceiling. He pointed to an obscure provision in the 14th Amendment, saying he would unilaterally invoke it “without hesitation” to raise the debt ceiling “and force the courts to stop me.”"

Boehner's Market Signals? Did August 2nd Just Become Tomorrow? (Steve Clemons) from the Atlantic
"Reports have emerged that House Speaker Boehner told his caucus that their team needs to "provide a positive signal on a plan to avert a U.S. default by tomorrow."  That's right, by the time markets in Asia open tomorrow."

Republicans, Zealots and Our Security (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times
"IF China or Iran threatened our national credit rating and tried to drive up our interest rates, or if they sought to damage our education system, we would erupt in outrage."

Durbin to GOP: 'You Break It, You Own It’ (Alicia M. Cohn) from The Hill
"The second most powerful Democrat in the Senate warned Republicans Sunday that they are toying with a fragile economy and would take the blame for any fallout from a debt default."
I like this line of argument.

In Cantor’s District, Republicans Spread the Blame Around from the Washington Post
"A hundred miles south of the bickering in the nation’s capital, Republicans in the district of one of the chief negotiators, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R), delivered a mixed and sometimes contradictory picture on Saturday of what they hope will emerge from the talks."

With Response, Obama Makes Case to Left and Independents (Aamer Madhani) from the National Journal
"Substantively, the collapse of debt talks may have marked the biggest disappointment of his presidency. But the president deftly managed to play to both his liberal base and independent voters at the same time. Obama showed the left he’s willing to fight, while forcefully making a pitch to independents—the folks that will ultimately decide whether or not he serves a second term—that he’s the adult in the room that is a deeply-divided Washington."

11 Days Until Disaster, Three Options to Prevent It (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"...you can’t get a deal unless you can get the votes. And what’s been clear for some time is Speaker John Boehner cannot get the votes."

News of the Betrayed from the Sydney Morning Herald [of Australia]
"The sheer number of phone-hacking victims means Rupert Murdoch will be paying for years to come. Robert Wainwright reports from London."

Tipping Points: How the News Corp. Scandal Blossomed (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"It was Ed Miliband, the British Labor Party leader, who posed the haunting question in Wednesday’s parliamentary debate about the phone-hacking scandal: “Why didn’t more of us speak out about this earlier?”"

Why Obama Will Win in 2012 (Jamelle Bouie) from the American Prospect
"It might be “the economy, stupid,” but radicalism on the right will doom Republicans’ chances at the presidency."

Michele Bachmann Launches Scathing Attack on Tim Pawlenty from Politico
"Michele Bachmann delivers a harsh counterattack on her former home-state governor, hitting back at his charge that she lacks the experience to be president and blaming Tim Pawlenty for a "multi-billion-dollar budget mess" back home:"

News Nuggets 701

A deer in a park in Nara, Japan.  From National Geographic.

After Rebels Capture Commander, Gaddafi Rules Out Talks with Libya Rebels from Al Jazeera English
"Assertion comes as rebels say they have captured one of Gaddafi's most important commanders on their way to Zliten."

Palestinians Turn Against Syria's Regime, Their Long-Time Advocate (Hugh Macleod and Annasofie Flamand) from the Global Post
"Palestinian refugees living in Syria protest brutality of Assad government."

The Prince of Persia: Machiavelli’s got nothing on Iran’s Supreme Leader ((Karim Sadjadpour) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The Florentine political philosopher watched his native city overthrow, restore, and then overthrow again the powerful Medici family. And it was in this hotbed of backstabbing clans, religious favoritism, and political power plays that Machiavelli sharpened his teeth. Ah, how he would have enjoyed the Tehran of today."

Cyber Weapons: The New Arms Race (Michael Riley and Ashlee Vance) from Businessweek
"The Pentagon, the IMF, Google, and others have been hacked. It’s war out there, and a cyberweapons industry is exploding to arm the combatants."

James Murdoch’s Defense Crumbles from the Daily Beast
"Rupert Murdoch’s heir apparent looks like the scandal’s next victim after claiming ignorance about phone hacking—only to be reversed by two ex-employees. Brian Cathcart on how News Corp.’s tight band is splintering."

How Do You Hack Into a Phone? from Discovery News
"So, just how did these reporters-turned-hackers break into the cell phones and voicemailboxes of celebrities, politicians and ordinary citizens?"

A World Without Rupert Murdoch (Erik Wemple) from the Washington Post
"...he once said that he would retire “when I’m 133 or something.” That moment could come four or five decades sooner for the 80-year-old. If it does, here’s what a world without media mogul Rupert Murdoch would be filled with:"

Debt Ceiling Crisis Threatens State Budgets, Credit Ratings, Governors Furious from the Associated Press via the Huffington Post
"This week, Moody's Investors Service warned that it probably will lower the credit rating on five states if it downgrades the U.S. government's credit rating. The firm concluded that Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee and New Mexico would be most at risk. "I'm very unhappy. In fact, we're furious," said Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. The Republican pointed out that the state's triple-A credit rating has been in place since 1938, and that it potentially could be lowered through no fault of the state's."

America's Cold Civil War (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
"Everything I have written about them leads inexorably to this moment. Opposing overwhelming public opinion on the need for a mixed package of tax hikes and spending cuts, drawing the president into a position far to the right of the right of his party, and posturing absurdly as fiscal conservatives, they are in fact anti-tax and anti-government fanatics, and this is their moment of maximal destruction."

Pelosi Outlines Revenue-Free Path Forward On Debt Limit Fight from Talking Points Memo
"House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi acknowledged Friday that Democrats may reluctantly accept a last-minute compromise to avoid a default that involves up to $2.5 trillion in spending cuts -- without agreed-upon new tax revenues -- if Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are protected from the debt limit brinksmanship."
I find it interestingly suspicious that Pelosi seems to be turning her back on the "increased revenues" demand.  Makes me wonder if Boehner's walk-out yesterday and Obama's angry (for him) press conference aren't part of some VERY ELABORATE political theater.  It has been my observation that with virtually every proposal put forward so far, Obama's response has been "we can work with that" at which point the far-right would promptly use that as their queue to oppose whatever the plan was.  Such is their visceral hatred of this president that they would rather see the economy go into the dumper than have something pass that Obama could claim any credit for.  In their view, his defeat must appear to be total.  Well, in the past few days, I've seen one or two commentators note that what Obama needed to do was get really upset and fein real outrage -- as a way to give Boehner cover for selling the plan to his base.  It's a pretty wild theory -- but Pelosi's unusual about-face here I think gives it some credence.

Republican Goofery Isn’t Limited to the Tea Party (Bill Boyarsky) from Truthdig
"There is a deep-rooted wrongheadedness about the Republicans as they drag the country toward fiscal disaster. Those afflicted with this harmful thinking range from tea party extremists like Michele Bachmann to pundits such as Peggy Noonan."

And another dig against the GOP:
‘Dysfunctional’ Too Polite to Describe Tea Party Congress (Joe Conason) from Truthdig
"...dysfunctional is the too-polite term for the House of Representatives, specifically its dominant tea party Republicans, who can be described in far less dainty psychological terms. Even the most extreme Republican partisans in the Senate seem to realize that their House colleagues, seized by some combination of ideology, madness and pig ignorance, are propelling the country and the world toward economic chaos."

Grover Norquist's Pledge Is a Colossal Failure (Conor Friedersdorf) from the Atlantic
"The GOP wanted to shrink government, but they've only made it bigger by hiding the true cost of spending"

Obama's Approval Rating Appears Stable Despite Economy from the Huffington Post
"In spite of 9.2 percent unemployment and overall "satisfaction" with the state of the country at a two-year low, Americans continue to give President Obama higher approval ratings than experts would predict based on the economic climate."

Romney Leads, But Bachmann Surges in N.H. from Real Clear Politics
"Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who announced her candidacy for president two weeks ago, is surging in New Hampshire: She now trails by just single digits longtime front-runner Mitt Romney, who owns a home in the Granite State, a new Public Policy Polling (D) survey shows."
Romney and his people seem to be making the same mistake that Hillary made back in '08, behaving like his nomination is a done deal and that his support from the party establishment and his bankroll will allow him to secure the nomination while saying as little of substance as possible.  

Romney and the other GOP candidates will also embrace some behind-the-scenes hardballing as well -- as this item suggests:
Michele Bachmann’s Very Rough Road Ahead (Ed Kilgore) from the New Republic
"...now that Bachmann is the real deal, her candidacy is about to endure its toughest moments yet—including intensified scrutiny of her background and character (which is already very much under way), unrealistic expectations for her candidacy, a possible existential threat from Governor Rick Perry, and GOP elite misgivings about her electability. In the coming months, this multi-faceted stress test might just send her back to obscurity well before the first delegate-selection events in Iowa..."

AMERICAN AUTHOR NUGGET [of a sort]!!
America's Drunkest Writer (Jimmy So) from the Daily Beast
"F. Scott Fitzgerald was kept in champagne in the '20s, already a crumbling alcoholic in the '30s, and dead by the end of '40. The great American novelist's boozy writings are compiled in a new collection reviewed by Jimmy So. Plus, other famous writings on drink."

ROBOT NUGGET!!
Us. And Them from National Geographic
"Robots are being created that can think, act, and relate to humans. Are we ready?"

ON-LINE EDUCATION NUGGET!!
How Khan Academy Is Changing the Rules of Education (Clive Thompson) from Wired Magazine
"Khan Academy is an educational website that, as its tagline puts it, aims to let anyone “learn almost anything—for free.” Students, or anyone interested enough to surf by, can watch some 2,400 videos in which the site’s founder, Salman Khan, chattily discusses principles of math, science, and economics (with a smattering of social science topics thrown in)."

News Nuggets 700

A street scene in Havana, Cuba.  From National Geographic.

Egypt's Military Postpones First Post-Mubarak Elections from McClatchy News Service
"The first elections since President Hosni Mubarak resigned in February had been scheduled for September, but the military council said they'd be delayed. Gen. Mamdouh Shahin, speaking for the council, said a committee would announce the date by the end of September."
I suspect that this is a good thing -- it'll give the reformers & non-Islamists a chance to get it together.  As it is, the only folks who were really organized enough for September elections were the Islamic Brotherhood and the military.

Sorry, Pakistan: China Is No Sugar Daddy (Urmila Venugopalan) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Just because Washington and Islamabad are at odds doesn't mean Beijing is looking to step in."

James Murdoch Accused Of Misleading Parliament Over Phone Hacking from the Huffington Post
"Colin Myler, the former editor, and Tom Crone, the former lawyer, issued a statement on Thursday contradicting one of Murdoch's key claims in his testimony before Parliament on Tuesday: that he had signed off on huge payments to footballer Gordon Taylor without knowing why he was doing so"

Obama's Debt Talks Leadership Shows Defining Persistence (Lesley Clark) from McClatchy News Service
"In a presidency filled with defining moments, historians suggest the legacy of the debt ceiling showdown may be the steady persistence shown by Barack Obama."

The Grand Bargain Lives! (David Brooks) from the New York Times
"You are being asked to support a foggy approach, not a specific plan. You are being asked to do this even though you have no faith in the other party and limited faith in the leadership of your own. You are being asked to risk your political life for an approach that bears little resemblance to what you would ideally prefer. Do you do this? I think you do. You do it because all the other options are worse."

Boehner’s Monumental Trial on Debt Talks Lies Within his Own Party from the Washington Post
"Most of the new Republican lawmakers have spent their short political lives defining themselves by what they are against on questions of spending and debt. Now, with time running short in the debt-ceiling debate, they seemed unprepared to say what what kind of compromise they are willing to live with, and many are dismissive of the idea that default could mean calamity for the fragile economy."
Said another way: these folks don't know what they are doing.

Credit Agencies Warn GOP of 'Death Spiral' from Politico
"One official warned of a worst-case scenario in which a default on the nation’s credit could result in a rapid drop in bond values, sparking chaos in the markets — a dramatic warning as Washington worked on a possible deal on deficit reduction and an increase in the debt limit."
Oh, those credit agency guys -- what do they know?!

Out of Their Right Minds (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"Most observers assume reason will eventually prevail in the debt debate. But Michael Tomasky asks if GOP rhetoric has made compromise unthinkable for the right."

Grover Norquist on Debt Talks: OK to Let Bush Tax Cuts Expire from Politico
"Allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire to close the budget deficit would not constitute a tax increase or violate an anti-tax pledge signed by many Republicans, Grover Norquist told the Washington Post’s editorial page."
Should have said this YEARS AGO!

Looking for the Exits (David Frum) from Frum Forum
"It would be helpful if Democrats and the president would complain forlornly about the pain of the budget cuts in the petty bargain. The goal is to make the House Republicans feel like winners as they back away from the confrontation. Sorry Democrats, your role is to portray yourselves as losers. It’s a small price to pay to save the country."
Frum's contempt for his Tea Party colleagues oozes from his latest sardonic posting.

Debt Polling Roundup: What Does the Country Want? (Chris Good) from the Atlantic
"Will there be a deal? Will the U.S. default if there isn't one? Who to trust in Washington? And what do the people say?"

A Party Divorced From Sanity (Gene Lyons) from Salon
"The great debt ceiling showdown would be a non-event if it weren't for something called the Tea Party."

2012-Pres: Iowa Remains Deeply Unsettled as Straw Poll Nears (Scott Conroy) from Real Clear Politics
"...throngs of the famously devoted supporters of Texas Rep. Ron Paul wipe the sweat off their brows without batting an eye and descend on the campus of Iowa State University to propel the libertarian-leaning icon to yet another straw-poll victory -- but one that might actually be significant for once."

Gallup Pollster: Obama’s Ratings Higher Than You’d Expect from Talking Points Memo
"If Ronald Reagan was the Teflon President, Barack Obama may be the Kevlar President -- bad news can bruise him, but none can pierce his armor to cause any severe damage to his approval ratings."

News Nuggets 699

A newly-discovered Turquoise Lizard in Papua, New Guinea.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT MURDOCH NUGGET!!
Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Ran 'Black Ops' Department, Former Executive Claims from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News television channel had a “black ops” department that may have illegally hacked private telephone records, a former executive for the station has alleged. ... Dan Cooper, who helped launch Fox News as managing editor in 1996, said that a “brain room” carried out “counter intelligence” on the channel’s enemies from its New York headquarters."
Now why, prey, would a legitimate news organization need a 'black ops' department?

News Corporation Admitted in 2009 to Hacking U.S. Rival’s Website from Raw Story
"News Corporation admitted at a trial in 2009 that computers at its U.S. marketing division, News America Marketing, hacked into the secure website of a rival U.S.-based company 11 times, according to Bloomberg."
Bloomberg's original story is HERE. As an aside, along with the Guardian and the New York Times (see below), Bloomberg News Service has been all over this Murdoch story.  Indeed, in my view it has been lapping the Wall Street Journal virtually every news cycle.

Syria: Past the Point of No Return (Paul Salem) from the National Interest
"The crisis in Syria is passing the tipping point. After four months of repression, protests are large and getting larger."

Gaddafi Short on Money and Fuel (Daniel Stone) from the Daily Beast
"As the Libyan rebels continue to drive toward Tripoli, U.S. intelligence officials say that the embattled Muammar Gaddafi is showing new signs of strain and desperation."

In Libya, Freedom Boosts Berber Boom in Western Libya from Agence France Presse
"Speaking Berber could land people in jail under Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's rule, but since the rebels now control the Nafusa mountains southwest of Tripoli, it now represents the language of freedom. As such, Berber culture has flowered anew. It is on the radio, in newspapers and museums, in songs and in language courses."

As U.S. Steps Back, Europe Takes Bigger Role in Mideast Peace Push from the New York Times
"That may suit the administration just fine. The White House, several officials said, has deliberately kept a low profile since President Obama’s speech on the Middle East in May, in which he tried unsuccessfully to break the stalemate by proposing a starting point for negotiating the contours of a Palestinian state."
Had to happen.  Someone needs to start stepping up -- the US cannot be everyone's version of the lone ranger.  The ranger has a really bad hangover right now and won't be able to buy Silver new horseshoes anytime soon.

A related item here:
Pentagon Braces for Much Deeper Military Spending Cuts as Part of Debt Deal from the Washington Post
"While a reduction of $1 trillion would be significant, he said, it would represent a much smaller-percentage decline in defense spending than what the Pentagon encountered at the end of the Cold War, when its budget declined by 36 percent between 1985 and 1998."
A good development if it happens.

Has Roger Ailes Hacked American Phones for Fox News? (Leslie Savan) from the Nation
"... rumors have floated in the press and on the Internet about possible phone hacking in that special-security-clearance-only bunker at Fox HQ for years."

The Evil of Rupert Murdoch (Roger Simon) from Politico
"I had a conversation with him about various sections of the paper. “I don’t understand anything about American sport,” he told me breezily, “but I know the coloreds like it.” I told him that in America we no longer used the word “coloreds,” that it was considered insulting. He looked at me the way Queen Victoria might have looked at a footman who had told her she was using the wrong fork to eat her pheasant. The evening went downhill from there"

Guardian, N.Y. Times Worked to Break News Corp. Hacking Case from the Washington Post
"Two newspapers on opposites sides of the Atlantic were instrumental in cracking open the massive phone-hacking scandal in Rupert Murdoch’s British media empire. And they might not have been able to do so without a little Anglo-American cooperation."
GOOD FOR YOU, NY Times!! Good to see some US news organization is on the stick!!

Obama Tries to Box in House GOP (Steve Benen) from Washington Monthly
"The president wasn’t speaking from prepared remarks, so it’s possible this came together by accident, but it sounded to me like Obama was intentionally boxing in House Republicans. The point wasn’t to endorse the Gang of Six, per se, so much as to use the Gang of Six to make a larger point: the White House wants a balanced approach, a bipartisan group in the Senate wants a balanced approach, and the American mainstream wants a balanced approach. Now all we need is for the House majority to wake up and smell reality."

GOP Leaders Must Free Themselves From the Tea Party’s Grip (E.J. Dionne) from the Washington Post
"Media reports are touting the Senate’s Gang of Six and its new budget outline. But the news that explains why the nation is caught in this debt-ceiling fiasco is the gang warfare inside the Republican Party. We are witnessing the disintegration of Tea Party Republicanism."
From your pen to God's ear, E.J.!!

Two distinct narratives on how the debt ceiling issue is playing out:
(1) Is GOP Quietly Negotiating a Surrender in Debt Ceiling Fight? (Jonathan Bernstein) from the Washington Post
"Where do things stand in the debt limit mess? My best guess: What we’re really seeing right now is Republicans attempting to implement an organized retreat and surrender."
My suspicion is that Bernstein is largely correct here.  


Politico has a somewhat different take:
(2) Debt Limit Compromise Resisted by House GOP from Politico
"“They are going to torch the House,” said one veteran Democratic strategist, predicting a steady escalation of political heat on Republicans in the remaining days before the Aug. 2 deadline."

Fourth Openly Gay Judicial Candidate, Nominated By Obama from the Huffington Post
"President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he is nominating Michael Walter Fitzgerald to serve as a judge on the federal court for the Central District of California. Fitzgerald is the fourth openly gay judicial candidate Obama has no"

Why Taxpayers Are So Angry—and So Wrong About Spending (Mark Thoma) from the Fiscal Times
"The fact is, most people believe they pay far more to the government than they receive in return. To a surprising degree, Americans underestimate their actual consumption of government services and tax break"

The GOP’s Fuzzy Math (Matt Miller) from the Washington Post
"It’s one thing for a political party to lose its moral bearings – after all, community values evolve, and large swaths of people and their elected representatives can end up on the wrong side of history on such questions as slavery, suffrage, and civil rights. But when a party loses its mathematical bearings – well, that’s a little shocking. Yet that’s what’s happened to the Republican Party."

House GOP Suicide Squad Gets Bigger (Steve Benen) from Washington Monthly
"Senate Republicans figured if the letter picked up no more than 50 signatures, the Senate’s “Plan B” could pick up some Democratic support, get through the House, and offer a way out of this mess. If Walsh’s effort picked up 100 signatures, we’re all in big trouble. Greg Sargent reports today on the Suicide Squad’s progress. The news isn’t good."

The Victimhood Myths of Palin Fans (Jonathan Kay) from Salon
"...in 2009, when I criticized her decision to resign as governor of Alaska. Many of the right-wing critics who supplied comments on my newspaper's website plainly had decided that Palin was a sort of political Christ figure, who has been martyred for America’s political sins."
A very disturbing picture of Palin fans.

AMAZING WORLD WAR II PHOTO NUGGET!!
Blitz Britain: Amazing Color Pictures of London Under Siege from Nazi Bombers During World War II from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"For many, photographs from the World War II have only been seen in grainy black and white. But now, new colour images have emerged that show the full horror of the destruction inflicted by Nazi bombings across London."
Awesome pictures!!

EBOOK NUGGET!!
E-Book Revolution Upends a Publishing Course from the New York Times
"As the students scribbled in notebooks and clicked on laptops, Ms. Pittis recounted some of the biggest developments in the industry so far in 2011."

BEATLES PHOTO NUGGET!!
Beatles Photographs From Their American Debut Head To Christie's (PHOTOS) from Huffington Post
"Photographer Mike Mitchell was only 18 when he received a presspass to document the Beatles as they arrived in Washington D.C.'s Union Station to perform their first concert in the country. For almost 50 years the photographs from that historical moment in Beatlemania had been gathering dust in Mitchell's basement -- until he became a victim of the U.S. housing crisis. It was then that the photographer decided to dig them out and approach Christie's about auctioning the black-and-white pictures."

News Nuggets 698

 A forest road in Autumn in Hamlen, Gemrany.  From National Geographic. 

UP-FRONT WISCONSIN NUGGET!!
Democratic State Sen. Dave Hansen Wins First Wisconsin Recall Election from the Huffington Post
"Wisconsin state Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) handily won Tuesday's recall election, giving Democrats a victory in the first of nine contests being held this summer."

Why U.S. Terrorists Reject the Al Qaeda Playbook (J.M. Berger) from the Atlantic
"The problem with homegrown terrorists? They just don't listen."

News International 'Deliberately' Blocked Investigation from the Guardian [of the UK]
"It finds the company "deliberately" tried to "thwart" the 2005-2006 Metropolitan police investigation into phone hacking carried out by the News of the World."

The Great Murdoch Conspiracy (Peter Oborne) from the Daily Telegraph
"In the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown years, Rupert Murdoch's empire exploited an alternative and corrupt system of government."
Tina Brown of the Daily Beast showcased this article this morning on NPR. She said of this article: "Osborne, who was a reporter at the time but did not work for Murdoch, recalls in his article how News International executives would be seated behind the Cabinet during the Blair regime, as though they were their own branch of government."

Two other items Brown mentioned (noted I suspect for comic relief):
(1) Murdoch, like Napoleon, is a Great Bad Man (Conrad Black) from the Financial Times [of the UK]
"No one should begrudge The Guardian, the BBC, CNN, The New York Times and others their fun at his expense, nor take it too seriously."
How comforting it must be for the Murdochs to have Mr. Black coming to their defense so gallantly!  Of course, Black is a convicted felon.

But I guess it's better than being tut-tuted ... by a world-renowned peddler of porn:
(2) Rupert Murdoch Went Too Far (Larry Flint) from the Washington Post
"I test limits by publishing controversial material and paying people who are willing to step forward and expose political hypocrisy. Murdoch’s minions, on the other hand, pushed limits by allegedly engaging in unethical or criminal activity: phone hacking, bribery, coercing criminal behavior and betraying the trust of their readership."
Oh please, tell us Larry: what could you possibly have done to "betray the trust" of the readers of Hustler Magazine!?

U.S. Could Prosecute Murdoch (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"With Rupert Murdoch in deep legal trouble in the U.K., Michael Tomasky looks at the American law that could be used to bring the mogul up on civil charges in the U.S."
For those who pine for prosecution, we are NOT there yet!

DSK’s Shocking New Accuser (Christopher Dickey) from the Daily Beast
"The mother of the writer accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape says she had “brutal” sex with the former IMF chief. Christopher Dickey on the saga’s sordid new twist."
More on this story HERE from Slate.

The Ground is Shifting on Debt Ceiling (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"Maybe this is premature. But it’s hard to avoid a sense that there’s a major shift underway on the debt ceiling — one that is going to leave the hard-core anti-debt-limit-hike dead enders more marginalized than ever."

Poll: Best Way to Fight Deficits: Raise Taxes on the Rich from the McClatchy News Service
"Alarmed by rising national debt and increasingly downbeat about their country's course, Americans are clear about how they want to attack the government's runway budget deficits: raise taxes on the wealthy and keep hands off of Medicare and Medicaid."

The Road Not Taken (David Brooks) from the New York Times
"The combined effect would have been to reduce the size of government by $3 trillion over a decade. That’s a number roughly three times larger than the cost of the Obama health care law. It also would have brutally fractured the Democratic Party. But the Republican Party decided not to pursue this deal, or even seriously consider it. Instead what happened was this: Conservatives told themselves how steadfast they were being for a few weeks. Then morale crumbled."
Definitely our PUNDIT-OF-THE-DAY!

Debt Ceiling Attack By U.S. Republicans 'Backfires' (Thomas Spang) from the Salzburger Nachrichten [of Austria in English]
"In the face of looming defeat, the Republican's foot soldiers are threatening to mutiny against their leadership. The only open question is whether in their fervor, they will risk political suicide and drag the global economy into the abyss with them. They haven't much time left to see sense."

Where the GOP Went Wrong on Deficits and Debt (John Avlon) from the Daily Beast
"As the deadline to avoid a government default nears, John Avlon retraces how the Republican Party abandoned fiscal responsibility in favor of reckless tax cuts and “deficits don’t matter” policies."

The GOP’s Problem: There’s No Bridging the Gap Between Tea Party and Reality (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"McConnell and other GOP leaders know full well the debt ceiling must be hiked. But they also know full well that this is entirely unacceptable to large swaths of the base who now see this as their number one ideological cause celebre, on a par with the now-forgotten drive to repeal Obamacare."

Many continue to pine for Obama to resort to the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to do away with the debt ceiling.  Two weeks ago, Harvard law professor (and noted liberal jurist) Lawrence Tribe scotched that approach with the following op-ed:
A Ceiling We Can’t Wish Away (Lawrence Tribe) from the New York Times
"The Constitution grants only Congress — not the president — the power “to borrow money on the credit of the United States.” Nothing in the 14th Amendment or in any other constitutional provision suggests that the president may usurp legislative power to prevent a violation of the Constitution. Moreover, it is well established that the president’s power drops to what Justice Robert H. Jackson called its “lowest ebb” when exercised against the express will of Congress."
In addition, invoking the 14th amendment in the fashion advocated would precipitate a constitutional crisis of indeterminant length, something neither Obama nor the economy need right now.  Moreover, as some commentators have noted, such a move would invariably wind up in front of the Supreme Court.  If you were a betting person, would you bet that Obama was going to win that decision?  Not with this court.

For the GOP, Why a Balanced-Budget Amendment is Too Risky (Norman J. Ornstein) from the Washington Post
"... a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget would be disastrous."

Poll: Advantage on Aiding the Middle Class Helps Keep Obama’s Approval Afloat from ABC News
"Most Americans think the Republicans in Congress have got Wall Street and large corporations’ backs, while President Obama prevails on protecting the middle class and small businesses: an edge that helps explain his better-than-dismal job approval in the teeth of a terrible economy."

Obama Supports Repeal of Defense of Marriage Act from the National Journal
"President Obama is throwing his support behind the Respect for Marriage Act - the bill to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which banned the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage even for couples married under state law."

The Scramble for South Carolina from Politico
"The first-in-the-South primary couldn’t be any more unsettled."

PPP Poll: Michele Bachmann Takes 1-point National Lead from Politico
"The Democratic firm Public Policy Polling delivers a new set of national numbers that show Michele Bachmann is not just an early-state phenomenon, and she hasn't yet hit her ceiling:"

Stress-Related Condition ‘Incapacitates’ Bachmann; Heavy Pill Use Alleged from the Daily Caller
"The Minnesota Republican frequently suffers from stress-induced medical episodes that she has characterized as severe headaches. These episodes, say witnesses, occur once a week on average and can “incapacitate” her for days at time. On at least three occasions, Bachmann has landed in the hospital as a result."
As with the Bachmann-husband story line from two days ago, this story leaves me with two minds.  On the one hand, this is the FIRST story I've read about Michelle Bachmann that actually stimulates any empathy in me at all.  My mother suffered from persistent severe migraines -- and having seen the effect they had on her, I'm AMAZED that Bachmann could even think about conducting a full-out presidential campaign with such a condition.  *On the other hand,* as with yesterday, I think the emergence of this story now is NO ACCIDENT -- especially the "pills" part.  As with the "gay Mr. Bachmann" story-line, this one stinks of internal GOP maneuvering and the "kill-Bachmann's-campaign" strategy that many in the Republican establishment are pursuing behind the scenes.

UPDATE: I was not far off with my sense of where the "Bachmann on meds" story was coming from:
Did Team Pawlenty Drop the "Bachmann is Unstable and on Meds" Story? from Americablog
"Her headaches and her medication for headaches told to Daily Caller by former staffers seems like a low blow from a desperate candidate, Tim Pawlenty, who is getting trounced in the polls in Iowa and needed to smear Bachmann as unstable."

Bachmann’s Political Headache (Lawrence & Schwartz) from the Daily Beast
"A report that the 2012 candidate suffers from crippling migraines creates a special challenge for a woman. Jill Lawrence and Casey Schwartz on the fallout—and whether Bachmann should release her medical records."

CRIME & GENDER NUGGET!!
The John Next Door (Leslie Bennetts) from Newsweek
"The men who buy sex are your neighbors and colleagues. A new study reveals how the burgeoning demand for porn and prostitutes is warping personal relationships and endangering women and girls."
A very interesting examination -- but I have real issues with the methodology of the study and am skeptical of some of its sweeping generalizations.

HISTORY OF FASHION NUGGET!!
How to Undress a Victorian Lady in Your Next Historical Romance (VIDEO) from the Wall Street Journal
"Authors Who Crave Verisimilitude Learn to Unlace a Corset in a Good Bodice Ripper."
The video is quite interesting ... and incredible on several levels!  With the average number of undergarments (and NOT including hair & make-up), it took AN HOUR just to get dressed!

DOG & CULTURE NUGGET!!
A Craze for Pooches in Iran Dogs the Morality Police from the Wall Street Journal
"Western TV Makes Owning Pups Fashionable, Despite Ayatollah's Fatwa. ... Buying and selling dogs is illegal in Iran, unless they are guard dogs or used by police. Dogs are considered "haram," or unclean, in Islam. Until recently, keeping dogs as pets was limited to a small circle of Westernized Iranians."

News Nuggets 697

 The Knuckles Mountain Range in Sri Lanka.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT RETAIL NUGGET!!
Borders Forced to Liquidate, Close All Stores from the Wall Street Journal
"Borders, which employs about 10,700 people, scrapped a bankruptcy-court auction scheduled for Tuesday amid the dearth of bids. It said it would ask a judge Thursday to approve a sale to liquidators led by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Group."
Sad.  Another casualty of the recession (and its own bad decision-making).  In my recent visits to Borders, I have sensed that they were still in deep trouble.

Inside Al Qaeda’s Hard Drives: A Stash of Data Yields Up Insights about the Business of Terrorism from the Boston Globe
"After combing over this huge pool of data, a task force of analysts has already produced hundreds of intelligence reports geared to a primary goal: hunting down Al Qaeda operatives. Meanwhile, however, there is a second and longer-term task ahead. If studied diligently enough, the captured data is likely to provide an unparalleled look at how Al Qaeda functions. And that information may be as essential to disrupting Al Qaeda’s activities as it was to kill bin Laden."

News of the World Phone-Hacking Whistleblower Found Dead from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Death of Sean Hoare – who was first named journalist to allege Andy Coulson knew of hacking – not being treated as suspicious."

News Corp. Said to Consider Elevating Chase Carey to CEO from Bloomberg News Service
"News Corp. is considering elevating Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey to chief executive officer to succeed Rupert Murdoch, people with knowledge of the situation said. A decision hasn’t been made and a move depends in part on Murdoch’s performance before the U.K. Parliament today, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Murdoch would remain chairman, the people said."

Police Examine Bag Found in Bin Near Rebekah Brooks's Home from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Former NI chief executive's husband denies bag – containing computer, paperwork and phone – belonged to his wife."
Oh good -- some destruction of evidence just to spice things up!  As an aside, the Guardian newspaper's pursuit of this story SO reminds me of what REAL journalism looks like -- and how meager a diet we get of it here in the US.

The Cameron Collapse (Roger Cohen) from the New York Times
"Republican ideologues with no notion of the national interest do their brinkmanship number as the country hovers near an unthinkable default. The only thought in their heads seems to be: How will all this play next year in the election and how can we hurt President Obama without being blamed for it? Is the calculation of these Republicans that different from Cameron’s?"

Murdoch Struggles for Control as Scandal Grows from Bloomberg News Service
"Independent directors of New York-based News Corp. have begun questioning the company’s response to the crisis and whether a leadership change is needed, said two people with direct knowledge of the situation who wouldn’t speak publicly. Rebekah Brooks, the former News International chief who Murdoch backed until last week, was arrested yesterday in London."
A similar sentiment from Bloomberg is HERE.

The Murdochs Head To Parliament As Scandal Shakes News Corp. Empire (VIDEO) from the Huffington Post
"Now speculation centers around the roles of Hinton and Murdoch’s 38-year-old son, James, News Corp.'s deputy chief operating officer."

And the Real Winners Will Be ... (Mary Ann Sieghart) from the Independent [of the UK]
"This scandal – which will run for years – is much better news for Labour and the Lib Dems than it is for the Tories."

Both Sides Confident on Debt Talks Despite Impasse from the New York Times
"Top Republican lawmakers and the Obama administration’s budget director predicted Sunday that an agreement would be reached before the federal government defaults on its debt in early August, but both sides continued to squabble over the details of competing proposals, offering little evidence that a deal was at hand."

As the US Nears the Brink, the Budget Row is Exposing Republican Madness from the Guardian [of the UK]
"It is economically not feasible to cut the deficit without raising taxes. But as Reagan's presumptive heirs resist, default looms."

GOP Has No Backup Plan After Vote from Politico
"There’s a narrative gaining traction in Washington as a debt crisis looms: House Republican hard-liners might soften their stance once they’ve gotten a vote on their Cut, Cap and Balance proposal. But if that’s the case, the conservatives aren’t in on the plan."

GOP Wants Obama's Unconditional Surrender (David Frum) from CNN
"In this debt-ceiling fight, I'm having horrible flashbacks to the Republican debacle over health care. ... With health care, Republicans calculated spectacularly wrong. They pursued an all or nothing strategy and got -- nothing. They neither shaped the bill, nor did they stop it. Will they make the same mistake again on the debt ceiling?"
Frum's projection here sounds right to me.

Blame Republicans for Debt Crisis (Charlie Cook) from the National Journal
"By flinching at the prospect of significant deficit reduction, the GOP will have to deal with the fallout."
One thing that strikes me about the current version of the GOP is how much they resemble political parties in continental Europe or Israel.  Specifically, they operate almost exclusively for THEIR VOTERS.  There is (little exaggeration) zero attempt to reach out to anyone who is not already a hard-core GOP voter.  The goal of the Republican Party seems to be to deliver services, votes, and dramatic theater designed JUST for that constituency. 

Poll: 71% Shun GOP Handling of Debt Crisis from CBS News
"Americans are unimpressed with their political leaders' handling of the debt ceiling crisis, with a new CBS News poll showing a majority disapprove of all the involved parties' conduct, but Republicans in Congress fare the worst, with just 21 percent backing their resistance to raising taxes. "

BREAKING: Senate Confirms First Out Gay Male To Federal Bench (Chris Johnson) from the Washington Blade
"By a vote of 80-13, the Senate confirmed J. Paul Oetken, whom President Obama nominated in January to sit on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. A simple majority was required to confirm Oetken."

Romney Backtracks: ‘I Don’t Think Carbon Is A Pollutant’ from Think Progress
"It’s getting close to impossible to track Mitt Romney’s vacillating position on global warming. Appearing in Derry, New Hampshire, the Republican presidential candidate reversed last month’s stance on fighting greenhouse gases, telling a questioner that he didn’t think carbon emissions should be regulated as a pollutant:"
What IS IT with this guy!?  Is there any issue upon which he has not taken multiple, diametrically opposite positions on?! And here, it took him, what, a month, to do a complete 180 on this?!

Leading the Anti-Bachmann Army (David Graham) from the Daily Beast
"As Michele Bachmann surges, a dedicated band of haters is dishing scoops and drawing eyeballs to an influential blog. David A. Graham on the Minnesota Republican woman dedicated to bringing her down."
I asked about who might be gunning for Bachmann just yesterday in reference to the growing whispering campaign directed against her husband.

Critics Savage Palin Film as Audiences Stay Away in Droves from Raw Story
""The Undefeated", a documentary about former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin opened in some theaters across the country this weekend and, if critics are to be believed, it is truly awful. Politico has a round-up of reviews, many of which feature the word "bombast" and include sentiments like this one, expressed by Time magazine's Richard Corliss, "The movie may tempt even the most ardent conservatives to emulate their idol’s tenure as governor and walk out halfway through.”"
Politico has a round-up of reviews HERE.

WORLD WAR II BOOK NUGGET!!
Dateline Hitler: A Review of The Long Night: William L. Shirer and The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by Steve Wick (Richard J. Evans) from the New Republic
"William L. Shirer, born in 1904, was one of the twentieth century’s great reporters. He witnessed many of the key events of the 1930s in Europe at first hand and wrote and broadcast about them in a graphic and accessible style, making their complexities comprehensible to his readers and listeners back in the United States."
Shirer is one of my FAVORITE writers on this topic!!  His books are STILL models of compelling historical narrative!!

News Nuggets 696

 Storms hitting Chicago and Lake Michigan.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

Rupert Murdoch's Empire Must be Dismantled – Ed Miliband from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Labour leader urges for new media ownership rules saying News Corporation chief has too much power in the UK."
A threat to Murdoch's empire from a different angle here.  Miliband is getting *a lot* of support in Parliament for this argument.

Brooks: Rupert’s Red Menace from Newsweek
"London police arrested Rupert Murdoch protégée Rebekah Brooks on Sunday, before later releasing her on bail. Who is the woman at the heart of the scandal that has rocked the world's most powerful media empire? In this week's Newsweek, Lloyd Grove and Mike Giglio chronicle her extraordinary rise and fall."

Murdoch’s American Scandals (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"With Rupert Murdoch’s empire engulfed in scandal in the UK, Michael Tomasky asks whether the trail of wrongdoing could end up consuming the mogul’s many holdings in the U.S."

The 9/11 Hacking Investigation: Should Rupert Murdoch be Worried? from The Week
"The FBI launches an inquiry into allegations that News Corp. employees tried to illegally hack the phones of Sept. 11 victims."

News Corp Scandal Divides US Along Party Lines from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Claims of illegal attempt to gain 9/11 victims' numbers bring outrage from Democrats and caution from Republicans."
A partisan response in the US!? I'm so shocked!

A New York Times trifecta of important (and negative) assessments of the US's situation right now.
(1) The Clash of Generations (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"If there is one sentiment that unites the crises in Europe and America it is a powerful sense of “baby boomers behaving badly” — a powerful sense that the generation that came of age in the last 50 years, my generation, will be remembered most for the incredible bounty and freedom it received from its parents and the incredible debt burden and constraints it left on its kids."

A very different (but related) sentiment expressed here:
(2) We're Spent (David Leonhardt) from the New York Times
"We are living through a tremendous bust. It isn’t simply a housing bust. It’s a fizzling of the great consumer bubble that was decades in the making."

With another different (but related) view expressed here:
Our Broken Escalator (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times
"THE United States supports schools in Afghanistan because we know that education is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to build a country. Alas, we’ve forgotten that lesson at home."

Debt Ceiling Fight May Help Obama Win Independent Voters In 2012 from the Huffington Post
"It's possible the debt-ceiling debate will turn out badly for President Barack Obama. For now, however, it may be helping his image with a vital group: independent voters, who have decided the last several elections. He's certainly playing to them."

The Republican Retreat (Ross Douthat) from the New York Times
"In the space of a few days, a party that once looked capable of pressing the White House into a deal that would have left liberals fuming found itself falling back on two less-palatable options instead: either a procedural gimmick that would try to pin the responsibility for raising the ceiling on President Obama, or a stand on principle that would risk plunging the American economy back into recession. What went wrong?"

Edmund Burke Against Grover Norquist (Garry Wills) from the New York Review of Books
"There is no reason other groups should not issue their own pledges, given the success of Norquist’s. This signals a return to what was known in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as governmental “instruction.” ... The obvious objection to this is that it makes office holders impervious to changed conditions, new evidence, the learning experience of exchanges with his fellows, personal growth, or crises of one sort or another."
I would certainly describe many among the Tea Party as impervious to learning.

5,000 Poor Dallas Residents Stampede Each Other In Race For Scarce Housing Vouchers from Think Progress
"Thursday morning, 5,000 Dallas residents in need of housing assistance showed up at the Jesse Owens Memorial complex early in the morning, hoping to be one of the lucky few to get a coveted spot on a waiting list for housing vouchers. Only 100 vouchers were available."

CULTURAL HAPPINESS NUGGET!!
What Makes Scandinavia Such A Happy Place? (Charles Recknagel) from Radio Free Europe
"A group of economists and sociologists recently gathered near London to discuss how to better understand what makes people consider their own countries as successful and their own lives as happy."

News Nuggets 695

A Borneo Rainbow Toad -- not seen in eighty years was recently rediscovered.  See the story from the New York Times HERE.

In Backing Benghazi Government, U.S. Places Bet Against Qaddafi's Staying Power (Yochi J. Dreazen) from the National Journal
"The Obama administration’s decision to formally recognize Libya’s opposition movement as the country’s legitimate government represents a high-stakes gamble that Libyan strongman Muammar el-Qaddafi’s hold on power has weakened so much that funneling money and diplomatic aid to the rebels will finally bring about his ouster."

Arab Spring, Start-Up Summer? from the New York Times
"LIKE so many other young people in Cairo, Yasmine el-Mehairy saw no future in Egypt. What she saw was a dead end. Then came Tahrir Square."

Police Investigate New Computer Hacking Claims Linked to News International from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"A police investigation is taking place into claims private investigators working for News International were involved in computer hacking."
"Computer hacking"?!  Now, if true, that's a whole other *world* of trouble.  One of the characteristics of this scandal so far has been the ... indiscriminate nature of the alleged violations.  One of the reasons I suspect that Murdoch is in such deep doo-doo right now is because so many of his operatives behaved so cavalierly in so many different areas.  I don't get that his people operated with ANY SENSE of caution or prudence.

Tentacles of Phone-Hacking Scandal Grow Tighter Around Cameron from the New York Times
"The crisis seemed far from over for Mr. Murdoch, as the scandal that began over illegal phone hacking by one of his newspapers, The News of the World, now defunct, widened to include a second newspaper in his stable, The Sunday Times, officials said Saturday. Nor was the crisis abating for Prime Minister David Cameron."

Phone Hacking: New Body Blows for Rupert Murdoch from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"A senior Scotland Yard officer has told The Sunday Telegraph that News International executives – including Mr Murdoch’s son James – are being investigated for any alleged role in covering up the extent of “industrial scale” hacking."

Phone Hacking: David Beckham, Jude Law and Paul McCartney Linked to Phone Hacking from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
Key piece here: their phones were hacked *while in New York*. Oops!
"The News of the World allegedly hacked into the mobile phones of Jude Law and his personal assistant while they were in New York, opening the way for News International to be prosecuted in the United States."

Phone Hacking: Rupert Murdoch's American Media Empire 'Could Unravel' from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"The prospect of Rupert Murdoch's American media empire "unravelling" has been raised by one of President Barack Obama's leading allies even as the White House sought to maintain a silence over the burgeoning hacking scandal."
Doubtless, there is some wishful thinking going on here from some of Obama's people -- but I guess their attitude is to do everything you can to "help things along."

The Journal Becomes Fox-ified (Joe Nocera) from the New York Times
It’s official. The Wall Street Journal has been Fox-ified. It took Rupert Murdoch only three and a half years to get there, starting with the moment he acquired the paper from the dysfunctional Bancroft family in December 2007, a purchase that was completed after he vowed to protect The Journal’s editorial integrity and agreed to a (toothless) board that was supposed to make sure he kept that promise. Fat chance of that."

Top Lawmakers Target ‘Grand Bargain’ for Debt Plan from the Washington Post
"As part of the deal being discussed to raise the debt ceiling, leaders on Capitol Hill are forming an especially powerful congressional committee that would be charged with drawing up a new “grand bargain,” possibly by the end of the year. Key elements for a big deal remain in place."
I suspected that there was going to be at least one more push for a "big deal" -- the small, minimalist package being discussed actually still would have left the US in danger of having its credit down-graded.  Moreover, I think Obama's larger reasoning on why a serious plan is required may have penetrated at least in some circles.  Stated succinctly, "In the current political environment, NO remotely progressive or meaningful jobs legislation stands a chance so long as the deficit issue remains substantively unaddressed."  Jonathan Cohn of the New Republic offers some cogent comments on this argument HERE.

Congressional GOP Leaders Slowly Convincing Newer Members of Importance of Raising Debt Ceiling from the National Journal
"Sometimes your closest allies can become your biggest headaches. That's what senior Republicans, negotiating an increase in the nation's debt ceiling, are finding out as the clock ticks down toward the August 2 deadline."

Tea Party Warns GOP on Debt Ceiling from CNN via the Frum Forum
"This week, Tea Party Patriots’ members and supporters are intensely calling various lawmakers: establishment Republicans, so-called “Blue Dog” Democrats and those freshmen Republicans elected to the House with tea party support."

An important set of political stories today:
(1) 2012 Congressional Races: Who’s in the Money? from Politico
"Freshman fumblers: House GOP officials have plenty of freshmen to worry about."

(2) Reports are Make or Break for '12ers from Politico
"The second quarter fundraising reports disclosed Friday underscore the make-or-break moment some in the Republican presidential field will face in the months ahead."

In WI, Scott Walker Concedes Mistakes, Defends Policies from the Huffington Post
""The mistake I made early on is, I looked at it almost like the head of a small business: identify a problem, identify a solution and go out and do it," Walker told Reuters at the National Governor's Association meeting in Salt Lake City."I don't think we built enough of a political case, so we let ... the national organizations come in and define the debate while we were busy just getting the job done," he said."
Boy, if he is saying this, has he been looking over polling data on those GOPers targeted for recall?  They must REALLY be screwed. Like so many of these unreflective, private-sector, run-to-the-rescue princes (see Rick Scott in FL), they find that running a business REALLY DOESN'T PREPARE you to run a state!

Bachmann Rumor Grows Louder (Michelle Cottle) from the Daily Beast
"The chatter about Michele Bachmann’s husband's sexuality is spreading. Michelle Cottle on how it could affect a candidate whose Christian beliefs are central to her campaign."
There is so many "oh-my-God" aspects to this story!  My first reaction is: boy, it didn't take long for the vicious right-wing piranhas to assemble!  The second question is: whose vicious right-wing piranhas are they?  My guess: the GOP establishment's.  They desperately want her campaign to fail.  Prediction: what will follow (even if only behind the scenes) will make the treatment Geraldine Ferraro's husband got back in '84 look like a debutante's coming out party.

CULTURE NUGGET!!
Winnie-the-Pooh's Long March to Cultural Dominance (Eleanor Barkhorn) from the Atlantic
"How did Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, et al transform from introspective children's literary characters to brand ambassadors for everything from paper dolls to bandages? Here, a timeline of key moments in Winnie the Pooh's long march to cultural domination:"

News Nuggets 694

A new population of rare snow leopards has been discovered in Afghanistan.  They are one of the rarest breeds of big cats in the world.  See the story HERE from Al Jazeera English.

LOCAL NEWS LISTENING NOTE: 
For those interested in listening to or watching Lynn Cullen's daily podcast, her video-stream provider has been shifted from UStream to Justin.TV.  Go to the City Paper's mainpage HERE, go to Lynn Cullen's program link and re-connect there.

UP-FRONT LONG-FORM CYBER-WAR NUGGET!!
How Digital Detectives Deciphered Stuxnet, the Most Menacing Malware in History (Kim Zetter) from Wired Magazine
"It was January 2010, and investigators with the International Atomic Energy Agency had just completed an inspection at the uranium enrichment plant outside Natanz in central Iran, when they realized that something was off within the cascade rooms where thousands of centrifuges were enriching uranium."
I have been struck by the extraordinary amount and quality of reporting Wired reporters have done on this subject.

U.S. Recognizes Rebels in Libya from the New York Times
"At the meeting, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that Colonel Qaddafi’s government no longer had any legitimacy, and that the United States would join more than 30 countries in extending diplomatic recognition to the main opposition group, known as the Transitional National Council."
This is important -- it makes the frozen Libyan assets now available to the rebels, a HUGE chunk of change!

Libya: Military Action Will Intensify While UN Presses for End to Conflict from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"Military action against Muammar Gaddafi's government will be intensifed while a UN envoy presses for negotiations to end the conflict in Libya, William Hague said."

The Fight to Rescue the Arab Spring from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Across the Arab world, protesters show fury at the resistance to change shown by interim authorities as well as old regimes."

Afghanistan: UN Drops Taliban Names from Sanctions List from the BBC
"Fourteen former Afghan Taliban leaders have been removed from an international blacklist by the UN Security Council."
This could be a very important development -- this is the kind of thing one sees at critical points in negotiations.  They often represent classic "trust-building measures" which presage bigger conversations to come.

North America's Tar Sands: The New Middle East (Bill McKibben) from Mother Jones Magazine
"It’s either a 'yes' or a 'no' for the climate-killing Keystone XL oil pipeline—and Obama gets to make the call.

Undemocratic China Can't Rule the World (Jinghao Zhou) from the Asia Times [of Hong Kong in English]
"... what place does the "China model" have in helping the Middle Kingdom undergo this transition to pre-eminence? At such a turning point in history, the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will have to make a critical decision on whether it is willing to remake the foundation of the China model."

Murdoch’s Political Money Trail (Laura Colarusso) from the Daily Beast
"The media mogul has used cold cash to sway politicians and lobby regulators. Laura Colarusso reports on his efforts to influence U.S. policy."

The Brooks Resignation: Business and Loyalty (Ken Auletta) from the New Yorker
"Yesterday Rebekah Brooks and Les Hinton got pushed. Tomorrow other bodies will get flung overboard…"

Cleaning the Yard In the Tabloid Scandal: The Police are Tainted Too from the Economist [of London]
"It is alleged that some police officers took money from journalists in return for information that could be used for stories. ... Such graft has been suspected for years."

Obama Makes his Case to the Left (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"Obama’s argument is that progressives won’t be able to make the case to the public for more spending unless the deficit is neutralized as an issue."

House Republicans Brace for Compromise on Debt from the Los Angeles Times
"GOP leaders turn to their most trusted budget expert, Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), to explain to the rank and file what could happen if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling."

GOP’s Debt Kamikazes (John Avlon) from the Daily Beast
"In preferring default to a deal, the populist wing of the Republican party has demonstrated its new nihilistic streak. John Avlon on the politicians only too happy to take us off a cliff."

Republicans Tread Down a Dangerous Path (Norman Ornstein) from Roll Call
"If Obama's formula prevailed ... it would almost certainly result in a leap in confidence by the markets and a big plus for the economy and American workers. And it would, in one fell swoop, accomplish a series of goals that conservatives have sought for decades. It is now clear that Cantor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and their allies don’t want that kind of outcome."

HILARIOUS SARAH PALIN NUGGET!!
Sarah Palin Movie Debuts to Empty Theater in Orange County (Conor Friedersdorf) from the Atlantic
""Why aren't you seeing Harry Potter?" an usher said to the reporter sitting alone in the audience."
No audience -- what Sarah has deserved since the 2008 GOP convention!

SUMMER FUN NUGGET!!
Twelve World's Most Amazing Sand Castles (PHOTOS) from the Daily Beast