News Nuggets 1232

DAYLEE PICTURE: The recently built San Buenaventura complex on the outskirts of Mexico City.  From National Geographic.

Benghazi Again (Joe Klein) from Time Magazine
"The Republicans, apparently with nothing better to do, are still chasing their tails over the tragic events in Benghazi on September 11. ... "I suspect they won't be a viable political party until they begin to focus on substance rather than emptiness.""

Benghazi: Incompetence, But No Cover-up: The Hearings Deepen the Tragedy, but Not the Scandal (Michael Hirsh) from National Journal
"There was tragic incompetence, plainly, in the Obama administration’s handling of the Benghazi attacks, and even possibly some political calculation. It is a record that may well come to haunt Hillary Clinton, the first Secretary of State to lose an ambassador in the field in more than three decades, if she runs for president in 2016. But the obvious Republican effort to turn this inquiry into the Democratic (Obama) version of the Iraq intelligence scandal that has tarred the GOP since the George W. Bush years -- led by that least-credible of champions, the almost-always-wrong Darrell Issa -- is just not going to amount to much."

Boston Suspects’ Parents on the Run (Anna Nemtsova) from the Daily Beast 
"First reporters hounded them for interviews. Now the mother and father of the Tsarnaev brothers have been kicked out of Chechnya by its president."

Who Are We Again? Have Republicans Totally Forgotten What the 'National Interest' Means? (Daniel Pletka) from Foreign Policy Magazine
It means getting rid of Obama by any means necessary.  From the GOP point-of-view, nothing else matters.
"Those wars have been discussed ad nauseam, but there hasn't been a persuasive self-examination by advocates who remain advocates about what went wrong and how to avoid repeating it. Indeed, we can spare some sympathy for those who cherish harsh thoughts about intervention in Syria ..."

Obama Maintains Approval Advantage, but GOP Runs Even on Key Issues: Two-Thirds Say Obama 'Fights Hard' for His Policies from the Pew Research Center
"President Obama continues to hold a substantial advantage over congressional Republicans in public regard. Obama’s job approval is back in positive territory at 51%, after slipping to 47% in March. By
comparison, just 22% approve of the job Republican leaders in Congress are doing, among the lowest approval rating for congressional leaders from either party in 20 years."

Hospital Prices No Longer Secret As New Data Reveals Bewildering System, Staggering Cost Differences from the Huffington Post
"Americans have long become accustomed to bewilderment and anxiety when confronting health care bills. The new database underscores why, revealing the perplexing assortment of prices for medical care, with the details of bills seemingly untethered to any graspable principle."

Heritage Foundation: We Have Nothing To Do With Racial Immigration Study from Talking Points Memo
"The Heritage Foundation is disavowing past recommendations regarding race, IQ, and immigration from Jason Richwine, the co-author of a recent study by the group claiming undocumented immigrants would add $6.3 trillion to the deficit if granted legal status. “This is not a work product of The Heritage Foundation. Its findings in no way reflect the positions of The Heritage Foundation,"..."
WOW! This study got huge media attention (especially in the right-wing alternative universe).  This disavowal leaves me shaking my head: so THIS is what passes for "policy analysis" in right-wing land!?  In reality, what one sees here is simply further evidence of a point of argued before and that is that so-called conservative "think tanks" whether they are the Heritage Foundation, the CATO Institute, the Hudson Institute, the Manhattan Institute or what have you, their real purpose is not to generate quality research and/or suggest workable solutions to public policy issues.  No, their purpose is simply to pump out conservative talking points to muddy the waters and provide political cover for hard-right lawmakers and some kind of legitimacy for talk jocks trying to pretend that they actually have rational, reality-based reasons for the crazy positions they take.

NRA-Gabrielle Giffords Fight Heats Up from Politico
"Giffords’ gun control group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, hit back – announcing it raised more than $11 million in its first four months of operation – a staggering figure even in the age of super PACs and big outside money groups. The early – and aggressive — posturing on both sides is a clear sign that guns aren’t gone in the run-up to the 2014 midterms."

Census Bureau: Black Turnout Passed White Voters in 2012 from The Hill 
"Black voters were the only racial or ethnic group to show an increase in turnout from 2008, when 64.7 percent voted. Voter rates for whites dropped to 64.1 percent from 66.1 percent. Both black and white voters though had higher turnout rates than Hispanics and Asians in 2012, each at 48 percent."
Not surprising on some levels: the GOP tried to so openly mess with African Americans' right to vote in so many states, they really didn't understand what a provocative, hot-button issue that would turn into.

CHEETAH NUGGET!!
Boy, 3, and his Sister Who Have Grown Up with CHEETAHS and Even Take Them Out in their Mini Jeep from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"At the wheel, a little blond-haired boy... and by his side, a cheetah. It's not your average playtime scene but this is no ordinary family. Three-year-old Malan and his sister Kayla, one, are best friends with the world's fastest land animals - two deadly cheetahs. The siblings have formed an extraordinary bond with the creatures after growing up with them in their home in South Africa."

RE-ENACTMENT NUGGET!!
The Holy Grail of Battle Re-enactments from the New York Times
"The Battle of the Nations, an international full-contact event whose participants are equipped with steel armor, attracts a certain breed of fighter."

News Nuggets 1231

DAYLEE PICTURE: Sunset on the shore of South Africa.  From National Geographic.

Syria: What’s Really Happening (Aaron David Miller) from Salon
"Here's what you need to know about the constantly evolving situation there, and the best of our no-good options."

U.S. and Russia Plan Conference Aimed at Ending Syrian War from the New York Times
"Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia jointly intensified pressure on Syria’s combatants to settle a conflict that has killed more than 70,000."

China Can Posture, But It Can’t Bring Peace to the Middle East (Karl Vick) from Time Magazine
"... Chinese President Xi Jinping brought up a four-point plan to bring the century-old conflict to an end. Could it happen? “I can give you a one word answer: ‘No,’” says Gerald Steinberg, professor of political studies at Bar Ilan University in Israel. ... The reality, Steinberg says, is that no country except the United States is trusted enough by both sides to serve as broker to peace talks — but especially by Israel, which sees itself as persecuted and misunderstood by a world that does not understand its situation the way Americans do."

Watergate Revenge: Republicans Yearning To Impeach Obama Over Benghazi ‘Cover-Up’ (Joe Conason) from the National Memo
"The meager substance of the “cover-up” canard was debunked months ago – and to date nothing has emerged to change those facts. ... But defending American diplomats and promoting American prestige are both foreign to the Republican agenda, which is concerned with nothing more elevated than partisan power. With his far-fetched comparison to Richard Nixon’s disgrace, Huckabee helpfully unveiled a flashing neon clue to GOP psychopathology. The desire for revenge over Watergate

Benghazi Returning as Big Scandal: The GOP May Finally Get Its Wish with Three New Whistle-blowers, but Has It Already Undermined its Cred? (Alex Seitz-Wald) from Salon
"The charges seem potentially damaging and the accusers credible, but those trying to fan flames of scandal have so embarrassed and discredited themselves by pushing bogus story lines on Benghazi that it may be hard for the media and American people to take any new allegations seriously. ... If the three new witnesses don’t get the attention they deserve, Fox News and its ilk deserve much of the blame."

The Bombers’ World (Christian Caryl) from the New York Review of Books 
"The imprisoned Dzhokhar has told investigators that the brothers undertook the bombings as retaliation against the US for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That sounds plausible enough on the face of things, in view of what we know about the politics of jihadi terrorists in other parts of the world. At the same time, there are many other details of the Tsarnaev brothers’ case that make it seem starkly unique, more of an outlier than something that can be easily slotted into a larger pattern."

As Red Ink Recedes, Pressure Fades for Budget Deal from the Washington Post
"After four years of trillion-dollar deficits, the red ink is receding rapidly, easing pressure on policymakers and shattering hopes for a summertime budget deal."

The Not-So-Golden Years (Megan McArdle) from the Daily Beast
"American retirement is in free fall, and even the safest plans are turning out to be dangerous. WE SCRIMP. We save. We plan. And we dream that when we retire—at 50 or 70 or 90—we’ll ride off into the sunset on a chariot made of our sequestered gold.  But you can stop the dream right there."

A Rust Belt Revival, From Farm to Table from the New York Times
"Around Cleveland and Pittsburgh, a network of chefs, butchers and farmers is bringing the local landscape back into the kitchen — all while making world-class food."

The High Cost of Rush: Talker Bleeds Millions From His Carriers as Toxic Talk Slumps, Cumulus Seems Set to Part Ways With Rush Limbaugh (John Avlon) from the Daily Beast
"The fight between El Rushbo and the flagship carrier of his show is a symptom of conservative talk’s bigger problems. John Avlon reports."

Cumulus CEO on Limbaugh Advertising Fallout: “The Facts are Indisputable” from Salon
"Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey stands by allegations that Limbaugh sank ad revenue for the network."

Ex-Romney Aide Details Campaign ‘Miscalculations’ from the Boston Globe 
"The book makes a case that Romney downplayed foreign policy too much — and made too many blunders — in a way that put the campaign at a disadvantage when responding to international events. Schoenfeld highlights Romney’s ­response to the attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi."

WORLD WAR II NUGGET!!
Woman Buys Hatbox for $1 at Estate Sale Containing 250 Letters Home from Brothers Fighting in WWII  from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Brothers Eural and Robert Harvill penned notes of affection from October 1940 to October 1946 to their parents Mr. and Mrs. E.H. Harvill in Drumright, Oklahoma.  More than 70 year later, Julia Gilliland happened upon the antique box at an estate sale in Tulsa, paying just $1 for the historical keepsakes, and is now working to piece together information about the authors."

VOLCANO PHOTO NUGGET!!
The Volcano at Dawn: Spectacular Pictures of the Mountain Spewing Scarlet Smoke Over a Desolate Grey Sea of Sand from the Daily Mail [of the UK] 
"Billowing brilliant red smoke over the blanched plain, it is the only sign of life in this otherworldly landscape. And Mount Bromo, on the Indonesian island of East Java, is such an extraordinary site thousands of tourists visit every year to enjoy breathtaking vistas across the Tengger massif to the misty peaks beyond."

News Nuggets 1230

DAYLEE PICTURE: A sunrise over Badlands National Park in South Dakota.  From National Geographic.

Asia’s Real Challenge: China’s “Potemkin” Rise (Minxin Pei) from The Diplomat
"... we may overlook a problem far bigger than fake GDP data.  The real scandal in China’s rise is not its exaggerated speed, but the shockingly low quality of its growth.  Low-quality growth has  undermined China’s social fabric and individual welfare.  It also makes China look far stronger on paper than in reality."

N Korea 'Removes' Missiles from East Coast Launch Site from the BBC 
"North Korea has removed two medium-range missiles from a coastal launch site, indicating a lowering of tension on the peninsula, a US official said."
Obama called North Korea's bluff and it appears that Kim Jong-Un was indeed sitting with a pair of deuces,  Unclear if there were any behind the scenes deals -- but its hard to see how the North Koreans don't lose some major face over how this standoff seems to be concluding.

What to Expect at Wednesday’s Benghazi Hearing from the National Journal 
"The White House's accounting of what transpired in Libya is expected to be contradicted by three self-described whistleblowers. ... Thompson’s charges were denied by State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. And Daniel Benjamin, who ran the State Department’s counterterrorism bureau's Foreign Emergency Support Team at the time of the Benghazi attacks said in a statement that “I can say now with certainty, as the former Coordinator for Counterterrorism, that this charge is simply untrue.”"

The Idled Young Americans (David Leonhardt) from the New York Times 
"For all of Europe’s troubles — a left-right combination of sclerotic labor markets and austerity — the United States has quietly surpassed much of Europe in the percentage of young adults without jobs.  ...  The grim shift — “a historic turnaround,” says Robert A. Moffitt, a Johns Hopkins University economist — stems from two underappreciated aspects of our long economic slump."

‘New Jim Crow’ Incarcerations Raise Uncomfortable Questions (Mary Mithcell) from the Chicago Sun-Times
"Although many of us might believe the criminal justice system has its flaws, the notion that the system is intentionally biased against black and poor people is too sinister to contemplate.  But that’s exactly what Alexander is suggesting. In a speech at the Union League Club of Chicago last Friday, Alexander pointed out that even though the nation elected its first black president, a couple of blocks from the White House are neighborhoods in which three out of four young black men have already spent time behind bars. Because of mass incarceration “a vast new racial undercast now exists in America,” Alexander said."

No Poor and Huddled Need Apply (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post 
"... Rector said in response to another question, from Roll Call’s David Drucker, the current immigration system, with 11 million here illegally, “is an enormously better deal for the taxpayer.” But even if you accept Heritage’s calculations, immigration isn’t purely a fiscal question. If Republicans don’t find a way to deal with illegal immigrants in the country, they risk political oblivion as the swelling ranks of Latino voters turn against them."

The Justice Regrets (Jeffrey Toobin) from the New Yorker
"Sandra Day O’Connor’s shift on Bush v. Gore reflects a larger change in the Republican Party…"

DENIAL: Homosexuality Is a "Choice," Right? (Jonathan Rauch) from the Huffington Post
"I am always bitterly amused when I hear people say that homosexuality is a choice. Even many otherwise thoughtful people maintain that the homosexual is a heterosexual who perversely ignores, or at least somehow represses, his natural cravings. I say "otherwise thoughtful" because I know of no position which collapses more quickly, under even a moment's examination, than this one."

PRES-2016: Rand Paul, Marco Rubio Face 2016 Bind from Politico
"Sens. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio are facing a big obstacle if they seek the White House in 2016 — and it’s not each other. State laws could force the two GOP senators into a difficult choice: run for president or run for reelection to the Senate that same year. Because in their home states of Kentucky and Florida, neither Republican can be on the ballot for both offices at the same time."

Ohio Tea Party Groups Considering GOP Insurrection (Alex Brown) from the National Journal
"The Ohio tea party's fracturing of the state GOP could be a serious worry, we noted last Friday, if the harsh rhetoric is followed by real action. Today, a report in the Columbus Dispatch shows just how bad things have gotten in the Buckeye State. Tea party groups, writes Joe Hallett, are considering three options: a clean split (either to form a new party or join another), primary challenges to "anybody who every crossed us" or under-voting to punish Republicans who don't pass the tea party litmus test."

Mediaite Learns: ‘Vast Majority Of National Advertisers Now Refuse To Air Ads During Limbaugh’s Show’ from Mediaite
"The company’s CEO has blamed ad revenue losses on the conservative talkers’ controversial 2012 “slut” comments about Georgetown student Sandra Fluke. Mediaite’s own sources confirm that the ad troubles in connection with Limbaugh’s show are, indeed, severe."

TORNADO PHOTOS NUGGET!!
A Colossal Supercell Thunderstorm Cloud Over Montana and Other Astonishing Photos of the Massive Storm Systems from the Daily Mail [of the UK] 
"The images below may seem like something from out of this world, but they are actually rare thunderstorm clouds called a supercells. The colossal storm systems center on mesocyclones, which are rotating updrafts that can span several kilometers and deliver torrential rain and high winds including tornadoes."
These are AMAZING pictures of very menacing-looking supercells!!

News Nuggets 1229

DAYLEE PICTURE: The day's end on Oahu in Hawaii.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

UP-FRONT POLITICS NUGGET!!
House of Un-Representatives (Timothy Egan) from the New York Times 
"This Republican House is almost like a parallel government, sitting in for some fantasy nation created in talk-radio land. ... The Beltway chorus of the moment blames President Obama for his inability to move his proposals through a dunderheaded Congress. They wonder how Republicans would be treating a silken-tongued charmer like Bill Clinton if he were still in the White House. We already know: not a single Republican voted for Clinton’s tax-raising budget, the one that led to our last federal surplus. Plus, they impeached him; his presidency was saved only in the Senate."

Watching Iraq on the Edge, and Wondering What the United States Will Do (Thomas E. Ricks) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Iraq is spiraling out of control. ... Last week, the Iraqi Army entered Hawija, near Kirkuk, to arrest people accused of attacking Iraqi Security Forces. In the ensuing violence, 200 people were killed. There are reports of desertions from the Iraqi Army. Kurds have moved peshmerga into positions in the disputed territories. Tribes are forming militias to protect themselves from the Iraqi Army."

Mapped: The U.S. Military's Presence in Africa (John Reed) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The United States may be deploying 10 additional troops to Mali, but that's just a drop in the bucket of the U.S. military's presence in Africa, which has been quietly building for the last decade."

‘Yes’ Gun Control Vote Pays Off for Two Senators: Polls (Michael Keller) from the Daily Beast
"Read it and weep, Kelly Ayotte. As senators who voted ‘no’ on background checks see their approval ratings dive, two legislators are seeing dividends for their support. See the numbers."

The Democratic Comeback To Voter ID (Reid Wilson) from the National Journal 
"In Colorado, Democrats looking to liberalize voting laws to their advantage. ... Now, after taking control of the state legislature earlier this year, Colorado Democrats have become the vanguard of a new movement to tinker with voting rules. The proposal under consideration now would require elections to take place entirely through the mail -- in essence, signing every Colorado voter up for an absentee ballot."

New America Held hostage by Old America (Joy-Ann Reid) from the Miami Herald
"It’s an ironic twist after a presidential election in 2012 in which a Democratic president was resoundingly re-elected, and in a country which is rapidly becoming more progressive on issues like gay rights and marriage. New America may have won the White House and the culture wars, but Old America has a gun to our heads."

This Isn’t Obama’s Malaise, It’s GOP Intransigence (Robert Shrum) from the Daily Beast
"It doesn’t matter what the president says or does or whom he drinks with—Republicans are bent on opposing it all. That may be good news for Democrats in 2014 and beyond."

Why Does Ted Cruz Inspire Such Animosity? (David Frum) from the Daily Beast
"... seriously there cannot be any doubt about Ted Cruz's "smarts." He's just smart for different ends - his own ends. It's this that rubs so many conservatives the wrong way, and that may yet prove Cruz's undoing. A little while ago I asked a Texas conservative I know to unpack the antipathy aroused by Cruz."

Ted Cruz Will Never be President (Joan Walsh) from Salon
"Breathless staffers say he’s got 2016 plans, but the Tea Party bully will never win a national election. Bank on it."

The Bachmann Scandal: "This Could Be a Career Ender" (Alex Seitz-Wald) from Salon 
"The ethics questions swirling around the Tea Party lawmaker are a "big problem," experts say."
What a SHAME.

It’s Time for Democrats to Ditch Andrew Jackson (Steve Yoder) from Salon 
"As Biden speaks at event named for Old Hickory tonight, more appalling stories show party should dump him as icon.

APPALLING TV NUGGET!!
Is This the Most Sexist TV Programme in History? Chat Show Where Women Strip Off as Two Men Critique Their Naked Bodies from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Creator Thomas Blachman claims that the female body 'thirsts for the words of a man'.  Critics brand vile show, which uses derogatory comments about the female figure, as sexist and humiliating.  Creator says this will open a debate about men's views of women's bodies without having to be 'politically correct'."

DRONE NUGGET!!
The Flight of the RoboBee: Tiny Winged Craft that Could be Used as Surveillance Drone Takes to the Air for the First Time from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"80 milligram device has a pair of buzzing fly-like wings that flap 120 times a second.  Robot is the first working model of a flying insect.  Future uses include search and rescue, surveillance, and environmental monitoring applications."

News Nuggets 1228

DAYLEE PICTURE: The Donald has lost one of his hair pieces!  No -- it's a a rare, highly poisonous Flannel Moth Caterpillar in the Amazon.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

Texts, TV, Then Trouble for Bombing Suspect's Pals (Allen Breed) from the Associated Press
"Kadyrbayev said he knew instantly that his friend was indeed involved in the bombings. But instead of calling authorities, he told investigators he began thinking of ways to get rid of the evidence. Just in case the roommate thought he was "stealing or behaving suspiciously" by grabbing the backpack alone, Kadyrbayev decided to take Tsarnaev's laptop as well."
These three are so astonishingly, insouciantly stupid, it boggles the mind!

10 Years After 'Mission Accomplished,' the Risks of Another Intervention from the Atlantic 
"A decade later, there are important lessons to be learned from that speech as we ponder military action in Syria."

S.H.O.P.P.I.N.G. (Andrew Sullivan) from The Dish
"The striking paintings of Wal-Marts we featured this morning are not alone. ... I have to say that Target in particular engenders in me an instant version of what some hyper-lefty Germans called Konsumterrorismus: a total panic caused by the option of limitless shopping."
Ah, those Germans and their word creations!

How to Weaken a President (David Firestone) from the New York Times 
"Republicans came up with all kinds of convoluted and made-up explanations for voting against gun background checks, and some are starting to do the same for the immigration bill. ... But for many lawmakers, the real reason is depressingly familiar. They don’t want to give President Obama anything he wants. ... For these Republicans, the visceral hatred of the president is their only guiding star, and they are absolutely convinced the voters in their districts feel the same way."

Guns and Political Suicide (Thomas Edsall) from the New York Times 
"Recently published research expands upon this insight, showing that elected officials magnify the conservatism of their own constituents on a host of left-right issues. ... Conservative politicians, Broockmany and Skovronz argue, overestimate the conservative leanings of constituents by the largest margins – by about 20 percentage points; liberals overestimate by about 10 points; and centrist Democrats like Heitkamp overestimate by about 15 points."

Polls: Interest In Gun Debate Increases Even After Boston Bombing, Guns As Important As Terrorism (Tommy Christopher) from Mediate
"Politicians counting on Americans to forget about Newtown when they go to the ballot box next year may be in for a surprise. ... A pair of new polls shows that even in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, the public’s interest in the gun control debate has actually increased, and the number of Americans who identify guns as the most important problem facing this country is equal to the number who answer “terrorism” to the same question."

Next Time, the NRA Will Lose (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast 
"The background-check bill isn’t finished. And when it comes up for a vote again, says Michael Tomasky, the pressure will be on the senators who recently did the NRA’s bidding."

Poll: 29% Think Armed Rebellion Might Soon Be Necessary (Sahil Kapur) from Talking Points Memo
"The survey, aimed at measuring public attitudes toward gun issues, found that 29 percent of Americans agree with the statement, “In the next few years, an armed revolution might be necessary in order to protect our liberties.” An additional five percent were unsure."

America's Dumbest Congressman Melting Down Before our Eyes (Hunter) from Daily Kos
Normally I pass over the routine ravings of rightwingers -- even when they are House or Senate lawmakers -- but this one was SOOO disconnected from reality I thought it pretty obvious (as Hunter notes) that this man really is mentally ill.  I think it is also notable as supporting evidence for some of the other GOP stories in today's postings.
"Gohmert then went on to reiterate his belief that the Obama administration is guided by the Muslim Brotherhood. ... He's gone past the conspiracy tubthumping of Bachmann and King—he may have even lapped a few Alex Jones theories at this point. According to him, the entire government is just riddled with secret invisible Muslims."

The More We Know About House Republicans, the Better John Boehner Looks (Jonathan Bernstein) from the Washington Post
"One thing that does help Boehner is that no one wants the job under these conditions; ..."

Republicans to Sick People: Tough Luck (Matt Miller) from the Washington Post
"A word of warning, ...: what follows contains political attitudes so petty and out of touch they may disturb younger readers. ... Cantor’s “Help Sick Americans Now Act.” Let Republicans back an approach they’ve philosophically endorsed before, Cantor thought, and by funding it a bit more generously than Obama has, show that the GOP can solve a problem that haunts (and often bankrupts) luckless families. That was the idea. Then — boom! — conservatives revolted."

Pat Toomey: Background Checks Died Because GOP Didn't Want To Help Obama from the Huffington Post
"Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) revealed that some members of his party opposed expanding background checks for gun sales recently because they didn't want to "be seen helping the president.""
Good to see that their priorities are straight.

1930s HOLLYWOOD NUGGET!!
One of my favorite stars of the 1930s!! This story is a few years old -- but Rainer is still alive and kicking today. 
Luise Rainer’s 100 Years of Fortitude from the Los Angeles Times
"The two-time Oscar winning centenarian is proud never to have conformed to Hollywood’s rules."

IMMIGRATION NUGGET!!
Desperate Migrants Ride the 'Train of Death' through Mexico to Reach the U.S Risking Violent Attack, Rape and Kidnap from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"Driven by poverty at home many are hoping for a better life in the U.S. The journey north take leads them closer to the Mexican border with the United States."

US COLONIAL HISTORY NUGGET!!
Girl’s Bones Bear Signs of Cannibalism by Starving Virginia Colonists from the New York Times
"Archaeologists excavating a trash pit at the Jamestown colony site in Virginia have found the first physical evidence of cannibalism among the desperate population, corroborating written accounts left behind by witnesses."

COLD WAR NUGGET!!
Wisconsin Family Discovers Fully-stocked Fallout Shelter in their Back Yard 50 Years After it was Installed at the Height of the Cold War from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"'It was all of what you would expect to find in a 1960s fallout shelter. It was food, clothing, medical supplies, tools, flashlights, batteries - items that you would want to have in a shelter if you planned to live there for two weeks. Everything remained remarkably well-preserved, thanks to the airtight containers the supplies were kept in.  The family donated all of the items to the Neenah Historical Society, which has curated an exhibit about the Cold War and the fear of the Soviets using 'the bomb.''"
This sounds like quite a unique find -- I'm so glad the whole collection got shipped to a museum.

News Nuggets 1227

DAYLEE PICTURE: The northern lights over Godafoss (Waterfalls of the Gods) in Iceland.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT TEA PARTY NUGGET!!
Three New Facts About the Tea Party (Abby Rapoport) from the American Prospect
"The results of the first political science survey of Tea Party activists show that the constituency isn’t going away any time soon—and Republicans hoping the activists will begin to moderate their stances should prepare for disappointment. ... For the first time, we can now look at what a huge sample of Tea Party activists believe, as well as examine how those who identify with the Tea Party differ from their establishment GOP counterparts. Here are the three biggest takeaways from the study:"

Obama Moving Toward Sending Lethal Arms to Syrian Rebels, Officials say from the Washington Post
"President Obama is preparing to send lethal weaponry to the Syrian opposition and has taken steps to assert more aggressive U.S. leadership among allies and partners seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, according to senior administration officials."

What China and Russia Don't Get About Soft Power (Joseph Nye) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Beijing and Moscow are trying their hands at attraction, and failing -- miserably."

Why the Green Lantern Theory of Presidential Power Persists (Greg Sargent) from the Washington Post
"This theory — which seems to hold broad sway over many in the press — holds that presidents should be able to bend Congress to their will, and any failure to do so proves their weakness and perhaps even their irrelevance. What accounts for the persistence of this theory? The answer, I think, lies in the tendency of reporters and analysts who are trying to remain a neutral, nonpartisan posture to feel comfortable making process judgments, but not ideological ones."

Sequestration Empowered President Obama (David Frum) from the Daily Beast 
"Some of us have been warning from the start that forced defaults, sequestrations, and similar devices only end up empowering the executive branch. If Congress wants to determine the shape of spending cuts, it must write a budget. If it simply tells the executive, "spend less in every category," it grants the executive enormous discretion. And guess what? The executive will use this discretion for its own political purposes."

Joe Manchin’s Crusade to Get Gun Bill a Second Shot (Eleanor Clift) from the Daily Beast
As the public turns on Republican senators who opposed the legislation, supporters aim to line up a second shot for it, and a new result. Eleanor Clift reports."

Why Do Conservatives Like to Waste Energy? (Tim McDonnell) from Grist 
"...one recent study found that giving Republican households feedback on their power use actually encourages them to use more energy. Why do conservatives, who should have a natural inclination toward conservation, have a beef with energy efficiency? It could be tied to the political polarization of the climate change debate."

A House in Chaos from Politico
"The GOP leadership is dealing with an unprecedented level of frustration in running the House, according to conversations with more than a dozen aides and lawmakers in and around leadership. Leadership is talking past each other. The conference is split by warring factions. And influential outside groups are fighting them."

The Last, Best Hope for GOP Hawks? from Politico
"... for a generation of hawkish Republican elites and executive-branch alumni, he has quickly been embraced if not as their last hope, then at least as their best hope for bringing the party back toward its post-Sept. 11 consensus on foreign policy."

Cruz 2016 : The Freshman Senator is Considering a Run for President (Robert Costa) from Politico
"They didn’t plan on having these presidential conversations so early in his first term. Yet Cruz’s rapid ascent and a flurry of entreaties from conservative leaders have stoked their interest — and Cruz’s."
Oh GOOD!  Rand Paul, Ted Cruz -- who else?  The libertarian nuts are covered.  Cruz should get the Tea Party nod.  Who will cater to the Herman Cain/Donald Trump rich wingnut block of the GOP?  Wisconsin governor Scott Walker? How about Florida's Ric Scott?  Jeb Bush is the only candidate who has a snowball's chance of getting both the GOP nomination AND winning the general election in 2016. My bet: Bush is waiting to see what Hillary is going to do.  He is five years younger than Hillary and conceivably he could wait one more cycle.  Without Bush in the ring, just look for the GOP presidential clown cars to become more crowded.

Can Ted Cruz Attract Big Money Donors? (David Frum) from the Daily Beast 
"If Cruz imagines that he can power his way to the nomination with the support of only one big donor - his supporters mention Peter Thiel - he should remember how far, i.e. how short, Sheldon Adelson's money carried Newt Gingrich in 2012. Donor consensus matters, because it denies equal or greater big money to others."

News Nuggets 1226

DAYLEE PICTURE:  The Mesa Arch at Canyonlands National Park in Utah.  From National Geographic.

In Defense of Leading from Behind (Leslie Gelb) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"So what if it's a terrible slogan? It's still the right strategy."

In Syria, U.S. Inaction is Better than Intervention (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post
"President Obama is right to resist the mounting pressure for military intervention in Syria. Action by U.S. forces may or may not make the situation better — but certainly could make things worse."

The Tortured Tsarnaevs: The Boston Bombers’ Family History: Theft, Violence, and Religious Strife (William Saletan) from Slate
"...three of the nation’s leading newspapers—the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times—have dispatched teams of reporters to dig into the family’s background and the sons’ radicalization. This weekend, all three papers published extensive articles. Here’s a summary of the most intriguing patterns and conflicts they found."

U.S. Image Rebounds in Mexico from the Pew Global Attitudes Survey 
"Fewer See Better Life North of the Border, but 35% Would Migrate. ... On the eve of President Barack Obama’s visit to Mexico, the United States is enjoying a resurgence of good will among the Mexican public, with a clear majority favorably inclined toward their northern neighbor and more now expressing confidence in Obama."

Introducing a Special Report on Education: How are Schools Adapting to the New Demands of the 21st Century? from Smithsonian Magazine
"You might not know it from the news reports, but there's never been a more exciting time to be going to school in America. Innovations abound, from the way we teach math to the way we teach teachers, from how kids get to school to the actual design of the buildings. The global economic climate has sparked an intense desire to focus on traditionally second-string subjects, like science, technology and engineering. And structural experimentation in blended learning, charter schools and virtual classrooms are evolving the very idea of what public education should look like."

How Voter Backlash Against Voter Suppression is Changing Our Politics (John Nichols) from the Nation
"“From the tours we did in 22 states, it became clear to us that many blacks that were apathetic and indifferent became outraged and energized when they realized that [Republicans] were changing the rules in the middle of the game, in terms of voter ID laws, ending ‘souls to the polls,’” Sharpton told theGrio.” So what was just another election, even though it dealt with the re-election of the first black president, took on a new dimension when they realized that they were implementing the disenfranchisement of black voters.” This was a big deal for Obama and the Democrats."

Black Turnout, GOP Denial Both High (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast 
"For the first time, black turnout exceeded white turnout in 2012. Meanwhile, Republicans continue to alienate black voters. Michael Tomasky on the GOP’s self-destructive behavior."

Republican Immigration Nightmare Could Recur (McKay Coppins) from BuzzFeed 
""We are really balanced here on a little precipice and if this, pardon the pun, goes south, we could be in very serious trouble. If [the legislation] stalls or is killed off by conservatives, we could take the Hispanic community and turn them into the African-American community, where we get four percent on a good day... We could be a lost party for generations.""

George Bush’s True Legacy? A Republican Party in Denial (Ramesh Ponnuru) from Bloomberg News Service
"Conservatives rejected Bushism without demonstrating any understanding of why it was adopted in the first place, or why it was rejected. That’s George W. Bush’s political legacy: a weakened Republican Party unable to face its flaws."

The Integrated Prom was a Whopping Success (John Aravosis) from Americablog
"Wilcox County High School in Rochelle, Georgia finally held its first inter-racial, integrated, prom this past Saturday night – and the dance was a wild success. According to news reports, over half of the high school attended.  (And I’m told it wasn’t just the African-American half – a large number of white students attended.)"

HOPE-FOR-PAWS DOG RESCUE VIDEO NUGGET!!
Healing A Shelter Dog's Broken Back And Wounded Spirit from Hope-for-Paws via Youtube

ANCIENT EGYPT NUGGET!!
We haven't had one of these in ages!!
Heracleion Photos: Lost Egyptian City Revealed After 1,200 Years Under Sea from the Huffington Post
"It is a city shrouded in myth, swallowed by the Mediterranean Sea and buried in sand and mud for more than 1,200 years. But now archeologists are unearthing the mysteries of Heracleion, uncovering amazingly well-preserved artifacts that tell the story of a vibrant classical-era port."

News Nuggets 1225

DAYLEE PICTURE: A chicken farm in Pennsylvania.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT GUN CONTROL NUGGETS!!
More Backlash Against Senators on Gun Vote from Public Policy Polling 
"New PPP polls in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, and Ohio find serious backlash against the 5 Senators who voted against background checks in those states. Each of them has seen their approval numbers decline, and voters say they're less likely to support them the next time they're up for reelection. That's no surprise given that we continue to find overwhelming, bipartisan support for background checks in these states."
The best news I've heard about gun control since the Newtown shootings!  The only time lawmakers will begin to turn away from the NRA is when voters start holding them to account!!

Americans Wanted Gun Background Checks to Pass Senate (Frank Newport) from Gallup
Support varies from 85% among Democrats to 45% among Republicans.

Why Obama Remains Cautious About Syria (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"The White House still hopes to convince Russia to join in an internationally supported move for a political transition."

Obama Is Right on Chemical Warfare in Syria (Leslie H. Gelb) from the Daily Beast
"Obama is right not to rush to war, given our checkered past on the use of chemical weapons and the sinkhole of hatreds in Syria, writes Leslie H. Gelb."

Bombing Suspects' Mom Also in Terror Database (Eileen Sullivan and Julie Pace) from the Associated Press
"U.S. intelligence agencies added the mother of the Boston bombing suspects to a government terrorism database 18 months before the bombings, two officials told The Associated Press. She called it "lies and hypocrisy" and said she has never been linked to crimes or terrorism."

The Story of Our Time (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"Those of us who have spent years arguing against premature fiscal austerity have just had a good two weeks."

Politics of Paranoia (Charles Blow) from the New York Times
"The politics of the political right have become the politics of paranoia. ... It is no wonder, then, that in this environment, a Washington Post/Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday found that while 47 percent of Americans were angry or disappointed that new gun control legislation in the Senate (including the enormously popular background-checks provision) had failed to pass, 39 percent were very happy or relieved. Fifty-one percent of Republicans had those sentiments, compared with 22 percent of Democrats. This underscores just how frightened of the government far-right Republicans are."

The Political Perils of Obamacare Implementation (Jamelle Bouie) from the Washington Post
"For the short-term, at least, Republicans will work to derail the Affordable Care Act, and Democrats will likely take the blame for the problems it creates. If there’s any good news, it’s that if Obamacare works, Democrats will reap the benefits of that as well."

In a First, Black Turnout Passes White Turnout (Hope Yen) from the Associated Press
"America's blacks voted at a higher rate than other minority groups in 2012 and by most measures surpassed the white turnout for the first time, reflecting a deeply polarized presidential election in which blacks strongly supported Barack Obama while many whites stayed home."

Cuomo: If Hillary is Running for Prez, I’m Out (Frederic Dicker) from the New York Post
"Cuomo quietly ‘concedes’ 2016 race."

False Flags, Sharia, and Gun Grabs: GOP Lawmakers Embrace the Crazy (John Avlon) from the Daily Beast
"The conspiracy theories percolating up to local party leaders and even the halls of Congress should be a warning sign for the GOP, writes John Avlon."

History Will Not be Kind to George W. Bush (Jonathan Bernstein) from the Washington Post
"The problem for Bush is that the headline policies — management of the economy and of foreign relations, the latter dominated by war in Iraq — don’t look good now and aren’t likely to look any better any time soon. I can’t think of a war that looked like a failure 10 years after it was launched that historians later decided was a success after all..."

Tear Down This Icon: Why the GOP Has to Get Over Ronald Reagan (Jennifer Rubin) form the Washington Post
"The Republican Party can remain a Ronald Reagan historical society, or it can try to endure as a force in national politics. But it can’t do both."

After Casting Key Fifth Vote For Bush, Justice O’Connor Now Regrets Bush v. Gore (Ian Millhiser) from Think Progress
"Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the conservative retired justice who provided the fifth vote to install George W. Bush as president, is now having second thoughts about that decision:..."

Republicans Face Senate Recruitment Woes In Key States from the Huffington Post
"Republicans are struggling to recruit strong U.S. Senate candidates in states where the party has the best chances to reclaim the majority in Washington. It's a potentially troubling sign that the GOP's post-2012 soul-searching could spill over into next year's congressional elections."

Michele Bachmann's Troubling Lack of Candor from the Editorial Board of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune 
"Bachmann’s typical response is to ignore the negative publicity and the questions about her judgment and act like nothing happened. That strategy has served the charismatic conservative firebrand and four-term U.S. House representative fairly well—up to this point. Her core supporters usually shrug off bad press as media bias. The media, particularly in this age of nonstop news coverage, gives up and speeds off to the next political gaffe or miniscandal of the day. But Bachmann’s just-ignore-it approach is completely unacceptable for the high-profile political imbroglio she’s in now."

FOREIGN POLICY PROFILE NUGGET!!
In Defense of Henry Kissinger (Robert Kaplan) from the National Interest 
"He was the 20th century's greatest 19th-century statesman. ... In the summer of 2002, during the initial buildup to the invasion of Iraq, which he supported, Henry Kissinger told me he was nevertheless concerned about the lack of critical thinking and planning for the occupation of a Middle Eastern country where, as he put it, “normal politics have not been practiced for decades, and where new power struggles would therefore have to be very violent.” Thus is pessimism morally superior to misplaced optimism."

News Nuggets 1224

DAYLEE PICTURE: A rare Blue-Eared Kingfisher in Thailand.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

The Ball's In Your Court, Mr. President (Bruce Riedel) from the Daily Beast
"It is clear Assad has used chemical weapons against his own people. And Obama must now take action. By Bruce Riedel."

What Would a Fighter Jet Buy 60 Years After Eisenhower’s Speech? from the New York Times
"With some idea that the speechwriters might have been using reliable data, it is worth seeing what a modern heavy bomber, a fighter jet and a destroyer would buy 60 years later."

The Jobless Trap (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"...while debt fears were and are misguided, there’s a real danger we’ve ignored: the corrosive effect, social and economic, of persistent high unemployment. And even as the case for debt hysteria is collapsing, our worst fears about the damage from long-term unemployment are being confirmed."

Lawmaker Unemployment Hearing Attended By Single Member of Congress At Opening from the Huffington Post
"More than five years since the start of the Great Recession, unemployment remains a major economic problem in the United States, with long-term unemployment among its most stubborn aspects. Nobody told Congress. A hearing Thursday on long-term unemployment held before the 19-member Joint Economic Committee began with just a single lawmaker in attendance. Panelists testifying on the problem and its potential solutions spoke only to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the committee's vice-chair, for the beginning of the roughly 90-minute session."

Obama Political Arm Strikes Fear in GOP from Politico
"As if President Barack Obama’s political machine hasn’t left them battered and bruised enough, Republicans are fretting that it could help Democrats win the House next year. The president’s deep-pocketed political arm, Organizing for Action, can’t by law spend most of its money on elections, and officials insist it won’t play directly in the 2014 midterm. But Republicans aren’t buying it: They’re convinced OFA will find other, indirect ways to help Democrats capture the House and allow Obama to finish his presidency unchecked by Congress."

After Boston: Don't Get Fooled Again by the 'War on Terror' Hawks (Conor Friedersdorf) from the Atlantic
Yes, of course terrorism is real. But that doesn't mean the hawkish approach to counterterrorism hasn't been discredited."

Judge Made Call to Advise Suspect of Rights from the Wall Street Journal [partial subscription wall]
"A federal judge decided to advise Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev of his Miranda rights, even though investigators apparently still wanted to question him further under a public-safety exception.  The judge's move, made on Monday in the hospital where Mr. Tsarnaev was recovering, has prompted some Republican lawmakers to press the Justice Department as to why it didn't make a stronger bid to resist the judge's plans."
Ah -- HERE it comes!  They're not going to blame the judge ... ultimately, they're not even going to blame the DOJ folks on the scene.  It's Attorney General Holder and President Obama's fault -- that Tsarnaev wasn't denied his constitutional rights!  SHAME on them!

FUTURE OF GUN CONTROL? NUGGET
GE Capital Cuts Off Lending to Gun Shops from the Wall Street Journal [subscription wall]
"General Electric Co. is quietly cutting off lending to gun shops, as the company rethinks its relationship to firearms amid the fallout from the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. "
Ok -- then let's get after insurance companies.  People who own semi-automatic rifles (or other made-to-kill humans weapons): no health insurance for you.  No homeowners insurance for you.  No life insurance for you.  If you keep x type of weapons in your house, the answer is "no."

Fight Club on the Hill (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post
"House conservatives met Wednesday for the latest installment of their “Conversations with Conservatives” luncheon series, but they took their places on the dais without sampling the Chick-fil-A sandwiches and nuggets on offer. These days, House conservatives prefer to eat their own. ... Cantor can forget warm and fuzzy for now; he has enough trouble just making his colleagues sound humane."

Riding Along With a Towson University Student’s ‘White Patrol’ (Caitlin Dickson) from the Daily Beast
"After torpedoing a CPAC panel on race relations with comments about ‘his people,’ a young white supremacist is conducting patrols ‘to protect’ white classmates at Baltimore’s Towson University. Caitlin Dickson rode along with the man the Southern Poverty Law Center calls ‘the future of organized hate.’"
Ah, George Zimmermans of the world UNITE!!

George W. Bush's Reluctant Re-Emergence on the Political Scene (Tom DeFrank) from National Journal
"The ex-president is preparing to dedicate his library this week, but these days he's more interested in painting, golfing, and enjoying time away from politics."

Yes, George W. Bush Was a Terrible President, and No, He Wasn’t Smart (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"The opening of the Bush museum today has opened up a flood of pent-up Bush revisionism. ... the main question hanging over Bush is his record itself. The most useful defense of the Bush record is probably Jennifer Rubin’s — useful because it is so slavish and so crude it inadvertently exposes all the catastrophic weaknesses in the Bush record that more clever defenders have usually learned to tiptoe around."

The Ron Paul Institute: Be Afraid, Very Afraid (James Kirchick) from the Daily Beast
"The former presidential contender is back, this time as head of a new ‘institute’ for ‘peace’ comprised of anti-Semites, 9/11 truthers, and dictator-lovers. James Kirchick reports."
Where Ron is, can Rand be far behind?

News Nuggets 1223

DAYLEE PICTURE: A Barn Owl in Norfolk, VA.  From National Geographic.

I Knew the Boston Bombers’ Mother: What She Told Me About 9/11, Islam, and Her Sons (Alyssa Lindley Kilzer) from the Daily Beast
"I got facials from Dzhokhar and Tamerlan’s mother for years—in the living room of the family’s home. And I became uncomfortable as I watched her religious zeal and offensive political views grow over time."

FBI Hunting 12-Strong Terrorist “Sleeper Cell” Linked to Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev from the Daily Mirror [of the UK]
"Police believe the pair were specially trained to carry out the devastating attack."
I would not take this story on face value (interesting as it is) -- the Mirror is not known as a bastion of great investigative journalism.

Top Conservatives Admit Boston Bombing Suspect Cannot Be Tried In Military Tribunal from Think Progress
" In a statement Graham released yesterday with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Rep. Pete King (R-NY), however, the four conservatives acknowledge that shunting Tsarnaev into a military commission is not a lawful opinion."
I have found these discussions deeply unsettling.  Here's the logic: Tsarnaev might be tried by a military tribunal -- because he is an "enemy combatant."  Really?  Which "enemy" is he serving, one might ask.  Chechen rebels?  Are we at "war" with them?  Not that I am aware of.  The Russians?  Sorry, Mitt Romney.  The answer there is "no." The evidence that these guys were Al Qaeda terrorists is nil.  The logic seems to be that they are "enemy combatants" in America's "War Against Terror"!  It has nothing to do with actual ties to real "enemies" or even with for-real terrorist groups.  Here's the math at work: Muslin + terrorist act = enemy combatant.  It really is that simple -- and that stupid.

Brothers in Marathon Bombings Took Two Paths into Infamy from the Boston Globe
"The two young brothers from Cambridge seemed to be on promising paths, one a scholarship student at college, the other fighting for a national title in amateur boxing. And then, apparently with little warning, they veered violently off track, deep into the darkness, setting off deadly bombs, authorities are convinced, at one of Boston’s most iconic and joyful events."
In case you've been missing it, the Boston Globe's coverage of the bombings and the manhunt has been EXCEPTIONAL!!

Another Cause for Alarm in Iran's Nuclear Program: Earthquakes (Jillian Keenan) from the Atlantic
"The country's nuclear power plant is built near tectonic plates, and reports show it may not be safe in the event of a major seismic event."

Keeping Taliban fighters in Guantanamo Hurts U.S. Interests (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"For an example of how the U.S. government can work at cross-purposes in dealing with terrorism, take a look at the failed effort to release Afghan prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. It shows how an incorrect analysis — that the Taliban and al-Qaeda pose the same threat — can lead to a cascade of bad policy that has undermined U.S. interests."
SOME PEOPLE have been saying this for many years.

Danes Rethink a Welfare State Ample to a Fault from the New York Times 
"COPENHAGEN — It began as a stunt intended to prove that hardship and poverty still existed in this small, wealthy country, but it backfired badly. Visit a single mother of two on welfare, a liberal member of Parliament goaded a skeptical political opponent, see for yourself how hard it is. It turned out, however, that life on welfare was not so hard. The 36-year-old single mother, given the pseudonym “Carina” in the news media, had more money to spend than many of the country’s full-time workers. All told, she was getting about $2,700 a month, and she had been on welfare since she was 16."
I see here the creation of the Danish version of Ronald Reagan's "welfare queen."  Are the Danes paving the way for their own version of "austerity"?

Obama’s Second Term is Upending What We Think We Know About Washington (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
",,,even if you can’t do a rigorous test of how best to govern, you can still experiment with different approaches. Right now, the Obama administration is running one of the most consequential tests in recent history. The early results will unnerve many who think they know how Washington works."

Made In The USA (Rana Foroohar and Bill Saporito) [subscription wall] from Time Magazine
"Manufacturing is Back -- But Where are the Jobs?"

Where the Recession Hit Us Hardest: An Interactive Map (Nicole Allan) from the Atlantic
"How different regions and industries have weathered the downturn—and the recovery."

Why the Rich Don't Give to Charity (Ken Stern) from the Atlantic
"The wealthiest Americans donate 1.3 percent of their income; the poorest, 3.2 percent. What's up with that? ... Last year, not one of the top 50 individual charitable gifts went to a social-service organization or to a charity that principally serves the poor and the dispossessed."

Questioning the Mission of College (Frank Bruni) from the New York Times 
"Do we want our marquee state universities to behave more like job-training centers, judged by the number of students they speed toward degrees, the percentage of those students who quickly land good-paying jobs and the thrift with which all of this is accomplished? In the service of that, are we willing to jeopardize some of the trailblazing research these schools have routinely done and the standards they’ve maintained?"

About the Obamacare ‘Train Wreck’ (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post 
"Insofar as the Republican Party has a strategy on Obamacare, it’s goes like this: ... step one: Create problems for Obamacare. Step two: Blame Obamacare for the problems. Step 3: Political profit!"

Charts: Challenging the Myth That Guns Stop Crime (Josh Harkinson) from Mother Jones Magazine
"A new report from Violence Policy Center shoots even more holes in the argument that a well-armed society is a safer society."

Has Obama Turned a Generation of Voters Into Lifelong Democrats? The Prospects for a New Liberal Age (Molly Ball) from the Atlantic
Answer: yes.
"There’s a saying that a young person who isn’t a liberal has no heart, and an old person who isn’t a conservative has no brain. Republicans may be tempted to take solace in the idea that young, liberal voters will sooner or later grow up, but they should resist that fantasy. Paul Ryan, it turns out, had it exactly backward: those Obama posters may fade, but partisan loyalties are durable."

OUTER SPACE NUGGET!!
Mars, Our First Outpost on the Final Frontier (James Fallows) form the Atlantic
"James Fallows talks with space entrepreneur Eric Anderson about the next wave of space exploration."

HOLLYWOOD NUGGET!!
My Fair Mother (Luca Dotti) from Vanity Fair
"With Roman Holiday, which earned her the 1953 best-actress Oscar, Audrey Hepburn became not just a major Hollywood star but also a living icon for the Eternal City. Alongside intimate photographs from his new book, Audrey in Rome, Luca Dotti recalls his mother’s three-decade love affair with the Italian capital, while Laura Jacobs examines what the images reveal about her style."

News Nuggets 1222

DAYLEE PICTURE: A close look at winter ice in rural Sweden.  From National Geographic.

Life in America Unraveled for Brothers from the Wall Street Journal 
"The two Chechen brothers accused in the Boston Marathon bombing set about building American lives after coming to the U.S. about a decade ago. ... But a close examination of the Tsarnaev family's life in the U.S. shows a hopeful immigrant trajectory veering off course."

How String of Events Involving Tsarnaev Brothers Unfolded from the Washington Post
"As their photographs spread rapidly across the Internet, the Tsarnaev brothers decided to make their move. Not waiting for police to find them, they gathered guns and homemade explosives for what became a final, bloody rampage on a community still in shock from the bombing three days before."

'I Don’t Understand Them,' Bombing Suspect Said of Americans from FOX News 
“I don’t have a single American friend, I don’t understand them,” the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed in a shootout with police hours after the pair was identified as suspects, told a photographer in 2009."
Shockers!!  Actual original for-real news reporting from Fox News!

Older Bombing Suspect ‘Was Up to No Good,’ Cousin Says from the Boston Globe
"A relative of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects said he repeatedly warned the 19-year-old fugitive Dzhokhar Tsarnaev about the bad influence of his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed overnight in a shootout with police. A picture has begun to emerge of 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev as an aggressive, possibly radicalized immigrant who may have ensnared his younger brother Dzhokhar — described almost universally as a smart and sweet kid..."

This Is A Religious War, Ctd. (Andrew Sullivan) from The Dish
"Muslims under theocratic rule assume that if those cartoonists weren’t speaking for our government, than our government would silence them. It’s just an example of how these two governing philosophies, ours and that of say Saudi Arabia or Iran, can’t coexist peacefully. ... this kind of violence will continue for as long as the separation of church and state is a foreign concept to so much of the world."

Our Boston Is Now the World (Howard Fineman) from the Huffington Post 
"As if we needed any further proof, this week in Boston proves that there is no "over there." Ours is not a planet in which distance matters; nor does the passage of time. It may be that centuries-old grievances are erupting worldwide like volcanic lava."

Pyongyang Palace Intrigue from the New York Times
"North Korea’s recent nuclear brinkmanship is a sign not of strength but of weakness. No matter how hard this Communist dynasty tries to conceal this fact from the outside world, problems at home — especially strains within the regime itself — are an important factor behind its aggressive external behavior."

China's Victim Complex: Why are Chinese leaders so paranoid about the United States? (Ely Ratner) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Senior Chinese officials claim, even in private, that the United States masterminded a number of actions against China in the region ... Alas, this argument runs counter to both reality and U.S. strategy. The United States has de-escalated tensions by responding to crises in the South China and East China seas with intense, high-level U.S. diplomacy."

China Is a Real Threat to Russia (Dominique Moisi) from Les Echos via Real Clear World [translated from French into English]
"... the more Russian leadership feels weak, the tougher it is - inside and outside the country - with its citizens or foreign powers. This is a self-defense reflex ... To justify this evolution, Russian leaders use an emotional weapon - humiliation."

AMERICAN-MEDIA-MISSING-THE-STORY NUGGET!!
'Like 1930s Germany': Greek Far Right Gains Ground from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"Nowhere else in Europe are neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists profiting as greatly from the financial crisis as in Athens. As they terrorize the country with violence, the police stand back and prosecutors are powerless."
The shadow of fascism is now clearly in view and expanding in Europe.  Americans and the US media need to WAKE UP to what's happening there.

Barack Obama's Lesson for David Cameron and Ed Miliband - Beware the Polls (Nate Silver) from the London Evening Standard
"As Labour holds on to its lead, the polling guru of the 2012 US race warns that time is running out for the Tories."

Part-Time Work Becomes Full-Time Wait for Better Job from the New York Times
"These almost invisible underemployed workers do not count toward the standard jobless rate of 7.6 percent. A broader measure, which includes the involuntary part-timers as well as people who want to work but have stopped looking, stands at 13.8 percent. “There’s nothing inherently wrong with people taking part-time jobs if they want them,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago. “The problem is that people are accepting part-time pay because they have no other choice.”"

When Our Kids Own America (Gene Demby) from NPR
"America's seismic demographic shift is upending life in our suburbs, cities and our popular culture. So why are we still clinging to the same stories to make sense of these changes?"

Boy Scouts Propose Lifting Ban on Gays, but Only for Youth from Reuters 
"The Boy Scouts of America on Friday moved to partially lift its long-standing ban on gays, with a decision that would allow openly gay youth members but continue to bar gay adults in one of the largest youth serving organizations in America."

Romney Strategist: We Were Two Years Behind Obama (Sean J. Miller) from Campaigns and Elections
"During a panel at C&E’s CampaignTech conference in Washington on Thursday, Jones said his team needed between nine and 24 months to catch up to Obama’s online organization. Part of the reason they were so far behind was staffing."

Could the NRA's Big Victory Backfire? (John Cassidy) from the New Yorker
"...the N.R.A. decided to go for an all-out victory, making a mockery of representative democracy. In the long run, this outrage could easily backfire on the N.R.A. and its allies."