Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

• The GOP National Security Debate - The Washington Note

  GOP National Security Debate Rick Santorum   D+ Michele Bachmann  B+ Newt Gingrich  B- Rick Perry  D- Herman Cain  F Mitt Romney  B- Ron Paul   B Jon Huntsman  B+ [After reviewing my grades, I decided that Rick Santorum's honesty about the importance of negotiating and willing to compromise with the "other side" deserves a bit more credit.  I hereby revise his grade to a C-.]

• Herman Cain at The Holy Land Experience Theme Park: Worried That His Doctor Was 'Too Foreign' | Death and Taxes

  Cain elaborated on how his Christian values factored into his cancer treatment: He did have a slight worry at one point during the chemotherapy process when he discovered that one of the surgeon’s name was “Dr. Abdallah.” “I said to his physician assistant, I said, ‘That sounds foreign–not that I had anything against foreign doctors–but it sounded too foreign,” Cain tells the audience. “She said, ‘He’s from Lebanon.’ Oh, Lebanon! My mind immediately started thinking, wait a minute, maybe his religious persuasion is different than mine! She could see the look on my face and she said, ‘Don’t worry, Mr. Cain, he’s a Christian from Lebanon.’”

• 102,000 cupcakes! Small bakery burned by Groupon - TODAY News - TODAY.com

  A bakery owner was forced to make 102,000 cupcakes after being swamped by customers taking up her cut-price Groupon offer, according to reports Tuesday. Rachel Brown offered a 75 percent discount on 12 cupcakes, which normally cost $40 (£26), the BBC reported.

• Saudi Telecom sets up $50m fund

  The Saudi Telecom Group has established an investment fund to enrich innovation and creativity in Information and Technology with an initial capital of $50 million. The venture capital fund will specialise in start ups and small, and medium sized companies operating in the field of telecommunications and Information Technology in the Saudi market as well as other international markets.

• Egypt’s Tahrir Square Explodes in Violence

  UPDATE: Egypt's military leadership announced via state media Tuesday that it will hand over power to a civilian government no later than July 1, 2012 -- a full year earlier than had been expected.

• Turkish Airlines: ‘Europe’s favourite’ carrier steers a contrarian course - FT.com

  Turkish Airlines’ breakneck expansion makes it the world’s fastest-growing airline – and possibly its most underrated.

• Comment: Iran and the I.A.E.A. : The New Yorker

  ** Seymour Hersh on Iran, the IAEA and the beating of war drums for the nonexistent Iranian bomb *** The new report, therefore, leaves us where we’ve been since 2002, when George Bush declared Iran to be a member of the Axis of Evil—with lots of belligerent talk but no definitive evidence of a nuclear-weapons program.

• CIA Spies Caught, Fear Execution in Middle East - ABC News

  In a significant failure for the United States in the Mideast, more than a dozen spies working for the CIA in Iran and Lebanon have been caught and the U.S. government fears they will be or have been executed, according to four current and former U.S. officials with connections to the intelligence community.

• Gingrich calls child labor laws ‘truly stupid’ - Election 2012 - The Washington Post

  At a Monday afternoon speech in New Hampshire where he unveiled his plan for revamping entitlement programs, Gingrich reiterated his ideas about child labor laws, saying that kids janitors “would be dramatically less expensive than unionized janitors.” In an interview with my colleague, Amy Gardner, Gingrich said that he is not advocating revamping child labor laws, he simply wants to empower young people with a work ethic they need to succeed.

• Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind Poll Shows Fox News Viewers Less Informed on Major News Stories

  Quick, were Egyptian protesters successful in their bid to overthrow longtime president Hosni Mubarak earlier this year? According to a new poll (PDF) from Fairleigh Dickinson University, if you watch Fox News you are significantly less likely to know the correct answer to that question than if you mostly avoid news shows and newspapers all together. After controlling for factors like partisanship, education, and other demographic factors, the pollsters found that Fox New viewers were 18 points less likely to know that the revolt was successful than their non-active news consuming counterparts. Fox News viewers were also 6 points less likely to know that the Syrian uprising has yet to succeed.

• How the conservative belief in American exceptionalism has become a matter of faith. - Slate Magazine

  The ancients taught us to fear “hubris,” and the Bible teaches the sin of pride.  I am always amazed that American conservatives are not more suspicious of self-proclaimed historical uniqueness. But proclaim it they do, as if trying to reassure themselves against the blasts of what looks like a very bad season.

• UAE to bypass Strait of Hormuz with new pipeline - Energy - ArabianBusiness.com

  A crude oil pipeline in the United Arab Emirates that will bypass the Strait of Hormuz is nearly complete with first oil to flow next month, as talk of military action against Iran intensifies, four industry sources told Reuters on Monday.

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